Chapter 4
Storm clouds colored the Zoness sky and everything below puke green. Heavy raindrops pounded down while lightning and thunder rocked the sky. High above the ocean, a G-Zero course curved and darted through a maze of dark towers and metal works. In spite of the weather, dozens of G-Zero pilots raced around the track, spraying mists of water wherever they went and even drowning out nature's thunder on occasion. Cheering crowds filled the sold-out stands, defying the weather with raincoats and umbrellas.
However, all good things must come to an end.
The leaderboard announced three G-Zero machines entering the final lap: Silver Shadow held first place with Yellow Mistico right behind him, while Rosso Cavallo trailed in a distant third. The crowd went wild as they watched Silver and Yellow duel each other across the circuit. A few observers noticed Rosso closing in on the other two. Rosso's sector and lap times were way faster. At the rate he was going, some murmured this might become a three-way battle to the finish.
Rosso Cavallo entered the last half of the Zoness circuit, rocketing along and looking like nothing more than a crimson blur to the spectators. If an observer could slow down time, they'd see a low slung, snake-like curvaceous machine. Golden lines accented the curves of the red bodywork, further adding to the slippery looks. A rear wing the size of a park bench stood tall in back, while two massive jet engines pushed it forward. G. Twinkieland could be seen in white cursive script under the cockpit's canopy, next to the red, black, and green flag of the planet Thaljista.
While the audience jumped on its feet and cheered as Rosso flew past, the pilot heard none of it over the screaming jet engines. The road held Giichi Twinkieland's full attention, the stands already a speck in his rearview mirror. He blasted along at over 800 km/h as raindrops slammed into the glass canopy like bullets. First and second held the lead by several seconds, and the race would be over within the next minute. Giichi wanted that first place podium, and nothing was going to stop him.
The track dived downwards and skimmed above the stormy, slimy seas. Tall waves crashed against the sides of the track, spraying the canopy with the ocean's sludge. G-Zero racers came with a special coating to help moisture slide off the glass, but even the advanced coating struggled to handle the slime.
Nonetheless, Giichi maintained pace while he waited for the glass to clear. Like a soldier in war, a racer needed to use every tool available to achieve victory. His memory filled in the gaps where his eyes could not see, since he'd raced on this track many times before. To assist his memory, he used the towers and cranes above as reference points for his location.
As the sludge cleared away, the track curved back upwards. That signaled the approach to one of the most dangerous turns on the Zoness circuit: the Kink. The Kink was a slight-right hander, and a real gut-check. Use the correct line and you could blast through it without laying off the gas. Misjudge the apex while going full speed, and you'd smash into the left wall. Heaven or hell. To win, Giichi needed to take it at top speed.
Two towers approached, one on the left side of the track and then one further away on the right. The first one marked where to start turning for the Kink, while the second marked the Kink's apex. Giichi needed to hit both marks on the dot. He moved to the far left side of the track for the approach. The barrier flashed past his machine at 900 km/h, just centimeters away from the car's body. Were he not enclosed in an armored cockpit, Giichi could almost reach out and touch the wall.
The first tower on the left flashed past. Giichi nudged the stick over to the right, tracking the Rosso Cavallo inwards towards the apex. His hand moved the stick with the serenity and smoothness of a tai chi master, at odds with the car's crazy speed. Reaching the right side of the track, he almost scraped against the other barrier. The Cavallo rumbled as it flew over a rough patch beneath the second tower. The rough patch indicated the apex, so Giichi eased his grip on the stick and allowed the car to drift back to the other side of the road. As he completed the out-in-out maneuver at full throttle, Giichi spared a small smile.
But only thirty more seconds remained before the race's end. After a quick left-hander, the two remaining cars came into sight: the Yellow Mistico and the Silver Shadow. They moved so close together, it looked like a chain connected them. Yellow danced back and forth across Silver's rear bumper, laying on the pressure as he searched for a way past. Equally as alert, Silver juked back and forth to hold the best line and block the road. Up ahead, a tall oil tower loomed above the track. The final 210-degree carousel turn curved clockwise around the bottom of the structure. After that, the finish line would be within spitting distance. Whoever came out in the lead after the final turn would win.
