Space Pirates and Space Cops

CHICAGO, NIGHT

Xiao spent her off time relaxing beside Lake Michigan, working on her college application on her reliable tablet, submitting them to local colleges. She sat on a bench with a comfy thermos of coffee-tea. The Dragon Girl was a huge water person, and a quiet public beach by the Great Lake was the most frequent place she would be found, whiling away the hours away from the hustle and bustle of city and heroic life.

The peaceful night did not last long as the sky above Lake Michigan ripped open and a large, bright burning object careened through the sky and out into the water. Xiao was almost tempted to investigate, but though perhaps it was just a satellite or something.

That thought was dashed though when three more UFO’s followed behind it, shooting lasers at the first object. Xiao sighed; knowing this could eventually spill over into the city... there was no rest for heroes it seemed. She bagged everything, left her things at a convenient locker storage, and got changed into her Knightwatch Swimsuit, heading for the trouble out on the water.

Alex pulled his arm from the water, shaking the water off of it as he began to move out of the lake. The man he had just drowned floated up slowly behind him, the current carrying him deeper into the crystal blue waters of Lake Michigan. As Alex stepped upon the shore, he was greeted by the generic ring tone of his Iphone, the loud noise sending birds flying from their perches. Looking at the screen, Alex did not recognize the number, but recognized the country code. Russia.

"Zdravstvuyte tovarishch" (Hello comrade.)

Alex's Russian was pretty terrible, and he didn't even attempt a Russian accent. Of the languages he spoke, his Russian was the worst, barely above the conversational level.

"G-n Sadko , ya slyshal, chto ty v rayone ozera Michigan. Nashi sputniki podnimaya nekotoryye ... nu ... davayte prosto skazhem, neopoznannyye samolety. Kak by vy khoteli , chtoby sdelat' bystryy dollar ? "(Mr. Sadko, I hear you're in the area of Lake Michigan. Our satellites are picking up some...well... let's just say unidentified aircrafts. How would you like to make a quick buck?)

Audibly sighing into the phone, Alex pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand. Did this man obviously expect him to believe that there were aliens who just happened to be near him? Even in this world, somethings were beyond reason.

"YA ne mogu poverit', chto ya proshu , no .. chto eto rabota ?" (I can't believe I'm asking but..what is the job?)

"Prostoy ... sobirat' tekhnologiyu ot etogo vozdushnogo sudna ." (Simple...collect technology from that aircraft.)

Ending the call, Alex fried the phone with electricity from his palm. Remembering exactly why he rarely carried a smart phone, he stripped down to his jeans, removing his leather jacket and hoodie. In the distance, he had already seen what the Russian man had been talking about. One ship, followed by three more, had appeared in the distance. If he wanted to get to them, it would be a significant swim, and he had better get started.

Jason munched away happily on a hot dog he had just bought from a vendor. They seemed a little weirded at the flaming man asking for a hot dog. Jason even manged to pull out a few ones from one of his pockets. After his last patrol, Jason managed to get his uniform changed out for looser leather over garuments to put over his compression gear. It was still the same dark blue and still without a logo.

It was his day for patrol as a few others got some much needed time off. It was going pretty smoothly for the most part. Till the aliens showed up that is. Jason watched as a flying saucer appeared overhead and sailed over to the lake. It was quickly followed by more that were shooting at the first one. Jason watched them and pulled out a few more bucks, handing it to the hotdog vendor.

"Extra ketchup please, and to go as well"

Luckly Jason was on the side of town near the lake so he took off running after the UFOs. Water wasn't going to be very fun for him, but e would think of something. Best not choke to death in this hotdog first. Jason was having trouble using his flames to rocket him, chew, and not crash into things all at the same time.

The original ship was a very strange construct, appearing like a 17th century wooden sailing ship but with high tech digi-sails which flickered on and off. The ship itself really was of an unidentifiable metal, the wooden appearance merely an aesthetic choice. Though its rear rocket engines were disabled, and several holes blown into its sides, the Space Sailing Ship did manage to float on the water, and quite an impressive array of guns were aimed skyward shooting at the three UFO’s attacking it with laser weaponry. The ship was sinking slowly, but it did not seem like it would be going down without a fight.

The UFO’s were much more sleek and esoteric in their design, like forward fixed wings attached to a spherical body, flying around the hail of gunfire filling the night sky. They strafed the ship, slowly destroying its guns one by one.
Xiao was nearby now, and observed the fight from the water, only her head slightly above the surface. She didn’t know what was going on, and she knew this situation was delicate- she didn’t know either of these aliens, and they weren’t attacking anything of earth, as they were intent on assaulting the ship.

Another UFO joined the fray from the sky, and detected Ace’s movement and energy signatures. It seemed to transform into some kind of mecha form that hovered over the water, a large round white disk with two ‘legs’ and a gun arm. It flew towards Ace to intercept, passing right over Xia’s head as she remained submerged. Xiao swam closer to the ship to take a look, not yet sure if she should even be here in the first place... She did however, spot something falling out of the ship’s bottom, as another explosion rocked it. She decides to swim after the object, before it hit the bottom of the Lake.

