Odd Rabid Rabbit adventures

[rabidbite]

Two warriors fought. One stood bathed in duty, glory, honor, love and pride. The other fed his broken soul with horror, cruelty, sadism and madness.

Jack pivoted and led with his crimson blade. Rabid was driven left, parrying carefully and gliding into a spin which put his suddenly drawn auto-pistol level to the praetor’s visor. The energy shield came up in time to soak up the two armor piercing bullets. Jack followed through with a shield bash that shocked Rabbit back a few steps and a snake like strike of the red blade that almost took his head off if not for the spinning teeth of the battle chainsaw.

The duo danced with a series of fast moving strikes and parries. Sparks flew every time the chainsaw met crimson metal. Rabid was faster on the move, sneaky and flexible but Jack had significant strength and protection advantage which he used well.

Jack Donovan wasn’t all talk. The man could definitely fight.

The willy Cadar pirate threw a yellow banded grenade at Jack, who seeing the movement quickly put his shield up, but the canister never exploded. Rabbit had used all the yellow paint on the shuttles. The dud sizzled into the energy shield and lit up with electric sparkles. It gave time for Rabbit to get past Jack’s shield arm to chew a big chunk of armor off the shoulder and upper bicep. No blood! Damn that armor was thick.

Rabbit couldn’t tell how Jack did it, but suddenly the praetor’s boot smashed into his gun arm and side like a force of nature. The powered hit sent the mad man flying. His arm was numb and his armor bent. Either it was seriously bruised or broken.

The Mad Rabbit tried to stand but … slipped? The praetor had kicked him straight into his own trap! Off balanced, Rabbit registered a flash of humming red. The crimson vibro-blade ripped into him down the left side of his body armor. Blood splattered the deck. Rabbit grunted at the hit, even as his quick reflexes kept him from being cut down right then and there.

Rabbit buried his chainsaw sideways onto the deck. The diamond teeth cut into the metal and found purchase. Like a sled, the chainsaw jerked Rabbit out of reach of the deadly praetor and his crimson blade, buying a little time.

It was a struggle, but Rabbit found his feet. He’d left a trail of blood on the deck along with a jagged broken chewed out line.

Around them, the fight against the commander’s troops was going much better than Rabbit’s personal duel. Most of the Thulun were down. The Cadar were cutting into them with abandon.

But Lions fight in prides and there were many Lions on the Carrot Stick.

An oddly armored Thulun with hammer marks on his shoulder pads arrived with reinforcements and things heated up once more. The odd Thulun started it off by shooting a Cadar down and actually sliding with a whoop on the grease to run through a second. Bonnie moved to intercept and Rabbit gave the signal notice to his troops to be ready for the second trap.

The praetor approached carefully over the slippery deck, even as Rabbit backed away. Jack did not notice the Cadar making sure to get out of the stuff.

The praetor thought he had this fight. Rabid Rabbit was wounded, seriously. Jack was focused on only one goal, Rabbit’s death.

Excellent, Rabbit had bled to get the motherfucker right where he wanted.

Rabbit transmitted a simple command and dozens of blue grenades fell from the roof where magnetic grapples had kept them aloof. Glue, you had to love glue.

The praetor never saw it coming. One of the grenades impacted right on the shoulder with a resonant CLUNG sound and exploded, another detonated at his feet. Up and down the area of affect, Thulun got smeared in the rapidly expanding and hardening foamy shit.

Cadar always cheat.

Jack tried to charge forward, but the slippery surface below and the hardening epoxy above completely killed his momentum. Jack still had enough movement to protect his vitals, but Rabbit didn’t go for the neck. He went for the foot.

Rabbit dropped the chainsaw and took up the auto-pistol from his numbed hand with the other. He emptied half the clip into the thin armor right at the ankle and saw the armor buckle, crack and explode in a gory mess.

Jack fell to one knee with a heavy resonating sound and a grunt of agony. Yep, praetor armor was strong, but heavy. Without a foot, who could move something so big? Achilles heel.

Cadar always go for the weak spot.

Better truly fuck him, though. Rabbit emptied the other half of the clip into the sword arm. No need to be overconfident. Only then did Rabbit pick up his chainsaw and moved in for the kill.

“Yo, Easter Bunny, over here.” The impertinent voice drew Rabbit's attention. The sounds of battle had ceased.

The odd fighting Thulun stood over Bonnie with his foot planted on the large man’s armored chest and holding Bonnie’s own plasma cannon to the man’s face. “How about a trade?”

What the fuck?


rabid

[rabidbite]

Smuggler holds are small by necessity, which meant the cargo inside of them was usually very valuable; a priority message or a person of note.

The Alia’s smuggler hold was full of intelligence records, scans, maps, and well preserved data crystals.

“Wel’ holy shet’,’ Traz muttered. “The hel’ we gonna dah wit’ all that?”

“We are going to take it all. It seems Alia II Shawarazan was more Rychart then I gave her credit for.” Graline gestured grandly, “This here, my darlings, is wealth and power. Imagine how many dirty secrets she amassed, how many blackmail able plots, twisted crimes and skeletons these records hold? You are going to be very very rich.”

The words seemed to resonate with the petty greed of her men. Graline consulted her schematic, selected a likely spot and sent it to the escape shuttle.

“Pilot, bring the ship around make us an exit on the marked area, please. We’ve been here long enough and I don’t fancy a trek back through the morass of all those rather tiresome decks.”

“Roger ma’am. I’ll have to get pretty close to target specifically, so I’ll be a good ten minutes or so.”

Graline consented. Ten minutes was better than the hour it would take to haul all this stuff back through the labyrinth of holes and broken hallways.

