Fumo presents…
A fan fic based on a product he doesn't own, and makes no claim to…
Outlaw Star:
Old Habits Die Hard
Rated: PG-13, for violence, language, suggestive themes, and all around "good" fun!
Set one year after the Leyline debacle, where the crew of the Outlaw Star etch out a living in this big dark universe, clueless of the dangers that lie with out and within…
Chapter 1
With silent smoothness, the Outlaw Star slipped into the wide docking berth of the Free City of Blue Heaven. There was a slight twinge as it penetrated the magnetic field, separating the coldness of space with the artificial heated atmosphere of the asteroid of Blue Heaven. It sailed to a stop at one of the dry docks near the back, and abruptly stopped as two clamps reached out and held it fast.
With in minutes, the gang plank from the ship extended to the firm metal bridges of the docking bay, and the door of the ship raised.
The first one to was a young yellow headed boy, who walked down the ramp and placed his hands behind his head in a relaxed position, "Here we are in Blue Heaven again."
The next to leave, was a young Katarl Katarl women with a vibrant look about her, "Yeah, I remember the last time we were here, Jim. You took me to dinner and then left me to pay that gigantic bill."
Jim smiled apologetically, "Yeah, sorry about that, Aisha."
Aisha Clan Clan bounced down the ramp, "That's ok, water under the bridge, no use crying over spilt milk. I should have figured that a bum like Jean, couldn't afford it..."
She was silenced by the next person shoving her over onto the ground, a red hair fellow with a grumpy demeanor, who mumbled as he walked by. Aisha snorted as she smashed on top the ground, and Jean walked down the ramp and surveyed the docks with his back to the crew.
"Well, Jean seems to be in a grumpy mood today." said the raven haired assassin as she descended.
"Don't worry about him, Suzuka, he's just like that when he doesn't get enough sleep." said the cute young girl with fine black hair as she walked out of the Outlaw Star's doorway.
Sazuka turned back to the girl with a devilish smile on her face, " Oh Melphina? And how is it you know that he doesn't get enough sleep, hmm?"
Melphina blushed and looked down. It was common knowledge that Melphina and Jean were spending nights together. Now it was casual, but before the two had tried to keep it a secret. There was a very weird story among the crew that involving; Melphina, Jean, the captain's chair, and Jim and Aisha returning early from the movies, that the crew was still trying to forget.
A smile slide across Aisha's face as she rose of the ground, "Yeah... I bet you kept him all night long, Mel."
Melphina blushed even more.
Jim shook his head, as he muttered, "Blunt as ever..."
"Knock it off you two." Jean said as he turned back around, "OK.... captains orders are... Sazuka get a list from Mel and go get all the supplies we need, Jim and Aisha, contact the dock crew get the necessary equipment, work on the electrical systems, engine systems, and the hull damage from that last scuffle wit dem damn pirates, Mel, honey, could you start breakfast? That's everything..."
"Wait a minute, Starwind! What about you?!" Aisha yelled indignantly.
Jean put an innocent look on his face, "Me? Well I'm just gonna go get smashed, that's all.
"Wait, we have to work our asses off, while you go get wasted."
"It's called a captain's leave, and I'm taking it. I hear a bottle of brandy calling my name..."
"Wait, you..."
"Wait, wait, wait, no more waiting. You've got a job to do, and I've got a blood alcohol level to raise." Jean interrupted as he turned to leave.
"Jean you lazy ass slut!" Jim yelled after him.
"It's 10 o'clock in the morning..." Sazuka muttered.
Melphina just looked on disapprovingly.
"Do you hear that... it's calling me, Jean... Jean... Jean, drink me Jean..." Jean said as he sashayed out of the docking bay.
Several moments later, Jean found himself in the corridor where the docking bays connected with the actual city. The city, was one enormous bio-dome that cut the asteroid nearly in half, set deep in the stone. The city was straight forward with in that dome, thousands of streets and buildings, lit by the light of the star Mordant. Within the asteroid was thousands of tunnels and caverns intertwining and connecting, mainly from the docking bays to the city, but some places included government complexes, secret bases, shanty towns, and miles of mines.
Blue Heaven was originally the site of a human mining colony set up by a major company, to mine the asteroid's stores of the blue ore Tantium, hence the name Blue Heaven. An entire city sprouted where the colony was. When the ore was all gone, the company packed up and left, the y miners, however, most of who had grown up there, couldn't afford to leave, so they stayed. Soon, Blue Heaven became a trader's colony, where many races went to trade, deal, and buy all manner of things.
As it was run by scruffy miners and outlaws, the laws where very different here. Virtually no drugs were banned, cyber drugs were fair play too, anything could be sold, even people, slave trade is often conducted here, the legal age was 15, duels were allowed as well, Blue Heaven banks were the perfect place to launder money, assassins, thugs, and mercenaries could be bought there, sex, in any form, was not a crime either, it was a practically lawless place.
Jean walked up to the lift at the end of the tunnel. The lift was a very large elevator, though not as nearly as large as the service lifts, that carried travelers from the loading bay to the main city.
Jean only had to wait a few minutes, before the door opened, and he could go in. He was practically the only one in the lift this run, port traffic wasn't so big this time. Instantly as the doors closed the lift attendant sent it sailing up.
Jean noticed the attendant on his quiet ride. Short skirt, showing much of her salutary legs. Her tight red vest, accentuating her cleavage even more. Long blonde hair flowing down her shoulders. She had one of those non-impact blaster pistols, specially made pistols that hurt people but not structures, strapped to her leg, showing how dangerous and uncouth Blue Heaven really was.
The attendant caught Jean's glance and turned her head to meet his stare. She smiled at him, then winked.
Jean turned away to the girl's dissatisfaction.
It was still amazing to Jean, only a year ago he would have been all over that girl, wither she had given him the go ahead or not, but now, every since he fell in love with Melphina, he felt no attraction to other girls. He was happy and contented
The lift slowed to a halt, and the doors slide open.