The Alien Hoverdisk flew out to meet Ace. Advanced AI protocols caused its exterior to morph, becoming angular and grey, until it started to resemble something of earth, having the appearance of an American F-22 Raptor with legs. Up close, Ace would see the interceptor UFO’s to be four times as large as a human.

It held out a hand and began to speak in an alien language, but its speech was garbled by static, until finally it spoke in plain English. The voice also started to become feminine, since it identified Ace as male. “...Human, please do not approach. This is an internal affair of the White Star Empire. We are in the process of arresting a band of renegades, pirates and terrorists. We will depart peacefully once we have concluded our business.” It said, in a non-threatening but formal manner.

Alex gasped for air as he resurfaced from beneath the depths of the lake. His lungs rapidly expanded, filling back with the life giving oxygen he had very much been deprived of. Panting, he watched the scene unfold before him with the closest look to shock he could muster. Not only was there a flying pirate ship crashing down towards him, but, another ship was rapidly transforming to stop a...fireball? Was there another meta near by here? That would certainly complicate things, after Germany Alex wanted to do his best to avoid all metas for the time being.

Weighing out his options, the human looking ship would probably be his best option in terms of which to board, so that's where he headed. Diving back under he began to swim swiftly towards the ship, glad for all the lights and lasers being fired illuminating his path underwater. As he reached the ship he placed a hand on the side to find that it felt...metal? So this wasn't a seventeenth century ship, no, this was an actual alien space ship.

"So the question now is, how do I climb this bitch?"

Jason immediatly reveres his direction and countered his momentum to bring him to a stop as the mech approached. It began transforming I to one of the lamest transformers he had ever seen. Didn't even have flame decals, how was it suppose to go fast?

Jason got his energy ready for a fight when the thing spoke. That caught him off guard. He baked off a bit as the languages turned more human. He paused, debating on what to say to it before

"I'm sorry, your word isn't good enough. You need proper proof and documentation to enter earths fly zone. Most humans get terrified at the sight of aliens so this is very very resurrected space. Furthermore, you are openin fire in a civilian sector. These are all directly violations of earths terms of space. As of right now this has officially become our incident and problem. Your authority has no warrant here in an unaligned planet. Retreat to outer orbit and wait further instructions. We will take care of your criminals and set up a further meeting to exchange them with you. I suggest contacting our national government to coordinate efforts an provide suffiecent proof of your authority. Thank you for your cooperation"

Jason had somehow managed to say that with a striaght face. He was talking out off his ass or most of it. It damn did it sound good to him. He was actually rather proud f that.

“...Your demands are reasonable. Know that we of the White Star Empire respect the laws of others. If you are willing to capture these criminals, then we warn you in advanced they are armed and extremely dangerous. They are responsible for countless atrocities against the Empire, and are believed to carry weapons of mass destruction.” Either the person controlling the robots bought it, or genuinely respected earth law, or something else, Ace’s word seemed to work.

The Remaining alien interceptors, slightly damaged by cannon fire, pulled back to a safe distance from the dessicated ship, to allow Ace to do as he said.

Which meant the automated turrets turned their triple barrelled 30mm cannons on Raikou, as he was exploring the ship’s damaged and hole-ridden outer hull.

Whirring. The whirring of gears and the sliding of metal against metal was the only thing Alex heard as he explored the outside of the pirate ship. Just when he thought he had found a suitable hole with which to make his entrance, that noise filled his ears. It didn't take much of a genius to know, that was never, never a good noise. Turning his head up with an apathetic sigh, he saw them. The triple barreled 30mm cannons, capable of tearing apart an armored vehicle as if it was wet paper. His skin may have been durable, but he did not know if it was that durable, nor did he have an inclination to find out.

"You've got to be kidding me with this, my Russian must be slipping, because I could have sworn he said easy money."

As the guns aimed upon him, lightning began to crackle along his body, sending lines of electricity sparking through the water around him. If he had any chance of surviving this, he could not hold back what so ever, he had to release every ounce of energy he could withstand at once. Pulling his hands to his chest, he took a deep breath as the lightning began to crackle louder, and the strands became more frequent, thicker, brighter, and burned with a hotter intensity. His eyes began to glow a luminescent cerulean as his power grew, giving him an eerie look.

Exhaling, and thrusting his arms down, he released his power in a pillar that expanded out from him, creating a circular wave of lightning that expanded out, and reached high into the night sky.

"Thanks for your understanding err... What did you say your name was again? Fred? I'm just going to go with Fred."

Jason grinned and waved as he took off down to the docks on the lake. He didn't know how tha worked but he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. As he got closer he saw some beefy dude with skin a brighter orange then Jason's flames and hair so greasy it was dripping..... Okay maybe that was just water, but still come on dude...

Jason came sliding to a stop just on the edge of the water next to the man and his jet ski. Ace couldn't swim that fast so this would be the next best thing. Ace looked at the man, still covered in flames and as politely as possible

"Please get off the jet ski orange man. I need to borrow it."

To Jason great surprise, the man got off. Woohoo two for two. Well the man fell off but that was close enough. He didn't been have the key tied to him the dumbass. Jason got on and began to fiddle with it. Once the controls were more r less under control, ace took off towards the remaining ship. He dowsed his flames so he would be less obvious.

