Chapter 15
A Fresh Start and Unexpected Foes
Garfield groaned dishearteningly, he had his face laid against the computer screen on the bridge in his favourite chair. Luck hated him, that or Roy told his boss to forgot everything he heard and continue asking the same question over and over.
The rich playboy had been non-stop in his pursuit of flying the Titan, something Garfield was still debating if allowing Rachel personal access to it was the right call, though his quiet moments on the bridge with her have been very relaxing. Every time he takes a single step outside the bridge he's accosted by the playboy, a maddening occurrence that forced Rachel to remove all the blasters from the bridge and surrounding areas lest Garfield got a hold of one.
It was actually quite the spectacle at first, when Rachel spent an entire hour pulling blaster after blaster from every place she could get her hands into on the bridge, even long after her cleaning spree she was still finding blasters and constantly glaring at him as she removed it. Garfield did try to sneak a blaster back into the bridge only to come face to face with Rachel giving him a death glare, another thing he was surprisingly finding comforting in a strange terrifying way.
A few weeks had passed and this was the moment when he would get a perfectly blissful existence of calm until they reached the Republic space, it was the turnover point switching Red and Kory with Victor and Oliver. Garfield let a small evil smirk grace his lips, Victor had enjoyed Oliver's company and his questioning as it gave him a chance to gush over his favourite profession and show off his skills, however there was a limit to everyone and Victor quickly hit it, now he had to spend two weeks alone with the man and was cursing Garfield extensively.
"Stop smirking, you could easily switch Victor out with Red." Rachel reprimanded him, scowling at his evil smirk growing as he knew he could easily make the former Republic captain take a double shift as he had taken a liking to acting as a security guard on the Dynamic, but Victor had told him he shouldn't be so cruel and cold towards Oliver. "The switchover should be done soon, once we detach from the Dynamic you'll be piloting us for the next shift, understood?"
"This is still my ship…" Garfield tried to say only to get a glaring response from said person taking over his ship. "Understood."
"Good, also where is the station…" Rachel started before her voice trailed off as she gazed at something on the screen. Her trailing off had Garfield curious and he begrudgingly lifted himself from his lounging position and stared at the screen for a moment until his eyes finally managed to work enough to register what she was staring at. "Doesn't that mean there's a ship approaching?"
"Technically yes… but I've never seen one like… oh give me strength!" Garfield slowly recognised the strange looking vessel currently approaching them swiftly, it was one that he would never forget in a hurry simply for the headaches it has given him. The ship's design was custom made, it looked akin to a massive bee, one that was painted yellow and black as well as having military grade weapons. "Don't power weapons just yet."
Rachel gazed at him curiously until she saw his eye twitching and a look of utter contempt with both himself and whoever was piloting the ship heading towards them. She watched as he opened comms with the incoming ship, his other eye slowly twitching in sync with the first.
"You've got ten seconds to leave before I turn you into a speck of dust, and this time I ain't kidding." Garfield growled angrily, his words giving Rachel pause as she wondered what kind of relationship he had with these newcomers. "Seriously, Jinx, this isn't a fight you want to have, at least not with me."
"Aww… is the great'n powerful Captain Logan afraid of a little bout with the Hive?" A cheerful girl spoke eagerly through the comms, there were several voices behind hers laughing or joking on some matter related to Garfield but they kept themselves to whisper to let their leader speak clearly . "Looking for a way to run? Isn't that cowardly?"
"Jinx, goading me doesn't work because I know that stupid hunk of junk may have military weapons, but it's armour is flimsy and it can only take two shots from my cannons before you have to retreat whereas you have to hit mine nearly twenty times to leave a scratch." Garfield chuckled happily, loving the grinding of teeth eking through the comms as Jinx tried not to lose her composure. "So, lets cut to the chase and skip past the part where you make your demand, I tell you to get lost, you fight me for a few moments, and lets go to the part where you run away with your tail tucked between your legs."
"Afraid not this time, we have a contract to acquire a certain rich playboy from your care, and we can't go home empty handed." Jinx retorted with as much muster as she could, though she didn't realise that her words spoke volume to him. The ploy was to get the traitor to reveal themselves by lowering security around Oliver by making them believe he was a lowly smuggler, but the Hive Organisation of charter smugglers and mercenaries know of his skill and reputation first hand, they wouldn't so recklessly send someone unless it was some guy named Brother Blood, someone he had no info on other than him being the strongest combatant of the Hive Organisation. "So, are we going to do this the hard way, or the hard way?"
Garfield just plainly stared at the screen for a moment before pressing several buttons, he paused until the strangely designed ship appeared on screen only for a split second later to have powerful red beam exploded from the Titan and scorched off several layers of paint from the Hive's vessel. Garfield redirected the ship to the quickly retreating ship and fired once again, this time taking another layer of paint off the same point he had already hit, something that should have been impossible if not for his ship's weapon system having an autotargeting system completely separated from computer system.
"Still want to continue with the hard way?" Garfield grumbled with great irritation, he didn't like attacking Jinx, she was the one member of the Hive that he could actually have a friendly and normal conversation with, if she wasn't after him for any reason related to the Hive activities. Jinx was screaming to someone behind her, yelling at them to fix the leak in the system and to get the computer to cease the alarm.