Jean glanced to the side where the attendant was seated, in his low "playa's" voice, "Thanks for the lift…"
She smiled at him seductively, "I can give you a better one…"
Jean stopped and smiled to himself, "Save it…" and he continued.
Before him was the outlaw's city of Blue Heaven. The giant bio-dome with it's bleak view of the other floating rocks over smudged buildings, crummy, seedy bars and shops littering the avenues, dirty, skanky outlaws and vagrants wandering the streets in search of a drink, a fight, or whatever other perverse pleasure they made their living off of.
Jean took a deep breath of the musky recycled air of Blue Heaven, his home away from home.
------
Jean wondered the dirty streets until he found a nice bar he could sit in and have a morning drink. A total dive at first glance; a wooden shack, a concrete floor with a drain for spilled liquids, rickety chairs and tables, and lots of garbage around, with the slightest hint of vomit and urine in the air.
However, to Jean it was quiet place, with an adequate or semi-adequate glass of whisky in peace, and his only company would be those few hardcore drunks that would probably be asleep or dead.
Sure enough, he was right. Upon entering the seedy bar, he view two of the nastiest looking drunkards he'd seen in a long time, one on sleeping at a table, the other on the floor passed out or dead.
Jean was happy as could be. This was just the spot he was looking for, where he could forget the troubles of his failing company, and indulge in the delightful taste of his old Kentucky favorite.
Smile on his face, he walked to a nice table with his back to the street. Pulling out the irregular chair, he accidentally awakened the drunk sleeping at the back table. The fellow looked up warily for what awakened him, wiping a globular of spit from his lips.
Jean kept his chuckle to himself, waving his hands apologetically, "So sorry old man, it's just me. Go back to sleep."
Taking Jean's advise, he slurped the last of his glass, and fell face first on the table.
Jean laughed out loud, then turned slightly back to the bar counter, "Yo bartender!"
Like on command, the bartender placed a bottle of Aquan Sea Brandy and two glasses on the table in front of him, then walked off.
Jean picked the bottle up and examined it. An Aquan Sea Brandy was a fairly common brand of cheap brandy, except when it turned. It was commonly brown when it's first bottled, but over time the taste ripens and it turns a teal color. By the looks of this bottle, it was on it's way to turning.
"Hey, I didn't order this!" he yelled back
He was answered by the sound of a gun clicking from behind him, and a hard metal shaft sticking into his back.
A myriad of complex anylizations flowed through his head in that split second. A mixture of instinct, training, and self-preservation calculated equations and vectors to give him a solution to his present dilemma. The simple fact that this person stuck the gun barrel in his back, gave him an edge.
The fact that the gun was pressed to his back, let Jean figure where the gunman was situated behind him, a rookie mistake. From that he reasoned, that this person had chosen not to shoot him from afar, he wanted to get close enough for a point-blank shot, another rookie move. The correct execution style is double "taps" from afar, a shot in the back was for show offs. Yet another mistake, as he waited to get close, he could account for Jean's hands, which, one at least, was at his hip. If he had a good reason to wait, which didn't seem likely, he would need to order Jean's hands where he could see them, once against, a rookie mistake.
A nano-second later he had his solution; he would grab his gun and ice this pretender, then go back drinking the brandy the dead man had been so kind in buying him. The brandy was obviously a trademark of this gunman, another show off's insignia.
Jean's hand dove to his side, grabbing his gun and pulling it free from the belt clip. In that same pull, he spun the gun on the edge of his middle finger and switched to his thumb, so that it was upside down and facing back and up into the gunman. He would end this.
But something happened, the pretender's foot was readied, and before Jean could fire, the gunman kicked it from his hand.
With those few clinks as the gun hit and bounced of the ground, Jean realized his mistake. The gunman had anticipated his move and was ready for him. He let himself appear as a rookie, it tricked Jean and he fell into the gunman's trap. This was no rookie, but he was a show off, with skills to back it up.
Jean stopped breathing. He could feel his fate jab into his back.
It felt kind of funny, his death near. Where others would see their life pass before their eyes, all he could see or think was Melphina. The entire second before a gun shot, devoted to Melphina. Even stranger was this moment's appearance at all. Jean had been closer to death in the past and felt nothing at all. Now it was uncontrollable. He felt both proud and sad that he had something to care about before he died.
"You're gettin' slow, Starwind…" the gunman jeered.
The gunman at the same time removed the gun from his back and clicked it off.
Jean's mind wiped clean, Melphina was forgotten. It was all focused on that voice, a voice Jean knew he'd heard before. 21 years of voices flooded his mind. Cataloged and collated and finally remembered, but the voice couldn't be it.
Jean wrenched around in his seat to see his familiar assailant, then rose at the sight of him.
A young outlaw was standing before him, around the same age as Jean by first glance. He was slightly shorter the Jean, of a similar, lean, muscled build, with several scars along his arms like Jean as well. He had a baggy pair of black pants made from Complex Plastic, commonly called Plextic, a durable, lightweight material that was used for everything now a days, and a sleeveless dark gray, insolated shirt, like Jean's, designed to absorb sweat, keep heat in the cold, and coolness in the summer, it had a white lining on the arms, the neck, and was sloppily untucked, with white fingerless gloves with a light shield on the left hand. His most distinguishing feature, his long, bright blue hair, parted in the center, hanging down to his neck. With cunning brown eyes and a sly smile, he returned the blaster he had to his belt.
Jean gasped, "Angelo… Angelo Western?"
The blue haired man put his hands on his hips, "All right, you remembered me."
A giddy smile spread across, and Angelo copied it , "How could I forget!"
The slammed into each other in a hug that mimicked the meeting of two brothers. They were laughing hysterically that fate had brought them back together, spewing gibberish questions at each other. The commotion they created, drew the attentions of the other bar patrons and a few passerby's, but the two seemingly brothers couldn't be bothered by them. Finally, Jean sat down, and Angelo took a seat across from him.
"I'm serious though, Jean. I thought you were fast." Angelo said jokingly.
"I though you were dead, well anyway, I haven't had my morning eye opener, yet." Jean said laying back in his chair.