He spotted some fireworks in the distance, a blue glow coming from one of the other ships, but it was already to late to go check that out. He would have to get on the sail boat before it got into the air again.

"Ohhhhh man.... This is awesome"

THE SAIL BOAT

The robot made no further comment at Ace’s remark, and stayed back to let the earthling do its job. By the time Ace reached the Space Sail Boat, it had fallen silent due to the electrical attack shorting out the ship. On deck was some kind of other... robot... or power armor... spider-crab-insectoid in nature, with alien ray guns, one giant claw and a really bad alien attitude.

The guns were about to unleash hell on Raikou when he generated a massive electrical surge than, predictably, combined with the Lake water, caused the whole sailing ship to seize up and, predictably, go dark. The lightning danced across the alien-but-looks-human ship, causing the turrets to short out. The guns drooped down and went silent, and the ship was now utterly defenceless against any attacks from the outside.

Now there was the matter of entering the dark, unpowered vessel... and possibly confront its surviving crew. There was going to be no surprise that the second Raikou came aboard he’d be met with some alien ray from the dark hallway.
The alien interceptors maintained their perimeter.

Some distance away, out of the Interceptors’ sights and senses, Xiao emerged onto one of the small artificial piers on Lake Michigan, Floating steel on concrete that had a speed boat tied down. The Dragon Girl did not require breathing, but the person she rescued seemed to. The pier had a high intensity mercury lamp- the same type as used in football stadiums.

Xiao looked at him... she was genuinely surprised to see a muscular, moustached asian space pirate of all things that would come out of an alien ship. He had a robotic arm and was large for a human being. Xiao began resuscitating him, unawares that an Interceptor was heading her way...

Alex watched with glee as the ship began to fail electronically. He could now officially add 'take out an alien spacecraft' to his resume of bad ass things he has accomplished. Splashing around a bit in excitement, he manages to gain control of himself, looking now to the problem at hand. Alex was good at fighting, but even he couldn't fight an unseen enemy. And with the lights out on the ship, if he used his lightning as a source of light, it would just literally make him a glowing target. As much as he hated it, he was going to have to be civil if he wanted this to work. Putting his two pinkys to the corners of his mouth, he exhaled air, whistling loudly, loudly enough that the crew should be able to hear him.

"Hey, I come in peace! Let me aboard and we can talk, I wish to parley, other wise I'm going to just start tearing holes in this ship until it sinks. The choice is up to you."

Jado pulle up next to the sail boat slowly, watching it as it just listed in the water. This wasn't ever a good sing in any of the movies Jason had scene. Usually meant that something was waiting on board for the hero (Jason).

Muttering something about about not being the white Virgin girl in a scary movie was a bad idea, Jason began to look around for a way on board. He spotted some rigging hanging of the side. He pulled up next to it and jumped up from the jet ski and grabbed a hold of it. He slowly climbed up till his was about level with te side. Jason was cautious and only poked his head over the side to get a look at what was on the deck

The Giant Robot Crab on deck moved back and forth, but rarely strayed from the entrance to the lower decks. Its speakers shouted in a strange alien fish language, seemingly directed at the Interceptors who held back in a most challenging tone. He could hardly notice Ace sneaking around with giant killer robots waiting for them. Still, if Ace showed himself there was little doubt the Crab bot would not be friendly at all, considering the ship’s situation.

Raikou's call for parley went unanswered. The hallways remained dark and silent, and inside the ship, the surviving crew scrambled to arm themselves and make a defiant last stand. Considering their circumstances, this might be a possibility Raikou might consider.

"Hmm...no answer huh? Whelp, guess it's time to start blasting holes."

Piling up energy in his palms, Alex pushes both hands forward, trying his best to blast a hole in the side of the ship high enough that water won't sink in, but low enough that he can grab it, and use it to scale the rest of the ship. As he hung from the side of the ship, he called out one last time.

"Last chance for Parley, otherwise this fucker is going down."

Jason paused, hanging off from the railing as he stared at crab robot thingy. It looked really really tenses... As far as Jason could tell. It could be giddy for all he knew, seeing how he had no idea how to read these guys body movements for emotions. He debated a couple options that lay before him. He wanted to sneak further in, but it didn't look like that was going to be easy.

With a small sigh, Jason snapped his finger and sent a small flame to his jet ski. He set the gas cap on fire but held it at bay for right now. In the off chance this went bad he would ignite it for an explosion. It wouldn't do much but it could be a vital distraction.

With that Jason hopped up into the deck and sat on the railing. He crossed on leg over and other and out on a pose of supreme ease. He kept his hands in plain view and dowsed all energy from him tht he could. He wanted to appear as little as threatening as possible. He whistles to get the robots attention

"Well hi there! It appears you folks are having a bit of trouble. I'm here on this planets behalf to help straighten things out and get you on your way. But lets talk first"

Jason out on a grin as he watched all the reactions around him. He didn't want to get shot now. This was either going to be his lucky day and go three for three orrrrrr he was about to cause an intergalactic incident. It was a little nerve racking for him, but this was what he was here for.