The Pens of Niverton

[ryeguy146]

Clif's world rattled and he was jostled awake. His wounds had been wrapped, but still blood leaked from the gash in his shoulder. He was slick with the stuff and struggled to make sense of his surroundings.

"And he's still alive. Thanks to me." Diana's voice.

Clif turned his head in the direction of the voice and asked, "Where... where are we?"

"After your little incident with the chef, I wrapped you up and got us out of there. The children were left behind, but our 'mission' was a success. Now clean yourself up, we're almost there." She tossed a grimy towel in his direction with a small laugh. "I'm amazed that you're still alive after losing all that blood. Guess you had too much anyway," She joked.

Clif groaned in response and drifted back into an almost sleep. Diana, no matter her driving mishaps earlier, managed to bring the vehicle up to Stupid Singularity without incident. The ground crew had been informed of their arrival, and ran up to carry Clif to the Bactrian with the newly acquired slaves in tow.

"Everyone is either back, or already off planet, Diana, we're ready to takeoff when you're ready" She was informed by one of the crew.

Diana boarded the Bactrian and scowled at anyone who asked her to help. She'd be the one to pilot them home, a move that'd have to be done quickly if Clif was to be saved. He needed blood and an equipped doctor that only one of their hideouts could offer. And Clif would just have to hold on until then.

Diana strapped into the driver's seat. The whole ship rumbled, though the engines were still cut. It was, again, the lifter that blasted the two ships through the atmosphere. As the flames caused by friction receded from their view and weightlessness enveloped them, the lifter released it's grasp on Singularity and fell back planetside. The Bactrian roared to life and took the nearest trade lane towards California Minor without anyone noticing. Though the trade lane was a risky move, Diana knew that Clif wouldn't survive a long flight through open space. The lane dumped them into the orbit of Minor, where they were spotted by the local authorities. "Just LPI," she scoffed, but didn't have time for such interruptions. The comms burst with static that resolved into the condescending nasal whine of the ranking Officer.

"Lookie here, it's Bactrian in a hurry. Think we might have some fun with this one, boys."

"Permission to fire, Sir?" Another asked.

"Of course! I want that hunk of junk disassembled into the scraps it's made from."

The exchange gave Diana time to start her cruise engines, but the police were close behind. She radioed ahead for cover and hoped that they'd be in time. Even with her piloting skills, there was no way she'd be able to survive four fighters. And it was still some way before the ice field could give her any cover. Each policeman had few issues keeping up with the Bactrian, but they were unable to bring the shields down. Diana was beginning to think that they'd make it when a disruptor jolted the engines into a reset. Stupid Singularity lurched sickeningly, and Clif slid onto the floor from his chair. No one had thought to strap him in, but there was no time for that now. The cops were on them in an instant, and Diana fought to keep free of their fire. Lasers and photon beams flashed across the bridge window, but the shields held steady. Not long and they'd be in the...

"What is that?" A mortar blast ripped past the Bactrian and tore into the nearest fighter while pulse blasts ate the shields of another two. The Mother had arrived. And Mother was angry. The Scylla brought its primary cannons to bear on the remaining LPI.

"I Blame My Mother here. We heard that Clif was in trouble, thought you might be able to use some help. Proceed to Alcatraz and we'll cover your back." The Destroyer's turrets pumped energy into the hulls of the police, who were forced to give up their chase and evade the deadly fire.

"Home free, you sweet ugly goddess. I'll buy you a beer at the bar." Diana whooped happily.

The bay doors slid home behind Stupid Singularity on Alcatraz, and a med team awaited. Such a funny sight, a team of Rogue physicians. She barked orders for her team to carry the collapsed Underboss to the stretcher.

Once they were off the ship, she again departed into the cold field of ice. She still had several hundred slaves to deliver to the Pens of Niverton.