Chapter 5: High Stakes

Jarivan

The Claw's Revenge exited hyperspace on the outskirts of the Jarivan system, along with the other two ships. "~~~This is Jarivan traffic control. Please state your business here~~~~" came a voice over the comm.

Dominator reached down and picked it up. "We're here for a little pleasure in your casinos. I'm transmitting our IDs and proper identifications..." he told the man and motioned for Slasher to transmit the necessary materials. Of course, not too well hidden in the IDs, were clues that they were pirates.

The comm. was quiet for a few minutes before the man responded. "Claw's Revenge is clear to go alone. Your other two ships will have to orbit on the outskirts. You'll have to transfer any crew from those two ships onto yours if they are signed up for...pleasure," the man said. "You will dock with hanger station number nine, where you'll find shuttles to head down to the planet. Thank you and enjoy your stay on Jarivan," the man said, almost robot like.

Dominator clicked the comm. off and turned to everyone standing around him. "Alright, we'll leave our other two ships behind, since the only crew that's going to beam down is on this bridge. Remember, follow to the script. Leave clues behind that we're pirates but don't be too obvious. Try to find some of the high-ups in the Titus Facilities who will be gambling down there and impress them. We have to get onto that mother station up there if we're to get close to Infinity Inc.," Dominator told them. They all nodded. "Alright, head for the hanger station..." Dominator told them. The Claw's Revenge zoomed towards the planet.

* * * * *

Carols Titus, head of Titus Facilities, walked down the corridor when his intercom beeped at his side. Reaching down and picking it up, he pressed the button. "Yes?" he asked. He made it his business to be kept informed of all events happening in Titus Facilities and neighbors. He liked to keep his hands on the job, that way his employees knew that he was always keeping an eye on things and would never turn his back long enough to be robbed by one of them. He knew every detail of Titus Facilities and ran it fairly, treating his employees with enough respect, plus enough pay, to keep them happy. The only aspect he didn't like was having to help out the mother company, Infinity Inc.

"We were looking into IDs as usual, sir, and some interesting tid bits came up on a Claw...owner of the Claw's Revenge and two other supply ships, so he claims. It seems that our Mr. Claw is a well known pirate. We had authorized him to land on the planet below. Should I tell him to get the hell out of here?" Code asked him. Code was his top man. and the most loyal of the much to boot. He was a genius in building things and made the mother station plus their tiny little fleet they kept around for protection. However, he worried too much about Carols' side deals with pirate groups and smuggling under Infinity Inc.'s nose.

Carols considered the prospect. Lately he had been having trouble getting good pirate groups to work for him...either Infinity Inc. somehow ended the deal or they become paranoid and quit. Some even tried to rip him off...they were dealt with quickly. "No, let them land. But keep an eye on them. They might be useful to me. Infact, I think I'm going to go down planet. Maybe add a few cash chips to my card..." Carlos told him. He clicked off the intercom and turned around, heading for his private shuttle.

McCormick Labs

"GAAAAAA!" cried out Garland, leaping out of the ground. Landing at an wrong angle, he slipped and rolled down hill through the ruins of the lab, landing in a puddle of water as the rain poured down. He hurt all over, but that was no surprise seeing as he took the main blunt of the blast for Death Star and X1, shoving them down so they could avoid it if possible. His back ached and his breathing was shallow, plus he was probably bleeding, but he was alive. Unlike Baberlus...

Standing up, Garland looked around. "De-Death Star?" he shouted, his voice hoarse. Looking all around him, he saw no sign of his friends. "NO!" he yelled, frantically throwing away pieces of the building off the ground, until he spotted a hand sticking up from the ground, barely moving. Grabbing it, he yanked with all his might and pulled Death Star out of the ground. Death Star coughed up some dirt and looked around, dazed and battered.

"Nice decorating..." he muttered.

"Where's X1?" asked Garland.

