Outlaw Star: New Journey -- Part One

                                                            OUTLAW STAR: NEW JOURNEY PART ONE
         It has been thirty long years since the crew of the Outlaw Star defeated the pirate Hazanko at the Galactic Leyline. Because of this, both Gene and Jim have become rather famous. Their names have become recognizable throughout the Galaxy. Not a single soul wasn't aware of the exploits of Gene "The Star of Justice" Starwind and Jim "Hawk-speed" Hawkins. They got these nicknames in some rather unusual ways. You see, Gene had a knack for stumbling onto one-sided fights, and he would always help the side that was severely outnumbered, as his sense of honor couldn't abide people that took advantage of others. Jim trained for several years under Suzuka, mastering every sword technique that he could, until one day, when he was challenged to a duel by a man that was much larger than himself. Jim defeated him with one blow that was so fast, no one even saw him move. They all thought he was waiting for the other guy to attack, till he fell to the ground, that is. After several more duels, all with the same outcome, Jim caught the eye of the Outlaw Star's resident Ctarl-ctarl, and the two soon fell madly in love with each other. They eventually got married and started a family. Suzuka, proud of her pupil, and intrigued by Gene's abilities, stuck around for many years, until a few months ago, when she heard that the only other surviving member of her clan was in danger and needed her help.
         Gene finally settled down with Melfina after a few years and decided to start his own family. They had a daughter, and chose to name her Hilda, after the woman that helped them to realize their shared destiny. Hilda is five feet nine inches tall, with: her mothers beauty, calm demeanor, her father's red hair and fiery temper, and her namesake's inexplicable knack for getting into trouble with pirates. She did have one unique trait, even among other Outlaws. Her hair would start to rise up when she got angry, to the point where it would look like her head was on fire. This innate ability ended up giving her the nickname of "Red Hot" Hilda. Thanks to her many encounters with pirates, she soon became almost as famous as her illustrious father. Thus begins the tale of "Red Hot" Hilda.
         "What the Hell happened here!!?", yells Gene Starwind, captain of the Outlaw Star, as he stares at his ship. "It looks like you took on the entire Ctarl-Ctarl Imperial fleet single-handed. Where did you go, Hilda? I know you're here somewhere. You got some 'splainin' to do." Hilda is hiding, of course. She happens to be hiding behind the cargo crates several meters behind her father. She is currently worried about the punishment her father will mete out when he finds her. Her mouth, however, isn't scared of any punishment she may receive. Of course, her mouth isn't what always gets slapped when she gets caught. If it was, she might have gotten away with fewer spankings when she was younger.
         Unfortunately, her mouth has never received the lessons that it should. So, it's not much of a surprise when she retorts, "It's no worse than when you came back from the Galactic Leyline with Mom, thirty years ago. I've seen the pictures, and this is nothing compared to that." When she yells this, her father, being the exceptional fighter that he is, pinpoints her position immediately. He then yells out, "Yeah, but that wasn't a cargo mission with three other ships as a security escort and two more as backup." Hilda immediately replies, "It's not my fault that the Ban Pirates took out the backup before we saw them. And your the one that told me to take your ship for this mission." Gene, having succeeded in sneaking up on Hilda while she was yelling, grabs Hilda's arm and says, "Did you say that it was the Ban Pirates that attacked you? I didn't know that it was their territory you were going through. Ever since I took out the Kei Pirates, those damn Ban bastards have been getting stronger and stronger, and now they're by and far the strongest pirates in this galaxy. If you had told me it was their turf, I would have gone with you." Hilda turns away from him and says, "That's why I didn't tell you, Daddy. Don't you remember the last time we tried that arrangement? I got so fed up with your backseat driving that I didn't contact you for over a month and a half. By the time I came back, I had obtained my own ship." Gene stares at her for a second, then drops her arm. "You're right. You've grown up, and I failed to see it. You aren't my little girl anymore. You can take care of yourself now.", says Gene. Hilda looks at him and smiles as shes says, "I'll always be your little girl, silly Daddy. I just happen to be able to kick some real ass when I need to, that's all."
         Gene laughs at this, saying, "You must get that from your Auntie Aisha." "She says I get it from you. I mean, sure she's the one teaching me the techniques, but you're the one I get the raw talent from." The two of them laugh at this, knowing that if anyone is a good judge of fighting skill, it's a Ctarl-ctarl like Aisha. Just then, the whole building shakes from as there is an explosion outside.