Silver moved left to take the optimal racing line on the outside as the carousel approached. Yellow moved to the inside on the right, looking like he wanted to try late braking. That would cost Yellow speed on the corner's exit, but it would probably get Yellow out in front while blocking Silver's out-in-out line. That left the carousel's outside open in the middle of the turn… While it would be a slow line, it played to the strengths of Giichi's machine. The Cavallo weighed a lot less than the other two machines, giving it lots of cornering power. Giichi had less straight line speed than the other two, but he could afford to take the turn at a much higher speed, and with more varied lines. That would cinch him the win.
Giichi took a deep breath, as he kept on his car on the left, throwing himself at over 1000 km/h towards the outer barrier. At the correct point, Giichi slammed hard on the brake pedals. Flaps shot up on the front of the car, while the rear spoiler turned downwards to increase drag. Letting off the brakes, he skimmed along next to the outer barrier at high speed.
Meanwhile, Yellow did as Giichi predicted, going inside and slamming on his brakes late to block Silver. Silver turned inwards, but then he bumped off of Yellow, bouncing towards the outside of the turn…right into Giichi's path. Giichi's eyes popped open, but his hands and feet moved before his conscious brain even thought about dodging the machine. He flared the right-hand air brakes while juking the stick in the same direction, allowing the car to turn tighter to the right and just narrowly missing the back of Silver. Yellow cleared the apex, but he exited the turn slow since he had apexed early to block Silver at the start of the turn.
Time to pounce.
Giichi put on the machine's turbo boost just after he cleared the midway point of the turn, the extra power sending his back end into a drift. Yellow, seeing Giichi shooting past, got hard on the gas as the road straightened out. However, it looked like he'd spent all his boost trying to keep up with Silver, and had none left for the final straight. Giichi left Yellow in the dust, the Rosso Cavallo rocketing through a slight left kink and down the final stretch. Crossing the finish line, Giichi breathed a sigh of relief.
Wild cheers went up around the Retribution's recreational room, the crowd gathered around a large holoscreen TV in the corner playing a game of G-Zero GX. Giichi jumped off the couch with controller in hand, the yellow sand cat laughing and taking a bow to the mercenaries watching the game. Then he turned to a pissed off hyena and bulldog sitting on the next couch over, the drivers of Silver Shadow and Yellow Mistico.
"Loooooosers!" Giichi made an L-sign on his forehead with his fingers. "Losers the both of ya! Haha!"
The hyena folded his arms tight around himself, as if hoping he could make himself small enough to not be seen. The bulldog gave Giichi a glare that only a bulldog could, with his thick jowls and sharp teeth poking out from under his muzzle.
One of the hyena's friends, another hyena himself, laughed and patted his friend on the shoulder. "He gave you a twenty second head start, and he still beat both of you!"
"Oh shut up Ed!" The hyena jumped off the couch, turning around to throw a punch at his friend. However, Ed saw it coming and dodged out of the way.
"Okay, okay…" Giichi chuckled, calming down. "You know our bet. I doubled down on beating both of you with that handicap. Pay up." Giichi smacked his hand for emphasis.
Grumbling, the hyena and bulldog withdrew two messy wads of credit bills from their pockets, tossing them on the old, scratched up coffee table in front of the TV. As they walked off, they pushed their way through the jeering Star Wolf grunts watching the game.
With the game over, the crowd dispersed, going to other activities around the metallic-walled rec room. Some went over to the pool tables, bathed in soft light beneath old stained-glass lamps that looked at odds with the spaceship interior. Others went to play darts in another corner, an occasional thump sounding out when the dart hit the target, or a loud and humiliating clang if the metal wall got struck instead. Others gathered around a bar with a polished cherry wood top, the more drunken ones adding slurs, yelling, and laughter to the soundtrack of the room. Harsh fluorescent lights revealed clouds of cigar and cigarette smoke wafting in the air.
Meanwhile, Giichi just smiled over his win and counted the credit bills, soon stuffing it into his wallet. With that done, Giichi realized his eyes felt very dry. He had not blinked once during that last stretch of the race. After closing and opening his green slit eyes several times, the sand cat let out a big yawn, his ears rotating around backwards in the process before snapping forwards again as the yawn finished.
