The Final Frontier (Wingshadow & I)

Within the dark reaches of space, far beyond the Earth and the Milky Way Galaxy, in a universe filled with mystery and wonder, there is a ship that travels the stars. Compared to the ships of this futuristic time period, it is somewhat of an antique, creaking along like a rusted train on an imaginary track to nowhere. The ship is massive, about the size of one and a half football fields and as tall as a ten story building. One would think that within its confines lies a numerous staff to oversee every inch of the structure from the navigation all the way down to the plumbing...but they would be wrong. Instead, it is run by a crew of four, no more and no less. The ship's captain, or at least that's what he'd like to refer to himself as, is a young man of only nineteen years, Leonard Bryant. The ship, which he dubbed 'The Absolution', once belonged to his father who was a somewhat renowned explorer who discovered many worlds and new alien species in the name of the Galactic Military, the human led organization tasked with taking humanity into the farthest reaches of the universe and beyond. The old man was good at his job, that was until his untimely murder at the hands of an unknown assailant and upon his death, the ship, along with all its resources was inherited by his son to do with as he wished.

While the idea of exploring the stars in a massive ship sounded great to him, Leonard realized too late that along with his father's ship, he also inherited a debt that seemed impossible to obtain and even more impossible to repay. Apparently, during his travels, the old man dipped into the Galactic Military's resources and for some reason, never felt like he owed them anything in return. Since the father's will was signed by the son without giving too much thought into how it was worded, the contract became ironclad and Leonard soon found himself faced with a lifetime of labor on some backwater penal colony. Fortunately, for him, he was able to talk his way out of the situation, promising to repay the debt by offering his services to them. Basically, if there was an odd job that needed to be taken care of that the military couldn't handle alone, he was the man to call.

When he had time off, Leonard took to exploring The Absolution for all it was worth. The ship was old, practically ancient and some of the corridors and rooms had been sealed with little or no evidence as to what was inside or if they could ever be accessed at all. He would leave those rooms alone for the time being and instead, concentrate on the ones that he could get into, like the library that held the massive book collection his father acquired on his travels. Just about everything one could ever need to know about the known universe could be found in this room and reading it would probably take a lifetime. There was the kitchen that looked more like a school cafeteria than anything else, and stocked with food that would probably be fit for a prisoner. Maybe if he got lucky, the Galactic Military would pay him for his efforts and he could eat like a king. Then there were the living quarters which he and his little crew spent a majority of time in. There were actually many rooms, but only four of them were ever occupied at a time with Leonard taking the biggest room for himself. It was is ship, after all and he felt entitled to it just like he felt entitled to everything else around here.

Another thing Leonard felt entitled to, was walking around barely clothed. Today, for instance, he was walking around in nothing more than a grey pair of tight fitting boxer shorts that did well to show off what he was packing underneath. He only did this when he woke up from a nap or was doing the laundry and in this instance, it was the latter. He headed straight for the bridge, passing by the other rooms which, at this time, were occupied by the rest of the crew and knocked on the doors so loud that the sound echoed through the corridors. "Hey! Wake up in there!" he barked in a somewhat commanding tone. "I'm heading to the bridge! Get dressed and meet me up there in five minutes!"

"Who do you think you are? I'll head to the bridge when I feel like it, not when you tell me to, you moron!" a sharp voice shouted back at him, practically causing the door to shake from the mere sound of her voice. The voice in question belonged to a young woman that went by the name of Chiharu Higashi, daughter of a certain feared syndicate leader whom Leonard's father had contracted for protection services sometime in the past but had failed to repay him due to various circumstances. She had a fiery wit and the weapon skills to back up her family's reputation of deadly assassins. Chiharu had not taken up residence in one of Leonard's rooms in an attempt to kill him, however, as the dead couldn't repay owed debts. Instead, she intended on bleeding out his due share of reimbursement in the form of various requests and jobs as she saw fit to impose on him. When the self-declared captain went about the ship doing whatever he pleased, it was often Chiharu who would attempt to put an end to his shenanigans. She pulled her long blonde hair back into a distinctive ponytail and often wore a well-used leather combat suit regardless of the setting she found herself in. Why would she care to change to please anyone else? She served as the ship's weapon's expert, whether she admitted it or not.

"You have some nerve, don't you realize what time it is?" a much more composed voice replied in turn to his demands, with a significantly greater amount of respect present in her tone than the woman before her had used. This voice belonged to a woman named Tina Coleson, an officer from the Galactic Military who had helped fund some of Leonard's father's projects. Naturally, she was there for a similar reason as the last, namely, to ensure that the son reimbursed the military for his father's unpaid debts. She almost always wore her military uniform when she appeared on the bridge, although there were some notable exceptions. As a navigation expert, she served as the ship's pilot and the voice of reason in most cases.

