DUST AND THE SWEEPER
Chapter 11 - Hunt Down the Pigman
The Mithrarin and Cat-Sith wasted no time getting to Benito. Despite their injuries, the two bolt down the nearest exit to the hangar areas, dramatically scowling on the way to the factories towards the lower levels. With a limp in his run, Dust asks, "We're going the right way, right?"
"I think so," Blinx replies. "I mean the factory was to the right, right?"
"Right."
"Right!"
Just when they turn the corner to the factory segments of the tower, they're greeted by a squad of heavy droids with their guns trained on them. Shocked, the two put on brakes, prepping Ahrah in Dust's hand and Fafnir in Blinx's for another fight.
"Shucks, I knew they'd be back," Blinx grunts.
Before any bullets can fly, all of a sudden, a group of the pig workers ambush the bots from the sides, using conventional tools to dismantle them at their vital areas from necks to arm joints connecting the gatling guns! It wouldn't be the first time Blinx has allied with the Tom Tom Gang. But he's never seen them cooperate on their own terms. One of them, an older blue-shirted one named Caio, faces Blinx and says, "Believe it or not, some of us don't agree with the old boss' methods either. Not after what he did to Ugo."
"Pretty screwed up, wasn't it," Blinx gestures. "We're tryin' get to him. We goin' the right way?"
"Yes, the back entrance is just behind this door. But it's manual only."
Towards the end of the room is a giant metal door that Blinx tries opening with the press of the keypad to the side. No dice. It's overwritten to keep anyone from getting in or out.
"Wouldn't ya know," Blinx hunches. "Big Ben's so spooked he overrode the doors. Good thing I've got me a nifty lockpick."
Forcibly, the Cat-Sith lunges the Fafnir blade into the barrier, using its molten heat to carve an entrance that when marked Dust blasts open with a wind burst from Ahrah! On the other side, the walls of the gargantuan war factory begin shifting up and down as thrusters underneath start to activate. Up above at the balconies, Aniki and his squad arrive as well, breaking the doors down and spotting their allies beneath them.
"There they are," Mick points.
Blinx looks up and asks, "Big Boss, you see an entrance?"
"No," Aniki replies. "It's blocked off. The only other option is through the exhaust port underneath us." He taps his commlink. "Princess, can you and your team reach the lower deck of the factory and take the rear tubes?"
"Yeah," she answers. "I'll see if we can slow it down from there!"
As the factory begins to rise, the Princess along with NecoJi and Picaro reach the ventilation shafts beneath the docks while they're still connected. Only Lena manages to hop on quickly while the rest can't make the jump. They're left watching and attempting to shoot the rear engines' vital spots, hoping to cripple the cruiser's mobility, while struggling to avoid getting blasted by the scorching heat and gust of air!
"Goodness," Ahrah comments. "Neither of you mentioned the factory doubled as a carrier vessel!"
On the intercoms, Benito casually announces, "Well it's been fun, kitties. Ya really had me goin' for a loop, but I'm a man of many ideas. I've still got my own Time Crystals, I've got a town of fuzzies to cap, and General G was kind enough to sell his property to me. Have fun tryin' to catch me without your Sweeper do-dads or lady Gods! Heheheh!"
When Benito seems to be at his most cocky, the vessel comes to an immediate halt in pre-flight! The clamps holding it in place fail to detach and the turret defenses of the hangar come online, pointing at the ship's sides.
"Agh," Benito shouts! "What the…?!"
"Administrative Commands Enabled," Aegis confirms. "Defenses Activated. Priority Target…Benito the Conqueror."
"AEGIS," Blinx celebrates! "LET'S GO!"
Even with the machines betraying him, Benito still gawks at the sight of resistance from his private command bridge, overlooking the footage from the cameras.
"Think I didn't account for you," he mocks. "I'm the captain of this ship!"
Suddenly, the thrusters of the ship begin to boost even higher and slowly pull away from the arms, along with the defense turrets activating to blow away at the guns of the tower. But it's just enough time for everyone to assess the exterior for an opening.
"Shucks, he's blasting everything down," Aniki grunts. "I don't see an opening form this height and Lena's still in there."
Just then, a quiet humming of an engine gets louder from the other hangars nearby. The bombers, remote controlled by Aegis, descend to the squads below, along with some ships from outside the tower rocketing over to whoever wants to pilot them. And over in the distance, flying closer is the Firebat, rotating to let Blinx and Dust inside from the lower hatch.
"Your modified bomber should suffice," Aegis says.
As the two enter, the other Time Sweepers grab a shuttle and take off to intercept the cruiser's engines, making sure not to strike where Lena may be standing inside.
"All personnel, man your nearby defenses," Aniki announces. "We can't let that warship leave our airspace!"
Around the city near the hovering factory, the Time Sweepers close by activate the defense turrets from their stations, launching the heavy guns at the ship's engines! Those in the skies swarm the hull, blowing up the lasers. Jimmy's hit a critical area from the hideout guns to the lower deck of the cruiser as the Princess makes her way to the upper levels, avoiding what few robots are being deployed to apprehend her.
"Princess, where are ya," Picaro asks.
"I'm making my way to the bridge now," she replies in her sprint. "It's concealed within the ship itself. Benito's not getting away that easily!"
As she gets closer to the center where the defenses are at maximum, Lena dodges gunfire from the gatling gunners and the standard soldiers. Using the factory's interior crane she swings across the platform, smashing the machines and leaving an opening for her to get in the bridge. Once done, she leaps out the control booth into the station where Benito's operating. …Or at least where he was. When she shoots his chair, it swivels around with no one sitting on it. Just a beeper that indicates a self destruct sequence was activated. Luckily, Benito isn't that slick as he's left his escape hatch open. With just enough time to escape, Lena gives chase into the tubes to the smaller shuttle as the tyrant begins to run for the controls. He immediately boosts the engines, which propels Lena back near the hatch door as they leave the doomed war factory, which begins combusting from the bombs and engines. It crashes into the smaller facilities and through the city wall, nearly colliding with the World Ship next to it!
