RPG Endless Void [R15+ for adult language, some adult content and violence]

[silpheedpilot]

[COLOR=Blue]Ry flew toward the docking ring to Planet New York, the hub of all commerce and trade in the United Sector. A cool, calm female voice voice sounded in his ears.

"Preparing to dock to Planet New York" the female voice said, blips and bleeps sounded in the cockpit of his Marauder. Ry sat still as his ship automatically turned and shifted to face the docking ring. A blue light englufed the Marauder as it pulled it into the docking ring. Soon Ry was entering the atmosphere and decending toward Planet New Yorks bustling city. Ry looked around at the over-sized metropolis that occupied Planet New York. He flipped switches in his cockpit, and watched as he flight stick retreated back into hiding under the dash. He smiled and let out a deep breath, his visor fogging up a tad. After a few minutes he felt the base of his landing gear touch down on the docking pad. Ry flipped a few more switches and his ships thrusters shut down, the whole ship itself shut down.

"Bye Leena" Ry said to his ships computer. He streached as the cockpit hatch popped up and slid backwards, Ry looked around, smiling. He jumped out of the cockpit and landed on the ground with a light 'tap'. Ry glanced back to make sure his ships hatch was sliding back into place. His long journey from Planet Maryland was hell. Almost limped his way to Planet New York after all those scraps with Pirates. Ry reached into his pocket to make sure the 'goods' were still around. He smirked and and started down the docking pad at a leisurely pace. He smiled and gave a wave at the Navy Patrol Sentry making his rounds around the docked ships. He made his way through the docking pad pub and walked out onto the steets of the metropolis, glanced around for his cab that was supposed to be waiting for him. Ry looked down the street and saw a yellow hover car flying his way. He grasped the 'goods' in his pocket as the cab came to a halt in front of him. He got in and leaned foward in the back seat, leaning closer to the driver.

"If stars were memories..." Ry began, in a light whisper

"Then everyone would have them..." the cabbie finished, in a regular tone. "The names Greg...I presume you are Conrad?"

Ry sat back in his seat, smiling, his arms crossed across his chest.
"Just call my Ry. You know where to go, Greg?"

Greg started the hover car up, a light whine from the engine coursed through the cabs interior as the engines were fired up.
"I know exactly where to go, my friend...I just hope for your sake you have the goods. Lateralis is pissed that it took you long enough to get here..."

Ry dropped his arms and stared out the window at all the speeding, passing hover cars.
"Yeah? Well...Lets see him fight off three squads of Pirates from Planet Maryland to here!"

Greg turned the corner at the end of the street, the engine whining as he pressed the pedal down.
"Trust me, Ry...I know exactly what you mean..."

Ry nodded and continued to look out the window at all the passing sights. A realy beauty for a huge metropolis.[/COLOR]

[Dmitri_Dragoon]

Gets quite confusing seeing Conrad mentioned.. being how it's my last name and all. Oh well, it's all cool.
__________________

[COLOR=red]Arik sat in his cockpit in silence, except for the radio crackling messages back and forth.

Apparently pirates were attacking a very good smuggler. That was the first problem, pirates was plural -- a multitude of space pirates working together almost never worked, and smugglers, most of them being very good at their jobs, were harder than hell to get anything from.

That's why Arik stuck to the small Navy ships, merchants, and freelancers. If he was lucky and stumbled upon a stupid pirate he could get soem good stuff, but that always ended messy, and he hated messes.

He shook his head and put some juice in his engines, then started off. He wasn't that far from Jersey, and they usually had some good stuff coming in.. he might try to get something there, before he headed off to New York, where he would have to be more careful, considering there was always a large cluster of Navy vessels there.

Arik boosted his engines more, increasing his speed, soon he would look like nothing more than a streak of light, though he wasn't going that fast just yet. It was hell on his engines, but he knew they could take it. Soon he noted that the space traffic was picking up, which meant he was nearing Jersey. He slowed his speed to go with the norm, and looked for the right ship.

He'd rather not go after a ship landing, but rather a ship leaving. If a ship didn't land on schedule questions would be asked and investigations would be made. So one taking off was always the best.

He watched the traffic as it went, then he saw his target. A classy, yet modest merchant ship. Looked to be a Washington Class. Which meant if it was going home, it wouldn't be getting there for a couple of Solar Days.

He followed the ship out a ways until the two were safely away from the planet. Finally he knew it was time to take his shot.

He gunned his engines and sped forward, gripping his firing mechanism firmly, yet softly. His thumb smoothed over the fire button as a ritual, then he pressed down on it. His two light blasters sholt identical bolts out, he watched as they sped forward, and saw that his targeting system was still perfect. The bolts slammed into the merchants engines, killing them instantly. The ship was a dead duck.

He quickened his pace to the ship, knowing that speed was of the essence now. He had to jam, or completely disable their communications before anything got out. Once he got in range... he pushed the right button and his moniter confirmed that the merchants were mute.

As he got closer he was met by something he didn't expect. Lasers. The merchants were defending themselves.

"Clever bastards..." Arik swore to himself. He initiated his evasive manuevers and dodged most of the bolts. Fortunately for him, his deflector shields took anything he couldn't dodge.

"That was a little too close for comfort you assholes," he said. He scanned the ship, and noted where the guns on the ship were, it would be tricky, but he would have to take them out. Or manage to get in to close for them to do any good.

Forward more he went, and dodged more shots. He aimed carefully, and fired, taking out one set of guns. Then again.. it took two shots this time to take it out. Giving the merchants some minor hull damage. He pulled up to the ship, and bumped into the side of it. Now that the guns on that side were disabled he could dock.

He pulled his ship up just right, and sent out the connector. When he heard the hiss of air locks he unstrapped himself and made his way to it.

Once in the connector, he pulled out his blaster and made his way in. Where he was met by an old man, and what appeared to be family.

"No funny stuff and you won't get hurt. I hate to kill." Arik said as politely as he could with a blaster in his hand.

"Take what you want and get off you scum." The old man said.

"Now now, pirates have feelings too," Arik said, then, ignoring anything else, and keeping his gun trained on the people, he got what good he could carry. Mostly money, luckily there was plenty of that around for him to pick up. He also took what was big and expensive looking.

He was even nice enough to leave them a lot. He had to, he didn't have big cargo spaces. He quickly loaded and got his ass out of dodge. It was to easy for him to be comfortable.

Once he got a good distance away, he set the coordinates, and punched the warp speed. Off he went to Planet New York, to sell his goods, get drunk, and maybe pick up a hooker.
[/COLOR]

[Annie]

[color=teal][font=times new roman][b]"Yelena LeBlough!!! You owe me 12.5 bitels!!!!!" a burly man bursts into the bar.

