A NEW BEGINNING

Chapter Eight

"Revelations"

13:46 - Planet Snivelak, Thug HQ, Bogon Galaxy

The thug elite henchman finally awoke to the sound of footholds gathering outside the door of the medical room. The room was quiet and a little chilly, his body reminded him, as he became aware on an operating table. It had only been a few moments before he fell asleep previously, ignoring the pangs that burst around his upper torso--he was tired. He had long removed his combat armor when he arrived back at base, but he always kept his powerful weapon nearby, which began a habit. The well-known Thrasher Cannon lied on the floor against the examination table awaiting future use. He positioned into a more comfortable position, his lithe chest lined up with muscular ripples.

The door of the room suddenly slid open with a mechanical hiss, and inside stepped the femme warrior he recognized as being his new partner. It was Dark Angel. Still in her battle suit, she stepped inside and made her way alongside him, stealing a glimpse of his weapon on the floor. Reaching for her helmet, she removed and held it down at her side. Her eyes roamed from him to a small, silver tray beside him, with surgical devices strewn neatly on top.

When he looked into her eyes, a small, sheepish smile began to spread across his face, accompanied by a top row of tainted fangs. Seeing this, she poked his chest at a particularly sore spot, and giggled when he groaned. He placed a hand over his naked chest, running his claws across his scales.

"So what's that look for?" she said with a hint of playfulness in her eyes.

"You knowz, at first, I thought you weren't tooz special until we gotz out there on the field. You proved me wrong. I wuz wrong for doubting your abilities."

Angela smiled warmly. "Well, appearances aren't everything."

"Heh," he grinned, trying to sit upright a little more. "I standz corrected."

He looked over his injured chest, and then at his armor that he had cast aside on another table across the room. Angela followed his gaze. She walked over to the smaller table, picked up his chest armor, and studied how much damage it had sustained. The armor plating was charred in the front, a bit fractured in some places with jagged holes, and gave off an acrid smell that she believed to be metal and flesh combined. It was no wonder why he had burn marks on his chest--wounds that looked like they would never fully disappear.

She turned around, held the chest plate high, and peeked through one of the many orifices made into it. "Stravek? How is your chest? Think you will be able to go on the next mission?" She gave a concerned stare, lowering his armor and returning it to the side table.

"I would be lying if I sayz it didn't hurt whenever I moved. That hangar I wuz hiding behind, when it exploded, I felt bits of shrapnel penetrate my armor. I knowz I didn't act too hurt by it at first, because I didn't think it wuz bad, but that'z just because I had a lady on my side...for a change." The thug turned away to conceal another smile. It was unacceptable, according to thug protocol, for a soldier to smile at any female because fraternizing was just one of the many, prohibiting laws added to the new regime.

"Aw, you're such a big, brave lizard," she teased. "Well, whatever medical staff you have here, they'll be here in any minute. So we won't have too much time for chat. By the way, what do the doctors use here, anyway?"

Stravek returned a glance, looking first at the surgical instruments on the tray beside him, then at her, before saying, "Ancient and new--the newest being nanotechnology. Thatz always seem to work really fast."

"Uh huh," she said, turning around as two others stepped into the examination room.

"Stravek...how are yar?" was the hoarse voice of Vukar.

It seemed wherever the Barlowian traveled, his Jobian cousin followed too.

Jak came and stood on the opposite side of Angela, examining the wounds of his teammate. "Rarr, git up! Yer tougher than this, Snivelakian."

Angela nodded to each tribesman that looked her way. "Vukar. Jak."

She noted that Vukar was still dressed as before when she had been introduced to him: he wore very little armor and battle gear, and always carried his machete, which looked like a fearsome blade. It remained in its long scabbard on his back. Another thing she noticed was how similar he was to Jak, both sharing distinct qualities that differentiated them from the rest of the thug army; long, slender necks, limbs, and two long, protruding fangs from their upper lip. They had irises that glowed either a fierce purple or yellow, and they sometimes wore a set of goggles on their heads, a trademark of a warrior who originated from someplace arid or forested. When she turned to look at Jak, he was a different story.

Jak was always in full body armor. A ruby-painted chest plate covered his front and back, fastened to the back of his drooping shoulders. Shielding his face was a red mask that matched the reptilian contours of his head. About the only other thing that was not protected on his body had to have been his legs, where he wore heavy, brown, furrowed pants which complemented his black boots. And attached around his waist was his side pack with only who knows what stored inside them. Down at his side, she finally realized, as he turned around to pick up Stravek's armor, that he carried a strange blaster hooked on the side of his belt. The blaster looked small enough to be used as a clubbing weapon as well and powerful enough to pack a mean punch. She began to wonder about the side firearm.

