Outlaw Star Meets Armored Core

[Arikraz]

This is a story of Rigger's that I know that he'll probably start writing in again once he sees taht i brought it over here

Outlaw Star/Armored Core Crossover Written by: Rigger

[Arikraz]

It had been a long trip. Riggers legs were extremely sore from sitting in the cockpit of his AC for the past few days.

"Guess thats just another price I pay for turning this thing into a space-faring AC" he thought.

He had been fed up with the lack of jobs back on mars, and Ravens Nest was getting more tightly controlled. But they had begun work on making Armored Core's that could do space travel. To him, it was another wonderful job oppurtunity. Much of space had now been colonized, and new species had made relations with humans. This only broadened the horizon for being a mercenary. Surely quite a few of the high powers would have jobs for him. He was confident in this because he had no equal on Mars. He had completed every job to its best outcome, even when he was a new Raven. And as he went on, he found and bought better equipment, augmenting his abilities.

It reached a wonderful high when he was told he could have parts to make his AC space-worthy. He had only seen designated space ships with this ability, and was ecstatic when he was offered the chance. He had swiped the offer as soon as it was given to him, and now his AC was flying through space. He had two drives to make him go at top speeds, a Sub-Ether drive, and a standard Hyperdrive. He had heard the Sub-Ether drives were very trustworthy, and did the same job as the less-reliable Hyperdrives.
He couldn't have put these little beauties on his AC with the current chassie it had before an external one was made. This new coating, as it were, seemed to be made of glass and made his AC seem much larger. It was a very advanced polymer that had taken many years to synthesize, and he was one of the proud recipients of its benefits. It fitted his AC like a glove, and made it harder to scratch or damage anything. Including his personally done paint-job. The coating was made large enough and with enough ports so that drives and extra boosters could be fitted on it. All were neccessary in order to simply leave orbit and travel to other systems. However, all this new equipment didn't increase his cockpit space, which he now despised. However, he was happy he had made a few modifications to his AC himself, installing a CD player and Fight-Sim. These made his trips much more bearable, and he was happy as a school girl he had taken the extra time to install them.

However, the fact that he always had his extra-long sword with him didn't make cockpit area matters any better. The thing was too long, and he was forced to always put it at an angle by his feet. This didn't make hailing other ships very easy, seeing as a large hilt was always right in his face. He would fix thios problem on the next system he arrived at, which was supposed to be Sentinal 3.

"They better have some god damn jobs over there" he muttered almost incoherently. He was due to arrive in another few hours, which wasn't soon enough for his still aching legs. He consoled himself that he wouldn't have to pay much in cash for his docking. The AC could stand on its own very easily, and the money was normally to repair the stabilizers that held most ships in place. He just hoped they accepted the standard credits that were used on Mars. Or else he would be royally screwed and have to find a field in the middle of nowhere to land. He dismissed the thought, remembering he could worry about it in another few hours. Once he got to the system perimeter, he could download any of the planets current wanted lists and job offers. All the easier it made his job. He again dismissed his thoughts, and turned his in-cockpit stereo up.

He switched the CD to the soundtrack of an old earth movie, "The Nightmare before Christmas." He switched the song to Jacks Lament, and sang along.

He was a few minutes away from the perimeter of Sentinal 3 when his Vid Link opened up. A buisness man who was a bit portly with brown hair and small glasses came on.
"This is the docking manager of Sentinal 3. If you would like to request docking clearance, we must first classify your vehicle. It is not registered under any type of space-faring vessel in my databases." His tone was rehearsed, like he had done this a little while before. He looked at Rigger with a neutral glare, and asked him to send information on his vehicle once more.

"Yeah, i gotcha. Gimme a sec." Rigger typed on a few of the buttons on his console, and just before he entered the information asked a question. "What should i send this information to?"

"I will open a data port and you send it directly there. I will also need confimation that you are licensed to pilot that vehicle. Most people that are your age are not."

"Dammit," Rigger thought, 'Its always my freakin age, isn't it? god, it sucks being 14." To the manager, he said "Here you are sir. License to pilot this, and the type of vehicle." He tapped a few more buttons and the information was sent. He saw the manager look away from him and at another a screen. He glanced over the information and gave a questionable look to the information.

"We have no docks that will conform to your, err, Armored Core configuration sir." He looked a bit disappointed that a a person like Rigger was piloting something of such power, but he kept his face even.

Rigger sighed in brief frustration and said "Just gimme a clear dock. No stabilizers, nothin. I just need a clear space."

"As you wish sir, here are the coordinates." The manager punched in a few last numbers and Rigger received the docking coordinates. The brown haired manager finished with "It was good doing buisness with you sir." and the vid link went dead. Riger wondered why the guy had looked at him so weird, and then just blamed it on his age. He locked onto the coordinates and started the landing systems.