The Rychart agent was rather disappointed. This was it. The big secret left behind was information. Graline had somehow hoped to find the old legend alive or maybe some particular personal effect, despite her assurances to others about Alia’s death. The whole thing was so … Rychart.

Her men got to moving the containers as close to the point of penetration as they dared. The boxes of data crystals promised as yet unknown amounts of wealth, but Graline wondered if the information would be too outdated. The real work would come when listening and verifying all the available data. For all Graline knew, the data crystals merely contained cooking instructions.

She fiddled with the schematics, and if she looked disappointed, her men didn’t say anything. They knew they had a good thing anyways.

“That’ be a tad odd,” Traz said. Graline lifted her head. Odd was good, odd meant secrets. “What?”

Traz had come up and had been looking at the holographic schematic, “This here marking right? That be the smuggler hold. Don’t it be tad bigger then wha’ we be seeing?”

The ship shook. “Your exit is now ready, ma’am.”

“Thank you,” she trasmitted rather curtly. She turned to Traz again, “Show me.”

He did.

Alia II Shawarazan, you shrewd, tough, incredible bitch.

In the wreckage of an old battered ship, Graline found something she hadn't known she'd lost: Awe and wonder ... and eventually hope.

rabid

[rabidbite]

“A trade?” Rabid Rabbit glanced about, “I see at least three Thulun that might live, out of how many? You’re in no position to…”

The odd Thulun suddenly had an auto-pistol in his left hand and without much ceremony blew one of the wounded Thulun away.

Jack Donovan roared, “HOW COULD YOU DO SUCH A THING JENON!?”

“Making a point. I want Jack Donovan. I don’t give a shit about the rest of these Thulun ass lickers.”

"It was you," Jack couldn't help saying as the enormity of the betrayal registered “You’re the one who altered the attack orders.”

Rabbit looked from one to the other, “You’re not a Thulun.” He removed the hockey mask helmet.

“Took you long enough, Mr. Bunny, now tell your crew not to shoot eh?”

Rabbit gestured at the men. They had to do this fast, the jammers weren’t going to keep the Thulun much longer from transmitting the fact that the shuttles now wore the yellow and red.

The strange man holstered his auto-pistol and removed his helmet, keeping the canon on Bonnie’s face, who wisely was keeping quiet.

“You’re one of the oh-so-not-a-javat from Tapella Outpost, “Rabbit shrugged. “So that makes this here praetor the guy you were leading around.” Rabbit looked at Jack Donovan's armored form while pressing a hand to the blood dripping down his left side. "A soon to be dead praetor, if I have my way."

The man laughed, “Ain’t that the truth Rabid. I wear hats like a clown wears makeup. Javat, Thulun, its all part of the job." The man tapped his face, " I got a new face, sure, but I thought you’d at least recognize the voice, Mad Rabbit.” The man stood back from Bonnie letting him up, “Or have the whispers of the melody faded?”

The Mad Rabbit remained impassive for a full three seconds, “The whisper in the void continues to sing.” The tension in Rabid Rabbit didn’t fade, it increased. “What an odd moment for a reunion, Crush.”

"Would someone hurry up and explain who the hell this punk is?" Bonnie asked in exasperation, as the smiling man handed him the plasma cannon back.

"Crew. Meet my big brother, Crush Rabbit. The bounty hunter."

Jack Donovan shifted in place. The man was slowly breaking loose from the epoxy. Rabbit reloaded his auto-pistol and gave him a warning look.

"Howdy! Hey sorry about your comrades, but they should have fought better." That didn't go down well with the rest of the Cadar crew. The shit eating grin on the man's face was taunting.

Crush lit and puffed on a cigar, "See, the problem is my current mark is one ..." Crush grinned at the praetor.

"One me," Jack Donovan growled.

Rabid Rabbit shook his head, "We ain't got time for this shit. Everyone, get on the fucking shuttles. Crush, you're with me. Bonnie grab some guys and peel the praetor from his armor. Keep him alive for now. There's a spaceship to catch."

rabid

[rabidbite]

The disguised shuttles exited the jamming range a few minutes later. The com instantly received incoming hails from the Thulun capital ship.

Rabid Rabbit turned to Crush and said, “You’re up Crush.”

“Up for what?” replied the somewhat bored bounty hunter.

“You’re known to the crew of that ship. Get us to dock and I’ll think about not having you spaced for killing my own.”

Crush grunted about to be flip-flant, than he noticed Rabid’s eyes. There was no humor in them.
The bruiser rolled his cigar about, “Ok, yeah.”

“Good, Bonnie I look fucked up enough to be a prisoner. Crush, tell the Lions Jacky boy died taking me in. Make sure to show as little as possible of the shuttle and Bonnie keep yourself and everyone else away from the cockpit.”

“You going to be alright with this asshole?” Bonnie glanced at the humor stricken Crush.

“If I die, he dies. So yes, go.”

Crush settled in on the pilot’s seat. Rabid looked about then smashed his own head against a bulkhead springing a bleeder of a headwound. Crush arched an eyebrow. Rabid grinned and smeared his head all the way down to the floor, leaving an impressive blood trail. “You’re the hero, Crush.”

“For as long as it lasts,” Crush opened the channel.

The monitor was filled by a heavily mustashoed man, “Jenon! What’s your status man, we got no idea what’s going on. Confounded jammers.”

“Hoy there Tobias,” Crush paused, “That turd on your face looks even more mutated the bigger the video screen.”

Tobias’s face started to redden. Obviously not a fan of Jenon, “Jenon..” his voice was threatening in warning.

