Fay was running out of options.
Panther had left momentarily, but was now back with what sounded like a small group of thugs, likely sold out mercenaries. They were attempting to hack the door, and Fay was running out of firewalls to erect over the standard security. Eventually, they were going to get through, and Fay was praying they wouldn't get the countermeasures down in time. She kept putting up security, but by that time they'd got the one in front of it down.
However, her ears perked up at a humming sound emanating from behind her. She turned to see what it was, and smiled.
"Hello there." she muttered.
Panther was growing impatient. The thugs under his command could not even open a simple door! He growled as he paced up and down the hallway.
"Caruso, sir!" One of the mercenaries, a chameleon who Panther thought closely resembled his teammate Leon, suddenly shouted. "The firewalls... they- they've stopped. I'm in!"
"Finally, it took you long enough." He muttered in reply. He reached past the merc for the door release. With a press of his ebony paw, it slid back into it's housing to reveal the one who called herself Snow standing in a defiant-looking pose, helmet now removed. Panther raised his pistol to her face. He noticed there was a discreet humming noise, but dismissed it as the station's engines.
"Two things before I die," she suddenly said, "One: the name is Fay Deveraux, and my mate's name is Joseph Clarke. Remember them both, because he and I will come for you, and leave you in a world of pain for what you almost did." She holstered her pistol, and slipped the helmet over her head, securing the seals, for some reason Panther was unaware of. "And two: You better watch out..."
'Fay' stepped to the side, and Panther's eyes widened to an impressive imitation of a pair of yellow saucers. Outside, floating, were four Arwings, one empty with it's canopy open.
"...because we're back in business. Do yourselves a favour. Run."
Almost as if on cue, the lead fighter began to charge a heavy shot, and Panther's mind suddenly and rapidly connected the dots: Window. Empty Arwing. Pressure helmet. Charge shot.
"Oh shit..." he muttered. He turned to face the mercenaries behind him, who were all looking slightly bewildered. "RUN!" he yelled, sprinting as far down the corridor as far as possible. They must have got the message, because he could hear a flurry of padsteps and yells from behind him. After a few seconds, there was a crash and a woosh of air, knocking the group to the floor. An emergency bulkhead sealed behind them with a clang of metal.
"Dammit!" He growled, slamming his fist off the metal floor and then rising to his feet. "Can any of you pilot fighters?" He asked to the mercenaries. Three raised their hands. "OK, four on four. Not bad odds, I suppose" he mused. "Now here's the hard part:"
"Any of you feel like taking them on?"
Fay glided out of the office window, Krystal's charge shot having completely obliterated most of the glass, more melting it than shattering it. With a graceful zero-G backflip and a little help from Newton's First Law, she landed straight in the Arwing's cockpit. She sealed her canopy and released the helmet's clamps, placing it under the seat and retrieving the the flight headset from the controls. She moved it behind her head and fitted it into place. Sensors on the inside picked up her brain activity and brought the headset online. A Heads-up display and microphone slid into place on the right-hand side of her face. On the HUD, five icons appeared at the top. Three of them blinked to life, revealing the faces of Joseph, Krystal and Wolf.
"Hey Fay. Are you alright?" Joseph asked worriedly.
"Yeah, I'm good. Nothing wrong physically, flight controls green across the board." She replied.
"OK, that's good." he replied, "Now, when does that capacitor overload thing kick in?"
Almost on cue from the station, a series of red warning lights began to blare in the windowed corridors. The engines at the bottom of the station also blinked out.
"Hmmm, I wonder..." asked Fay sarcastically.
"Uh oh." Krystal muttered.
"What is it, Krys?" Wolf asked.
"I'm reading four fighter-class signatures coming from Hangar Bay 2. What's in there?"
"Nothing much," Wolf assured her, shrugging, "Just our... Ah Hell."
"What?"
He facepalmed on the display. "Just our old Wolfens." As he said this, three Venomian Interceptor-class ships and Panther's original Wolfen from when he first joined the team shot out of one of the docks.
"Didn't think you'd get away that easy, did you?" Caruso growled menacingly over the comm. The four wings of the Wolfen sprang to life, and the sleek fighter shot forward, heading straight for Wolf. The three Interceptors broke off from behind their leader and sped off towards Krystal, Joseph and Fay.
"Well" Joseph said, cracking his knuckles on the display, "If it's a fight you want then you've made one hell of a bad life choice."
Cue Panther's Command Theme - "Caroso, Lady's Man"
The four Arwing's wings swept back and, engaging their boosters, jetted towards the incoming hostiles. One of the Interceptor pilots began to fire before he was in range, and his few futile shots simply missed altogether. Panther sped ahead of the three others ships in his Wolfen and let off a laser barrage of his own. Three or four shots impacted with Wolf's shields, dropping them to 95%. He pulled in behind Panther as he soared past and attempted to retaliate, charging a heavy shot, but before he could lock on, one of the Interceptors rolled into position behind him. Another two shots, and he was on 93%.
"Aw crap!" he yelled, "I'm boxed in. Little help?"