"Knowing him? Probably swimming in some puddle..." muttered Death Star, holding his head, attempting to stop the ringing. Garland glanced around and spotted X1, sitting there. "Oh, goody, he's alive..." Death Star said when he spotted him.

Sitting down, Garland held his back in pain. "Now where to?" he asked.

"Well, after escaping this death trap...I don't have a frackin' clue...lets just find some city nearby and get a room to rest in...I don't know how much longer I can keep my insides from pouring out..." Death Star muttered.

Jarivan

Slash, Slasher, Dakota, Ridge, and Crystal was on the shuttle down to the planet, leaving Dominator, Darien, Ace and Seraphna on the bridge of the Claw's Revenge. Seraphna perched on Dominator's shoulder, looking like his pet pirate dragon. Her name being Dragoon. Dominator walked across the bridge, glancing at the computer layouts on the screen. The Claw's Revenge was spying on the planet, the hanger bay they were docked in, and the mother station nearby. The layouts appeared on the screen, but it didn't really tell them anything. "Darien...I don't suppose you can make anything out of it, can you?" he asked at the coded gibberish that appeared on it.

"...It's an older Infinity Inc. code...familiar, but still, out of date. I guess Titus didn't want to update to the newer ones. I'm slowly breaking it, quiet easily too..." Darien told him, smiling. "Fun game..." he said. Ace sat in the corner, flipping his grenade around, making Dominator nervous.

"I say, lad, mind if I help you?" he asked, his English accent noticeable. Darien nodded and waved him over, the two working on the code as Dominator continued pacing. Seraphna had her eyes closed, concentrating with her mental abilities.

"Anything Ser-Dragoon?" he asked.

"No, I can't pick up anything...must be their shielding, Claw," Seraphna hissed, saying Claw with more emphasis than the rest of the name to tease Dominator. He certainly looked uncomfortable in his disguise and didn't look the part of a fierce pirate leader. Maybe I should have looked for Death Star to play this role.... he muttered to himself as he looked at the view port.

"Well, keep trying..." Dominator said.

* * * * *

The group stepped out of the shuttle and walked along the streets of the main city on Jarivan, strangely called Jarivan too. Slash passed it off on unoriginality. Crystal - Shards - messed with Slash's "pirate" hair. "Man, Ox, are you hairy...." she teased, yanking it some. Slash slapped her away and grinned as they walked along. Dakota - One Eye -, since he had a patch over one eye, talked to Ridge - Flare - as the group walked along the busy streets, heading for the main casino and the life of the planet. Slasher, who everyone strangely called Oxer even though his name was Chainsaw, kept checking out the women as they walked along.

Entering the casino, Slash turned to them. "Okay, everyone split up. Shards, with me...One Eye, Flare, and Oxer - I mean Chainsaw - you head out. Don't waste your credits given to us by EarthGov...we have to find the top guys and begin to win big if we want that smuggling job..." Slash told them.

"Sure thing, Ox," Slasher said, moving off with Dakota and Ridge. Slash and Crystal walked into the huge casino, both amazed at how much money was put into this place. Walking around, Slash quickly began to look for some of the top executives of the place and spotted the owner of the entire place, Carlos Titus, sitting at a poker game. "We hit the jackpot, hon..." he told Crystal, pointing out Carols. "Now, remember, act like you don't know who he is...we wouldn't if Dominator hadn't given us the pictures of all the top people..." Slash told her. Crystal nodded and the two walked over to the table, sitting down.

"Mind if we join in, honey?" asked Crystal to Carols. Carols smiled, already knowing who they were.

"Sure...we always have a few seats open...as long as the cash keeps coming," Carlos told her. Crystal reached into her pocket and threw a few chips out.

"Oh, don't worry about that..."

* * * * *

The EarthGov shuttle exited hyperspace, jolting everyone on board. Jared and Mirri were jerked forward, their restraint belts holding them back, as the shuttle flew on. "...And to think I paid top dollar for a roller coaster ride..." he muttered as he checked out his supplies, seeing everything satisfactory. Leaning back in his shuttle, he chatted with Mirri as the shuttle continued on towards Jarivan, landing on the planet itself instead of one of the hanger bays.