"Then drink up." Angelo said opening the bottle of brandy and pouring some of it's contents into the two glasses.
Jean took a sip of his glass, then gave a resounding "Ahhh... tangy. Man, what are the odds, meeting you after five years running into each other like this.
"Well, actually, the odds aren't that bad." Angelo said smiling.
Jean looked up from his drink, "Oh yeah?"
"You've been making quite a name for yourself, Jean Starwind."
Jean shrugged, "I guess."
"They call you the prodigy."
"Oh yeah, why is that."
Angelo took a big swig of his glass, "Well, they say you come out of no where, this young outlaw, and excels at everything he starts, helped in no small part by his incredible star ship and his crew."
"That sure does sound like me, heh, heh…" Jean said chuckling.
Angelo smiled, "The Outlaw Star, which placed fourth at the Heyfong Space Races, and first in the privateer division. Captained by Jean Starwind, and crewed by, no less, then a boy genius, am elite assassin, a Katarl Katarl, and… a high-tech bio-synthoid, I think.
"Yeah…" Jean said calmly, sipping his drink.
"There are a lot of rumors as well. They say he had a long standing feud with both the McDougal Brothers and the Kae Pirates, and then killed both of the McDougals, the Hanten Seven, and the most evil man in the universe, Hazonko! That he escaped from the inescapable Gravity Prison! And, that he found the Galactic Leyline and then gave it up for love, or something."
"I thought we didn't believe random rumors, Angelo." Jean said taking about her swig.
"I don't know Jean, more often then not, rumors about you are true."
Jean shrugged, "So, you followed these rumors, to find me, but were you looking for the man or the myth."
"Please…" Angelo said belligerently, "I know you're the same Jean, and that's the reason why you accomplished all those big things."
Jean smiled boastfully, taking in Angelo's complements, "Yes, I am big…"
"And as modest as ever." Angelo jeered.
"Damn straight."
"So how about one more big thing?" Angelo looked at him with a glint in his eye.
Jean popped up from his relaxed position, "Oh ho ho… so there IS an angle!"
Angelo leaped up as well, "Angle?! That's such a dirty word to me! You know me better then that…"
"Do I?"
"You do. Don't call it an angle, call it a big deal that a guy wants to share with his best bud."
Jean sat back down, poured a little more of the brownish blue liquid into his glass, "So spill it angler."
Angelo sat back down as well, and gave a little sigh, " Answered me this, though. Did you kill Hazonko and the Hanten Seven?"
Jean didn't hold back, "Hell yeah! Those bastards are either buried, blown up, or whatever the hell a number 4 caster shell does to a person. The galaxy can rest a little easier thanks… to… me!" Jean over accentuated the last few words.
Angelo chuckled a little, "Still using that archaic pop gun?"
"My caster could destroy Blue Heaven, given the chance. Now get to your point, the alcohol is starting to get to me…"
Angelo's chuckle faded, "There is a power vacuum within the Kae Pirates."
"Oh?"
Angelo nodded, "The Kae Pirates were barely held together Hazonko, it's member Pirate Guild Houses were always bickering. Now, do you know what man could take Hazonko's seat?"
"Umm, I dunno, who?"
"NO ONE! NO ONE CAN REPLACE THE FATHER OF ALL EVIL, THE MOST SADISTIC PERSON IN THIS HELL-ASS UNIVERSE! NO ONE!" Angelo screamed.
"SHUT UP! I GET IT!" Jean screamed back.
"Hey… I'm tryin' ta sh-leep!" one of the drunks yelled.
Angelo recomposed himself, "Anyway, the Houses are in full out civil war. They're just loping each other's heads off left and right. All secret bases are deserted, everyone's either leaving, killing and regrouping, or already dead."
"Hooray for them. What's that got to do with us?" Jean mused, gulping his brandy.
"Think about it, Jean. All those bases deserted, think of what's still there. All the pirated shit they've collected is just sitting in their vaults."
"I doubt it. Deserters usually fill their pockets before they leave, and I doubt any House leaders would leave their junk for people to find."
"I know." Angelo interjected. "But there is one prize no one is willing to give up, the Iron Cathedral."
Jean frowned, "The high fortress of the Kae Pirates and Hazonko's seat of power?"
"Yeah."
"The place with the fabled untold riches guarded by demons and witches?"
"Yeah."
"Tch! That's just a myth…"
"No, it isn't Jean…"
"Alright, supposing the Cathedral is real, no one knows where it is or what's it like, or what hazards are around it."
"HA!" Angelo yelled as he pulled out of his belt pack a standard data chip manufactured by Microsoft, "In here is the location of the Iron Cathedral, and a schematic for the station itself."
Jean just stared at him disappointedly.
Angelo continued, "I got it off Kae pirate defector, who was happy to give it too me, when he was to liquored up to care."
Jean just looked on, "Angelo…"
Angelo looked angrily at Jean, "What?!"
Jean gulped his entire drink, then calmly poured another one. Jean took a quiet sip, placed the glass back on the table, then burst out of his seat.
"Angelo! Has your brain melted or something?! You've been drinking WAY too much, bro! You can't put so much hope on merchandise from a pirate! That's the first rule of smuggling! Have you forgotten all that Virgil taught us?!"
Angelo burst up out of his seat as well, "Have you forgotten who I am?! Of course I know not to trust smuggler's merchandise! You know me better then that! I checked it out?"
"Checked it out?" Jean said confusedly.
Angel sat back in his seat, "The data chip read, that the Iron Cathedral was located in a binary star system, where the two stars rotate each other, creating a very dense ether field. That's where the Cathedral is, and that's why no one has ever found it. If they scan the area, all they get is a big ether blot. It just sits there, held in place by the opposing gravitational pulls, feeding off the radiation of those two stars, the perfect secret base."
Jean took a quick sip, "So?"
"So, I had to check it, right. I went a museum of all things, and I checked stacks of star maps and found that the system was on the map, called Theta Scorpius Binaria in the Scorpio constellation. Then I check out a whole bunch of science articles on Theta Scorpius Binaria, they all said that the system couldn't be scanned because of high ether concentrations."