“Don’t get your panties in a bunch turd lip. Got some good some bad,” see here. Crush turned around and dragged a limp Rabid by his hair, “Come here Mr. Bunny.” He displayed the bloodied messed up face of Rabid. “This is what’s going on Tobias. We got ourselves a live little Rabbit. We’re bringing him in now.”

Tobias grinned fiercely, “Excellent news. The bad?”

“I’m sorry Toby, Jack didn’t make it. The Rabbit got him, then again Jack got the Rabbit right back. The troops are securing the ship now.”

Tobias face hardened, “Another grave injustice we’ll tear out of the barbarian’s skin. I’ll have a security team greet you at shuttle bay three.”
“Much obliged,” Crush broke the connection.

“See Rabid, I rock at this.”

Rabbit got to his feet and shrugged, “Let’s go do the back and have a chat with Jack.”

A Cadar pilot took over as the two men walked past the armored and bloodied men and women of Cadar. Grim faced killers all, veterans of more fights than most saw in two lifetimes.

Jack Donovan lost none of his nobility as he hung by hooks embedded into his biceps, nor did he lose any of his cold hate.

Crush grinned at Jack, “Hey bozo, I just put one of my awesome acts. Your crew is hell bent on avenging you … and to do so they’ll welcome us aboard with open arms.”

“You’re both animals,” Jack included Rabid. “You best kill me now, because I will kill you both. That’s a promise.”

Crush laughed mockingly at Jack, “Right like you’ll…”

Jack’s head disappeared in a mass of gore and grey matter as an explosive round entered through the front of his eyes and detonated. Crush turned around with wide eyes and a snarl, to see Rabid Rabbit’s gun nozzle still smoking. “What the hell!?”

Rabid Rabbit tilted his head, “What?" The blood sprayed man smiled, "I believed him.”

rabid

[rabidbite]

Bonnie was a man who’d gone through the meat grinder of the tri-solar wars between the Cadar, DeValtos and Javat with the understanding that no one was innocent.

All quadrant governments, any entity that governed humans, ultimately survived by its ability to use force to uphold itself. The six quadrant policies were good at organized force and provided training to exemplify and enhance combat ability.

The experienced military officer had seen Rabid Rabbit fight before. The captain was good in group mechanics, had strong leadership instincts and was fearless.

Yet … yet…Bonnie had never seen anyone that understood Rabid Rabbit in combat as well as Crush Rabbit did.

The bridge resembled an abattoir.

The two Rabbits were using a dual gun combat style Bonnie had never seen or ever heard off. Their feet never stopped moving and yet there was no wasted effort. They flowed like ballerinas, a comparison made all the more bizarre by the scarred ugly threatening armors each wore and the impossibility of their sync.

When five armored Thulun moved to stop the two when they were already fighting seven others, did the Rabbits run or employ any sensible strategy Bonnie had ever heard off? No, instead Rabid twisted while firing with his auto-pistols and used the wall as a prop to flip over Crush who was already bending low to allow Rabid to pass above while the bounty hunter fired. Bullets and plasma bolts flew around them with accuracy, yet the duo were never quite there for the projectiles or blasts to arrive. The two men were pissing metal from those guns.

But what was completely impossible, utterly inhuman, was the reloading. If either Rabbit ran out of projectiles with a pistol, their hands would not necessarily grab their own ammunition. Sometimes Crush was twisting this way, and Rabbit that way, and a clip from the other’s bandoliers was closer to a suddenly empty gun. How did they do that?

Twice now grenades had been thrown, and twice now, before the grenades were a foot from their thrower’s hands, either Rabid or Crush had shot them out of the air. It was as if the two killing machines had an exponential increase in their ability to …kill… greater than the sum of the individual.

Then there was the ceaseless bickering…

“….put a bullet in his <shot> head like it <reload right gun> was nothing! I told <shot> you he was <shot> my payday <shot>!”

“Shut up <shot> and shoot! You’ll <shot> <reload left gun> get another <shot> bounty.”

“Not <shot> like that <shot> <shot> one, you shit <shot>!”

“You <shot> been going <shot> on and on for <shot> twenty <shot> minutes <shot shot shot>. Sound like an <shot> old woman!”

It was kind of embarrassing in a very terrifying way.

Needless to say the boarding of the Thulun warship was well on the way. The first one to die had been Tobias, whom Bonnie had burned to atoms with a welcoming blast from his trusted cannon. With most of the troops deployed, the first officer dead and the captain a headless carcass, the Thulun disorganization was complete.

The com channel chimed in Bonnie’s ear, “Bonnie.”

“Sir, squad 8 here. Engineering is secure.”

“Good work.

Three seconds later the last Thulun hit the floor.

Rabid didn’t waste time glancing about, he walked right up to the bridge display. “Crush get on the guns. Bonnie on sensors. You and you get down to the hangar and bring up Zonk and his spice contraption. Leave five at the door, the rest get to clearing this ship."

Crush grunted and settled in. “My codes are still effective.” A moment or two later, “Target locked.”

Rabid Rabbit didn’t hesitate, “Fire.”

The max amount of torpedoes the Wrath could disgorge flew toward the Carrot Stick.

“Deploy barrage guns to shoot down any returning shuttles that might survive that. Bonnie, scan for the Stick’s escape shuttle. Tell me if Graline is still on the Alia.”

On the display, the Carrot Stick, their faithful ship for decades, exploded into a billion tiny little pieces.

Bonnie gave the bad news, “The escape shuttle is nowhere to be found. She’s gone, Captain.”

Rabid Rabbit stared at the display with hard eyes before he headed for the door.

“I'm going to kill every single asshole on this ugly ship.”