He entered the atmosphere smoothly, and felt the new coat stabilize itself for landing. The thrusters flared on and slowed his decent. He took manual control of the AC and began the final landing procedures. He stepped on the booster pedal and slowed his decent even more, and evened out the position of the AC. It was soon perpendicular to the ground, and he released the booster pedal. The AC dropped another forty feet directly into the center of the landing pad. As he did so, he saw the same manager he had spoke with earlier drive over. He set up the stanby controls and got to use another feature of his polymer shell. He pressed a few buttons, and the coating jettisoned itself until it looked like the shell was behind his AC. It stood alone, directly behind him. The hatch to the outside opened as light began to peer into the cockpit. Once it was opened, he used a small line that allowed him on and off of his AC to reach the ground.

He hopped to the ground, the manager walking towards him from the car. The manager brought a pencil and clipboard to his attention, and told him to read it over. He shoved the items into Rigger's hands and then said "Bring these to my office when you are finished." he abruptly went back to the car, and drove off. Rigger looked around and saw the office, roughly a half mile away.

"Bastard could have given me a lift" he thought to himself. He didn't like the idea, but he decided to sit in his cockpit once more and fill out the forms. He had left his sword in there anyway, and needed to retrieve it. He grabbed the line once more and was hoisted upward. He sat in the pilot chair and looked at the forms. "Please follow all guidelines and rules" he muttered to himself, reading off the paper aloud. "All damages done to occupying vessel are the responsibility of the captain or pilot, all damages done to surrounding equipment will be added to the docking pay." He let out a snort, not bothering to read the rest. He signed the papers, and grabbed his sword. He put it on his back, and got out of the cockpit once again. He had grabbed his palm-pilot, the one he used to keep track of his expenses. It could be linked to computers to make transactions, and he hoped he could get the currency with it. He looked at the span between him and the offices once again, and started walking. He took the time to curse the manager and observe the other ships that were docked. He saw very few, but there were some that caught his eye. Many green ships with white symbols painted on them were docked, almost like it was an organized group. There was one other that was red with blue streaks around the engines. He neared the building and shifted his sword so it would look a bit more imposing. He walked through the plastic double-doors and saw the manager at one of the desks looking through forms that resembled his own. He walked over and plopped the forms down on the mans desk. the manager looked away from the forms he was applying himself to and jumped a bit when he saw the oversized sword. He took the papers quickly and made himself look busy, trying to give Rigger the intention he was finished.

Rigger then thought of whether this guy could give him some local info, and started asking the now nervous man questions. He started off, out of sheer curiosity, to ask what the green ships outside were.

The managers face went slightly pale, and brought himself up to Riggers ear. He whispered in a tone which was that of anxiety, "Those are ships of a group known as the Kae Pirates." He continued, "Don't get on their bad side. They have powerful ships and skills. The man who owns the red ship out there is one of the ones they're hunting."

[Arikraz]

Rigger warmed up to the subject, smiling a bit and asking "You think they would hire a mercenary?"
The clerk looked back and said nothing. Rigger assumed this meant "No" and asked to see if they accepted Martian Credits. The man looked relieved he had dropped the subject of the pirates, and then switched his manner to that of buisness once again. He answered "No, here and in most of the rest of teh universe Wong is the accepted currency." Rigger moved his right hand to the hilt of his sword, and the manager moved on to say " However, uh, we CAN exchange your currency!" Rigger took his hand away and asked what would be the trade. "We will exchange five of your credits for one Wong. How much are you willing to trade?" Rigger looked at him and brought out his palm pilot. He flipped open a little cover and began tapping little buttons on the screen. It had been a while since he had checked how much he had had. He looked at his balance to see exactly 1,000,000 credits left. It would come out to 200,000 Wong, and figured it would work.
He looked at the manager and said "I have 1,000,000credits to trade. Can we make the transaction now?" The manager nodded, and Rigger gave him some quick reminders on how to hook it up to the computer. The man did so, and began exchanging the money. He then informed Rigger that he had to form an account, or else the money would not exchange properly. Rigger grunted and told him to make one, and he was given another set of forms.
"I have to fill out more!? Dammit!"
"Standard procedure sir, i'm sorry." the manager didn't look like he meant it, but Rigger ignored it and sat down in one of the chairs in the waiting area. He filled out the forms, giving his name and all teh rest of the gibberish they wanted. He walked back to the brown-haired @#%$ who had now given him two much-loathed sets of paperwork. He shoved it in his arms, and glared at the poor manager. The manager tried for the neutral glance again, but quickly turned to his computer. He typed up theresults to the papers, and gave Rigger a nod. He then transfered the money into Riggers new account, and unhooked the palm pilot from his computer. He handed it back to Rigger, and dismissed him. But before he left, Rigger asked for where he could get a car or rent one.
"Here, if you would like sir," The manager said, then flinched before his next words "But there will be more paperwork."
Rigger looked at him, turned his hands into fists, released them, and sighed in defeat. "Fine, where do i choose the car?"