As he was taking, Jared felt a funny feeling in the back of his mind. ...If I'm not wrong, I would swear that the Hunters were here...but that's impossible...Guess it was that hot-dog I had on the way here... he thought to himself as he glanced out the view port at the hanger bays, spotting the Claw's Revenge there. Hmmm...looks like a rough crowd...better keep my eyes open...

* * * * *

Dominator glanced out the viewport at the new shuttle flying towards the planet, an EarthGov shuttle. "Can one of you contact EarthGov computers and find out who all is on that shuttle? Just to make sure we don't have any guests on it from CorSec. That's the last thing we want..." Darien nodded and secured a channel into the fly charts from EarthGov. As Dominator watched the ship, his eyes squinted some, as if he had a feeling of familiarity.

Darien found the shuttle in the logs. "Well...A Roberto James...." he began and began to rattle off meaningless names to Dominator. "...Jared Carter....." Dominator turned his head and glanced at Darien.

"Jared Carter?" he asked in surprise. Darien nodded. "Blackjack's here?" he repeated to himself and looked back at the shuttle. He hadn't heard from Jared in months and here he was, heading towards the planet. "Pull up all the files you have on Jared for me, Darien..." he told him. Darien entered some codes and brought up Jared's file on the viewscreen. Reading it over, Dominator was surprised to see Jared recently quit CorSec...infact, the other day. That can't be right, he left CorSec a long time ago... thought Dominator to himself. As much as he wanted to look into it more, he couldn't without blowing his identity. He only hoped Blackjack didn't recognize any of the team below on the planet.

"Delete the file..." he told Darien.

* * * * *

Slash flipped out a few more credits, giving Carlos his shark grin. Crystal glanced over at him and knew immediately he was bluffing by the look he was giving the man, but unfortunately for Carlos, he didn't know that. However, Crystal had something so she flipped out a few of her own credits, smirking just as evilly. Carlos then gave them a confident smile, thinking they were trying to bluff him so he flipped out even more credits, which Crystal happily met, as did Slash, though not quiet as happily.

Carlos glanced over at Crystal. "Well, Shards, lets see..." he said. She laid down a royal flush. Carlos threw down his hand in disgust as did Slash, giving Crystal his shark eye. She smiled at them both and gathered all the credits. "Thank you gents, you're so kind to a defenseless gal as myself..." she told them, pocketing the credits and standing up. She walked off with both men watching with shocked expressions that she managed to swindle them of their money.

Slash shrugged. "You gotta hand it to her..." Carlos nodded and looked Slash over.

"Well, Ox, look me up sometime," he said, holding out his hand and a card appearing. Slash took it and looked him over. "I know of your 'other jobs', so if you ever need a paying job, look me up. I like your style. That was a high stakes game there that you just won...and not many people can beat Carlos Titus..." he told Slash. Slash feigned shock.

"You're Carlos Titus? The owner of this..." Slash said and gestured around him.

Carlos nodded. "I wouldn't expect you to recognize me. But, as I said, look me up. Infact, I have some jobs just waiting to go. Well, good luck to you, Ox..." he finished and gathered what little chips he had left, exiting out the employee's door.

"Suuuuuuuucker," Slash said, smiling. Walking towards the spot the others had agreed to meet on, which was still a few hours away, he stopped when he noticed the last person he expected to see here...Jared Carter. Stopping, Slash studied Blackjack walking in, fresh off the street. He was alone, right this minute, and heading toward the poker game. Curious, Slash walked over to that game too and sat down across from Jared. "Nice to meet you Mr...." he said.

"Carter. Jared Carter. And you?" Blackjack trailed off.

