Scott stood quietly in the cockpit entryway watching Ivory adjust the pilot seat, calibrate, and then re-calibrate the strike shuttle's controls. She stretched her new arm, and made more adjustments. Once the fighting started there'd be no time to worry about comfort or stability. The prosthesis spasmed and she wrestled it under control. Ivory swore and took a mini-wrench to the cybernetic interface connecting her and the mechanical part.
Once she had things under control she went back to prepping the ship. The vessel was designed for intergrid space travel and light atmospheric combat. What Spider was planning bordered on exceeding those parameters. The shuttle's armor plating could withstand medium yield bombardments, and it's deflectors, designed to withstand the rigors of re-entry, might make up for the lack of maneuverability. None of it would matter if the Amazon fired its main gun.
Through the cockpit window Scott could see a tiny structure in the distance. It was more than a minuscule hunk of metal, it was home. They'd followed the vented debris like a trail leading them through the empty void. Spider had brought them as close as he'd dared. Unfortunately they could also see the Amazon-class Pale Garden ship. The enemy had yet to detect the micro-station or the shuttle, but once they did the fight would be over quickly.
Scott grudgingly agreed with Spider's assessment: if they waited to be detected it would be too late. This was one of those moments when they had to be offensive in order to defend Homebase.
"You just gonna stare at me, big guy, or are you gonna confess your love so we can make this happen?" Ivory swiveled around with a sly smirk on her face. "I have to be honest, I'm a heartbreaker. I might hurt you."
Scott laughed. She was bold and honest. He could do worse.
Ivory hopped out of the seat and closed the distance between them. She rested her head against his stomach, and ran her hand down the fur of his arm.
"You be careful out there, Scott. That is a long way to fly without a ship under your toned ass."
Scott shook his head and gently pushed away. Ivory shrugged, and turned back to the ship's controls. He cleared his throat, then grabbed his space suit from the back seat. He threw it over her head, drawing a surprised yelp from her lips.
"Scott! What are you doing?" she cried as she fussed with the space ready garment. She cursed at his chuckles while she struggled to get free. "First you try to give me a heart attack, then you try to smother me? Wait... you want me to help you put this on? Kinky."
"No, I want you to wear it," he explained, as he took a seat.
She studied him over the bundle of insulated weave and atmospheric filters in her arms.
"Still kinky." She grinned.
He shook his head again. She dropped the suit into the copilot's seat and took her own. "Why would you give me your suit? You're gonna need it way more."
"Just in case you need to bale out."
"You're not making any sense. I'm going to be safe and sound in here," she made a sweeping gesture of the entire cockpit, "you're about to make the craziest leap of faith I've ever heard of."
"If we survive this, ask me about the operation on the Kiln World. I'll play you a mission debrief that will make some of that peach fuzz on your head gray."
"This Kiln World thing seems like a running joke with you and Spider."
"It wasn't funny at the time. If he ever gives you access to his archive, check out Mission 9."
"Mission 9. Got it." She swiveled her seat back around and again readjusted the height. "I'm not gonna take your suit."
"Yes you are."
"Big guy, you're tough, but even you can't beat the void."
"Watch me." He stood up and stretched. "My R.Nano will protect me out there far longer than you'll survive if a Pale Garden Trinity Cutter ventilates this tub. Just put on the suit, that way I can worry about other things," he growled as he scooped up the fishbowl helmet.
"Maybe I want you to worry about me."
Scott scoffed and put the helmet on top of the spacesuit.
"I'm sure you do, shorty."
He left the cockpit and picked his way through grates and boxes festooned to the walls. They walked away from their encounter with the Wing Tikka Gang with bruises, scrapes, and a lot more supplies than Spider had paid for. It left the shuttle packed with nowhere to go if they couldn't do something about the Amazon ship. Scott scowled. He couldn't figure out how The Garden ended up in their sector. He doubted it was a coincidence.
On the port side of the shuttle were the escape pod tubes. Spider and Scott had already wrestled out the ship's only pod, the long cylinder taking up space against most of the opposite wall. He studied the tube, little more than a side facing cannon that's standard ordinance was people. Ivory would be turning the ship so the pods were pointed towards Homebase. Scott took a deep breath to calm his nerves. He was excited by the prospect of putting his life on the line to be a hero.