He went through a half hour filling out more forms and renting the car. He finished with a contented groan, and jumped in the car. It was a hover car, one of the newer types. It was a sleek design, blue in color. Two large engines at the back roared to life and he left the docks. He made his way to the city, and started looking around. He was partially in the mood for finding a hotel, but was too hyper to bother. His long stay in his AC had made him really antsy, so he decided to look for a bar to hang around in. He found one a few minutes later, it was a square structure with a dim red light coming out of the inside. He parked the car, made sure his sword was secure, and walked in. It looked like just another bar, some mega punks sitting around, a few nice looking waitresses, and some other people that were none to interesting. However, he did see one person that caught his attention. Actually, it was a group that did it. There was a red-haired man with numerous black scars on his face. He wore a strange cloak that jutted out from his shoulders and went down to his shoes in a tan color of fabric. Next to him was a boy that looked about Rigger's own age, peering around the bar. He was dressed in a blue coat and khaki pants. He looked to be a wiz at something, but what Rigger didn't know. The final person was a girl in a blue cloak similar to the red-haired mans, but it was about to her upper thighs. Her hair was spiky, falling in their black spikes around her shoulders.
He went to the bar and asked for a soda, studying the group a little more. When one of them looked in his direction, he quickly turned his head. Apparently, he wasn't quick enough and he saw the man with the red hair mutter something to the boy. The boy pulled out a laptop and began typing. He pointed at Rigger and said something that Rigger couldn't make out.
Rigger continued sipping his soda, trying to listen to what they were saying. He heard a few comments about his sword, but that was about the extent of it. He finished his soda and looked over once more. When he did so, the man stood up and began walking over. Rigger tensed, he knew that their were some assholes who really liked to strut around bars, so he didn't let his guard down. The man stood next to him and spoke to the bartender, asking "What did this kid order?"
The bartender replied that Rigger had gotten a soda, and the man looked at him. He looked at Rig's sword again and said "Such a weak drink and such a large weapon?" He laughed at his brief insult, and Rigger turned his eyes to him.
"I don't drink alchohol" Rigger said evenly. The man looked at him as if dissappointed, and ordered himself a shot of sake' and Rigger another soda.
"Well thats to bad, isn't it?" He laughed. Rigger looked at his person again and noticed that the boy was coming over. The boy stood to the left of the man, and grabbed his cloak.
"Sorry about Gene," he motioned to the man who's cloak he was holding, "He's not exactly a liker of new people."
"Especially ones with overly large, and outclassed weapons" Gene said. He kept glancing at his sword.
"My name is Rigger" the AC pilot said to the boy, ignoring the man. "And i would appreciate if your friend didn't use derrogatory remarks concerning my sword."
"Yeah GENE! You don't insult people you don't know!" The boy seemed much more reasonable to Rigger than the man did.
" Quiet Jim. But i don't appreciate little punks trying to act all bad. You wanna fight?"
Rigger looked at the man directly, and said " How much will i get paid?" A strange silence drifted between gene and Rigger, and Rigger saw that Gene bagan to reach for something under his cloak.
"GEENE! quit it! you're the one who picked the fight! not the other guy!" The woman with the spiky black hair than walked over. Her eyes were large and brown. She looked much kinder than her male consort. She walked over to Rigger's other side and said with an inviting voice "Hi. My name is Melfina. Whats yours?" Rigger was nearly struck dumb at the sudden change of mood, but remembered his manners and said "My name is Rigger. Nice to meet you." He shook Melfina's hand and looked back at the two guys. He saw they seemed to be partially wrestling, and Gene had Jim in a headlock.
"They always act that way. Gene is just looking for money. When he saw you he asked Jim to see if you had a bounty on you. He was very dissappointed when you didn't." Gene had heard what she was telling Rigger and dumped Jim off behind him.
"Melfina! You're not supposed to tell strangers what we've been doing!" The man looked slightly angry, but more worried. Rigger looked at the soda that Gene had bought him and took a sip, then glanced at Gene once more. He thought quickly about what Melfina had just said, and could only guess they were bounty hunters. He decided to just get it out by asking bluntly.
"Are you a bounty hunter? Because there is none on me." Rigger looked into the froth of his drink, and waited for the mans reply. The man seemed a bit mad, and said harshly "No. I'm no bounty hunter. I'm an outlaw."
"An outlaw, huh?" Rigger mused, "Never knew that was a career choice." He looked directly at the man once again and said "Well, to even the scales, i am a mercenary. I'm just another type that will take any job that pays."
Melfina brightened and said happily "Wow! We do that too!" Gene interrupted her, stating "Your in the wrong place then. Sentinal 3 has no jobs."
Rigger looked with an even, questioning gaze at Gene. "Thats not what i have seen. There seems to be a few convicts that need catching. Small fry for me, but money is money."
" Finally a person who understands what the hell they're doing!" Jim said. He looked at Rigger kindly and held out his hand "Jim Hawking! The idiot behind me is Gene, as you've probably found out. Gene Starwind." Rigger warmed up and made his voice kinder to the boy. He held out his own hand, shaking Jims.
" My name is Rigger. Nice to meet you." He was happy to see someone his own age anyway. He looked at melfina again and saw her with her warm smile. He then asked Jim something that he seemed to be able to figure out. " Jim, do you know of any good jobs around here? I need something to keep me occupied."
Jim looked at him and asked him over to the table the group had been sitting at. He went on his laptop again, and began looking through various files. Rigger watched with amazement as Jim's hands flowed over the keyboard. Yeah, he could do this in his AC, but never on a normal computer. Jim looked back at Rigger and shook his head. Rigger sighed a "damn" and then asked another question. It had been bugging him since the manager at the docks had been so freaked out.
" Jim, do you know what the 'Kae' pirates are? When i landed here, the docking manager got all freaked out when i asked him." He saw jim's expression change, but to that of a serious look.
" The Kae pirates are after us. I won't say why. But how do you know they're here?"
" Like i said, docking manager. They had some prety cool lookin green ships with some weird white symbol on the front." He continued looking at Jim. Jim then yelled over to Gene and brought him over.

