October 4 2007

 

I always knew there was something strange about his sister. She took the stuffing out of the care bears and drew all over her dolls in red. One day she kicked a passing man in the shin tripping him and releasing a flurry of curses, which she somehow commited to memory and used ALL the time now. Poor Jake had to put up with it all day in and day out. Then not too long ago i was at Jake's house and I acidentally steppedon one of the reddened dolls and she snapped. She litarally freaked. She chased me into the batroom with the largest kitchen knife she could find. No parents were home, adding to the mayham. Me and Jake were breathing hevily behind the locked bathroom door. We heard footsteps go down the stairs then come back up. We stuck our ears to the door and heard the clicking of Jake's dad's hunting rifle as the saftey was turned off...

 

 

 

 

October 8 2007

 

That guy was weird...He drove a SUV painted like a fire truck, in a pirate costume flailing a pickle around. We called him the elephant man since he weighed like a bajillion pounds and when he blew his nose with a kleenex he sounded like an elephant, and he smelled faintly of chicken charmain. People always dove for cover when he waddled down the street blowing his nose in an infinate cold. He scared little children into incoseive crying fits.

 

 

 

October 9 2007

 

When i came back to my room from school there was some sort of bundle on my bed, Oh no... I thought, Not another one! I always got theese bundles from a sort of pen pal...Well, actually he's an alien and it's a long story how I met him...He always sends me theese things as a sort of "Preparation" for something big, he never told me what that was. I tore open the brown paper and string and found out what was inside. It was a helmet. "what?!" i said outloud. Last week it had been some boots with the same color scheme of the helmet, Red laced with yellow. Along with it was a note, it said "wear them both." Ok. I thought. I guess i'll try it... I took the boots from under my bed, kicked of my shoes and slipped on the boots. Then The helmet that had a green sight visor. My body Tingled.

SHOOM!

The room spun around me then stopped. I was in some sort of parlor with fancy chairs.

And in one of those chairs was my "pen pal" Theseaus.

"Ah! There you are Jason! Like The new outfit?" He said, his green flame mohawk wiggling. 

 

 

October 10 2007

 

Magna Carta 2

Things That I HATE in a book.

Over description

Little books

Historical Fiction

Non-Fiction

BORING MATERIAL!!!

Long and pointless prolouges

No humor

Alot of "He thoughts" etc.

Not telling you who is who

Popping in random characters who you never heard of

People who's relationships aren't identified

The use of the word "fester"

LARGE text

BIG pages

 

October 11 2007

 

"feed me." some far off voice said.

"Feed me!" it repeated.

I groaned and  pulled my blanket over my head.

"FEED ME!!!" It yelled.

"WHAT?!" I bolted upright and screamed.

My small chubby dog, Zeus sat at the foot of my bed.

"I'm Hungry!!!" He barked. Wait a minute my dog just talked!?

"Feeeeeeeeeeeeed MEEE!!!" It yelled again

"Why...Why can you talk!?" I asked.

"why can't I talk?" My dog retorted.

"well usually dogs don't talk." I said

"hmm...Must stink to be them." My dog answered.

"this is a dream." I said, and then i woke up.

"so are you going to feed me?" a voice said.

 

October 15 2007

 

I hope they will feel that they want a sequal to the harrowing adventures of Isaac Vanstrom and his motley crew of space pirates. I also  hope they feel that  The ending seemed fit in like a final puzzle piece and that it was not rushed as a misshappen piece. I want them to remember the most docile explanations and the most intense battle scenes. I hope that i can also inspire others to work on there own. Chronicles of narnia made me want to make my legends of Zerina series. Star Wars (this may sound nerdy) inspired me (along with others sci-fi Metroid etc.) To make my current noval THE LAST HUNTER.=)

 

October 16 2007

 

Ok...A synopsis...Well Isaac has just come from the recently detonated Pheonix base (another interesting scene) the Pheonix in Flight (Isaac's flagship) is in pursuit of Rech's (the badguy) flagship which turn around and a big battle ensues. =)

 

The Pheonix In Flight's control room consited pretty much of people at curved desks tapping furiously on keyboards in front of data ridden computer screens. There were three rows of desks the front was the largest consisting of targeting and weapon technicians. The second row was a little smaller than the first, it was made up of flight and generator technicians. The third and smallest row was closest to Isaac the was the three pilots each with a specific job. General Jesse sat in a single chair with a small desk top in front of it.

"Quite the ship ain't it?" Jesse said spinning in his chair to face Isaac.

"Indeed." Isaac replied looking around the large room.

"General!" One technician said, "Rech's cruiser the Devil's Fire is coming into radar!"

Jesse stood up.

"Battle stations code red! Code red! Full steam ahead!"

 

October 22 2007

 

Eragon.

A boy flees from his home with a newly hatched dragon egg.

He's joined by brom the storyteller and later by murtagh a rouge.

they are chased by urgals.

Eragon discovers he can wield magic.

they escape a prison and some assasins kill brom, who is a dragon rider.

eragon and spahira (his dragon) and murtagh go to the beor mountains and find the Vardan.

a shade enters the varden city with a bunch or urgals.

eragon and the shade battle.

eragon gets a big scar on his back and defeats the shade.

Someone talks to eragon in his mind and calls him to Du Weldanvarden.

 

 

 MY NOVEL UP TO PAGE 16!!! AFTER A MONTH OF TYPING HERE IS HALFOF THE SUPER AWESOME NOVEL THE LAST HUNTER!!!

 

 

The Steel wing glided over the wasteland that was Tierson, they were being pursued. On board Isaac Vanstrom, the ships captain barked orders to the Steel Wing's crew. Alexander, the weapons technician, hands flew over the dashboard, scrolling data reflecting in his glasses.

“ Weapons 76%, captain!” He shouted over the gunfire that came from their pursuer. He ran his fingers through his dark hair wet with sweat.

Isaac turned to The dark, long haired woman that was Nadia, the ship's mechanic, and asked

“ How are the shields holding up?”

“ Shields 42% captain!” She replied. Isaac swore.

The big buzzed cut pilot, Mitch, shouted to Isaac,

“ Speed: 672 mph! We'll reach the rim in about,” He looked back at the screen, “Seven minutes!”

The ship shook violently threatening to tip over as a bolt of of purple light in an exploded in an array of fireworks in front of them. The Steel Wing was a dark muddy, brown, covered with dirt and grime from to much time on Tierson, much like the crew. A large cockpit window let the red sun beat down on the ship's crew and captain. It's mediocre grade cannons only pointed forward and only the small turrets could swivel. It looked a lot like a manta ray except maybe a dead manta ray. Her pursuer was a craft much like itself only higher grade cannons and sleeker fittings, all coated with jet black paint. Isaac stared at the screen on the dashboard in front of the chair he never really sat in. The rim was on the radar but their pursuer, The Hawkeye was closing in. Isaac knew the pursuers ship well, this was not the first dead run chase they had encountered the ship in. The Hawkeye's crew consisted of four men. Three technicians named Leo, Jason and Skrach. The fourth, the captain, wore a black armored flight suit surrounded by a tattered brown cloak that hung around him like a ghost. The man's named was Rech. His dark eyes matched his stone cut face and black hair. Isaac gestured upward to Alexander,

“Turrets, now!” Isaac and Alex sped into the turrets. Isaac locked his targeting device on and aimed.

 

On the Hawkeye Rech watched as the turrets spun from their idle positions and began peppering the Hawkeye's armored cockpit.