When the Jobian turned around, seeing her new interest in him, she quickly averted her eyes, pretending to be concerned for Stravek.

Vukar helped his friend to rise up fully on the table.

Stravek began to speak. "I will be fine once the doctor getz here," he said grimly. "What is being done about that robot, that...uh...XL-17? Have wez learned anything from it?"

Jak simply dropped the armor chest plate that belonged to Stravek with a loud clank. "Thar are some things Sandz needs to go ovar. But...I thank we can git some coordinate from it. Isn't that rite, Vukar?"

"Yes," said Vukar.

All eyes turned to the door as a thug doctor stepped into the room. Ironically, the doctor looked nothing of the sort, but wearing the white uniform supported his title. For all Angela knew, he looked just like another thug on the streets. She found this comical, musing in silence of the awful things that were probably going to happen to Stravek in order to repair his body. An uncontrollable smile formed--she had to see this for herself!

The doctor made his way over to the patient, appreciating the space the two tribesmen made for him out of respect. While he touched in various places on the injured Manhunter's chest, making inquiries of the extent of pain, the elite thug looked past the doctor and beckoned for the two tribesman to do something for him. As if by instinct, they headed over to Angela, blocking her view of Stravek and the doctor.

"Stravek wishes far you not to see him like this. Go to Sandz and give the troopar a hand with the ro-bot. And latar, we will all re-group in the con-ference room," said Jak, encouraging her with a light push.

"All right. See you three soon," she said, turning around to walk out of the room.

One of the last things she heard before the door closed behind her came from the doctor. "Restrain him, boyz."

It took a little time to find the exact location of Sandz, because she was unfamiliar with the corridors of the Manhunters' department. They seemed more or less to be a labyrinth and she hadn't been formally given a tour of the place yet. Despite being lost for a short while, she did manage to find her way back to Griff's office and the briefing room where she originally met the bounty hunters. Looking for labels, appearing posted every so often on walls, she finally stumbled into the research area. Within a few minutes, she stood at the threshold of the laboratory, looking over the room for the trooper.

The sound of frustration and anger directed her attention to a far corner of the lab, beyond the lab accessories and expensive-looking equipment, so she stepped inside and called out the trooper's name.

"Sandz? Sandz? Where are you?" called Angela.

The trooper's voice rang out from somewhere beneath the work tables.

"Over here, Dark. I'm having a bit of trouble. I could use a hand with the process of extracting this stupid machine's computer chip."

She found the trooper kneeled down, having separated a few parts of the machine, or what was left of the XL-17 bot. The trooper had an array of tools, electrical equipment, and bolts in a neat arrangement. He leaned forward, with a tiny screwdriver in hand, bit his lip and tried to loosen a chip that had been nearly extricated at the back of the robot's head.

While grinning, "So...now you're a tech specialist?" Angela said.

Sandz soughed heavily. "Not exactly, but I've had a little experience at these things. Come, help me here. I need you to press down here and here,"--he directed--"to unlatch this stubborn microprocessor chip."

Angela placed her helmet down on a table to her left, came closer, and positioned her body in a way similar to his, trying to get comfortable with her armor that added extra pressure on her legs. Throwing her ponytail back, she edged closer to the robot, the thoughts of it trying to blow her up previously resurfaced. Gnawing on her nether lip, she placed her fingers in the places where Sandz had asked her to around the chip.

"Good, good. Now...just let me...loosen a couple of these ridiculously tight screws, and we'll be in business. Then I can run this chip down to the 'real' tech experts, and they'll provide us with the information we need about the thief and reprogram this unit to serve us. I'm sure Vukar would appreciate a gunner aboard his ship, don't you think?"

Angela nodded, noticing the Blargian sweating around his strangely shaped forehead and temples. For the first time, she realized he had such thick and bushy eyebrows. What little hair he had had been greased and combed back to sleek perfection. His alien features fascinated her. She continued to look him over, trying not to be too obvious as she had been with Jak.

They shared an uncomfortable silence between them--Bogonian and Solanian. She decided to begin with a simple question to ease the awkwardness between them.

"So...? You're from Solana, right? What's it like there?"

Not taking his attention off of what he was doing, Sandz spoke quickly and distinctly. "Every time someone asks me that around here, I tell them the two galaxies are not so very different, but are really alike. I know I've only been in Bogon for a little over a year and half, but I don't feel any different than being back in Solana. Solana is just as busy with life as this galaxy. Maybe more so. Home is where the heart is, right?"