Giichi decided he would go back to his room now. While the he felt more comfortable hanging around the mercenaries after a few months of being here, the sand cat never truly felt like he belonged on this ship. Yeah, Wolf O'Donnell paid him a pretty penny to hack the CCSNB's computer network, but he was just a computer nerd. He looked very out of place in this room with his plain red hoodie and blue jeans, while everyone else looked like a raider, a pirate, an irregular, or what have you. Wolf assured Giichi he'd deal swiftly with anybody trying to harass him, but of course Wolf wasn't on the ship right now.
Giichi started for the doorway, cutting through the people milling about. The task turned out to be harder than he thought it would be. The Retribution was waiting for Wolf, without much work to do in the meantime. So a huge portion of the crew filled the room, turning the trek to the exit into an obstacle course. Giichi brushed past a large buffalo lining up a shot on one of the pool tables, then dodged a dingo who'd obviously had too much to drink as he fumbled about, crashing into just about everything and earning the ire and yelling of other patrons.
Just when he thought he was safe, a new face stepped into the doorway, silhouetted by a light mounted across the hallway. Giichi felt his blood running cold when he saw who it was. Jet black fur contrasted against a blue and yellow flight suit, a narrow feline tail swishing around out back like an angry cobra. Yellow slit eyes bore down on Giichi, the light's silhouette making them appear to shine brighter. It was Panther Caruso, the Number Three of the Star Wolf gang.
"Hello there Giichi," A pleasant smile crossed the larger cat's face, while his rich, deep voice halted Giichi in his tracks.
"Hi…?" Giichi craned his neck back to look Panther in the face. The sand cat's height only reached up to about Panther's chest, making him feel very small.
Giichi didn't know Panther all that well, or Leon for that matter. After Wolf hired Giichi for the CCSNB job, Giichi pretty much worked only with the lupine, leaving the other two of the Big Three an unknown quantity. Why did Panther want to talk to him, all of a sudden?
"You like G-Zero don't you?" Panther kept the pleasant smile on his face, as he leaned against the door frame.
"Uh…y-y-yeah." Surprised by the response, Giichi had some trouble forming his words. "A-actually we were having a G-Zero tournament over there…just…now." He pointed towards the TV with the gaming system, now occupied by four grunts playing team deathmatch in the game Duty Calls.
Panther smirked at the TV, looking down at Giichi. "You like fast things, basically? I see you playing that G-Zero game a lot."
"You…could say that?" Giichi raised an eyebrow, not sure where this was going.
"Well…how about I show you something fast in real life?"
"What? Like your fighter?"
Panther's grin got even bigger. "Oh no. I've picked up something else. It's not as fast as a space fighter, but I think you'll love seeing it. Want to take a look?"
While Panther seemed like a level-headed guy, some time ago a monkey in the canteen warned Giichi it was best if Leon didn't get to know you. Apparently, the screams Giichi heard at night from the engine room really were screams, and not just weird noises from the machines like Wolf said they were. And Panther was Leon's friend… What sort of person kept company like that?
Giichi didn't know if he wanted to take the bigger cat up on his offer, although curiosity got the best of him in the end. "Well, what is it?"
"That would spoil the surprise." Panther chuckled and shook his head, as if he were a parent who wouldn't tell his kid what he was getting for his birthday. Panther stepped out of the doorway and into the hall, looking back and expecting Giichi to follow. "Just come with me. You'll find out soon enough."
Giichi hated being talked down to like that, although he kept his face neutral. Sighing inwardly, he followed after Panther.
"There's a good cub." Panther smiled, as he walked and turned round to face the hallway, thin tail swishing behind him. "Let's get going."
As soon as Panther couldn't see, Giichi grit his teeth so hard at the 'cub' remark that he thought they might shatter. Sure he looked young enough to be a high schooler and he was tiny compared to most people, but Giichi wanted to be treated like an adult. He was a twenty-seven year old man now, after all.
Still, Giichi kept his thoughts to himself as they walked. Too bad Panther wanted to make more small talk.
"The news said there was a commotion at the CCSNB a few hours ago," Panther said. "A scientist got shot, and fighters chased a stolen shuttle fleeing the base. I bet that was Wolf, and if so he should be back any minute now with the case." He turned around to grin at the smaller cat, speaking with genuine pleasure. "So, since your work here is almost done and you'll be leaving soon, I figured I'd show you this as a goodbye present. You helped me get it, after all."
