Chapter 13: She's Gonna Blow Captain!


Maverick Station 28

Garland ran through the hallways, using his speedtech to literally become a blur as he ran through the dying station. The alarms rang out and everything seemed empty onboard...except the alien monsters. Reaching the old part of the station, Garland knew that this was where Sharlena was. How, he didn't know.

Putting his hands together, he formed an energy blast. "KIAMA!" he shouted and fired at the door, blowing it down. Running through, in this part of the section the alarms didn't seem to work. Which was better for him. However, the countdown continued. "13 minutes until core failure..." the computer warned again.

Garland ran along the rusted hallways of the older section, hearing some scuffling behind him. Turning around, he was jumped by an alien, screeching in a rage. Crashing to the ground, Garland charged the gun and aimed it at the alien's head, firing, blowing it clear off. Standing back up, he saw three more running at him. Charging the gun he fired a blast at the lead one, sending his exploding body into the other two as Garland charged and fired again, blowing another's head off. The last got past his dead comrades and leaped at him as he charged the next shot and fired at him, blowing him back.

Rushing through the many hallways in the older section of the station, Garland began to feel lost. When he had glanced at the map, it was just to find where Iceheart's throne room was. He didn't bother to study to much of the rest of the station and was beginning to regret this action deeply now. The hallways were all a rusted shade of brown where they use to be a white. The lights flickered in and out on most of them, adding to the effect of a horror scene. And with big, black aliens running around it might as well have been one.

The computer continued to talk. Adding to the effect of everything else, it was putting Garland off balance to a degree. He didn't know where Sharlena was and he felt lost. And the computer counting down the seconds to the station's destruction wasn't helping him think any clearer. This entire time, while searching for Iceheart, Garland had been waiting for the moment he would be reunited with his daughter and that moment was so close on hand he didn't dare screw it up. She was counting on him to rescue her from this place and bring her back safely.

Breathing in slowly, he cleared his mind of all the outside distractions, even that of the sounds of the aliens nearby, running around looking for him...to kill and even perhaps eat. Breathing out, Garland opened his eyes and found himself much calmer than he had been and began to run through the hallways again, looking for Sharlena. She was somewhere on this floor level with him, he knew that much. Reading a sign on the wall that said Cell Block, he ran down the hallway, knowing he was about to find her.

Garland stepped into the room, just as a mini-explosion went off somewhere in the station, resulting from the core failure. The room shook and the lights went out, replaced by red emergency ones. The room, outlined in red, looked especially eerie as the command post was empty, someone's coffee split on it. The steady dripping of the coffee on the floor was unnerving. On further glance on the room, Garland spotted the cells down the hallway in the back of the room, the lights almost completely gone down there. As he was stepping towards it, he noticed that an airvent was smashed in, from the inside, and was laying on the floor. Something else was in here with him.

Holding onto the rifle tightly, he made his way down into the dark hallway, glancing around for any signs of what may lay in wait for him. He was no longer the hunter, but the hunted on this station. "Sharlena?" he whispered, trying not to draw attention to himself by the creation. That was the last thing he wanted was to be jumped in the dark hallway, looking for his daughter. Death would be on swift feet for both of them then and he couldn't afford it. "Sharlena?" he repeated more forcefully this time.

"...Daddy...?" came a low whimper of a voice from behind one of the cell doors, near the end of the long hallway. "Is that you daddy?" she asked.

"Yes, hon. Daddy's going to be right down there and rescue you in a minute," Garland told her, shifting the rifle in his hands as he glanced down the hallway, trying to see if anything was hiding in the darkness. That's when it hit him that the computer's countdown wasn't flipped on in this room, so he had no way of knowing how much time he wasting here. And he knew it couldn't have been much.

Stepping forward into the darkness, Garland felt a dripping on his shoulder. Glancing up, he spotted the body of a dead guard, his reploid head torn off and left hanging there. No proper meat for an alien Garland figured. Continuing on, he could almost hear the steady sound of breathing...other than his own. Stepping forward some more, he bumped up against something in the darkness and leaped, firing at it. The quick flash of the light revealed it only to be a trashcan, now vaporized. Laughing at himself, Garland rushed on down to the cell and ripped the door off it's hinges. Sharlena came running at him and threw her arm around. "Daddy!"