Yelena sat at the bar, sipping her Bacardi and soda, a cigarette in one hand. She swiveled around on her stool and stared bluntly at the man. She crossed her right leg over her left, propped her elbows on the bar and tilted her head at the man.

"I owe you nothing, thank you very much,"Yelena's voice was as smooth as her complexion.

"You cheated me out of that race and you know it!!! Now hand it over you whore!!" the man briskly walked towards Yelena.

"I would never,"Yelena's voice contradicting her serious face.

His heavy footsteps rattled the glasses on empty tables. The tired band played a sleepy song. The robot behind the counter started to spout codes for security. The neon blue lights lit up Yelena's playful face. The man grabbed Yelena's long braid and yanked her into him.

"I want my money now, bitch. And if I do not have it in my hand in about eight seconds, I will kill you where you sit,"the man whispered into Yelena's ear.

Yelena's face broke with a sinister grin, she grabbed the man by his ears and brought his face into her knee. He fell to the floor, his nose poured blood, his screams haulted the band. Yelena brought her leg back and dug her steel-toe boot into the man's face, sides, and stomach.

"Now *kick* that *kick* wasn't *kick* very *kick* nice!!"Yelena growled and delivered one final kick into his beaten and swollen face.

The cracking of his jaw and skull replaced the monotonic beat of the band. What little people were in the bar, were now running down the street. Security scrambled in.

"Freeze!! You are under arrest!!" The leader, Yelena pressumed, held his blaster aimed at Yelena's head.

"Isn't it the policemen's job to do this? You are just bar security!" Yelena shifted her weight onto her left leg and her fingers tapped her holstered weapon.

"Shut it! Drop your weapon!" the head hancho's hands started to shake.

Yelena had a reputation on the planet district of San Fransisco. One of which cost her the peace of getting a damned drink! Yelena was a pirate, one of the best in the sector. She was known for her playful and deadly looks, sense of humor, fighting style, and her racing. Her mixture of a confusing personality and her incredible looks made her opponents fear of what she was thinking.

"Ah, come now. It was just a mere argument. Nothing more. I don't want any trouble, just a drink,"Yelena kept her laser pointed, electon shotgun at her side.

"I repeat, throw your weapon down!"

"No, it's mine,"Yelena grasped the barrel.

"I will ask you one more time, then I will open fire!"

"Well then you dick, take your best shot!!" Yelena kicked up a table with one foot and spun around and kicked the table into the security.

They all toppled over like domino's. Yelena grabbed her drink and bag, and ran out of the bar. She gulped the rest of her drink and threw it ove her shoulder. Holding her shotgun at her side, she ran up the ramp and into the open hanger on the top of the bar.

"Cham, fire up!" Yelena held her wrist to her mouth.

A roar of a jet engine rumbled through the hanger, a blast ascended into a low whistle. Yelena ran through the maze of ships and hover crafts, she looked around for her ship, Cham. Dubbed for its chamelion traits of its mechanism that allowed the machine to blend in with it's environments.

"Damn the chamelion system! Cham, now!!" Yelena pressed her watch.

The ship appeared right in front of Yelena. The top hatch opened like a hatchback and Yelena quickly jumped into her cockpit. The sound of sirens and PA systems became an orchestra. Yelena hurridly, but calmly, threw on her metallic red helmet and pulled lifted off of the ground.

"You are surroned by law enforcement,"Yelena's computer screen filled up with letters.

"Yes I know this," Yelena ignored the computer and sped out of the hanger.

The screen buzzed and flickered. A GPS system popped up and guided Yelena away from the cops, who were hot on her trail. Yelena weaved in and out of buildings, dodging the police hover cars and light weight ships. After about half an hour, Yelena lost the police and headed towards the space sky.

"Cham, I think we need a vacation. Find somewhere will you?" Yelena punched in a few codes, for her turrents, into her computer and leaned back. [/color][/font][/b]

[mangagod]

The nameless pilot sat in his cockpit over going the read-out's. Upon the comopleation of his insoection of the systems' read out he decided it was time to luanch the ship from the dry dock so to speek. He went out side the ship to readdy all the systems for launch and set to full speed. after he compleated all of the preperations' he got back in his ship. Just then the space part manager came in and said he would not be able to launch to day cause of a big group of astorids wher comeing and they wher going to have a meator shower. He did not care he jumped out of the ship and punched the managers lights out just befor he did to he said.

" Lights' out old man!!"

Haveing put that aside he decided to go ahead and let nothing stop him and said.

"This should be a good test drive for my Wind star."

And launched off twards space.

[silpheedpilot]

[Color=Blue]Ry woke suddenly as the cab came to a halt, he looked out the window, he yawned and noticed the warehouse district he was in. Greg shut the cab down and looked in the rear view mirror.

"We're here, Ry...Lateralis's goons aren't that tough, dont be intimidated." Greg said, opening his door. Ry followed Gregs actions and got out of the cab. He looked around, examining his surrounding. Greg tugged on his jacket and motioned Ry to follow. The two walked past different buildings and through a occupied warehouse. Greg and Ry came to a large closed doors warehouse with broke windows and battered sidings. Greg pounded on the door, and a little slit slid open in the door. Greg and the man behind the door conversed quietly, as Ry sat there figiting. After a few brief moments the large doors slid open and Greg and Ry walked into the warehouse, the walked past drug making portions of the warehouse and came to an office. Greg knocked on the door, and waiting. He turned to Ry, and gave a small grin.

"Lateralis is...uhh....nice..." Greg said, akwardly.

Ry rolled his eyes and let out a mocking breath.
"I know Lateralis.. and Nice he isn't..."

The door suddenly flew open, and a tall, skinny man with long white hair stood at the doorway. He was dressed in a fine suit and his white hair covered half his face, he spoke with an english accent.
"Come in Ry...Greg, wait outside."

"Aye aye Cap'n" Greg exclaimed, leaning against the wall.

Ry stepped into Lateralis's office, and instantly removed the artifact from his jacket pocket, he briskly walked to Lateralis's desk and set it down. He turned to face Lateralis who alreayd had a breifcase of credits out. He pushed it towards Ry and walked over to the artifact.

"Ahh...The Eye of Ra...A Triumvirate finding of epic proportions! You know that only three of these were found in the entire Galaxy? and now I have one of them!" Lateralis exclaimed, lifting the artifact into the air. He slowly set it back down on his desk and turned to Ry. "I need you for another job."

Ry picked up the briefcase, and looked at Lateralis.
"Yeah?"

Lateralis made his way around his desk to Ry, he patted Ry on the shoulder and pointed him towards the door.
"Good, good! Talk to Kale...He will fill you in on all the details"

Ry exited the office and started down the hall. He passed the drug labs and whore rooms. He found Kale, a brawny man with a large mustache and a quick tounge, resting ontop of a large Ship. He was torching some cables.
"Damn this shit!" Kale yelled, throwing the torch down. "This damn ship is a hulking piece of crap! It'll never fly" Kale stood up, holding his hand, charred flesh wafted through the air and entered Ry's nostrils. Ry reeled back a bit, pinching his nose.