Bonnie hurried to make sure Rabid Rabbit didn't mean EVERY single asshole.

rabid


Part I END

[rabidbite]

A man sits in darkness studying the image of a puzzle shrouded in the flesh of a woman. Ten years have passed since last his eyes fell on her dangerous face.

It isn’t a remarkable face by any length of the imagination. It is a face schooled in the art of being average; brunette, brown eyes, a slight overbite. She wears the cargo jump suit of any normal spacer.

Next to it is another image. The image of this woman is much different. This one stands tall and proud. You can see an air of authority and command in the way her eyes radiate strength. Hair spun out of midnight, eyes a deep electric blue, skin as smooth as moonlight. This woman wears the uniform of a small rising militaristic government on Kapteyn Gammat.

One woman is a cargo officer, the other the leader of a space faring independent world not six years old. If his information is to be believed, they are the same woman.

The com chimes. The man touches a button.

“Yes?”

“Captain we’re approaching the Kapteyn system.”

“Move us into stealth, Bonnie. Survey the system for ships, installations and spy satellites. You know the drill.”

“Yes captain,” a moment of hesitation. “Captain, what do you expect to find here?”

Anyone else would not have dared ask the question. The curiosity must be eating his First Officer. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Bonnie, he just wanted to fail on the side of caution.

“The only thing worth finding these days,” said Rabid Rabbit. “The answer to a mystery.”

rabid


PS: After a small hiatus, the Mad Rabbit is back.

[rabidbite]

Princess Maline de Guy stepped into her suit of apartments and sighted when the doors slid shut behind her. It had been a grueling day of solving petty disputes and organizing the defense fleet. There were so many details that cropped up every day.

Her apartment consisted of a small guest office, her sleeping chambers, and attached bath chamber. The office was decorated with oak woods, a little sitting area, a desk, and a fireplace. The sleeping chambers had a large king size bed with monochromatic sheets and colors, and the bathing chambers simple white marble tiles and normal appliances.

She padded past her office to her sleeping chamber happy for the privacy. Maline couldn’t understand how heads of state could live with servants waiting on them day in and day out and disdained the hand maidens some of her more superfluous ministers suggested.

When she stripped her uniform, it wasn’t without a certain amount of relish. Maline threw it on the bed and proceeded to the bathing chamber where she indulged in an hour of undiluted soapy bliss. She toweled herself dry and dressed in a silk lined bathrobe; she wasn’t beyond the desire for a few personal luxuries. Maline had earned every one of them.

Refreshed, the princess made her way through her chambers towards the office, thinking of getting a last few matters resolved before getting some much needed sleep. Something caught her attention. A shiver of undiluted coldness crawled up the base of her spine.

There was a hockey mask on top of her bed.

Maline counted to ten. She padded over and picked up the hockey mask. The tinkling sound of glasses came from her office.

She dressed quickly in something that would allow her ease of movement, not the ostentatious palace uniform, but the slick black body-suit of her previous trade. Maline walked back into the bathing chamber and tapped the mirror in a few places, it slid aside to reveal a compartment with an auto-pistol and a bundle of knives She doubted they would do much good, but she wasn’t about to have this meeting unarmed.

Maline squared her shoulders and stepped into her office.

“Took your time,” said the figure sampling some of her finest brandy. Of course, he had to sit right … there … in the worst spot.

“I wanted to be presentable,” Maline said. She handed the hockey mask back. How had he gotten into her apartments at all?

The man hadn’t aged a day, but these days prolong treatments were a dime a dozen. Most captains didn’t’ die of old age.

The man nodded once. There were two glasses. His was already half full, he poured some into the other. He tapped the bottle, “This is very good. What planet?”

“Why do you want to know Rabid, you’re going to raid it?”

“Yes,” the madman replied calmly.

That sidetracked her for a moment. She had to readjust her thinking. Rabid Rabbit was mad. Telling her about his plans to bring death to a planet because he licked the brandy was as normal as discussing the weather.

“That’s a little extreme,” she replied but paused at his arched eyebrow. “Ok so maybe it isn’t extreme for you.” The hint of a smile on his lips.

“Please, sit.” Rabid Rabbit gulped some of the brandy.

“I prefer to stand.”

Rabid Rabbit put the glass down, “Sit.”

She sat. Polite conversation was over, it seemed.

Maline thought about it and took a healthy draw of her brandy. If it was poisoned she would find out soon enough anyways, and somehow poison wasn’t Rabid Rabbit’s style.

“So?” Rabid Rabbit asked. The simple two letter word had so many meanings behind it.

“It was necessary,” she answered.

“You have to do better than that Graline. I’m really trying here.”

He was, she knew. Graline didn’t understand why he was trying to –not- kill her. The question must have shown on her face.

“Maybe I've grown soft.”

She wasn’t fooled for a second, “Aren’t I fortunate.”

“So?” The second time he used that word, and somehow Graline knew it would be the last.

“No,” was her reply. What other answer could he expect?

Apparently that wasn’t it, because he seemed disappointed, “I see. It was that important?”

“I told you. It was necessary.”

“Yes, you did.” Rabid gestured vaguely up and around, “It can’t be what you used to set yourself up here.”

“I get by,” Graline let a knife fall into her hand.

Rabid Rabbit retrieved his diamond toothed chainsaw from below the line of the desk he was sitting at. The weapon made a dull hollow thud as it was placed on the oak wood; a local harvest. The message was clear. “It’s all a lie though. The clues are there for those who can see. All this crap is temporary.”

‘I’ve never doubted your ability to see through a con, Rabid. I only doubt your sanity.” Graline’s hand flashed and sent the blade straight at the reclining Rabid Rabbit’s face. THUNK!

