EPISODE 7: CREEPING EVIL

"Bite me!" -- Gene Starwind

Prologue: Narrator: The Toward Stars world where Gene resides is a measureless one. Far away from the central areas, four known pirate groups vie for supremacy. One of the four is after the Outlaw Star and Melfina to destroy them. This particular group are pirates of the Hoppa system. They are called the Hundred and Eight Stars, the most brutal member of the Chinese Guild. Centered around Tendo, the Hundred and Eight Stars are made up of small groups of ten or twenty. The leaders of these groups control independent organizations, and they also pursue their own interests. Presently, the boss of the pirates who is now pursuing Gene is called Hazanko. He has power within the Hundred and Eight Stars, but because of the extent of that power, his organization, and the power of the methods he employs to achieve his goals, it is said that the other leaders consider him superior. It is also said that the squads that carry out his orders use a super power called senjutsu, and always slay those who stand against him.

Episode 7: Creeping Evil

Gene and Gilliam run through a takeoff. Gene gets his order mixed up between the gravity cycle unit activation and the Newton reactor activation, but with a bit of hinting from Gilliam does fine until Gilliam announces reactor problems. Gene thinks he has it all taken care of and is a bit shocked to hear Gilliam announce that the reactors are about to explode. Gene panics. Thank God it was only a simulation, but Gilliam smugly notes another failed liftoff on Gene's part and grounds him until he can prove he can handle all situations. This doesn't sit well with Gene. After all, who's the one in charge here?

As Gene emerges from the Outlaw Star, Gilliam consoles him by pointing out that since the ship's not fully outfitted yet anyhow, there's no rush. Small comfort to Gene's wounded ego. Time for Gene to get back to work.

On his way through town, Gene picks up some tomatoes from the marketplace and heads to Starwind and Hawking Enterprises headquarters where Melfina is cooking. Not much is happening around the office, but Melfina tells Gene that Jim is down at the police station, trying to get back the Ehefrau from impound. The lack of activity seems fishy to Gene. Jim honks outside to announce his arrival, excited about getting his car back. Gene looks out just in time to see Jim nuzzling the steering wheel and proclaiming his, um, devotion to his wheels. Strange kid.

Someone else, a strange person with clownish makeup, seems to be listening in via a bug as Jim complains to Gene about the hassle in getting his beloved vehicle back. They racked up a fortune in parking tickets and towing fees.

Gene and crew pay a visit to C-Raid's bar. Clyde is pleasantly surprised to see them alive after hearing about their trouble with pirates. Iris interrupts with a more intimate greeting as she throws her arms around Gene, telling him how worried she's been. Gene comforts his 'sweetheart' with a hand groping her backside again, earning another snide comment from Jim. Gene brushes by her attempt to find out what he's been up to for two whole weeks. Iris then notices Melfina. She's definitely jealous of Gene's new friend and gives all of them the cold shoulder. Gene asks Clyde if anyone's been asking about them. Clyde claims nothing out of the ordinary, which makes Gene all the more uneasy at the calm.

Over drinks, the crew discusses what to do next. Gene wants to get the Outlaw Star in perfect working order, but Jim spoils that idea by announcing that they're broke, to Gene's shock. Between docking fees and everything else, they've used up their account. Jim goes through the options. One, they earn money the hard way, which Gene protests would leave him no time for the Outlaw Star; two, they earn it the easy way, but according to Clyde there's no big bounties around; or three, they earn it the sleazy way. Gene asks what that means and Jim suggests he sell his body, to which Gene retorts that Jim would earn more. They decide that one's a bust, too, and Gene goes for his old standby, four, get it on credit and pay off when they make it big. One problem. There's nobody who's going to loan Gene Starwind money with his credit reputation. Stumped, they grudgingly decide on the first option. Jim proposes to earn enough money for them to live on while Gene works on the Outlaw Star, and Melfina offers to help out in whatever way she can. Gene assigns her to kitchen duty.