"Hey Kale! How's that load of crap coming along?" Ry asked, laughing.

"Its a piece of crap! Its never going to fly! I dont know why Lateralis is having me fix it up in the first place..." Kale responded, slapping Ry on the back. "How are you Ry? Long time no see!"

Ry smiled slapped Kale on the shoulder. He switched hands with the briefcase and shook hands with Kale. Kale offered Ry a seat, but Ry shook the gesture off.

"Lateralis is telling me you have a job for me?" Ry asked

"Yeah...I need you to smuggle a part out of Planet California and lug that bad-boy back here so I can continue fixing up this piece of trash behind me" Kale kicked the ship, and a few loud 'clanks' were head indicating more parts broke off. "Damn it!"

Ry let out a laugh and smiled, patting Kale on the back.
"Nice kick!"

Kale turned around and laugh along with Ry. After a few moments Kale cleared his throat and continued with the breifing.
"When you get there go the Hard Rock Pub and find a man named Polly...Ask him this 'Why does the world spin?', and he should respond 'It just does'..If he does, you've got the right man, he'll take you to the part, the rest is up to you."

Ry nodded and grinned knowing it was an all too simple job, but of course it wasn't. There were always downfalls.

"Pirates are after that part and the Navy is keeping a good eye on thier sensors...They want that part, badly. You may have to take down a few Navy vessels...Nothing you cant handle..."

Ry nodded once more and turned around starting to walk away.
"Be back in a neo-flash..."

Ry left the warehouses and Greg took him to the finest pub and strip joint in the whole Metropolis. [I]The Lonely Drifter[/I]. Ry gave Greg some credits for all his hospitality and entered the pub, Ry took a seat at an empty table. He didn't want to do this job, but it was his last job until he was free....Ry couldn't wait.[/COLOR]

[Circ]

The Exploration Division was a small round building topped with a 50-meters diameters sphere. Inside the sphere, the galaxy rotated ever so slowly. Well, at least the most detailed map known of the galaxy. Situated in Paris, the building is also home to the Imperial Galactic Databases. An Italian man walked in. Dressed in a tactical outfit and his eyes' glowing turning from red to yellow. He looked around without moving his head and smiled as a small group near him silenced.

-Is that him? A woman whispered.
-Yeah, that's Dervicci. He was in Monoceros Aleph, exploring a boron-oxygen world last time I heard from him.
-Isn't that the place they discovered the cure to lymphatic subversion?
-Yup

Tycho didn't like being whispered next to, so he walked to the nearest contragrav elevator to the Mapping Bureau. He reached into a pocket and extracted slowly a marble-sized violet-glowing square crystal.

-Tycho! expert mapper Gregor Tchernopov greeted him as he entered his lair.
The room was filled with plastipaper maps and holographic display of various systems and planet. Tycho stopped to slide the memory crystal inside an empty displayer in the middle of the room.
-I've heard about your adventures with the pirates in the Cygnus arm. Did you still manage to get interesting data?
-Most certainly. I had originally scheduled to explore quadrant Moscow-Omicron, but didn't manage to do much before these damned Space Worms got out after me. I still managed to map an important asteroid cloud they used for hiding.
-Oh? A lone cloud? You never cease to impress me. I've never heard of one that was precisely mapped.

Tycho activated a switch, dampening the room and shooting the hologram straight into the centre of the room. What looked like a group of rocks floating in the air showed up. Another switch made several highlight to appear. Tycho pointed at them as he spoke

-These were the pirates' bases. Meliboea, here, is a big iron mass, twice Vesta's size. Nearly as big is Protea, which they hollowed to fill it with water. It's pumping station is on the smaller Tyrinos, which is magnetically chained to it. All in all, the cloud could be a great provisioning base.

-Great work, Tycho, as always. I'll have your payload transferred to your account by Tuesday. Mind if I ask whether you have projects?
-I'm still working on that "flying objects database", you remember? I'll probably stick around in the Vega sector and catch some more troublemakers.
-Sounds like fun! Can't wait to hear about it in the news!

[Dmitri_Dragoon]

[COLOR=red]The onboard monitor on Hobbes beeped to life. Indicating to Arik that they were coming out of warp, which also meant Planet New York was soon to be seen.

Sure enough, as Arik looked about, he could already see the hustle and bustle of ships entering and leaving the planet. He saw several ships that looked juicey enough to go after, but he knew he couldn't. He had cargo, and he had to get it unloaded and circulated among the populace, he also had dirty money he needed to launder.

He made his way into the mainstream and got through the atmosphere just fine. Now came the question as to where he would land. He had to make it a remote location, and couldn't let it be at a port, pirate ships were more well known than a smugglers.

He decided on the outskirts of Planet New York's main city. Which, if memory served him correctly was called New York City.. much like the first one. (That's probably a big duh).

He slowly decended upon the ground, finding a good spot, it looked like what used to be a farm. It would be the best place to go, especially if it was abandoned.

As he got closer he could tell that there was no habitance, lucky him. What wasn't lucky is that the barn doors appeared to be closed. He had hoped to hide his ship in there, he would have to do some manuevering to get it in there, but he would before he left. He edged closer to the barn and put out his landing gear. Right before he shot off his landing boosters to make it a soft landing, and it was so.

He turned off his engines and opened the cockpit. Great thing about his ship.. multiple ways to get out. He jumped to the ground and ran to the barn doors, opening them up, and to his surprise he saw absolutely nothing in there. He expected some sort of trash.. or something left behind. He propped the doors open to where they wouldn't be able to shut on him, and he went back to his ship.

Back to life his engines went and he rose it gently into the air. After barely clearing the ground he backed it gently into the barn, and slowly lowered it back down. It wasn't as hard as he thought it would be.

After he had it safely secured, he strapped what cargo he could carry onto him, and started to hoof it to the City.

On the way, he was picked up by somebody going into the city as well. It was an older vehicle, it didn't even hover, but it did run on nuclear engines.

After being dropped off, and getting a cab, he was on his way to a place where all pirates, smugglers, whatevers, went to show off their goods. [i]The Lonely Drifter[/i]. It may have it's bad customers, but it is still the best, and safest place to go in the whole planet. Most of the patrons were even honest people. But that was no matter.

Arik entered and looked around. It was a busy day. Nothing wrong with that, good business for the owner, and quite possibly for him too.

An hour or so later he had sold all his goods, and was promising to bring his other goods later. But now, he wanted booze.