"I'll be right there, Captain," Misty Weiss replied with a delicate voice, being the only one out of the three who actually referred to Leonard as the Captain. She had a kind and caring personality which was only eclipsed by her in-depth knowledge of the universe. She had traveled with Leonard's father for many years, during which she had memorized practically every detail of information she came across. At the time, she officially served as the ship's cook and the captain's personal assistant, and was the only one out of the lot who did not seek to extract some form of payment from the hapless captain. She wore a long dress and a matching white apron which gave her a distinctly motherly appearance.

Before long, all three appeared on the bridge as commanded, not at all aware of what Leonard had in mind for them when they arrived.

Of the three members of Leonard's crew, perhaps the most difficult one to deal with was Chiharu. Every time she roared like that, he was afraid she was gonna shoot a hole through the ship and kill everyone inside. And she could probably do it too. Her skill with firearms were second to none...well, maybe second only to him, but that was something he chose to keep from her to make sure she was, as far as women like her were, happy. Another thing that made her happy was getting to control The Absolution's weaponry. Despite its designation as a freighter, this thing came equipped with twin rail cannons capable of firing a concentrated stream of gamma energy which could cut through a small fleet with explosive efficiency, photon warhead torpedoes with wide spread capabilities and proximity mine orbs which could be deployed around the ship to prevent any unwanted docking by an invading enemy force. No doubt his father procured these from his underground sources and had failed to repay his suppliers before his demise, thus explaining Chiharu's presence on the ship.

As for the military girl, Tina, to Leonard, she was as stuck up as they come. It was all about rules and regulations with her and she usually tried to bark orders to everyone despite not being the captain of the ship. This created a bit of a conflict between the two which could only ever be resolved by the third and most rational member of the crew, Misty. Of the three, she was the most familiar to the young man, having met her a few times while she was traveling with his father. She was his student and personal assistant throughout their time together and it showed in the way she presented herself around the rest of the crew. She was, in a way, like a mother to the three of them, cooking, cleaning and giving out advice based on her experiences. He wasn't sure, but with a body like hers, she might have done 'other' things for his father, though one would think her saintly nature would make that impossible.

As the crew got their act together and headed towards the bridge, Leonard made himself comfortable in the captain's seat on the bridge. Though it looked like it could be big enough to hold a crew of about twenty people, there were only four seats actually installed. On the left was Chiharu's panel which controlled the weapon systems, the communications and scanners on the right for Misty and the main ship's control's for Tina. And it was only fitting that overseeing these three positions was the captain's chair which Leonard made himself quite comfortable, underwear and all. As to why he called the other three in at this point? Well, it was really hard to tell with him. Sometimes, he'd just screw with them to see how long it would take them to get down here and other times, there would be an actual mission to accomplish. This time, however, he was planning on making a trip to a little world he read about where there was a recently uncovered alien temple to explore...

Despite her protests, Chiharu appeared on the bridge first, making her way down to her weapons control panel on the left. She refused to so much as give the captain a second look after accessing his state of dress, unwilling to give him the satisfaction of evoking a response from her as she decided the best course of action in order to discourage the captain's unruly (and at times completely inappropriate) course of action was to simply ignore him. She powered up the controls then occupied herself by looking over a power systems overview while waiting to hear her captain's orders.

Tina showed up next, her pose firm and resolute as ever as she strode up to the front of the bridge, her fingers sliding over the main controls after taking her seat. She ran through some basic diagnostic tests in order to ensure that all systems were operating at 100% efficiency. With a captain as unreliable as theirs, the last thing they needed was an unreliable ship on top of that. She too refused to give the captain any amount of voiced criticism for reporting to the bridge in naught but his boxers. By then she'd grown accustomed to his eccentricities and he'd grown tired of her lectures concerning proper commanding officer etiquette.

Last but not least, Misty arrived, "I'm sorry, Captain. I couldn't find one of my ribbons, so it took me longer than usual." She motioned toward one of the small bows tied in her hair as she walked to her post, taking her post at the communications and scanners station without further ado. Unlike the other two, she voiced her thoughts aloud, "I wonder were we will be going today... will we be exploring an asteroid belt today, Captain? Or are we going to race to the end of the maroon crab nebula to inspect the mysterious ruins on Epsilon Cegta IV?"

Leonard was actually quite surprised that Chiharu and Tina didn't offer a word of complaint at his choice of attire. He was expecting a verbal berating or maybe even a sinister stare, but this time...nothing. Perhaps they had gotten used to his shenanigans or maybe they were too tired to put up an argument. Hell, even Misty would have at least come with a change of clothes, but she didn't seem to care either. In his eyes, this might actually turn out to be a good day. No yelling or screaming or complaining, just a quiet trip through the stars just the way he liked it. That would most likely be the case, but Misty decided to open her mouth and echo her thoughts to no one in particular. The moment she brought up Cegta IV, Leonard snapped his fingers and pointed at the astute assistant.

