The Scarman Enigma

[|Scarecrow|]

Deck 1

Scarecrow sat opposite Commander Sinclair, drumming the fingers of his right hand on the desk before him. They had used one of the singular meeting rooms to iron out the rough edges that had appeared between their two starships. Marcus had explained as best he could their situation, knowing full well that the Liberty Navy would discover them sooner or later. Sinclair had seemed dubious at first, but after Marcus had shown him the evidence of different matter types, he had become uncertain.

So you are from a parallel dimension? Sinclair asked finally, his eyebrow hiked in bewilderment.
Yes, I really cant make it any simpler than that Im afraid, Scarman said, hoping that the Navy officer believed his story. But this has the potential to turn into an extremely volatile situation; I must ask that you keep this strictly within Navy knowledge, and within the high circles at that.
You will have to speak with the First Admiral on that matter. Sinclair said doubtfully, Your ship is here now, plain for all to see. There will be questions asked, especially from my crew. No one has ever seen a ship of this design, and Tuatha de Danaan isnt listed amongst any of our service ships.

That is understandable, well need to come up with something to take care of this little issue, but as you saw before the immediate problem is this band of pirates that are threatening some of the individuals within our own command structure. Marcus paused for a moment, keeping from telling Sinclair that Scarecrow was one of the pirates targets. We believe that these pirates came through the inter-dimensional rift along with our ships. They are also not of your own universe.
Great, Sinclair said, An enemy from a parallel dimension, for all I know these bastards could have technologies years, decades even, ahead of our own.
Dont worry Commander; they dont have anything we dont have. It is their numbers that worries me; they will probably have already begun recruitment in this dimension.

So their numbers will be growing exponentially, Sinclair sighed, This will be difficult to contain.
Indeed it will, I know that one more pirate war band roaming Liberty space is the last thing you want right now. It is my understanding that they have a delicate command structure. They all both fear and revere their Tyrant; if we are able to remove him then the entire warband will be thrown into disarray.
And this Tyrant, this is the Sayne Jadyn character you spoke of? Sinclair asked.
No, the Tyrant of the Black Flag Corsairs is in fact an alternate version of me. Marcus said as evenly as he could. It is an interesting concept, and one I found difficult to believe at first. But it appears to be the truth; Robert Merlow met the man face to face.

This is all somewhat far-fetched Admiral Scarman, Sinclair said, shaking his head in disbelief. I will have to call the First Admiral and have him speak directly with your Fleet Admiral. This is the job of top rankers, not starship captains.
I understand, Marcus nodded.
However, I would let you know that the Prometheus and all of her resources are at your disposal in assistance with the current threat. I recognize the delicacy of this situation Admiral, as well as the potential for disaster. I will do what it takes to bring down this Jadyn character.
Thank you Commander, Marcus smiled, Your assistance will be greatly appreciated.

---

Hangar bay

The two Typhoon fighters Lucas had secured stood side by side in their maintenance berths. Fuel connectors to their hulls trailed long snaking pipelines across the hangar decking as liquid deuterium gushed into their tanks. The low thrum of raw energy reverberated throughout the expanse of the hangar deck as the two men walked towards their ships. They wore matching navy blue flight suits, each with standard utility belts and they held oxygen rebreathers beneath one arm. Anderson had managed to secure two Typhoons from Obsidian flight, four and five to be exact. The Typhoons had been scrambled to combat the hostile pirate ships an hour earlier only to enter the combat zone as the enemy was retreating. Their engines were still warm from the flight and their tanks simply needed topping up.

There you go, Anderson said as Manning stopped in front of the Typhoons. Obsidian five is yours, four is mine. Flight control has said we can use them for our mission, but in case of emergency we need to head back to the Danaan.
Understandable, Kurt said as he ran a gloved hand across the hull of Obsidian five. Alright then, Ive worked out a flight plan, were going to run multiple scanning sweeps across the entire valley.
Alright, Ive loaded a couple of cannonballs on to each fighter in case we come across any ground targets.
See you in space, Kurt grinned at Lucas as he donned his oxygen rebreather. He turned around and disappeared behind the fuselage of his Typhoon. Lucas shook his head and turned around to his own fighter. He didnt like the bounty hunters positive attitude; it was almost as if the man was enjoying the whole thing.

---

| S C A R E C R O W |

"See you space cowboy..."