[Arikraz]

"Gene, we have company. Our new friend tells me that Kae pirates are here." Gene looked at Rigger suspiciously, and turned to Jim.
" Jim, they probly know were here. We gotta get moving." He snapped up Jims computer and strided out of the bar. Jim quickly followed him, and so did Melfina. He just looked at the door they had left from, and went back to sipping his soda.
After he had finished, he took Jim's word and decided to leave. A place with few jobs didn't interest him. He left the bar and drove back to the docks. He arrived to see the Red ship lifting off. The green ships had gone before it, all except for one. This one was sending what seemed to be shadowns to the red ship. He dropped the car of at it's place and saw the red ship leave the dock. The final green ship went straight after it. Rigger ran to his AC and took the line up. He sat in the cockpit and engaged all systems. He pressed a button and the "jettisoned" coding formed back with his AC. He turned on the backup thrusters and lifted off. It slowly began to rise and pick up speed. The secondary thrusters then ignited, blasting it out of the atmosphere.
Once he left the atmosphere, he engaged the radar and ceased use of the secondary thrusters. He piloted around, attempting to see what might be going on, and saw a few very bright flashes in his screen. He zoomed to see the red ship fighting off numerous green ones with arms that protruded from underneath it. He quickly hailed the ship, wanting to get in on the action. He pressed a few buttons and flipped a toggle to his left, and a "Call waiting" sign appeared on hos display. It read "call accepted" a moment later and began saying his normal hail information.
"This is Blue Sky. Anyone over there want some help? I'm within striking distance and will back you up." He looked at the screen and saw Jim, Gene, and what seemed to be a naked Melfina on the other end. Melfina was in a tube, surrounded by some type of suspension liquid.
" Rigger!?" Jim shouted " Yeah, you sure you can take some heat?"
" Affirmitive. I will target all ships. What should i refer to your ship as?" He began flipping toggles and preparing for battle.
" This is the Outlaw Star! Now give us some help!" Jim shut off the link and rigger boosted towards the firefight. The Outlaw Star was a good fighting machine, locking arms with some of the other ships. It used a blaster it pulled from its side to nail a few. Rigger thought they were doing quite well, but began selecting targets. He brought his missiles from his shoulder mount on his AC and began locking on. Once he had eight full locks, he fired a salvo. 4 hit their targets, the other four were intercepted. His AC was about half the size of any of the ships, but he charged in. He strafed a group of the green fighters with his arm-mounted energy blade, slicing them in half. He turned around immediately and fired a few blast from his Karasawa, blasting the ships into little pieces. The outlaw star darted in front of him and grabbed two of the enemy ships, slamming them together. A few large ones remained, they seemed to be carriers. Beams began to fly by the Outlaw Star and Blue Sky. Rigger overboosted straight past one of the large ships, using his energy blade to carve a scar across its side. The outlaw star went head on with the other, slamming the mechanical arm's directly into its hull. It pulled them out and the carrier exploded in a red flash. Rigger slammed his Karasawa into the scar he made and fired a shot, causing the other carrier to implode. He backed up and fired a few more shots into it, making sure it wouldn't move.
Rigger hailed the Outlaw Star once again, the vid link was established immediately. To the image of Jim on the screen, he said "You peeps alright?" Jim looked at him, an impressed gleam on his face, and replied "Yep, were fine. Scratched the paint on that last move, but were fine." Rigger looked at him and asked "Hey, mind if i come on your ship? My legs are cramped."
Jim agreed instantly, but Rigger heard angry shouts from gene. Jim turned around and yelled at Gene, but told Rigger to lock with the Outlaw Star before shuting down the link. Rigger did so, a bit hesitantly due to his AC's shape. It eventually got done, and the lock closed. His cockpit hatch opened up and he saw Jim standing smiling on the other side.

