(//Right, this is one I need to finish. Please PM me with any comments. Also, put a sentence in the wrong spot, fixed now.)
A lone Scimitar drifted into the public docks on Malta, and a young Kusari man climbed out. A relative unknown among Outcasts, regulars at the Orange Ocean Bar were the only people who knew him. His reputation there was that of a man you want to avoid; his Scimitar had racked up numerous Hammerhead kills and survived multiple encounters with gunships and cruisers. Not much time later, two Slipstreams in pristine condition landed to each side of the Scimitar. A man in a long, hooded black coat slowly exited the one on the left, and a woman in a black tank top and jeans jumped out of the one on the right.
Inside the Orange Ocean, the Kusari man sat in a booth in the back, eating some food apparently brought from Kusari. Normally, no one was allowed to bring in their own food or drink, but after he killed a man in the bar everyone stopped arguing with him.
The two Slipstream pilots walked over to the foreigner's booth, and the man spoke. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe you're the pilot of that Hacker-modified CX Scimitar... Ayumu Ishida." Ayumu immediately reached for his pistol, and the man laughed. "I like you already. If you're interested, I have a job that's perfect for you." Ayumu nodded, still suspicious, and motioned for the man and woman to sit down. The man took a seat directly across from Ayumu, and the woman sat down next to Ayumu... which did nothing to make him less cautious.
"Explain this job."
"First, an introduction is in order," the man said, lowering his hood. "I am Don Emilio Santini, and this is my daughter Mia."
"Hi! Nice to meet you!" the young woman said cheerfully. Ayumu just nodded silently. He was a new arrival, but he was familiar with the name Santini. The family was known for its secrecy and its... quirks. Mia, as Ayumu had already observed, was rather childish. Emilio was apparently rather fond of assassination... and what he'd heard about Tiana worried him most. Apparently, there was a Santini in the 101st, but he was only a distant relative at most.
"The Ibanez family has been something of a thorn in my side for my entire life. Most of them have been dealt with, peacefully or otherwise, but one refuses to negotiate and refuses to stop fighting me. I need him dealt with 'otherwise', but he is rather prominent among Outcasts."
"So you want me to risk my life to deal with your family problems."
"Mm. Almost," Emilio responded calmly. "I've done some research, and you seem perfect for this job. You're new, very few people know you. You're a good pilot. And you're very cautious and secretive. I don't think there's much risk here for you."
"What's in it for me?"
"Well, you know I know you're secretive. I own a private hangar and residence out in the Maltan plains, far from civilization. I don't currently use it - do this for me, and you can have the hangar, the residence, and everything inside. Plenty of room for your salvaging projects, too..."
"... my target is?"
"A hotheaded young pilot, Alex Ibanez. He will be in Omicron Beta on a job in a few hours. He's a braggart who always works alone... just to prove he can," Emilio explained with a derisive laugh. "I'll send a few of my men to collect the wreckage and deliver it to your new hangar when you're done. You know more about dealing with that than any of us would."
"He'll be dead by the end of the day," Ayumu said, finishing his rice and leaving. The Hacker-modified Scimitar departed Malta minutes later, with Emilio and Mia watching.
So this is Omicron Beta, Ayumu thought to himself as he entered from a jump hole. The flat, almost plate-like asteroids were all flat and parallel, which helped him keep his bearings but made the entire area look quite creepy. The omnipresent green nebula hindered both scanners and visual searches.. Sabre patrols grew denser as he approached a large asteroid base, and they seemed to always loop around in a certain direction, as though they were expecting something.
Ayumu headed off in that direction, and entered a dense pocket within the nebula, with almost no rocks but very thick clouds. There, he saw a faint shadow, and pushed a few buttons on his console to disguise his Outcast IFF signature using an old Hacker system left in the ship when it was given to Ayumu.
"This is freelancer Mitsunari Ishida to unknown pilot. Identify yourself." I have to come up with a more obscure name next time...
"Gas Miner patrol. Nothing to concern yourself with."
A false lead. Ayumu briefly wondered if Emilio was responsible for this, but pushed that to the back of his mind as he made a hard left turn - as far as he could recall, that would lead him back to where he entered the pocket from. He probably could get a reward for capturing the miners, or a bribe for not doing so, but he had more important people to kill.
