I hope you're all ready for some Vanguard-Class action, because you're getting it!
PLANET ARDOLIS,
CERULLEAN SECTOR.
Carl Quantum gently touches his Royal Starship down onto the landing platform outside the Space Pirates' base, where just beyond said platform, a small army of Space Pirates awaited his arrival.
As Carl carefully climbs out of his ship, a trio of Space Pirates separate from the group and approach him with their weapons drawn.
"Ye try anythin' funny, and you'll find yerself on the end of me blade." The Pirate warns Carl, as if he needed to be warned.
"Understood, loud and clear." Quantum reassures with a confident smile.
The three rather mean-looking Pirates escort Carl away from his ship and towards the entrance of the skull-shaped mountain the Pirates called their home.
While on the exterior, one wouldn't think in a million years that the unofficial leader of the Resistance was nervous. On the inside, however, was the complete opposite.
His heart's beating so hard, it feels like it's going to burst out of his chest at any moment. A bead of sweat slowly drips down his forehead underneath his mask, and Carl has to literally force his legs to move forwards one after the other, despite his instincts screaming at him to turn and run back to his ship as fast as his legs can carry him.
Damn... Maybe Phantom was right? Maybe this wasn't such a good idea, after all...
After he told Phantom, the Rilgarian had initially been gobsmacked at his plan of meeting with the Pirate Captain on Ardolis in hopes of forming an alliance.
"Carl, you can't be serious! This is Captain Blackwater we're talking about! You're seriously going to Ardolis to try and form an alliance with him?!" Phantom had argued.
"I know how bad it sounds, Phantom! But hear me out: The Pirates and the Resistance share a common enemy in Nefarious! If I can convince Blackwater to join forces with us, we might be able to free the galaxy from that tyrant, once and for all!" Carl had rebutted.
As much as Carl hates to admit it, the Resistance has made little, if any progress towards dethroning Nefarious since its inception all those years ago.
This made Quantum realise that they need to acquire some kind of edge, if they want to beat the Emperor once and for all. And this little 'meeting' he's managed to organise with the leader of the Space Pirates was just one in a long list of potential solutions to this problem.
After traversing the halls of the Pirates' base, Quantum and the three Pirates tasked with escorting him eventually arrive at a pair of large, imposing double doors with the Space Pirate flag hung up on each side, with another Pirate standing on guard nearby.
"The Cap'ain be waitin' for ye' inside." The Pirate informs.
"Thank you." Carl replies amicably, as he raps his knuckles against the door.
"Enter!" A loud and imposing, slightly accented voice booms through the door.
Quantum steels himself as he grips the handles of the double doors and pushes them open, revealing an impressively grand-looking office.
On the far side of said office, overlooking Ardolis through a large window, is Captain Sievert Blackwater himself, standing with his hands crossed behind his back.
Lightning suddenly strikes somewhere outside, the brief flash of light illuminating the dread Pirate's slender and intimidating silhouette for but a moment, prompting Quantum to bite back a nervous gulp. Despite him being significantly larger in size in comparison to the Pirate Captain, Carl doesn't feel too confident in his ability to survive a violent encounter with Blackwater in a confined space.
Quantum steps into the room, and the three Pirates go to follow him inside, before they're interrupted by their Captain's stern tone.
"Leave us be, this is a private conversation." Captain Blackwater orders the three Pirates with a wave of his hand, without so much as turning his gaze away from the window.
The three Pirates share a momentary look of hesitation amongst each other, before following their Captain's order and leaving the room, shutting the door behind them with an audible click.
Now alone with the dread Pirate Captain, Blackwater turns around to face Quantum. He's wearing a dark teal overcoat over his slender frame, alongside his signature tricorn Pirate hat, with a pair of pistols strapped to his chest and a cutlass sheathed on each hip. To his facial features, his head resembled a long and thin skull, with black metallic protrusions on the lower half of his face resembling a beard. He's also noticeably taller than the other Pirates by at least two or so feet, putting him roughly equal to Quantum's own height.
Captain Blackwater was well-known to pride himself on being a gentleman. (Or at least, a gentleman by Pirate standards.) This was the only reason Carl ever so much as thought about arranging a meeting with the Pirate Captain. It was also the main contributing factor into making Carl believe that there's so much as a chance that the two could come to some sort of agreement.
Hopefully, this judgment won't prove to be fatal error on Carl's part. But Blackwater had agreed to meet with him, so that was saying something, right?
"Mister Quantum. I trust your journey was... uneventful?" Captain Blackwater greets Carl in a surprisingly friendly tone, considering he was a Pirate. Hopefully this was the 'gentleman' in him at work.
"Indeed, it was." Quantum answers amicably.
"Well, I was told that you wished to speak to me? What for?" The Pirate Captain asks.
"I want to discuss a potential alliance."
Blackwater raises a mechanical eyebrow at Quantum before nodding at him, beckoning him to continue and elaborate.
"When Nefarious first took over the galaxy, he silenced everyone who dared challenge his illegitimate rule. Now, the Resistance and the Space Pirates are the only two remaining forces in the galaxy that threaten his empire." Carl explains.