“Typical Isaac.” He said. “Return their gift with heavier fire!”

 

The turrets thudded back and forth eating up bullets as they were blown from the barrels to embed themselves into the Hawkey's hull two at a time. Isaac bit his tounge and cursed. Bullets wouldn't stop the Hawkeye's advance. An explosion burst into Isaac's field of view as one of the Hawkeye's shot found it's mark on the Steel Wing's tail.

“We're reaching the rim!” Isaac heard Mitch shout. Straight into the rim of a planet was thought to be the dumbest thing you could do. But Mitch had dodged debris before and even Rech wouldn't follow them, or so they thought. Debris and asteroids could tear a wing off at the tip. Rech was a very persistent person. The Steel wing swerved, spiraled and dipped under a over asteroids circling the planet in an infinite orbit. The Hawkeye had no need do swerve and dip, its cannons blew away anything in its path.

“Ideas anyone?” Isaac yelled holding onto his seat so he wouldn't fall over. His question was answered with a flurry of no's and head shakes.

“Do we have any missiles?” Isaac asked Alexander who was hitting buttons furiously. “Any at all? Sidewinders? Foxes? Fall backs?” Alex shook his head.

“Only a dud! No thrust!” An idea popped into Isaac's head.

“Drop the dud! Rech'll run right into it!!!” Isaac shouted almost happily. Alex followed orders. The dud fell and smashed into the Hawkeye's right wing, sending it reeling back to Tierson for repairs. They had made it. Alex begun singing a small tune in his high-pitched voice, that made Isaac plug his ears and say, that his voice could kill a demon! Nadia sighed and leaned back into her chair. Mitch relaxed as much as a person with ADHD could. A demon was a person so vile and greedy enough to be blessed or cursed by a higher power with awesome strength and power. A demon could only die by showing pain like saying “ow” other then that they were pretty much invincible. They were often employed by the Galactic Federation. The cost of being a demon was that you would be denied by family and friends as a freak. Those with no family had no real problem.

 

The mechanic raised his eyebrows as the steaming, massive, black craft landed outside his shop. A man came from it, completely clad in black with a cloak whipping around him.

“What can I...” was all he could say before the man grabbed him by the collar and shoved him against the wall.

“Fix it, dust eater!” the man snapped.

“I only work for wage.” the mechanic answered. A gun erupted from man's arm as a panel opened in his arm placing the handle in his hand.

“Fix it or I'll make this land more barren!” The man repeated his demand pressing the barrel of the gun to the mechanic's chin. The mechanic nodded his head hastily and was let down to go about his business. Rech spat and turned on his heel.

 

The Steel Wing left the rim of Tierson quickly. Doing a rim was dangerous but short.

“Phew.” Isaac said, reclining in his chair. “We made it.”

Nadia turned to Isaac in her chair.

“Where to captain?” She asked. Isaac stroked his chin thoughtfully, then smiled.

“Let's go to...To Calder, Calder City.” he said. “I have an idea.”

 

Calder was a largely inhabited city with the galaxy wide known Calder City. It's buildings pierced the clouds created by fumes from all the air traffic. Some say it's the most beautiful place, other say it's the most hideous. Isaac and the rest of The Steel wing's crew were somewhere in the thick of everything be jostled by passer by and choking on gas fumes. Isaac said he was looking for a place called The Final Night. It was next to a large skyscraper and squished between another in a concrete sandwich. The crew walked in. A bartender with an ugly scar across his face served disgusting aliens with large proboscises and multiple mouths. Men played cards and drank beer at circular tables, falling off of chairs and cursing. The roof had many holes in it, the crew found out why when a small bar fight occurred between two humans. The bartender took out a laser pistol and fired it into the air. The men broke up like nothing had ever happened. The Steel Wing's crew took up a table and ordered drinks. After the drinks arrived Isaac begin to unfold his plan to the crew.

“OK.” He said taking a swig of his drink. “ Here's my thought, I have a few 'friends' here in Calder City who owe me big time for a little smuggling business, No details. And they have a certain access to V2 Federal Grade anti-recoil, high performance crafts!” Isaac didn't need to say anymore, his evident glee told them all that the Steel Wing was soon to be replaced by some high class, smuggled fighter. They cheered and clanked mugs. The group continued to converse and unnoticed a shady man walked in and headed for Isaac's table.

 

The man took the last stool at the table and the bartender's hand flew to his holster but backed away slowly. All the members stared quizzically at the newcomer.

“Who in God's great galaxy are you?” Isaac demanded.

“ Does the name Jesse Cassero mean anything to you?” The man asked.

“Isaac...” Mitch said. Isaac didn't answer, but it was evident the name meant something to him.

The man pulled down his hood. His hair was a long shaggy brown mop on his head. Green determined eyes were set like emeralds in his head. He must have only been 19 or 20.

The man opened his mouth and whispered, “ Phoenix in Flight.” The space pirate ceremonial greeting.

The man or boy's name was Greg.

 

Isaac struggled to keep up with Greg's pace as he led him away from the bar alone. They turned into an alleyway and into a lot with a deserted looking warehouse. The two went in. The lights snapped on to reveal a line of high class looking ships, about 5 times as good as the Steel Wing. Isaac whistled.

“That's some nice cargo.” He said.

“with some nice payload.” Greg answered dryly. Isaac glanced back at him, he was smiling. People garbed in blue uniforms stepped from behind the fighters. Not friendly people. They toted heavy automatic machine guns.

“What?” was all Isaac could say before he realized the Galactic Government wanted him just as bad as Rech did. He spun on his heel and barreled toward the door that slammed shut, he threw himself at a window, crashing through he kept on running glass tinkling behind him. He sprinted down the alley wrestling a gun out of his belt. Realizing he had been set up.

 

Isaac spun into The Final Night bar at full speed. He hurdled chairs, leapt from table to table, Said “Hi” to the steel wing's flabbergasted crew and took a swig of someone's beer and continued running all in about twenty seconds, the police weren't taking their sweet time either. They came after him, boots stomping, shouting orders and firing down the street. Isaac fired back missing rather horribly. As he took a left from the street into an alleyway he swung into a building and locked the door behind him. He turned from the door to find a gun pointing at him. It was the double-crossing Greg kid. Isaac swore and stepped back.

“D-d-don't move I-I'll shoot!” Greg said gripping the gun with both hands. Isaac watched a bead of sweat run down the side of his face. Isaac held his hands up innocently.

“C'mon kid, let's be reasonable. Your job is crossing people so why don't you cross the police and let me go so i can give you a little paycheck boost.” The kid's eye's squinted. Isaac smiled.

“Are you developing a twitch?” He asked grinning.

“Shuddap!” they boy yelled. “I know what you space pirates do!” The boy spat the word pirate out. “Pirates like you killed my family with bombs! Now I'm going to kill you!” The boy cocked the gun.

Isaac leaned against the wall nonchalantly and pretended to examine his nails.

“Farsteam? Jason Andre Farstream?” Isaac asked quizzically. The green eyed boy's jaw dropped along with his gun.

“How? How do you know my dad's name.” Greg stammered. Isaac chuckled.

“Best bandit in the whole dang business! I can name each on of his felonies, never called them crimes.” Isaac sighed, reminiscing. “Robbery, impersonation of a reporter...Ah...Good times..” Greg just fell to his knees and stared blankly at the ground and began to cry.

Isaac looked around. “Aw come one kid don't...Oh man!” He exclaimed as the boy wrapped his arms around his legs and wailed.