         As Gene and Hilda race to the entrance to the Outlaw Star's dock berth, they meet up with Melfina. "Gene, what's going on, dear?", she asks. He replies, "Damned if I know, honey. But, it sure as hell can't be good. Hey Gilliam, what the fuck is going on out there?" Gilliam, in his usual monotone, answers, "It appears that we are surrounded by bounty hunters, Gene." Gene laughs at this, saying, "So, someone else finally came to try and collect on the price those Kei remnants put on my and Jim's heads, huh? This should be fun." Gilliam, thinking that Gene had directed the question at him, answers. "According to the radio chatter outside, they're actually here for Hilda. I have just confirmed that a bounty was been placed on the boards by the Ban Pirates three days ago. It is rather large."
         This news was rather unexpected, and it caused the group to stop rather suddenly. Gene, with a concerned look on his face, asks Gilliam, "How much is 'rather large' exactly?" The ship's computer replies, "Forty million wong dead, one hundred million wong alive. It is the largest bounty placed by a pirate guild on record." At this announcement, all eyes turn to Hilda. As his face begins to take on the same shade of red as his hair, Gene asks his daughter a very simple question. "Honey, WHAT THE FUCKING HELL DID YOU DO TO PISS THEM OFF LIKE THIS?" Cowering, she replies, "Well Daddy, you know that job I just finished? It was a Ban Pirate trap. They were the ones that requested I use the Outlaw Star. They thought that I was unskilled at Grappler combat. As soon as the attack started, their leader came at me with his flagship." "By leader, do you mean the leader of the raid, or...?" She looks at him with a mixture of fear and pride as she says, "He was the leader of the guild, but he chose to lead the attack himself."
         Gene starts laughing his head off, and says, "Let me see if I understand this. You crippled the entire chain of command for the Ban Pirates, and didn't even bat an eyelash? Aisha's right. You do take after your old man." Suddenly, a voice shouts out from behind the group. "Now I know we're screwed. Gene's actually agreeing with me." Another voice replies, "Yeah honey, I guess Hell must've frozen over when those bounty hunters showed up." Everyone turns around, ecstatic at the fact that the final two members of the Outlaw Star's crew still on Sentinel 3 have shown up relatively unharmed. Jim and Aisha are smiling at their friends and Aisha looks like she is about to cry. However, no one notices as they are all staring at her belly. She is pregnant, and looks to be about nine months along by human standards. She is , in fact, only ten weeks along, but since Ctarl-Ctarl pregnancies only last for three months, it's about equivalent.
         Gene is the first one to say anything, laughing as he does. "So Jim, how many does this make? Eight or nine?" Jim smiles as he replies, "Ten actually. We're having triplets, three little girls bound to be as beautiful as their mother." Aisha giggles, adding, "And, hopefully, at least half as smart as their genius Daddy. Right, Daddy?" Jim blushes at this last part, as Aisha gave it a certain undertone, but no one else notices. "Hey, how'd you guys get in here anyway? The dock's crawling with those bounty hunters." ,asks Gene. Jim replies, "Well Gene, all we had to do was act like we belonged with them, and they let us do as we pleased. It wasn't until we got up near the front that someone recognized us. I'm not sure if I'm relieved or insulted After we were spotted, we fought our way in. Thanks to me and Aisha, mostly Aisha, there are about three dozen fewer guys out there." Glancing at Aisha, Gene whispers to Jim, "Do you really think that she should be fighting in her condition?" "You kidding? I couldn't stop her even if I wanted to. And I'm not going to be the one to try. You remember how crazy Ctarl-Ctarl women are normally? Well multiply that by one hundred and you get a pregnant Ctarl-Ctarl. I'm just gonna aim her at the enemy and step back, OK?", replies Jim. "Good point.", says Gene. Aisha speaks up, saying, "I can hear you, just so you know. For your information, Ctarl-Ctarl women have been known to give birth in the heat of battle and only slow down just long enough to cut the umbilical cord." Everyone stares at Aisha, thinking to themselves, "That sounds just crazy enough to be true. These Ctarl-Ctarl are kinda nuts."