"I did?" Giichi raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, yes." Panther chuckled. "I'll explain more once I show you."
They exited out of the hallway and into a large docking bay, their footsteps echoing in the large space. The starry night sky of space could be seen off to one side through the open ship portal, a force field keeping the hangar interior pressurized. A motley collection of fighters filled the open space, ranging from looking like they were held together with chewing gum and string to the latest and greatest. Why would pirates waste money on bothering with consistency, after all? Aside from their footsteps, not many other sounds interrupted the silence. Most of the crew was goofing off elsewhere while waiting for Wolf, after all.
Wolf's, Leon's, and Panther's ships, all gleaming in Star Wolf's signature red, white, and black paint, occupied the hangar too. They sat in their own space apart from the other ships, with their own special supply of fuel, parts, and tools. However, Giichi noticed that area of the docking bay also had a large section blocked off by temporary metal partitions. The enclosed area looked almost big enough for another fighter. It was there when he'd arrived on the Retribution many months ago. Giichi had never asked about it before…but…
"Say Panther," Giichi started. "If you don't mind me asking, what's behind those walls over there? The ones near your Black Rose fighter? I've always been curious about it."
"Sorry Giichi," Panther shook his head. "I don't know. It's some special project Wolf has going. I always hear people in there working on something though. Lots of banging, cutting, and whatnot. Speaking of…"
As they approached the other end of the docking bay, those very sounds could be heard from a different area of the hangar. As they passed by the last parked fighter, a group of mechanics came into view, all of them gathered around a suit of burly power armor. Power tools whirred and hammers clanged as they worked to replace damaged metallic plates on the suit. Meanwhile, a large brown bear off to the side called out directions in a peculiar language, looking very muscular under his green mechanic suit. Giichi could not place the language though. He sounded very agitated in any case. A piece of chest armor fell off by accident when one of the mechanics tried to fit it in place.
The bear ran over, calling out "Nein, so was!" as he snapped his large teeth at the tech.
The mechanic, a scrawny meerkat, looked like he was having trouble lifting the armor. However, the bear seemed to be sympathetic, as he ran over to help lift it. "Warte mal! Lass mich dir helfen."
The bear put the chest piece in place, holding it there while the meerkat used his power tools to screw it into place.
"Gut. Gut gut gut." The bear patted him on the back.
"That's Ooveh…" Panther said. "Weird name, but that power armor's no joke. He can hold twin laser miniguns while in that suit. There was a rebellion on Titania we got called in to deal with, and he ripped them all to shreds pretty much singlehandedly."
"Well done for him then…" Giichi wasn't sure if he should be impressed or afraid.
After passing the group, they walked into a hallway on the other side of the docking bay.
"So tell me some more about what it's like to be a computer hacker," Panther said. "Now that I've seen what you can do with it, I'm very interested…"
Giichi looked up after he heard that. Panther sure wasn't interested before. Hell, this was the first time they'd had an extended conversation. The sand cat couldn't help but wonder if Panther had some kind of ulterior motive, so he decided to keep it uninteresting so Panther wouldn't ask any more questions.
"Well, it's not as glamorous as your job. Any job dealing with computers is mostly just about solving problems."
"Like what?"
"Fixing hardware…designing software…planning how to build a database, those kinds of things." That sounded boring enough to Giichi.
"Or figuring out how to break into a Cornerian Defense Force base's computer system." Panther gazed down at Giichi with a poisonous-looking smile.
Feeling awkward, Giichi returned the smile. "Thanks, but it's still all the same thing at heart."
"You're too modest. Seriously, I'd like to know how you did it."
Giichi went silent for a moment. He supposed discussing the topic wouldn't be that harmful. He started to think of a way to explain his hacking methods to where Panther could understand it. As a computer programmer and hacker, he did this frequently with those not as technically inclined as he was.
"Well, breaking into a system isn't that different from being a burglar and trying to break into a house. You just look for the easiest way to get inside. The easiest way is just to get your hands on a key, and it's not uncommon for people to hide a spare key somewhere outside the house."
Panther seemed to like the analogy. "Go on."
"So… Instead of forcing my way in, I try to get a key: a user account and password."
"And how would you do that? It's not like someone on the inside's just going to give you that."