"Seriously, Gar? Come on? Can't you give us a break and let us pretend like we actually had a chance against that Silver Behemoth?" Jinx cried angrily, Garfield could easily bet that she was thumping her fist against the panel below her in frustration. She is very inventive when she wants to be, causing no end of headaches for him with her impressive tactics and brilliant subterfuge, but sometimes she likes the plain old direct method, and he knew how she gets when things don't go her way.
"You wanted the hard way? You can't exactly blame me for firing upon you when I told you to leave." Garfield grumbled again, this was the exact reason why he hated dealing with Hive, though they are a criminal organisation they conduct themselves like a true business. If their employees don't put their all into their work then they can get fired, or in criminal underworld standards, killed. "Look, I know Hive didn't really send you on this mission as they would've sent a proper team if they took the contract, so get to the point of why you are here?"
"WE ARE A PROPER TEAM!" Jinx roared, her voice hitching an octave when she knew Garfield was smirking on the other end of the call. Garfield loved teasing her about this, her team barely scraped by the final test and only considered an actual Hive team because Jinx spent six weeks following him and irritating the life out of him for the cargo he was carrying. He gave in and they passed the exam, though the real reason he gave them the cargo was the client backing out of the deal and he couldn't take her sending his comm unit into frenzy every five seconds. "I hate you… argh! Fine! Hive didn't get the contract, but someone else did, not exactly sure who since I intercepted the message, yet they aren't someone I would want to meet anyway. Regardless, I thought we could get in on the credits in the aftermath… except they haven't arrived yet…"
"Who did they hire that they haven't arrived yet?" Garfield pondered aloud, if Hive could beat them to him then they had to be either a rank amateur or a serious professional, and if it's the latter then he's in trouble. "Jinx, I get it you want to climb the Hive ladder, but even if I did get caught up in a firefight with any major threat then I would flee rather than fight… However… I am willing to part with something that might be of interest to you, if you are willing to do me a favour?"
"I hate that tone of yours… what hell am I in for?" Jinx groaned with an audible shudder, one that could easily be heard over the comms and had Rachel glancing at Garfield in worry as his evil smirk grew.
"Nothing much, I just need you to hang back and track any ship outside my ship's radar, if anyone looks suspicious then ping me with a low frequency pulse." Garfield grinned, if it's a professional hunter like he suspected then having a look out could boost his odds in battle, especially if he knew who his opponent is. "In return… I have info on storage base the Hive would be interest in… acquiring… one belonging to a certain mutual enemy."
"I'm listening." Jinx reluctantly groaned after yelling at her teammates to quit it or their getting booted from Hive if they fail yet again.
"Oh, Jinx, that's not how things work." Garfield laughed merrily, enjoying Jinx's vague attempt to get the info before actually agreeing to the job. She had pulled this stunt before, garnering enough from him to make her own assessment which almost always turned out correctly and left Garfield growling in frustration. "I'll give you the coordinates the moment I reach Republic Space, regardless of if the assassin hits then or not, so now who is after me?"
"Black Manta." Jinx replied after several minutes of bickering with her team, the words stunned Garfield for a moment before he slammed his head into the control panel in front of him with such force it cut the transmission. When Jinx was able to reconnect to the Titan she was laughing so hard she was struggling to breath. "That's my new comm tune! The sound of the great Captain Logan slamming the disconnect with his forehead!"
"Sod off, Jinx." Garfield grumbled as he rubbed his forehead, passing a slight glare towards Rachel as she tried in vain to hide a growing smirk behind her hand. "Just get into position and remember, I might not be able to detect your ship, but if Manta attacks without you signalling me, deals off."
Garfield cut the line before Jinx could retort, he already had a headache and it wasn't from the red mark on his forehead. Manta is the ideal professional anyone could hire, he had a code of ethics that meant he wouldn't turn on his employer, and his skills are legendary in the field of stealth granting him the name the Ghost of the Stars.
"I haven't heard of this Manta before, though judging from your expression he isn't going to be easy to deal with?" Rachel asked after she managed to stop smirking, she brought the Titan back behind the Dynamic in its pre-planned defence position. Most would assume the better position to guard a ship is from the front, but most seeking to attack a ship would do so from the rear in hopes of disabling the engines first before the weapons, ensuring no escape was possible.
"Manta is more annoying than a problem, most assassins I can buy off without issue, but he's a professional in every sense of the word. That and his ship is undetectable even for me and my friend's radar systems, he keeps his distance gathering intel before striking at the moment of weakness." Garfield sighed, he hadn't exactly dealt with Manta before, rather he was hired to work alongside the assassin on an escort mission. The two worked fairly well together, with the only problem being that Manta dismissed him constantly due to him being younger, but their work ethics gave them a sort of mutual respect for one another. "If I know him, he won't risk a direct confrontation. My ship's a tank, she can take a beating but his cannot, with the stealth unit it has there is little else for armour and weapons other than its EMP cannon which has little effect on Titan."
"Oliver's on the Dynamic, surely he would strike now that he's vulnerable?" Rachel asked curiously, they knew that someone was targeting Oliver but they were expecting someone to try and kidnap him rather than out right kill him. Manta wasn't the kind to be hired for those kinds of missions, he primarily focuses on direct kill missions and information gathering.