Half an hour later, he emerged from the pocket and surveyed his surroundings. The rocks were upside down, the cloud seemed to be a different color, and the estimated travel time to Ruiz Base was an hour. Not a Sabre was in sight, simply some GMG exploration craft. Suddenly, a Falcata appeared from behind an asteroid and tore through one of the Eagles.
"Freelancer Mitsunari Ishida to unidentified bomber. Who are you?" Ayumu asked, powering up his Hellflurries. Definitely need a new fake name.
"Alex Ibanez," the bomber pilot replied impatiently. "Make yourself useful or get the hell out of the way."
"I'll keep the Griffins off you," Ayumu said, firing at an Eagle that nearly rammed him. The two Outcasts engaged the squad of Gas Miner fighters, with the Falcata's raw power shredding the heavier craft and the Scimitar's agility keeping it completely untouched. Ayumu deliberately stalled in eliminating the Griffins, letting their shots hit Alex's Falcata and even "accidentally" firing a few of his own at the bomber. In only a few minutes, the two pilots brought down the entire exploration unit.
"You're a pretty good pilot, Mitsunari. Your aim sucks, though," Alex commented, turning his ship away from Ayumu. He never could've predicted that those would be his final words; if he had, perhaps he'd have chosen something more dignified.
"Oh, I think you'll find that my aim is quite good," Ayumu replied with a smirk. A quick volley from Ayumu's tachyon guns finished off the damaged Falcata, and a followup shot destroyed Alex's escape pod.
Three days later, the hooded figure returned to the Orange Ocean to meet Ayumu.
"Excellent work, Mr. Ishida," the Don said as he took a seat across from Ayumu, this time accompanied by his other daughter. "This is my younger daughter Tiana, by the way. I meant to introduce you last time, but she was... otherwise occupied."
Ayumu instinctively checked all his weapons upon hearing the name. Tiana Santini, an infamous interrogator and knife expert. She'd killed over a dozen Outcasts, or so the rumors said, for knowing too much, turning on the Santinis, or just getting in her way, to say nothing of what happened to the ones who personally offended her... and what she had done to Corsairs actually made Ayumu feel sorry for them. She had killed more people than most Outcast aces without even leaving Malta, and she enjoyed it.
"Take this datapad. It has a map to the hangar I promised. I have two additional requests for you."
"... what are they?"
"First, I would like for you to allow Tiana to stay at the hangar with you." Ayumu stared at Don Santini, trying to hide his fear. "Is there a problem?"
"... no."
"Good. My second request is that you come up with a better pseudonym, Mitsunari. Luckily, we were the first ones to that recording."
"Is there anything else?"
"Not right now. I'll call you if I need anything."
That's just what I need, Ayumu thought to himself as he walked to his ship. A Don calling me for more assignments... and his pet killer making sure I take them.
---
Ayumu flew around Hangar OF2-39 twice to survey the surroundings. Vast expanses of Cardamine grasses with not another building in sight, with three defense turrets - two at the hangar's entrance, and one facing the rear. As he pulled into the hangar, he saw the shattered remnants of Alex Ibanez's Falcata waiting for him on his right, and an assortment of tools and spare parts all along the walls, along with boxes full of old files, datapads, and equipment.
You're testing me, Emilio, Ayumu thought to himself. He inspected the ruined bomber closely, and saw just how bad it was; even a Junker wouldn't be able to save this thing. Maybe it could be modified for atmospheric flight, but even that would be a stretch, and it'd certainly never be spaceworthy. Its Kraken particle cannons, however, were miraculously still working perfectly. Somehow, thety had taken no damage in the explosion. The same couldn't be said for anything else on the ship; at best, he could get a spare ZX-1099 Fuel Injector and SG-e2 Type 4 Shield Projection Controller, but most of the ship was ruined beyond use.
( // NOTE: If the use of a Cruiser named Rheia interferes with any other stories, lemme know. EDIT: Also, apparently a name got censored.)