"So, it's a real place, doesn't mean the Iron Cathedral is there."
"Lemme finish. Then I went to the Archives Bureau, and did a computer check of all the known Kae Pirate attacks in chronological order. They started in the Scorpio constellation and branched out. That proves it, right?"
Jean quietly drank his brandy, "Well… it sure does sound right. All right, let's say you've convinced me that the Iron Cathedral is in Theta Scorbius Bulimia or whatever, what's that got to do with me."
Angelo took a quick sip of his brandy "Well, as I was saying before. None of the House lords wanna share or give up the Iron Cathedral, so, it's become a totally war zone. Every few days or so a House lord's fleets will jump in, through some sensor beacons in the ether field or something, the other House lords will learn of it. One or a few will jump in, there will be big bloody battle around and inside the Cathedral, then both sides will retreat. And so, the Cathedral is basically deserted, and all the riches, all the stuff, is just sitting there, letting no one touch it. And what is actually there, billions and billions of compounded Wong, Dragonite, weapons, jewels, art, etc. That's my proposition."
Jean stopped mid sip, "That's your proposition? I must have missed something."
"Yeah, you tend to do that." Angelo jeered.
Jean ignored him, "Wait, if your thinking of taking a ship to the Iron Cathedral, you're crazy! What's to stop those Pirates from blasting us when we enter the system?!"
Angelo waved Jean into close conference, "I'm not the only one who knows about this, Jean. Countless outlaws are trying their luck, but more importantly… Do you know a man named Rikkas Argon?"
"Yeah, he's a Silgrian outlaw, a rich one too. Made it big off that Garganta Ghost Planet treasure run."
"Right, he's amassing a fleet. He's enlisting outlaws with ships to help him make a run on the Cathedral. He's got 50 or 60 so far. He's keeping the location to himself but he's said he'll reveal it in a month, then he and all his lackeys are gonna jump into Theta to totally dismantle the place."
"So, why aren't you with him?"
"Because he's going to fail. He's under estimating what the pirates will to keep the Iron Cathedral in pirate hands. Plus, he's not gonna be able to keep control of a fleet of outlaws in a dogfight. They're all gonna do their own damn thing. So, I'm not gonna go with him, I'll let him and his ships clash with the pirates for a while, then we'll come in and if we can get through the fighting…"
"Whoa, whoa, 'if.' I don't like the word 'if,' Angelo. It's a very dangerous word?"
Angelo looked very confused, "Since when has 'danger' been an issue?"
"Well, you're asking me to risk my life and the lives of my crew, danger is now an issue! Let's see, you wanna fly blind into a giant dogfight in a place that may not even exist, where we will dodge Pirates, Outlaws, Privateers, and who knows who else, so we can enter an inherently evil place where we have no idea what's aboard and walk around it for days looking for we don't know. Oh yeah, and you forgot to mention, if it's a high ether field it's also an ether drive dampening field, meaning, we couldn't get out until we cleared it. Hmm, seems a tad risky, doesn't it?!" Jean said sarcastically.
Angelo frowned, "So what? When has risking our necks every bothered us? We've gone into far more risky situations, and came out on top."
"Yeah, but it's not just our necks, Angelo. It's my crew's necks too, and as a captain, I can't just throw them into the frying pan like that."
"So, what are you saying?"
Jean gave an exasperated sigh, "I'm saying… I can't support your plan. It would put my people in too much unnecessary danger. They're not just my crew but my friends, and one is the women I love, I can't throw them into this."
Angelo got an almost heartbroken look on his face, he laid back in his chair, slouching and head bowed, his blue hair down over his face hiding all but his frowning mouth.
Jean fingered the rim of his glass, a nervous habit of his, "I'm sorry Angelo."
Jean was genuinely sorry that his reunion with his old friend had to take such a dreary turn, but Jean was not prepared to risk lives to have fun again with his friend. It was indeed a major change for Jean, in the past he would search out these situations with high death rates for the pure thrill he it gave him. Now, he cared more for what would happen to those around him if he were to get in such a situation.
From under his hair, Angelo could be heard giving a low chuckle. He sat up and flicked his hair back. He was now smiling brightly.
"Never did I think I would see the day when Jean Starwind would think with his brain instead of his balls."
Jean laughed at that remark, "Well, I've been hit in it so many times, I guess it stared to work again.
"Your head or your balls?"
They two old friends laughed again. Laughed like there was never any sad moment to begin with. Laughed like the four years since their way too abrupt separation was only a few minutes long.
"Well." Angelo started swigging down the last of his glass of brandy, "If these friends of yours mean so much to you, I'm gonna have to meet them.
"Yeah, I'd like that."
"And this girl you love so much too."
"I can arrange that."
"Great, I'll take you all out to dinner. Tonight, around seven, meet me at a restaurant on the Upper Starside, called Silver Fox."
"Whoa, Upper Starside that's the ritzy section of Blue Heaven, can you afford that?"
"Sure for my wittle Janine I can shell out the cash. They've got a strict dress code, so dress nice." Angelo said as he got up to leave.
"Wow, Angela, you're so giving today."
Walking toward the open doorway, Angelo gave him the wink and the gun finger, "See ya later, Jean Starwind."
Jean smiled as he walked off into the distance, "Bye bye, Angelo Western."
Jean was feeling sufficiently happy at this moment. He would have to hurry back to tell his friends that he had found his best friend Angelo.
Jean drained his glass into his guzzle, then seeing the bottle nearly empty, motioned toward the bartender, "Yo, bartender! Gimme another bottle of this stuff."
The bartender with a long scare along his chin frowned, "Yeah, I'll give you another bottle, as soon as you pay for the first one!"
Jean got a confused look, "But didn't he pay…"
The bartender shock his head grimly
Jean jumped to his feet and turned toward the door, but the blue haired outlaw was long gone, "ANGELO! CURSE YOU!"