"No, charging the Dynamic is the best option but it's a risky move and Manta is careful and patient, and he's not afraid of entering Republic Space. He knows the Titan and the Dynamic cannot be together constantly in Republic Space so he would wait until he had an opening, though the moment he realises we'll switch before reaching there he'll attack." Garfield groaned as he realised he had to play Find the Lady with the sharpest eyes in the galaxy. Putting one past Manta was next to impossible without a combination of insane skill, dumb luck, and some seriously dangerous and fatal moves. "We'll have to leave Oliver inside the Dynamic for now until we are beyond the border, then the real fun starts. However, the good news is that we at least know who might be responsible for the hit as not many people can get in contact with Manta would need serious contacts in the underworld and have at least fifty million credits."
"Fifty million… I know Oliver's company is large but even it doesn't have enough for that sum of money to just disappear?" Rachel asked curiously in response to Garfield's interpretation of good news, she didn't see how hiring Manta could be the vital clue they needed.
"Manta doesn't accept credits, the dude has a fortune that most would kill for if it belonged to literally anyone else, even a Sith Lord would be constantly under threat with such a horde. What he wants is trade, particularly art or technology, anything that's worth at the very least fifty million credits. Also, you only have one chance to hire Manta with one item, once rejected, Manta will not continue the conversation, so most that do hire him use an item that is more valuable than fifty million credits." Garfield explained as he dimly recalled the employer who hired him and Manta spent hours complaining about the priceless painting he lost just to get Manta to the table, and the further three he lost in getting the professional to take the job. "That, and there is only three people with a direct comm line to him and only two of which are within the region of Oliver's company and the Republic space. Out of those two, there's only one that would deal in such a high-class function like the elimination of a high profiled person like Oliver. That person is Vandel Savage, the two word answer to absolute anarchy and a walking grave maker."
Garfield shuddered at the few memories he had of meeting the imposing brute, luckily they were only during his time with his old crew so he didn't really speak with him directly though he got the impression Vandel looked at him as a wild beast he could tame and make into an attack dog. Vandel wasn't one to work with, nor was he someone to trust as Vandel only ever worked for himself, the moment he realises that he had an opportunity to gain progress towards his own goal, something he wasn't sure of, he would happily stab anyone in the back, and the front.
"If Vandel made the introductions for the client to meet Manta, then Vandel has an interest in removing Oliver for another reason. Manta used to complain about working for Vandel, he said he wouldn't work for the man ever again unless he paid his weight in credit bars filled to the brim. Then again, Manta isn't one to turn down a job as his code dictates." Garfield grumbled, if it were just Manta then the problem is fairly straight forward, lure the ghost into the light and knock out his stealth generator, but Vandel was another story. "If Vandel is involved, I may have to use that favour that Lex's owes me since my friend isn't available to offer assistance. Though, I won't have to ponder for long as I have no doubt Lex is monitoring me as closely as he can in order to get rid of the debt he owes me, if he calls, I'm hurling myself out an airlock."
"The situation can't be that bad, and besides, we only have to deal with Manta directly, Savage hardly ever interacts directly, and he steers clear of Republic space." Rachel knew of Savage by reputation and the few times he's visited the Sith Academy, there had been one occasion she worked a job for him, but she despised every second of it. "As long as we get Oliver to Coruscant, Vandel would leave us alone, he's very single minded."
"Maybe so, but Vandel can also hold a grudge against those that hinder his progress, and I have enough people who despises me." Garfield failed to hide a small smile as he found himself enjoying his conversation with Rachel, especially as she seemed to be relaxing around him. "Alright, I'll take the next shift, but we need to shorten the shift times, less chance of Manta slipping anything past us."
"Agreed, what are we going to tell the others?" Rachel asked as she got up from her chair, stretching her back and gazing at the door almost in an absolute desire to bolt for her room and pick up where she left of in one of the old books Garfield's friend got her.
"For now, nothing, getting them amped up isn't going to help and if Manta knows I'm on to him he'll change his game plan. Also, I pretty sure soldier boy wants an excuse to take command." Garfield chuckled at the idea of Richard attempting to take command of his ship, though what he was losing to Rachel, there wasn't much left he could get a hold of.
"You know leaving them in the dark isn't going to end well." Rachel sighed as she could already envision the arguments waiting to happen. Garfield merely snorted, shrugging as if he couldn't care less.
"My ship, my rules… plus if I can contact Manta, I might be able to avoid a confrontation… if he's willing to listen."
"Why is it just you and me here?" Rachel sighed as Garfield led her through the space station named the Scratching Post, its own and operated by a notorious thief often called Cat Woman, but smugglers know her as Selina Kyle. She operates a black market operation open to all smugglers outside Republic space, she has some strange deal in place that allows her to operate free of Republic interference. It's a safe space for smugglers, and an even greater place of getting a job, but unfortunately the prices there are ridiculous due to the deal she has with Republic. "Aren't we here getting a map?"
"I can't get that yet, I have someone else who I'll barter with. We're here to get the second part of my deal with Roy." Garfield pushed Rachel through the crowds trying to ignore the thought that Manta hadn't made a move yet, and he was close to holding up his end of the bargain with Jinx. It wasn't technically much in a cost to him, but he would receive an earful from his friend as its related to them, when the Doom Patrol goes to ground, they have to eject a lot of useless cargo which is quite valuable to some traders.
"You haven't told me what that is yet?" Rahcel asked curiously, slightly resisting Garfield's efforts out of habit of resistance than actual reluctance to his plan. She knew he had negotiated some sort of deal with Roy, but he had been quite tight lipped about it.