"Ayumu! Ayumu, where are you?!" Tiana shouted as she searched the hangar and house above it for any sign of the foreigner. As she passed the dining room table, she took two of her throwing knives and her handgun. "Get down here! NOW!"
"I'm in my room, and I need to keep this from exploding," he replied.
"Forget about that! Those bastards took my sister!" A loud crash was the immediate response, followed by a series of smaller impacts and metal striking metal a few times. Shortly after, Ayumu staggered down the stairs, bleeding from his head.
"Which bastards?" he asked as he bandaged his head.
"Corsairs, who the hell else? I'm going to get her back."
"I'm going too. I was working on my scanner earlier... there's a cruiser signature in Sigma-19, I think it's a Corsair."
"I don't want that injury slowing me down."
"Unless I need to press buttons with my head, it won't be a problem. Besides... if you die, so do I. The only difference is if it's Corsairs or your father that kills me... I'll take my chances with the Corsairs." He grabbed his brown coat and followed Tiana down to the hangar, and they took off; two light fighters to take on a Corsair cruiser.
---
The beautiful blue and green clouds of Sigma-19 greeted the two young Outcasts as they entered from Omicron Beta. The two flew to an empty area of space directly opposite the Gas Miner Ogashawa, and sat while Ayumu hijacked an Orbital Spa & Cruise liner's scanners and then masked his ship's IFF signature.
"Found them. I have a plan, play along." Ayumu said, extending his tractor beam to Tiana's ship. The two flew in the cruiser's general direction, though intentionally avoiding a straight line; in part to avoid the two suns of Sigma-19, and in part to avoid suspicion. They approached the massive Corsair cruiser, and Ayumu opened a comm channel as he approached. "This is freelancer Hideie Ukita to Corsair cruiser Rheia. I heard you caught one of the Santini girls, figured you might like the other one."
"Why is there Cardamine on your ship?"
"If you want the girl, you'll let that go."
"... fair enough, amigo. You're cleared to dock, a few of my men will meet you. Is the girl incapacitated?"
"She is." The Scimitar "pulled" the Slipstream into the Rheia's dock, and Ayumu climbed out of his fighter. "Let me get her out. Less of a fight that way."
"'ey, as long as we get her and she doesn't kill us, we don't care how," the leader of the small squad replied. "We've heard all about Tiana, ese. The further we are from her, the safer we are."
Ayumu nodded, and helped Tiana out of her ship, after which she immediately gunned down the leader.
"Gunfire, hangar three!" one of the soldiers shouted shortly before losing his larynx to Ayumu's pistol. The Outcasts quickly killed the other three Corsair soldiers, and Ayumu glanced out into the hall. A quick neutron blast forced him back behind the wall. He heard numerous loud footsteps, and tossed one of the deceased soldier's minigrenades down the hall. The bomb, unfortunately, did not go off, and the soldiers stormed into the room. Unfortunately for them, they were disorganized and slightly panicked, and easily killed. The two dashed down the hall toward the bridge, but Ayumu ducked into a side room and shot the three drunk Corsairs guarding it before they could pick up their guns. Apparently, they were already celebrating the capture of a Don's daughter, probably eagerly anticipating a generous ransom for Mia.
"The hell are you doing? We need to get Mia!"
"Hold on, this is one of the ship's armories. Here, take these pistols and rifle, I'll grab one of these heavier guns."
"Bah. Not even worth the scrap they're made of."
"Typical Outcast... let's get this over with," Ayumu muttered. There wasn't an alarm, but they both heard heavy footsteps running toward the hangars. When the footsteps quieted, the two ducked out of the armory and ran for the nearby bridge. There, Ayumu and Tiana saw the captain holding a gun to Mia's head. Mia was absolutely terrified, and there were four other armed soldiers in the room.
"Surrender yourselves, or I kill her."
"An interesting proposal," Ayumu replied with a smirk, taking one step forward and bending over to pick something up. As soon as his head was down, Tiana threw one of her two knives at the captain. It embedded itself in his brain, and he fell down, still clutching Mia. Ayumu shot two of the soldiers near Mia, and Tiana killed the other two with the stolen assault rifle. "I wasn't expecting that."