         Outside the docks, an emergency triage tent has been set up by the pirates. It currently houses about fifty bounty hunters as they recuperate from the assault that Aisha and Jim perpetrated minutes ago. On a nearby hill, three figures survey the scene below. They are the current leader of the Ban Pirate Guild, Keiko, and her two most trusted councilors, Ulube Ishikawa and Jin Kisaragi. Keiko is fuming about her underlings most recent defeat. " I'm surrounded by morons! How could you fools allow Jim "Hawk-speed" Hawkins and Aisha Clanclan to break through our army of bounty hunters and join with their friends inside!?", Keiko screams at no one in particular. Just then, a voice, seemingly emanating from nowhere, says, "It's not their fault. These amateurs simply don't know the Outlaw Star crew well enough to stand against them. We, on the other hand, have been fighting them for decades." While saying this, three figures walk out of the shadows under the lone tree on the hilltop. Keiko looks startled at first, but then smiles, quickly regaining her composure. She says, "You must be the illustrious MacDougals. What a pleasure it is to finally meet face to face. I only wish you had arrived sooner. We could have used your experience recently." The figure in the middle just laughs, and replies, "That little skirmish? We wouldn't have been much help. The whole problem was that these idiots didn't recognize the members of Gene's crew until it was too late. of course, we don't mind this much. Their blunder means that the price to hire us just tripled." Keiko's jaw drops when she hears this. "TRIPLE?! it's only two more people in there and you want TRIPLE!?", she yells. MacDougal replies, "That's actualy a very good deal. The increase is for the pregnant Ctarl-Ctarl inside. I'm throwing Jimmy boy in for free." Keiko thinks for a minute, then says, "OK but you get half now and the rest when the job is completed." "Fine by us. You've just hired the MacDougals. Let me introduce you. I'm Ron MacDougal, on my right is my brother Harry, and to my left is our son Will." Ron looks half- man, half-machine, with cybernetic legs and an artificial arm. Howeverm he is not a cyborg, but a bio-android. This is a result of the battle he and Harry fought at the Galactic Leyline thirty years ago. Harry's mind now inhabits a ten-foot tall Space Forces combat droid. He has a laser honed blade for a right hand that reaches to his elbow. His left arm is a large caliber gatling gun. There are rocket launchers mounted on both of his shoulders and a cannon in the middle of his chest. The only remaining hint that he was ever human is the viewscreen in the unit's head. Where it would have once been used to show diagnostic information on the unit, it is now Harry's only way to directly interact with others. It is easy to see his resemblance to Harry and Ron. Will appears to be around fourteen years old. He has brown hair, is just shy of six-feet tall, and looks for all appearances to be a normal teenager. He is, of course, anything but normal. He was created in a lab by Gwen Khan, the universe's foremost expert on artificial lifeforms, using the genetic information of the MacDougals. he has the best qualities of the two most dangerous and tenacious enemies the Outlaw Star has ever faced, amplified to the extreme. Keiko stares at Will for a moment, the burstes out laughing. "This puny little shrimp is a bounty hunter? No offence kid, but your barely out of your diapers. Best leave this to the grown-ups. We know what we're doing." As she says this, Keko reaches out to pat him on the head. When her hand gets to within an inch of him, Will moves in a blur of motion. The next second, Keiko is bent over at the waist, with her right arm pointed behind and above her. She looks past her shoulder to see why she can't stand up. She sees Will holding her wrist at a rather painful angle, not quite breaking it, yet showing that he could do so in an instant, should the mood strike him. His left hand is pressing on her elbow, locking her arm, and giving him complete control of her movements. As Keiko looks into Will's eyes, she felt fear rising within her. She saw in his eyes a ruthless hunter of men, a wild animal that wanted to snap her like a twig for no reason other than to relish the sound of it, and to revel in the feeling of power that such a task would provide. It is only when Ron commands him to stop that this beast releases her arm. As she staightens herself, Keiko looks at the trio in front of her with a newfound sense of awe and respect. She thinks to herself, "Maybe, just maybe they can beat the crew of the famous Outlaw Star with this monster of a child." As if sensing her thoughts, Ron laughs, saying to her, "Don't let the little guy's looks fool you. Ya see, when Gwen Khan made him for us, we had the good doctor fiddle with his aging process a little. Biologically, Will just turned fifteen. Chronologically, however, he's in his late twenties. This causes his opponents to greatly underestimate him, with disasterous results." Harry laughs at this, sounding rather tinny through the speakers built into the combat drois head, then speaks for the first time. "Yeah, and it helps a little that we've amped his aggression to the limit, just for this mission. If Ron hadn't stopped him, he probably would have ripped your arm off and beaten you with it." Keiko's mouth drops when she hears this, but a moment later she is sporting an ear-to-ear grin. The MacDougals are somewhat perplexed at her behaviour, so she explains, "I'm just imagining the look on Gene Starwind's face as he realizes that the one to finally kill him looks like a kid." Ron and Harry also smile at this thought, as well as thethought of finally getting revenge on the man that they believe is the cause of all their suffering.
