So sorry for the delay, but I got a new internet service. It took a while but I'm finally back! To make up for lost time, I've decided to release two chapters at the same time! Hope you'll like them. Okay, its time for the Cooper Gang to reach their destination! What will happen?
Sly Cooper and the Space Thieves
Chapter 18- The Arrival
The Dragon Thief traveled smoothly through space toward its destination: Dolphus. Sly and the team were very edgy at this point; they were finally going to arrive at the home world of the Aquians, and will soon come face-to-face with their leader, Jacor. Sly was thinking back to when he read Yanor's note, and how it changed everything. He knew it won't be easy to talk to the Aquian leader, but he must convince him that Sly's team are not there to hurt them. Hopefully King Beowulf will help smooth things over. The white wolf was admiring the views of outer space, and the other planets he had never seen in his life. He could not wait to visit Dolphus.
"Sly, planet Dolphus dead ahead!" Murray said as the planet came into view. They were right earlier; a ring of ice was circling the planet. Basically, it looked like a blue version of Saturn. "Murray, keep the ship in orbit a few miles from the ice ring. We don't want to get any more scrapes." The hippo nodded and kept the ship in a stable orbit. Beowulf got up to take a look at the planet. "It is a wondrous sight. How will we approach the Aquians?" Sly asked Bentley if we could teleport down. The turtle shook his head. "Nope, that ring of ice is causing too much interference. We will need to get there the long way."
Carmelita thought of something. "I know. Why don't we use our secondary vessel to fly down there?" "Good idea, Carmelita." Sly replied and thought up his plan. "Carmelita, Beowulf, Guru, and Murray will come with me to the surface of the planet. The rest of you will stay here and be prepared incase something happens. Understand?" Everyone nodded. "Alright, let's move." Sly and his teammates immediately went to the cargo bay and boarded the secondary vessel. Once they were aboard, Sly told Bentley to open the cargo bay doors. He complied; the doors open and the smaller ship flew out to the planet.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
It took a few minutes to get through the ice ring, but they made it through without trouble. They were now entering the planet's atmosphere. The ride through was bumpy, but all atmosphere entries are supposed to be a little rough, right? As soon as the ship reached the surface, they looked around. Every inch was covered in water; there was not even a single piece of land in sight. Sly had decided to take a closer look at the water. The ship was brought lower for a closer inspection. The water was sapphire blue, just like the sky. However, nothing could be seen, for it was too dark under the water to see anything beneath it.
After flying around the surface for 10 minutes, they still have found no sign of life. Beowulf spoke to the others. "Perhaps the Aquians live underwater. Was this vessel designed for underwater use?" Carmelita checked the designs for their ship on the onboard computer. "According to these designs, this tin can should function in the water." Sly didn't need to here anymore. "You heard the lady, Murray. Take this bad boy for a dive." Murray complied and plunged the ship into the sapphire colored ocean. Once underwater, the team stared in awe.
It was beautiful; there were lots of unknown plant life growing on the rocks on the seabed, several coral reefs the size of mountains, and there were hundreds of small fish-like creatures that swam everywhere. One of them looked like an octopus, except it was 12 ft tall, green, and had spikes around its head. Another one was a red shark with two heads, both of which were staring in opposite directions. They were all so weird looking that the team thought they were mutated somehow, but they knew they were natural on this planet.
A whole hour they looked, but there was still no sign of the Aquians. "Hey Sly, any ideas of how we're suppose to find them?" Murray asked. Sly was thinking that maybe they should contact Bentley and see if he could detect anything unusual, but then something unusual just happened; their ship got hit by something, very hard. Everyone got knocked off their seats from the impact. As they got back up, Beowulf asked, "What was that!" Their answer appeared right in front of them; it was the octopus-like creature they had seen earlier. It was attacking them!
The creature lashed one of its huge tentacles at the ship again and it got knocked aside. After that last blow, Sly decided to take some action. "If that thing wants to play rough, let's return the favor! Beowulf and Carmelita, man the plasma turrets. Murray, take us around that monster. Guru, hold on tight. Time to strike back!" Murray took the ship around the beast before it could attack again. As soon as they were behind it, Carmelita and Beowulf let loose with the turrets. They had fired several shots at it, but they only pissed it off! Now it was really going to make them pay!
The creature attacked again, but this time Murray dived forward, right in front of the creature's mouth! Sly saw an opportunity here, and he took it. "Beowulf, direct your turrets at the monster's mouth and don't stop firing until it backs off!" Beowulf nodded. "I hope this works." The white wolf then fired everything he got at the thing's mouth, and it roared in agony. Like most armored creatures, they are tough on the outside but tender on the inside. The creature continued to moan in pain until it was out of sight. Sly and the others are relieved that that was over.
"There is something I don't understand," Beowulf said in thought. Carmelita turned to him. "What is that?" Beowulf looked at the others with a serious face. "We did not attack that creature when we first saw it, yet it attacked us an hour later. Why?" Sly thought about that; it was strange for that to happen. "Maybe it either was a different creature that was more aggressive, or maybe it followed us since we have seen it and waited to attack." "But that makes no sense at all," Carmelita replied.
Even though this was an alien planet with strange life forms, it was still unusual for any animal to attack without being provoked. "Maybe it was just defending its territory." Beowulf stated. "But that still doesn't explain why it followed us in the first place." Carmelita pointed out. "Uh, guys." Murray said in nervousness. "What is it, big guy?" Sly asked. "Maybe they had something to do with that overgrown sea monster." He pointed right in front of the ship, and they saw something that was not natural; a small fleet of ships.
They were all twice the size of their vessel and they had them completely surrounded. Each of them looked like an armored dolphin, ready for battle. There were about ten of them. They looked like they were ready to attack them. 'This does not look good,' thought Beowulf. Before Sly and the gang could do anything, they were being contacted on their communications channel. "Attention unidentified vessel! You are trespassing in Aquian territory. Respond at once, or we will open fire!"
"Well, at least we've found the Aquians." Sly said in amusement. He asked Murray to open their channel to the Aquian ships. "Channel open, Sly." "Thanks." Sly cleared his throat before he spoke. "Aquian vessel, we respond. This is Sly Cooper, leader of the crew of the Dragon Thief. We have come in peace." They waited a few minutes for the other ships to respond. Then they replied. "Sly Cooper, tell us what you are doing in our territory." "I and my crew have come to speak to your leader, Jacor. It is very important that we talk to him."
"How do you know about Jacor? What is so important that you have to speak to him about?" Sly hesitated. "That is for Jacor alone to know." Sly and the others waited for the response of the other ships. It took a while, 20 minutes in fact, but they finally got their answer. "Sly Cooper, you will have your vessel follow us immediately. We will be taking you to our capital city, Cora, and don't take any detours. You will then be taken to Jacor himself for questioning. Will you cooperate?" Sly looked relieved. "Yes, we will cooperate. Lead the way."
The Cooper sub began to follow the Aquian ships toward their city, where Jacor will be waiting for them. Beowulf walked up to Sly to face him. "So far, so good. I hope that Jacor will be in a mood to talk." Sly looked back at him. "You and me both, your highness." Sly stared out in front of the view screen in thought. 'I just hope that Jacor believes what I have to tell him…'