Black Cell
Chapter 4: Crash
I sat in the co-pilot's chair as Amethyst dropped her ship out of warp, Titania stood before us and I scanned the surrounding area for Calyx.
"Where are they?" I heard Amethyst ask and I pointed.
"Right there." I said and she hit the throttle. Her craft shot around the planet and another craft pulled up beside us.
"Hey Fox." The Comm came up and Calyx's face came up.
"Hey panther, where have you been?"
"Well, Zima had a little trouble getting her ship ready but we're here."
"Ok, I'm going to contact the Black Cell base, be with you in a moment." I said and Amethyst switched the Comm over to a heavily encrypted channel.
"Solomon, are you there?" He came up a few seconds later and the leopard smiled at her.
"Well, hello you two."
"I have a request Solomon. A few of my friends have just been attacked by Crimson Cell and they need a place to hole up for a while."
"Amethyst, that is against the Cell's regulations…but," He paused and then continued. "I can make an exception this time. Where are your friends?"
"Their ship is right next to ours, they comprise of two panthers and two tigers."
"Ok, get them over here and I will offer my services. Once this is over, they need to leave though."
"Understood Solomon." Amethyst said and his vid shot died. "Calyx, it is ok for you to come with us."
"Thank you Amethyst." His vid shot dematerialized and then a siren sounded right next to my ear. Amethyst's paws shot over the console in front of her and she looked at me.
"Crimson Cell, four ships are coming to intercept us."
"What?" I asked and she got back on the Comm.
"Calyx, four Crimson Cell ships are coming at us, get ready to warp." He nodded and we circled around the planet, no sign of the Crimsons yet. Amethyst worked the console and the engines glowed blue as Calyx's ship also had blue engines. "Ok, let's go." Amethyst said but her ship was thrown violently forward as something hit us from behind.
"What the Hell was that?" I yelled and she sent the coordinates to Calyx.
"Go here Calyx; now get out of here before you are destroyed."
"Amethyst, what about you two?"
"Don't worry about us." She clicked the Comm off and Calyx went into warp as she pulled the craft around. The four shot by us and they started to circle around.
"Just like old times, eh Amethyst?"
"Yes, just like old times." She smiled at me and a second console came up in front of me. "All the weapons are yours."
"Ok, here we go." I said and the four started firing. Amethyst had her ship dance in her paws and I let off a few charge shots. They collided with the group but the shields absorbed most of the blast and we spun around fast. I held the triggers down and launched a few missiles as they slammed into the rears of the ships. The four broke off and I unleashed a sonic pulse, it enveloped one and the craft detonated in a fiery mass of fragments. The three saw that they had lost one and they ganged up on us as a combination of their lasers nailed the shield. "How's our shield doing?"
"45 percent, Fox, I don't know if I can get us out of this one." I didn't respond as the rear guns came online, I let off some anger and then there was two.
"Are you sure?"
That's when the two Nova Bombs hit us. The shield was gone and the structural integrity was failing.
"Yes." Amethyst struggled at the controls and the craft behind us did not fire, I guessed that they wanted to see us die. "Fox, we're going to crash on Titania." She said it so matter-o-factly and I looked over.
"If we die, I just want you to know that I love you Amethyst." She looked over and smiled.
"We aren't going to die." The ship rumbled as it broke the atmosphere, there were several loud bangs and I knew we had lost some critical gear. The clouds parted and I saw the dunes of the Titanian desert. I saw a settlement a few miles away but I knew we wouldn't reach it.
"That settlement, try to land as close as you can to it." She nodded and the craft shot over the sand as she coaxed more out of the engines. The two Crimson Cell ships were still behind us and then another siren sounded.
"And there goes the engines." We were coasting now and Amethyst hit a button to deploy the boosters to land. They failed and the inside of the craft went dark. "And there goes the power." I looked over to her and then impact, I went black.
I felt extreme warmth all over my body and I tried to move, pain lanced through my skull and as I raised my head. The sun shone brightly into my eyes, I slowly sat up and I felt over my head, it was slick with blood and I saw that I had flown right through the cockpit and landed onto the sand. I stood up and I saw the craft, it was smoking in the sand and I staggered over to it. The left wing was gone and most of the body was shot to Hell, a gaping hole was where the hatch should have been and I walked into the craft. Most, well, everything was in pieces and I looked frantically for Amethyst, I spotted her back out through a large hole in the cockpit. I walked back out into the sand and I fell beside her.
"Amethyst, Amethyst wake up." I said. She stirred slightly and she opened her eyes.
"Did we die yet?"
"No, are you ok?" She tried to move but a cry echoed.
"No, I think my arm is broke, and I can't feel my left leg." I gently rolled her over and I checked her over for wounds, besides the two broken limbs, she looked ok.
"Ok," I tried to think of what to do next but I felt so hot and dehydrated. I unzipped my stealth suit and I was glad that I had a pair of pants on underneath it. I rolled it up and I laid it over her body. "I'll be back in a moment." I walked back to the ship and tried to find anything of value; I opened a cabinet and as the door fell off, a shotgun also fell into my arms. "Ahh, a weapon." I slung the weapon over my shoulder and I saw that the belt also had a line of shells in it too. I saw nothing else so I walked back to Amethyst, vultures had started to circle and I picked up Amethyst in my arms. She moaned slightly and I saw the settlement in the distance.