He sat at the bar and got himself a beer. It was a simple drink, but it was his favorite, and this places beer was wonderful.
[/COLOR]

[Annie]

[color=teal][font=times new roman][b]"Requesting pilot's name and ship's code,"a computerlized voice rang through Yelena's headset.

"Uh..Yelena LeBlough, ship code CHAM-8193,"Yelena pressed autopilot off.

"Request Granted. Welcome to the planet of New York. Please enjoy your stay," a ping was heard and Yelena spotted an open dock.

"Good choice, Cham. I haven't been to the city yet,"the engines whistle wound down to a pur as Yelena landed on the dry docks.

The hatch popped open and Yelena jumped out. She stretched out and pulled her helmet off. She threw it into the cockpit as the hatch closed.

"Damnit! My back-pack and my shotgun,"Yelena snapped her fingers and opened the hatch.

She snatched her things and walked down the docks. All of the fellow pilots stared. It was rare to see a female on the New York docks.

"Cham, security!" Yelena called over her shoulder and flipped her braid.

"Hey little lady, need a ride? Because I can give you one that you'll never forget," a drunken, unshaven man with long scrungy hair stumbled over.

"Piss off,"Yelena called out for a cab.

"Oh, don't be like that, babe,"the man felt up Yelena's back.

Yelena spun around and smacked the man in the face with her leather bounded braid. He fell to the ground grasping his bleeding cheek. A cab pulled up and Yelena was in it quicker than she could spit.

"Where to miss?" the driver asked pulling into the air.

"Um..Do you know of a good bar?" Yelena looked at the tail end of her braid.

"Yes I do, but it's usually full of riff-raff. Not a place for a lady, I would say,"the driver chuckled.

"That would be true, I guess, if I were a lady. But, I am not such lady, take me there," Yelena bit at her fingernails.

"Are you sure? There's lots of perverted men and fights break out constantly,"the driver's voice was unsure.

"Listen, when I want your opinion, I'll give it to you! Now just shut up and drive,"Yelena leaned up to the driver's ear.

The remainder of the drive was silent. The cab driver kept glancing, always to be met with an icy glare. The cab stopped in front of a bar. Drunks were stumbling out and in, angry men taking their fights into the street, hookers leaning against the entrance, Yelena stepped out of the cab and gave the driver his share.

"Ah, just my place. [i]The Lonely Drifter[/i] eh?"Yelena pushed her way past the fighting men and cross-dressing prostitutes and hookers.

"Hey honey, 100 credits.."a hidious prostitute breathed smoke into Yelena's face.

"You wish,"she walked into the bar and sat at a lone table in the back.

"Can I get you anything?" a young woman in a short mini-skirt and halter top smiled.

"Yeah, I just want watermelon Jolly Rancher,"Yelena sat back in her seat and peered around the bar.

It was a buzz with a drunken kareokee singer, pool tables cracked with sticks and balls, men yelling at one another, cigarette smoke became the atmosphere. Yelena spotted two men that didn't quite blend in. One at the bar, the other sitting a few tables away. They seemed to be in deep thought.

"Here you go miss,"the waitress came back with the drink.

"Thanks,"Yelena gave the girl the money and sipped her drink.

[i]Beep, beep, beep, beep, be-[/i] Yelena pulled her ear phone out of her back pack.

"LeBlough."

"Hello Slick, I have a job for you."

"Aleq, what now?" Yelena lowered her head to avoid stares.

"I understand you are on the planet of New York, correct? Well, there is a smuggler there that is a threat to me. I need you to find him and do whatever you need to get rid of my problem,"the man's voice was of a weasel.

"You are correct, that's your problem, not mine. Besides, I am a racer. What authority do I have to carry out your dirty work?" Yelena took another swig from her drink.

"You are a pirate, and I am your boss. Half the money you make in your races goes to me. Half of the profit you steal, is mine. I just promoted you. Your pay will increase significantly, that is if you take this job for me,"the man sneered.

"Who is he and what problem does he pose?"Yelena's voice filled with annoyance.

"We only got information of him being known as 'Ry'. He's a smuggler, and a damn good one at that."

"Yeah? And...."

"He's supposed to be coming after ship parts. And if it slipped that gorgeous little head of yours, I am the biggest ship parts trade in this side of the planet district! His orders are to come smuggle my newest part!"

"And you want me to stop him, yea, yea, yea..I know,"Yelena waved her hand and leaned back into her seat.

"Would you be serious!''

"I am to being serious,"Yelena teased.

"Fucking woman! I do not know why I keep you around!"

"Ha! You know why,"Yelena smirked.

"Because you're the best pirate I have. Now are you going to take this job or what?"

"Yes, I will. My pay better be good, because if I get screwed again, I am coming after you,"Yelena's voice deepened with the memory of the last job he had.

"Don't worry, this is different. Your money will be grander, that ship part is the key to the fate of Planet California...You achieve success in this job, you will be the richest pirate in history. I am sending you the information that we have acquired on this 'Ry' person. Please don't disappoint me, Slick,"the man's voice clicked and the transmission was ended.

"Hmm..Interesting, a mystery smuggler,"Yelena reached into her bag and took out, what appeared to be a small, compact.

She flipped it open to look into the little computer screen. She hooked up an adapter from her ear piece to the back of the compact. Information started to fill the screen.

"Ry, is it? I will find you,"Yelena clicked the compact closed and put it and the ear piece into her back pack.

She looked around the bar and tapped her fingers on the table.[/color][/font][/b]

[Hinata]

[COLOR=crimson][SIZE=1]

Trini waited in traffic for a while. Knowing why she hated this planet so much. Looking at herself in the mirror she began to speak to herself.

'Remind me to never come here again,' she spoke uietly then shut the lid of her compact.

The cabby just continued to look forward as traffic stood still then crept along slowly again. He looked back to Trini then faced forward again.

" So we here for a long time?" He said trying to pass the time by with conversation.

" Naw, just business and then hopefully a nice little break on planet Toyko."

" Now that is one place I must go to one day," his voice brightened anf his tone changed. " Wanna take me?"

Trini luahged and then looked out the window.

" I don't think Im the right person to go with."

The cab driver kinda stumped by her comment tried to reply but she handed him the fare and got out of the car.

" Thanks," she said and walked to the closest sidewalk, about 100 feet away..

Many of the pedestrians were moving quickly but she surveyed the area. Chacking where she was before going on. The city to her hadn't changed to much but it did continue to grow. Up that it and she knew finding the right building would be the toughest part for her. But on she walked. Looking at her watch knowing she only had 2 more days to be finished with this job. And she never loved to disappoint a paying customer.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Warlock]

Drink held lazily in his hand, Shane Reilly sat on an uncomfortable little stool that stood in front of a small bar. The fact it was small wasn?t surprising in the least, given the mining base it was located in rarely received interstellar traffic, just the weekly cargo trawlers and the occasional pilot in need of repairs, or simply a place to rest. In this case, Shane was both the former and the latter.

