The Scarman Enigma

[|Scarecrow|]

The hangar bay was quiet, aside from the low hum of a couple of maintenance droids. Marcus glanced across the open space, imagining the large Thunderhawk dropship sat on its landing struts. He had left General Serov and Fleet Admiral Merlow outside Senator Scarmans quarters after equipping himself with an array of weaponry. A blaster pistol, an array of power units and a couple of plasma grenades hung from his belt whilst a carbine lay across one shoulder. He took one more look around the expanse of the hangar bay before turning around and making for the entrance to the bay control room.

The thick metal door slid back with a neat click, casting a flickering array of shadows before Scarecrow. A small staircase lay before him, the dull metal of the decking glinting in the low light from overhead. He climbed the flight of stairs and turned around to face the bank of surveillance and security terminals that ran along the furthest wall. He made his way over to the nearest console and pulled over a seat. If Tyrant Scarman had really stolen the Thunderhawk, there should be a visual record of him and his captives boarding the dropship. He began to tap away at the console, brining up the latest security feeds.

An image appeared showing the hangar bay approximately thirty minutes prior to Scarecrows arrival. His suspicions were confirmed as he saw Tyrant Scarman deposit his two captives on the deck and proceed into the Thunderhawk. Several minutes later, his evil alternate self reappeared from the landing vessel and gathered his bruised and broken prizes before vanishing back through the large bulkhead and into the depths of the Danaan. Several seconds later, the hangar bay entrance lights began to flash and the Thunderhawks engines fired up.

Not before long, the Thunderhawk had launched and was away, blasting out into space. Marcus leaned back in his chair and ran his hands through his hair. Tyrant Scarman was still aboard, as he had suspected. Feeling the anger rising from within, Marcus stood up and headed back to the doorway. He swung his carbine into his waiting hands and slammed a cartridge into place.

As soon as he had left the hangar bay, his palm computer chimed. Flicking it open, he answered the call with an air of annoyance.
Yes, what is it.
Its Ensign Powell sir, Powells voice sounded nervous.
Go ahead Ensign,
Admiral, there has been a breech in security in the brig.
Well, two cents in figuring out who is responsible for that, Marcus growled, Thank you Ensign.
He shut off his palm computer and headed for the brig.

---

Fleet Admiral, The communicae had crackled over the network as clearly as if Ensign Powell had been next to him. Ive got something important that you might want to see
Now, Fleet Admiral Merlow looked in disgust at the broken corpses that lay before him. He stood in the loading gantry for torpedo bay two, after the message from Ensign Powell had reported two bodies stowed away within one of the torp cases. Senator Marcus Scarman, and his wife Hannah, had been brutally murdered by the Senators alternate self, Tyrant Scarman. The body of the Senator seemed to have been shot in the face, his head nothing but a bloody pulp. Dark red blood stained the expensive suit shirt and jacket that still clung to his lifeless frame. The body of Hannah Scarman was, in Roberts eyes, far worse. She was naked and covered in bruises, her light blonde hair stained with red. Merlow turned away in bitter disgust, trying not to think of the two victims poor daughter.

Two Engineers who had been closest to the scene of the crime; Martin Cole and Alexandra Laughlin, were giving statements to two security officers stood near by.
And he just walked around the corner, as if he were taking a stroll in the park. Laughlin said, emphasizing her statement colorfully with her hands.
Robert turned to face Thomas Serov, an unwavering look of menace in his eyes. If Marcus was right, then we might be able to catch this bastard on the Danaan.
If he was right, then our entire security team needs a big slap in the face.
After what has transpired today my friend, I intend to give them a big slap in the face. I never imagined an internal security breech, this is unforgivable. Merlows glowering features persuaded Serov to keep his mouth shut. Instead, he followed the Fleet Admiral as he stormed from the torpedo tube.

Well head for the hangar bay, Merlow continued without waiting for Serov to reply, Scarecrow will have checked the hangar by now, if anything turns up then well meet up with him. Otherwise the plan stands; we make planetfall and rendezvous with Admiral Anderson.

---

Lucas dropped his Typhoon to below 100 mph, ready to land. They had been scanning the area for no more than fifteen minutes before Mannings sensors had picked up an anomalous reading. Anderson dropped his fighter down towards the canopy, sighting the target area before him. Kurt had landed on the outskirts of a large clearing, directing Lucas in via intercom. Lucas decelerated drastically before twisting Obsidian four around and dropped his landing struts.

Down below in the clearing, Kurt Manning watched from a distance as the newly appointed Freedom Fighter Admiral dropped his starfighter neatly into the edge of the forest canopy, safely out of view from any vessels that might pass overhead. He had hidden Obsidian five in a similar way, covering her with leaves and branches so that from above she looked like a simple patch of forest. He strode across the clearing to where Obsidian four had finally touched down, ready to help Lucas in covering his fighter.

Ten minutes later, the two men were walking briskly around the fringe of the clearing. They had covered Obsidian four with as much of the surrounding biological detritus as they could manage before setting off in the direction of Kurts find.
I saw something over here, He said as they crouched behind a fallen log.
You saw[i] something, Lucas said, giving Kurt a sideways glance. You mean, with your [i]own eyes?
Funny guy, Manning replied, curtly. I was doing a flyover of this area and I caught a glimpse of something down on the fringe of the forest. As a bounty hunter, you learn to catch things with your own senses, instead of simply relying on your ships sensors.
Alright, alright, Lucas held up his hands in mock resignation. What is it then?

Kurt produced a small pair of binoculars from his belt and held them to his eyes, surveying the large clearing before him. He looked around for a few moments before his eyes came to rest on the object he had spotted. A wry smile crossed his lips as he handed the binoculars to Lucas.
There you go, look pretty much due east.
Lucas rested his elbows on the fallen log before squinting through the small binoculars. It took him several seconds to find what Kurt was looking at, but when his eyes finally found their target, he couldnt help but share Mannings grin.

Two men wearing black jump suits were pulling a large, dark green tarpaulin from a concealed starfighter. What Kurt had seen must have been the sun glinting off the metal as the sheet was pulled from the concealed vessel. From what Lucas could make out, it was a Hammerhead class gunship, but with a black paint job and a red crest on its dorsal fin. The closer Lucas looked at the crest, more certain he was. They had found at least one of the secret landing locations of the Black Flag Corsairs...

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| S C A R E C R O W |

"See you space cowboy..."