"Just wait and see." Garfield grinned slightly, he had to keep his head on a swivel encase Manta decided to skip the target and tackle the thorn safeguarding it. Not a standard tactic for the assassin, but a better option if Manta left with any impression of him like he had of Manta.
They rounded several stalls brimming with burning food, pushing past countless people shuffling about as they were so packed together only brute force made it through. They were heading to the tattoo parlour that Roy directed him to through a coded letter, everything was in order and Garfield was able to pick out Rachel's new first name, but Roy refused to let him choose the surname, something about an ironclad safety feature that would make her new identity fool proof.
Walking down the corridor past the vendors market stalls, they spotted a stout Chiss woman beating up a young human man who scarpered the moment the Chiss took stock of the two approaching her. Growling indignantly, she tossed a wrench violently at the wall that the man dashed behind.
"Ruddy scrounger! I don't work for free!" The Chiss cried more to herself than the man that had long since disappeared, she spun on the two and glared them down. "You here to rip me off?"
"No, Remoa, Roy sent me." Garfield held his hands up in mock surrender, placating the Chiss woman for a split second before Roy's name registered with her and she suddenly gripped her blaster holstered at her hip. "Whoa, I know he has a bad reputation but I ain't him, and I have no doubt he forced the price down, but I'm willing to pay double your standard rate, triple for a perfect job. If you can make it flawless, then it'll be ten times."
"You definitely aren't a friend of Roy's… and you better get ten million credits ready, cause I only do flawless work." Remoa smirked happily as Garfield winced, he knew her prices would be high, but if all went according to plan, then the cost would be worth it. "That half-wit Roy didn't give me the full details, yet looking at you two, I think I get the gist… though what Roy asked for isn't worth a hundred thousand credits… You know what, I like you. For twenty-five million credits, I'll give you my masterpiece? For both of you."
"Deal." Garfield immediately accepted stunning Rachel as she was about to protest given the massive rise in price. "Keep the records and names sealed, no one but the three of us know of this, and can you throw in Roy's work order as well? I'll pay extra?"
"No need, I'm already over charging you by five million credits. You're pretty cautious, even for a smuggler." Remoa chuckled as she entered a door in the corridor, the room inside was a tech lover's wet dream, computers lined the walls and blinking servers embedded in the walls. In one corner was a high-tech full body chair with multiple trays attached to it with various instruments, and a tinted visor held just above the chair. "Now, there is various parts I need to set up before I can begin the skin grafting and tattoo printing, but I'll start with purple first, then green… oh also, what's a World Sage? Roy had it down as part of purple's identity?"
"Its going to be my new nightmare…" Garfield grumbled as Rachel raised an eyebrow, she had gathered that this was about new identities like Garfield had said he would help her get. "A World Sage isn't a well-known role in the mirialan society, but its of high importance. A World Sage travels the galaxy and gives blessings to planets to help them with breathing life into the universe, essentially with Roy's cover we'd have to make a few stops on some barren planets."
"How would being a World Sage be a good cover identity? From the sound of it, wouldn't it attract more attention to us?" Rachel asked curiously, she didn't want to second guess Garfield as he was going to such great lengths to give her a new life when others would have either tried to kill her or expose her to the Sith, but she wasn't certain of Garfield's knowledge on Mirialans as he had stated that he knew only the basics.
"Easily, World Sage's are nomads, they hardly ever stay in one place long, and any Mirialan who runs into a World Sage is required by tradition to either ignore their presence or aid them in their pursuit of blessing worlds." Garfield grumbled slightly irked by how airtight the identity is, World Sage's aren't well known simply because the Mirialans refuse to speak of them, but they are known by officials which are required to follow Mirialan customs. "Its pretty good, except World Sage's are registered on an official list, one that cannot be hacked as its literally carved into stone on the Mirialan homeworld. Though they aren't checked often, if a World Sage makes enough waves then there are those that will pray to the stones to give faith to the World Sage."
"In other words, don't use the identity in high profile situations unless its unavoidable, and if anyone asks, say something in tongue and pray they don't know what I'm saying." Rachel rhetorically stated in a blank tone which instantly dropped when Garfield grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his neck. "You have to be kidding me…"
"Oh, don't worry, my masterpiece is far better than that, but green's right to keep it. You can never have enough identities, and this one would come in handy as a buffer to keep my masterpiece clean for longer." Remoa chuckled happily as she worked at a terminal, calling up registries and databases to form the basis of the identities. She paused for a moment and turned to Rachel, holding out a device that had a blue glowing handprint on it. "Put your hand here, any preference for a name?"
"Raven." Rachel mulled it over for a few minutes before deciding on her new name, she had wanted to keep her given name, but if this was to be a new life for her, then she chose to be the little bird her mother saw her as.
"Raven… nice name, and it works with my masterpiece's planned route, and I take it that green wants to keep his name?" Remoa didn't even have to look at Garfield for him to nod, even though its his given name that is tied to his reputation, the ID wasn't about giving him a new persona, rather it was to give Rachel an airtight cover. "Good, I take it that I have full permission to graft and alter your reputation? I know how sensitive you smugglers get with your reputations."
"Just steer clear of anything to do with Lex, he hates my guts at the moment… and avoid anything before the Silver Behemoth." Garfield didn't want to mention his time with his former crew, but if this woman was even a semi decent forger, she'll find it and hold it against him if he didn't inform her to avoid it. "If you need a point of contact, check in with the Drunken Rat bar on the other side of the station, I was there a lot in my early times."