His startlingly heavy fighter, an Enforcer, had taken on one too many pirates out in the nearby asteroid field. While the pirates were now space dust, they?d come close to taking Shane with them, using their local knowledge to their advantage. He couldn?t count how many times he?d barely avoided mines.

Gulping down the rest of the alcoholic drink that rested in his glass (he wasn?t sure of the name, but it was a special of the bartender), he took a quick glance at his watch. [FONT=courier new]07:25:34[/FONT], local time. If the mechanic was as good as he said he was, his ship would be as good as new any minute now.

Placing the glass down on the counter with a soft ?chink?, Shane snaked his other hand into his trouser pockets, fishing around for some credits, only to be surprised as another man sat down on the stool next to him.

The credits forgotten, the freelancer turned to look at the new arrival. The first thing that stuck out was the man was garbed casually, not like the people who actually worked here; they seemed to be eternally stuck in a dull grey uniform. He also had an ogre like appearance, with a bald head, a jutting jaw, and bulging muscles.

?Whisky,? the man grunted to the bartender, who was watching an old flat panelled television. Then, to Shane?s slight surprise, the ogre of a man turned to him and asked a simple question. ?You Sundowner??

Shane paused for a moment, thinking, before giving a slow, deliberate nod. ??What can I do for you?? With one hand near his pistol, and the other on the glass, he had two weapons ready in case things turned sour.

The other man waited for a moment as his shot of whiskey was slid down the counter, before eyeing Shane. ?Well, you look like ?im,? he commented lazily. ?Listen, since I was coming down ?ere, a friend asked me to tell you that the Navy might have a few jobs up for offer. Sounds like they didn?t have many for a while, but eh, now they do. Just head down to the [I] Caspian [/I], it?s only a bit off California.? Shane nodded, already familiar with the location of the Navy Cruiser.

The large man gulped down his whisky in one smooth motion, before gesturing for another drink. ?Oh, and if yer ship?s that big one down there, it?s ready.?

?Well, thanks,? Shane replied simply, and drew out a few credits. He plopped a few down on the counter, but flipped one last one to the ogre man, ?For your help.? And with that, he was off.

--------------------------

Half an hour later, and Shane Reilly?s [I] Enforcer [/I] was lifting up and out through the Docking Ring of the small red planet, the pilot seated comfortably in the cockpit, double checking that the fighter?s systems were running at 100 percent. He had to give it to the mechanic down there, he certainly knew his craft.

Flicking a small switch, Shane shifted the ship?s thrusters into cruise mode, and with a jump, the [I] Enforcer [/I] rapidly gained speed. While weapons were nigh on impossible to fire at the speeds the ship took when in cruise mode, it made intersystem travels a lot faster. Though since [I] Planet California [/I] was only a small hop, skip and jump from his current position (in fact, he could just barely see it?s dot in the distance), such speed wasn?t entirely necessary.

But instead of mentally debating such subjects, Shane just sat back, relaxed, and waited for the journey to be over.

[skedy]

[COLOR=teal] The small dusty orb known as Caspian hung weightlessly in the void below the Solaris. Walking briskly, in the hopes of not being stopped by any officers, Trenton passed numerous groups of techs, navigators and pilots on his way to the mess hall. Unlike him they were constantly busy catering to the massive ships needs, their jobs were constant and never varied, always the same.

The hall was half full when the sergeant arrived, most of the infantry had just been woken up and were having their first meal before they began training. Trenton collected his meal and joined the rest of his team at a long, steel bench savoring every bite...
***
'I'd like to be able to finish my meal at least once this week.' Hammer complained as he clambered into his fighter.

'Stop ya' bithchen' and get ready, we're going to need some cover.' Tanya replied lightly to her commrad.

Trenton listened idly to the chatter over the comms as he reloaded, checked then rechecked his weapons. Now decked in a full tactical combat suit he was responsible for the capture of the captain of the approaching pirate ships. Deciding to focus, the sergeant switched his comm back to a closed frequency checked the atmoshpere seals on his suit. He quickly scanned his team as he felt the small transport lift off and manoveure its way out of the docking bay. Kyle, a new recruit, sat cooly on the bench opposite his officer. Trenton knew that Kyle probally wan't going die, he looked too nervous to carry out a capture, despite his facade.

The U-shaped transport glided swiftly through the pandemonium around it, fighters were scrambling frantically out of the Solaris to meet the on comming wave of scrappy ships sent by the pirates. Intense flashes of light left searing lines across the vision of those stupid enough to look as they exploded out of the cruiser's weapon batteries into the larger ships of the rag tag force. The U-shaped ship continues to cork-screw towards the largest ship in the small armada, a large cargo vessel that had been modified and turned into a make shift gun platform, a perfect place for any commander to run his attack from.

The scream of metal tearing through the flesh of the platform filled Treton's ears as the pilot of his small U-shaped transport rammed the enemy's vessel. Designed as a ramming craft the two forward prongs of the U-ship were made of near solid metal, the weak hull of the modified pirate gun platform had no chance of standing up against them. A door located in the middle of the U-ship slid quickly back into the walls around it and Trenton, followed closely by his team boarded the crippled ship, a fresh atmosphere being pushed through behind them.

The small seven man team moved quickly and professionaly through the rag-tag ship, compact assault rifles tearing apart all those who refused to surrender. They now stood outside the twin doors of the ships command room, Trenton's objective was just inside...

Debris was blown every where when the explosive went off, there was nothing left of the pathetic ship that once lead the raiding party. Trenton and his team were saftly aboard the U-ship as it docked in the Solaris' massive gut, the objective lay still on the floor as what was left of his force was chased down and destroyed....[/COLOR]

[Circ]

"Now entering Mu Heracles system. Entering vector coordiates for Planet New York." A childlike voice said. It continued in a reproachfull mode "You're going to drunk yourself into hyperspace again, right?" Tycho laughed.
-Yes. He felt like he was being glared at. Aw! Don't be like that! It's been a while, besides the [i]Lone Drifter[/i] has the best bourbon on this side of the galaxy and... Damn! I don't have to justify myself to my ship's A.S. (Artificial Sentience), damn it!

It was her turn to laugh.

"Are my bugs ready?" Tycho huffed.
-Yup yup! 2 Dumas-shaped cambugs and 3 Guitry-like universal recorders. Tycho pocketed them.
-You're the best, Alexandra.

Tycho went into his cabin a moment. He needed a good camouflage. This army tactical suit would have his shot the second he'd enter the bar. A thin bio-armor suit went to replace it and a pair of all-around googles went to cover his artificial eyes. This device did have a very nifty sonatr included.

-Minicomm me if there any trouble, Lex. I shouldn't be long.
-I'll be ready for an emergency take off. She mocked.