"Heeeey Jim! Thanks for letting me in." Rigger exited his cockpit happily, stretching his legs. He looked at Jim who he saw looking in his cockpit.
"This is all the space you have? Man, no wonder you get cramped." He left the cockpit and motioned Rigger further inside the ship. Rigger and Jim went around the corner and there stood a fuming fene. He no longer had his cloak on, and underneath was a black muscle shirt with red streaks. He held a pistol at one side and a strange looking larger pistol on his other hip. He looked at Jim, and looked like he was going to use the pistol.
"Jim, I'm the captain of this ship. Ask me first." He looked at Jim with a stone glare, and Jim hung his head.
" Then i suppose i should ask permission." Rigger stated politely, as if no previous incidents had befallen them. "Captain Starwind, may I enter your ship?" Gene looked a bit confused, like he hadn't been expecting such a move from the young pilot. He quickly replaced the feeling with that of authority, and acted with equal politeness towards Rigger.
"Yes, Rigger. You have permission to be in my ship. However, start any trouble, and we dump you off that instant." Gene put the pistol in his holster, and waved his hand at Jim and Rigger. They followed him to the cockpit, and Rigger's jaw dropped at it.
"Man, this place is NICE!" Rigger was practically bursting, and a proud look was on Gene's face. Rigger let off another exasperated statement, saying "You have so much space! Wow! I wish my AC was like this!" Gene beamed with pride at how his ship made the boy so jealous. But he snapped out of it when he heard the letters "AC" and looked at Rigger.
"What were you flying Rigger? It's tiny but its powerful." Gene looked with a quizzical glance at Rigger.
"My machine is called an AC, or Armored Core. It's basically a battle robot. I am the pilot."
"How did you get it? And you seem very experienced, and you said you were a mercenary. Where did you learn all that?"
A voice came over what seemed to be the entire ship, and Rigger heard Melfina's voice. "Don't rush him Gene."
Rigger spun around very quickly, trying to figure out where it had come from. Then he saw the clear tube that held an actually naked Melfina and his jaw dropped again. Trying to pry his eyes away, he looked at Gene. "Um, real quick Gene, why is Melfina in a tube filled with fluid? And why is she naked?"
"Ya got me, she navigates the ship. I have no clue why shes naked though." He responded, then whispered in Rig's ear "its not like i mind either"
Rigger nodded his full agreement and continued into his own story. "I have this particular vehicle because i am an elite mercenary, from a group known as Ravens. We all take on jobs from any corporation that wants us too, but as long as we get paid. I am skilled because, well, i'm not quite sure. I do know, however, that I had no equal back on Mars. I never failed a mission, and i never lost a battle. One of the ways i became so experienced is through what we call Arena battles. These are one on one battles between AC pilots. You have a ranking depending on who you have defeated, and i defeated everyone. I had the highest rank, called "Nine Breaker". Or at least thats the title i was awarded. But I left mars because one, practically no more jobs were showing up and two, I had the money to turn my AC into a space vessel. Not a big one, but it gets me around. It does just as well on the ground as it does in space. To tell you the truth, that was my first space battle."
"Your first? How did you do it then?" Gene looked to actually be intrigued with Rigger's story. He sat in one of the pilot seats and had his chin in his hand.
"I'm not sure, but it was much different than an On-planet battle. It was a bit more free, you could say. And, my speed was much greater. I just did what i knew."
Jim spoke up, a look of concern in his eyes. "How old are you anyway? Being a mercenary and all, you should be about 23. But you look to be about my age."
"Well, i was the eccentric dreamer. I got fed up with my family, and knew there were better ways to spend my time. Being what i am, I had some free time to do some of the things i enjoyed."
Gene looked skeptical now, but continued listening. He asked "What exactly did you 'do'?"
"Well, as you can see by the oversized sword on my back, I wanted to become a swordsman. I'm not bad either."
"we knew someone like that" Gene said, "Her name was Suzuka. She was usually known as Twilight Suzuka. She was an assasin who used a bokken"
"Bokken eh? I dont like those, i can never get the kind that doesn't break. I heard there was only one type of wood that would be like that. But, besides the point. I also wanted to be a mechanic. I installed a fighting simulator into my cockpit, AND a stereo system."
Jim looked at him hopefully, "Do you have music?"
Rigger looked at him strangely, and replied "uhhh...yeaaaaahhh....thats why I installed it.."
Jim jumped up and asked " Can i listen to some of it!? We dont have any on the ship! I feel like i could almost go insane with all of genes ramblings."
Gene let out a brief "HEY!" but was interrupted by jim again. "Can i listen to some of it? please?"