         "Hey Dad, What the hell are those pirates doing out there now?", asks Hilda, looking out the window as the priates set up a loudspeaker outside. Gene replies, "Damn if I know. It looks like they might be getting ready to make an announcement." And just a few minutes later, that's exactly what happens. Keiko wlaks up to the microphone that had been placed just moment before, and says, " 'Red Hot' Hilda Starwind, this is Keiko of the Ban Pirate Guyild speaking. I have business with you. While I do thank you for killing our former leader and thus allowing me to take control, The Pirate Code dictates the I avenge him. If you surrender to me now, I promise you a swift and painless death without the worry of your freinds and family coming to harm. However, should you insted choose to resist, your death will be as drawn out and painful as physically possible, and will only come after you witness the deaths of all who stood with you. You have thirty minutes to decide what to do." At hearing this, the Outlaw Star crew have rather varied reactions. Melfina has a look of complete horror on her face, while Jim is sitting calmly on the couch. Gene, Hilda, and Aisha all look at each other, then start to laugh their respective asses off. Hilda is the first to regain the ability to speak. She says,"Is that bitch serious? Does she really think that we are afraid of her?" Gene replies, "It would seem so. Hey Aisha, you feel up for a scrap?" Aisha looks like the cat that swallowed the canary as she replies, "Of course. It's gonna be fun." She then gets a thoughtful look on her face and asks Gene,"When is moonrise tonight?" Gene, looking confused at the question, checks his watch before saying, "Just about when the deadline is up. Why do you ask?" Aisha grins and says, "Cause it's a full moon tonight. I'm gonna go raid the fridge. Think you guys can survive without me for forty-five minutes?" She turns around and leaves the room without even waiting for an answer. "Sure thing Aisha. You just take your time. It's not like we're going anywhere!!!", yells Gene as she walks away. Melfina just smiles as Aisha passes her, but Hilda looks confused. "Where's Auntie Aisha going, Dad? Isn't she gonna help us fight the pirates?", she asks Gene. Jim just laughs as Gene replies,"She's just getting ready. Once the moon comes out, she will transform for battle. Right now, she just needs to load up on calories, so she can maintain the transformation long enough." Hilda smiles as she hears this, but then a thought crosses her mind. "Why is she waiting so long? She should be ready long before forty-five minutes from now." Gene replies,"Well honey, you remember what Aisha told you about how Ctarl-Ctarl tranformations are influenced by the phases of a planet's moon?" Hilda looks perplexed at his response, and says, "You know I understand all of that." "Yeah, but there's something that Aisha never told you. If they transform while the moon is in the sky above them, the power they get is even greater. The most powerful transformations happen on the night of a planet's full moon, like tonight." Hilda looks stunned for amoment, then suddenly begins laughing like a madwoman. Then, just as suddenly as she started, she stops and says, "Those dumb pirates have no idea what they're in for, the poor bastards." Gen looks at her with disappointment written all over his face. "Hilda Starwind! You know better than to make fun of an opponent, and I know you know not to underestimate someone you've never fought before.", says Gene, scolding his only daughter. Ashamed of her actions, Hilda walks over to the nearest window, and begins to lay out her weapons. She sets a loaded rocket launcher, three extra rockets, and a pistol within easy reach to her right. To her left, she places a high powered semi-automatic sniper rifle with full magazine, five extra mags, and another pistol. Directly in front of her, she places her Caster gun and shells. As she looks over her shells, Hilda notices something awry. "Hey, Dad," she yells,"where are my number four, nine and thirteen shells?" Gene replies, "I locked them all up, yours and mine. We really shouldn't use them for this fight." "Why the hell not? Those pervy sages told us that the Galactic Leyline reinfused the universe with mana after you and mom used it all those years ago. There won't be any danger to us, right?", asks Hilda. Gene answers, "That's right, but still, you don't use your trump card in the first hand of the game, do you?" Hilda laughs at this, saying, "No, I guess you don't. Looks like I'll have to wait till we face the boss bitch to pull out the big guns." "Well, maybe not that long of a wait. We can probably afford to use them on her leiutenants.", states Gene.