Giichi couldn't help but laugh. "Actually you're wrong. There are lots of ways to trick people into giving up those things."
"Really?" Panther blinked, looking down at him.
Giichi smiled with pride. For once, he felt superior to Panther in this conversation. "There's a word for it. It's called 'social engineering'. You know those Aquasian 914 scam emails you get? Where they promise you millions of credits in return for your bank account number and pilot's license number and whatever else?"
"Yes, but who'd be stupid enough to fall for that?"
"People do fall for it. Otherwise those emails would stop. There's a sucker born every minute, as they say. Those are called 'phishing emails'. You can send an email like that to a user and pretend to be tech support, and then make up a problem so that they let you remote control their machine. Or you can make a fake login page that looks like a real one. They enter their username and password. It doesn't let them into the system of course, but now their keystrokes are recorded and you've got their username and password. I used all of these methods to get the accounts with the access I needed."
"It must've been hard work, since it took you months to get that much control over the security system."
"Yes, but it's much easier than just trying to crack the system. I started out by tricking some file clerk into giving me her username and password. Then I used that username to trick her supervisor into giving me his password, then the building's supervisor, and so on and so forth until I managed to get the head admin's password. And once you've got that, you have the keys to the kingdom. You can do whatever you want and then use the head admin's account to erase traces of you ever being there. That's exactly what I did to help Wolf."
"Really?" Panther smiled with admiration. "It almost sounds fun when you put it that way. Anyway, we wouldn't have gotten anywhere near that case without your help. I'm impressed with what you did, seriously. I'll ask Wolf to give you a bigger cut of the money."
The sand cat's eyes widened at that last bit. "Gosh. Thanks." He sure hadn't expected to hear something like that from Panther.
Back when Wolf first hired Giichi, he obviously hated having to call in outside help for such a big job. Giichi wasn't a part of his inner circle after all. From what Giichi observed working at Star Wolf, the Big Three liked to keep the planning of the big jobs to themselves. However, Wolf needed a hacker, so there he was. But whenever Giichi tried to tell him about the technical stuff, the lupine either nodded off or came up with some excuse to stop the meeting. After a while, Wolf just left Giichi alone to do his thing, until Giichi mentioned he was done penetrating the network.
So why this sudden interest from Panther now that things were winding down? Panther had little to nothing to do with this job. Giichi felt a little flattered by the attention but wondered if there was more meaning behind it than simple admiration.
Panther stopped in front of a heavy steel doorway, a panel next to the door announcing it as a supply warehouse. "We're here."
Smiling, Panther punched a code into a nearby keypad. The double doors whooshed aside, revealing inky blackness. After stepping inside, Panther flipped several light switches on the wall next to the door. Shelves with miscellaneous boxes and containers came into view as the lights turned on. Much to Giichi's worry, Panther stopped to close the entrance door and lock it with bars.
However, Panther just gestured for Giichi to follow him. The two felines walked past the racks to the back of the room, towards stacks of large shipping containers.
Panther stopped at a white container with a keypad on it, and began pressing more buttons. "All right, here it is!"
The sides of the container fell away, clattering on the floor. Giichi's earlier fears about Panther melted away, as he gazed at the most beautiful thing in the galaxy.
"No way…" Giichi was breathless.
Before him sat an elegantly curved car, looking more like a piece of art rather than an automobile. He'd seen this car in magazines before, but to meet it in person was quite another thing.
The vehicle looked like a low slung, sculpted wedge of metal and glass with wheels attached. The cockpit sat far forward to allow space for the big engine in the back. Vents built into the sides and above the passenger cabin piped air into the engine compartment to keep it cool. The rear racing spoiler possessed lots of special characteristics too. It only popped up at speeds where the downforce was needed. Plus when you braked at high velocity, it leaned downwards to act as an air brake, just like on G-Zero racers. All in all, Giichi considered himself blessed by the gods to be here today.
"This is an Aquila Hyoodin! If I remember right, it's named after the Cerinian god of wind, and it produces fifteen hundred kilowatts…" Shaking his head in disbelief, he looked over at a smug-looking Panther. "Didn't Mr. Sergei Aquila say they were only going to make twenty of them? For like two point five million credits each?"