Rabid hadn’t left his chair, his head was tilted to one side and Graline could see the madman had moved his head just far enough to let the knife miss his ear. No wasted movement. His eyes hadn’t changed expression or intensity.

The Mad Rabbit slowly donned that grotesque mask, “You’re probably wondering how I was able to do that. Let’s just say Jack Donovan gave me an incentive to get back to my fighting trim.” The light caught the chainsaw as it came to life. The Mad Rabbit stood up.

“I like how you soundproofed your chambers Graline. It will allow us to have a long satisfying reunion.”

Graline’s auto-pistol was in her hand, “Come and get it, big boy.”

Rabid Rabbit smiled behind his mask, “That’s a good girl.”

rabid

[rabidbite]

Graline knew Rabid Rabbit was deadly, she knew he was fast, she knew he was tricky; in short, she had studied him more thoroughly than any other potential adversary. That was her first edge. Her second was her ‘home field’ advantage.

She kicked the desk between Rabbit and her, not forcefully, and not randomly. She kicked it just at the right place and with the right force for the hidden panel on its left side to spring open.

At the same time she rolled left and grabbed the handle of a tubular sonic-weapon, Rabbit's wicked looking chainsaw cut through her chair as he leaped over the desk. Graline pulled the sonic-weapon free, tripping a small weight lever in the process.

She continued to roll and kept her face down, arms over ears. Rabbit must have gotten some warning because he used her chair as a bit of a shield. The desk exploded with the strength of the six ‘flash and bang’ grenades, Graline had built into its frame.

Rabid Rabbit stumbled in a half stunned daze, but whether from cheer luck or goddam stubbornness, he didn’t go down. His feet kept moving and the staccato zips of Graline’s armor-piercing bullets, not that he was wearing the bulky equipment, preceded their impacts behind him. The Rabbit found cover behind the love seat.

Graline pointed with the tubular gun and let loose with a hyper-sonic blast that blew the love seat apart, but Rabbit wasn’t there. Graline didn’t wait, she just rolled.

Her hunch was right as bullets buried or bounced off the ground where she had been crouching. She replied with a second blast which the Rabbit dodged by diving into her sleeping chamber.

The spy’s auto-pistol barked and pullets impacted a certain spot on the wall, the third one cracked the pressure plate, and the sleeping chamber doors slammed shut. Graline stood up, but had to stare down in surprise at the bullet hole in her thigh.

The metallic screech of yielding metal warned her as Rabid Rabbit cut through heavy titanium-steel with the chainsaw. Diamond teeth or not, how could it do that?

She didn’t have much time. The madman was persistent.

Graline walked behind the spot Rabid Rabbit had been sitting previously and pressed three stones on the fireplace. The ash pit withdrew into the wall, exposing a small hole. The wily spy dropped into it, the ash pit slid back into place.

About twenty seconds later, the chamber doors broke apart completely. Rabid stared into the office room, and finding no one inside, dusted his clothes. The madman swaggered to the outer door and knocked in a little rhythm.

The door opened, allowing inside the heavy sounds of fighting. Soundproof rooms might give someone privacy, but they did serve as a cut-off point from the rest of the world.

Bonnie and four others waited outside. Graline’s guards had been piled against a wall and stripped of anything resembling value. Seeing Rabid and no one behind him, their weapons lowered. Rabid offered a thumbs up.

“It went well, I take it?” The bear like man took up positions besides Rabid as the captain walked toward the sound of combat.

“Perfectly, let’s see where our spy-master leads us.”

“Probably easier ways to do this, you know.”

Rabid paused and frowned.

“What?”

“I couldn't find out where her brandy came from.”

rabid

[rabidbite]

Any really good spy always had an exit strategy. A good escape route was used only once. That allowed for a rather strong degree of defenses.

As she moved along the narrow corridor, Graline pressed a dirty button on the side of the wall. Six seconds later, the entire roof caved in, dropping two tons of earth and stone obtained from the building projects Graline had supervised since coming to power on this backwater world.

The little passage opened into a panic room with basic survival necessities and a solid communications system. Graline stripped her pant suit and reached for the first aid kit. With practiced detachment she numbed and proceeded to sew the holes in her leg together.

A quick bio-scan of her middle revealed no poison ... but just to be on the save side... Graline used her little sink.

After whipping her mouth clean, Graline sat behind the com terminal to check on events. They weren’t particularly good.

The Kapteyn Gamma palace was burning. The city itself was sea of flames, which continued to expand as more orbital bombardments fell upon it. Kinetic strikes were currently leveling most of the other settlements, including the star port. At least she wouldn't have to deal with the ministers.

She tried to locate her people and got Traz and company. Graline should have known that survival freak wouldn’t go down without a fight.

“Princess ‘bout time, yah showed yah pwetty lil’ tush.” The com channel crackled with static, fighting, and the yelling of men and women.

“I had unwanted visitors darling. Oh, and let's dispense with that princess crap, think that particular role is over. What’s your situation?”

Plasma carbine fire, “Dandy as aw pig in shat. I’ say. Gawt mah a pwetty fight, gawt me a princess on dah com. Life be perrrfect!"

Graline smirked.

"We bugging outah here yat?”

“Sadly, darling, yes. At least we finished the experimental test runs before –this- fiasco occurred.“

Traz grunted. He never liked the experiments. “Tat’ bit o‘ business….” Yeah, she knew.

“Meet you in site B?”

“I reckon ti’s A be the good’un.”

Site A was a bit further away and little more hazardous, “Why A?”