"We both share Nefarious as a common enemy. If we join forces, we'll be able to take that tyrant down and free the galaxy, once and for all!"
The Pirate Captain remains silent for a moment, seemingly mulling over Carl's proposal, before he replies.
"Well, that sounds just parfait, Mister Quantum. However, I have one small issue."
"And that is...?" Carl asks hopefully.
"Obsidian." Blackwater states, his once-friendly tone now dripping with a thick and furious poison.
Carl is admittedly taken aback for a moment, something Blackwater notices.
"So, you don't even know what he's been doing? It was my understanding that he'd recently joined your 'Resistance'." Blackwater admits.
"Well, allow me to fill ya' in. Since that Commando appeared, he's been causing non-stop trouble for me and me crews! Killin' me Pirates, stealin' our booty, and even maimin' me First Mate!" The Pirate Captain explains as he slowly closes the gap to Quantum, his subtle accent from before now replaced by a typical thick Pirate accent filled with fury.
"This the first I've heard of this." Quantum replies, admittedly taken aback by this new information. He didn't fail to notice Blackwater moving closer to him, but he stands his ground nonetheless.
"Clearly." Sievert remarks. "If it's an alliance you want, you can start by tellin' the Commando to back. Off."
"W-well Captain, you see, Obsidian technically isn't a member of the Resistance. At least, not yet-"
"I don't care whether he's a 'member' or not! Put 'im on a darn leash!" Blackwater sharply interrupts.
The Pirate slowly leans in closer to Quantum's face, narrowing his eyes as he does so.
"Am I being unreasonable, Mister Quantum?"
Despite Carl's nerves eating at him in that moment, he thankfully doesn't show it.
"Not at all. I'll speak to him and see about sorting this all out."
"Excellent." Blackwater remarks, quickly backing off from Quantum and turning his head towards the doors of his office.
"Mateys!" He barks at door.
The Pirates left outside quickly enter the office grasping at their weapons' handles upon hearing their Captain's call, eager for violence.
"Escort Mister Quantum back to his ship, we're done here." Blackwater orders his Pirates.
Soon after, Carl's escorted through the halls of the Space Pirate hideout and back outside, where a downpour has started in the time he was inside the mountain.
Carl quickly climbs back into his ship, powers on the engines and takes off from the platform.
Upon leaving Ardolis' atmosphere, Quantum lets out a heavy sigh of relief, shuddering from the cold rain. Or was it from the anxiety? Maybe a bit of both. That whole thing could've gone better, no doubt about it, but it could've gone much worse, too. Carl supposes that he should thank his lucky stars and take this victory, however small it seemed, since it was definitely one of the most outlandish plans he's executed to date.
He's somehow managed to keep this low self-esteem and self-doubt of his hidden behind a veil of confidence and charisma for years now, to the point that not even a single one of the other Resistance members knew about it. He simply had to...
...For everyone's sake.
ZURKIE'S GASTROPUB,
SCARSTU DEBRIS FIELD.
Carl and Phantom had briefly spoken over the communicator on the success of the rescue mission in Nefarious City the day before, while in the process of bringing the rescued prisoners back to their homes on Fastoon. But now, they're both here at Zurkie's to properly debrief.
Quantum already knew a few things, like that Obsidian had needed Phantom's assistance in getting a large amount of Raritanium, and that he needed it ASAP. What did he need that Raritanium for, and why so urgently? He'd reassured Phantom that the Resistance would 'greatly benefit in the long run', but how exactly? That's something neither Carl nor Phantom knew.
And according to Phantom, the Commando had somehow managed to kill the Seekerpede after luring it away from the train.
"And you're saying that he took them both out in the blink of an eye?" Carl asks.
"Yeah!" Phantom confirms. "One second, we're about to get some holes burned through us, then, the Troopers are blown to pieces, just like that!" He recounts with a snap of his fingers for emphasis.
And now, the Commando apparently possessed the ability to move at a near-blinding speed at will. 'That explains him and the Seekerpede, at least.' Carl muses.
It went without saying, there was something… off about Obsidian. The Commando couldn't be described as anything but a mystery. Why was he here? To seek revenge against Nefarious for destroying the home world of his people? Would he become a much-needed ally to the Resistance, set to help them turn the tide against Nefarious, judging from the fact that the two recent missions ended up being highly successful with his involvement, despite the hiccups?
"Okay, forget about the super-speed and the Seekerpede for a moment." Quantum tells the Rilgarian. "Do you remember anything else that you'd consider noteworthy?"
Phantom wracks his brain trying to think of anything other than Obsidian's incredible speed and his unbelievable feat of taking down the Seekerpede. How did he move so fast? Some kind of gadget, maybe? It was either that, or just plain magic.
Then, the Rebel suddenly recalls...
"Solid copy, BT!"
Phantom looks back up at Quantum across the table, who's patiently waiting for his reply.
"Yeah, actually."
MEANWHILE, ON PLANET THARIA...
The floor beneath the Pirates finally stops rumbling as they finish drilling through the cargo door on the side of the Braxton, courtesy of one of their Raritanium raid drills, the light from outside soon spilling through the hole and into the ship.