(hahahahaha, me lika the suspense, tell me though, did you like it? Then you gotta tell me, you didn't like it, tell me anyway! R&R)
A fan fic based on a product he doesn't own, and makes no claim to…
Outlaw Star:
Old Habits Die Hard
Rated: PG-13, for violence, language, suggestive themes, and all around "good" fun!
Set one year after the Leyline debacle, where the crew of the Outlaw Star etch out a living in this big dark universe, clueless of the dangers that lie with out and within…
Chapter 1
With silent smoothness, the Outlaw Star slipped into the wide docking berth of the Free City of Blue Heaven. There was a slight twinge as it penetrated the magnetic field, separating the coldness of space with the artificial heated atmosphere of the asteroid of Blue Heaven. It sailed to a stop at one of the dry docks near the back, and abruptly stopped as two clamps reached out and held it fast.
With in minutes, the gang plank from the ship extended to the firm metal bridges of the docking bay, and the door of the ship raised.
The first one to was a young yellow headed boy, who walked down the ramp and placed his hands behind his head in a relaxed position, "Here we are in Blue Heaven again."
The next to leave, was a young Katarl Katarl women with a vibrant look about her, "Yeah, I remember the last time we were here, Jim. You took me to dinner and then left me to pay that gigantic bill."
Jim smiled apologetically, "Yeah, sorry about that, Aisha."
Aisha Clan Clan bounced down the ramp, "That's ok, water under the bridge, no use crying over spilt milk. I should have figured that a bum like Jean, couldn't afford it..."
She was silenced by the next person shoving her over onto the ground, a red hair fellow with a grumpy demeanor, who mumbled as he walked by. Aisha snorted as she smashed on top the ground, and Jean walked down the ramp and surveyed the docks with his back to the crew.
"Well, Jean seems to be in a grumpy mood today." said the raven haired assassin as she descended.
"Don't worry about him, Suzuka, he's just like that when he doesn't get enough sleep." said the cute young girl with fine black hair as she walked out of the Outlaw Star's doorway.
Sazuka turned back to the girl with a devilish smile on her face, " Oh Melphina? And how is it you know that he doesn't get enough sleep, hmm?"
Melphina blushed and looked down. It was common knowledge that Melphina and Jean were spending nights together. Now it was casual, but before the two had tried to keep it a secret. There was a very weird story among the crew that involving; Melphina, Jean, the captain's chair, and Jim and Aisha returning early from the movies, that the crew was still trying to forget.
A smile slide across Aisha's face as she rose of the ground, "Yeah... I bet you kept him all night long, Mel."
Melphina blushed even more.
Jim shook his head, as he muttered, "Blunt as ever..."
"Knock it off you two." Jean said as he turned back around, "OK.... captains orders are... Sazuka get a list from Mel and go get all the supplies we need, Jim and Aisha, contact the dock crew get the necessary equipment, work on the electrical systems, engine systems, and the hull damage from that last scuffle wit dem damn pirates, Mel, honey, could you start breakfast? That's everything..."
"Wait a minute, Starwind! What about you?!" Aisha yelled indignantly.
Jean put an innocent look on his face, "Me? Well I'm just gonna go get smashed, that's all.
"Wait, we have to work our asses off, while you go get wasted."
"It's called a captain's leave, and I'm taking it. I hear a bottle of brandy calling my name..."
"Wait, you..."
"Wait, wait, wait, no more waiting. You've got a job to do, and I've got a blood alcohol level to raise." Jean interrupted as he turned to leave.
"Jean you lazy ass slut!" Jim yelled after him.
"It's 10 o'clock in the morning..." Sazuka muttered.
Melphina just looked on disapprovingly.
"Do you hear that... it's calling me, Jean... Jean... Jean, drink me Jean..." Jean said as he sashayed out of the docking bay.
Several moments later, Jean found himself in the corridor where the docking bays connected with the actual city. The city, was one enormous bio-dome that cut the asteroid nearly in half, set deep in the stone. The city was straight forward with in that dome, thousands of streets and buildings, lit by the light of the star Mordant. Within the asteroid was thousands of tunnels and caverns intertwining and connecting, mainly from the docking bays to the city, but some places included government complexes, secret bases, shanty towns, and miles of mines.
Blue Heaven was originally the site of a human mining colony set up by a major company, to mine the asteroid's stores of the blue ore Tantium, hence the name Blue Heaven. An entire city sprouted where the colony was. When the ore was all gone, the company packed up and left, the y miners, however, most of who had grown up there, couldn't afford to leave, so they stayed. Soon, Blue Heaven became a trader's colony, where many races went to trade, deal, and buy all manner of things.
As it was run by scruffy miners and outlaws, the laws where very different here. Virtually no drugs were banned, cyber drugs were fair play too, anything could be sold, even people, slave trade is often conducted here, the legal age was 15, duels were allowed as well, Blue Heaven banks were the perfect place to launder money, assassins, thugs, and mercenaries could be bought there, sex, in any form, was not a crime either, it was a practically lawless place.
Jean walked up to the lift at the end of the tunnel. The lift was a very large elevator, though not as nearly as large as the service lifts, that carried travelers from the loading bay to the main city.
Jean only had to wait a few minutes, before the door opened, and he could go in. He was practically the only one in the lift this run, port traffic wasn't so big this time. Instantly as the doors closed the lift attendant sent it sailing up.
Jean noticed the attendant on his quiet ride. Short skirt, showing much of her salutary legs. Her tight red vest, accentuating her cleavage even more. Long blonde hair flowing down her shoulders. She had one of those non-impact blaster pistols, specially made pistols that hurt people but not structures, strapped to her leg, showing how dangerous and uncouth Blue Heaven really was.
The attendant caught Jean's glance and turned her head to meet his stare. She smiled at him, then winked.
Jean turned away to the girl's dissatisfaction.
It was still amazing to Jean, only a year ago he would have been all over that girl, wither she had given him the go ahead or not, but now, every since he fell in love with Melphina, he felt no attraction to other girls. He was happy and contented
The lift slowed to a halt, and the doors slide open.