"Sharlena!" Garland cried, hugging her tightly, not wanting to let her go. When he heard Dark Strider say she was dead, he felt his heart ripped out and he no longer thought he could be happy again. He just felt cold and dead inside. But now, he felt like he could go on living. Father and daughter hugged each other, not thinking about anything else, until the station rumbled again, throwing Garland off balance. "Listen, hon, you're going to have to jump on daddy's back, okay?" he told her. She nodded and jumped up on it. "Hold on tight." Garland was about to go into speed tech when a huge alien creature landed before him, throwing him back some from the impact it made on the floor. This one made the others look like runts, not that it made him feel any better.

Garland flipped the rifle around on one hand, his other holding on protectively of his daughter, and stuck out his thumb, bringing the spinning rifle to a stop at the alien's head. He fired a blast straight into it, knocking the creature's head back. It roared, more in anger than in pain, and brought it's hand back, whacking Garland back, causing the dazed Hunter to go spinning around. Sharlena held back a shriek as she was smashed slightly into the wall, Garland shaking his head, as the creature progressed on them. Raising the rifle at angle, he fired off four shots in the row, burning thick holes into it's chest. The creature roared in pain and thrashed around some, knocking in the walls.

Rising to his knees, Garland growled in anger as the creature charged him, it's claws growing longer as it moved. Raising the gun, he set Sharlena down and pushed her aside, firing right into the creature's face, the thick red bolts going straight into it's eyes, blasting them out. However, it continued to charge and Garland braced himself for the impact as he continued to fire at it, but the shots seemed to be getting duller. Glancing at the rifle setting, it warned: Low on power.... Cursing, Garland swung the gun back and crashed it against the creature's head as it arrived, smashing the gun to bits as he did so. The creature stumbled to the side, stunned, and Garland drew his sword and stabbed it in the head, slashing downward. It roared one last final battlecry, and crashed to the ground, dead.

Putting his sword back up on his back, Garland bent down and picked up Sharlena again, placing her on his back once more. Then he dashed through the dark hallway and out of the cellblock, heading faster than he had ever gone before. The computer's voice seemed to echo around him as he entered the rusted down hallways, yelling off, "6 minutes until core failure..." Trying to ignore it, Garland continued to push himself to the limits as he moved along the station, trying to remember the paths he had taken earlier. It was almost as confusing going back as it was trying to get in.

Sharlena slipped some on his back so he was forced to slow down, holding onto her. That's when he heard the sound of shuffling from behind him, glancing behind to see two of the littler aliens after him. Pulling Sharlena in tighter, Garland dashed forward through the hallways, outrunning the two creatures as he did so, speeding up into the newer section, running through the door he had blasted earlier. From here, he pretty much knew the path ad he continued to run along the hallways, much brighter and shinier in comparison to the other halls. Sliding to a stop, Garland glanced down the hallway leading to the hanger and his eyes opened in shock. The entire hanger bay was gone, blown up in one of the mini-explosions. Stepping to the edge, holding his ground to the powerful g-force flooding the room, trying to suck him out into space, Garland looked for any sign of Death Star and X1 and saw none. "Warning...2 minutes until core failure..." the computer said again, almost drowned out by the sound of the roar in the hanger bay.

Stepping back, Garland began to panic. "NO!" he shouted, and his blood began to run cold when he heard the sounds of scuffling far, far off behind him. Either they were going to get blown up to bits or they were going to get slashed to bits. That's when the miracle hit.

* * * * *

"YEEEEEEHAWWWWWWW!" shouted Death Star over the roar of the hanger bay as the shuttle came spinning into Garland's line of sight. The control panel sparked and flickered on and off as the shuttle was literally being torn apart. He glanced over at X1. "It can't take much more of this...we need to get them on board and now." The shuttle spun further away from Garland, and that's when it hit Death Star it would be impossible to get near it long enough for Garland to get on it. Riding around in here was like trying to fly straight through a tidal wave that was going everywhich way. The shuttle shuddered and groaned again from being spun around and Death Star slowly brought the shuttle over to the area Garland was waiting, still a good eight feet way.

