Tying Up Loose Ends

[Charo]

Crazy Barry

[color=#000000]Barry cursed under his breath as his cardamine tank ran out. Ever since the Raiders disappeared, Barry has been flying around the Omicrons in search of...nothing. For months he's flown around aimlessly, his Broadsword in a state of disrepair, the Antimatter Cannon shorting out every other fight, almost killing him. Today was his first trip into house space in weeks, and he intended to crack a few skulls. The purple haze of the Badlands filled his sight, the faint outline of an Eagle just beyond his view. "Hey, how about a quick stop at Buffalo? I'm all out of orange!" "Fine" an unenthusiastic response from the Eagle pilot. The crushed nose of the bomber swings around in the direction of the hidden base. The Broadsword slips past the trade lane leading to the Pennsylvania gate, when his engines suddenly shut down.

Jason Hunter

[color=#33CCFF]Jason sighed under his breath as he received his current orders. Patrol duty, again. He looks over at Scott Birmingham, his ex-navigator aboard the LNS-Milton when it was in service. "The hell is Hale thinking, bumping me down to secondary fleet, then sending me on New York patrol every other night?" Scott gives Jason a sarcastic look. "It's your own damn fault, learn to fight in an Avenger first then bitch." Jason throws the nearest book at Scott, and walks out the door.

The patrol was ordinarily boring, the occasion cry of a transport about pirates, but nothing on scene when he arrives. After repeatedly flying across the 'northern' part of the system, he decides to head towards the Badlands, where there's always excitement. His Avenger slips through the dark purple rocks, scratching his wing across one, leaving a large scar. His scanners picking up two unknown ships, he decides to get closer. Once getting into a close range, Jason slams on the disruptor. "Mother of god, it's him".

Russell and David Hunter

[color=#FF6600]Russell sat outside Manhattan as usual, waiting for a job to come along. His old Raven Talon groaned under the strain of sitting in space day after day. After watching his brother Jason pass for the thousandth time, he decides to ask what's up. "Yo, Jason, what are you up to this time?" "Dammit Russell, it's the same everyday, New York patrol, I'm heading down to the Badlands tough, maybe something exciting." "Well good luck, maybe you'll find him there again" "Yeah right, keep dreaming bro." With that, Jason's ship rushed off through the trade lane.

David sorted through paperwork, as he did all day. Everyday. Today was different, he was ordered to take Neon to the Pennsylvania system. He stood up from his desk, ordered his Kuijara's hull to be filled with the gas, and eventually un-moored from Newark. "I'm getting too damn old for this" He turned the front of his ship towards the lane. "Hey, dad, going somewhere?" David looked over his scanners, showing his youngest son's Raven Talon. "Yeah, I have to go to Penny, wanna come with me?" "Sure, nothing going on here, let's go." With that, the two ships zoom through the lane.

Barry

[color=#000000]Barry turned his ship around, showing the source of his engine failure. "Dear god, it's bloody Jason Hunter, what the hell have you been doing, you enjoy that present I left for you on your old gunship buddy?" Barry laughs loudly. "I loved it, hope you know I got away with only minor burns bro." Barry kicks one of the dead consoles, bringing it back to life. "Well, where the hell are the other two, off with whatsherface, that Kusari whore?" Jason scoffs. "You know damn well not, you bastard. I don't want to see your ugly ass any longer, so I'm going to kill you now. Some brother you are Barry." The Avenger's guns unleash a fury of plasma at the Broadsword, ripping it's shield to nothing. Barry swings the ship around, and shoots off some shield ripping EMPs, cutting the forefrontal assault to a halt, the Avenger dodging like mad.

Out of nowhere, a large transport escorted by a small fighter narrowly misses the Eagle watching the scrap. The fighter breaks formation, circling the fighter. "Damn Jason, you really did find the bastard, now for my part." With that, the Talon unleashed a multitude of colors from the multiple gun types. The Kuijara stays on the edge of the fight, watching.

Barry dodges from the fighter's fire, and points his guns at the transport, killing the shield in seconds. "Pops, I missed ya, too bad the Outcasts didn't do their job right, guess I'll have to do it myself!" The Broadsword shakes, and unleashes a blue glob of antimatter, almost tearing the left engine off as it exits. The shot slams into the transport, ripping a hole straight through, leaving behind a cloud of light blue. The transport loses its balance, tipping to one side before splitting in half in a large explosion of neon gas, nearly catching the Eagle with it.

Russell roars over the comm system "NO! YOU SON OF A BITCH! DAD! I'LL KILL YOU!" His ship unleashed a razor shot, hitting Barry's right engine, shutting it down and putting him in a spin. Barry roars with laughter, dropping a nuclear mine and shooting away from the Talon. In a fit of Rage, Russell fails to see the mine, his ship ripped to shreds in mere milliseconds. "MOTHERFRICKER, RUSSELL, DAD!" Jason spins his ship around just in time to see his brother's ship explode. With Barry's ship shooting off in a straight line, Jason takes his chance, unleashing a barrage of fire from his Magma Hammers, successfully tearing the Broadsword to pieces. As the ship explodes, faint laughter is heard, with a man's voice stopping mid sentence, "Looks like you won you halfbreed bast-..."

Jason stops his ship, holding his head in his hands, crying with rage. He doesn't look up as he screams over his comms. "What about you, you want some too you son of a bitch?!"

---

[Death.RunningVerminator]

Still grieving over the loss of his family, he went home to sulk his sorrows in sleep. On the way back he had kept telling himself he could have saved them, but he knew mere words would not bring the dead back to life. He just wanted to fall asleep, and never wake up from this nightmare. As he walked home in the dark, slouching and sulking, his head still hanging down, he felt the slightest of chills run up his spine. A calm sense of relief overwhelmed him. Jason approached his house, and was soon reaching for the door nob. He closed the door and sighed, glad to be home from the traumatizing day. But something wasn't right. He felt it. A strange sense of evil. Jason shrugged it off as nothing as he locked the door. He turned back around, when a sharp pain suddenly seized his stomach. As he took his gaze off from the keys and onto the face of the pilot who was in that eagle earlier on, he spit out blood.

"Y-.. You?.. Who.. Who are you?"

The cloaked man unwrapped his hood to reveal himself to the dieing soul.

"You were.. You were in the LPI.. A.. A long time ago.. Y-.. Yes?"

The cloaked man fixed his hood back on his head as he took the blade out from the stomach of his victim. He nodded.

"T.. Traitor.."

The silent killer smirked. Something that was rare, but yet a sign that he had done the bidding of his master.

Jason dropped to the floor with a thud, blood seeping through the carpets.

The next day, the cloaked man had returned to his home. His home on board The Verminator.