On the way home, Gene and Jim talk about how nice it is to be back home again, but Gene still hasn't forgotten about space. He's not sure where they'll go or how far. Jim reminds him that while it's okay to look up at the stars, right now they've got to keep focused on the task at hand. Things are gonna be tough for a while.

Back home, Gene wakes up in the middle of the night and notices Melfina awake on the couch down below. He heads down to join her. Gene guesses that her insomnia is because of her thoughts about being bioandroid and yet so human, which Melfina confirms. Gene confesses his confusion with the current state of things as well. Melfina lays her head on his shoulder and asks him to let her stay there until she falls asleep, saying that it makes her feel as if she can dream, as if she -is- dreaming. Gene's a bit surprised, but not unwilling, particularly when he gets a look at her pretty legs. With a slight leer, he walks his fingers up her thighs, but is cut short of the goal when Jim conks him on the head from behind with a pot. Gene hurriedly explains that he just wanted to see how human she really is, Jim angrily retorting that she's more human than he is as he knocks Gene off the couch, then curls up with Melfina, saying she's like his mom.

The next day, Gene gets to work on the Outlaw Star, hassled by a kibitzing module of Gilliam's. Gene wants him to butt out if he's not helping, but Gilliam points out that he's not much help in a gravity environment. Gene yells at him to go work on the interior then, which Gilliam already assures him he is taking care of. Gene gets an unwelcome break from the annoyance of Gilliam's nit-picking when he gets called to the dock's business office. Melfina seems happy doing her part back at headquarters, fixing a stew for dinner. Meanwhile, Jim pulls in a living on an engine job, but everything he says within range of the Ehefrau is being picked up by a transmitter under the dash.

In the business office, Gene is grilled by an irate dockmaster as to his plans. Gene was asked to pay in advance, and while he still has three days left that he's paid for, his lack of a request for launch clearance has the dockmaster concerned as to whether he'll pay for the rest of the time it's going to take to get the Outlaw Star outfitted. He demands to know how long Gene's going to be there, but Gene's not sure. As he tries to cool things off with the dockmaster, the person who's been eavesdropping on them turns up at the dock and makes a break for the Outlaw Star. Gilliam quickly contacts Gene and alerts him that there's an intruder. Gene rushes back to the ship. Back at headquarters, Melfina turns to greet what she thinks is one of her friends returning from work, but is startled to find herself face to face with a large and threatening man.

Gene chases after the intruder through the docks. Gilliam guides him to elevator two, but when it opens, Gene finds himself blasting the life out of only a case of soda. Gilliam alerts him as the intruder leaps down from above, firing a volley of needles from a wristband at Gene, which he barely manages to dodge as the intruder runs off. Gene chases after. Meanwhile, Melfina attempts to escape down the street, the large man in pursuit. The man cuts her off when he breaks down a wall and bursts out right in front of her, then unleashes a morning star after her as she flees. The weapon never lands its blow, though, as Suzuka emerges and stops it cold. She muses about having come to visit Gene and finding the most interesting people trying to kill him as well. She asks the man if he's a Kei Pirate, but only gets an order not to interfere in reply. Retorting that that's -her- line, she sends Melfina to safety and takes the man on, noting it's an opportunity to put Gene in her debt.

Gene chases the nimble intruder into the fields, glad for the action at last. He guesses the man is a pirate and has lookouts around. The pirate laughs and asks where Hilda is now. Gene plays coy, taunting that the pirate doesn't know what he got himself into. The bragging sounds good until a half dozen pirate cyborgs emerge from the ground to surround Gene. Ut oh. The pirate asks about Hilda again, but Gene refuses to talk, prompting a battle with the cyborgs. Gene takes a couple down with his light shield and blaster to buy him a chance to run, which he quickly takes advantage of, heading into the tall grass at the edge of the field.

Suzuka and the large man feel each other out as they run parallel courses on either side of the street. The man sends his morning star sailing at her and takes out a good chunk of pavement, but Suzuka leaps clear, using a technique as she comes down, which he counters with a senjutsu spell. This identifies his affiliation to Suzuka, much to her interest, and the man admits his grudging respect of her talents as well. Suzuka claims to be just warming up and warns that no one has seen three of her techniques. He still has until sunset before he dies, but the large man counters brashly that she'll be the one to die.