Panther burst out into a big laugh. "I thought you'd know about this car. I could tell you have a taste for fast things, so I thought you'd like seeing it."
"Oh yes, definitely! Thank you!" Giichi meant those words from the bottom of his heart, despite his earlier thoughts. He smiled wholeheartedly at Panther, before looking back at the car. The sand cat walked over slowly with reverence. He glanced inside the car, gazing at the leather interior done in a brilliant shade of wine red. It reminded Giichi of red velvet cake, one of his favorite desserts. White on the outside, red on the inside. Whispering, he made an aside glance back to Panther. "Can…can I sit in it?"
Panther let out another long laugh, but at the same time he shook his head.
"Now don't get ahead of yourself. Even I haven't gotten to sit in it yet. I'm going to do that now, in fact." Panther pulled out a small key chain and pressed a button. The car gave a pleasant chirp, as the scissor doors rose vertically up into the air. Panther jumped into the driver's seat, taking a deep breath. The wine red leather seats squeaked as he slid inside, while the dashboard's silver gleamed under the warehouse's fluorescent lights.
Giichi moved to the passenger door to get a better look. While the car looked gorgeous and Giichi couldn't stop admiring it, a nagging question tugged at the back of his mind. "Do Leon and Wolf know about this yet?"
Panther's smile immediately vanished. "Well…no." He didn't say anything for a moment, looking away in embarrassment. Sighing, he back at Giichi. "Don't tell them, please. They'd go crazy if they found out I was spending our reward money already."
"Deal…" A devilish grin crossed Giichi's face, with the tips of his twin incisors exposed. "If you let me sit in it."
Panther looked at Giichi with a blank look, before a small smile exposed his own sharp teeth. "I knew you had a little backbone in you somewhere. Come on, sit."
Giichi jumped right in, with the touch of the luxurious leather feeling intoxicating against his fur. The two cats just sat there for several minutes, gazing at the car and admiring it in silent reverence.
Giichi was the first to break the silence. "So… If you knew Leon and Wolf would get mad, why'd you buy it now? Why didn't you wait until the job was done?"
Panther sighed. "I wanted to wait, but like you said there are only twenty Hyoodins. I knew they'd all sell out to billionaires in the first hour they went on sale. So I had to get it fast, even if we didn't have the money yet. Speaking of which… I'm getting a little anxious now. You'd think Wolf would be back by now."
Giichi looked at Panther with narrowed eyes, before he resumed looking back out through the front windshield. The silence resumed for a few more minutes.
"Well, I'm sorry Giichi," Panther stepped out of the car. "But I'm anxious about Wolf getting back. I'm going to go to the bridge and see if they know anything. You'll have to get out of the car now."
Giichi looked like a kid on Christmas who just had all his presents taken away after opening them. Seeing this car in person was like getting to meet your favorite super model. He would never, ever get to see this car in person again once his work with Star Wolf was done. Reluctantly though he stepped out of the car, as Panther tapped the buttons on the cargo container. The container's sides slid back into place, hiding the car from view once more.
"Don't look so glum Giichi," Panther gave him a reassuring slap on the shoulder. "I'll tell you what. Since you liked the Hyoodin so much, I'll even let you drive it a little bit once we've got our reward money."
Giichi's jaw dropped. Forget meeting your favorite super model. That would be like getting to bang her too. He just stood there gawking back at the closed up container and then back at Panther.
Panther let out that customary soft chuckle of his. "I'll take it from your response that's cheered you up then."
"Yeah…definitely. It's been my lifelong dream to drive a car like this. Thanks Panther."
Shoot, I wouldn't say this out loud, but I think that'd be a better payment than whatever bonus Panther's throwing in as well.
"Just remember…" Panther wagged his finger. "Don't tell anyone about this car until after we get the reward money, ok?"
"Yeah, definitely." Giichi offered a salute, putting on a dumb smile. "Cub Scout's honor!"
"Good then." He waved for Giichi follow him. Giichi took one last look at the container, before Panther opened up the entrance door and they stepped back into the hall.
"All right Giichi." Panther closed the door, smiling at the sand cat. "Thanks for keeping this a secret. I just couldn't stand it. I had to share with someone. Hopefully Wolf will be back soon and we won't have to worry about anything."
"Yeah…me too," Giichi smiled. "Wouldn't want there to be any trouble."
