Three Very, Very Tiring days...Oh what now?! - Kepler Orbital
25 Nov 2020Cayce Luther
(The Anaconda in question is piloted by CMDR Seth Bradwell. If you haven't yet, I recommend checking out his own logbook entries. They are a great read. Also check out my second in command; Phoenix Sonne, he also has a couple good ones out.)"Come on, come on people move it!" Cayce shouted as he waved people aboard the Black Pearl. Passengers hurried aboard one by one as Cayce rubbed his eyes. It seemed the caffeine and adrenaline cocktail he was taking was starting to not be enough. He sighed, pretty soon he would have to stop and rest. Three days straight without sleep were nothing new, but he'd already been knocked off the pad once by an unexpected explosion and it seemed he was reaching his limit. Thankfully backup arrived, his second, Phoenix and her fighter pilot arrived with a Clipper, and a new Anaconda named Libertas had stepped up to take on passengers, along with many others he couldn't remember. But Cayce didn't have time to waste on pleasantries, he had to keep moving.
Deeper inside the Python, Shyanne was helping passengers to their seats, making sure everyone loaded up as orderly as possible. As she did, a well to do person from one of the two Federation factions walks up to her. "You, you're a Federation Navy pilot?"
"Yes sir, former." Shyanne barely acknowledged him, continuing to assist a mother and small child into their seats.
"And you fly with this Imperial bastard? Why?"
Shyanne, stopped what she was doing. Twisting her head to face the executive. "Ex...cuse me?"
Cayce, meanwhile was getting the last passengers onboard, and he started to turn, but the last passenger stopped him. "No chance in hell am I flying out of here with a damn Imp behind the controls."
Cayce stopped what he was doing, looked back to the hand on his shoulder, and then slowly to meet the eyes of another person. Male, about Cayce's height, wearing pilot's clothes. His tired green eyes steeled. "...I don't see how you have much of a choice. My ship doesn't leave without me."
"Lucky for us, I don't need you for that." And he swung at Luther.
Shyanne looked at the man, unphased, eyebrow raised. "My captain is risking his own life out here for these people. I'd appreciate you not deride him considering he is saving your life right now."
"Come now. He's Imperial. You really think those fools have any vested interest in saving us?"
Shyanne's hand twitched. "Best watch what you say, sir. The Commander doesn't take kindly to people backtalking on his ship, and neither do I."
Cayce meanwhile had been sucker punched, getting slammed back against the bulkhead of the ship as the pilot attacked him. His hand went to the man's arm as it pressed to his neck. "The Federation doesn't need help from you filthy Imperials. But I'll happily take the ship." He swung for Cayce's gut.
It stopped, met by Cayce's hand before it could impact his diaphragm. Cayce glared at the man as he looked up in surprise. His leg game up, catching the man in the groin, causing him to double over and Cayce shoved him off. Getting into a right hand leading stance as his assailant got back to his feet. "Over my dead body..."
The man got to his feet, ready to strike. "That was the plan." And he lashed out at Cayce.
"You want me to...what?" Inside the ship, Shyanne just looked at the man speaking to her.
"Come on it's an easy deal. Five hundred thousand credits, you abandon your Captain, and my man pilots this ship out of here. Surely you can't turn down such a generous offer."
Shyanne paused, looking at the man for a moment, as if analyzing him. And then, with little to no warning slammed her fist into the man's jaw, causing him to fall back against the rear bulkhead of the passenger compartment.
Outside the ship, the fight had spilled onto the landing pad. Cayce was ducking and side stepping as the man produced a knife and tried to stab at him. He responded with a side step, grabbing the man's wrist and jamming his elbow into his nose. A small crack was heard as the force of the impact broke the stumbled back as Cayce turned his head, cracking his neck in preparation. "I suppose I should thank you. I was just about dead on my feet before. Now I'm wide awake."
The assailant got back to his feet and charged, trying to knock Cayce off his feet. "Go to hell, rat!"
It was clear this man was not an experienced hand to hand fighter. Cayce, on the other hand, was another story. Even in his exhausted state, it was easy to read his attacker's moves, and countered them with relative ease. Save for another hit that cracked across his jaw, but was sloppy, Cayce recovered and pushed against the man's back as he spun, sending him stumbling. "Try harder."
Aboard the ship, passengers looked stunned as Shyanne held the executive, gun drawn, pressed to his stomach and an arm against his chest. The man looking down at her, eyes filled with contempt. "You...you dare go against your own? You side with this Imperial?"
"That Imperial gave me a chance when no one else would. I was destitute for months. Pay fighting Emperor's Dawn was shit, and I lost everything in the Maausk system. The Commander took a chance on hiring me when he didn't have to. We've fought together for the last year, and if you think I'm going to turn on him for a pitiful half million credits..."