Still aboard, the Princess battles gravity trying to steady herself mid-flight while shooting at the pig, who quickly activates the ejector to separate the shuttle until only his pilot side is flying! The strong force of the split pushes her far to the exit, almost falling outside when she grabs onto both sides of the plane's interior after shooting and missing Benito. The separated half fumbles in the air, spinning around as Lena tries to escape, looking for an opening. She flushes herself out when her path is clear moments before the passenger section can make a nasty crash into a pool atop a skyscraper! As she falls, the Firebat swoops by and catches her with its wing.
"Need a lift," Blinx snarks.
"Benito needs a turbo ring by the walls to get outta dodge," she explains while getting in from the side hatch. "If he activates one…"
"He'll get away," Dust finishes. "But not this time."
As the ship continues after him, Dust mans one of the turrets for a scope. Though it's a first time for him, the Mithrarin's aim is focused enough for him to blast to where Benito is going instead of where he is. The pig wrongfully assumed the shot was meant for him as he strafes away from it. But to his fear, it destroys the large turbo ring ahead of him. As he phases through the remains, he only boosts forward by a few feet. It'll have to do though. He's already breached the city walls and has enough fuel to make it to the nearest town; albeit without his factory in tow. Luckily, the Firebat's also passed the ring's energy field to catch up to him. But it seems every shot fired simply bounces off the transport.
"Oh of course he'd give his escape the most armor," Blinx bemoans as he gets out of his seat. "One a' you, take over an' get me over that thing."
"What do you think you're doing," Dust asks manning the controls.
Instead of Fafnir, Blinx reaches for a crowbar in the tool cabinet then motions for Lena to take a seat next to Dust while rooting himself at the center where a safety lock is on. When he turns the gear, it unlocks another seat with what appear to be handles for some kind of motorbike along with a button to activate it. Suddenly, he's blown from the bottom hatch down onto the surface of Benito's craft, flailing around for control briefly until he turns on the wheel's grips!
"Getting himself killed apparently," Ahrah answers the wolf.
The force of the motorbike falling onto the vehicle caused it to plummet slightly towards ground level, barely touching the stone and metallic structures poking out of the dirt. With enough traction, Blinx grips the hull with his claws, making sure to avoid the bike when it rolls off the ship saved by auto piloted air control. Using the crowbar, he crawls to the roof entrance, locked but easy to pry open thanks to damage from the Firebat's missiles. Soon as the door snaps from the hinges, flying the distance behind Blinx along with the tool, the Cat Sith throws himself inside, landing perfectly on his feet and lunging for Benito to throw a punch! But he doesn't get that chance. Anticipating him, the Tom Tom Gang's leader had set his sights to freeze him in place with the Time Shards!
"Heh," Benito chuckles. "It's funny. You actually thought you could pull a stunt on me, didn't you?"
Snapping his fingers, Benito triggers the crystals to steadily increase the ship's speed and reverses the damages done to the hull. The back hatch folds open, but Blinx and the shards don't get sucked out from the wind, giving enough time for the pig to gloat as he circles the Cat-Sith with his hands behind his back.
"I wouldn't 'ave thought you were this crazy if I hadn't given ya a chance." He pats Blinx's shoulder, "Ever since day one, you've been a pain in the ass for me and my crew. But mostly me. Sure, ya didn't always pop up to deck my snout, but'cha sure inspired people. And inspiration's a powerful thing, y'know that? Even after everything I did, even with time literally on my side, your boys STILL thought you'd come back for 'em on some random, dysfunctional backwater planet! An' as much as I'd hate to admit it, they were right. All the more reason for me to end this little trilogy of ours the best way I know how."
Benito circles back to Blinx's eyes, beaming a cocky smile with his teeth as he gets closer to him.
"Just be glad I even remembered your name, Blinx. An' just you wait. It's a helluva lot easier this way to reunite with your boss than to wait for your expiration date." He grasps the Time Sweeper's shoulders and tells him, "Game Over."
WHAM!
Benito's snout is socked so quickly, he couldn't even see it! His neck twists in such a way that it's unnatural! At this moment, Blinx has broken the limits of the tools manipulating reality, furiously throwing his fists into the tyrant's torso, drawing hints of blood as the man fumbles hard into the controls! His weight crushes the navigation equipment, leading to the shuttle veering straight down the path to the top of an abandoned structure. A large stone tower. It's clear as day to Dust, who hastily removes himself from the bridge, handing the steer over to Lena. Not thinking, he jumps from the bottom of the Firebat lowered enough at ground level to the motorbike still on autopilot but heading the wrong way. Eventually, the speed of Benito's escape launches Blinx outside right before it collides with the empty building; such an impact causing a massive explosion from a mix of the ship and the crystals onboard! As Blinx dives down squirming in the air, Dust gets close enough to catch him, completely forgetting to steer the motorcycle while breezing through the underbelly of the collapsing tower! They just barely avoid the debris raining down from the other side till the bump into a mech's hand sprouted from the ground, hurdling them across the dirt like ragdolls!
They had won. As they regain their bearings, both the Mithrarin and Cat-Sith stare at the carnage before them. No sign of Benito escaping before the crash. Blinx had knocked him unconscious when he was ejected from the back. Quietly while the Firebat hovers down to recover the pair, they look at each other and Dust breaks the silence.
"We have a lot to explain when we get back."
Blinx nods, "Yeah…"