"You can do this, Tee. Stay close to Scott, and don't let go of the supplies." Spider's voice drifted through the room.
"I was given spacewalk training years ago, I'm unafraid."
"You're shaking."
"I might be a bit... nervous." Taylor-06 and Spider's footsteps stopped. "I find it hard sometimes to understand how these emotions are helpful."
"Fear is a call to action," Spider explained. "It will either stop you in your tracks or move you. With training and practice fear can push you to new heights. You have to use that nervousness."
"I don't have your chemical makeup, or your fight or flight response. For me it's just a rippling through my circuits."
"Let that ripple be your spark. I envy you in that respect. You get to make a conscious effort to be brave. You get to choose bravery or fear."
"I choose to be brave."
"I thought you might."
Spider chuckled and the footsteps resumed. The two came around a stack of crates holding hands. Scott pointedly stared at their linked fingers before meeting Spider's eyes and raising an eyebrow. Scott took personal joy in watching Spider's expression grow serious. He noticed neither let go.
"Where's your spacesuit?" Spider asked, trying to steer the subject as he always did.
"I left it for Ivory. She needs it more than I do. My gaiar shield will keep me alive."
"What if you miss the station?"
"I won't," Scott growled.
"Always the proud khalyn. What about Taylor-06? What about Patricia? You're putting others in danger."
"Your entire plan puts others in danger. I'm no more prideful than you," Scott said as he closed the distance between them. "And don't get all concerned, I'll take care of your little girlfriend."
"I'm not his girlfriend, Scott," Taylor-06 snapped. She released Spider's hand. "I can feel the ship turning. We should get ready."
The look Spider shot Scott made up for all the times that Liam poked fun at the idea of Scott and Ivory getting together. It had never been something Scott wanted, but the idea was starting to take root. Besides giving Liam Marcus a taste of his own medicine was always important. There was no room for two pompous jerks within the team.
Scott checked the straps of the bag on Taylor-06's back, the one holding all the chemicals they needed to save Pepper, then checked the seals on Spider's space suit. He secured his sidearm and plasmatic edge then scooped up two of the fire suppressor cans. Extras were already strapped to his legs. They were as ready as they were going to be.
"Ivory is pointing you right at the station, the tube's firing mechanism will do the rest. An object in motion will stay in motion, basic Newton's 1st law of inertia. The issue is slowing down." Spider tapped the cans in Scott's arm. "That's what these are for."
"What about you," Taylor-06 asked.
"I'm going to crawl down the tube right behind you. Once I get outside, I'll make my way into the probe." Spider frowned. "What's the problem now, Raven?"
"I should be flying, not Ivory."
"I need you home. Someone has to make sure the council follows my instructions to the letter."
"Then you go!"
"No one else knows how to pilot the probe."
"You do?"
"I read the manual."
"Liam!" Taylor-06 snapped. "I mean Spider, this all seems crazy. There has to be another way."
"The longer we procrastinate, the greater the chance of that Amazon finding Homebase."
"But Patricia-"
"Patricia's countermeasures could fail, or someone on their ship might just look out a viewport. We can't take the chance, and no one has a better plan."
Neither Taylor-06 nor Scott had a response.
"We've wasted enough time," Liam said as he pushed a strand of hair out of Taylor-06's face. "Raven, move out."
"Fine," Scott grumbled.
His black band popped audibly, black R.Nano mingled with the silver R.Nano in his blood before rushing up his arm. The nano hardened into metal bands, encasing Scott in armor of the same grade as a war construct, but with the flexibility of flesh. Lightning ripped through his limbs, his bones, his organs, leaving numb detachment in its wake. Suddenly he felt buried with his own body, feeling buried beneath layers deeper than his armor. The world took on a green hue as his eyes projected a visor of hard light. Data, gauges, charts and HUDs all floated before his eyes.
Scott climbed into the tube and pressed himself against the siding to give Taylor-06 space to climb in beside him. The vibrations of the ship could be felt through his combat gear and the armor plating beneath it. It was almost as if he could feel the shuttle breathing under him. His own pulse pounded like a counterbeat to the ship's humming. Scott closed his eyes, and tried to steadied himself. Hi excitement was building.