The pair of Pirates manning the drill grunt in effort as they lift the drill out of the hole and drag it aside. A third Pirate switches on a lantern and shines it through the hole and into the dark room.
"Place looks abandoned, to me. Are ye sure he's here?" The Pirate looks over his shoulder to ask his comrade standing behind him.
"If he's on this planet, he'll be somewhere on this ship." His comrade replies with confidence. "Split up lads, ye see any sign of 'im, use yer communicators to let the rest of us know."
All of the Pirates affirm in reply, as they light up their own lanterns and climb in through the hole in the door, before splitting up into separate groups and travelling down different hallways, in search for Obsidian.
Not long after arriving on Tharia to search for the Commando's whereabouts under Pierre's orders, the Pirates discovered a massive, crashed ship inside a valley located within a mountain range. If the Commando is somewhere on this planet, he'll be here.
One of those groups in particular walks down a hallway for a little while, before encountering a large, locked bulkhead door at a T-junction.
The leader of the group pulls out his communicator.
"Dougal! Get that drill in here, there's a door I need ye' to get through." The Pirate speaks into his communicator, only to receive static in return.
He surmises that his communicator has no signal, due to being inside of the massive ship. That'll only make their search for the Commando that much harder.
"Oi, go back and tell Dougal to get that drill up here." He orders one of the Pirates in his group, who grumbles as he reluctantly begins walking back to where they entered from.
While waiting for Dougal to arrive with the drill, the group instead continues down the intersecting hallway for another while, until they enter a long room with a tall ceiling and massive racks lining both the left and right side of the room.
As the Pirates shine their lanterns down towards yet another locked bulkhead at the far end of the room, they're completely oblivious to the twenty-five-foot-tall chassis of BT-7274 hiding between the Titan racks in the dark.
"It be a dead-end." One of the Pirates remarks, as the Pirate leading the group turns around and begins walking back to the door they came from.
"Let's head back and see if Dougal's got that drill ready. Like I said, if the Commando's here, he'll be-"
*SLAM!*
The once-open door the Pirates had entered the room through suddenly slams shut, locking them inside.
"Engaging hostile infantry."
Before any of the Pirates can react, a Vanguard-Class Titan suddenly appears from the darkness between the Titan racks and crushes one of the Pirates underfoot, killing him near instantaneously.
The other Pirates yell in a panic as they draw their pistols and begin firing on the Titan, the projectiles disintegrating with a flash upon hitting BT's bodyshield.
One of the Pirates armed with nothing but a cutlass quickly rushes the Vanguard and smashes the blade into his leg. The hit only barely scratches BT's paint as he sends the Pirate flying into one of his allies with a devastating kick.
Scrambling for what little cover there is, one Pirate wrestles with his pouch to free his communicator from its confines.
"MATEYS, THERE'S A BLOODY WARBOT IN HERE! WE NEED BACKUP!" The Pirate yells into his communicator, completely forgetting that it has no signal.
Before he can remember this critical piece of information, his body *crunches* and his life ends immediately when he's crushed underneath the foot of the forty-ton Militia Titan.
One by one, the Pirates in the room fall to BT-7274, their desperate efforts to fight back against the Titan completely futile.
Then, as one Pirate watches his remaining comrades fall to the Vanguard, he drops his pistol and makes a mad break for the door his group entered the Titan Bay from.
As he makes it to the bulkhead, he desperately digs his claws into the seam to get enough leverage to pry the door open. However, the seam is just too small for his sharp-ended digits to fit into, and he starts desperately banging on the door and howling for his comrades to come save him.
No such miracle comes, however, and the Pirate is quickly grabbed and picked up by the hostile Vanguard. The Pirate yells as he struggles in the Titan's iron grip, before he's soon squeezed to a pulp of oil and metal with a *crunch*.
The Pirate's corpse hangs limply in BT's hand, oozing and dripping oil, before the Vanguard discards his remains onto the floor of the Titan Bay with a clatter.
"Cooper, I have successfully neutralised one of the Pirates' squads." BT informs Daniel.
"Good work BT." BT's Pilot replies through the radio. "I've got the others handled from here, go take out their ships and cut off their escape. If a single one of them manages to get off this planet, we'll have an army of Pirates on our doorstep before long."
"Copy that, Pilot Cooper. Proceeding to the Braxton's exterior." BT replies.
BT stomps over towards the other locked bulkhead at the other end of the room, the sealed door automatically opening for the Vanguard with a hiss thanks to his AI being partially injected into the Braxton's systems.
The Titan continues through the Braxton's halls, towards the nearest functioning cargo elevator.
As his V-47 Flatline runs dry, Obsidian quickly swaps to the Mastiff shotgun on his back and takes the head off of another Pirate with a blast of superheated buckshot. The Pilot activates his Time Shift as he dodges a shot from one of the other Pirates and zips behind the rest of the group.
As he continues engaging the Pirates, quickly zipping from cover to cover with the help of his Time Shift. Daniel's communicator suddenly begins beeping in rapid succession. Someone was trying to call him through his communicator. Who, and why, were the questions that immediately enter the Commando's mind.