"Ox. Call me Ox. I hope you're good at poker, pal, because you're about to meet your match..." Slash told him confidently. Jared leaned back in his chair as he was dealt his cards, getting an evil grin.

"Oh, I'm sure you are...." Jared said, leading on that he wasn't a very good player, hoping the others would drop their guard some so he could win. Plus he liked the expressions of people beat by newbies, Slash knew. As the game progressed, it seemed that it was only Jared or Slash that was holding the best hands, as most of the others players folded. Slash nudged a few more chips, forgetting the time. Jared gave him a similar grin that Slash gave Carlos earlier and matched Slash's bid and flipped a few more chips out. Studying Jared, Slash's eyes narrowed, wondering if Jared actually had a good enough hand to beat his...."What's wrong, Ox, don't want to meet my bid?" he asked with a sneer. Slash met it.

"Royal Flush, Hearts, Carter..." Slash said with a smirk as he laid his hand down. Jared feigned a look of despair, but then quickly gave him a grin as he laid down a Royal Flush also. Spades. Slash's jaw dropped open as Jared took all the chips and stood up, satisfied with gambling at this table. "B-But that's impossible."

"You know, Ox, I once had that happen to me a very long time ago. Well, I just you just gotta follow your heart, eh?" Jared joked, referring to the hearts. He walked off, passing a man in the shadows. Stepping out, the man glanced between Jared and Slash, revealing himself to be Code. A funny look crossed his face and he left, seeing that there was a look of recognition in Slash's eyes toward Jared, but not vice versa. Slash, however, didn't see Code, and stood up himself, heading to regroup with the others.

Meeting the others outside, he stepped up and patted Crystal on the shoulder. "Good job." She smiled.

"It was a pleasure taking your cash, Slash," she said, forgetting to use his false name. Realizing her mistake, she gave him a funny grin.

Slash turned to the others, watching Dakota and Ridge talk about Slasher. "So, what did you guys do while we played for the big money?" he asked Dakota.

"Well, Ridge and I went over some of the high employees ourselves, but lost. However, Slasher chased off after some girl a few hours ago and hasn't shown up since," Dakota told him.

"Yeah, one can only imagine what he's doing..." Ridge said sarcastically. By then Slasher started walking down the street, whistling. Slash, motioning the others to come on, walked past Slasher and grabbed his ear.

"Come on, lover boy...we have work to do..." Slash said as he continued on, still holding onto Slasher's ear.

* * * * *

Dominator powered up Claw's Revenge when the ground team beamed up and Slash handed him Carlos' card. "Good job, Ox..." he told him with a grin as the ship flew through space toward the mother station. The station immediately detected there immediate change in status and contacted them.

"This is Titus Station, please turn back now Claw's Revenge. You are not authorized to dock with us..." came the man's voice they heard early that morning.

"This is Claw. I have permission by your boss, Carlos Titus, to be allowed to dock. I have his card here..." Dominator said, changing his voice back to that of Claw's.

"Please place the card on the scanner, Claw's Revenge." Dominator placed the card on the scanner and listened to it being read out. Soon the scanner stopped and the man's voice didn't come back, but they stayed on course. After a minute and half, Dominator and the others began to feel nervous as the station loomed on their viewscreens. Finally the comm. went off again. "This is Titus Station, you are clear to dock in hanger bay fourteen. And Mr. Titus cannot wait to meet the leader of Claw's Revenge. You are asked to join a dinner party tonight. We'll send you further details when you dock. You are to only stay in hanger bay fourteen and are not allowed anywhere else on the ship..." the man told them. Dominator beamed. For once things were going according to plan!

The Claw's Revenge soared through space and docked inside the hanger bay. The hanger bay doors closed and the gravity was flipped on, as all the doors inside the room were reopened. Dakota noted that they used an older system of allowing ships in, timely and costly. He missed not having Montana, again, but he had to leave him back as base Dominator said...part of a protection plan or something. Sighing, he followed Dominator - er Claw - to the ramp as it lowered.