X1 nodded. "Let the handyman fix the situation..." he told Death Star and walked back there, opening the ramp, the g-force almost ripping him off his feet. The computer spoke over the roar, "56 seconds until core failure..." Ignoring it, X1 concentrated and turned into a rainbow, stretching over and touching the spot Garland and Sharlena were at.

"How the hell does he do that?!" muttered Death Star, struggling to keep the shuttle steady long enough for X1 to accomplish getting the two onboard. Garland grabbed Sharlena and ran over the rainbow, having to stop momentarily to keep his balance, as not to be blown and fly off into oblivion. Finally succeeding in reaching the other side, the two ran onto the shuttle. Running Sharlena up to the co-pilot seat, Garland buckled her in, so she wouldn't fly off into the hanger. Even X1, who was slowly retracting himself back in was having a hard time doing it. "34 seconds until core failure..." the computer spoke again.

Once X1 had finally retracted himself back onto the shuttle, he hit the button to lower the ramp back in. Death Star turned around. "I won't be able to leave here until that thing is up. Too much g-force!" he warned. X1 said something back, but it was lost in the wind and the grinding. Grinding?! Death Star jerked back and saw two aliens landing on the back of the shuttle as the ramp closed. One reached out and slammed it's claws through X1, even stopping hurting him. Turning back, Death Star glanced at the timer he had set into the computer on the shuttle. 14 seconds.... Cursing, Death Star hit the thrusters and began to fly away, very slowly due to the waves in the room.

Finally escaping, the shuttle raced out of the station. 5 seconds... Glancing at either side of him, Death Star saw the two arm-like wings that stuck out and knew that was probably going to get them when the station exploded. And he was right. The station exploded, starting within it and the explosion worked it's way along the wings, the explosion hitting the shuttle and sending it into a spin as X1, Garland, and the two aliens fought in the background. All four tumbled back there, crashing into the roof, and Sharlena's seatbelt snapped, her falling too. Death Star instinctively reached out and caught her, holding on until he uprighted the shuttle.

Meanwhile, in the back, Garland swung his sword at the alien, trying to hit it, only to be whacked in the head and sent crashing back on the floor. It leaped on him, it's claws aimed at his throat. Struggling to keep him off of him, he kneed the alien in the stomach and sent it flying into the back of the ramp, watching it smash it's head on it and slide down in pain. X1, however, was dancing around with his alien, confusing the hell out of it. Reaching down, he grabbed some of his coffee he made while waiting on Garland, and forced it to drink it. The alien cried out in pain and fell over, dead. "Gee, X1, Death Star was right about your coffee."

"See if I shi-" X1 started when the last alien swung and knocked he coffee to the floor, the cup shattering as it did so. "Hey! Critics! Every last one of you!" X1 hissed at it and the alien roared, leaping at him. Garland swung his sword and slashed the alien in half, killing it.

"I give it two halves..." Garland said. He then walked back up front and hugged Sharlena, the two getting comfortable in the many seats onboard. X1 made his way to the cockpit and sat down beside Death Star, who remained quiet.

"So, chief, have you locked in the hyperspace cordnets?" X1 asked.

"No, computer is running scan checks. That explosion damaged it," Death Star answered, quiet, as if brooding.

Garland glanced over at him and then at Iceheart. ".....Death Star, I'm sorry about what happened..."

"It's no problem. We all have to make choices in our lives, and mine was to do that. In the end, I did the right thing: saving my friends. And, if forced to reenact the same thing for all eternity, I would do so with out hesitating," Death Star told him.

"...." Suddenly the alarms went off. "What's that?!" shouted Garland.

"The shuttle's detected another shuttle leaving hyperspace....it's a big 'un too..." said Death Star.