After taking out the last of the Pirates and double-checking that the room he's inside of is now secure, Daniel takes his communicator out of his pouch and quickly sees that it's Phantom calling him. With a frustrated groan, Daniel answers the call and speaks, before Phantom can so much as open his mouth.
"I'm kind of busy right now Phantom, can it wait?!"
"Well yeah, but-"
Cooper immediately hangs up the call with the press of a button. He has far more important things to worry about right now. Namely, the small army of Pirates currently in the process of invading the Braxton.
Repurposing the Braxton's newly-repaired communications system to jam the Pirates' own communications had been an incredible boon to Daniel and BT's defence efforts. Since the Pirates couldn't communicate with each other, the ones currently inside the Braxton couldn't give updates to each other on what was happening, allowing Cooper and BT to pick them off one-by-one with the Vanguard funnelling them into ambushes by strategically closing the Braxton's bulkhead doors.
Thanks to BT tracking their ships, they already knew that the Pirates were merely searching Tharia's surface and likely don't know where they are for certain, judging from their ships searching around the remains of the Fold Weapon and then the IMS Draconis, instead of immediately going straight to the Braxton.
There was a particular problem however: If the Pirates never return from their expedition to Tharia, their comrades will likely come and investigate in time. But similarly, if the Pirates manage to escape and warn their allies that they were on Tharia, it'll likely end up in the same result, but perhaps ten-fold.
With this in mind, the best course of action was for Daniel and BT to go full-on Scorched Earth on the invading Pirates in order to buy themselves some time, which they're currently in the process of doing.
There's also another worry in the back of Daniel's mind: If the Pirates had found them this easily, even if it was by chance, then it was only a matter of time before someone like Nefarious came knocking.
The Pirate Officer in charge of the search for Obsidian eagerly waits for one of the Pirates currently under his command to contact him with any news of the Commando being here on this ship.
They'd already searched a few other places on the planet, like that massive field of rubble about half a gigacubit from here, and that buried ship that they'd hadn't bothered with searching, due to the fact that there was no way to get inside and no signs of anyone being there anytime recently.
Standing aboard one of three large Pirate ships hovering above the MCS Carter Braxton, each one has a Pirate Marauder on deck, making for a total of three. Obsidian might handle himself well against ordinary Pirates, but the Pirate Officer was eagerly anticipating just how the Commando will take on the three of their Marauders at once, implying he managed to survive against the Pirates currently searching for him inside the ship.
Needless to say, the Officer was going to enjoy this.
"Surely, they would've found somethin' by now?" The Marauder on his ships suddenly asks, clearly sounding bored from the lack of action.
"It's a big ship." Another Pirate leaning against the railing at the edge of the deck replies. "And besides, they're probably more concerned with lookin' for booty than any signs of that Commando."
Outside of drinking grog and having a good time, Pirates only ever liked to do two things: Looting, and fighting. So, it was no surprise that majority of the Pirates present here today were looking for other ways to alleviate their boredom, slowing down the search.
The Pirate Marauder lets out a hearty laugh. "BAH! The only reason we're here's 'cause our respected Officer wants to lick up to Pierre!"
"What are ye tryin' to say?" The Pirate Officer growls.
As the Officer and the Marauder bicker with each other, a Pirate leaning against the railing overlooking the Braxton, notices something moving on top of the ship.
"Uhm... Mateys? You's might want to take a wee look at this..."
"That Commando probably ain't even here! We could be raidin' those Vullards in Krell Canyon right now, but instead we've gotta do what our Officer says because he wants to get on Pierre's good side!"
"I follow Pierre's orders, and since he put me in charge, that means ye are to follow my orders!" The Officer angrily retorts. "Now, unless ye want to spend the rest of yer days swabbin' decks, I suggest ye-"
"MATEYS, THERE'S A WARBOT DOWN THERE!"
The Pirate Officer and the Marauder other two Pirates immediately cease their bickering and quickly run to look over the edge of the deck towards the Braxton, and quickly see the black and grey chassis of BT-7274 on top of the ship.
As if on cue, a storm of rockets erupts from BT's Acolyte Pods and splits into three distinct groups, each of which flying towards the engines of the three Pirate ships.
"BRACE YERSELVES!" The Pirate Officer calls out to the remaining crew, who quickly do what they're told.
The rockets decimate the engines on all three Pirate ships, all of which quickly begin losing altitude, before crashing into the ground roughly two-hundred metres or so from the Carter Braxton's crash site.
"Salvo Core offline." BT states from atop the Carter Braxton in his usual monotonous warble. "Cooper, I have successfully disabled the Pirates' vessels."
"Good work, BT." Daniel replies through the radio. "I'm just finishing off the last of the ones inside. We'll regroup and go out there as a unit to make sure there's no survivors."
"Copy that, Pilot." The Vanguard replies.
Heavy footsteps echo throughout the valley as the Vanguard-Class Titan marches through the crash site of the Pirates' ships, wielding a Forty-Millimetre Tracker Cannon in his hands.