[Arikraz]

Rigger chuckled and motioned him back to his AC. Just before, he looked at Jim and said "Would you mind holding my sword for a minute? It makes it difficult to rummage."
Jim nodded and added "Hell yeah!" as Rigger handed him the sword. He expected it to be extremely heavy for its size, but found he could heft it easily. he asked "Why is this so light? Its huge!"
Rigger looked back from the inside of his cockpit, "I made it myself! I love that sword, i can chop anything in half with it!" He turned back to his chair and kept looking behind it. "Lessee...hmmm... You want any music?" Jim nodded. "Well, heres The Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack. System Of A down, Offspring, Mudvayne, ICP, Space Ghost, thats enough for now. Here Jim, just sit in the cockpit. I'll put in the music." Just then, a small pink robot came around and looked at them.
The little pink capsule said "Jim, who is this person? He is not a registered crew member."
Rigger looked at the little pink thing, a bit freaked out. For one, it was talking, two it was teeny and seemed self concious, and three, it was pink. Jim looked at Rigger and said "Oh, thats Gilliam. He's the ships computer. Gilliam!" He looked at the litle bot "This is Rigger. He is a guest, but were not sure how long."
"Thank you Jim. Hello Rigger. I am Gilliam II. Please enjoy your stay." Rigger nodded a confused agreement and the little pink thing left. To Jim, he said "That was the freakiest thing i have EVER seen. Why was it pink?"
Jim looked a bit frustrated and said "Because i painted him that way. The rest are blue. Don't you go making fun of me for it. Gene covers that."
"ok, ok" rigger said disarmingly "You set to here some music?" Jim nodded and Rigger asked " Which first. System Of A Down or The Offspring?" Jim picked out the Offspring case, and Rigger put it into the player. His inner cockpit speakers began blaring "Smash" and Jim covered his ears. Rigger hummed along, not seeming to notice the intense volume and nearly starting to dance with it. Jim finally yelled "TURN IT DOWN!" and Rigger did so in a very dissappointed manner. Gene swooped through the hall to see what the ruckus was and saw Rigger turning a dial and heard music getting dimmer.

Gene approached teh cockpit and looked inside. His eyes got wider and he said "Wow, your living space sucks man." Rigger glared at him and said "Yeah, I said that already. Its not very fun when i'm in sub-ether drive for days on end either." He turned back to the dial and turned it to the max for another second, then just shut it off. He turned to Jim and told him "C'mon. out now. You have places you can put these CD's on your own ship."

They all exited the area of where Riggers greatly limited cockpit was. Jim invited Rigger to their ships galley fo a bite to eat, and led him through the narrow hallways to it. Gene got a little ticked again, since he was not consented. Rigger saw Jim whisper in to Gene's ear, but could only make out the word "manners." They reached the bland, stainless steel galley. Melfina had come out of her little tube, and was busy brewing up some coffee. He sat down and said nothing, since he just couldn't think of any interesting conversation. The others seemed to shae the awkward silence, so he just thought of some of what had happened before he had left Mars. He knew he was the first one to recieve the retrofit for his AC, but he had known that others were just starting to get theirs. He remembered one particular person, something of a friend. He had served a few missions with him, in which all were quite successful. He had also been introduced to the Raven fold through him, and was even trained at times. Arikraz was his name. Rigger tried to remember what he had called his AC. It was usually more polite, when fighting along side other Ravens, to call them by their AC's name. Even though the pilot name always appeared on the AC's data readout. It was Azhrei, or something of the like. He remembered some of the missions, and one stood out in his head.
It had been a raid on one of the Emeraude corps. lower level bases, which was suspected of high end part research. The corporation they had been working for, Balena, wanted this research. So, they were sent in as a two man team when they both signed up. The mission had gone smoothly, Arikraz was on point because he was far more experienced than Rigger at the time. Rigger trailed behind him, his primitive sniper rifle ready to fire at anything that was foe. Arikraz's back mounted grenade launcher was in a non-firing position, but his extended magazine machine gun was itching for a happy trigger finger. He was experienced enough to handle this however, and they mowed down corridors of security robots with ease. They eventually reached the main control room, and since Riggers setup was lighter, he was to establish the link to the mainframe. Arikraz was in a nearby doorway guarding, his Grenade cannon now ready to fire.
They were, in a sense, rewarded with enemies flooding to the area Rigger was hacking. Arikraz blasted numerous sentry's to bits, and Rigger delivered backup fire over his shoulders with the sniper rifle. Rigger finally established a connection, and any information Balena wanted was instantly downloaded. They both made a quick exit, making prime use of their energy blades.
Rigger sighed as he wondered what had happened to the good'ol boy. He knew he was probably getting the same space outfitting rigger himself had recieved. He dropped the thought as the freshly brewed, black coffee was placed in front of him.