"Busier? Why? What happened?"

"Some time ago, my former employer, Supreme Executive Chairman Drek, from the planet Orxon, took it upon himself to rebuild our home world. His idea seemed ingenious and sadistic, but we were in need of a new planet after having polluting it to the point where we weren't able to live there anymore. For years, we had poured chemical wastes into our waters, which turned our once beautiful sky into a sickly green smog. You couldn't breathe it without incinerating your lungs. That's why we wore these helmets. As a solution, Drek thought of a way to make the Blarg, that's my kind, rich and at the same time have a new home, but the process required desperate measures that would affect the other inhabitants of the galaxy."

One of her fingers slipped off the computer chip. "Desperate measures?"

"Yes, very desperate measures. The general idea was to construct a new planet using the best parts of other planets. Ironic, isn't it? Drek promised the inhabitants of other planets some form of reparation, but...he was going to make them buy space on the newly constructed planet. That was how he proposed his plan. He damaged so much of the other planets, I believe that even now Solana is without the scars--they're still rebuilding and repopulating the planets."

Angela's face grew tense. "This Drek sounds like a horrible person--robbing people of their planets."

"As for the rest of the story--"--he popped out a screw, catching it into his gloved hand--"there was the tale of a lombax from a backwater planet of the galaxy that put an end to the chairman's scheme. I believe you've heard of him."

"Yes, the famous Ratchet. He who saved our galaxy from imminent danger as well," said Angela as an old feeling of bitterness returned to her.

"Yup. You know what I find funny about him..." he stopped what he was doing and looked at her. "As small as the guy is, he took on our entire army of machines and men. A guy like that is not only a hero, but a very dangerous person, too. Don't you think?" Sandz returned to his work, removing another screw. "Can you imagine how many people--of mine--that he had probably killed? There's always two sides of the story."

The notion piqued her, her other hand curling into a fist. With a glance, the trooper could tell he had struck one of her nerves.

"Maybe that is so, but he's done more good than bad," she retorted, resting her other arm on her knee. "Besides, I like the things he's done, not only for his galaxy but for ours as well."

Sandz finally removed the last screw that held the chip in place. He removed the chip, stood up, and examined it. Angela followed suit and looked over the floor that was more of a mess than a job well done.

"Well, you may like him for the things he's done, I don't. Because of him, the Blarg are now scattered across Solana. I wouldn't be surprised to find another one of my kind here, somewhere." He placed the chip into a pocket of his body suit.

Cross folded her arms. "Well, I won't argue for the lombax. He's fully capable of that himself. But I suppose we agree to disagree?"

"I can live with that. Now if you will excuse me, I must deliver this microchip."

"Before you go, I have just one more question..."

"Yes?"

Placing her hand on her hip, "What's your reason for coming to Bogon?"

Sandz expression changed to one of seriousness. His eyes remained strong, but his body language, positioned in such a way to show indifference, hinted at something else. He rued the day Ratchet ended the Blarg conquest.

His voice became deep. "I couldn't show my face after what happened to Drek. I'd decided a long time ago to live with my shame elsewhere, where people wouldn't judge me for my wrongdoing," and with that said, he turned around sharply and marched toward the exit.

Angela watched the trooper leave, and then turned back to study what was left of the machine. Upon closer examination, among the many leftover parts--gears, bolts, fragments--the alloy the chassis had been made of made her wonder. She picked up a piece of scrap armor and brought it into the light, looking for a sign of its origin. A few seconds later, tapping the scrap onto the rectangular table in front of her, it dawned on her--Raritanium.

"Raritanium," she lisped.

Suddenly, the microphone built into the ceiling startled her with a feminine voice. She fell back on her rump, looking up at the intercom speaker from above. It announced an important message.

"All Manhunters, please report to the conference room."

In her gloved hand, she still gripped the alloy. Rising, she released the scrap, reached for her helmet, and made her way toward the exit, feeling she was probably going to be late for her second meeting.

"I'm gonna be late if I don't hurry," she worried, beginning off into a quick gait down the halls.

In the conference room, Vukar looked up as Jak entered, twirling his firearm. Seeing his comrade, he walked over and slapped the other's shoulder in a friendly gesture. Minutes later, Angela rushed into the room, and almost tripping over her feet. At this, the two tribesmen broke into laughter, pointing sword or gun at her.