         Meanwhile, Aisha has been preparing a feast fit for an entire royal court, or one Ctarl-Ctarl readying herself for an all-out war. She has already finished cooking a pot roast, three cornish hens, some steak ramen, mashed potatoes, and a Thanksgiving turkey. On the stove, she has three full pots, each containing a different dish. The back-left pot is full of a thick beef stew, the back-right pot contains water for corn on the cob, and the front-left pot is holding a large amount of sharkfin soup. Aisha is using the front-right burner to cook veggie-fried rice with an egg on top, using a wok. In the oven a tuna casserole and a coconut custard pie are almost finished baking. Scattered around the kitchen are various timers, each one for a different dish. As they all go off at the same time around her, Aisha looks at the clock on the wall, realizing that she has been cooking for the last half-hour. "Just enough time left to eat all this yummy looking food before I go kick some pirate rear. Gene was pretty accurate with his timing of the moonrise. I can just start to feel the effects of a full moon now.", she thinks to herself. As this thought runs through her head, the rest of the Outlaw Star crew is just finishing up their preparations for the upcoming battle. Jim had, over the years, aquired, and continually upgraded, several remote control combat drones. He had set them up in several areas of Gene and his personal docks, ready to be deployed at the push of a button. All of them are lincked to his personal computer, and could therefore be turned into a very cohessive fighting unit. There are three arial drone and three land based drones. All are equipped with weapons designed for attacking gound-based targets. The main weapon on the ground drones is a mini-gun that fires upwards of three hundred bulletes per minute. The arial drones are using twenty-five pound bombs and small unguided rockets. The arial drones have a very special feature. If they are damaged enough, without being destroyed, a subroutine activates, causing them to jetison their regular fuel tank, with an exposive fuse inside. This turns the fuel tank into an impromtu bomb. They then arm watever remaining bombs they have, and crash into the nearest large population of enemies. This is something Jim added for insurance, in case he and and Gene ever found themselves outnumbered and under siege. His close combat weapons are two simple pistols, with only two magazines each. He mostly relies upon his sword skills. He wields two swords at once, a katana and a wakizashi. He learned how to use the wakizashi from a master of the weapon, that had first offered to train Suzuka, but taught Jim when she refused. Melfina, throughout her continued adventures with Gene, had learned everything she could about self-defence, and was now a black belt in most martial arts in the galaxy. She has also become a crack sniper, and keeps two sniper posts maintained throughout the home she shares with her husband and daughter. They are on the north-west and south-east corners of th roof. She has also set up a rocket launcher in the second-story, front facing room. Gene, as always, is a crack shot with any gun, but still prefers his pistols. His favorite weapon is still his Caster Gun, if only for it's power. After a little convincing, however, he has also learned how to make the formerly rare Caster shells. This skill is also known to his daughter, who, to her father's annoyance and pride, is much better at it than he is. The two of them have either bought or created enough shells to always have atleast three of each kind to use. They bring these into battle with them on bandoliers around their waists. Looking upon the assembled crew, one cannot help but feel a sense of awe and respect, yet also fear for those who would attempt to face down this group of battle-hardened Outlaws.
         As the deadline approaches, Keiko is getting rather anxious at the prospect of having to fight our heroes. She looks over her assembled troops, some five hundred pirates and bounty hunters, and simply hopes that most of the casualties will be omong the newest recuits. Behind her, Jin and Ulube stand waiting for her orders. The MacDougals stand nearby, planning their strategy. Will has a dagger with a three and a half inch blade strapped to his thigh, and a submachine gun in his hands. Ron has a plasma gun built into his artificial arm, and is holding a rifle in his hands. Keiko slowly approaches the microphone and calmly says, "Crew of the Outlaw Star, it has been thirty minutes. Will you surrender peacefully? What is your answer?" A gunshot rings out, and the microphone disappears in a shower of sparks. "That should tell you what our answer is, bitch. Or do you want me to put the next one in your head?", yells Hilda, having taken the shot a moment ago. Keiko hurries back to cover, and looks at the MacDougals as she pulls out a flare gun. With one last look at the dock containing Gene and company, she fires a red flare into the air. At this signal, the horde below her starts to rush the building in front of them. Flashes of light start appearing in the domicile, as the crew start to pick off enemies. Several boxes around the dock burst open as Jim's drones begin to attack anything that moves in front of them. The arial drones take off from the roof, shooting past Melfina in a neat row, then break off towards the pirates as soon as their wings catch air. Explosions start to sprout up throughout the ranks of Keiko's minions. Someone gets off a lucky shot, and destroyes one of the arial dones, just in time to get mowed down by the nearest land drone. Melfina and Hilda take out several foes themselves, and Gene even kills a few himself. By this time, the pirates are only about two hundred feet away from the building. Gene and Hilda look at each other and nod. They pick up their Caster guns and load them. Gene's shoots out a bolt of lightning, taking out a dozen tightly packed enemies at once. Hilda's fires a ball of fire that explodes upon impact, killing five foes and lighting up ten more like roman candles. Soon, there were only about two hundred and fifty pirates left, as Gene and Jim had found it necessary to resort to close combat when the pirates had come within fifty feet of the doors. Melfina and Hilda are nearly out of ammo, and only one arial and two land drones remain. Just then, a deep rumbling sound is heard. As they look to the horizon, Jim and Gene see a hoard of pirate mechs nearing the dock. They look at each other, and one thought runs through teir heads at the same time. "Fuck!"