"Thank you Melfina." He drank back the coffee like it wasn't ever heated. Gene and Jim just stared, but averted their eyes and took sips of their own coffee. Jim suddenly spit out a bit and looked around the table. He grabbed a jar of sugar and dumped half of it into his coffee. Gene loked disgusted, but Rigger smiled. He said to Jim " You still got your baby teeth." It was a statement, not a question. He snickered a bit when Jim blushed. The young AC pilot grabbed the cup of sugar and dumped it straight into his mouth. Gene's face turned green and he ran to the bathroom. Rigger said through the mouthful "Hugah ih guh fuh oo." He was supposed to say "Sugar is good for you" but saw that he had gotten the message across. After he had swallowed the last of the sugar, he smacked his lips and said "Lettem rot." Jim laughed and nodded, but was interrupted as Gilliam wizzed into the room.
The little robot looked as panicked as a pink robot could, sounding off the words "Another vessel much like Rigger's is approaching us. It has not hailed us, and is coming at increasing speeds. We suspect that it is another like Rigger and has got a bounty on us." Rigger bolted out of his seat and ran for his AC. Jim couldn't get the question he had wanted to off, but he would save it for later. He hustled his own way to the Outlaw Star's main control room. Gene was already there and asked "What happened to Rigger?" Jim noded in the direction of the AC and jumped in his chair. Gene wasn't taking any chances and said "Alight Gilliam, prepare the ship for grappler combat." Something big was going to happen, and it wasn't good.
Rigger slammed himself into the cockpit of his AC, his fingers flying over buttons and toggles deftly. He disengaged the lock between him and the outlaw star and prepared for combat. His computer told him "Combat mode Engaged" and he boosted away rom the ship. He quickly got the computer to get information on the opposing AC. The computer beeped as it attempted to retrieve the information, but he wasn't in range yet. The camera's shown that the other AC wasn't heading for him though, and only wanted the Outlaw Star. He boosted a small ways away from the Outlaw Star so he could see his opponents fighting style. The grappler arms came out from underneath the red ship and Rigger knew Gene was out of the bathroom. He switched his attention back to the AC, and saw a back mounted grenade cannon move over the shoulder. It fired a blas, which hit the Outlaw Star dead on. The next second, his computer spoke to him.

"AC identified. Pilot is registered as Arikraz."

[Arikraz]

Rigger flew his AC backwards and watched them have it out. He didn't seem the target, so he was only going to step in when he needed to. He saw the giant red ship swipe at Arikraz, who deftly strifed out of the way. Arikraz fired another grenade into the arm, blowing off the tip of it. His com-link opened up a second later. Gene was panting and looking at him.
"Rigger! What the hell are you doing!? Help us out!" He looked panicked. Obviously they don't get much experience fighting elite AC pilots. Rigger looked at the screen "Ehhh, you should be able to handle this. Just watch his strifing pattern." Gene looked infuriated, but turned off the link. Rigger saw the Outlaw Star maneuver out of Arikraz's range for a little while. He seemed to be taking Riggers advice and studying Arikraz. Rigger knew this was one of Arikraz's extremely few piloting problems. He fell into a pattern. Rigger had onced noticed during a mission, perhaps that same mission he was thinking about earlier. He had made sure never to fall into this, and made sure his movements were always erratic. He saw the Outlaw Star take another swipe, and it was a hit. The little AC flew away, but came back. AC's were very durable fighting machines. But maybe it was because Arikraz preferred a heavier load on his that made his stronger. Whatever, it didn't mater. He saw Arikraz overboost, and take a slice out of the side of the ship with his energy blade. Rigger decided that the Outlaw Star was getting its ass kicked, and stepped in. He immediately overbosted toward Arikraz, who was still focused on the outlaw star. He came up behind him and put Arikraz in a hold, so the AC couldn't do anything. Then, just for fun, Rigger turned on his link to Arikraz and shouted "HEY BUDDY!"
Arikraz wasn't pleased. He hit his overboost which broke Riggers hold, and shouted back "Rigger! Don't interfere with this. I've got a bounty on this guy." Rigger frowned and said "How sad. My friend Jim is on that ship. Sub-ether gets a bit lonely, and he was the first guy I met off mars. So leave'im alone dude." Rigger was answered by a blast from Arikraz's grenade cannon, which he dodged around. It was on now, Rigger had tried to be polite. Rigger overboosted and ignited his energy blade. He swung, and clipped Arikraz's cannon. Rigger swung around, firing with his Karasawa, and Arikraz dodged a few of the shots. But one connected, taking off his extension of missile interceptors. Arikraz brought his own sword up and boosted for Rigger. Rigger brought his own to meet Arikraz's but wasn't fast enough. Half of his gun arm had a gash in it. Rigger began locking on with his back-mounted missiles, and got 8 locks. He launched, and Arikraz with no interception system, was hit multiple times. Arikraz wasn't down yet though, his own gun-arm still operated. He brought up his machine gun and fired bursts at Rigger. Rigger couldn't dodge them all, and was taking damamge to his AC's core. Arikraz ceased his burst to try and get in closer, but was knocked aside when the outlaw star's working grappler arm slammed him. He heard his computer say " Enemy defeated. System switched to normal mode." Rigger hailed Arikraz to see if he was still alive, and got a crackle of his voice. Good enough, he would take him back to sentinal 3.