"Raven, you need to cushion Taylor-06 from the tube's discharge when it fires. You two have to get closer."
Scott and Taylor-06 moved until their chests were pressed together.
"Closer than that."
"Much closer and we're gonna be real intimate," Scott growled.
"If you don't absorb the brunt of the blast we might lose the halifluerix. Wrap your arms around her."
"Spider, is this some kinda fetish?"
"Raven!"
Taylor-06's body pressing tightly against his crotch killed Scott's witty response before it left his lips. He'd never been so close to the construct, never had a chance to experience just how organic she felt and smelled. She put her arms around his midsection. Scott realized that if he didn't know her origin, he'd have mistaken her for a human woman.
Scott was too proud to be ashamed of his body's display of excitement sandwiched between them. Instead he merely crossed his arms over the bag on her back.
"Let's do it." He called down to Spider.
The tube door sealed behind them, and the atmosphere was sucked out with a steady hiss. The R.Nano responded by generating its own small atmospheric shielding. His gaiar shield slithered down, first over him and then Taylor-06 until they both were encased in an amorphous bubble of green mist.
Spider: Ivory, they're in the tube.
The words crawled across his optic lenses and visor.
Ivory: Ready for this, big guy? And don't say I was born ready. It's too cliche.
"We'll see you two back home," Scott growled. "Don't get yourselves killed."
Spider: Same goes for you, and that's an order. HUD display sync. Counting down, 5 seconds.
Scott counted with the large numbers displayed on his visor.
"4, 3, 2, 1."
Taylor-06 went stiff against his body a moment before a deafening explosion set his ears ringing. A mighty force pushed against him, accelerating at ever increasing speed. The escape pod tube went by in a blur, and then they were flying through open space. The strike shuttle's atmospheric shield closed behind them as the vehicle grew smaller by the second. In moments the shuttle was merely a shape in their wake. He looked down at Taylor-06, her gaze concentrated ahead of them.
Rocketing through the open black expanse, where the stars were too far away to appear to move, and the closest planetary body was 16 million miles away. In that vastness, flying like a torpedo, Scott's mind wandered unexpected pathways. From his upbringing as the son of a clan Rex to co-founding a secret band of mercenaries. From fighting the stigma of his family name to fighting The Pale Garden on every possible front. From protecting his genius sister with claw and his father's sword to making a 20 mile jump from ship to micro-station in order to save her life. Scott Felinus had joined the Earth Conglomerate Military in hopes of becoming a leader of men like his father before him, but ended up just another member of the rank and file. He didn't become a hero until he ran afoul of Lady Belladonna's agents and was infected with the R.Nano, intertwining his destiny with Liam's. Scott imagined his father, the greatest man he'd ever known, watching him with pride.
"Scott!"
His body jolted as he gasped for air, the canisters in his hands thrown to the sides to drift off into space. Scott's head buzzed, the tapestry of stars swirled in his vision. His chest ached as he struggled to suck in enough air. Confusion filled his head.
"You passed out." Taylor-06's voice sounded distorted in the radiation altered air of the gaiar shield. "Somethings wrong with the field. I'm detecting a heightened level of toxins in the air. The filtering process is malfunctioning."
It was his damaged R.Nano. The machines had yet to fully reintegrated into his system. Rapid healing seemed to have been only one of the issues. The brown haze of his atmospheric shield was another. Even as he fought for breath, Scott knew there was nothing he could do.
His heart thundered in his chest, and his ears filled with the sound of blood rushing through his veins. Darkness nipped at the edges of his vision, and he felt lightheaded. He fought against it all, because he was a felarnian and he intended to best the void. Unfortunately stubbornness would not save him against such a indomitable foe.
He felt Taylor-06's weight ease away, but couldn't muster the strength to grab hold. Scott slipped into darkness alone, flying, falling.
...
He came awake again, covered in cold sweat. The first thing he noticed was his ability to breathe. The second was the green mist surrounding him. Scott looked around. The micro-station was closing in. Taylor-06 drifted above him, the strap of her backpack the only thing tethering the two together. She flew through open space, eyes and mouth closed, frost forming on her hair. Still as a hunk of inanimate metal. She'd separated herself from his field in order to lessen the stress to his nano. She might have saved his life.
Taylor-06: Raven, wake up. You need to slow us down.