"Who? My Aunt Bertha? Dammit, I told her not to follow me here..." muttered X1.

"No, it's Crucifixtion!"


Infinity Station

In the aftermath of the Infinity Battle, the Hunters had taken a pretty big step backwards to gain a step forwards. The station was destroyed, but at the costs aboard many on the battle ships. Dominator's ship, the Justice, had to be towed by Slash's battle ship. As search crews scanned the debree of the battle, lead by two teams, one by Blackjack and the other by Dakota, they slowly made searches throughout it, hunting for any Hunter that might be alive after everything that had happened that day.

Slash stood, brooding on the bridge of his station, feeling the loss of Slasher pretty hard. He was quiet, not speaking to anyone, and the entire crew could feel the chill radiating off of him. Slasher had drove his ship into the station, activating his missile they figured out, and blowing the entire thing up. He was declared a hero, as much as that steamed some, and everyone was thinking of nice things to say to Slash.

"Sir?" came one of the crew's voice.

"......What is it.....?" Slash asked darkly.

"Blackjack radios in and tells him he found a survivor among the wreckage...." the crew said. Slash's eyes let up, hope burning bright in them. The crew officer's shoulder sagged. "It's good news, sir, but not what you are probably hoping for. They found Ace. Seems his suit kept him alive when the explosion went off. They're taking him to the Justice to be doctored up. .... Sorry sir."

Slash turned his back and mumbled something, ignoring them all.

* * * * *

Dakota's fighter scanned the debris, flickering through the pieces of it on his screen as he flew along the station's remains. When the explosion went off, he happened to be with Blackjack and Seraphna, busy blasting away the many enemy fighters. The sight of the explosion seemed to shook their morale and they quickly surrendered within minutes of the station's defeat. At Slasher's hands. So, they were busy searching for his fighter, hoping to at least retrieve a body to take back home. They were almost wrapped up here.

The computer beeped and confirmed a match to Slasher's beat up Hunter-class Fighter, or what remained of it actually. Scanning over the haunted remains of the fighter, Dakota picked up no lifesigns. Slasher was truly dead. He was about to flip over and contact Slash to tell him the good news when he decided to fly in and pick up a few pieces of the ship first. Maybe part of the body would be left.

Scanning the pieces of the ship, Dakota's computer picked up that the ship's escape pod had been ejected before the explosion. However, it was probably loosened before the explosion went off, and if not, or if, it would have been destroyed by the mighty explosion the station caused. However, Dakota switched the scanners to looking for the escape pod, hoping to find it among the wreckage. He did, a few minutes later, drifting further off.

Bringing the fighter up to it, he scanned the escape pod's hull and saw it was almost gone, probably burnt off in layers by the explosion the station caused. Also, he was detecting that the oxygen inside the escape pod was slowly draining out. Then lifesigns came up next on the escape pod, beeping very faintly. Grabbing his comm. Dakota radioed Slash's ship. "He's alive!"

* * * * *

The majority of the Hunters were scattered about the Justice and Slash's battle ship. The other battle ships were going to remain out here on guard, making sure Infinity Inc. was truly and quite dead. Dominator had everyone, either in front of him or on the comm. channel, so he could debrief them. "We have succeed in doing the impossible, probably. That is what a Hunter is being about. To go in and accomplish that which no one else could ever do. A tradition started by X and Zero and passed down to us.

"I am quiet proud of your actions today. Out of our main group, we had no casualties. Though Ace and Slasher were thought to be dead to us, it just goes to show the a Hunter's will to live," Dominator commented. Slasher, sitting next to Slash, nodded. "And Slasher is hero I hear now. Scary thought." Slasher raised his hands in the air and hooted. "The station was destroyed with Fade and Shell aboard we believe. And the Mk.2 reploids they were trying to make were probably destroyed with them. If not, the plans are on the planet below and we'll soon have them when our teams go out and investigate it, slowly over the next few weeks.

"We're now going to head home. I just want to let you all know you did a fine job. You should be proud of yourselves. See some of you when we get back to the station for the victory party," Dominator finished. Then Slash's ship entered into hyperspace, towing the Justice with it.