"Bingo!" he said aloud, making sure the other two could hear him. "You hear that ladies? This is a woman who knows what she's talking about. She cares about people, understands them and their needs. She doesn't obsess over petty things like money and duty. And that's why she's the ship's number two." Spoken like a man who was in charge...or at least that's what he'd like to believe anyways. Just thinking of his name with the word 'Captain' strapped beside it was enough to boost his confidence to the point where he was...well...kind of a dick about it. But if he didn't have such bravado, he would have never had the courage to explore the stars like his father before him. It was more of a necessity, really. And if Tina and Chiharu didn't understand that, well, that was their loss.

"But enough of the life lessons," Leonard quipped abruptly once again. "Let's set a course for Cegta IV." Just as he uttered those words, a warning light went off on Misty's panel. This usually indicated that there was an incoming transmission from someone not too far away. Leonard saw the light on the panel and in an instant, his face turned from a beaming light of optimism and cockiness to a deep frown of disgust and irritation. He sunk slowly into his seat and waited for Misty to utter those dreadful words. Either the Galactic Military or Chiharu's organization was about to contact him with a mission of the utmost importance.

"Thank you, captain," Misty smiled, "I try my best every day to live up to your expectations." The other two girls on the bridge exchanged confused glances. While they normally would not get along all that well, especially given that one was an heiress to a crime organization and the other was a representative of the Galactic Millitary, there were certain instances that they met eye-to-eye, one of those being their unspoken acknowledgement that neither of them understood why Misty put up with their so-called Captain's nonsense so easily. Perhaps it was because of his similarity to his late fater? The mystery remained, even as an unexpected beeping interrupted their thoughts.

"Incoming transmission from the Higashi Syndicate," Misty looked down at the display in front of her, "Should I patch them through? The message heading sounds rather urgent... They are requesting immediate reply, or prepare to be hunted down and shot."

And just like that, Leonard's day turned to shit. Just as he was about to give the order to take off, the message light went off and Misty informed him of just who was making contact. The moment he heard 'Higashi Syndicate', he sunk into his seat with a groan of disapproval. "You've got to be freaking kidding me..." he uttered under his breath. He didn't like having to deal with these lowlifes, but for some reason, his old man did and his dealings with them usually required some kind of restitution of which he was unable to pay off before his death. From what he knew about the Higashi Syndicate, they valued honor above all else. Every deal, every promise, every interaction with them required that they be shown the proper respect at all times. Anything that could be considered an insult to them was punishable by death if the grievance was extreme enough. If a clients debts were not repaid due to death, then it would fall to their kin to carry the burden. There were no exceptions.

Leonard finally sat up a bit, coming to terms that his days of peace and quiet would, for the time being, be coming to an end. "Send it to my conference room, Misty," he ordered with a bit of reluctance in his voice. "Chiharu, you come with me. Since you probably have something to do with this, I'm gonna need your expertise. Tina, you keep an eye out for those ships. If they decide to pull some crap like attacking the ship, you put up the shields and get us the hell out of here." For a moment, it seemed this young man was actually trying to act like a captain and not a lazy dumbass with little manners around women. He rose to his feet and, after a quick stretch, made his way to a room he wish he didn't have to use so often, the conference room which was basically a big table and several chairs. When it came time to conduct operations or discuss whatever predicament they were in, this was the place the crew would have to come. There was a monitor on the table of which the outside communication would come through with a simple press of a button. Leonard did just this and, after a bit of static, a person appeared on the screen.

His name was Josuke Higashi. Chiharu's uncle and high ranking official within the syndicate. Leonard didn't know much about them personally, only how they operated as a group. But if his uncle was as much of a hot head as his niece, then this conversation wouldn't be pleasant. "So you're the son of Richter Bryant, eh?" the deep, aged voice billowed through the speakers. "You look like a little turd I could step on with my boot and the stink would last for weeks on end. Fortunately for you, I need you alive because that's what my brothers and sisters wanted." Leonard didn't care how powerful this syndicate was supposed to be. He wanted to punch this guy right in his ugly, bearded, Asian-looking face. Silently, beneath his seat, he clenched his hand into a tight ball and squeezed it with every word this guy spoke. "By the way," Josuke continued. "How's my little niece? You're taking good care of her, aren't you? Because if you aren't, I can always give the order for her to blow your brains all over the place. You may owe us financially, but there is no price you'd be able to pay if any harm came to my little Chiharu."