"Ha, rookie mistake for first time smugglers." Remoa chortled as she held out the hand scanner to Garfield though he pushed it aside and pulled out a small black box. "A Bio Box, heard those are experimental… you're going all out for this."
"Identity is a smuggler's greatest asset, we burn through at least three every mission, ten if it's a serious job, but even the best of smugglers can never get their hands on a pure ID." Garfield grinned sheepishly as he knew there were smugglers that hardly go through one in most missions, but given his high standing in the field, he's far more noticeable than the average smuggler. "Smugglers don't have the luxury of leaving their line of work without disappearing to the ends of the galaxy after major facial reconstruction. Except, with a pure ID, it's a guaranteed retirement plan with no strings."
"Retirement? I thought you would be in your nineties croaking about the good old times." Rachel cheekily quipped, bruising his ego slightly as he got a mental image of himself like Old Man Kingston, a smuggler exactly like Rachel's description, except Kingston had a knack for telling young upstart smugglers that if they don't get their head blown off, then they'd end up like him. "Also, don't you have more than enough credits to retire on?"
"Not really, Titan soaks it up constantly, but the annual maintenance overhaul strips a massive chunk out of it. Now, the repair costs would go down once I leave the game, but the major maintenance won't, so if I want to retire, I need to acquire at least a hundred times the amount I currently have." Garfield absentmindedly pondered, the total amount wasn't exact, but it was roughly in that area. "That said, like any smuggler, the retirement comes after the score of a life time, the kind that makes history. Only then would I retire a legend."
"You smugglers are always the same, now green, get lost, I've got to start work on purple." Remoa shooed Garfield out while forcing Rachel into the chair, he stood outside for a moment before deciding to hit his old haunt for old times sake. The Drunken Rat isn't a place any sane person goes, the name alone is enough of a warning to stay away as only rats and vermin frequent the bar.
Despite being a bar on a space station, it resembles a haunted house propped up in a cargo bay at the end of the station outside the reach of the maintenance teams. Several shady and down right vile characters sat nursing drinks that could only be described as either bubbling poison or acid that could strip the metal off bulkheads, and in this bar that isn't a metaphor.
"Anything that's drinkable and won't turn the glass to soup." Garfield chuckled as he tossed a few credits onto what could only be described as a bar table, the room had several crates dotted around its gloomy interior with chairs varying from actual chairs to upturned boxes. The bar was a circular crate cut in half with an incredibly short unidentifiable alien serving drinks in glasses that are easily bigger than his micro head, as for his race, that has been the constant drinking game that no one has won, not even the best information merchants in the sector got close.
The bartender, a mute by nature until someone touches anything beyond the bar then it emits a sound that can turn people deaf temporarily for three months, glared at him for a moment before recognising him and glaring harder. It pulled out a glass and poured in a bright yellow liquid that Garfield could've swore was ship fuel diluted with something resembling alcohol and strained through a radioactive generator to give its bioluminescent feature.
Staring at it with a vague sense of mortal peril combined with a slightly confusing notion of curiosity to try the abomination that was slowly bubbling quietly before him while giving off a scent of jet exhaust, Garfield felt a presence beside him. Before he could react, a blaster was pressed against his ribcage.
"It's been a while… Garfield." A smooth smarmy voice spoke softly beside him dripping with venom and pride, the corner of Garfield's eyes already confirmed what his recollection matched the voice to. Black Manta. "You and I have a problem, I hope we can come to some sort of… compromise?"
"Any compromise with you is one made out of pride than greed, I doubt there is anything we can agree upon though neither of us is getting out here." Garfield smirked as a slight click caused Black Manta to suddenly stiffen, the sound unmistakably coming from the pressure plate bomb he had the bartender activate after making his drink order. The Drunken Rat didn't have its looks just from neglect, the bartender offered a neutral ground that one could bride to make it drastically unfair, as long as you were willing to pau handsomely afterwards to fix the damages from using the multitude of specially designed anti-personnel bombs that detonate upwards killing only the occupant of the chair. "You really need to visit the underworld sometime, there's so many fascinating things to discover, especially places where no matter the situation, the favour is in your hands."
Black Manta kept the blaster pointed at Garfield's side for a moment before returning it to it holster, grumbling as he glared at the bartender who merely shrugged and went back to cleaning the same glass, the same one it has been cleaning since Garfield had first came here, one that had a shine to it like diamonds. Garfield, feeling way to smug over getting one over Black Manta, foolishly took a swig of his drink and immediately remembered what had been in the glass, the taste being the first thing to cause his senses to overload with disgust and revolution.
The second sensation was the burning fire that made him believe his internal organs had been liquified into a soup in a matter of seconds, and the final sensation of him suddenly losing his vision for a few moments before it faded slowly back. Putting the glass down while trying not to choke and scream in agony, he realised that he made a mistake in believing he got one over Manta.
"You're not Black Manta? He'd have shot me by now and started working towards defusing the bomb." Garfield croaked feebly, trying his best not to sound like his throat had just had acid like magma poured down it. The man before him clad in a pure black suit of heavy armour sat stiffly for a moment before removing his helmet, revealing a dark skinned man with short white hair. "Kaldur, seems you finally did away with being the heir and took over the business?"