The words scrolled across his optical lenses. He frowned as he remembered the two canisters he tossed out into space. Scott admonished himself, and the pride that made him insist he could make the jump without a suit. It was foolhardy, and could have killed him. If he'd died and Taylor-06 failed to reach the station Pepper death would have been on his hands. He couldn't allow that.
Homebase loomed closer. It was a speck no longer, but a space station capable of supporting hundreds of lives. They'd become the specks. Scott pulled one of the backup canisters from his leg, and popped the safety pin. He pointed the nozzle ahead, and fired a cloud of white foam and gas. His speed decreased by increments. Homebase's approach slowed with each burst, Scott firing the canister every two seconds until nothing was left. Even so, they were still coming in fast, and steadily rising over their mark.
Scott focused his vision on a cluster of pipes and railings atop the micro-station, and his visor marked it as a target with a yellow x. He tossed the spent canister and reached for the last one. A tugging at his belt called his attention to Taylor-06's form. It was her momentum pulling them off course, and the tension was taking its toll on the strap keeping them together.
Scott growled, and returned his attention to the station they would soon overshoot. This time he had to be more judicious about using the fire suppressant. If he misjudged they could smash into the station, and there was no guarantee his R.Nano would protect him, war mode or not. If he used too much and missed completely... he refused to dwell on that outcome. Scott fired, angling the discharge to counter Taylor-06's tug. To his dismay the can emptied after two blasts. The canister was one of a crate purchased at surplus with broken gauges. Clearly it'd been used. Scott roared and chucked the junk at the station.
Taylor-06's eyes shot open, her body coming back to life in an instant. Her mouth moved but he couldn't hear her in the vacuum of space.
Taylor-06: I apologize in advance.
"Apologize for what? What's happening?" Scott asked.
They were already dangerously high. He reached out, but it was clear he would miss his yellow x marker. His heart pounded, his bullheaded nature the only thing keeping panic at bay.
Taylor-06: I had to shutdown all of my self preservation systems.
"What? Why?"
Taylor-06 produced in her right hand a device from her gear that looked like a flat dumbbell. Scott coulded recognize it. As they drifted into the station's huge shadow, he clawed frantically for a handhold. A ripple of energy ran up the length of the device. Before Scott's eyes it doubled in length, sending out a warbling hum that shook his gaiar shield. It made a sudden jerk toward the micro-station, nearly ripping Taylor-06's arm off at the elbow. Synthetic skin, flesh, blood, and mechanical cabling tore loose to waft off into space. Scott's worried protests turned into a howl of surprised alarm as his metal plating was snatched towards the device as well.
One moment they were overshooting Homebase, and the next they were being yanked toward it. They hit the station with a reverberating thud. The impact tripped the hull sensors, and, sensing organic flesh, Homebase's own gaiar shields enveloped the area. Scott fought against the magnetic pull of the device to no avail. It was a Mag-Anchor, a deep space tool for anchoring pods and probes to larger ships without docking bays. Centuries ago it was used in the human/Mecha war as a tool to disable Neo mecha ships.
His chest slammed into the Mag-Anchor, magnetically attaching him to Taylor-06's mangled arm and the micro-station. All of his strength was useless against the powerful attractor. Scott worked his feet beneath him and pushed against the ship until it felt like he might tear himself apart. Finally he did the only thing he could think of and came out of war mode.
Scott fell away, his chest heaving from the effort. Once more Taylor-06 had saved them. He looked to her and his eyes went wide. Her hand firmly grasped the Mag-Anchor which warped the exposed metal of her arm with each pulse. Her eyes were rolled back, exposing white and circuitry. Her mouth sat open in a soundless wide gape of pain.
Scott tumbling towards her, and brought his heel across her distorted elbow joint. The bent metal snapped under his weight, and he tackled her away from the anchor. Her eyes regained focus as they flew through the low gravity within the station's atmospheric shield.
"Thank you," she said mechanically.
"No, thank you."
Scott's optical lenses came to life.
Nash: Scott, are you outside? The sensors say you're outside.
"Yeah, me and Taylor-06!" Scott shouted as he scooped her up and put her over his shoulder. "We're heading towards Docking Bay 2. Open up, and call The Council together. The shit is hitting the fan."