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 "To stay here is death, and to go is death." -- Hot Ice Hilda Prologue: We see a future shot of Gene in the Outlaw Star, engaged in a grappler battle. Gene thinks about how he wanted to be here, in space. Melfina: Gene! Grappler ships dead ahead! Episode 1: Outlaw World In deep space, Kei pirates chase Hot Ice Hilda in her ship Horus, launching fighters, which she destroys, but not before they knock out her weapons capabilities and cripple her ship. As a last resort, she enters sub-ether drive and heads for Sentinel III, level 4 terraformed world, industry class 3, public order level 4, population 1.52 million.. In C-Raid's Bar on Sentinel III, a man approaches Clyde the bartender asking for Gene Starwind and looking for a fight. Gene, playing poker with Jim while pretty barmaid Iris looks on, overhears as the man says Gene pulled a number on his brother. Gene decides to go ahead and fight the man, who gives his name as Rob Cain, otherwise known as Death Rob, killer of 30 men. Gene fails to dispel tensions by referring to him as 'Deaf' Rob. A few quick shots from Gene seems to end the fight, but Death Rob simply rises again. Jim runs a quick analysis and discovers Gene is up against a type C cyborg. Using Jim's advice, Gene finally downs Death Rob. Iris rushes over to congratulate Gene with an embrace which Gene returns with roaming hands, prompting sarcastic notice from Jim as to Gene's placement of comforting affection. Clyde is more concerned with getting payment to cover the damage to his bar, but Gene soothes things over quickly once Jim tells him the bounty on Death Rob was 4,000 wong. With the remainder, Gene decides to hit the town.    From the crowd gathered to watch the police cart off what remains of Death Rob, an attractive blond in sunglasses looks on and listens to the comments about Gene's growing reputation.  Meanwhile, out on their own, Gene and Jim discuss options for where to go. Gene watches a ship other than the usual flight to the planet descend, then tells Jim he's going off on his own, since where he's going doesn't interest kids. Jim protests, pointing out that the girls roll out the red carpet when he comes along, which prompts Gene to teasingly ask him if he's willing to become a real man. Jim quickly decides he's not quite ready and Gene runs off for his own brand of reckless fun, abandoning a frustrated and upset Jim on the walkway. At the spaceport, the Kei pirates exit their ship and prepare to find and destroy Hilda. Meanwhile, Gene enjoys the entertainment options at Club Temptation. The girl he's with for the evening joins him on the bed after a shower and asks if he's going into space someday, for treasure hunting, bounty hunting, or just adventure. Gene replies that it will be for pirate hunting, but he doesn't even have a ship yet, so for now his dreams are on hold. The girl would rather get back to less serious things, and Gene is happy to go along with ending the conversational part of the evening. Back on the streets, the attractive blond races through alleys, pursued by the relentless cyborgs of the Kei pirates.  The next day, at Starwind and Hawking Enterprises, Jim does his best to rouse Gene, who holds with noon being a rather early time to drag himself out of bed, having come in at 5 that morning. Jim reminds him they have a tractor job to do, but Gene is hardly interested in such a low-paying job. Jim lets Gene know that the ship they'd witnessed the night before landed on the planet and turns out is a pirate ship. Quarantine was easily avoided by the use of bribery. What on earth could pirates be after on Sentinel III? Just then the phone rings. Jim answers with his standard spiel of "Starwind and Hawking Enterprises, we fix everything from tractors to relationships." What's this? It's the attractive blond, ordering some special parts and needing a bodyguard. Gene is quick to flash an okay, so Jim agrees, and gets the woman's name, Rachel. Gene and Jim discuss their new client. Gene seems focused on Rachel's looks, while Jim is more concerned about the scarcity and expense of the parts Rachel has ordered. Her ID checks out, though, so Gene decides he'll go meet her and find out more in person. At C-Raid's, Clyde and Iris discuss the rough but lucrative clientele brought in after Gene's fight. Iris seems more than a little jealous of Rachel getting Gene's attention at his table. Rachel explains to Gene that she needs a bodyguard because of her inexperience dealing with the dangers of a frontier world and an outlaw city like Locus, or as Gene calls it, Locust. She's here to do a job for her father's business and needs a bodyguard for the duration of her stay. Gene sets the price at 800 wong a day plus expenses and Rachel readily agrees. It would appear she's as taken with Gene's looks as she is with his reputation for winning fights.  Outside the bar, Gene and Rachel wait around for Jim, who's late to pick them up. Rachel explains a bit more about her job and their next destination, an agri-plant 30 kilometers out of town. She claims to need to do repairs on the farm equipment out there, but why would she order bio-elements for tractors? Before Gene can ask her, the two are ambushed by Kei pirate killer cyborgs. Gene fends them off just in time for Jim to show up with the car. Gene's in none-too-good a mood, which only worsens when the car conks out the moment he puts it in gear. Way to impress the lady. Gene continues to take his bad feeling out on Jim while they fix the car and get on their way.  Jim chats along the way about how easy this job is, explaining away the cyborg attack as a case of mistaken identity. After all, why would pirates be after someone like Rachel? A shortcut route, however, leads them right into another party of pirates who seem intent on claiming they have an issue with Gene and Jim's client, Hilda. As Jim's neurons try to catch up with this development, Rachel tosses a grenade into the party of pirates and tells Gene to floor it. Gene gets them out of there, but the pirates don't even seem to be scorched from the blast. Gene demands an explanation as they race for escape, and Rachel confesses that the name is fictitious, but she does need a bodyguard. Removing the disguise, she reveals her natural dark hair and eye patch, going on to explain that the pirates are after her because they're hunting down the same treasure. Jim immediately wants out, but as Gene points out, they're in too deep already as one of the pirates catches up to them, riding atop a hover sled made of the killer cyborgs. Realizing these pirates use Tao magic, Gene hands the driving duties over to Hilda and goes for his blaster. Even direct hits seem to have no effect, though, and they're forced to take evasive actions to avoid getting torched by spells. Gene goes to the big guns, but it's still no use. Gene must resort to his Caster in spite of Jim's protests that they're down to their last #3 shell. That does the trick, alright.    At the abandoned agri-plant, Jim celebrates the completion of their mission. Hilda, however, repays Gene by shooting him and forces Jim at gunpoint to retrieve a trunk from the building, ordering him to take it out to load into the car. Gene turns the tables by putting a gun to the back of her head, saved from death by the sacrifice of Jim's PDA, which stopped the bullet. Gene wants to find out what's in the trunk, but Hilda's less than forthcoming about the code required to open the electronic lock. A little prodding from Gene convinces her to spill it, VSDO2C, and Jim opens the trunk. But what's this inside? A naked sleeping girl?  To be continued! Next Episode: Aw, man! First a naked girl comes out of a trunk, and then those pirates come after us again. What the hell is going on here? Well, I aim to find out, 'cuz there's no turning back now. I'm going back in space once again in the next episode, World of Desires on Outlaw Star. So you better get ready! |