Some mangled corpses of a few Space Pirates are strewn about the debris and wreckage, making the Pilot inside of the Titan momentarily believe that their work is complete.
But, as was seemingly becoming the norm here, their work isn't over quite yet.
"Cooper, I am detecting multiple active contacts within the crash site." BT suddenly warns, opening a map on his HUD that displays three flashing red dots within the crash site.
Readying himself and his Forty-Millimetre Cannon for action, Daniel advances BT towards the first of the three contacts on the map. Upon turning a corner around a downed Pirate ship, the contact quickly makes itself out to be a Pirate Marauder, heavily damaged from the crash and missing its legs with loose wires and oil oozing out from its abdomen.
In its undamaged form, the Pirate Marauder would be almost as big as BT himself, with thick armour plating making up much of its abdomen. It has two arms, one obviously in the shape of a cannon, and the other seeming more like a leg than an arm.
The Marauder suddenly coughs out some oil as he looks up at the Vanguard now towering over it. He sighs defeatedly before lowering his head back onto the ground, accepting his fate.
Cooper promptly fires a forty-millimetre explosive shell into the Maruader's head, killing him instantly.
Suddenly, Daniel hears a loud blast to the right and uses BT's rear thrusters to aid in dodging an incoming shell, which barely grazes the Vanguard's shoulder in the process. However, instead of continuing on its path past the Vanguard, the shell detonates and releases secondary cluster munitions that quickly explode, instantly bringing down BT's shields.
"Warning! Shield capacity at zero percent, minor hull damage detected." BT reports.
"THAT'S WHAT YE GET FER KILLIN' ONE OF OURS!"
Turning to look at their sudden attacker, Daniel quickly spots two more Pirate Marauders emerging from the wreckage, one of them standing on top of the Pirate ship, and both displaying minor to moderate damage, but still operational.
The two Marauders begin firing on BT again, and with a mental command, Daniel deploys a Particle Wall in front of the Vanguard. The Marauders' shells disintegrate upon hitting the Particle Wall, protecting the Militia Titan as a result, while allowing them to return fire with his Forty Millimetre completely unimpeded, as BT's shields begin regenerating.
BT's current loadout was from that of a Tone-Class Titan, and a quirk of which is that the rounds from its primary weapon, the Forty-Millimetre Tracker Cannon, would implant miniature tracking beacons into their target upon contact, granting BT partial locks and eventually full locks with enough successful hits. This would then allow BT to fire a salvo of Tracking Rockets at his target.
When fully locked, Tracking Rockets were almost impossible to avoid, short of deploying some kind of energy shield or escaping them behind cover. That being said, the Tracking Rockets could be fired with only a partial or even no lock, which would of course put a hamper on their accuracy, making them far easier to avoid and much less effective at range.
Once three shells from BT's Tracker Cannon directly hit the attacking Marauder on the ground, Daniel unleashes a salvo of fully-locked Tracking Rockets with a mental command. The rockets fly towards their target, hitting the Marauder square in the abdomen and knocking it off of its feet and onto its back. However, it's not enough to finish off the Marauder, as it quickly gets back up and continues firing upon the Vanguard's Particle Wall like nothing happened.
"That all ye got, warbot?!" The Marauder laughs.
Boosting itself with its support arm, the other Marauder on top of the ship leaps into the air towards BT, clearly intending on using the Vanguard as a landing platform, forcing Daniel to abandon his artificial cover to avoid the incoming Pirate.
Cooper pushes BT into a strategic retreat towards a piece of stray wreckage nearby, tactically reloading his weapon along the way before taking cover behind it.
"We'll blow that warbot o' yers to pieces, Commando!" One of the pursuing Marauders yells out.
As Daniel begins returning fire, his cover suddenly explodes to pieces courtesy of the attacking Pirates' cluster munitions, showering BT in shrapnel and taking down his shields yet again.
Instead of retreating again this time, the Vanguard stands his ground and focuses his fire on the already-damaged Marauder, which was also the one closest to them now. Pieces of armour shear off the Marauder as the forty-millimetre explosive shells hit their mark.
Simultaneously, cluster shells whizz past the Vanguard as Daniel uses some well-timed boosts from BT's rear thrusters to aid in avoiding the Marauders' shots.
The moment it's recharged, Cooper deploys another Particle Wall in front of BT. He then empties the last of his cannon's magazine into the damaged Marauder, the continued hits ripping the chest piece off of its abdomen and revealing its vulnerable frame underneath. However, it isn't dead quite yet, prompting Daniel to fires a salvo of Tracking Rockets at the weakened Pirate to finish it off.
"THAT SHIELD WON'T SAVE YE, WARBOT!" The attacking Marauder bellows at the Titan, as it leaps into the air towards the Vanguard yet again, dodging the salvo of Tracking Rockets in the process.
As Cooper tries to back up to avoid the falling Marauder, the Tracking Rocket salvo whips around in a wide arc back towards their target and soon hit the Marauder in its unarmoured back, causing catastrophic damage alongside giving an unexpected boost to its leap.
The Marauder crashes into BT like a massive cannonball, sending the Titan onto his back and skidding across the ground, knocking his Forty-Millimetre out of his hands as Daniel emits a grunt as he's jostled around inside the cockpit.