"Not exactly, I personally requested this mission to try my hand against you, the legendary Captain Garfield Logan, the infamous smuggler in the Silver Behemoth. I must say, that ship is a beauty to behold, and one that I doubt my ship could last long against in a firefight." Kaldur sighed with envy lacing his tone, his eyes bore a glimmer of determination to challenge the Titan despite the sides heavily tipped in favour of said Silver Behemoth. "Look, I'm going to cut to the chase, I'm here for Oliver, now I can take him easily and give you compensation towards the loss of the job, or we can do this the hard way and I take him anyway?"
"Interesting proposal, how about I offer a counter. I'm going to walk away before you get any funny ideas of believing you can get off that chair without it turning you into a decorative collage, and as for Oliver, if you attempt to take him, you'll find yourself faced with my blasters and my ire." Garfield coldly stated getting to his feat, shoving his drink in front of the rookie assassin. "Here, you can have my drink, I'm pretty sure it won't kill you, though you could keep it as a replacement fuel substitute if you run out chasing me."
"This isn't the end, one way or another, I will win, and you'll be out in the cold." Kaldur shouted after Garfield who had strolled out of the bar, ignoring the ranting rookie assassin's last remarks. He came to the bar for nostalgia's sake, but for him to run into Black Manta's son… something wasn't right.
Kaldur may be branching out from assisting Black Manta on his missions to undertaking his own, but he was in no way inferior to Black Manta. The difference between them lied solely in their work ethics, where Black Manta is completely methodical and business orientated, Kaldur is brains and heart. It wasn't exactly the greatest qualifications for an assassin to sympathise with their target, though that didn't mean Kaldur was to be underestimated, he's far smarter than Black Manta and deadlier in his approach to the situation.
That said, Kaldur knew of his reputation and his skill, risking a direct confrontation was dangerous even in the best of circumstances. From Kaldur's reputation alone, Garfield surmised that he would've shot his leg from afar if he wished to speak with him, disabling him before appearing before him, yet he sat down beside him and placed a gun in his rib cage. Something wasn't right.
Rushing back to the tattoo specialist, he barged through the door and stopped short as the sight before him mesmerised him. Rachel stood gazing into a mirror at the new markings on her face made in black ink, she had several squares assembled into two triangles pointing downwards on her cheeks and a set of squares making a V between her eyebrows, there was two wavy lines flowing from the top of her forehead down to the start of the V and across her eyebrows. She was stunning, and when she noticed Garfield entered, she turned to meet him, her glossy hair flowing with her head movement.
"What are you doing here, Green? I ain't done with Purple?" Remoa barked angrily, wiping ink off her hands after what seemed like a spill as some was on the floor by the chair. Rachel seemed eager to know the reason for his sudden intrusion though Garfield's mind had drawn a blank as he stared wide eyed at her, unable to form a thought until a spanner painfully smacked off his head. "Hey! Blockhead! Anyone home?!"
"We need to go, Black Manta is here on the station. I've got him pinned for the moment but it won't last long." Garfield blurted out once his mind suddenly realised it had vocal chords, his words caused Remoa and Rachel to curse simultaneously, the former giving Garfield a cause to gaze at her curiously until she practically threw him into the chair.
"We're gonna have to do this quick, move and I start cutting the tattoos in." Remoa threatened viciously as she pulled out the stylist she had used for Rachel's artwork. Garfield, being no stranger to erasing his own presence lest he got physically harmed for existing, stayed perfectly still while Remoa worked. He'd personally forgo the alterations out of necessity to gain a lead on Kaldur, but he is paying a heft sum for this and he wasn't going to let his credits go to waste. "Since we're pressed for time, I'll have to send you the IDs later, for now you'll have to keep your faces covered encase anyone sees the markings and you don't have the proper paperwork set up."
"We'll leave the Titan's comm line so you can pass on the information once it's down, for now we need to get out of here before Black Manta defuses the bomb." Garfield muttered carefully to not move his facial muscles, motioning towards Rachel who wrote down the comm line she had learned encase she got separated from the ship.
Once the work was completed, Garfield had a similar design to Rachel's except he didn't have the wavy lines on his forehead and he had two sharp lines angled down his jaw towards his chin. The marks of a warrior, the kind only a few Mirialan ever can have but it marks them as strong combatants that can be trusted to have another Mirialan's back in a dire situation. It's a clever deception as warriors aren't regulated nor are they misjudged as only Mirialan's know of the mark with an exceptionally few outside the race knowing of them, though how Remoa knew of them was beyond Garfield, not that he was about to question her.
"Alright, that's the credits received. You two can take the back door to this place, it'll get you back to the plaza so you won't have to worry about being ambushed." Remoa motioned towards a door that suddenly appeared in the bulkhead, its design so form fitting it was impossible to tell it was a door until it opened. "It's been a pleasure, hope we never meet again."
Garfield and Rachel dashed out of the shop, racing down the dark corridor leading towards a separate corridor that lead to the plaza. As they were running, Garfield sent a message to the ship, readying them for the quick departure. Despite the Drunken Rat being on the far end of the station, there was a point in the plaza that if one angled it perfectly that they could see into the Drunken Rat, and where Kaldur was sat at would be at least in view of this angle, or so Garfield hoped as he glanced in that direction and noticed the seat vacant.
Disregarding this, he pressed onwards with Rachel leading the way once she noticed his lack of attention on their running path. The two made it back to the ship partially out of breath, flying into the cargo bay and up towards the bridge without missing a beat, slamming themselves into the seats as they fired up the ship for departure.