The computer knew all too well how these visits usually ended, but hey! The place was the best spot for smugglers and pirate info, artefact stealing and more. It regularly gave it juicy locations to investigate around and buuild his legend on. He craved for more, possibly a Shanti base? Yeah. Destroying a couple aliens would certainly allow him to take his retreat and possibly start an holovid carrier? Oh god! That would be great!

Still deep in his thoughts, he entered the bar, heading for a lone stool.

[silpheedpilot]

[COLOR=Blue]Ry glanced around [I]The Lonely Drifter[/I], examining his surroundings. The same riff-raff that was in here day in and day out was still around, he saw a few new faces. The man at the bar he had never seen before, he looked sort of like a Pirate, Why he was alone Ry would never know and the other new face was a female Pirate, why she was alont Ry would never know.....Again.
He gave a small shrug and glanced around again. A female waitress walked up to his table and held a pad of paper.

"What will you have, Ry?" the waitress asked.

Ry glanced up at the waitress, a young female with a short skirt and a haltertop. Ry smiled and patted the seat next to him, the waitress sat down and hugged Ry.

"Long time no see Mariah!" Ry exclaimed, pulling her away, taking a good look at her features, he breats were full and round, barely fitting in the haltertop as is. He skirt was hitched up he could see the thong she was wearing, he blonde hair was up in a bun but a few strand of hair were around her face. "Just as I remember you!"

Mariah, put a hand up to her face hiding her blush. She smiled and clicked the old pen. "So...What will you have?"

Ry rubbed at his hairless chin, he smiled and snapped his fingers.
"[I]New York Special[/I] and be snappy with it!"
Ry gave her slap on the butt as she got up, she turned to Ry and pointed a playful finger at him. Ry smiled and waved a shooing hand at her.
Ry let his smaile fade, knowing smiling was apt to get your ass kicked here. He looked around, the female Pirate was an odd sight , though. Females wouldn't usually step foot in this pub, unless she was a whore, was looking to score, or was here on a job. Then again Pirates usually dont have 'jobs'. He shrugged and looked towards the lone Pirate at the bar. Not too many Pirates are lone, and most Pirates dont come in here without a weapon, and that Pirate didn't look armed. Ry felt uneasy with the newcomers in the bar, but not many people would feel easy in this bar. Ry lounged back and waited for his drink.[/COLOR]

[Dmitri_Dragoon]

[COLOR=red]Arik was on his third beer, and it had little effect on him so far.

"Good beer... seems a little weak though. Oh well, it'll do." He looked around. He saw a cute waitress shaking a finger at somebody.. seemed a little playful. "Wonder how much she'll cost.." he said mumbling to himself.

He turned back to his drink, but not before he saw the man the waitress was playing with shot him a look. Arik didn't seem to notice, but he would have to keep his guard up.

He adjusted himself slightly, opening his jacket and giving access to his blaster. Hopefully it won't be needed. He may be a pirate, but he hated shooting more than what he wanted or needed too.

He also saw another woman drinking. She didn't have the look of whore.. so he decided not to bother with her. Too many possibilies in that one.

He finished his third beer, and ordered his next one. If he wasn't going to get laid.. then he would make sure he drank enough.

[/COLOR]

[Inuyasha Fandom]

The strande man watched as the people toiled through their daily lives. he had often wondered what it was like to have a life. All he had was the fact that he was wanted, and he was called 'Forsaken'. In reality, he had no real name, he was just.......
well, those facts were unimportant. No one cared. Tht was all there was to it.
[i]Forsaken........ that seemed like a rather unique name........... why not use it? Yes... let's use it.......[/i] he scaned the heavens of the planet, and he saw... a ship? well, it ws none of his concern. After all, you can't catch what won't be caught.
Forsaken made his way to his own ship, and set off. He soon ran out of fuel.
"damn! why did I not refuel?!"
Forsaken reveled in his stupidity. "Damn............ Ah well... nothing I can do......" he took out a pack of ciggarettes and began to smoke one.

[Hinata]

[COLOR=crimson][SIZE=1]


Not yet seeing the spot she wished for Trini decided to tale a small drink break at the one place that seemed lik home to her in the area. The [I]LD[/I] she called it and didn't mind stepping in there from time to time. But hopefully she didn't want to see any annoying people or stay there to long to relive annoying memories.

She walked in quietly, ignoring many of the people around her and went straight to the bar. She plopped down a few seats away from a man she had only seen on many channels and have heard of before,Arik was his name if she remember right. But didn't keep her eyes focused on him too long.

"What'll you have, la-" the bartender started but then realised who he was talking to." Well, well ,well! What brings you ack to these neck of the wood Trini, the usual?"

She nodded her head while the guy promptly made her drink.

"Well you know me, Gio( short for Giovanni, his last name.) I'm always on the go and you know I gotta come and see you everytime I come to New York."

He promptly handed her drink over and she gave him his money.

"And each time you come I a;ways enjoy seeing you. now you enjoy that and call me if you want another." He said walking away to attend to other customers.

She turned away from the bar now, drink in hand and quickly devoured it. Although her Apple Martini didn't provide much punch she still enjoyed it as her opener for the night. She placed the glass on the counter behind her and surveyed the room for more poeple like herself. Pirates she mostly saw, and a few who she had done business with. She acknowledged them with a wave or nod of the head smiling at each of them.

Although the place was home, she never trusted its inhabitants and her pocket full of daggers made sure she could get out of there whole.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Annie]

[color=teal][font=times new roman][b]"Hmm..That man looks familiar.."Yelena looked at the pirate at the bar.

A woman sat a few seats away from him. Yelena sighed.

"May I get you another drink?" the cute waitress leaned over, her breast nearly popped out of her garment.

"Yes, one more. And put some more vodka in it please,"Yelena nodded over to the man at the lone table,"Who is he?"

"Oh him? He's just an old friend,"the waitress took Yelena's glass and walked away.

"I'll bet he is,"Yelena grumbled. [i]I'm much cuter than her...[/i]

The man grabbed the waitress around the waist and pulled her to him. They laughed and giggled. He whispered something in her ear to make her slap him in the chest. She then got up and went to get Yelena's drink. The man stared lustfully after the waitress.

[i]I think I am going to be sick...[/i]Yelena rolled her eyes.

"Here you go, may I get you anything else?" the young blonde asked.

"No thanks,"Yelena closed her eyes and sipped her drink.

[i]Hmm..Ry...Sounds familiar..Why do I have to do this? So I am one of the best pirates in the California district, there are other sector pirates.....I don't want to chase after a petty smuggler. He claims to be the best, so? Hmmmmm...[/i] Yelena was brought out of her thoughts by a crash.

"You cheated you piece of shit!!!" a drunk shouted over a bad hand in poker.