“Oy girly yah haven’t peek’ up in orbit hawy yah?” Traz grinned and cut the connection. He was in a firefight and picking up the phone while trying not to die was not something most people want to do, besides hanging up on her reinforced his on belief of independence. It was an illusion Graline allowed.

The wily spy worked her console and hooked into her spy satellite network. The images made her pause in consideration. The mad rabbit was doing things a little different; site A it was then.

Above Kapteyn Gamma, not one but three vessels blockaded the planet and engaged the defense fleet: a slick Javat designed Royal Class, a heavy Obliterator Carrier, and one of the relatively new Slayarz type Cruisers.

It was a pretty darn strong triumvirate of firepower. Graline had a suspicion those rumors of a deadly pirate fleet raiding fringe Thulun and independent worlds were caused by this trio.

Rabid Rabbit always did have a hard-on for Thulun. She didn’t blame him. The uppity Lions pissed her off as well.

Her eyes fell on the identifying codes for each vessel. Above her planet was the Carrot Stick (old name new ship), the Pillage Idiot and …

Graline stared and gritted her teeth.

It was the Alia.

rabid

[rabidbite]

Traneldor B, had been the home base of Nevid Yarik. He had set up shop after the purchase of his Obliterator Carrier; he’d wanted an Omega Cruiser but somehow got the wrong ship. To this day Nevik blamed that little error on the dancing girls, the vudka and a strange barking dog that had kept him disoriented long enough to press the “buy” button on the data pad when that slick two-timing son of a bitch had switched the “cruiser” for the “carrier” at the last moment.

The Pillage Idiot had large maintenance costs that kept Nevid close to the rich trading lines in the south-central part of the quadrant, which in truth had been getting dull.

When Nevid Yarik had been approached by the Mad Rabbit himself, he hadn’t recognized the man. It wasn’t that Rabid Rabbit lacked intensity and charisma; it was just that someone with such a reputation shouldn’t be normal looking. At the very least Nevid expected two heads, tentacles, vampire teeth, and cyber implanted gauss cannons for fingers!

Imagine his surprise when the Mad Rabbit had searched for Nevid, specifically, to complete a specialized pirate fleet to prey near Thulun space. Money and dead Thuluns; who could resist?

Three years later, here they were, the Pillage Idiot had a nice paint job, his credit account was thick and fat and he got to do what he loved most: killing shit for profit. Soon he could afford that cruiser …



While the Carrot Stick and the Alia did what they did, the Pillage Idiot did what IT did: rip things apart with a hail of torpedoes and barrage gun fire.

It didn’t hurt that the crew was very motivated. Rabid Rabbit had made this attack into a contest. You shoot it immobile, yours to loot. There would be no sharing of the spoils. Already the Pillage Idiot had 3 immobile and 2 scrap heaps. They were going to fill their entire cargo hold in one go … and the Pillage Idiot had a lot of cargo hold space.

The giant carrier held the line against most of the defense fleet by itself, not because it was simply big, but because Nevid Yarik and his pilot officer Kana Benz could make their ship stand on its ass and dance.

Unlike some pilot officers he’d seen wired to spice machines like zombies, Kana was the type that didn’t zone out into Wonderland. Instead she used spice in just enough amounts to hyper-enhance without complete submersion.

Because she wasn’t a stoned out mess Kana could coordinate directly with Nevid. With the investment of a true neural integrated naval bridge, their interaction flowed at the speed of thought.

Nevid: two torpedoes, vector 2,9.4. Boggie A closing, Boggie B and C conducting High G acceleration aft.
Kana: Engine output down by 5% .. for 5 .. 4 .. 3 .. 2 .. 1. Up 10%, spinning starward…
Nevid: Torpedoes avoided, incoming barrage fire … avoided. Turn Vector 7,9,9 twenty seconds.. come about… firing.
Kana: On vector, boggie C is hit. Reduced engine efficiency 26.4%. It’s streaming atmosphere.
Nevid: Vector change Boggie A, 3,5,1, Vector change Boggie B -3,-5,-1
Kana: Trying to do a sandbox on us. Going for Bogie A.
Nevid: Confirmed. Power to engines, rear point-defense seeking.
Kana: Closing on Boggie A. Imcoming fire … avoided.
Nevid: Targeting engines… volley away…


A life and death struggle. The thrill of the kill mixed with the thrill of danger.

It was a nice day to be ‘A-pirating’.


----

“Graline’s moving.” Bonnie walked up to the assault shuttle cockpit.

“Put it on my screen.” Rabid glanced over.

A map of the area became displayed. A fast moving blue dot in the eastern side of the city was headed out through some housing suburbs.

“No other signals?”

“Only one of the tracking devices was disabled, probably the one in the brandy.” Bonnie tapped the screen bringing up tracker information. “The other two remain together. Where did you hide those?”

Rabid Rabbit smirked, “Her panties and sonic gun. She was in the tub quite a while.”

Bonnie roared with laughter.

rabid

[rabidbite]

Graline met up with Traz team at site A’s underground hangar. She was steamed.

Rabid Rabbit was bombarding her world with the Shawarazan's own ship. That petty bastard!

Traz waited for her. His battle armor had a few more dents and burn marks. “Oy’ Cappy, see yah gawt here’bouts all nice and dandy.” That man…

“Some days more so than others. How is the situation up there?” Graline walked up the gangway and into the bowels of the ship.

“B’out ‘d same, just less ship drones. They be keeping a itsy-bity window pried open for us, but it be closing fast.”

“No time to lose then. Overload the spy satellites; let’s cause enough radiation around here so those in space can’t see us go.”

