Chapter 2: Aboard the Longshot
Wolf looked around. It felt so good to finally be back at the cockpit of his beloved Wolfen. It just felt right.
The sharp noise telling him the comn channel was open brought him out of his trance. He looked to his screen and saw Leon staring right at him.
"So, boss. Are we just out to stretch our wings or what?"
"No, don`t worry. I didn`t call you here for training; at least, not entirely."
Panther cut in on the communication, his face appearing on another screen.
"Then why? I assure you, I am thrilled to be out in space again, but what are we going to do?" he asked, in his smooth voice.
"First let`s practice some formations, see if we are all in fighting shape." He looked around, and saw a meteor heading towards the station. The Sargasso`s automated defenses would usually take care of it, but Wolf had different plans in his mind. "See that asteroid? Let`s blast it before the station can. Copy?"
"Copy."
"Copy."
With that, the Wolfens turned to the left and headed towards the asteroid belt. Dodging a few smaller rocks with precision only seen in seasoned starfighter pilots, they soon arrived at the large rock.
Panther was the first to open fire. The red lasers blasted onto the asteroid`s surface, chipping away. Then Leon fired a charged shot towards the weakened surface, breaking it and exposing the core.
They were getting close to the rock, so both Leon and Panther did a u-turn and headed out. Wolf, however, aimed and pressed the undertrigger on his control stick. From under the ship, a small white object shot and jetted towards the hole. When it impacted on the exposed core, the asteroid exploded in tiny fragments. Wolf smirked. He fired a few blasts onto the larger pieces, vaporizing them. His aim was as deadly as ever, and his ship was operating at peak capacity. He barely could wait to put it up to speed against a real adversary.
"All right. I think that`s enough warm up." Leon said, impatient. "What`s the deal, Wolf?"
"Ever heard of the Eye of Katina?" he asked. Panther`s eyes widened.
"That diamond exposed at Corneria`s Central Museum? The one valued in a couple hundred thousand credits and the pride of the Katinian Ministry of Excavation?"
"Exactly. They`re moving it to another place, aboard the carrier Longshot. We are going to intercept it and steal it."
"Are we that desperate to attract attention to ourselves, boss? Isn`t it better to start out small?" Panther asked. Leon chuckled.
"Yeah, right. How about we find some old lady`s pet, Panther? That tame enough for you?"
"No, I just thought that…."
"Stop it." Wolf said. "Panther, I think the Lylat system has forgotten about us long enough. We need contractors; after all, we are still mercenaries. We need to make the headlines, strike big. Understood?"
Panther sighed and nodded. Wolf noticed a small smirk play on his mouth.
"Wouldn`t have it any other way, Wolf." He said, and Wolf could see he was sincere.
"Are we settled?" he asked. When both Leon and Panther nodded in return, he turned his Wolfen to empty space. The other`s copied him. "Then let`s go!"
The Wolfens shot out into space, leaving the Sargasso Station behind them.
00000
In another part of the Lylat System…
The Longshot flew graciously through the stars. It`s massive size was made exaggerated in comparison to the small fighters that served as it`s escort.
One such fighter was finishing scouting the front path of the Longshot. It really stood out from the rest: it was an Arwing Interceptor, a rare model prototype devolped by the Cornerian government to operate in missions where speed was key. It`s pilots usually were always hyperactive and jumpy; usually, because this one was anything but all that.
"Man, I`m tired." The pilot, an orange lynx, said to the white terrier on the comn screen.
"I know. I can barely take it either. This is just… very monotonous." The terrier replied.
"I`m just returning from a long range scout. Guess what? No hostiles, or life, for that matter, in very, very long range around here. Gah, I miss the action."
"Is the great Miyu Lynx complaining?" the terrier added, before giggling.
"Shut it, Fay." She said, cutting communications with her friend. She looked at the cost that call had ammased.
"Wow. Long range communications is something they never seem to get right, huh?"
Miyu opened a comn channel to the bridge.
"Everything clear, Captain." She said, yawning, to the dog on her communications screen. The captain, an old war veteran with a lot of grey hair on his head called Lindshaw, nodded and finally gave the order she had been waiting:
"Copy that, Miyu. Dock your Interceptor in dock 3. You earned some rest." He told her. She nodded and began the approach to the docking bay.
Miyu smiled as she completed the manouvre. The sleek cockpit opened up and she jumped out to the cold floor.
"Hey, Lynx!" a mechanic asked her, as she removed her gloves. "Is the Interceptor working allright?"
"I think the upper G-Diffuser is off. The left wing also isn`t swinging around right." She said, before chuckling. "I also think I scratched the paint."
The mechanic grumbled something before calling a group to take a closer look at the Arwing. Miyu just ignored that and went to her quarters.
Miyu had been quite busy during and after Aparoid Crisis. She, like many other mercenaries, had been called by the Cornerian government to bulk up the forces to prevent the invasion of the planet which, in hindsight, didn`t help much. Afterwards, she had been hired to escort the Longshot to Zoness, for quite a large sum of cash payed in advance. She smirked. Life was good.