"You were going to talk. He deserved worse than that... Come on, Mia, let's get out of here."
"But, sis! I wanna loot the armory!"
"I... you... oh, alright. It's on the way anyway," Tiana replied, defeated. The three Outcasts ran to the armory, waited for a bit while Mia picked out the explosives, and ran for the hangar. The soldiers were waiting inside, but Mia had grabbed a few minigrenades. Those grenades killed numerous soldiers, and Tiana's rifle finished off the few remaining men before the smoke cleared. Mia climbed into Ayumu's Scimitar with him, and the two fighters took off.
"This is Ayumu Ishida to Outcast wing 135. The Don's daughters are out. Destroy it," he said, as he stopped his Scimitar and turned it around.
"What're we waiting for, Ayumi?" Mia asked. Her question was answered quickly, as Wing 135's Falcatas obliterated the Rheia with a volley of Nova torpedoes. The resulting explosion could probably be seen from the Hawaii, and Mia burst into laughter when she saw it. After she calmed down some, the two fighters flew back toward Malta.
"By the way, it's Ayumu," the Scimitar pilot said as he and Mia climbed out of the ship just outside the Orange Ocean.
"Ah, close enough. Thanks, sis! Thanks, Ayumi!" she said, hugging Ayumu and walking over to the bar.
"Don't get any ideas, Ishida," Tiana warned as the two watched Mia. "She probably just rode with you so she'd have more room."
"You have nothing to worry about. Now, if you would direct me to the nearest medical center please..."
Whenever anyone asked why Don Santini supported unknown novices rather than famous aces, he would respond with the same analogy to an ancient board game. "Once in a while," he'd say, "a pawn reaches the eighth row."
Ayumu Ishida, by now a lieutenant, had been one such pawn. Unlike most, he only moved one square at first, but it was into a vital position to cover the black queen and knight. Shortly after, he led a bishop into a trap, where it was immediately captured by Emilio's other knight. And now, he sat on the seventh row, facing the gap where the white bishop once stood....
"Ishida... ah, sorry. Lieutenant Ishida... no, that's still not right," Emilio said, walking into Hangar OF2-39 early one morning. It was windy, and there was a rather unique whistling sound blowing through the Cardamine grasses outside.
"That's correct, actually," Lieutenant Ishida replied, playing a simple puzzle game that was already installed on his Scimitar when the Hackers gave it to him.
"It still sounds wrong to me. Commander Ishida... that's much better." Ayumu looked up from the console of his Scimitar, curious about what Emilio was plotting. "Mirage Squadron is not the most popular band of pirates and pilots, but you've had a remarkable record since organizing the unit. And the Barrier Wing is still attempting to recover from that raid."
"... isn't Alicia Ibanez running that one?"
"No, just Notus Squadron. Juan Cortez is the commander of the Barrier Wing, but he's stuck on the base most of the time. Radiation sickness. Alicia refused an offer to take over as the Base Commander of Cape Wrath, and Juan's time is almost up. There's an opening there... and Maltese Naval Command knows Mirage Squadron would be useful there. I suggest killing two birds with one stone - move Mirage Squadron there and request command of the base."
Ayumu said he'd give it a shot, but with almost no conviction. The Don was still satisfied, and left after talking to his daughters, who had both been staying with Ayumu after Mia's kidnapping. Mia hopped into Ayumu's Scimitar next to him to see what he was doing a few minutes later, and she found his text communications open.
The pawn had taken one more step forward.
Three weeks later, he received the following in the mail from the Maltese Navy. He had expected an electronic message.
Lieutenant Ishida, we have reviewed your application to become the new Base Commander at Cape Wrath, and have decided that you are the best candidate available. You have been promoted to Commander, and are expected to report to Cape Wrath as soon as possible. As a Base Commander, your pay rate will be one step above standard Commander rank.
Your work with Mirage Squadron has shown that you have the subtlety and finesse required for our delicate situation in Bretonia, and you will likely take over the Barrier Wing when Commander Ibanez retires; Captain Cortez will probably be dead by the year's end.
Good luck.
Captain Alberto Conti
Authorized by Fleet Admiral Mia Bonello