--------------

“That’s a pretty good place to hide a ship,” Rabid Rabbit said to Bonnie as he stared at the rising warship, a Dragoon class if he wasn’t mistaken. “Out of the city, empty space, mountains, not a lot of neighbors.”

“That woman is fast, least we know where her ship was.”

“Never underestimate the ability of that bitch. I think she’s headed towards the Pillage Idiot?”

“Awww,” Bonnie checked his data flow, “Yes, but … wow.”

The night sky lit up with hundreds of explosions. It was like someone had strung a series of firecrackers across the sky.

Rabid Rabbit rolled his eyes, "So what did she do now?" It sounded like the voice of a husband talking about his crazy wife.

Bonnie was checking, it took him a minute, “Every spy satellite we identified around the planet just blew up, along with a lot of others we hadn’t seen. There is so much anti-matter radiation up there our elements can’t see shit.”

Rabid grinned, “God that woman is resourceful.”

“You like her?” Bonnie seemed amused.

“No, but I admire tenacity.” Rabid Rabbit thought for a moment, “She’ll soon find the tracking devices on her, plus they don’t have that much of a range. Get the Alia into stealth. Contact Nevid, let him know about the ship and to do the following …”

rabid

[rabidbite]

Nevid stared at the orders on his com screen, “Gunnery how many hyper space taggers do we have on board?”

“Checking ... two, captain,” came the quick reply from the subordinate.

Kana smiled, “You’re going to do something stupid aren’t you?”

“Baby, I don't do stupid. I do exceptionally stupid. We can’t see that ship with all this radiation, so it will be tricky.” Nevid put on the neural helmet. “Link up. We got some flying to do.”

Kana stared at the data Nevid was putting on the board and started laughing before the numbers were down.

----

The Lizard Bite rose up through the atmosphere at a steady pace that Graline found satisfactory. Telemetry was good and the weather was relatively clear.

“Keep us on passive, steady thrust until low orbit and off to jump point beta.”

"We shaldda got a wee bit stealth ma'chine I say." Traz grumbled.

Graline sighted, "It was supposed to be installed next week."

“Contact! Bearing 3, -9, -6. It’s huge!” came the call from sensors.

What!? How could the Lizard Bite even pick up a contact through all the radiation in space? Graline turned to her plot and swore.

“Ha! Ballz pure ballz!” Traz sounded impressed. Graline had to admit, she was too.

On her plot, the Pillage Idiot burned through the atmosphere. It glowed red hot like a plasma bolt from re-entry and friction … and it was upside down.

rabid

[rabidbite]

Space might be full of radiation, but the atmosphere was still relatively clear. So how to find one anti-matter drive in an anti-matter storm? You can’t. So you avoid the storm and target the drive before it enters the storm.

Simple solution, complex implementation.

“Torpedo lance battery! Status?” Nevid growled. His teeth were chattering with all the vibration and it sounded like he was speaking through a fan.

“Sir, Torpedo battery is still ready to fire. Atmospheric heat within tolerances!”


Kada: See?
Nevid: Ok so you were right about the torpedo lance battery able to take the heat. I buy you a vudka and spice later if we survive.
Kada: Maybe you should put torpedo tubes on the bottom of the ship, not just bombards. The ground looks very hard.
Nevid: Such a picky woman. Closing on target aaaaaand Target locked. FINALLY, freaking atmospherics. We’ll pass the target in 30 seconds. Only one chance at this…
Kada: Angle is good … torpedo spread armed. Ready to fire!
Nevid: Light her up!
Kada: Torpedoes away. Barrage cannons deployed and ready.
Nevid: HEY, GIMMY! I get to fire those!
Kada: Captain, you’re such a baby!

----

The warships interchanged fire in the twenty seconds they were both in range. Barrage cannons spat projectiles that cut through the air with massive thunderclaps and torpedoes burned as they streaked towards their targets.

It was like few engagements ever fought in the Quadrant. Even when atmospheric re-entry intercepts were conducted, all such interceptions were done just out of the atmosphere so as to avoid the hazards of being ‘tied down’ and ‘buffeted’ by a planet’s atmospheric dust and molecules.

The Lizard Bite was hit and pieces of thick armor melted or were blown off. It didn’t take the hits in silence. Its own barrage cannons spat out to the intruder, but the Pillage Idiot had the edge on them. Many of the Lizard Bite’s cannons simply could not roll or depress to target the oblique angle of their contender.

--------------

Graline swore as the ship shuddered under heavy impacts. “ Just keep rising, by the time they turn about we’ll be long gone.”

The massive ship streaked just behind and aft of the Bite then it was past them generating tornado force turbulence.

Traz grunted and then barked a laugh, “Big arse ship! Nawt gonna do much difference though. Soon ‘a it hits, that ship’s a gonner.”

The Pillage Idiot was still rotating, but if the pilot thought its engines were enough to avoid a crash it was mistaken. It took no genius to see it would hit. Something that big impacting at that velocity would cause an ice-age.

“They’re trying to break,” someone commented. It was true, the corkscrewing ship was now right side up and its repulsors were firing at full power, but it would not be enough.

-------


The Pillage Idiot shook and the smell of sulfur and burning said something had cracked somewhere. Come on you fat bitch, hold together!

Kada: Repulsors at maximum power, rate of descent decreased … almost …. almost ... THERE we’re ready!

Nevid gave the order, “All shuttles launch now!”

The Pillage Idiot was a carrier. It was designed to haul a lot of boarding teams. Boarding teams meant boarding shuttles. Boarding shuttles had two very important qualities: boarding grapple hooks and a lot of thrust capability. What they needed to work in this atmosphere was to not have too much turbulence, and the initial slowing of the Pillage Idiot’s passage was the key to that.