"I agree. Well…I better get to the bridge. See you later."
"Okay, thanks again."
The two cats parted ways, going in opposite directions down the hall.
Panther smiled, as he walked towards the Retribution's bridge. It felt nice being able to have a friendly conversation once in a while. Everyone in Star Wolf fell into two groups: the Big Three…and everyone else. Calling Wolf and Leon 'friends' was a bit of a stretch. The three of them were more like business partners, and spent almost all of their time together just talking about the next big score. Panther liked money as much as the next guy, but it got tiring to only talk business with Wolf and Leon sometimes. Meanwhile, everyone else in Star Wolf wouldn't talk to him casually. He felt it was due to having Leon as a close associate.
Giichi seemed to be an exception. Some time ago, he noticed the sand cat had posters of fast cars in his room, but no girls. You'd think he preferred making love to machines instead of women. But at least that gave them common ground when it came to an interest in first class cars. The idea of showing him the Hyoodin went off perfectly. Maybe he'd be able to make a new friend even.
Panther reached the bridge's door and swiped his access card. The door slid aside, offering a view of Fortuna's moon Genma through the huge frontal viewing port. Despite living in space much of his life, Panther never got tired of seeing the view here. Something new always filled this window as the Retribution traveled the galaxy.
After finishing with the view, Panther turned to look at the crew in the room. They all stood up and saluted him as he entered, since he held authority while Wolf was gone. Panther felt a little embarrassed by the show of respect, and waved for them to sit down. The crew saluting him didn't make for an impressive sight anyway. Unlike a standard military, Star Wolf didn't have an official uniform. Most of the crew in here just wore their best jumpsuits, and even those often had lots of stains and tears. It felt like being on a cargo vessel.
He approached the captain's chair, and the massive gray rhinoceros sitting there. Jamal was his name. Unlike everyone else, Jamal wore a white captain's jacket over his jumpsuit, along with a matching military cap. However, both bits of attire looked as old as Panther himself. Stains and poorly-repaired cuts covered the fabric. Jamal must have been thinner when he first got the uniform too, because his girth prevented the coat from being buttoned up.
The coat bore the old flag, colors, and symbols of a long gone nation planet from decades ago, back when Jamal commanded a true military ship. Despite his glory days being long behind him, everyone on the ship (including Wolf) respected Jamal's military experience when it came to commanding a ship. This allowed the Big Three to focus more on planning big heists while Jamal handled the day-to-day running of the ship.
Jamal quickly stood up out of the captain's chair as Panther approached, moving surprisingly fast for his size. "Here Panther sir, if you like."
"That's all right, Jamal." Again, Panther felt a little embarrassed by all this. "I just wanted to know if you had any updates on Wolf."
"I'm afraid not. If he went to the asteroid field and hit the warp portal like we planned, we should be seeing him soon."
"Captain, sir!" a crocodile called out, from his post at the radar station.
Panther and Jamal turned their heads. Jamal leaned over his arm rest, making it creak. "What is it, son?"
"I'm picking up an energy surge from where the warp portal lets out." The crocodile rolled aside in his chair to let the others see. On the computer monitor, a purple sphere representing Fortuna sat off to the left. On the right, a blue dot grew in size, shifting to green, then yellow, and then red as the mass increased. It flashed white for a second before disappearing.
The crocodile checked a radar screen next to the energy-detecting screen. The transponder flagged the vessel as a Cornerian troop shuttle. "That must be Wolf. That shuttle's got the same ID number as the one we stole for this job. The energy surge is gone, so he's through the portal now."
Panther jogged over to the radar station, eager for news. "Is he on his way back to the Retribution?"
"I think…I think he's in trouble. See that thing there?" The crocodile pointed as a radar dot appeared behind the shuttle. "Something broke off the shuttle. And he's headed down towards Fortuna, not here."
Panther felt his heart racing. While he felt concerned about Wolf of course, he also worried about what he'd do with the Hyoodin if the case got destroyed with the shuttle. He spun around to face a porcupine manning the communication post. "Send a rescue team now!"
"Already on it," he said, typing commands into his machine. However, the porcupine stopped when a buzzer alerted him to something. Pausing, he timidly turned around. "Uh…Panther…?"
