As It Crumbles

 

“Ninja, we are approaching the port now. How’s everything looking on your end?”

“Everything’s fine, the plugs aren’t misfiring, nerve readings are at maximum, and stealth system is a go.”

There is one thing to know about Ninja and the other speaker.  They are mercenaries, though not just any group of rag-tag mercenaries. Ninja was an ex-military pilot. His point of expertise, P.A.V., or Personal Armored Vehicle. These P.A.V’s are like a suit that covers the whole body, they add about two feet to the wearer’s height and increase strength many-fold over. Currently and for obvious reasons only the military organizations of the world are allowed to use them. This has not stopped mercenaries or pirates from obtaining them along with some of the gangs as well. And while Ninja had no criminal history as soon as he deserted he became listed as a war criminal and top five of the most wanted list for the United Allied Nations. He right now is doing jobs not worth the upstanding person’s time to do. In this case salvaging an old satellite that’s being transported by K.N’s military.

The Knowler Nation’s army was not known for its power or size but for the psionic energy that it controlled. Psionic energy isn’t a learned trait, you have to be born with it, and to put it in short gives you access to powers such as telekinesis, pyromancy, or even more obscure ones. Ninja was sure of his ability to retrieve the satellite, even if there was a mental force stronger than a fusion core just a ship next door.

Now as would be guessed by anyone, Ninja is not his real name. Not many people know his real name, his handler even claims to not know. The name Ninja actually belonged to the P.A.V. he was using now and had used back in his military days, he just adopted it.

“Alright Speck, I’m detaching, how long do I have?” Ninja asked the voice on the other side.

“Approximately one earth hour to board and ten minutes from there for retrieval and return. Are you sure you’re up to this Ninja?”

“Of course, three months of being in a coma and another one of bed rest, I’ve got this in the bag.”

“Ninja.”

“Look Speck, this is just a simple recovery run. Think of it that way and everything will be fine, you’ll see.” He spoke in a calm soothing voice, he knew what was about to happen, maybe that was the reason he was so calm.

One hour and five minutes later an explosion happened that could be clearly seen. The ship that the satellite was on had blown up, along with the neighboring ship. Speck’s ship was safe and on the fringes of the explosion making it so that the ship’s stabilizers activated. Speck looked out at the light of the explosion of the ships in horror, afraid that her partner in crime was gone. After the moment of light, she could see the outline of a P.A.V, which caused her to smile. As it got closer she saw that it was unharmed, something that caused her smile to widen. Once close enough to tell if it was Ninja’s P.A.V she opened the hatch. The mercenary and his suit of armor floated into the bay then landed roughly on its knees.

“Ninja!” Speck yelled through the intercom. There was no response. “Ninja, you there?” Still no response. As the bay finished having its doors close and the air pressurizing Speck was already on her way to the room. The door opened up letting her in just in time to see Ninja fall out of the P.A.V. “Ninja!” She screamed again before running up to him.

Ninja’s face had cuts all over it, down his arms it seemed like a river of blood. Speck was at his side with panic all over her face. All Ninja did was look to her with a weak smile and speak.

“Hey, kid. Don’t cry, people die, it’s a life thing.” Even while dying Ninja could still speak, and he was going to make the most of what life he had left. “Don’t let this get to you. I’m not the only person in the anti-verse.” He grabbed her hand, spun it around and put three sets of dog tags in her hand before closing it with his other hand. “One’s me, two are friends. Find them, look for Thor first.” Speck looked at her hand, tears streaming down her face. “Hey, I said don’t cry.” He gave out a weak laugh.  “You gotta take Ninja with you. That will be the proof.” He didn’t breathe for a long moment after that then went limp on the ground. Speck began to free her hand from his grip and looked at the dog tags. For each chain there were three tags. One chain’s tags read: Ninja Mk-00, Jin Yo, and Nigel Strood. The second chain had: Thor, Jin Yo, and Noel Joan. The third chain read: R.ai.D, Mank, and Kat Joan.

Speck recognized Mank’s name. She had read it in an engineering magazine that listed the top one hundred mechanics, him being number two.

“Well I guess I’ll start with him then work around Kat, whoever she is.” Her face was tear stained and her hands covered in blood. Tears were still streaming even as she stood up and began thinking her best course of action. There was a sink in the docking bay, where she washed her hands thoroughly. As she finished drying her hands she sighed, another wave of tears coming.

It took her four hours to clean the bay and P.A.V. About thirty minutes after that she had ejected Nigel’s body into space, being able to think of no better alternative. Another thirty minutes to eat and then the rest of her hours were to be spent looking for Mank. Of course, there was no difficulty here. Speck was not only a mechanics engineer she also took pride in her computer skills, hacking mostly. After two days and only eight hours of sleep she knew where the next stop for Mank would be. A sports planet, with a love of wrestling more than all, Tribu. This planet could be considered unruly, violent, and among all others, best to be avoided.