"Excessive damage! Warning! Warning!"
After the Titan comes to a stop, Cooper wastes no time in shoving the battered Marauder off of them and getting BT back to his feet.
"YER DONE FER, WARBOT!"
The other, relatively undamaged Marauder charges BT, continuing to fire cluster shots at the Vanguard before leaping into the air again.
With his weapon out of reach, the Cooper responds by wrapping his Titan's digits around the nearby damaged Marauder's arm, before swinging it around in a circle to get some momentum and slamming it into the other rapidly-approaching Marauder.
As the damaged Marauder smashes into its fellow Pirate, its arm shears off, sending both of the Pirates crashing through the hull of a nearby Pirate ship.
"Salvo Core online." BT reports.
Daniel doesn't need to be told twice.
With a mental command, the Pilot unleashes the Salvo Core into the newly-opened hole in the side of the crashed Pirate ship, the subsequent explosion sending smoke and debris flying out of the side of the ship.
After a few seconds, the smoke clears, revealing the two Pirate Marauders now completely blown to pieces.
"All threats eliminated; area secure."
Daniel exhales in relief. "Damn, I'm getting rusty..." He remarks, as he recovers BT's Forty-Millimetre Cannon from nearby.
"It is not possible for an organic lifeform to suffer from corrosion, like machines do." BT states. "Is that another one of your expressions, Pilot?"
"Yeah. It just means I'm out of practice." Daniel answers tiredly.
"Perhaps. However, our combat effectiveness rating has only deteriorated by approximately four percent, and we were successful in this engagement despite this." BT reassures.
"Huh. Thanks." Daniel lets a warm smile etch onto his face.
Then, Daniel remembers Phantom. He takes his communicator out of his satchel, and dials the Rebel's frequency.
"Sorry about that, Phantom. What's up?"
"No worries, dude. Look, I just want to let you know that our leader really wants to meet you." Phantom replies.
"Leader? I didn't even know you had one."
"Well, not officially per se. His name's Carl Quantum, and he wants to meet you at Zurkie's if that's not an issue?"
"Not at all, I'm just finishing up some business right now. Let him know I'll meet him there in a bit, alright?" Daniel answers.
"I will. See you there, man."
The call disconnects and Daniel pockets his communicator. With another mental command, BT begins walking back to the Braxton.
"I recommend that you brief Mister Quantum on the details of our mission when you meet him. Gaining his and the Resistance's support may be advantageous in our future endeavours."
While parts of Daniel want to agree with BT, the other, more cautious parts don't. And these parts currently had the majority.
"BT we can't just tell them that. If word gets out on what the Ark was used for, it'll just make our job that much harder." He retorts.
"While keeping the Ark's origins confidential is understandable and may be considered justified in our current situation, our odds of surviving to uphold our mission by ourselves are minimal." BT informs. "We only survived this encounter because we were underestimated. We may not be as fortunate in the future."
As much as he doesn't like what BT's saying in regard to telling the Resistance about their mission, Daniel knows that the Titan has a point. And a good one.
"I am confident that the Resistance members are now beginning to trust you. I am certain they will understand the urgency of our current situation and maintain utmost secrecy, and also be willing to provide their assistance wherever they can."
"I believe you should allow yourself to begin trusting them, as well."
Daniel's brow furrows underneath his visor. Clearly, he has some thinking to do.
ZURKIE'S GASTROPUB,
SCARSTU DEBRIS FIELD.
On the short trip to the gastropub located on the other side of the system, Daniel's been silently mulling over what Miss Coggs' said to him before her sudden departure on Fastoon.
"That's what happens when you keep your finger off the trigger. Nobody had to die for no reason, and now you've made a couple friends."
...Maybe she has a point?
Daniel doesn't enjoy killing, that's for certain. Over the years he's served in the Militia, he's long since gotten used to using violence to solve most of his problems. So much so, it was practically engrained in his instincts now. After all, there wasn't many problems he encountered over the years that couldn't be solved with a bullet.
Before Daniel can mull over his thoughts further, he's interrupted by the gentle thump of his Crow touching down in Zurkie's landing port.
After exiting his ship, he walks up towards the entrance to Zurkie's, greeting Miss Zurkon and handing off his weapons at the bouncer along the way, before entering the Gastropub.
"LOOK, IT'S OBSIDIAN!"
The moment Cooper steps into the Gastropub, he's suddenly blindsided by a symphony of clapping and applause, prompting the Titan Pilot to instinctively reach for his Smart Pistol - briefly forgetting that he'd left it with the bouncer, before he realises that it's just from the many patrons around the pub, alongside the small crowd that's formed. It seems that for once, it's a good thing that Daniel is unarmed.
And it went without saying; the Commando was not used to this kind of reception.
A familiar Rilgarian in an orange jumpsuit soon separates from the railing surrounding the centre of the pub and approaches the Commando.
"You're making quite a name for yourself!" Phantom smiles.
"It looks like it." Cooper replies, as the crowd slowly begins to disperse.