"What happened?" Richard asked after nearly being ran over by the frantic pair, the others shortly joined them along with Oliver who gazed at the two with mild curiosity as his attention was focused on their artwork than the nature for their rush.
"Black Manta, he ambushed me in the station, fool thought he had the drop on me." Garfield chuckled happily, he had chosen that station for a reason, the owner was one to always have the upper hand regardless of the situation, and if one was a regular like him, then they would know of all the traps and secret compartments littering the place. It was a gold mine for wriggling oneself out of a tight spot, even the Jedi had tried and failed multiple times on that station. "We're bolting, get ready for the worst flight of your lives."
Garfield's words were met with sceptisim until he banked out of the docking bay with such force that the gravity plate struggled to keep up, causing an imbalance in the field that sent a wave of nauseous dizziness through all of them. The compressive force of the move shunted their internal organs violently in every direction and it wasn't over, Garfield launched the ship through a series of death defying spins and turns that should have been impossible for a brute like the Titan.
The Titan wasn't meant to be this agile, it's a special booster Garfield had installed for emergency purposes to allow him to push the ship beyond its capabilities by almost five hundred percent. A brilliant device to have to evade any potential attack or fly through areas no normal ship could, yet to use such a power comes with an equal cost, one that burns through a million credits per one second of use of the booster. The booster has a special type of fuel which makes up the bulk of the cost, though its nothing compared to the structural damage and the drain on energy reserves, meaning using the booster literally burns a hole through Garfield's pocket so wide that he has to work triple time after using it for ten seconds just to make up the difference.
Once he was clear of the station, he fired the Titan into hyperspace away in the first given direction he could. Black Manta wasn't one to underestimate when escaping from him, but Kaldur was a completely different story, the was a significantly high chance that he placed a tracker on his ship, something Black Manta wouldn't do since it cheapened the thrill of the hunt for him. Using the booster and performing those death defying moves would have dislodged anything attached externally to his ship hence his immediate use of it, though there were a few trackers he couldn't detach with this method, which is why he immediately went to hyperspace.
Tracking ships through hyperspace is impossible, though that is the story the public is fed to keep them from know that it is possible through unsavoury methods. Tracking a ship from one location in hyperspace is impossible, there is no radar system or tracking method known that could that while a ship is in hyperspace. However, if one were to set up over a million beacons that are tuned to the wave frequency of hyperspace travel, its creates a type of buoy system that pings when a ship passes it by.
That said, that method isn't unsavoury, just costly and easily destroyed since the beacons have to be fine tuned to each other which allows one to send a signal that can rupture the entire circuit. The second method of tracking a ship through hyperspace is predictive thinking, the method of analysing hyperspace frequencies and the mindset of the pilot of the ship, through this one can make an educated guess as to where the ship might end up. A truly perfect method for tracking ships in hyperspace, if there was a computer alive to make those calculations and had the ability to factor in a pilot's mindset.
In the underworld of crime, there is many horrific acts committed in secret that if the galaxy knew of then it would case mass terror in an instant. Among those acts is the creation of an Organic Computer, the only known type of computer that could outpace other next generation computers, but also had an element of human thinking that no other computer could match no matter how much they emulate the human mind, and that is because the Organic Computer is made by fusing living people into the computer itself.
Not many people know of this, and those that do fall into two categories, the wielders, and the destroyers. The former are those that either create Organic Computers or use it for their own purpose, the latter is everyone else who have a shred of morality and seek to end the suffering of those used in its creation, much like the young girl made into a living machine.
Garfield is in the latter, and so is Black Manta, but Kaldur is a grey area. Though he's known to help others out of the kindness of his heart, he's also known to use whatever is at his disposal to achieve his goal, even if it means doing such heinous acts as using an Organic Computer. Therefore, Garfield had to assume that Kaldur had in his possession a link to an Organic Computer, which now meant he had to completely change his thinking pattern to throw off such a terrifying device, and that involved doing something completely stupid beyond any possible known sanity that is one hundred percent brainless.
"GARFIELD! THAT IS A SUN!" Richard cried out as the Titan burst from hyperspace far too close to a red giant that the view screen was literally covered from edge to edge. Powering the Titan into a close pattern near the star's edge, Garfield released the shield around the Titan and inverted its control system, causing the shield to draw in energy than use it to project a bubble of energy. The ship's lights burned brightly as a massive amount of energy was absorbed by the cheap trick all smugglers learn early on to escape from pursuers who have means beyond the norm to track them.
"You haven't seen anything yet!" Garfield grinned manically as he pushed the Titan closer to the red giant, burning off layers of metal and paint on the ship that would have had him wincing frantically if he wasn't enjoying the thought of Kaldur trying to keep up with him. The cheap trick had a flaw, like everything that gives one an edge, and this flaw was the ability to store the energy which no ship is capable of doing if they are using this method to draw it in quickly, therefore it can only be used to power one item on the ship to nearly three times its normal capacity for a brief moment, and in this case that would be the Hyperdrive.
Normally, a smuggler would make a half rotation before bolting into hyperspace far faster than any ship should be possible of going, but Garfield knew Kaldur would expect this, and the Organic Computer would have made assessments for a quarter rotation and three quarter rotations. The one thing neither would expect was a full rotation, heading directly back along the path that the Titan had just fled from, at least this is what Garfield assumed was the most stupid plan in the given situation.