Rigger turned his screen to hail the Outlaw Star. They responded, and it seemed with a vengance. Gene was yelling " HOW THE HELL DID THIS GUY FIND US!? RIGGER! YOU BETTER NOT BE IN ON ANYTHING! HE DID SO MUCH @#%$ DAMAGE TO OUR SHIP I'M GONNA HAVE TO SELL JIMS BODY TO FRED!" Rigger heard a panicked "What!?" from jim after that last comment.
He looked calmly at the outraged grappler pilot. "Well, I knew him. And your damn lucky you survived. Lets go back to Sentinal 3. I'll see what repairs i can make on your ship." Gene snorted and shut off the link. Rigger piloted his AC towards the battered AC of Arikraz, and saw that the cockpit wasn't badly damamged. Arikraz would survive, Rigger had seen him in much worse condition. He grabbed the broken AC and began towards the planet. His descent wasn't great though, as he had to keep boosting to keep the extra weight balanced.
Once he reached the ground, he saw the Outlaw Star land in a nearby dock. He set the AC of Arikraz on its feet and pryed open the cockpit with his own AC.

Arikraz seemed to be just waking up as the cockpit was torn off. He watched in horror as he saw Rigger was the controller of the arms. Rigger finally pulled it open far enough so Arikraz could crawl out. As he opened his own cockpit, a bullet whizzed by his head. Another hit him in the arm as he saw Arikraz, who was super pissed, and armed. He wielded a longbore slugthrower with enough range so Arikraz could plug Rigger from his position. Rigger grasped his bleeding arm and found it would be better to use his working arm to grab his sword. Unluckily, Arikraz was a good shot and had nailed him in his right arm, which was his dominant. His weaker left grabbed at the hilt and brought it in front of him as a bullet hit where his face was. Rigger shut the opening of his cockpit and tried operating the gun arm with his left hand. To no avail, he began losing far too much blood. Outside, he heard something charge and then an explosion from Arikraz's direction. He collapsed, his head hitting the button to re-open the cockpit. He remembered nothing more.

He woke up from what seemed like a very short sleep. He looked around, his vision blurred. He saw the silhouette of a tall man, and he could make out dark red hair. Gene, no doubt. He was pointing what looked like a pistol at somebody on his right. He turned, and his vision seemed to darken again. He heard Jim's voice, and turned back to his left. It was distant and tinny in his ears, as if a blast had echoed right next to him.

"Rigger, you awake man?" Jim's voice was small. He felt his arms being shaken, which instantly brought him back. He grasped his right arm, where the bullet had hit. His vision cleared and he began to hear more easily. He looked around.

Gene had a bloodied Arikraz at gunpoint. Arikraz's head was wrapped in bandages, along with his left arm and his left leg was in a large cast. Arikraz's hair was stained red, and was beginning to become a sickening brown as the blood dried. Jim was by Rigger's bed, looking hopefully at him. He said another "Are you ok?" Rigger nodded and looked to melfina, who was sitting in a chair at the end of his bed. She smiled at him, and a little of the warmth that was previously deviod in his legs came back. A searing pain in his right arm forced him to grasp it again, and he cringed. He looked briefly over at Arikraz, who smirked.
"I'll kick you in the shin, @#%$" Rigger threatened. Arikraz continued his annoying smirk.
"Maybe you'd prefer a bullet in his head, because i sure as hell would" Gene said as he pressed the pistol closer to Arikraz's temple.
"No," rigger said "Not in here at least. We don't want to make a job for the poor janitors any harder." Actually, it was a bit more than that. It was almost like a sin for a Raven to die outside his or her AC. The AC was their full life, it was all most of them had. The AC was almost another human to Ravens. Often pilots spoke to the AC during battle, and often, they felt it responded. Like a confidant, a mother, a friend, a kinsman. The AC was their pride and joy, their hate and sorrow. Everything the pilot was usually trasformed the way they fought with, designed, colored, and named their AC's. Most people only had one too, but Rigger had amassed so much money in his time, he had three. But Blue Sky was his first, and his most beloved.
"when we've healed up Arikraz, we'll have another battle. Its been a long time, and there will be no arena." Arikraz nodded. He understood it too. "Gene," Rigger said "put the gun down."
"Not yet. I've got my own things to ask this dipshit" Gene said. His voice was hard, and had no tone of mockery, but hatred.