Back in the grass, Gene reloads and tries to get an idea of where things stand. He spies the cyborgs hunting for him and gets the jump on them with his blaster, but is then struck in the hand by a dart from above, where the made-up pirate was perched in a tree, waiting for him to show himself. A quick exchange of needles and blaster shot is followed by Gene crawling through the grass in an attempt to evade, leaving a trail of blood behind him.

Suzuka and the large pirate square off for round two, Suzuka evading his morning star again, then charging along it only to be knocked back by a spell. She charges him again as he prepares another spell, both lashing out as they pass each other. The man offers a slight smile as he asks Suzuka what technique that was. She tells him it was Flying Swallow, variant #1. "I see," he replies, then keels over dead. Suzuka calls Melfina and the other hiding citizens to come out now that it's safe. She asks Melfina if it's alright if she waits for Gene at Starwind and Hawking Enterprises, and Melfina gives her consent.

As the sun sets, the made-up pirate and the remaining cyborgs peer out from the grass and watch a motionless silhouette sitting against a tree. Assuming Gene's finally dead, the pirate rues not being able to ask him any questions, but heads out with his cyborgs to collect the body. As they get close, however, they find that it's not Gene at all, but merely a dead cyborg propped up to fool them as Gene sneaks behind them to fire a caster, blowing everything in the vicinity to kingdom come. Turning back to the Outlaw Star, Gene is startled to find himself facing the pirate, who quickly stabs him and knocks him to the ground, kneeling on him as he cautions Gene to be a good boy and answer his questions. Gene smarts off by telling him his lucky number is one, his favorite color is red, but this isn't what the pirate's after and Gene only earns himself a blow to the head for his insolence. The pirate asks where Hilda is, why Gene and his friends came back to Sentinel by themselves, and what happened to his people, evidently the Kei Pirates. He offers Gene a quick death if he answers, but Gene doesn't feel that's a good enough offer. The pirate tells Gene his reward depends on his answer, but is interrupted by the sounds of a security force combing the area in response to the earlier ruckus. Gene uses the distraction to pull out his blaster and fire behind him at the pirate, who leaps clear, then escapes as the noise draws the notice of the security force, promising Gene that they'll get the XGP back.

Jim drives home to the wreckage of a war zone where his neighborhood is, passing a couple of policemen who comment that there's nobody willing to serve as a witness for fear of getting involved where pirates are concerned. As if this isn't worrisome enough, as Jim runs into the blasted headquarters of Starwind and Hawking Enterprises to find out from Melfina what the hell happened, he's greeted by the sight of Melfina having tea with none other than Twilight Suzuka. She asks him politely where Gene is, but Jim's not willing to spill on his partner. Suzuka tells him it's important that he meet up with him as soon as possible, since the Kei Pirates are after them. Melfina tells Jim how Suzuka saved her. Asked why, Suzuka merely explains that she finds them rather interesting.

Jim, Melfina, and Suzuka rush to the spaceport. Gilliam tells them of the pirate attack and says that Gene is inside, working. Jim asks Gilliam to open up, but Gilliam's picky nature has to point out that Suzuka isn't registered as a crew member. Jim gives her temporary clearance.

Inside, Gene is working in the cockpit. Gene confirms the pirate attack and says they're going to load up all the equipment they can and launch as soon as possible. Suzuka requests an explanation. Gene of course wants to know why she'd want one. Suzuka offers to lend a hand fighting the Kei Pirates. Gene doesn't refuse her, but he doesn't know why they're after them. Suddenly, he collapses. Rushing to his side, Jim discovers Gene's bleeding heavily. Gene says he tried to patch it up, but guesses he didn't do a good job before passing out.

To be continued!

Next Episode: OW! Damn it, I'm the star of the show! This isn't supposed to happen! It's just a little too exciting, don't you think? I'm about to go into space for the first time with no support. If I mess up, is the show gonna be over? Next time on Outlaw Star, Forced Departure! You better get ready!