"Sit down, it was a fair drawl! You are too drunk!" his friend shouted.

Yelena sighed and adjusted her barely there blouse. She felt she was being stared at and looked around to see a nasty local eyeballing her.

"What do you want, dirty scrub?" Yelena was annoyed.

"How much are you?"

"I beg your pardon? I am not a fucking prostitute. If you want one of them walking STD's then go outside!" Yelena shouted.

"Oooo, I like 'em sassy," the man neared Yelena.

"Touch me, and I will snap your arm in half,"Yelena took her drink and chugged it down in one smooth motion.

She stood up and grabbed her bag and slung her shotgun over her shoulder. The man grabbed her ass and tried to pull her into him. Yelena brought her elbow into his diaphram and her fist into his nose. The man dropped into knees and Yelena highed kicked him in the face.

"You bitch!" the man spat blood on Yelena's boots.

She pointed her shotgun into the man's face and looked coldly at him.

"Clean your filthy blood off of my boots, NOW!" everyone in the bar stared.

"Do y'all have a staring problem?!" Yelena yelled out, "Mind your own and get back to drinking!"

The bar went back to normal, except for those few people. The man at the bar, the woman beside him, and the pervert at table nine. Yelena looked down at the pathetic excuse of a man.

"D-don't kill me..please," he begged.

"You're not worth my time,"Yelena discharged her shotgun and headed for the door.[/color][/font][/b]

[Inuyasha Fandom]

ooc: hey, will some one resque my char?


Forsaken was alone, as usuall. It had always been like that, despite his attitude. but reguardles, girls were always wanting him. He never wamdered around, he always had reasons for doing everything, usually.
"Why am I always like this?" he wonders.

[Circ]

[i]She's mine.[/i]

If that wasn't just his perfect kind of target, the woman had just paited a bullseyes in the middle of her chest.

"Alexandra" Tycho whispered to the bug near him. "Send a cambug after that woman. Be ready to guide me exactly twenty seconds after she's out."

He started to count mentally. No bug had picked anything else of interest. He activated a the comflex on his suit, slowly downed his drink before slipping a 20 bitels notte inside the bar.

Walking past the downed man, he kicked his hand for good measure. No need to raise suspiscion.

"Alexandra, where?"

"2nd alley on your left, quick, she's in a hurry!"

[i]The chase has begun![/i] he though as the suit turned to an aerodynamical fabric.

[Annie]

[color=teal][font=times new roman][b] Yelena made her way through an alley. She felt she was being followed and began to pick up her pace. Homeless beggers grabbed at her, asking, pleading for money or food. Yelena threw some credits down to escape from their groveling grasp.

"Cham, I am being followed, start systems,"Yelena called into her wrist watch.

[i]Damn my temper, I just singled myself out...Stupid![/i] Yelena slapped her forehead and continued to skip through alleyways.

She looked over her shoulder to see a man's figure following about 20 seconds behind her. She then entered a back door of a building.

[i]Great, a tavern...Filthy whore house..[/i] Yelena shook her head at the pathetic site of hordes of women dancing on open tables and bars, smoke became the atmosphere, awful techno music blasted, strobe lights impaired Yelena's vision.

[i]Maybe this will give me some time to lose this nusiance,[/i] Yelena pushed and shoved her way through the crowd. She made her way to the other side of the filth infested room. She looked around and saw that the man was still persisting his way towards her.

"Damn it!" Yelena punched a man who wouldn't stop gropping her.

She burst through a door and into a private room. It had no other doors, no windows.

"Shit!" She spun around to be met with a forearm.

She looked up and saw this man, he brought his leg back to kick her but she rolled out of the way and jumped out to her feet and onto a table that had a single pole in the middle.

The man swung at Yelena, she grabbed the poll and spun around. She brought her legs around and side swiped him in the face. She jumped down and grabbed this man's neck.

"Who the crap are you and why are you following me?!" [/color][/font][/b]

[Inuyasha Fandom]

forsaken was watching passing ships, and sending random distress signals. He had been adrift for a day, and all his rations were all gone. His stomach growled, as if it was angry for not being supplied with food.
"I'll get you something......... shut up...."
He sighed, and he felt his ship swerve, as it bounced off a meteor.
"Damn....... what next?"
He ship careens torward a planet......"Oh great........"
He puls out his landing gear, and he also pulls some way out manuvering. His ship crashes to the ground, and he coughs. "I hate it when that happens......."
Forsaken was suddenly face to face with the barrel of a gun. "Whoa..... Did i do something wrong?"
"you nearly killed me, you asshole."
His eyebrow twitches. "I am sorry... i was out of gas..."
"you'll be out of more than that in a minute......"
Forasaken lashes out, and grabs the barrel, and pulls it out of her grasp. "I am sorry, but I do not like to be bossed around."
Forsaken jumps awy, before tossing the weapon back, minus the bullets.
"I'll let you off easy.... bub-bye!"
Forsaken takes off, and he disappears into the night.

[silpheedpilot]

[COLOR=Blue]Ry watched as the woman left, Ry decided that things were getting too rough and he needed to leave. He stood up as Mariah came back with his drink, he waved her away and walked out of the pub. He stepped out onto the ragged sidewalk, and glanced up at all the passing ships and Hover cars. He smiled and started down the sidewalk at a brisk pace. He passed the whores, and sluts and drunkards blasting thier laser pistols into the air.
Ry grunted and shruged as he passed by the patrons of the sidewalk, he had his hands in his pockets and he was whistling as he walked. A whore walked up to Ry and poked him in the chest, she lifted up her shirt, showing Ry her breats. Ry took no intrest into her deformed boobs and walked on.

He turned the corner, and continued down the street. He raised a small black phone to his mouth.
"Leena...Get the Marauder preped for launch, I'll be there in a neo-flash"

A small crackle was heard and the cool, calm female voice wafted into Ry's ears.
"Alright Ry...Make that neo-flash a milli-flash! Some Navy suaves are checking me out."

"If I were a lonely Navy officer, I'd 'check' you out too" Ry responded, chuckling.

"I bet" Leena responded, laughing. "Over and out"

Ry flipped the phone closed and stuck it back in his pocket, he smiled at his fortune. A human emotional computer...A nice touch.
He continued down the sidewalk, waving to a Hover cab.[/COLOR]

[Circ]

Tycho had not expected expected the woman to get herself stuck [i]before[/i] getting to her ship.
This was going to be very close. Fortunately, he had switch the biosuit into a more normal set of clothes when entering the place.

"You're a pirate," he stated, "and I have a job for you." She kept glaring at him. "Don't look at me like that! It's not like any [i]normal[/i] woman would get into that bar." He chuckled.
-Yeah, well maybe I don't take contracts!
-What if I told they it concern the merchant's league weekly shipping?

