Hachi's Last Stand

Chapter Two

A month had passed since Hachi's deal with Sturm, and life in Orange Star was continuing as normal. Nobody had a clue what had happened. They were totally innocent. But all that was about to change.

A stranger approached the Orange star capital city. The Orange Star Headquarters rose up in the distance. The manwas dressed in a strange fashion. He wore a suit like an astronaut's, helmet and all, except it was black. He was no spaceman; he was a Black Hole soldier.

He took of his helmet. There was a whoosh as gas was released. An insane grin spread over his face. His eyes bulged out of his sockets. He cradled his helmet under his arm and walked into town.

The stranger slowly made his way along the busy streets. A lot of people stopped and stared at him. A Black Hole soldier? In their City? That was a violation of a dozen treaties, at least! There was nothing they could do though. Only the military could make the necessary arrests, and a lot of the city's forces were out on combat exercise with CO Max. The stranger walked on.

Soon he had entered the shopping precinct of the city. As with the rest of the city, the skyscrapers here were painted orange, but the streets were filled with bazaars and markets. The precinct had been completely pedestrian-ised a few years back. The streets were packed with people milling between stalls and traders gouging their wares. The stranger walked up to one of the groceries in the street.

"A bushel of apples…" he ordered in a high-pitched giggle. The grocer looked up at him. After a few moments of indecision, he decided money was money, and began weighing out apples for the weird customer.

"There you go-a, that'll be four dollarz." The vendor held out the brown paper bag of apples in one hand, the other hand open for payment.

"…Four dollars." The stranger repeated. He unzipped a pocket on his uniform and fished out a few coins. He dropped four black coins into the grocer's hand and snatched the bag in return.

"Heya, what are you a trying to pull-a, what kinda of money iz this?" the grocer asked indignantly. He examined one of the strange coins closely.

"…Currency of Lord Sturm." The stranger retorted calmly.

"Oha, a wise-a guy, huh? No money, no apples!" the grocer seized his fruit back and threw the coins back at the stranger.

At this point, the stranger began giggling madly. The people shopping near him stopped what they were doing and eyed him worriedly albeit curiously. The grocer took a few steps back.

Suddenly, the stranger pulled out an assault rifle. It was the latest model from Lash Laboratories, designed to kill more people in less bullets than the previous models. At the sight of the weapon, several people screamed and everyone turned to run away. It was too late for that.

The stranger pulled back on the trigger and bullets rained down on the crowd. The grocer, completely riddled, danced like a puppet on a string as more bullets caught him. Several people fell as they tried to run as they were shot in the backs. Blood ran freely down the streets. Some splashed back upon the soldier. He barely noticed, this was too much fun.

The street emptied in a matter of minutes. A lot of stalls were wrecked in the mass stampede of terrified people. The dead and dying lay on the street in pools of their own, and others, blood.

The soldier grinned in triumph. He eased off the trigger, and the bullets stopped. He walked forward to collect his apples. The bag was sitting on top of a display of oranges. He reached out for the apples when a bloodied hand landed on top of them. The corpse of the grocer slumped over the front of his stall, defiant till the end. With a smirk, the stranger brushed the body away and claimed his prize.

Suddenly, a recon jeep and two APCs, all three painted orange, rushed into the street. The recon skidded on two wheels trying to avoid the people who could still be saved. The APCs stopped at the entrance to the street and two medics jumped out from each of them. They rushed from body to body, in an effort to save whom they could. The recon kept going, eventually skidding to a halt a few metres away from the stranger. A youth, wearing orange, oil-stained overalls, leapt from the recon.

"You're under arrest! I am Andy of Orange Star. We do not tolerate psychopathic rampages in our cities!" Andy informed the stranger. It was good thing he hadn't eaten yet. The street was a ghastly tableau of murder.

The stranger grinned and raised his weapon in Andy's direction. Not to be outdone, Andy pulled out his handgun from its holster at his waist. He pointed it squarely at the stranger.

"We can do this the hard way, ...or the easy way. I'll let you decide." Andy grimaced. He was normally quite spirited but today was anything but normal.

The stranger didn't reply. Instead, his insane grin grew even wider and he squeezed the trigger on his rifle. It clicked emptily and the clip fell to the ground. He was out of ammunition.

"Maybe you shouldn't have wasted your ammo on Orange Star citizens!" Andy roared, squeezing the trigger on his gun. Before the stranger could react, a tranquilliser dart had landed in his neck, piercing his suit as if it were tinfoil. The sedative acted fast and he fell groggily to the floor. He was out cold before he landed.

Andy holstered his gun and walked over to the stranger.

"Black Hole? I thought they were laying low at the moment. Humph! Alright, let's bring him in for interrogating."