"Yeah, she's fine," Leonard replied, doing everything he could to keep from punching the screen out. "So what do I owe the pleasure of this little visit? You got some kind of mess you need me to clean up or something? You know you kinda caught me at a bad time. I was about to take your little Chiharu to a jungle paradise. She would have loved it there and maybe gotten one of your underlings to build a summer home out there. But now you had to go and ruin our trip..." It appeared that Leonard was trying to take advantage of Josuke's love of his niece to perhaps guilt trip him in to going a little easier on him. For all he knew, this guy had some kind of dangerous, life threatening mission lined up for him. If he were able to calm him somehow, then maybe he'd change his mind and give him something a little easier to deal with. Heck, he might even cancel the mission and just go back to whatever hole he crawled out of. Unfortunately...

"Oh, I'm so sorry about ruining your little getaway," Josuke replied in a sarcastic tone. Maybe after this mission I'm about to give you, I'll tell you the location of one of the other ten thousand jungle paradises we have summer homes built for us." The old man laughed a cocky laugh as if to flaunt his financial superiority over this young upstart. When he finished, he finally got down to business. "Ahem. Anyways, about that mission. We have suspected that within the past few months that one of our competitors has been quietly looting one of our carnium mines located on the planet Argus. As you well know, we had deliberations with the Galactic Military and eventually came to an agreement in which the planets vast mineral resources would be divided equally between us. We now believe that these underhanded bastards are using some kind of new technology to sneak inside and mine without us noticing. We've sent some of our men to investigate, but so far, none of them have returned. We want you to find out what happened to our people and who is responsible for the thefts. The Higashi Syndicate would be...most pleased if you were to succeed in this mission."

The control of the mining operations on the planet Argus had been a source of contention between a multitude of players for generations, the rich ores present there offering a compelling incentive to take more than one's fair share in the name of good, hard profits. It came as no surprise to Chiharu when her uncle brought up this particular mission to the fore, both due to the dangers involved as well as the expected nature of the situation. The blonde crossed her arms in front of her chest, shifting her weight to one side slightly before speaking, "If I had to guess, it would have to be one of the other Big Three, or one of the smaller families who have been trying to slide into the game alongside the big shots." The Big Three, as the name would imply, where three highly influential crime families which operated in close proximity to each other, her own family being one of them. However important the mission may have been, however, Chiharu did not take kindly to her uncle butting in without so much as a call beforehand. His almost fatherly manner annoyed her more than endeared him to her as well, a fact that became evident when she turned to address him.

"Josuke," Chiharu scowled, "I'm not a child anymore, you know. You asked me to keep an eye on his bastard, and I'm doing exactly that. If anyone around here is going to get hurt, it will be him, not me. I don't need you worrying about me all the time, you know. You must really have a lot of spare time on your hands, so why don't you put more of your effort keeping track of those bumbling idiots you call your men instead? I'll find out what happened to your lost men and put an end to this, you can be sure of that. Just promise me you'll keep your neck out of my business until I've cleaned up this fine mess, alright?" Much like her uncle, Chiharu had little patience for foolery. If there really was foul play going on, Chiharu had every intention of getting to the bottom of it. The last thing she needed was an all-out war breaking out between the families over control of the planet, however, so it would be best to get Josuke to back off for now while they performed a covert operation. Having a private, non-aligned ship at their disposal certainly came in handy at times.

As Chiharu went on and on about her relationship to him and her uncle, Leonard didn't know whether to groan or cheer. Sure, hearing her give this Josuke a piece of her mind gave him great joy, but at the same time, it was a harsh reminder of the kind of danger he was constantly in. One word from this guy and she wouldn't hesitate in blowing his brains all over the ship. He had to be very careful with the both of them. In the meantime, to get his mind off the whole family squabble, the young man was already beginning to think up of a plan to traverse the mines on Argus and adjust to any situation that might arise.

Meanwhile, after Chiharu's little rant, Josuke remained silent as if he were stunned by the young lady's words. But before long, his lips curled up into a grin, a big smile and then a hearty laugh. He seemed almost amused by her vicious nature and why not? The Higashi Syndicate was known for their violent temperament when it came to being picked on. If this were any other person going off on him, he might have sent 20 men to teach them a lesson. But for family, it was just a demonstration of their nature, an expression of their bond, one would say. "Ah, that's my girl," Josuke said warmly after exhausting his breath laughing. "You always were a cold and vicious girl, even as a child. Your father would be proud to see you as you are now."

Josuke's attention turned back to Leonard then. "Listen boy! Always remember that until your debt is paid, you will be at our mercy. Especially my little Chiharu. She can do things to you that would make you beg for death! So you do every little thing we tell you to, no matter how petty it might be, understand?" Leonard let out a low sigh. His desire to pound this guy's face in was so unbearable, it was making him sick. But he had no choice but to reply, "Yeah, I understand. I'll take care of your problem...and I'll keep your niece safe..." And with that, the transmission came to an end. Leonard took a deep breath and sank in his seat a bit, his eyes turning towards Chiharu. "Man, I think I know where you get that attitude of yours from now. What a grouch that guy is. How do you put up with him?"