“Take me with you! Take me away from this hell-hole!” He sobbed. Isaac heard voices outside.

“Okay! Okay! I'll take you with me but I half to hide!” Greg stood up seeming to pull himself together

“Get in the closet.” Greg said opening the closet, pushing Isaac in and shutting the door behind him. Isaac heard the door open and boots stomp in. Then he heard Greg say,

“It didn't work he didn't come in here.” The other officers swore when they heard this and stomped out. Greg flung the closet door open and pulled Isaac out, signaling it was clear to leave.

 

Greg and Isaac tried to look inconspicuous wearing some clothes they had taken from the closet as they walked down the street. Something darkened the sky above. Isaac and Greg looked up aghast. Isaac said the most profane word he knew. Above them was a large lizard like creature with wings hovering over the city. It must have had a fifteen foot wingspan and have been twenty feet from head to tail.

“What..what the heck is that thing!” Greg said still staring at the beast as it continued patrolling down the street.

“That's Mantox, an animephe void dragon, also a huge space pirate kingpin to match his size.” Isaac said gritting his teeth. “ And he knows my smell so we're going to get on a bus to obscure that scent.” He continued stopping at the nearest bus stop as one of the hover buses pulled up. The two boarded and took a seat. They looked out the window for signs of the hulking dragon but none were to be found.

Greg leaned back and sighed.

“ I guess he lost us” Isaac nodded.

“Yeah I--” But before Isaac could finish his sentence there was a thud from the bus's roof buckled and the Animephe void dragon got on with out a toll. It sniffed the air then screeched.

“ I smell a traitor! Traitor! Traitor!” people screamed, jumped out windows, dove under seats and threw themselves against the door. Isaac and Greg kicked at the back emergency exit, but to no avail. The dragon clacked it's jaws and licked it's almost non-existent lips.

“Isaac! So nice to see you again!” Isaac drew his gun and Mantox crouched. Isaac fired three times but the shots just seemed to bounce off the dragon's chest. It cackled and spread it's wings that burst through the bus's sides, showering the traffic below with shrapnel.

“You and your friend are coming with me!” It hissed and lunged. Isaac dove to the left and Greg to the right. Mantox went straight through the back of the bus. He grunted as he twisted his body around for another attack and roared. Isaac drew a second gun and stabilized himself between to seats and fired again and again as Mantox charged.

“ Take this you sunava!” Was all Isaac said before the rest was droned out by ripping metal and gunfire. Mantox swept Isaac off his feet, knocking one gun into traffic. The beast swooped upward carrying Isaac in it's claws who fired like a madman.

“DIE!!!” Isaac screamed as Mantox raised a claw with intent to kill. Something shot through the air and blew to of Mantox's “fingers” clean off. Isaac looked down to see Greg Standing on the bus roof with a heavy looking police issue rifle. Greg fire another heavy duty bullet that pierced Mantox's arm causing him to drop Isaac. Even as he fell Isaac did not stop his bliztkrieg on Mantox. He fell through the hole in the bus Mantox had made onto a seat. Greg hopped down from the roof.

“He's Charging!!!” He yelled dragging Isaac under a seat. If someone were to have looked through the bus windshield at this time they would've seen a pair of huge slavering jaws coming straight at them. Mantox stripped the rest of the roofing and sides of the bus, making it a barren platform. The animephe void dragon spun around for a final attack. Isaac stood up much to Greg's disdain. As soon as Mantox was within two feet of Isaac, Isaac's fist buried itself into the dragon's skull, killing it almost instantly. The body crumpled and fell into an alley where it landed with a sickening thud. Greg stared at Isaac's fist. Blue flame danced around it. Isaac's eyes were wide with disbelief. The flame extingushed.

“What was that?!” Greg exclaimed. Isaac examined his hand that seemed to be untouched.

“ You sure ask a lot of questions.” Isaac answered. “ Come on the police will be here any minute.” And with that they departed.

 

Deep within the alley where Mantox had fallen a man walked up to the carcass.

“You're pitiful Mantox. Pitiful.” He said. He held up his hand, glowing with blue fire and the body disappeared, leaving only a puddle of blood. Rech was now more determined than ever to kill Isaac Vanstrom.

 

While Isaac waited in a nearby alley Greg went in to the police building and gathered his things, a gun some clothes and a hover board. Greg carried the bag of items down the street and into the alley.

“You have everything?” Isaac asked leaning against the wall. Greg nodded. Isaac detached a walkie talkie from his belt and spoke into it.

“Captain hear, Alex do you read me?” The handheld device crackled.

“We hear you loud and clear!” Alexander's voice said through the speaker.

“Good, go to the landing sight we are leaving now.” Isaac said into it

“ Affirmative.” Alexander's voice crackled. Isaac reattached the walkie talkie to his belt and headed down the alley with Greg close at his heals.

 

“My god! He's here to help!” Isaac told Nadia for the third time.

“Whatever. He's still fresh off police lines, so if you don't wake up one day don't blame me.” Nadia retorted angrily. The Steel Wing had already lifted off , Calder City fading behind them. Everyone was in their positions. Greg stood in the door way from the sleeping quarters and the deck.

“You don't have to talk about me like I'm not here.” He said glowering at the ship's mechanic. Nadia rolled her eyes.

“We're going to need to stop at Mort Myra for refills, reloads etc.” Mitch said hoping to change the subject. Mort Myra was a very wet planet almost like an eternal rainforest.

“ The swamp planet has cities? Even life?” Isaac asked skeptically.

“ Oh sure!” Alex said his eyes still glued to his screen. “ Small cities yes, but cities none the less.”

The rest of the trip was taken in silence except for the crackling of the radio and the confirmation to land.

 

The small spaceport was but a peninsula almost completely surrounded by marshland. A small metal pathway led to a Building with more paths heading away from it. It was raining heavily as the crew stepped off the gangplank from the Steel Wing. A mechanic came to meet them, Isaac and the new arrival exchanged a few words and Isaac motioned for the crew to follow him to the building. The warm dry inn was a welcome after a dreary walk through the rain and a 7 hour flight in a cramped space ship.

“No one here has ever seen anything but marshland all their sad meaningless lives so don't worry about a thing.” Isaac told the crew as they sat down at a table ready for a warm meal. A waitress with a black eye came to serve them. The waitress sighed so deeply it could've blown off a man's toupee.

“What can I get for you?” she asked rather begrudgingly.

“ Anything that makes me drunk.” Mitch said laughing

“I second that!” Alexander said. Greg looked up.

“What happened to your eye?” He asked the waitress. She sighed deeply again.

“I hit it with a curling iron.” she answered dryly. Greg looked at her quzzically.

“I'll pass.” He said finally.

“Good.” The waitress left without taking the remaining orders.

“Interesting individual!” Isaac said clapping his hands together. “I'm sure they have a food processors upstairs.” he continued standing up evidently eager for some sleep. The crew went upstairs to occupy three two-person rooms. As Isaac opened the door to his and Greg's room the lights flickered on. The lights revealed two beds a T.V and a food processor, as predicted.

“Doesn't look like much to me.” Greg said setting his bag down.

“You don't look like much to it.” Isaac said glancing at the boy. Greg raised his eyebrows.

“Touche!”