"Har har, guys," she said, making her way round a structure and descending a flight of stairs.

Their watchful eyes followed her as she went a floor below them, obviously making her way toward a cough that looked comfortable. She plopped down on it and sat back as far as she could, but her long legs kept her boots upright on the floor. Tilting her head back a bit, she closed her eyes and released her helmet on the cushion beside her. She felt sleepy. The realization made her think about how many hours she had traveled to and fro, and her discovery amazed her, making her groan. She hadn't slept for more than a day because she was always on her feet. She was beginning to believe that the Manhunters never slept.

Her head dipped, repeatedly, each time she almost succumbed to sleepiness. Although she was feeling tired, she continued to eavesdrop on the conversation between the tribesmen from above. When a new voice entered the room, she forced her eyes open, recognizing the voice of Stravek. She ignored the idle chatter of the tribesmen and followed the sound of his position in the room. He sounded as if his injuries were still preventing him from walking at ease by the way he dragged his boots across the floor.

Stravek saluted his friends, turned to lean over a railing, and called out to the sleep-deprived Dark Angel.

"Dark? Dark Angel?" he said softly. "Feeling sleepy, huh? I gotz something that may helpz you with that. Here, eat thiz."

Something small and bar shaped landed on her lap. Her eyes tiredly motion to look down. She picked up the candy bar, reading its label.

She turned her head to glance upward. "Nanobar? What's this do?"

Stravek folded his arms and leaned on them on the railing of the top floor. He was no longer in his usual armor, but a long bandage had been wrapped around his chest several times. A dog tag dangled from his neck. It was something new she hadn't seen before.

"It'z a Nanobar. Eat it. It makes youz feel better. Assuming youz have to go back out on another mission and soonz."

"Gee, thanks," she gave a weak smile.

Angela unwrapped the bar and took a small bite out of it, enjoying the sweet, caramel taste of it as she chewed.

Mm, it is so good, she thought to herself, hoping it would be just the thing to wake her. She lowered her head back, continued to chew, and closed her eyes again as if to go back to sleep, but the oversized vidscreen in front of her clicked on. Reopening her eyes, slowly, a new face greeted hers. A pair of young, gold, feminine eyes stared back at hers, making her feel uneasy. Perhaps this was the new Thug Leader? Or the leader of the group?

"Manhunters, get into formation," ordered the woman, her domineering voice pouring out of every speaker within the room.

The female thug, surprisingly furry, striped and catlike, with a darker complexion than that of her own, looked around the room as the bounty hunters from the top level carried out her order in obedience.

Stravek, Vukar, and Jak descended the stairs which led down to the first floor of the conference room, where Angela reclined on a couch. Jak and Stravek joined her on the couch, sitting upright and saluting their leader. Vukar stood off to the side of the others, positioning most of his weight on one foot. In his clawed hand, he played with machete, twirling it fast on one of his fingertips.

Stravek leaned over and whispered into her ear, "That'z the captain."

Angela forced a smile behind clenched teeth. "I can see that," she said. "And she is...attractive." She chewed the rest of her nanobar with a little hint of jealousy on her face.

"Excellent work on your first mission, Manhunters. I'm proud of all of you," the captain's voice became gentle and affirmative; there was something about it that demanded attention. "But our work isn't over just yet."

"What's our next mission?" said Vukar, loudly sheathing his large blade back into its scabbard on his back.

"Reconnaissance. From what our Leader theorized, he believes the thief's next target may be on Planet Siberius, at a frozen munition factory. The factory spans several acres atop a mountainous region, with only one road that winds around the mountain trail, and it's safe to presume that the factory is lightly guarded by sentinels. Let's look at a satellite map of the region."

A satellite image of the planet Siberius replaced the captain's; an image that was highly detailed and realistic down the atmospheric conditions of the planet, charting the continents and bodies of water. A small, rectangular box appeared on screen, beeping and increasing the magnification of the planet several times until a live image came up and showed the area that housed the factory. Another box appeared, selecting the factory, reconstructing the pixel image until the front court of the factory could be seen clearly from overhead.

The captain continued, "As you can see, the facility is guarded by four watchtowers, but don't be alarmed--it's been awhile since Megacorp stationed their guards in them. Despite this, team, you could use them to your advantage. Now going back to the grounds of the facility, you'll see that everything is practically covered in snow, but that's not enough to stop us, is it?"

"Nah," said Vukar. "No snow, rain, or storm can keep us from going thar."