So I walked. The sun glared at me in all in burning hotness and I kept walking through the dunes. I saw a vulture swoop down but I ducked and the bird shot over me, he was not fast enough however and my shotgun nailed him in the chest. The bird hit the ground and I was left alone.
The settlement was closer now and Amethyst moaned in my arms as I nuzzled her ear.
"We're almost there." I whispered and I saw a dust cloud moving toward me. A jeep was blazing toward us and I set the lupine down, I had the gun in my paws and the jeep pulled up to me.
"Who are you?" The figures were cloaked in brown weave and I could not see their faces as their hoods covered their muzzles.
"I need medical treatment for myself and the lupine. We were shot down and don't mean to intrude." I said and one figure hopped out into the sand.
"Hand over the gun and we will provide what you need." I handed him the shotgun butt first and he slung it onto my back. We picked up Amethyst and the jeep ride back to the settlement was bumpy as I tried to hold her still. She cried out a few times and when the jeep pulled under a tent, I quickly jumped out with the two other figures with me. We took the lupine to a medical building and a doctor walked up to me.
"What happened?"
"We were in a crash; I think she has a broken arm and leg." He looked at my head and I pushed him away. "Do her first." He nodded and I saw the vulpine walked over to Amethyst.
"You're going to be alright." He said and I sat down in a chair, the desert's heat overcame me and I passed out as my head hit the ground.
Zima dropped the ship out of warp and the Black Cell station loomed in front of them as they waited to be contacted.
"Where is Fox?" She asked and Calyx sighed.
"I don't know, they fought off the other ships and I really don't know what happened." The Comm lit up and Solomon came up on it.
"Calyx I presume?"
"Yes, that would be us."
"Where is Fox?"
"I don't know, we were attacked by Crimson Cell members and I don't know if he made it."
"Where was your rendezvous point?" Solomon sounded worried.
"Titania." Solomon nodded and Calyx sighed.
"I'll send a team to see if he is alright. I'm going to have to escort you in so a fighter will be up in a few seconds."
I awoke and I sat up on what I presumed to be a bed. My head spun and I opened my eyes, Amethyst was next to me on a cot and I saw that an IV was in my arm. We were in some tent and I swung my legs so that they touched the floor. I saw my stealth suit on a chair next to me and my shotgun also rested with it as the doctor came in.
"Well, welcome back." He saw me looked at Amethyst and he walked over to me. "She'll be ok; your lupine has a broken arm but only a fractured leg. She'll be up soon."
"So when can we leave?" I asked and the doctor nodded.
"As soon as she wakes up." He looked over at my suit and he smiled. "Black Cell, eh?" I looked at him astonished and he smiled. "How do I know? I used to be in the Cell." He rolled back a sleeve and I saw the tattoo of two snakes around a pole. "You have one on your back."
"I do…you wouldn't know Solomon?"
"Yes, I know him. We were like brothers until he thought I was in Crimson Cell; I was working undercover and he suspected foul play. He had every right to." He walked over to me and sat down next to me.
"Were you?"
"To tell you the truth, I wasn't but I did have him believe that I switched sides. He ejected me from the Cell and he I am on Titania, living on a settlement." Amethyst stirred and she woke up.
"Fox?" She said and the lupine sat up.
"Right here Amethyst." She turned around and she saw the doctor.
"So did you fix me?"
"Yep, your arm will heal soon and your leg is ok, I was able to repair it." He said and she looked at me.
"Now if he could only fix my ship."
"That is taken care of; I will provide you with a new one." He stood up and took the IV out of my arm. He took her arm and the doctor removed a small Comm like device, she flexed it and it and no pain showed. "Come on." I grabbed my gear and we walked into a hangar, a sleek craft sat before us and he crossed his arms. "Nine years in the making and it is all yours."
"You can't do that, it's your ship."
"Not anymore," He put a paw on my shoulder and smiled. "For a Black Cell member, I would give my life for you." He removed his paw and I walked up to it, the hatch opened at my presence and a sonic boom echoed above us. I ran outside and I saw three Cell ships fly over us; they did a U-turn and then set down right in front of me. The first craft had its hatch open.
"Solomon!" I said and the leopard walked out to meet me.
"I hear that you were in some trouble, Fox."
"Yeah but I found a settlement and…" His gaze wasn't at me so I looked toward where he was looking.
"Solomon." I felt Amethyst touch my paws behind me and she looked over my shoulder as I watched the confrontation.
"I can't even remember your name."
"I never had one; however you always used to call me Zero."
"Well, Zero, it's been a long time."
"Too long." I heard Zero whisper and I felt tension increase.
"I should go now."
"Yes, let's get out of here and off this damn planet." We walked into the craft and I saw Zero still standing there, smiling. Solomon's craft shot off of Titania with the other two and he turned to me. "Zero…he worries me. I wondered where he would turn up next." He shook his head and I sighed. "Well, I'm glad that I found you."
"Did Calyx and the rest make it to the base?"
"Yes, they are holed up back at the base." He looked at me and smiled. "So how was the crash?"
"Oh it was great. I almost killed myself and Amethyst could have died." I said quite sarcastically and Amethyst sat down next to me. She put her paws around me and kissed my cheek.
"Thank you for saving me." She whispered in my ear.
"Anytime Amethyst." I said and we hit the warp.