Chapter 1, Part 3: It always starts in a bar
"Argo found it!" The catgirl reported happily as she opened the access ramp for the ship and sauntered inside, "Wow! Argo thinks this dates back to before the Boskone War! Might be some good stuff in here!" She frowned, "But Commander wants the info first." She smiled again, "Argo should take a look around, maybe Argo find something shiny!" She started poking around the ship, opening lockers and sniffing around, frowning at the smell of blood that permeated the interior before blinking as she picked up something interesting with her nose, "Hmm, now what is that?" She traced the scent to a box and broke the lock with her machete, opening the lid to find what appeared to be a wrapped present, "Hmm, Argo thinks she should open this." With a deft cut, the present's wrapping was removed to reveal a shoebox that had a hand-made doll inside.
Argo blinked as she picked up the doll, frowning before placing it in her pack and heading for the engine crawlspace, pointedly ignoring the blood that had soaked into the pilot seat. She shivered, a sliver of her forgotten past life flashing through her mind of a family, a crying child...
Argo shook her head, "Argo is Argo, Argo doesn't have to remember. Argo doesn't need to remember. Argo is Argo." She chanted under her breath as she reached the crawlspace and opened the hatch, finding the panel and began fiddling to remove it, mewing happily as the panel fell away to reveal a sealed box that she immediately grabbed and stuffed into her pack, "Argo has the info! Heading for the ship nyow!"
"Roger that. We'll meet you there."
Argo checked the internal spaces and smiled as she noted something, "Oho!" She fiddled with some wires and smiled as the ship's reactor began to hum, "Now for the autopilot." She crawled out and dashed to the cockpit and began programming the autopilot systems as the engines began to warm up. Laughing, she dashed down the boarding ramp before it raised and watched the ship lift off without a pilot before running towards where the Tarantula was docked. She managed to catch sight of the ship rocketing out into space and watched as something streaked up to follow it from the Martian desert, before it struck the ship and destroyed it over the desert, prompting Argo to grimace, "Argo to Tarantula, there's a missile launcher in the desert, and it took out the decoy pretty fast! Argo thinks we need to deal with that before we can leave Mars."
"We're getting the Tarantula ready now Argo. Those bastards probably are planning an interdiction to shoot down anything that tries to reach Marsbase Sara. Get back on board and we'll deal with it."
"Argo copies! Argo is on the way!" The catgirl responded as she turned a corner and leapfrogged a tourist before using the shoulders of a cyborg as a springboard to leap over a crowd, landing into a roll before rising into a sprint towards the Tarantula's docking bay, spotting the ship already warming up its engines from a cold start. Then she heard shouts behind her and turned her head to see what looked like cops approaching from the rear as the Tarantula began rising from the floor.
"Uh, Tarantula, we can't let you depart. You're needed for questioning and that missile launcher is kinda blocking any attempts to leave." The Air Traffic Controller reported as Miranda sighed and motioned for the channel to be opened.
"We know, that's why we're going to blow it up. Because unless you want to be indirectly responsible for whoever else gets shot down by that launcher, you're going to let us leave." She turned as a puffing Argo appeared to lean against the hatch, holding up the sealed box with a smile, and nodded.
There was a long pause, before the Air Traffic Controller sighed, "All right. Give 'em hell Black Talons."
"Roger that." She turned and pressed a hand to her ear, "Wolf, get a Bazooka ready, I want you ready to take out that launcher if the gun-run misses."
"Understood Commander." Wolf replied as she approached her Gear, VR Helmet in her hands as the Tarantula took off and headed out into the Martian desert, boarding her Eagle and engaging its systems as she smiled, "Hello Big Boy, are we ready to cause some damage?"
The AI chirped happily as Wolf slipped her VR helmet on and the chest of the machine closed. Taking the controls, Wolf smoothly rose Big Boy out of his crouch and strode him over to a weapon rack, grabbing a Light Bazooka from the weapons on display and an ammo clip, "Wolf to Commander Petite, I'm ready to begin the attack."
"Roger that, opening side drop door now." The door opened and Wolf positioned Big Boy with the launcher as the Tarantula screamed over the desert at low altitude, before the ship shuddered as its automatic Gauss Cannons thundered, sending a hail of shells at a distant target. Watching the distance, Wolf observed explosions as the 40mm shells struck the location of the launcher before she heard the Tarantula's pilot, High Wire, curse.
"Shit! Minimal effect on target. Wolf, get ready with the Bazooka!" Wolf nodded and waited as the ship shifted as it approached the launcher. Then she saw it, a large boxy vehicle with missiles on a turret that was surrounded on all sides by a bern of packed sand.
"No wonder..." Wolf muttered as she took aim, and fired, sending a rocket streaking towards the Launcher. She witnessed someone leaping out just as the rocket hit, and the launcher exploded, "Direct hit. The crewmember escaped but that's a problem for the authorities."
Miranda nodded, "Understood, lock up Big Boy and head back up to the crew deck." She turned away from the window of the cockpit, "This is Commander Petite to all Black Talons, we are now on the job. Get bunked in for a long trip."
She paused as she ruthlessly crushed the memories threatening to rise up.
"Next stop, the habitat of Haven."