 

The night was freezing from the motels paper thin sheets. The wind howled outside, banging shutters, begging to be let in. Rain droned on the roof in an inconsistent beat. Greg stared at the ceiling, unable to fall asleep. He looked over at Isaac who's back was to him, snoring contently. He'd probably slept in harsher conditions before, all the talk about Isaac Vanstrom being a tough egg straight off the most wanted list, 4^th most wanted to be exact. This reminded Greg of when his father had told him bedtime stories of great pirates saving villages and sometimes sacrificing themselves for the ones they loved. Now he realized why the pirates were the good guys in his fathers stories, His father apparently a pirate himself had actually been telling his boy stories of his own adventures. Ironic. Greg Thought, he'd been what had chased his father's kind, a policeman. Then Greg was aware f a scratching noise at the door. Isaac sat bolt upright, pointing two guns at the door. He saw Greg gawking and hissed,

“Pretend to be asleep!” Greg nodded and squeezed his eyes shut. He heard Isaac moving his covers around. The room door swayed open on greased hinges. There was some shuffling noises and Greg risked a squinted glance. Something large and dark made it's way towards Isaac's bed. The lights bursted to life revealing the creature to be some sort of amphibian. It stood on two legs with webbed feet built for swimming with claws built for killing. It had a tadpole-like tail and rows of piranha teeth. Isaac was already standing up pumping bullets into the fish things body. One of it's webbed arms was blown free from it's body. Isaac fired his pistols a few more times and the thing was a mess on the floor. Greg stared open mouthed at Isaac who just put his guns away and said,

“Neng, Mort Myra's native species, there's going to be more.

 

Alex, Mitch and Nadia were already up and dressed each carrying some sort of gun. A shotgun for Mitch, a semi-automatic for Alex and a large revolver for Nadia, all loaded with ammunition to spare. The group tredded lightly down the stairs with there bags strapped to there bags. The first floor bar was perfectly normal. Something flickered by the window and everyone shot at it showering the land outside with splinters, more Neng came jumping and clawing at the crew viciously through the lame walls. When the waves of fish creatures seemed to stop everyone got out flashlights andbroke into a dead run for the Steel Wing. No Neng bothered them as they sprinted to the ship. Isaac led the crew up the gangplank into the lit ship. The technicians were only getting started when a sickening crack brought them all to look out the cockpit window simultaneously. All the extra weight at saturation of the tile had weakened it causing the landing gear to break through the tile keeping them stuck. Only then did they realize that all the rain had made a ring of water around the tile peninsula where dorsal fins of no doubt more Neng were. Isaac half dragged half pushed Greg into a turret with him to begin blowing away the advancing Neng. At first they shot aimlessly into the water then as they settled in as much as one could when under attack by fish men, and began taking aim at individual Neng and obliterating them. More and more Neng leapt voraciously from the mash plants onto the Steel Wing trying to tear chunks of precious circuitry. A Neng landed on top of Isaac's turret, he swung it around wildly trying to get the monster off. Something blew it off, it was Greg. He'd seen Isaac in trouble and saved him from a rather untimely demise.

“You owe me one!” Greg called from his turret.

“Better than owing you money!” Isaac called cracking a smile that was for once not of greed or self promotion but one of happiness. Isaac spun from the turret's seat and urged Greg to keep going then left for the deck.

“Can we get off this god forsaken planet already?!” Isaac yelled to the sweating crew.

“This ought to help!” Mitch said slamming a button down on his dashboard. The thrusters on the back of the ship roared to life as fire spat out of them burning some Neng to a crisp. That's when Isaac suddenly felt the presence of someone else, the hairs on the back of his neck prickled up. He spun around, with his gun drawn. In the doorway stood a Neng, much larger than the others and covered in some greasy looking armor. The thing had Greg by the throat. It broke into a horrendous grin.

“I assume you are Isaac Vanstrom, current target of the Blazing Water assaination gang and their captain, me, Zengaden?” It said squeezing Greg tighter to it's scaly chest. Isaac slammed his gun into it's holster so hard it shook from the impact. He put up two balled hands.

“Fisticuffs, fish face.” Isaac said gritting his teeth. Another wide grin spread across the Neng's face.

“I do love a good fight!” It cracked it's slimy knuckles. The two combatants circled the deck matching eachother's steps, anything less was death. Then Zengaden, the Neng leader charged. Isaac attempted to slide tackle the beast but it leapt over him, the first move and not a scratch on either one. This time Isaac charged with an uppercut, Zengaden dodged and slugged him in the gut, knocking the wind out of him and sending him to the walls. Isaac's head throbbed. The Neng charged, and isaac exploded off the walls straight at him, Zengaden slashed Isaac's back, only ripping the shirt but not drawing any blood. Isaac landed his fist in Zengaden's face causing him to stumble. A single gunshot rang out, Greg had fired, grazing Zengaden's shoulder. The beast was furious and leapt at Greg, but something stopped him, it was Isaac who flew through the air ramming his shoulder into the Neng sending him onto the ground in the middle of the floor. It stood up and bared it's teeth. Isaac saluted to it and it fell back to it's home planet hundreds of feet below. What Zengaden hadn't notice was the Steel Wing had lifted off and the center of the ship's deck was where the missiles were launched, and a perfectly timed button press from Nadia opened the hatch and sending Zengaden down. The hatch closed back up and Isaac sat back down in his chair. Greg again gawked at him. Isaac looked over thinking this was just another thrill thing but it wasn't.

“What were those straps on your back, under your shirt?”Greg demanded. Isaac winced.

“Nothing.” He answered. But Greg didn't believe him.

 

Greg asked again as they docked at a small intergalactic star stop, a sort of space gas station. Isaac didn't answer again and locked himself in his quarters and later emerged with a fresh shirt. Greg didn't ask anymore after that. The crew ate their first meal since yesterday at the minute cafe in the space stop. They were boarding the Steel Wing to leave when Nadia stopped Isaac at the gangplank.

“He's asking more questions than he answers, You know he is becoming more and more dangerous.” She said to him. Isaac sighed and stared out at the stars for a few moments then muttered,

“So Jason, how am I doing? Holding up against my own crew?” Nadia shook her head and went on.

 

They weren't even sure where they were headed but they knew they were going somewhere. The Steel Wings rudder's passed multiple planets Alex asking if they wanted to stop but Isaac' answer was always no. The days were quiet, the nights were bleak. Isaac slept always with a shirt on now. Greg noticed this and became even more curious. Then one day the silence was broken, they were hovering about ten to fifteen feet above an old planet searching for signs off life when Nadia said,

“Isaac.” Isaac looked up along with Greg who stood by him. “The crew and I have had a talk and we think the time has come to...” She hesitated. “Split up.” She finished by pressing a button. The Missile hatch opened and Greg and Isaac fell onto the deserted planet.

 

The sand clogged Isaac's nose and mouth. He Sat up coughing. The Steel Wing above him roared and blasted into the stratosphere. Greg got up also. Isaac swore the most foul language and kicked the sand unhappily. Greg huddled against a dune his face covered with shock. Isaac even shot at the disappearing speck in the distance, of course none of the bullets hit. But as Isaac raged at the sudden burst of mutiny back on the planet Mort Myra things were stirring up.

 

A group of Neng huddled around the body of their fallen leader who had been knocked off the Steel Wing after infiltrating. Footsteps came from behind them, they turned. A man clad in black was walking towards them, a fist aglow with sapphire flames. The Neng retreated away from he corpse. The man reached the body and touched it with his burning hand. Zengaden glowed and disappeared. The second plan of Rech's had failed as miserably as the last.