Dominator turned to Darien. "I want you to stay aboard and watch out for things, okay?" he asked. Darien pouted. "Darien, it's going to be pretty hard explaining why I have a kid aboard. And they might place you with the Hunters," Dominator told him.

The group of "pirates" stepped out into the hanger where they were met by a robot. "Greetings. I am here to take you to a refresher room so you can prepare for tonight's party..." the robot squeaked at them nervously. Slasher stepped up to him and smirked evilly. "A-And may I take all your names? What's yours, sir?" he asked Slasher.

"Chainsaw."

"W-why are you called that, sir?" squeaked the robot. Slasher raised his right hand and turned the living metal into a chainsaw, roaring it at the robot. "Oh my..."

* * * * *

Code watched the gang dock there, a frown on his face as he talked to Carlos behind him. "I don't like it sir. There's something I don't trust about them...Plus the idea of having a battle ship in our hanger, which can barely fit in the first place, isn't my idea of safety," he told him.

"Oh, Code, calm down. I know it's your job to worry, but everything is fine. I'm sure our guests will be happy to work for us...but I'll keep an extra eye on them. But cheer-up, we have a dinner party tonight and I want you on your best behavior," he told

"Yes, sir..." Code muttered. However, once this little engagement was over, he planned on looking into that fellow Ox was talking to. Mr. Carter it was..

* * * * *

Dominator sat uncomfortably in the dress uniform they gave him to wear, which was even worse than his pirate costume. He tugged at the collar uncomfortably as he sat at the table, along with Dakota, Ridge, Crystal, Slash, Slasher, and Ace. Seraphna was perched on his shoulder, his pet, which couldn't talk. As he sat there, he glanced around the dining room and was impressed at how much time was probably spent on it.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" came a voice. Startled, Dominator looked down and saw Carlos, Code, and two body guards there. Standing up, Dominator nodded at him. "Quite," he said. Carlos nodded, pleased, and continued, "Yes, it was designed by my good man, Code, here. Quite a genius..." Carlos motioned for Dominator to sit down. Sitting down, Dominator picked up a fork as the cooks came in and placed the food down. "Nice to meet you, finally, Mr. Claw. I must say your men, or should I say crew," Carlos began again, smiling at Crystal, " was quite good at poker. I must play you sometime..."

"Perhaps when the time presents itself," Dominator said, his voice cold to match that of a pirates. On his shoulder Seraphna did a tiny roar. Carlos glanced at her in amazement.

"Is that a dragon on your shoulder?" he asked.

"Why, yes it is. We call her Dragoon. A pretty little thing I picked up in my...travels. She is quite mischievous and is always getting in trouble, but she's nice to have around. Besides," Dominator continued with a grin, "I like to see people's expressions when they see her. Like yours, Mr. Titus." Carlos swallowed some food and nodded.

"I must have you look into getting me one, sometime. I would pay a pretty price to have such a creature, Claw..." he told Dominator, keeping his eyes on Seraphna, making her nervous. She didn't like his intentions and that was without even scanning his mind.

"That I will," Dominator said. The group continued to eat in silence, Slasher occasionally slurping, and not much was said until they finished he main course. "Now, may I ask what that job of yours is?" Dominator told him.

"Ah, straight to the point? Well, I have a few crates of minerals and drinks I would like delivered. If you and your crew is interested, I would be happy to pay you a million credits easy just for delivering them. You won't find a better deal," Carlos told him. Even Slash and Crystal were surprised at that amount. This guy paid his pirates good.

"Two million or no deal," Dominator shot back. That caused Slash, Crystal, and Slasher to go bugged eye. Carlos leaned back, watching Dominator. They continued to watch each other for a few moments.

"Alright, Claw, you have a deal. But you better not disappoint me..." Carlos warned.

"Sir, I wouldn't think of it," Dominator said, raising a drink in a toast. Carlos did the same. "To a good business relationship, Mr. Titus."

"Agreed."