"Quantum's waiting for you at the table by the window." Phantom explains, pointing a digit towards the Battleplex window on the other end of the pub.
Following the Rilgarian's finger, Daniel soon spots a huge man in a black and orange jumpsuit sitting at the other end of the pub, by the window overlooking the Battleplex.
"I'll leave you two to yourselves." Phantom pats Daniel on his armoured shoulder, as he turns and goes to the opposite side of the pub towards the bar.
The Titan Pilot begins making his way over to the far table. Then, the large man looks over towards him. Alongside his jumpsuit, Quantum has some kind of mask covering his head and the edges of his brown-skinned face, and his massive chin.
Daniel's stride falters for a split second, admittedly caught off-guard by how... human Quantum looks.
As Daniel arrives at the table, Quantum stands up.
"It's great to finally meet you, Obsidian! I'm Carl Quantum. I'm the Resistance's leader, in a way." Carl greets him, holding his equally massive hand out for Daniel, who takes it into a firm handshake. Carl's hand easily encompasses Daniel's own, almost making the Pilot's seem like a child's in comparison.
"Nice to meet you too, Mister Quantum." Daniel responds, as both he and Carl take their seats at the table.
"Firstly, I want to personally thank you for helping us take down the Emperor's warship factory." Carl states.
"I was just upholding my end me and Phantom's deal." Daniel replies.
"As much as I like your humility, I have to disagree." Quantum admits. "You were godsend to our efforts that day; we couldn't have done it without your support."
"This is why I want to ask you to join the Resistance. Will you help us free the galaxy from Nefarious' tyranny, once and for all?"
...
Daniel had originally joined the Militia in order to help protect the only home he's ever known, from the greed and tyranny of the IMC, and to one day free the Frontier.
The Resistance was a small group of freedom fighters, risking their lives near daily to overthrow a tyrannical regime, to free their galaxy. Their home.
...How different were they, really...?
...Not much.
Daniel holds his hand out for Quantum, who quickly takes it into a firm shake once more.
"Absolutely." Obsidian declares.
Carl smiles triumphantly. Finally, something was going to plan.
"Now, because of the Resistance's small size, we're a rather tightly-knit bunch. So, I'd like to ask you a few questions to get to know you better – If that's not a problem, of course?" Carl quickly adds.
"It certainly isn't. Ask away." Daniel approves with a subtle wave of his hand.
"Where are you from?"
"Where I'm from, we call it 'The Frontier'." Daniel answers.
"Never heard of it. Is that somewhere in the Bogon Galaxy?"
"Yeah. It's probably called something different here." Daniel quickly responds. If he had told Quantum that he was actually from another completely uncharted galaxy, who knows how he might react.
"What are you doing here in Polaris? Is it to take down Nefarious?"
Daniel's earlier conversation with BT echoes through his mind. The Titan was right, plain and simple. They need the Resistance's help, whether they like it or not.
"Not exactly. I'm here on a secret mission you could say, to recover some things called 'Ark fragments', that pose a serious threat to the galaxy and potentially beyond. Especially so if Nefarious, or really anyone for that matter manages to get their hands on them."
"Serious threat? How so?" Quantum asks with some concern.
Daniel pauses briefly. He quickly looks over his shoulders to check whether anyone else was listening on their conversation. Thankfully, everyone around them was engulfed in their own matters.
Cooper leans in closer to Quantum. "The Ark fragments were the power source to something called the 'Fold Weapon'. It could fold space and time, and it could be used to destroy entire planets like it's nothing." He whispers.
Carl's eyes widen, as a somewhat worried expression appears on his face. "So, kind of like Nefarious' Destruct-o Beams?" He whispers back.
"'Destruct-o Beams'?" Daniel cocks an eyebrow under his visor.
"Yeah. They're powerful laser cannons that burn through a planet's crust to destabilise the core, and shatter the planet like glass." Carl explains.
Daniel knows that he really shouldn't be surprised that Nefarious possesses technology that has similar capabilities as the Fold Weapon, but he is, either way. Needless to say, that is an alarming prospect to think about.
"Yeah, sort of." Daniel replies. "But the Fold Weapon's range was theoretically limitless. It's long destroyed now, thankfully, but that doesn't mean it can't be rebuilt. Especially by someone like Nefarious."
"You're absolutely right..." Quantum remarks. "If Nefarious finds out what these 'Ark fragments' can be used for, who knows what lengths he'll go to get his hands on them."
"Well, I've already managed to recover one so far, I'm working on finding the rest."
"Good to hear." Carl affirms. "If I or anyone else in the Resistance happen to come across one, you'll be the first to know."
"Thanks."
"What did you need the Raritanium for, by the way?"
"I needed it in order to build a storage apparatus for the Ark fragments, because they emit a particular kind of radiation that can be tracked, which the apparatus blocks."
'So that's how we'll 'greatly benefit in the long run'.' Carl internally muses.
"Now, forgive me if I'm being too curious for my own good, but who was this 'BT' you were speaking to on the train?" Quantum asks.
'Shit, forgot about that.' Daniel internally muses. Oh well, might as well tell him the truth. Odds are, nothing good will come from lying, Daniel is pretty sure of that.