"You know nothing of our character." Cayce got knocked back by a kick to the stomach. He groaned for a second, shaking his head. He growled a bit, and managed to block another punch, rearing back and hammering the man hard across his jaw to send him stumbling. He panted slightly as he stood up. "Give it a rest, you really want to do this with the station burning around us?!"
His opponent wiped some blood from his lip, exhaling heavily. "You Imperials...always so high and mighty; think you're above it all." He charged Cayce, who was already prepared.
His fist was caught. Cayce reared back with his elbow, catching the guy in the face once more, before spinning and catching him with a round house kick, knocking him back to the ground. He cracked his knuckles as he walked up. "First thing's first; I'm not just a mindless Imperial traditionalist. I've no love for how Arissa is allowing this mess to be handled, and I've no respect for how Torval treats her slaves. I'm also not a fan of how the Federation decided to handle this mess. I don't give a damn about your politics. I just want to get people on this burning wreck to safety. Something you're keeping me from doing right now. So I'll give you the choice. You can walk aboard my ship and take your seat, or, I can drag you aboard unconscious. Take your pick."
Taking no heed of Cayce's warning, the man cried out and stumbled towards him. He tried to swing with an uppercut, and stumbled. Cayce stepped back, and he muttered "Go to hell, Imperial trash..."
"You first." Cayce spun and cracked his elbow against the back of the man's head, and he collapsed in a heap on the floor. Cayce, sighing and panting, rested his hands on his knees for a moment as he caught his breath. He shook his head and as he gathered himself, turned, picked up the unconscious assailant, pulling his left arm over his shoulders, he proceeded to drag the unconscious hulk of a man into the ship.
Shyanne, meanwhile, had not let her own target out of her sight, still having him pinned to the bulkhead as the hatch opened and Cayce dragged in the assailant. They both looked over, and Shyanne looked back to see the color drain from the executive's face. She removed her firearm from his stomach and slowly let go of him. "Seems your man was all bark. Now sit down before you join him."
"Hey, can someone help me with this?" The man wasted no time as Cayce let the husk he was carrying drop to the floor to make his way to an open seat and buckle in. In the corner, two other men, carrying the same patches as the other two, pick the body up and move him to the last chair, sitting him down and securing him in. place. "And keep an eye on him. He wakes and starts to cause trouble? Knock him out again."
"Captain are you alright? You look like hell." Shyanne reached up, brushing a finger against one of the bruises on his face.
Cayce shook his head, wincing. "Feel like I got hit with an Anaconda. That should have been an easy fight."
"Worry about it later. We have to get out of here."
"Right right..." Cayce glanced over to the executive that was now being very docile. "...You have problems too?"
Shyanne looked over, before smirking and shaking her head. "No, just another deal gone bad."
Cayce looked at her, raising an eyebrow before chuckling. "Same old same with you, huh?"
"You know me, Captain. Can't resist a bad deal."
"Of course not. Well, get seated. I'll get us to take off."
With that, Cayce walked his way back to the bridge of the ship, sitting down and letting out a loud sigh of relief as he looked around the cockpit. He rubbed his eyes, groaning from where he was caught off guard "Ffffuck that's going to hurt tomorrow." After which he began setting up the ship to take off. "Kepler ATC this is DeLacy Sigma, Peter, Four requesting launch clearance."
The ATC crackled over the comms. "DeLacy Sigma Peter we heard there was a commotion on your landing pad. Is everything alright?"
"Just fine, a disagreement between me and one of your fine Atropos & Co friends who decided it was okay to hijack my Python. It's taken care of, but I request authorities be waiting at the rescue ship."
"We can arrange that, Commander. Clearance granted. Safe travels."
Cayce pinged off the comms and the platform slid forward. When the retractable cover pulls back, the platform slides up into the burning inferno that is Kepler Orbital. Making note of the positions of debris, the Python is quickly lifted up off the platform, ducks to the right and down to avoid a floating piece of Orbis star port, and lifts to angle towards the mail slot. Cayce pops a heat sink quick as he cautiously guides the Python out of the docking bay this time, this departure far more cautious than previous as he fought to hold himself awake long enough to finish this run. As the Black Pearl enters the mail slot, it's greeted by an Anaconda coming in for another run. The scanner pipped the ship as the Libertas, piloted by a Commander Bradwell. Cayce popped the ship up a bit, so that both cockpit canopies had a clear view between them. He clicked on an open comm, and held up a 'rock on' symbol with his left hand. "My last run for now, I need to get some sleep. Fly safe, Commanders." With a flick of the booster switch, the Python leapt forward, aiming towards the Rescue ship and disappearing into Supercruise as soon as the mass lock safeguard deactivates.