The longer the Titan was held in the field of the star the stronger the gravitationally forces affected them, causing them to be pushed harshly into their chairs and the violent feeling of having their internal organs compressed. Yet, in a blink of an eye, they made the full rotation and were sent careering into hyperspace at such a force they were compressed into their chairs, flattened to the point that it was impossible to make a move without exerting extreme amount of effort.
Though short, the burst of speed put them on the other side of the station they fled from, giving them a massive lead on their pursuers as they would be looking in the wrong direction before realising where the ship had actually gone. This was the theory that Garfield believed would allow him to escape from Kaldur, especially as it allowed him to double back and grab the Dynamic without the assassin knowing.
Yet, as he let the Titan cool down from being pushed beyond its limits, and while the others pry themselves from their chairs, a sleek black ship appeared before the Titan. The same kind of ship that Black Manta is notorious for having, and one that it seems Kaldur now has. A surge of rage burst through Garfield as he tried to figure out how Kaldur could have predicted his movements when a barrel of cold steel was pressed against his head.
"Now, that was certainly fun, but its time we drop the curtain on this act."
Author's Note: Sorry for the long upload time, recent events have made things difficult, and now they will put a halt on all writing to anywhere between the next two to three months or until the start of the next year. I have finally acquired a job and will be moving house soon, two major events that will consume my time, but hopefully after everything has settled down then I can get back to writing and hopefully regularly as well.
This is going out unedited, I do apologise about that.
Also, I'll be posting my Bloody Nightmare Story as well to fill in the gap between now and when I can start writing again, I'll also hopefully get a chapter of the Summoner and the Enchantress out as well though there is an issue with its story line at the moment that would take up a lot of time to fully fix so I might have to postpone that till later. I do apologise about this.
Bloody Nightmare is my undead story, its not in a good state as I've partially edited it in my spare time so if you notice sudden changes in story or continuity errors then I do apologise, I will try to fix them when I return. That said, I hope you enjoy it.
Comments:
Wolgon999 – Thanks for the comment. I'm really sorry for the long upload time. There is a lot I plan to do with this, but there is something I recently came up with which I think would make this story extremely compelling, especially as it could create a drastically different dynamic to the relationship of the titans. Also, though this plan doesn't involve Death Stroke in the foreseeable future, I believe it would be an interesting concept to toy with in the aftermath of my heinous plan.
The bloodlust of Garfield was an interesting concept to play with, though it was largely my way of manifesting the Beast into Garfield's persona in a way. A type of self defence mechanism created from his harrowing experiences. Its not that he's avoiding it, more that he's afraid of hurting those he cares about, but more importantly, he's afraid of losing control.
The Beast in this version is more of an alter ego he created to spare him from the nightmare of his life, therefore it became a separate personal to his own, like a split personality. Therefore, when it takes over, its as if he no longer is himself in any sense of the word, he can't control himself nor how he acts. After being constantly controlled and manipulated like he had during his time with the pirates, the sense of freedom of finally escaping would be both a drug and a curse, the mentally of breaking free is a coin with two sides.
One side is the notion of never being controlled again, being free to do anything rather than living in fear of doing anything other than what was commanded. However, that is the other side of the coin, once free of being told to do everything from breathing to acting, the mind cannot fathom what freedom truly is and creates expectations and limitations based off of the prior experiences of both during the captivity and before. That said, in Garfield's case, because he was with the pirates since an age that before that point isn't within his memory, he can only call upon those memories of the nightmare he experience, therefore when an entire trait of his personality is made from what he has now come to know as his captive time, he tries to banish it from himself as best as he could.
In a sense, Garfield isn't trying to avoid it, he is flat out running from it despite it being tethered to him like a ball and chain. He cannot escape his past no matter how much burns across the stars, and that thought is constantly brought back to him every time that bloodlust is awoken within him.
On a lighter note, comments are the lifeblood of stories like these, when the author is writing them while the audience is reading it. If the author isn't given feedback then they will continue to follow the same path with little improvement, but if the readers are giving their view of the story then it aids them to structure or improve upon their work, allowing for a better story overall.
Personally, I find that I get better understanding of my story through how my readers perceive it, even though I rarely stray from my path of storyline. A proof of this is the jealousy arc, though I agree it would be interesting to see Beast Boy with Rose, I am too fond of BBRae that I find it difficult to write beyond this in terms of relationships. Its not that I'm incapable, its just that my enjoyment of writing TT fanfiction comes from this aspect alone, and if I break from that aspect then there is a high chance I could stop writing TT fanfiction altogether.
Its difficult to explain, but the best I can give is that I fell in love of the dynamic between Beast Boy and Raven to the point that it's allowed me to create these works. However, any time I try to imagine either of them with other characters it shuts down my creative thinking, which isn't impossible for me to break, though I feel that if I do so then I would lose interest in my works I've created so far.
This doesn't mean I'm against other pairings of the two, just that I prefer BBRae and will not stray from this in my writing. Though, like I say, the pairing of Beast Boy and Rose in this concept is interesting, I could not write it myself, but I can make it seem like misunderstandings could occur in which one of the pair believes the other is infatuated with another even though that is a complete fabrication.
I know my reason is rather foolish, but my mind doesn't work the way it should and I easily lose interest in too many things that I love, therefore I have to hold onto the things that give me a reason to continue this work. I hope this explains why all my work is fixated around BBRae, though I hope to expand into other works of fanfiction soon after I return.