 

Eventually Isaac fell into a spiteful sleep with Greg cowering nearby still awake. Isaac frightened him when he was angry. He had wished the most horrendous deaths upon his ex-crew. Greg now wondered why the crew had thrown him and Isaac off. But the answer was right there. Greg himself or just his presence wasn't welcome to the crew. Isaac must not have anymore plans without his crew. Greg mused. Isaac stirred and Greg stiffened. Isaac sat up.

“ It's time to learn about your father.” He said.

 

 

Rech strode through the hallways of his army's base. The building had taken him almost two years to construct and recruit all the soldiers that were now at his command. Although some were already with him they still acted new to blend in. Rech stopped at the hanger. The room was massive with an overly high ceiling and wide walls. About sixty small single person fighters were lined on the left side, The Hawkeye to the far right being repaired by a repair crew. Smaller individual fighters of bounty hunters and mercenaries were scattered around. But the absolute largest ship was The Devil's Fire, a flagship that could hold almost the entire hangers worth of ships in it's hold. It took up the most space but the ships inside weren't as wide spread. It's control room nearly reached the ceiling and careful maneuvering was required to get it out of the hanger. The Devil's Fire had seven turrets ten hundred millimeter canons and two missile launchers, Rech had counted. The amount of thrust the engine could reach was astonishing and Rech nearly fell over the first time the seven-thousand horsepower engine lifted them into the air. It's wings glided it through the sky with such ease and speed it made it a perfect ship for a growing army such as Rech's, the official name being The Devil's Army. Leo, the Hawkeye's weapon technician came up to Rech.

“We've just been informed Isaac has been abandoned on an old mining planet called Fallon IV. Should we launch project Ninatoor from it's holding cell on him?” Leo asked Rech. Rech smiled sickly.

“I'm sure the creators of “little ninny” will be happy to see it put to good use from it's stomach!” Rech answered chuckling. Leo nodded and continued down the hallway. Rech gazed at the Devil's Fire.

“Soon you will take flight and we will crush Isaac once and for all!”

 

Greg was astonished by what Isaac was about to say. He would finally know what his father was like to other adults. Isaac stared at the moon that let silver light rain on them.

“Jason? Is he ready?” Isaac said to the sky. “Is he ready to know what his destiny really is?”

Greg wanted to blurt out Yes! I'm ready! But was stone silent in amazement. Isaac had shown himself to be self-centered since he met Greg and ow he was going to tell secrets that had been hidden to him for eighteen years.

“Your father, Jason Farstream, was a space pirate.” Isaac began. “He as the most wanted criminal in Tylate, but that was when you were born. Before that he was minor league, robbery and shoplifting. Teaching me everything I know.” Isaac sighed. “One day we heard of a big freighter coming through our area holding top secret cargo. Well heck we were going to get some of that! We got onto the freighter and were sneaking around when we came on a hidden hold. Small doored and locked it had a sign saying Authorized Personnel Only. Jackpot! We thought.” Isaac stopped, glassy eyed he took a deep breath and continued. “ The lock was pathetic we busted right through without a single alarm. Inside in a tube filled with blue liquid suspended in time was armor. It had a long left arm and a thinner right each topped with a blue jewel. A hunter. The last one.” Greg had no idea what was so special about a hunter.

“What's so special about this thing, were the jewels worth a lot of money was it a piece of ancient art?” Greg Asked. “What's a hunter?” Isaac raised a single eyebrow.

“You don't know?” He said.

“No I don't know why would I ask if i knew what it was?” Greg retorted. Isaac seemed to accept it now.

“Hunters were powerful weapons created a long time ago on a planet that was extremely prosperous at the time by some of the most intelligent beings alive, Shenzi. They were extremely advanced technologically and had access to some of the best resources the galaxy had to offer. To defend themselves from attackers, witch there had been increasing amounts in them at the time, they made Hunters. A biological armor. It was attached permanently to the first to wear it. It protected them from projectiles and allowed them to harness limited amounts of chaos energy. Pretty amazing stuff.” Isaac stopped for a breath. “Chaos energy was extremely unstable and could causes ectoplasmic firs to occur and even, here's the important part, make rifts in space and time. Now that upset the Galactic Government! So they set out to get rid of Hunters. But they soon found out the only way to destroy a hunter was with another hunter, by locking the blue fist gems together thus destroying the hunter that was locked onto causing a rather tremendous pillar of flame to erupt from the victim.” Greg was trying to put all this together but Isaac kept going. “Somehow the G.G. Got their own Hunter, probably from some sort of treason from the Shenzi, and began making replicas. But these replicas could destroy real hunters the normal way but could be worn down by to many battles and be a burden to the carrier. And with the Government's fire power they overtook the Shenzi in a massive slaughter on their home planet. After they made sure they'd destroyed all the Shenzi and their research about hunters they got rid of their own replicas so no hunter would ever be seen again, except for one.” Isaac stopped again and Greg spoke up.

“The one they originally stole, the only real hunter they had!” Isaac nodded.

“Bingo. Making the thing Jason and I had just stumbled upon the very last hunter. Well we were as happy as drunken sailors. We thought we just hit the Space Pirate jackpot. But it was all to perfect. As soon as we began cutting into the tank where the hunter was held an alarm sounded. I jumped out of my skin! I was so scared we were only half way through the tank. Your father said security didn't matter anymore so we broke the whole tank and grabbed the hunter, your father grabbed it to be exact. I slammed some explosives on the back wall of the room and we were out right as the guards arrived. Our rendezvous ship was circling above and they picked us up. But the carrier was already launching ships. Dozens of sleek fast fighters were zipping towards us guns a blazing. They were mad. The carrier itself was turning towards us and began firing it's own weaponry at us. Our engines were failing so we each got into one of the three escape pods on the ship a jetted out. For some reason we all went in different directions, the pilot, me and Jason all had the directions mixed up. I landed eventually on Tierson and your father contacted me and said he was on Calder, he also said he saw the pilot's pod explode. After about a year of being undercover and failed attempts of getting off Tierson I caught a ride over to Calder and where your father and his recently married wife and without me knowing you, lived. But when I got there the neighborhood was rubble. A local told me some mercenary had bombed the place just last week. I asked for Jason the man told me he was found dead, his body next to your mother's. So the last hunter had died with your father.” Isaac finished and waited for Greg to respond.

“My aunt told me I had been at her house at the time my dad died, that's how I survived. My father must have known he was in danger and sent me away.” Tears rolled own Greg's face. Isaac bowed his head solemnly as a way to remember and respect Jason's spirit. Then he put his hand on Greg's shoulder and said,

“I'm sorry, it's my fault I shouldn't have thought we could've pulled the whole thing off and escape in different pods.” Greg just shook his head.

“It's not your fault.” He said between sobs. “It's the Shenzi's.” He finished and both sat quietly. Then the people came.

 

They all had guns pointed at Isaac and Greg not trusting a single motion they made. The leader ordered them up. They stood up, hands in the air.

“What are you doing hear and why?” The leader with his face painted demanded. Isaac glanced at Greg telling him he'd do the talking.

“We were abandoned.” Isaac told the scowling native. The group of people looked at them suspiciously.

“We are a hunting party for our village and we don't really like visitors from the Galactics.” The leader said angrily.

“Oh no! Neither do we! We were riding a star bus and the driver didn't seem to like us and abandoned us!” Isaac said trying to sound pitiful. The men didn't seem to be buying it until one of the others spoke up.

“I know this guy.” He said. Isaac clenched his teeth preparing for the worst. “He's Isaac Vanstrom! My old raiding buddy!” Isaac stared at the one who had just said he knew him.