Panther was already halfway across the bridge, sprinting for the exit. "Not now!"
"But it's Sable…"
Panther stopped in his tracks, forgetting to breathe for a moment. Sable was calling them? This was the first time they'd communicated in a month or two. What did she want? Wolf did all the talking with her. Panther wondered if he should take the call. But then again this was the lady paying them one hundred million credits to steal that case, so Panther figured she should not be kept waiting.
"Okay…patch it in to the main screen. I'll answer it." Panther took a deep breath while he waited for the communication tech to put her up on the main screen. He didn't know what Sable looked like, since again Wolf took all of their incoming calls from her. What would she be like? Wolf always looked a little terrified after every call with her. What kind of woman could shake up even him?
Sable's image buzzed into focus, revealing the face of another black panther, dressed in a cream-colored dress with a golden necklace and bangles. Panther sure didn't expect that. However, her coat looked to be a lighter shade compared to his. He could still see leopard spots against the dark fur, unlike his own solid black coat. Regardless seeing her felt bizarre, almost as though he was looking at a long-lost sibling.
She looked equally surprised at the sight of Panther. "I'm sorry." She looked embarrassed. "Who are you?"
"Panther Caruso…" He paused, confused about her demeanor. She didn't seem that scary…so far anyway. "I'm third in command of Star Wolf, behind Wolf and Leon."
"I am Sable. Is Wolf there? I need to speak with him." She kept a neutral, businesslike tone, gently leaning on the desk in front of her.
"I'm afraid he's not back yet."
The black leopard leaned back in her chair, looking deep in thought. However, she kept a blank face, not revealing any feelings. "The attack on Corneria's main base is all over the news. I just wanted to know if that was your operation. Did you get the case? Is Wolf bringing it back with him?" The neutral tone evaporated somewhat as Sable asked the questions, leaning in closer and getting more anxious as she talked.
"Wolf went to that base some time ago. Most likely that was him," Panther answered. "But I can't say for sure if he's got the case."
"You can't say for sure? Why not?" Her gaze bored into Panther, tracking his every move.
Panther wondered if this is what it felt like when he himself stared down someone with his own yellow eyes. Nonetheless, he tried his best to report the facts without letting his own anxiousness show. "We've been on radio silence for some time. But his shuttle did make it back to Fortuna just now and—"
"So he's made it back with the case?" Sable interrupted. By this point she'd leaned back and picked up a pen off her desk. She squeezed it in her hand, probably to relieve stress.
Panther gulped. "N-not exactly…"
"And what do you mean by that?" Despite squeezing the pen, Sable still kept her voice neutral and even.
"Uh…" Panther steeled himself. "The shuttle…it's gone down on Fortuna."
"What?!" The businesslike demeanor vanished. The pen clattered on the floor as she leaned on the desk towards the camera, her face almost filling up the entire screen. You'd think Panther just announced he'd killed her best friend.
"We don't know what happened yet. We're sending a rescue team down now to get Wolf."
She remained frozen in place, leaning against the desk. Her eyes wandered, as it appeared she was busy trying to process the news in her head and how to respond. After a moment, she picked the pen back up off of the floor. "Okay…" Sable said evenly. "So you don't have the case. When you find Wolf, I want him to call me back. And let me know when you get that case. All right? It's urgent you get us that case ASAP."
She put some commands into an unseen keyboard below the desk, terminating the connection without bothering to say goodbye or any other pleasantries.
The conversation left Panther with confusion rather than terror. Aside from being a little pushy with her commands, she didn't seem to be that bad to talk to. Perhaps she'd been a bit dry and businesslike but there was nothing wrong with that. In fact she'd even been a little polite at first. Nonetheless, one hundred million credits was at stake, and he didn't want to disappoint her.
"So…Panther…rescue team?" The communications officer asked.
The words shook panther out of his thoughts. After a moment, he nodded towards the porcupine. "Yeah… Do it. I'll go with them. Let's get Wolf, and our money."
~X~
A/N: The Aquila Hyoodin is inspired from a real life car. If you're interested in seeing it, google 'Pagani Huayra'. It's named after the ancient Peruvian god of wind. However, on the car show Top Gear, Richard Hammond joked that you pronounce its name like you're saying "How are ya?" Now, how do you think you pronounce "Hyoodin"? XD