Her eyes bulged out. Tycho realised he might have gotten himself in more trouble than he had wanted. Oh well, it's not like he wa sin service...

[i][size=1]OOC: The cambug is still in the room. Just so you know.[/size][/i]

[Annie]

[color=teal][font=times new roman][b]Yelena stood straight and lowered her fists. She looked questionably at this man.

"I am already on a job, I cannot help you,"Yelena wiped the blood from her lip.

"Well, this job is worth way more than the one you have, trust me," the man stood up and stretched his arm.

"I believe you, no doubt. But, like I said, I am already on a job. One in which will cost me my life if I refuse,"Yelena cracked her neck.

"You're a pirate, your life is always in the Reaper's hands,"the man's voice was sarcastic.

Yelena stared at the man and began to make her way to the door. He stepped in her path.

"Out of my way,"Yelena took her shotgun out of its holster behind her back and pointed it at the man.

"You couldn't kill your own kind,"he smirked.

"No?" Yelena cocked the weapon,"Who are you and why do you want me on this job of yours?"[/color][/font][/b]

[Warlock]

Shane Reilly was already well aware of what he was getting himself into several minutes before he actually arrived - with the Enforcer?s inbuilt interception device, he picked up the radio transmissions just as his external scanners got a firm lock on the scene ahead of him.

It was some sort of battle - not a big one, like those that had went down in history over the years - but a pirate attack on some Navy ships. One he instantly recognised as the [I] Caspian [/I], though he had to use his scanners to determine the other cruiser, named the [I] Solaris [/I]. The pirate ?fleet? that was attacking them was a respectful collection of large and small ships alike, and while each of them individually was no match for the modern war cruisers, as a whole, they could do damage.

But as he got within visual range, their largest craft, a modified cargo ship, was blown into a billion pieces. There was no doubt in his mind that this would be a crushing blow to the pirates.

Keying his comm. system, opening up the Navy channel he was familiar with.

?United Earth?s Navy, this is freelancer Sundowner,? he said, speaking into the mike attached to his helmet. ?I see you have a little pest problem there. Need any assistance??

There was a pause, before a crisp military voice came over the line. ?Sundowner, this is United Earth?s Navy cruiser [I] Solaris [/I]. Assistance isn?t necessary, but one more fighter would do nicely.?

Upon hearing this, Shane immediately brought the Enforcer?s engines back down to normal levels, and ran his entire ship through a quick system?s check.

?However, while we?ll be able to provide you with a place to receive repairs should you need them, there?s only a small chance you?ll get payed,? continued the voice. ?Assuming those terms are acceptable, we?ll get you in touch with our fighters.?

?Fine with me, [I] Solaris [/I],? Shane replied, knowing helping the Navy out would be a good plus to his relationship with them. Which in his case, would make things just the more sweeter. ?Transfer me over.?

There was another brief pause, before a new voice came on. ?Sundowner?? the distinctly male voice asked, distrust very evident.

?That?s me,? Shane said, smiling as the screen in front of him reported all of the fighter?s systems in the green.

?Okay, I don?t now how freelancers like you operate, but to make things easier, you?re temporarily part of my squadron,? the male voice continued. ?You will follow my orders, you will not endanger the lives of my pilots, and you will call me [I] sir [/I]. Understand??

?Yes, sir!? Shane replied, humoured, but smart enough to keep it out of his voice.

?Good,? said the squadron leader. ?Okay everyone, we?re going to split into two groups, one to tackle the fighters, one to handle the big boys. There?s not many of them, so it should be a walk in the park. ?Hammer, you know who to take. Take those fighters and give us some cover. Everyone else, it?s time to lay those big pieces of junk to rest. And Sundowner, that ship of your?s any good at bombing??

?That?s an affirmative, sir.?

?Good. You?ll be with me, then. Okay everyone, I?m sending over target specific data now. Let?s get to work.?

Shane scanned his heads up, instantly spotting his target. A bright red rectangle was superimposed over a small freighter that had parts melded all over it, parts that looked like they once belonged to an old destroyer. It didn?t look too dangerous, but as you soon learned in this business, appearances are always deceiving.

?Sundowner, I?m Zero,? a cool female voice whispered in his ear. ?You?ll be flying my wing.?

Shane to his left, through the cockpit?s canopy, and spotted a sharp, angular looking fighter-bomber a few hundred metres that way. With a smooth movement, he sent his own ship to meet up with it. ?Got it, Zero.?

Only swerving to avoid a missile that had long lost it?s target, Shane quickly had his Enforcer by Zero?s ship, and together, they closed in on the pitiful looking freighter/destroyer hybrid. Whoever Hammer was, he and his pilots were keeping the fighters busy. The only one he saw was a badly damaged one, slowly limping away from the fight.

?Stay sharp Sundowner, we?re in range,? Zero said suddenly. ?When I say so, fire a torpedo, then we?ll come around for another p-- Damn!?

Shane was about to ask what the matter was, but was quickly alerted by his own ship?s sensors. The missile he?d avoided only a moment before, the one that looked like it was shooting into space, had abruptly turned around and shot at Zero?s fighter. Shane?d hardly had any time to think before the missile took on a quick burst of speed, and slammed into the back of his wingman?s (or more correctly, wing[I]woman?s[/I]) fighter, and it burst into a ball of flames.

His horror turned to relief as he saw that Zero had ejected just in time - he could just turn the ship around, and tractor her in--.

The Enforcer shuddered as its forward shield suddenly began to take a horrible pounding, a steady wave of plasma splashing onto it. Almost by instinct, Shane angled the fighter down, and it escaped out of the plasma?s path. [I] What the? [/I]

He spotted who had been firing at him almost instantly - the hybrid, which it turned out, wasn?t [I] as [/I] pitiful as it looked. He was forced to fire up his afterburners for a second as the wave of plasma tracked him through the void.

[I] Payback time. [/I] Moving the freighter/destroyer back into the middle of his canopy, he checked the status of his torpedoes, fired two in quick succession, and then flicked a switch.

Meanwhile, the two torpedoes sped from their launchers, cutting a parallel line towards their target. Within seconds, they exploded powerfully against the hybrid?s shields, shutting them down instantly.

And it was then that Shane took careful aim, checked to see that the switch was indeed switched, and pulled the trigger. There was a pause, and a loud [I] thump-thump-thump [/I] echoed through the cockpit.

Three blurs shot out from the Enforcer?s left wing, and almost immediately made contact with their target. The hybrid lurched to a stop, then shuddered as something exploded within. The only real sign of what had happened to them was a smooth puncture in their side that began to leak atmosphere?

Satisfied that his Magnetic Acceleration Cannon had taken care of the hybrid, Shane brought his own fighter around, and flew back to his temporary wingman. If all went well, he?d pick her up, the others would finish off the pirates, and he?d get a little pay on the side.