"Although I am feeling a little underwhelmed by this mission." She thought. "Maybe this wasn`t such a bright idea after all."
Ever since she had left Corneria city again, she had had this idea nagging in the back of her mind. She didn`t feel like a pawn, but rather… her talents seemed unused.
She opened her room. It was a really small room, with only a bed and a small bathroom for herself. She didn`t waste any time. She quickly went to the bathroom to wash her face.
She looked at herself in the mirror. Miyu was, by all accounts, a very attractive woman. Her black stripes contrasted with her orange fur, and she still had the piercing on her ear she had gotten before the Lylat Wars. She chucked a handfull of water to her face.
Of course, she couldn`t go five minutes in all of this before someone bothered her. The small communications signal appeared on the mirror. Annoyed, she tapped into it. Lindshaw`s face appeared in front of her.
"Miyu, am I interrupting anything?"
"Sir, no sir. I was just finishing cleaning my face, because, you know: being stuck in a cockpit for a day doesn`t exactly leaves you smelling like a rose bush."
Lindshaw sighed, and Miyu smiled internally.
"Report to the bridge. I need your opinion with something."
"That desperate?" she said. Lindshaw just cut the line.
She sighed once, before getting a towel and wiping the water out of her face. She then made a beeline to the door.
Of course, on her way to the bridge, she just passed by a group of marines that wolf whistled at her. She smirked.
"Can see, but can`t touch, boys…" She thought, giving off a small chuckle.
When she arrived at the bridge, the Captain was busy talking to one of the radar workers.
"Are you sure it`s just interference?" the old german shepard said to the tabby cat on the chair.
"Yes. It was just some problem with the electromagnetic rebound, probably a solar storm. Won`t affect us again, sir."
"Good. Keep up your work." Lindshaw then turned to her. "Ah, Ms. Lynx. Take a seat, please."
Miyu sat next to the entrance. The captain approached her.
"You`ve been doing an awfull lot for us around here."
"I know, but that`s not me. The crew is just shitty at flying."
A couple of eyes were directed at her, mainly a glare from the pilot. Lindshaw, also shook by the comment, gulped down and continued, a bit more nervous.
"I received a message from Corneria Military Command." He said, crossing his arms behind his back. "After examining your performance in both this mission and during the Aparoid Crisis…"
"Which mission they analyzed?"she quickly cut in.
"Katina. You helped save the Science Division, alongside Bill Grey."
"Oh, right. The day Bill and Fay hooked up." She thought. That had been quite a day: first, a vast amount of Aparoids descended when she had barely had time to eat breakfast; next thing she knows, Fay and Bill are doing the… dance without pants.
She kept a neutral face and nodded.
"Returning to my previous line of thought, they analyzed both performances, and authorized my recommendation of you."
"What recommendation?"
The Captain motioned her to stand up. She did, and he offered her a handshake.
"Welcome to Corneria Space Militrary, Lieutenant Lynx." He said, firmly.
She looked at his hand, a little surprised. Then, she laughed out loud, much for his dismay and for the amusement of everyone else in the command centre.
"I`m sorry." She said, wiping a tear off of her face. "I don`t work like that."
"But you can`t just…"
"Captain!" one of the communications experts shouted. "Incoming transmission!"
The Captain immediately turned around. Miyu looked over his shoulder.
"Who? On screen."
"No video, just audio."
The comn. expert tapped a few buttons on his dashboard, and a screen lowered in the centre of the room. After a few seconds, a voice spoke, in a slow, calm and collected tune:
"Attention, Assault Carrier Longshot. Hand over the Eye of Katina, or we`ll open fire."
"That voice… I`ve heard it somewhere…" Miyu thought, trying to remember.
"Who are you, pirates?" the captain pressed on.
"That does not matter. I repeat, give us the Eye."
"Not a chance. If you want it, then come and get it."Lindshaw said, signaling for a communication break. The line fell, and the screen retracted to the ceiling. "Are they on the radar?"
"No sir. Not here, and not in the next sector."
"Good, so it was a bluff…" Lindshaw said, and Miyu could pick up that even he didn`t trust his own words.
"I wouldn`t count on that…" she said, looking at one window.
Lindshaw followed her gaze, and just barely managed to see the green flash of an engine zipping past their line of view.
"What was that?" he asked.
Suddenly, the ship shook violently.
"Brace for evasive manouvres!"the main pilot said, and, through one of the security monitors, Miyu saw that one of the engines was on fire. "All pilots! Scatter and find whoever did this!"
Lindshaw turned to Miyu.
"You too, Lynx."
She nodded, smiling, and ran away through the hallway that led to the hangar. Quickly, she reached the bay she was stationed in. She flipped herself onto her Interceptor, strapped on her gloves and prepared for launch amidst the hectic amabiance of ships launching and mechanics running in semi-panic.
She smirked.
"Finnaly some action…"she told herself, before launching her ship onto the fray.