Jean glanced to the side where the attendant was seated, in his low "playa's" voice, "Thanks for the lift…"
She smiled at him seductively, "I can give you a better one…"
Jean stopped and smiled to himself, "Save it…" and he continued.
Before him was the outlaw's city of Blue Heaven. The giant bio-dome with it's bleak view of the other floating rocks over smudged buildings, crummy, seedy bars and shops littering the avenues, dirty, skanky outlaws and vagrants wandering the streets in search of a drink, a fight, or whatever other perverse pleasure they made their living off of.
Jean took a deep breath of the musky recycled air of Blue Heaven, his home away from home.
------
Jean wondered the dirty streets until he found a nice bar he could sit in and have a morning drink. A total dive at first glance; a wooden shack, a concrete floor with a drain for spilled liquids, rickety chairs and tables, and lots of garbage around, with the slightest hint of vomit and urine in the air.
However, to Jean it was quiet place, with an adequate or semi-adequate glass of whisky in peace, and his only company would be those few hardcore drunks that would probably be asleep or dead.
Sure enough, he was right. Upon entering the seedy bar, he view two of the nastiest looking drunkards he'd seen in a long time, one on sleeping at a table, the other on the floor passed out or dead.
Jean was happy as could be. This was just the spot he was looking for, where he could forget the troubles of his failing company, and indulge in the delightful taste of his old Kentucky favorite.
Smile on his face, he walked to a nice table with his back to the street. Pulling out the irregular chair, he accidentally awakened the drunk sleeping at the back table. The fellow looked up warily for what awakened him, wiping a globular of spit from his lips.
Jean kept his chuckle to himself, waving his hands apologetically, "So sorry old man, it's just me. Go back to sleep."
Taking Jean's advise, he slurped the last of his glass, and fell face first on the table.
Jean laughed out loud, then turned slightly back to the bar counter, "Yo bartender!"
Like on command, the bartender placed a bottle of Aquan Sea Brandy and two glasses on the table in front of him, then walked off.
Jean picked the bottle up and examined it. An Aquan Sea Brandy was a fairly common brand of cheap brandy, except when it turned. It was commonly brown when it's first bottled, but over time the taste ripens and it turns a teal color. By the looks of this bottle, it was on it's way to turning.
"Hey, I didn't order this!" he yelled back
He was answered by the sound of a gun clicking from behind him, and a hard metal shaft sticking into his back.
A myriad of complex anylizations flowed through his head in that split second. A mixture of instinct, training, and self-preservation calculated equations and vectors to give him a solution to his present dilemma. The simple fact that this person stuck the gun barrel in his back, gave him an edge.
The fact that the gun was pressed to his back, let Jean figure where the gunman was situated behind him, a rookie mistake. From that he reasoned, that this person had chosen not to shoot him from afar, he wanted to get close enough for a point-blank shot, another rookie move. The correct execution style is double "taps" from afar, a shot in the back was for show offs. Yet another mistake, as he waited to get close, he could account for Jean's hands, which, one at least, was at his hip. If he had a good reason to wait, which didn't seem likely, he would need to order Jean's hands where he could see them, once against, a rookie mistake.
A nano-second later he had his solution; he would grab his gun and ice this pretender, then go back drinking the brandy the dead man had been so kind in buying him. The brandy was obviously a trademark of this gunman, another show off's insignia.
Jean's hand dove to his side, grabbing his gun and pulling it free from the belt clip. In that same pull, he spun the gun on the edge of his middle finger and switched to his thumb, so that it was upside down and facing back and up into the gunman. He would end this.
But something happened, the pretender's foot was readied, and before Jean could fire, the gunman kicked it from his hand.
With those few clinks as the gun hit and bounced of the ground, Jean realized his mistake. The gunman had anticipated his move and was ready for him. He let himself appear as a rookie, it tricked Jean and he fell into the gunman's trap. This was no rookie, but he was a show off, with skills to back it up.
Jean stopped breathing. He could feel his fate jab into his back.
It felt kind of funny, his death near. Where others would see their life pass before their eyes, all he could see or think was Melphina. The entire second before a gun shot, devoted to Melphina. Even stranger was this moment's appearance at all. Jean had been closer to death in the past and felt nothing at all. Now it was uncontrollable. He felt both proud and sad that he had something to care about before he died.
"You're gettin' slow, Starwind…" the gunman jeered.
The gunman at the same time removed the gun from his back and clicked it off.
Jean's mind wiped clean, Melphina was forgotten. It was all focused on that voice, a voice Jean knew he'd heard before. 21 years of voices flooded his mind. Cataloged and collated and finally remembered, but the voice couldn't be it.
Jean wrenched around in his seat to see his familiar assailant, then rose at the sight of him.
A young outlaw was standing before him, around the same age as Jean by first glance. He was slightly shorter the Jean, of a similar, lean, muscled build, with several scars along his arms like Jean as well. He had a baggy pair of black pants made from Complex Plastic, commonly called Plextic, a durable, lightweight material that was used for everything now a days, and a sleeveless dark gray, insolated shirt, like Jean's, designed to absorb sweat, keep heat in the cold, and coolness in the summer, it had a white lining on the arms, the neck, and was sloppily untucked, with white fingerless gloves with a light shield on the left hand. His most distinguishing feature, his long, bright blue hair, parted in the center, hanging down to his neck. With cunning brown eyes and a sly smile, he returned the blaster he had to his belt.
Jean gasped, "Angelo… Angelo Western?"
The blue haired man put his hands on his hips, "All right, you remembered me."
A giddy smile spread across, and Angelo copied it , "How could I forget!"
The slammed into each other in a hug that mimicked the meeting of two brothers. They were laughing hysterically that fate had brought them back together, spewing gibberish questions at each other. The commotion they created, drew the attentions of the other bar patrons and a few passerby's, but the two seemingly brothers couldn't be bothered by them. Finally, Jean sat down, and Angelo took a seat across from him.
"I'm serious though, Jean. I thought you were fast." Angelo said jokingly.
"I though you were dead, well anyway, I haven't had my morning eye opener, yet." Jean said laying back in his chair.