“Wait...” Isaac began analyzing his features. “You're Wally, right? The one who fell of the building on Calder and somehow survived by landing in someone's car?” Isaac said.

“Hey! You remember! Yeah that was me!” Wally answered. The leader's anger seemed to subside as familiarity was established.

“So you got abandoned here...” He asked. Isaac nodded. “Well since you seem to mean no harm I believe we can let you come with us to the village.” Greg sighed in relief, lowering his arms.

“But you have to help us haul this Wumpah carcass back to town.” He gestured to a large hairy mammal's unmoving body nearby. It looked heavy and smelled terrible. But it was a way out.

 

After hauling the massive carcass via ropes attached to it's neck they hunting party made it back to a small walled in village. People were delighted to see the rather large soon-to-be meal that they pulled but went silent as they saw the guests arriving to. They party brought the hulking body to a cleaner and the leader and Wally led Isaac and Greg to the Chief's house.

 

The chief's house or more hut was not much bigger or flamboyant than the others. It was a mud foundation with many sticks a and logs, witch Isaac had no idea where they got them in the barren land, and hides of Wumpahs like the one hauled in earlier. A small incense burned in the middle of the room on top of yet another hide rug. Behind the candle sat the Chief. The hunting leader bowed and Greg and Isaac tried to also looking more foolish than honored.

“At ease Haar for it is the visitors I wish to know about.” The chief spoke gesturing towards Greg and Isaac. The chief was definitely old with more wrinkles than one could count before they shifted as he moved. Haar was evidently the hunting party's leader. Isaac stepped forward.

“Please your er... Highness we only wish to find a spaceport and leave this planet and go back to Calder.” Isaac told the chief once again trying to said needy and hopeless. Greg could tell this was a cover up story because ha knew Isaac had no intention of going back to Calder. The chief laughed.

Isaac and Greg had no idea what was so funny. The chief was practically in tears.

“A spaceport?! Ha! There's one on this entire god forsaken planet and it's on the other side of it! This planet makes Tierson look lush and green!” The chief whooped. Isaac had a very annoyed look in his eyes.

“How far?” He asked through gritted teeth. “How far is the spaceport?” The chief raised his eyebrows.

“Doesn't matter we are the only oasis until the spaceport which is at least seven hundred miles away! You could take all the water from the oasis and you still wouldn't get there! It's impossible!” The chief said throwing up his arms for emphasis. Isaac shoulders slumped and he swore. The chief got serious.

“I do have a two person space ship of my own I might be willing to bargain for.” He said eyeing Isaac's two holsters with their identical shining guns. Isaac put his hands on his hips. Then stuck his arm out with something in his hand. A plastic explosive. Haar's gun flew from it's idle position to point at Isaac.

“I'll take the ship and your town stays intact.” Isaac glared at the chief. The chief grinned slyly.

“You couldn't blow up my town, that explosive has no fuse or detonation cord, and If you blew up my town you'd blow up the oasis and the ship.” The chief told Isaac. Isaac examined them bomb, there was no fuse after all. Isaac swore again.

“But, I'll let you have the ship if you can hunt down three Wumpahs and bring them all back here for us.” So the chief did have a bargain in mind. “Just you not your friend jut you blondie.” Isaac glared at the chief and flicked the golden hair from his face. He stuck out his hand.

“Deal.”

 

Isaac left the city gates into the sunrise next morning leaving Greg behind to do whatever. First Greg just walked around the city's perimeter and ran into only a few guards who just nodded to him and kept walking. As more people woke up more sound began coming from the square. The town was only about two hundred feet wide so Greg made his way from the outskirts of the village to see what was going on in the square. When he arrived he was met by the sweet smells of fresh baked bread and spices. Merchants were setting up shop as Greg wondered at how many people could fit into the town square and still be room to move. A man stopped in front of him at a stall and he had to clumsily veer away and try not to run into other passer-by. He continued circling the area glancing at merchants attempting to sell him things and declining politely. Greg looked up at the sky and wondered how Isaac was coming along on the hunt.

 

The truth about what Isaac was doing was rather simple. He was just walking through the ever heated desert trying to find signs of the large hairy mammals. He had been gone only about an hour when he spotted tracks. Large three toed, fortunately not clawed like the Chief had warned him of, indicating large predators to be about. He followed the tracks with a sense of glee that he would soon be bringing the first mammal back any time now. Then he began seeing the Wumpahs, first as specks on the horizon the turning into entire beings. Isaac quickened his pace and began drawing his first gun when something burst from the sand only feet in front of him. It was a huge serpent like beast with huge jaws lined with steak knife teeth. At first Isaac shielded himself but then realized it wasn’t after him but the Wumpahs, who were now in a huge panic trying to flee from their new attacker. The slowest to flee was a rather shriveled looking one that was going as fast as its hairy feet could take him when the serpent’s jaws closed on its back. The mammal was flung into the air, flailing in the jaws of the beast as it was swallowed whole. As Isaac stood up, brushing the sand of him as the serpent retreated back into the ground did he realize how he was going to bring back three half ton flee ridden mammals back to the village. To hitch a ride.

 

Isaac had been away in the desert for awhile now and the sun was reaching its highest point in the sky. Greg had left the square to give himself a break from the hustle and bustle of the market below. He’d been sitting down in the same spot for not to long but already was the shade fading to a different angle away from him. He got up to find a new spot and as he turned around and started walking he was stopped by something, or someone. He didn’t notice he had just run into someone until he was on the ground. Then he was on his knee apologizing and trying to pick up the dropped items. When they were all back in his arms he actually looked at the person. It was a she, she had long dark hair and a petite body with clear calm eyes.

“Oh…Ah… I’m sorry I wasn’t looking where I was going.” Greg stuttered. The woman shook her head.

“Oh no It’s fine I was lost in my own thoughts.” She answered taking the items, a fruit, candle and small clay pot, from Greg’s outstretched arms. He scratched his head and chuckled.

“Oh you are one of the visitors!” She answered now taking a good look at him.

Greg shrugged.

“Well I don’t blend in very well do I?”

“Where’d the other one, the blonde haired one, go off to?” The woman now asked.

"Oh so you didn’t hear? Yeah well he’s trying to bargain three Wumpahs for the Chiefs

little two person Ship he thinks will get us off here.” Greg answered rather glumly. The woman laughed and put her hand out.

“I’m Margaret I’m actually the chief’s daughter. And that ship will get you off this planet it’s in very good condition.” She said matter of factly. Greg shook her hand.

Oh that's nice to know!" Greg said. "Well my name's Greg and my, I guess one could friend is Isaac." Magaret listened intently. There was cheering from the square and that stopped the conversation. The two went quickly down to where the cheering was. Through the swarming mass of people they saw from the gates something huge coming towards them. It was the head of a gigantic beast held by ropes it dragged four large hairy carcasses, on top of the things head was Isaac obviously having a devil of a time swinging his arms around and whooping. The serpent came to a stop in front of the town gates. Isaac jumped off it's head and landed lightly on the sand.the serpent retreated back into the sand leaving the four Wumpah carcasses with Isaac. The chief strode up to Isaac who clowned a bow and said.

"Well here are four, one more than you wanted, Wumpahs and I believe that you owe me a ticket." The chief frowned and began examining the carcasses. after the inspection was complete he turned to the smirking Isaac and said.