"Hang on, Wolfy! I got'cha!" Joseph shouted in reply. Half a dozen rounds connected with the top of the trailing interceptor. Milliseconds later, Joseph's Arwing swooped down in front of it, missing Wolf's G-Diffuser assembly by about a meter.
"Yee-hah!" He whooped, rolling into an U-turn and swooping up behind Wolf's pursuer. The Interceptor peeled off, attempting evasive maneuvers, and Joseph did his best to stay on him.
"Careful, Clarke!" Wolf chided, "We were almost scrap metal there!" He continued to pursue Panther, charging and firing another heavy shot; this one did connect, and the upper one of the Wolfen's triangularly-mounted G-diffusers shattered, floating off into space.
"Damn it!" He heard Panther yell, and a smile grew on Wolf's lupine muzzle.
Above them, Krystal was being pursued by the remaining two enemies, shields now at 75%.
"Aah!" She yelled, "I've got two on me, and I can't shake either of them! Help!"
"Hang on" replied a new voice. To both side's amazements, it was the Rainbow Delta that shot to the rescue, soaring upwards at the Interceptors' underbellies. Multiple heavy shots slammed into the lead of the two, completely draining it's shields. Fay's Arwing dove in behind it and finished it off with a burst of laser fire. It detonated in a silent fireball, fragments of vaporised metal showering the other Interceptor.
"Powalski?" Wolf stated in disbelief, " is... 's that really you?"
"The one, the only." Came the quick reply.
"Why are you helping us?" Krystal asked
"Because Panther's an ass, and it's about time I kicked him." His display flared to life, and he flashed them a toothy grin.
"Help is help," Fay noted, peeling off to assist Leon in chasing another Interceptor, "But how'd you get to your ship? Wolf cut them loose."
"Ah, I was wondering how that'd happened. A pressure suit and some patience, that's all it took." Together with some assistance from Krystal, they quickly eliminated another enemy fighter.
"Two down, two to go!" She cheered enthusiastically. The third Interceptor pilot must have realised the inevitability of his defeat, as he quickly U-turned and sped back towards Hangar Bay 2.
"Caroso, Lady's Man" fades to nothing.
"Come back here you goddamned coward!" Panther yelled futilely. Sighing, he U-turned back towards his enemy, but immediately slowed to a complete stop, which was impressive given the fact he was only running on two G-diffusers. In front of him was all five of them, lined up in a row and facing him.
"Do yourself a favour, Panther" Wolf began, "Your cronies are dead or gone. You've failed to kill me, or anyone here for that matter, even in a Wolfen, the ship you can fly better than any of us. You were out team's ace, but clearly that time has passed, along with the old me. So do yourself a favour and get out of my sight."
"I'm not leaving until you're dead, you pathetic traitors. At least I remember where my loyalties lie." He snarled in response.
"Your 'loyalties' lie with a team that dosen't even exist any more" Krystal retorted, "Star Wolf is done, Panther. We were falling apart any way. And it was because of you. I stopped flying because you couldn't stop flirting like an idiot, Leon stopped talking to you because you were always boasting and bragging about things that never happened. Wolf could sense us breaking apart, and he had the decency to try and go while he still could. You want to try and stay on, be our guest. You've got one broken ship and only you to fly it. Best of luck, arsehole."
At that moment, the Great Fox II rolled out of the Deck Zero Hangar and into the space below them.
"You're dead in space, Caroso. Don't try to follow us, because I know you can't. I'm sure a team from Sargasso will come by and pick you up in a day our so, or however long it takes for them to look out a window."
With that the five ships turned and boosted off toward the Great Fox II. Panther sat there, growling. 'One of these days', he thought, 'they're all going to regret screwing with me like this. On of these days, I swear.'
After docking in the hangar, the quintet of pilots opened their canopies and stepped out on to the flight deck. The pressure doors sealed, and the oxygen shield snapped offline. Joseph went straight to Fay and, before she could so much as say a word, drew her into a deep kiss. Leon, who happened to have landed next to Fay, stood there feeling a little awkward.
"For the love of Lyla," Joseph said, pulling away, "If Wolf ever comes up with a plan that involves you backflipping out of a window, that's just been destroyed by lasers, and landing in an Arwing, ever again, please don't go along with it."
"OK, Romeo, thats enough." Fay replied. "I promise." She added, raising her right hand in a mock oath. Joseph laughed, and Fay pulled him into a hug.
Leon, sensing he should probably get out of there and leave them to it, walked back to his ship.
"Hey Leon!" Wolf shouted, raising his hand after him. Leon turned to face him, and Wolf outstretched his arm.
"It's pretty clear you don't want to come with, what with you sneaking off and all, but I at least want to say, that it's been an absolute pleasure working with you."
"Likewise Wolf," the chameleon replied, shaking Wolf's hand. "Who knows, I might even run into you again sometime."
"Until then, Powalski." Wolf said. Leon smiled, nodded, and stepped up and into his cockpit. The shield pulsed back into life, and the doors opened with a metallic grinding noise. The Rainbow Delta's G-diffusers flared to life, and the ship ascended and shot out if the hangar with a streak of purple engine emissions.
(AN) - Well, that's another chapter.
Also, I've had the idea of doing longer chapters once a week, so expect one next Saturday too
Peace,
-Wing Ace.