Shuttles were suddenly in the air around the Pillage Idiot. Even as they were launched, the shuttles fired boarding cables on to the hull, not one, but six each. It wasn't by far, a bloodless event, not every shuttle was able to handle such intricate flying. Dozens of heavy thrust drives added to the obliterator's own repulsors. With a slowness, that had the massive ship coasting a hundred feet off a mountain top, the obliterator's nose turned upwards.


Nevid was laughing with relief and adrenaline induced elation. This was what it was all about!!

Kada: Tracking device attached to the Lizard Bite's Hull.
Nevid: Booyah!

-----

The obliterator's passage caused tornado force winds and blew debris into the air. The shuttle Bonnie and Rabid Rabbit were in had to do some evasive maneuvers.

Bonnie whistled at the sheer audacity, “Son of a bitch.”

Rabid Rabbit had a rare open wide grin, “Bonnie. Those assholes just earned themselves a bonus and a free drink.”

A wide eyed panicked horned animal bleeted in horror as it passed the cockpit window, just missing the left engine's atmospheric turbine intake.

Bonnie and Rabid Rabbit stared for long silent moments as they tried to digest what they'd just seen.

"I think, " Rabid Rabbit said into the silence, "We almost got shot down by a goat."



rabid

[rabidbite]

Eugene Gordon had a string of bad luck a mile wide. For some reason he kept running into pirates more times than any other trader he’d ever heard off. In fact, he was a pure trader at heart. He left combat, bounty hunting, and piracy for the crazy murderous yahoos that tainted the name Star Trader.

Numbers were his specialty and though a generally adequate captain, Gordon felt more at home dealing with the usual backstabber deals of the spice halls, then the war torn emptiness of deep space.

But fate had different plans for him and could give two farts about his inclinations.

His trusty Surplus Ender … ended. It was now part of about three or four dozen different ships, depending on where the pieces of its metal were sold at. He should have read those tactical manuals earlier, and hired a better freaking combat trainer.

But his luck had changed, if not for the better, at least for the monetarily solvent.

The pirate vessel that had taken and enslaved him and his crew doubled up as a bounty hunter, and the greedy idiot went after one Carrot Stick.

Eugene just didn't understand the logic behind that decision, but was generally better for it. Seriously, when your bounty target doesn't hide and actually looks forward to bounty hunter ship attacks ... that should tell you something right there and then.

The skull of the would be bounty hunter was welded to a torpedo and fired many years in the past and somehow here was Eugene, doing what he’d never thought he would be doing: captain of a pirate ship from his beloved Clan Javat manufacturing facilities. That it really was the Alia, albeit practically reconstructed from scratch, added to the thrill of it. It was like returning a Rychart stained prodigal daughter back into the warmth of Javat family arms.

Seems the life of a bookish trader wasn’t wholly for him.

The Alia’s first officer puffed smoke off a thick cigar, “There she blows.”

Eugene grunted. He didn’t like his first officer one bit, the informal manner of his address and the utter disregard to more savory hygiene habits made him a bit of a nuisance. Yet, every one of his crew respected the bastard and the bastard was generally on Eugene’s side. Necessity made for strange bedfellows.

“Then let’s be about it. Navigation, eta to jump threshold?”

“Fifteen minutes sir.”

“Good. Let’s take these fifteen to double check and 'tie down' everything that might come loose. Also, first officer, make sure to remind our comrades about our own kills. I don’t want anyone to cheat this crew of its well earned payday because we have an impromptu assignment.”

The first officer grunted to his feet and walked over to the com station, “I’ll do that. I know from experience Mr. Bunny sometimes doesn’t give a shit about pay days.”

“At the very least he will ensure our return by holding our ill begotten goods hostage, no?” Gordon mused.

Crush Rabbit puffed some smoke, “Believe you me, Captain Gordon. Rabid Rabbit has complete trust on this ship's return.”

rabid

[rabidbite]

Traz and Graline sat around a table. On the table before them was Graline’s disassembled sonic gun and a pair of used panties. Besides these two ad-hoc items were two small filament tracking devices.

“That explains the obliterator carrier, at least.” Graline said stonily.

Traz shrugged, “Don’t matt’r mosh. Lef’ em all behind we did”

“Did we? That ship didn’t crash Traz. It did a job and survived. Then we left the system all pretty and pat, not even a token attempt to intercept us.”

“Tad paranoid. I know yah got the beepers in yar undies, but that don’t mean nothing in space combat.”

“Traz, sometimes you don’t see things even if they are right in front of you. Did you check the telemetry after we left the radiation blanket?”

Traz shook his head.

“There was only one pirate ship, the Carrot Stick, on the scope. Only one, yet all three of them were there before the satellites cut out. We know where the Pillage Idiot was, deep in atmosphere. So, where oh where was the Alia?”

Traz sighted, “Stealth or sc’ap.”

“And I don’t believe for a second it was destroyed.” Graline pointed at the table, “What I DO believe Traz, is that Captain Rabbit is petty and vindictive. What’s more, he knows Alia II Shawarazan would never put an omni stealth array on her ship, ever. So, what a better way to piss on Rychart, the Shawarazan, and me then to put one on the Alia, huh?”

Traz crossed his arms, “I ‘eckon I unde’stand Captain.”

Graline nodded. “Good.”

Traz grinned, “Yah ‘eally don’t like that ‘abid ‘abbit went th’ough yah undies do yah?”

Graline had to smile. It was kind of funny, “You shut up and call the officers together. We still got five more weeks of travel time.”


rabid