"Then drink up." Angelo said opening the bottle of brandy and pouring some of it's contents into the two glasses.
Jean took a sip of his glass, then gave a resounding "Ahhh... tangy. Man, what are the odds, meeting you after five years running into each other like this.
"Well, actually, the odds aren't that bad." Angelo said smiling.
Jean looked up from his drink, "Oh yeah?"
"You've been making quite a name for yourself, Jean Starwind."
Jean shrugged, "I guess."
"They call you the prodigy."
"Oh yeah, why is that."
Angelo took a big swig of his glass, "Well, they say you come out of no where, this young outlaw, and excels at everything he starts, helped in no small part by his incredible star ship and his crew."
"That sure does sound like me, heh, heh…" Jean said chuckling.
Angelo smiled, "The Outlaw Star, which placed fourth at the Heyfong Space Races, and first in the privateer division. Captained by Jean Starwind, and crewed by, no less, then a boy genius, am elite assassin, a Katarl Katarl, and… a high-tech bio-synthoid, I think.
"Yeah…" Jean said calmly, sipping his drink.
"There are a lot of rumors as well. They say he had a long standing feud with both the McDougal Brothers and the Kae Pirates, and then killed both of the McDougals, the Hanten Seven, and the most evil man in the universe, Hazonko! That he escaped from the inescapable Gravity Prison! And, that he found the Galactic Leyline and then gave it up for love, or something."
"I thought we didn't believe random rumors, Angelo." Jean said taking about her swig.
"I don't know Jean, more often then not, rumors about you are true."
Jean shrugged, "So, you followed these rumors, to find me, but were you looking for the man or the myth."
"Please…" Angelo said belligerently, "I know you're the same Jean, and that's the reason why you accomplished all those big things."
Jean smiled boastfully, taking in Angelo's complements, "Yes, I am big…"
"And as modest as ever." Angelo jeered.
"Damn straight."
"So how about one more big thing?" Angelo looked at him with a glint in his eye.
Jean popped up from his relaxed position, "Oh ho ho… so there IS an angle!"
Angelo leaped up as well, "Angle?! That's such a dirty word to me! You know me better then that…"
"Do I?"
"You do. Don't call it an angle, call it a big deal that a guy wants to share with his best bud."
Jean sat back down, poured a little more of the brownish blue liquid into his glass, "So spill it angler."
Angelo sat back down as well, and gave a little sigh, " Answered me this, though. Did you kill Hazonko and the Hanten Seven?"
Jean didn't hold back, "Hell yeah! Those bastards are either buried, blown up, or whatever the hell a number 4 caster shell does to a person. The galaxy can rest a little easier thanks… to… me!" Jean over accentuated the last few words.
Angelo chuckled a little, "Still using that archaic pop gun?"
"My caster could destroy Blue Heaven, given the chance. Now get to your point, the alcohol is starting to get to me…"
Angelo's chuckle faded, "There is a power vacuum within the Kae Pirates."
"Oh?"
Angelo nodded, "The Kae Pirates were barely held together Hazonko, it's member Pirate Guild Houses were always bickering. Now, do you know what man could take Hazonko's seat?"
"Umm, I dunno, who?"
"NO ONE! NO ONE CAN REPLACE THE FATHER OF ALL EVIL, THE MOST SADISTIC PERSON IN THIS HELL-ASS UNIVERSE! NO ONE!" Angelo screamed.
"SHUT UP! I GET IT!" Jean screamed back.
"Hey… I'm tryin' ta sh-leep!" one of the drunks yelled.
Angelo recomposed himself, "Anyway, the Houses are in full out civil war. They're just loping each other's heads off left and right. All secret bases are deserted, everyone's either leaving, killing and regrouping, or already dead."
"Hooray for them. What's that got to do with us?" Jean mused, gulping his brandy.
"Think about it, Jean. All those bases deserted, think of what's still there. All the pirated shit they've collected is just sitting in their vaults."
"I doubt it. Deserters usually fill their pockets before they leave, and I doubt any House leaders would leave their junk for people to find."
"I know." Angelo interjected. "But there is one prize no one is willing to give up, the Iron Cathedral."
Jean frowned, "The high fortress of the Kae Pirates and Hazonko's seat of power?"
"Yeah."
"The place with the fabled untold riches guarded by demons and witches?"
"Yeah."
"Tch! That's just a myth…"
"No, it isn't Jean…"
"Alright, supposing the Cathedral is real, no one knows where it is or what's it like, or what hazards are around it."
"HA!" Angelo yelled as he pulled out of his belt pack a standard data chip manufactured by Microsoft, "In here is the location of the Iron Cathedral, and a schematic for the station itself."
Jean just stared at him disappointedly.
Angelo continued, "I got it off Kae pirate defector, who was happy to give it too me, when he was to liquored up to care."
Jean just looked on, "Angelo…"
Angelo looked angrily at Jean, "What?!"
Jean gulped his entire drink, then calmly poured another one. Jean took a quiet sip, placed the glass back on the table, then burst out of his seat.
"Angelo! Has your brain melted or something?! You've been drinking WAY too much, bro! You can't put so much hope on merchandise from a pirate! That's the first rule of smuggling! Have you forgotten all that Virgil taught us?!"
Angelo burst up out of his seat as well, "Have you forgotten who I am?! Of course I know not to trust smuggler's merchandise! You know me better then that! I checked it out?"
"Checked it out?" Jean said confusedly.
Angel sat back in his seat, "The data chip read, that the Iron Cathedral was located in a binary star system, where the two stars rotate each other, creating a very dense ether field. That's where the Cathedral is, and that's why no one has ever found it. If they scan the area, all they get is a big ether blot. It just sits there, held in place by the opposing gravitational pulls, feeding off the radiation of those two stars, the perfect secret base."
Jean took a quick sip, "So?"
"So, I had to check it, right. I went a museum of all things, and I checked stacks of star maps and found that the system was on the map, called Theta Scorpius Binaria in the Scorpio constellation. Then I check out a whole bunch of science articles on Theta Scorpius Binaria, they all said that the system couldn't be scanned because of high ether concentrations."