Maverick Station 28

"Crucifixtion!?" Garland cried out in surprise in the back.

"Hush, damn backseat drivers...." Death Star muttered, concentrating on the incoming shuttle that looked armed to the teeth. It had locked onto them and was zeroing in on their vector, quickly catching up.

Suddenly the comm. crackled. "This is Crucifixtion's Right Hand, please respond Maverick Shuttle Beta," came a voice over the comm.

"What should I say chief?" asked X1, turning to Death Star as he grabbed the comm.

"Anything! Just keep them distracted!" said Death Star, concentrating.

"Hello Mr. Right Hand, this is Alpha-Beta 1021. Nice little code names we give ourselves, eh? Did you know you have VERY big cannons all over your shuttle? Doesn't that kinda scare people off?" asked X1.

"That's the point of it, uh, Beta. What happened to the station?"

"Those damn-good looking Hunters destroyed it and ruined all of your sappy plans. Aren't they just great?" X1 said.

"What!? Who is this?!"

"This is me. Who are you?"

"What?! What is your badge number."

"I don't wear a badge. I'm allgeric to work."

The officer seemed flabbergasted at this person he was talking to. "We order you to stop your shuttle at once."

"Why?"

"Because Lord Crucifixtion demands it!"

"Why?"

"Who CARES why, just do it!"

"Why?"

There came no response and the ship fired on the shuttle, rattling. Death Star gritted his teeth and glanced at the time it was taking the computer to run through the hyperspace checkup. It was another good four minutes and at the speed the other ship was vectoring in on them, they would be caught in less than three.

Then a snarl came over the comm. "This is Crucifixtion. Nice to hear that you guys made it away, X1."

X1 looked at the comm. and pressed the button. "Why thank you sunshine."

"....Put Death Star on the comm." Death Star shook his head, bending over while flying, trying to hurry the hyperspace process.

"He says he would love to sit down and chat with you, but he's got his hands full at the moment. Can you please leave a message with me and I'll be sure to forget to give it to him," X1 told him.

"Forget it, I know they can all hear me. Good job, Hunters, are escaping my station and even destroying. It must have been hard for you, Death Star, to kill your own lover, hm?" asked Crucifixtion. Death Star stiffened. "Oh well. Maybe you actually enjoyed killing her, who knows. But the past is the past. You're not longer any fun to toy with, but I will tell you one last thing. Like how I made a clone of you. That should interest you, shouldn't it? During one of your many missions, I scanned your memory. Oh, hell, I'll tell you. When North Star had you. And using that, along with the plans for the Star project at your creator's lab, I managed to build a perfect Death Star, even better perfected. Too bad all copies of your series has been destroyed now. I kept them at the station."

Death Star hissed. "Oh, too bad..." He saw that Crucifixtion was about to be in firing range.

"I know. But enough of you. Garland....Garland....it will be such an honor battling you one day."

"Huh? Why?" asked Garland.

"You know about your father and I. Lets just say, payback's a bitch, isn't it? Expect payback to be coming towards you. We'll meet, kid, sooner than you ever expect," Crucifixtion vowed. "But enough chitchat, let the games begin, eh?" he said and cut the comm.

"...I have a bad feeling about this..." muttered Death Star.

"Well, trouble has a thing with you," X1 informed him.

"You can say that again..."

"Well, trouble has a thing with you," X1 repeated. That's when the first blast hit, hitting the back of the shuttle, rocking it forward. A grim look of determination on his face, Death Star pressed the shuttle downward, attempting to avoid the blasts. He wasn't about to go down without a fight. Spinning the shuttle to the right, he missed a few more volley of shots and then watched the hyperspace countdown hit ten seconds.

Another blast hit the shuttle, sending them all jerking forward. "'old her together, Captain! She canna take much more of this!" X1 said. Death Star cursed and sent the shuttle into a spinning vector upward, avoiding some more shots when the hyperspace clock dinged.

"Lets punch it!" Death Star said and hit the button, the shuttle jumping into hyperspace.