"Oh, he's my... partner. He gives me tactical support while I'm out on missions."
"Okay." Quantum responds plainly, ticking off yet another question in his mental checklist unbeknownst to Cooper.
"Now, to the next big question I'm sure you're expecting: How in Zoni's name did you manage to kill that Seekerpede?"
"You can thank BT for that, actually. He scanned the Seekerpede and found that it's flight stabiliser was exposed on the back of its head. Once I blew it up with Phantom's bomb, it came crashing down."
"BT can just... do that? Phantom's been trying to get the schematics for Nefarious' warbots for years, and no luck." Quantum says in awe. "Is there any chance you could get 'BT' to send that Seekerpede scan over to us?" He asks with a hopeful glint in his eye.
"I think so." Daniel answers, before he presses his fingers to his helmet radio.
"Hey BT? You have Quantum's communicator frequency, right? Yeah, send him that scan of the Seekerpede you got in the city."
Moments later, Quantum's communicator chimes. Upon switching it on, Carl sees a message sent to him through Obsidian's own communicator frequency, and upon opening it, his jaw drops.
Quantum's communicator was now currently displaying a complete 3D model of the Seekerpede, with details like weapons and armour, alongside the aforementioned flight stabiliser highlighted for easy readability.
Needless to say, Carl was in awe. In only a few moments, Obsidian – err, BT had accomplished something the Resistance had tried and failed to do for years.
"Thank you." Quantum graciously thanks the Commando.
"Don't mention it." Cooper nonchalantly replies with a wave of his hand.
From this moment onwards, Quantum was convinced that Obsidian would make a far more significant ally than the Pirates ever could.
Now, the next Question Carl was preparing to ask was the true big one. To be more precise, Obsidian's incredible speed.
"And... Phantom told me that you displayed some incredible speed during your last mission together. Is that from some kind of gadget in your possession?"
'I figured this was coming.' Daniel thinks. Thankfully, he already has an answer prepared.
Daniel quickly looks over his shoulders again, this time checking if anyone in the pub was watching. Fortunately, like before, everyone nearby was engrossed in other things, and not paying much attention to him and Quantum.
Daniel raises his left fist with the back of his palm facing Quantum and clenches it. His Time Shift instantaneously materialises onto the back of his hand, prompting Carl's eyes to widen.
"It's a Time-distorting gadget that's based on the same tech as the Fold Weapon. It slows down time but leaves me unaffected. I call it a 'Time Shift'." Daniel explains, and as Carl opens his mouth to reply, the Pilot interrupts him.
"Don't ask me how it works, I have no idea."
Quantum closes his mouth. After a moment, he speaks again.
"Okay, I have one more question to ask, but before I do that, I need to tell you something first."
Daniel nods.
"I met with Captain Blackwater of the Space Pirates not too long ago, in hopes of forming an alliance between us and the Pirates." Carl recounts. "While I was speaking with him, he told me that apparently, you've been causing a lot of trouble for him and his Pirates, like fighting and stealing things from them. What's that all about?"
"They got their hands on an Ark fragment. What was I supposed to do, just let them have it?" Cooper retorts, crossing his arms in slight irritation.
"Of course not!" Quantum reassures. "But I'm need you to try and lay off on them in the future."
Cooper scoffs. "Well, considering the Pirates attacked me at my base only a few hours ago, I think it's going to be a little difficult for me to do that."
"Wait, what?!"
"You heard me. And since I don't exactly have anywhere else to go, I'd say this is just the start of this feud between me and those damn Pirates."
"Okay, I might be able to help you with that problem." Quantum informs him. "But in the meantime, do me a favour and try to take it easy, please."
Daniel sighs. "I'll try, but like I said, I can't give any guarantees."
The Commando stands up from the table, Carl mimicking his action.
"Well, it was a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mister Quantum." Daniel shakes Quantum's hand for another time.
"Same here. I'll be in touch with you about helping you with your 'problem'."
Obsidian nods and turns to walk back towards Zurkie's entrance, before he stops abruptly and looks back to Quantum again.
"And I'd appreciate if you kept this on the downlow. The less people that know about all this, the better, you get me?"
"Of course!" Carl reassures.
As Obsidian leaves Zurkie's Gastropub, Quantum sees Phantom approaching from the bar.
"How did it go?" The Rilgarian asks.
Carl smiles. "He's in."
"He'd better be. And that Raritanium better have been worth it." Phantom remarks.
"Trust me, it was." Quantum reassures.
Something in Carl's gut was telling him that Obsidian would end up being a far more valuable ally than Captain Blackwater.
It was either that, or Carl was just hungry. Good thing Zurkie has great food on his menu.
Unbeknownst to Carl and Obsidian, a Synthenoid robot with a predominantly white chassis and pink optics had been watching them undetected during their conversation.
The bot raises its arm to its voice box where its mouth would be, if it was a disgusting squishy.
"The eavesdrop was successful, your Majesty." The Emperor's Assistant reports.
Now, Nefarious knows of the Fold Weapon, the Ark fragments, and that Daniel can bend time to his will! What will come from this, I wonder?