-End of Chapter 1-
"Argo found it!" The catgirl reported happily as she opened the access ramp for the ship and sauntered inside, "Wow! Argo thinks this dates back to before the Boskone War! Might be some good stuff in here!" She frowned, "But Commander wants the info first." She smiled again, "Argo should take a look around, maybe Argo find something shiny!" She started poking around the ship, opening lockers and sniffing around, frowning at the smell of blood that permeated the interior before blinking as she picked up something interesting with her nose, "Hmm, now what is that?" She traced the scent to a box and broke the lock with her machete, opening the lid to find what appeared to be a wrapped present, "Hmm, Argo thinks she should open this." With a deft cut, the present's wrapping was removed to reveal a shoebox that had a hand-made doll inside.
Argo blinked as she picked up the doll, frowning before placing it in her pack and heading for the engine crawlspace, pointedly ignoring the blood that had soaked into the pilot seat. She shivered, a sliver of her forgotten past life flashing through her mind of a family, a crying child...
Argo shook her head, "Argo is Argo, Argo doesn't have to remember. Argo doesn't need to remember. Argo is Argo." She chanted under her breath as she reached the crawlspace and opened the hatch, finding the panel and began fiddling to remove it, mewing happily as the panel fell away to reveal a sealed box that she immediately grabbed and stuffed into her pack, "Argo has the info! Heading for the ship nyow!"
"Roger that. We'll meet you there."
Argo checked the internal spaces and smiled as she noted something, "Oho!" She fiddled with some wires and smiled as the ship's reactor began to hum, "Now for the autopilot." She crawled out and dashed to the cockpit and began programming the autopilot systems as the engines began to warm up. Laughing, she dashed down the boarding ramp before it raised and watched the ship lift off without a pilot before running towards where the Tarantula was docked. She managed to catch sight of the ship rocketing out into space and watched as something streaked up to follow it from the Martian desert, before it struck the ship and destroyed it over the desert, prompting Argo to grimace, "Argo to Tarantula, there's a missile launcher in the desert, and it took out the decoy pretty fast! Argo thinks we need to deal with that before we can leave Mars."
"We're getting the Tarantula ready now Argo. Those bastards probably are planning an interdiction to shoot down anything that tries to reach Marsbase Sara. Get back on board and we'll deal with it."
"Argo copies! Argo is on the way!" The catgirl responded as she turned a corner and leapfrogged a tourist before using the shoulders of a cyborg as a springboard to leap over a crowd, landing into a roll before rising into a sprint towards the Tarantula's docking bay, spotting the ship already warming up its engines from a cold start. Then she heard shouts behind her and turned her head to see what looked like cops approaching from the rear as the Tarantula began rising from the floor.
"Uh, Tarantula, we can't let you depart. You're needed for questioning and that missile launcher is kinda blocking any attempts to leave." The Air Traffic Controller reported as Miranda sighed and motioned for the channel to be opened.
"We know, that's why we're going to blow it up. Because unless you want to be indirectly responsible for whoever else gets shot down by that launcher, you're going to let us leave." She turned as a puffing Argo appeared to lean against the hatch, holding up the sealed box with a smile, and nodded.
There was a long pause, before the Air Traffic Controller sighed, "All right. Give 'em hell Black Talons."
"Roger that." She turned and pressed a hand to her ear, "Wolf, get a Bazooka ready, I want you ready to take out that launcher if the gun-run misses."
"Understood Commander." Wolf replied as she approached her Gear, VR Helmet in her hands as the Tarantula took off and headed out into the Martian desert, boarding her Eagle and engaging its systems as she smiled, "Hello Big Boy, are we ready to cause some damage?"
The AI chirped happily as Wolf slipped her VR helmet on and the chest of the machine closed. Taking the controls, Wolf smoothly rose Big Boy out of his crouch and strode him over to a weapon rack, grabbing a Light Bazooka from the weapons on display and an ammo clip, "Wolf to Commander Petite, I'm ready to begin the attack."
"Roger that, opening side drop door now." The door opened and Wolf positioned Big Boy with the launcher as the Tarantula screamed over the desert at low altitude, before the ship shuddered as its automatic Gauss Cannons thundered, sending a hail of shells at a distant target. Watching the distance, Wolf observed explosions as the 40mm shells struck the location of the launcher before she heard the Tarantula's pilot, High Wire, curse.
"Shit! Minimal effect on target. Wolf, get ready with the Bazooka!" Wolf nodded and waited as the ship shifted as it approached the launcher. Then she saw it, a large boxy vehicle with missiles on a turret that was surrounded on all sides by a bern of packed sand.
"No wonder..." Wolf muttered as she took aim, and fired, sending a rocket streaking towards the Launcher. She witnessed someone leaping out just as the rocket hit, and the launcher exploded, "Direct hit. The crewmember escaped but that's a problem for the authorities."
Miranda nodded, "Understood, lock up Big Boy and head back up to the crew deck." She turned away from the window of the cockpit, "This is Commander Petite to all Black Talons, we are now on the job. Get bunked in for a long trip."
She paused as she ruthlessly crushed the memories threatening to rise up.
"Next stop, the habitat of Haven."
-End of Chapter 1-