"So, it's a real place, doesn't mean the Iron Cathedral is there."
"Lemme finish. Then I went to the Archives Bureau, and did a computer check of all the known Kae Pirate attacks in chronological order. They started in the Scorpio constellation and branched out. That proves it, right?"
Jean quietly drank his brandy, "Well… it sure does sound right. All right, let's say you've convinced me that the Iron Cathedral is in Theta Scorbius Bulimia or whatever, what's that got to do with me."
Angelo took a quick sip of his brandy "Well, as I was saying before. None of the House lords wanna share or give up the Iron Cathedral, so, it's become a totally war zone. Every few days or so a House lord's fleets will jump in, through some sensor beacons in the ether field or something, the other House lords will learn of it. One or a few will jump in, there will be big bloody battle around and inside the Cathedral, then both sides will retreat. And so, the Cathedral is basically deserted, and all the riches, all the stuff, is just sitting there, letting no one touch it. And what is actually there, billions and billions of compounded Wong, Dragonite, weapons, jewels, art, etc. That's my proposition."
Jean stopped mid sip, "That's your proposition? I must have missed something."
"Yeah, you tend to do that." Angelo jeered.
Jean ignored him, "Wait, if your thinking of taking a ship to the Iron Cathedral, you're crazy! What's to stop those Pirates from blasting us when we enter the system?!"
Angelo waved Jean into close conference, "I'm not the only one who knows about this, Jean. Countless outlaws are trying their luck, but more importantly… Do you know a man named Rikkas Argon?"
"Yeah, he's a Silgrian outlaw, a rich one too. Made it big off that Garganta Ghost Planet treasure run."
"Right, he's amassing a fleet. He's enlisting outlaws with ships to help him make a run on the Cathedral. He's got 50 or 60 so far. He's keeping the location to himself but he's said he'll reveal it in a month, then he and all his lackeys are gonna jump into Theta to totally dismantle the place."
"So, why aren't you with him?"
"Because he's going to fail. He's under estimating what the pirates will to keep the Iron Cathedral in pirate hands. Plus, he's not gonna be able to keep control of a fleet of outlaws in a dogfight. They're all gonna do their own damn thing. So, I'm not gonna go with him, I'll let him and his ships clash with the pirates for a while, then we'll come in and if we can get through the fighting…"
"Whoa, whoa, 'if.' I don't like the word 'if,' Angelo. It's a very dangerous word?"
Angelo looked very confused, "Since when has 'danger' been an issue?"
"Well, you're asking me to risk my life and the lives of my crew, danger is now an issue! Let's see, you wanna fly blind into a giant dogfight in a place that may not even exist, where we will dodge Pirates, Outlaws, Privateers, and who knows who else, so we can enter an inherently evil place where we have no idea what's aboard and walk around it for days looking for we don't know. Oh yeah, and you forgot to mention, if it's a high ether field it's also an ether drive dampening field, meaning, we couldn't get out until we cleared it. Hmm, seems a tad risky, doesn't it?!" Jean said sarcastically.
Angelo frowned, "So what? When has risking our necks every bothered us? We've gone into far more risky situations, and came out on top."
"Yeah, but it's not just our necks, Angelo. It's my crew's necks too, and as a captain, I can't just throw them into the frying pan like that."
"So, what are you saying?"
Jean gave an exasperated sigh, "I'm saying… I can't support your plan. It would put my people in too much unnecessary danger. They're not just my crew but my friends, and one is the women I love, I can't throw them into this."
Angelo got an almost heartbroken look on his face, he laid back in his chair, slouching and head bowed, his blue hair down over his face hiding all but his frowning mouth.
Jean fingered the rim of his glass, a nervous habit of his, "I'm sorry Angelo."
Jean was genuinely sorry that his reunion with his old friend had to take such a dreary turn, but Jean was not prepared to risk lives to have fun again with his friend. It was indeed a major change for Jean, in the past he would search out these situations with high death rates for the pure thrill he it gave him. Now, he cared more for what would happen to those around him if he were to get in such a situation.
From under his hair, Angelo could be heard giving a low chuckle. He sat up and flicked his hair back. He was now smiling brightly.
"Never did I think I would see the day when Jean Starwind would think with his brain instead of his balls."
Jean laughed at that remark, "Well, I've been hit in it so many times, I guess it stared to work again.
"Your head or your balls?"
They two old friends laughed again. Laughed like there was never any sad moment to begin with. Laughed like the four years since their way too abrupt separation was only a few minutes long.
"Well." Angelo started swigging down the last of his glass of brandy, "If these friends of yours mean so much to you, I'm gonna have to meet them.
"Yeah, I'd like that."
"And this girl you love so much too."
"I can arrange that."
"Great, I'll take you all out to dinner. Tonight, around seven, meet me at a restaurant on the Upper Starside, called Silver Fox."
"Whoa, Upper Starside that's the ritzy section of Blue Heaven, can you afford that?"
"Sure for my wittle Janine I can shell out the cash. They've got a strict dress code, so dress nice." Angelo said as he got up to leave.
"Wow, Angela, you're so giving today."
Walking toward the open doorway, Angelo gave him the wink and the gun finger, "See ya later, Jean Starwind."
Jean smiled as he walked off into the distance, "Bye bye, Angelo Western."
Jean was feeling sufficiently happy at this moment. He would have to hurry back to tell his friends that he had found his best friend Angelo.
Jean drained his glass into his guzzle, then seeing the bottle nearly empty, motioned toward the bartender, "Yo, bartender! Gimme another bottle of this stuff."
The bartender with a long scare along his chin frowned, "Yeah, I'll give you another bottle, as soon as you pay for the first one!"
Jean got a confused look, "But didn't he pay…"
The bartender shock his head grimly
Jean jumped to his feet and turned toward the door, but the blue haired outlaw was long gone, "ANGELO! CURSE YOU!"
(hahahahaha, me lika the suspense, tell me though, did you like it? Then you gotta tell me, you didn't like it, tell me anyway! R&R)