"Well it seems you have exceeded the terms and I guess I must now give you the keysto the ship.' he growled holding up a key on a ring Isaac took them and held it above his head like a trophy, then he motioned Greg to follow. They cleared through the paths of people towards where the ship was. It was held in a small room with only two entrances, the one Isac and Greg had arrived through and one in the back. isaac took a step towards the ship. something huge fell from the sky, and landed right in front of Isaac. As it straightened up isaac got a good look at it. It had a bull head with massive horns, and metal coated legs that must've weighed a ton. One of it's arms was a stub with a gigantic claw at the end the other was shaped like a human hand and tipped with red spikes.It roared sending Isaac reeling backwards.

"Target IsaacVanstrom sighted Ninatoor battle tactics set! exacute!" It bellowed and charged. Isaac dove out of the way taking Greg with him. The beast spun around to attack again. This time Isaac wrestled a gun from his belt and fired a few times before dragging Greg and himself out of the way. The "Ninatoor" was infuriated.It lashed out at Isaac who dodged as quickly as he could. Isaac slid between the monsters legs and fired up making the beast howled in pain. Before it could turn around Isaac climbed up

onto its back and muckled onto the horns and whooped.

"Eight seconds for the gold! Eight seconds!" In a burst of rage the Beast ran towards a pillar trying to shake Isaac off. Isaac leapt off the beasts head as It crashed into the pillar causing it to topple over onto its head. In a final convulsion of death it roared then was crushed. The clawed hand that stuck out twitched Isaac shot it and it moved no more.

"Rech sure is persistent." Isaac said kicking the parts of the Ninatoor that stuck out from under the pillar. Greg pointed at the pillar and Isaac looked up.

The pillar was now blocking their path from the ship, way to difficult and dangerous to climb cutting them off. That was when they heard the sound of gunfire from the town square. Not a good sign seeing as the way around was straight through the the town square. They had no choice but to fight through it.

 

The square was mayham, Galactic Government troops had invaded the city exterminating anything in their path. They weren't without artillery. Two legged walkers romped through the square mounted with cannons blowing parts of buildings and market stalls to pieces. Isaac and Greg entered the fray firing their own weapons at the soliders that attacked them. Ran through the rubble ducking behind temporary safety and dodging bullets. As they emerged from one of their shelters they were met by one of the walkers. Isaac gaped in horror as he watched the driver sneer as all his weapons were locked onto Isaac's head.Greg fired his gun, the bullet pierced the glass and smacked the driver in the forehead.

"Go!" Greg shouted already running beetween the walkers legs. Isaac was way ahead of him still firing at anything in his path. Suddenly the ground in front of Isaac exploded sending him backwards into Greg. They both fell to the ground in a heap. One of the walkers was now firing missiles at them they got up as quickly as they could. The walker followed them but Isaac hurled a large piece of rubble at its wobbley leg causing it to topple over and explode. They took a left nearly to the ship. They dove through the door and numbly opened the small ships cockpit and got in. The launch sequence was only starting when the troops enetered the room. Isaac grabbed Gregs rifle and began Picking them off as Greg readied the ship. One of the troops threw a grenade. Isaac caught it and smirked at the troops tossing it back, blowing up multiple soliders.

"We're ready to go!" Greg shouted.

"Then let's go for gods sake!"Isaac answered backgrabbing the pilot wheel. The thrusters on the back of the ship blazed to life and shot the little ship into the air.

"Yeeeeeehaaaww!!!!!" Isaac whooped as the small craft blew through the sky like a speeding bullet. People were firing at them from below. Isaac spun the ship around.

"What are you doing?!" Greg screamed.

"Returning a gift!" Isaac said smashinga button down on the control panel. Isaac apperantly had notice something that Greg hadn't The ship had a gun. He fired the bolts of light that exploded beneath them. After a few more shots Isaac turned the ship back around and they shot out of the planets atmosphere.

 

Down on the planet things had calmed down in the village as people salvaged what was left of their past lives. The Troops had been driven away and the people left to fend for themselves. No one noticed as a fully clad in black man strode to the town towards where the chiefs ship had once been. As he reached his destination he looked at the fallen pillar and the unmoving body beneath it. His fist glowed with blue flames as the body dematerialized and the pillar slid down a few inches.

"Every single one has failed." He said shaking his head. "It's time I took matters into my own hands."

 

The ship floated lightly through the bleak dark reaches of space. Its two occupants sat lazily the cockpit

tired from hours of flight. Isaac yawned and stretched his arms.

"Well that was quite something!" He said staring of into the starless reaches that lay for light-years in

front of him. Greg moaned.

"That was way to close for me to ever come to being annihilated by some angry police officers."

"Pshaw! That? Heck! I've been much closer to obliteration than a grenade chucked at me!" Isaac said

shaking his head. The radar on Isaac's dashboard blinked and beeped.

“What's that?” Greg asked craning his neck over Isaac's head.

“The radar.” he answered. “Some one is nearby, not to mention straight towards us.” It was true a dot on the screen was moving closer and closer to their current position.

“Are we going to go?” Greg asked shakily.

“Well of course I'm not sitting back while someone overtakes us!” Isaac answered tapping the dashboards controls. They began speeding up. So did the ship that was moving every so closer to them. The thrusters roared to life and sent them farther away from the ship. The radio crackled.

“Isaac Vanstrom!” It bellowed. “You better stop or you sorry scalp is toast!!!” Isaac , in space terms, floored it. So did the ship following them. The radio crackled again.

“What do you think you are doing!?”

The voice on the other end screamed.

“Getting away!” Isaac answered. “Like most pirates would do in this situation.

“More like a coward to me!” The voice retorted. Isaac went faster. He ship had a bigger engine but more mass to carry.

“You are going to be sorry Vanstrom!” The radio said in the most furious voice Greg had ever heard. Hat was when the ship started shooting. Blasts of blue light zoomed by Isaac and Gregs craft just barley missing them. The ship also had a large array of weapons to apparently.

“Last chance!” The angry voice said with a hint of pleasure.

“I'll take no for five hundred dollars!” Isaac answered laughing. This evidentaly made the voice very mad and the cannon fire increased. More bolts of blue light shot by. Isaac twisted the wheel this way and that dodging every shot except one. It was a direct hit o the back Greg expected them to explode in a flurry of flames. But they didn't. They just stopped, throwing Isaac against the cockpit window.

“Wha...What happened?” Greg asked picking his head up. Isaac swore.

“Ion cannons.” He replied. “Evidently they want us alive.” The dot was nearly on top of them now. The huge ship loomed over them, hundreds if not thousands of times larger than the ship the two were in right now. Emblazoned on the bottom was the picture of a phoenix with fire coming from its wings.

“This ship...” Isaac leaned to get a better look at the side. “The Phoenix in flight!”

Greg looked at him blankly.

“So?” He asked. Isaac turned to him.

“Phoenix in Flight! The words that are spoken by only a space pirate! The code!” He told Greg.

A tractor beam was now drawing them into the ships opened doors to the docking bay. The doors closed behind them and the landed softly. Instead of armed troops surrounding the ship only one man with two bodyguards walked up to the ship. Isaac got out helping Greg down. The man in the middle had childish red hair with plenty of freckles on his face and bright eyes to match.

“You got a lot of guts coming through here Vanstrom.” He said glaring at Isaac.

“Normally from you I'd expect you to then say 'Let's see what they look like' but not to your old buddy Isaac! Right, Jesse Cassero?”

 

It took Greg a minute to fit everything together but was finally able to blurt out.

“You're Jesse Cassero? One of the biggest space pirate names!?” Jesse clowned a bow.

“No the biggest, Jason was the biggest, but yes thank you for recognizing such a great space pirate.” He said running his left hand through his hair.

