Disclaimer: Outlaw Star is the property of Bandai and Sunrise Ltd. I am simply a humble and poor ff writer trying to share a little joy with others. ^_^

Description: This is a Post-Outlaw Star fic centering around the long paths that love sometimes takes. This is a Gene/Melfina romance but there are many other elements thrown into the mix. Action/Adventure/Drama/Angst and some humor as well. Hope you enjoy this one. There are some references to events that took place during my OLS prequel, The Rise before the Fall, though I do not believe it is essential to read it before reading this.

Acknowledgements: I'd like to give a big thanks to night_phantom13 for providing some very insightful comments and suggestions. Thanks night_phantom13, it's good to have someone to bounce my story off of before posting it. I'd also like to thank breakaway_republic for being a constant source of ideas and suggestions. Thanks guys. ^_^

All in the Name of Love

Prologue:

Four months after the Galactic Leyline incident found the crew of the Outlaw Star in a remote region of space called the Kokuu System. A region so remote neither the Tempa Empire nor the Space Forces would lay claim to it. The reason for the crew's arrival was originally to repair moisture condensers in the mostly desert environment of Cielo Rojo, the only inhabitable planet in the Kokuu System. Cielo Rojo was named by the planet's first colonists because of its pale red sky. It had the ideal desert conditions needed to grow the blue agave plants. The main ingredient for making Tequila, an old earth alcoholic beverage that was growing in popularity after almost disappearing entirely because of environmental controls on earth that made most deserts none existent. Farmers from earth founded Cielo Rojo in hopes of getting rich off the newfound popularity of the drink. The problem was the planet of Cielo Rojo was so dry, there wasn't enough water for the people to live on. So while the cactus plant grew in abundance, people were dying of dehydration. That's when a shrewd entrepreneur came and sold moisture condensers to the inhabitance with a guaranteed lifetime service agreement. Unfortunately, the entrepreneur went bankrupt with another business venture and the people of Cielo Rojo were stuck with moisture condensers that were beginning to break down.

Jim had caught wind of this and stocked up on equipment to make the necessary repairs. He estimated that in six months time he could repair between 450 to 500 condensers at 300 wong per repair that would be between 135,000 to 150,000 wong. Not a whole lot of money for six months of work but better than any of their other prospects. Problem was when they arrived at Cielo Rojo; they found a local who had already thought of the same thing. He had exclusive repair contracts with 95% of the condenser owners and the other 5% repaired their own. In order to cut his losses, Jim sold the equipment he brought to the local for 80% of what he paid for it. So what appeared to be a trip with some promise turned into a bust until Gene wandered into a saloon and while flirting with one of it's regular female patrons, got into a fight with a jealous wannabe boyfriend. Gene took him down in his usual style and when the regional marshal arrived, instead of having to explain his actions, the marshal gave him 3,000 wong.

Gene accompanied the marshal to the law enforcement headquarters, a rundown building with four cells in the back and a full time staff of six including the marshal. Marshal Fuentes explained how of little over 200,000 inhabitance on Cielo Rojo nearly 10% were wanted criminals with bounties on their heads. They came to Cielo Rojo because, while Space Forces had assumed law enforcement jurisdiction, their presence was merely token at best. Previous marshals who tried to take on these criminals were killed and Fuentes had no desire to join them. He provided Gene with a list of all known criminals and their bounties. Most were wanted dead or alive, some just alive. Gene returned to the ship with this information and he, Aisha and Suzuka each agreed it was hunting season.

Gene and Aisha preferred quantity over quality, going after every criminal they could easily find in bars, taverns, and brothels; while Suzuka preferred quality over quantity, going after the higher priced criminals who tended to be more private and discrete about their presence being known, even on Cielo Rojo. After both Gene and Aisha had each unsuccessfully attempted to bring in a criminal alive, the three of them agreed to work together when it was necessary to bring the criminal in standing on his own two feet.

During the next six months while Gene, Aisha and Suzuka were busy bounty hunting, Jim kept busy overhauling the ship while Melfina tended to Gene's many wounds, worked on improving her cooking skills and helping Jim out whenever she could. Because of the constant threat of retaliation on all their lives, the crew was force to stay on the ship as much as possible. Melfina was only allowed out to go grocery shopping if she was accompanied by one of the three bounty hunters. Jim could go out but only during the daytime and only when the others were in town. Some of the bounties took the three, clear to the other side of the planet. On those occasions, Jim and Melfina had to say on the ship.

In six months the criminal population dwindled down from almost 20,000 to just over 200 due in kind by the efforts of the crew of the Outlaw Star, and by the number of criminals that fled the planet in fear of the newly arrived bounty hunters. The remaining criminals who had gone into hiding decided they had had enough of these bounty hunters. It was time for some payback.