Another image showed the main gates of the compound. Then the captain's voice returned, "Good," she said with great satisfaction. "Here is the entrance. We won't be going through it, let alone near it--and neither will the thief. However, whoever gets beyond these doors will be welcomed to an expansive courtyard full of transport containers, of variable sizes, making this particular area a playground. You'll have to keep a close eye from the watchtower to spot anything that moves down there. I recommend that the team maintain radio silence unless it's absolutely necessary. You may give away your position should a robotic guard be on patrol. Furthermore, if you look closely you'll see tiny specs on the surface of the snow. Know what those are? Anyone?"

Jak grinned and his eyes glowed. "Seismic charges. I feelz sorry for the personz that tripz those."

"Very good. Those charges are nasty mines. Triggered by a motion sensor, they'll pop up from the ground, explode, and send off a ring of electricity that's enough to incapacitate a person. Hit too many of these and it's over."

A third image panned past the courtyard and directly onto another building in the middle of the compound. Small squares flickered on the screen, pointing out things of interest. The bounty hunters heard a short sigh from the captain.

"I'm afraid there's more bad news... You'll have to be a ghost to get past these security defenses, consisting of multiple cameras, sirens, and automated turrets, all of which are tied directly to a security console on the far east wall. Beyond these defenses lies the middle factory, where government weapons and ammunition are--were--being manufactured."

A final image panned past the middle factory to the last part of the compound. Here, it looked much like the place where shipment came and left the factory. Moments after, the opened images minimized, returning to the image of the captain.

"And last, the back part of the factory is the depot, where the weapons and ammunition are individually shipped off. Thankfully, this is in our favor, because Megacorp has closed this place down for over three years now--using it as a repository. The only things to watch out for here are the huge weapon crates left behind. With enough damage, these crates are likely to explode in your face, so try not to damage them too much. Better yet, avoid them if you can. And one more thing, it's possible that the thief may enter either at this point, behind the factory, or in the courtyard. That is why you will need one additional Manhunter stationed in a tower in the back. Any volunteers?"

"Captain, you knowz I would be the first to be a part of the action, but because of my injuriez, I'm unable to carry out thiz mission," announced Stravek, holding his side with an arm. "But I knowz another member will be able to take over for me."

"Very well, Jak, you'll take the place of Stravek. We could use a sniper in one of the towers. Vukar? Would you care to take the ground?"

Vukar shook his head. "No, no. Vukar is better in the air, so he will take the bak tower."

"Very well," agreed the captain, looking over the available bounty hunters. "This operation is based on stealth, so there's no need to blow your cover by trying to get into the factory. We're there to observe, not complicate things. Should the thief makes his appearance, only then will you move in for the capture. That goes double for you, Jak. We need the thief alive."

Disappointment showed on the Jobian's face. "Aw!"

The captain's eyes fell back on Angela. "And I believe we have a new recruit among us. I haven't been introduced to you, newcomer, what is your name?"

Angela looked to her sides, at Jak and then at Stravek, before answering. "I go by Angel. Dark Angel."

"I bet you do," the captain chuckled. "Dark Angel, is it? Well Dark, I'd welcome you to the team, but you haven't been officially initiated into the group--a little thing we thugs like do to prove our worth."

Angela raised an eyebrow at this news, a sudden uneasiness creeping up her back and making her fur perk up. She turned to Stravek for an answer, but she only received a broad smile. She turned to Jak, but he, too, feigned innocence. All of them kept something from her. As for Vukar, the pilot completely avoided her gaze, looking straight ahead at the captain.

"Don't worry, it's just a little test of skill," said the captain. "Vukar, since you're already on your feet, please be so kind as to escort Dark to the CQC room. As for the rest of you, get some rest. Dust off at 2000."

"Vukar will," he said, gesturing for Dark to rise at once. "Come, little lady."

The transmission on the holovid flickered off-line. The males in the room turned to look at Dark, the next person who would have to go through what they all had to go through at some point in time. An eerie silence hung in the air, the only sounds being the footsteps of the two climbing the stairs. Angela felt like a child being led away from her new family--and it filled her with nervousness. Before she followed Vukar out of the room, she stopped, turned to clutch the same railing Stravek had done before, and called out to him.

"What's CQC?"

Vukar waited by the door, looking over his shoulder and showing impatience.

Stravek grinned. "You'll see."

Angela turned away, going over to Vukar, who placed a hand on her shoulder and gently pulled her out the door. Several minutes down the halls she realized that she had left her helmet behind, but judging by her teammate's face, he wasn't about to turn back now, so they carried on.