“Still an ego maniac are we Jesse?” Isaac said chuckling.

“Hey I'm not covered in sand and well, blood.” he answered shrugging.

“Signs of a real pirate these are!” Isaac said puffing out his chest as if to show off his grime as if they were medals of honor. Jesse rolled his eyes.

“Would you like a grand tour then?” he asked. “Of our lovely facility?”

“Sounds great! Got a bathroom?” Isaac answered clapping his hands together.

 

The tour began inside the hanger which was occupied by many more ships than just Isaac and Greg's. Jesse showed them Twenty-odd fighter that were all symmetrical. Red wings emblazoned with the phoenix Isaac had seen before. The ships bodies were a dark gray color with two regular cannons on either side. Jesse called them phoenix guards.

“And why is that?” Isaac asked.

“Because this is the flagship of the Phoenix Army!” Jesse exclaimed throwing up his arms. “The biggest space pirate army ever!”

“Army?” Greg said stepping back. “What for?”

Jesse looked at him like a cow looks at an oncoming train.

“Times are changing kid.” He said “War is rustling, Rech and the Galactics. I for one am not going to be a bystander getting blown to pieces running like a coward.”

“You got an army with only one leader here.” Isaac cut in stroking his chin. “You're going to need more.” Jesse smiled boyishly.

“That's why you're here.” He answered.

“Ah I thought so.” Isaac said nodding. “ Show me the rest of this place.”

Jesse saluted and kept walking.

They were shown small ground unit tanks that could be dropped via parachute from the ship to aid ground troops. Jesse also had a squad of bombing planes packing only the best in explosive technology. There were hang-gliders armed with small machine guns and four wheelers that had laser proof windshields. But that was only the hanger of the Phoenix in Flight.

Jesse brought Greg and Isaac into the armory where line on the walls were all sorts of guns, big and small with scopes, triple barrels and explosive detachments. Isaac whistled.

“Now this is pirate heaven!” He said taking in the view.

“You like it?” Jesse asked.

“Like it! Heck I could sleep here, knowing I could wake up grab a gun and annihilate half the Galactic Government!” Isaac answered taking one of the more larger guns from the shelves.

“What does this bad boy do?” It had a large barrel with a long thin scope on top that ran down half the length. On the bottom was a grenade launcher with some extra ammo strapped the side.

“That in a two handed laser rifle, with of course grenade launcher attachment. Shoot that and you enemy is a pair of steaming shoes in seconds.” Jesse said watching Isaac look down the scope.

He took another weapon off the racks of guns.

“This,” He said holding up a smaller gun. “Is a dematerialization ray.” Isaac took it from his hand as he set the laser rifle back on the rack.

“Boring little thing.” he said examining the miniature weapon. “Can I shoot it?” Jesse shook his head.

“Not in here, you'll dematerialize my entire gun collection.”

Isaac frowned and set the gun back in it's place. Jesse led them out the door and to the next part of the tour.

 

Isaac a Greg were shown the mess hall, where Greg picked up a rather tasty slice of pizza, and the troop cabins that were quite roomy and comfortable for a gigantic ship that held so many people. They were shown the engine room that was filled with steam coming off the huge motors that powered the ship. The final stop was the control room.

 

As they entered all the technicians turned and saluted to Jesse then went back to work. Jesse breathed deeply.

“My favorite room.” He said. Isaac looked around. The room consisted of three rows of technicians, the first and longest row farthest from Isaac were weapon operators managing the cannons and bombs. The middle row was slightly smaller, only about six people, were flight technicians and mechanics busily tapping keyboards, sending out commands to keep the ship on its course. The third and final row were three ship pilots each with individual steering wheels, one for the main rudder, one for the left rudder and another for the right rudder. Jesse sat in the captains chair and tapped in some orders on the dashboard in front of him.

“Bet you miss this feeling.” he said to Isaac who raised an eyebrow.

“What feeling?” he asked.

“Why the feeling of being a captain, I mean since your crew left you you aren't really Captain Isaac Vanstrom now.” Jesse answered as if it were as plain as the hair on his head.

“So you heard.” Isaac growled looking into the vast sea of stars in front of them.

“Heard!” Jesse said swiveling the chair to face him. “Heard! Why they've been taken prisoner by The Galactic Government! Only hours after they abandoned you to be exact.”

“Well serves them right leaving me behind.” Isaac glared at one star in particular.

“You're no going to help them?” Jesse asked. “If they hadn't left you behind you would've been caught to, it was an ambush by the Galactics!”

So that's why the Galactics came to find him on the sand planet. Isaac thought to himself.

“I think we should go and help them seeing we are already on the ship's trail.” Jesse said shrugging.

“Fine.” Isaac said. “But now they owe me!”

 

The ship they were after was pretty normal. It was a large carrier that held goods and ships and in this case prisoners. The three former crew mates of Isaac Vanstrom were being taken to a government facility to be questioned and sentenced. Or so their captors said. The Phoenix in flight drifted along silently towards the carrier. Inside Jesse was giving a run down off the plan.

“So we'll have four ships stay out and protect the other four as they infiltrate the ship.” He said.

“Presumably You and I will be two of the infiltrators?” Isaac said leaning back in his chair. Jesse nodded.

“Then let's do it before the carrier notices we want to harm them.” Isaac said now standing up.

 

Isaac's vehicle was one of the Phoenix guards. The inside was sleek and compact with each feature on the outside was made for it to go faster. Everything was streamlined. There were seven other pilots including Jesse in the same row ready to launch into space and attack the carrier.

“We are lifting off in Five...four...three...two...one!” the ships simultaneously sprung to life and shot out the open hanger doors.

“Yeeeehaaawww!!!” Jesse's voice buzzed over the radio. The ships swerved around from the back of the Phoenix in Flight towards the Galactic Governments carrier. They flew in a formation of a triangle with Jesse at the head.

“Alright looks like they are not happy so were are going to break formation early now go!” Jesse said into the radio that broadcasted over the entire squad. The eight fighters veered off left and right but the front two stayed on a steady straight course. The carrier began firing its own weapons at the breaking formation. The slow bolts were dodged easily by the Guards as the twirled gracefully through the sky. They were now closing in on the carrier and strafed the decks wreaking havoc on the inner parts of the craft. Isaac thumbs pressed down hard on the joysticks sending flurries of bullets into the metal casing of his target. The eight ships flew circles around the larger ship shooting it and keeping it from returning fir in any sort of mass. Isaac was feeling lucky so he picked up the radio and broadcasted on the carriers frequency.

“Hey all you people on that ship me and my friends are frying! I'd like to play a little tune for your sorry faces!” He then held a music playing device and blared some rather loud and explicit music into the radio.

“Hey Isaac!” Jesse called, “You're are really ticking those guys off ! I just flew past the control room and boy does their captain need to check his blood pressure!” Isaac laughed and turned the music's volume up to full blast.

“Ha!” Jesse said as he sent another spray of bullets into the carrier's hull.

“Isaac I think it's about time we started infiltrating!” He said over the radio. Isaac concurred and the headed towards the ships rear. Inside Jesse's cockpit he pushed a button dropping a pack of explosives that blew a giant hole in the frame. The four infiltration ships dipped low and landed in the hole. Apparently the hole had been blown in solider quarters so there were troops waiting for them.

 

The metal of the four ships scraped on the floor making a very disorienting racket. Galactic troops surrounded them, a rather foolish idea. The fighters let loose a few clips of bullets on the troops leaving them as a mess.