by J Bigby
"They have no way to track us now," Fury states.
"Trust me, they will find a way. Believe me, I hope they don't but I wouldn't place all my chips in a one pod," Dex jokes with a serious face.
"Did you just make a joke?" Fury laughs.
Dex laughs back, "I guess I did." The laughter dies down "I have something that's been on my mind since we first met. I never apologised for almost shooting you in the face. If you didn't have powers, that would have been messy, you were just trying to do the right thing."
"And you were just trying to survive, trust me I know all about that. When I was younger I was taken away from my family to join Void's army. He took a special liking to me and fused me with some of his power. I did some horrible things but I promised myself, I will always try to make up for that and when I had the opportunity to escape, I did," Fury explains.
"Wow, this Void sounds like a real asshole," Dex states, not knowing what to say.
Fury chuckles, "yeah. I can't take down Void but I can help you take down White."
"Thank you for helping me give my parents, the justice they deserve and maybe we can take down this Void together," Dex says putting his hand on Fury's shoulder.
"He's the most powerful being in the universe, so I don't think so," Fury laughs. "I can focus on helping others but sometimes I'm not sure what I am fighting for." Fury looks away ashamed.
"What does anyone fight for. Freedom. You just happen to be the only guy I know who fights for other people's freedom." Dex says sincerely as he smiles.
Hotshot and Sh'kar walk up to the cockpit. "So you ladies done with your period talk?" Hotshot jokes.
Dex quickly removes his hand from Fury's shoulder. "What do you want?" he asks Hotshot causally.
"Me and the big man were wondering, what's next?" Hotshot replies.
"We get to the Marvos system and the Ambassador sends his fleets, full of food and supplies back to the Esos system," Dex states.
"Sounds easy enough," Sh'kar says as he sharpens his large knife.
"If I've learned anything, it's that nothing is as easy as it sounds," says Fury with a serious expression.
"Way to kill the mood," Hotshot says jokingly.
"I don't think the White Tigers will stop hunting us, so we have to be prepared. Believe it or not but you guys are the closest things I have to a family, so when or if they show up, I will fight them alone. I want you guys to leave as soon as the Ambassador's men show up... I don't want you lose you guys." Dex states.
Fury stands up "I'm not going anywhere. If I die, I would be proud to be by your side." Fury then places his hand on Dex's shoulder.
Dex looks up, smiles and nods his head.
"I don't know you very well but I would have rotted and died in that prison if you guys didn't break me out. I'm with you too." Sh'kar smiles and places his hand on Dex's other shoulder.
Fury and Sh'kar look at Hotshot as if to tell him it's his turn. "What? There's no more shoulders to grab," Hotshot says uncomfortably. "I kid of course, I'll always come through buddy." He then place his hand on top of Dex's head and starts to pat it.
"About to arrive at the Marvos system." Vicor says snapping everyone out of their bonding moment.
The Ambassador walks into the cockpit. "This is it guys," he says with determination. The ship exits hyperspace only to appear in front of a massive fleet of White Tigers waiting for them.
"I think I just shit myself," Hotshot says, his jaw wide open in shock.
Chapter Six: White Lies
Many years ago in another galaxy...
A little boy hugs his parents goodbye. They are leaving to join the Allies, an army force that keeps the peace within this galaxy and a few others.
The little boy cries. "I don't want you to go!" he screams.
The dad kneels down to reach eye level with his kid. "It's okay son, we'll be back before you know it. In the meantime, you will go stay with your auntie, uncle and your cousins," he says holding the boy's arms.
"But I don't want to stay with them! My cousins are mean to me!" the boy cries.
"We can't take you with us, it's too dangerous sweetie," the mum says holding back her tears.
"If it's too dangerous then please don't go!" the boy replies sobbing uncontrollably.
"We have to, we need to make the world a better place... for you and kids like you." His dad says.
"Mr and Mrs White, please head through to the boarding station, thank you," a voice on the speaker states.
"I love you," the dad says with a single tear falling from his face as he gets up and starts to walks away.
"Goodbye baby, I love you Wilson," his mum says crying unable to hold back her emotions anymore.
"No! Mum! Dad! Don't go!" Wilson yells out as he falls to his knees. His auntie and uncle walk over to him, picking him up and takes him to his new home.
Years later...
A young teenage Wilson lays on his bed, thinking of what his life would be like if his parents hadn't left him. His door suddenly bursts open, his two cousins Phil and Erik run towards Wilson. Phil drags him off the bed, grabs him and Erik walks up to a restrained Wilson struggling to get free.
"I heard you told on us about taking money from mums purse," he says with a temper but not loud enough so that their parents couldn't hear.
"Auntie Debora and Uncle Marlin are broke enough as it is. Why can't you just leave them alone," Wilson pleads.
"Because we can do whatever we want," Erik says. He punches Wilson extremely hard in the stomach. Wilson falls down clenching his body. They then start kicking him and slamming their foot into Wilson's face until he stops moving. Phil and Erik hi-five and walk away laughing, slamming the door behind them. Wilson slowly gets back up, holding his stomach tight as he limps back towards his bed and sits down.
There's a slow knock on the door "I'm sorry!" Wilson yells out. Auntie Debora walks in with a devastated look on her face.
"Are you okay? What happened?"
"Nothing!" Wilson quickly yells out.
"Look, we just got a call... Your parents..." she pauses and sighs "passed away last night during a conflict with The Unknown... I'm so sorry Wilson."
"What!? No! They said they will be back! They said... They..." Wilson breaks down crying, the pain being worse than he has ever felt. He storms out of his room and leaves the house without stopping once.
"Wilson! Wilson!" Debora shouts out running to the door then stopping, thinking she would not be able to bring him back just yet. He will come back to the house eventually. Wilson keeps running until his legs give out. He falls over, he looks up and sees an underpass full of homeless people. He walks over and sits near a bin that's on fire.
"Are you lost kid?" one of the homeless says to him.
"Yes... and I don't think that will ever change."
"Well, you're welcome to stay here as long as you want. My name's Hugh," he says extending his arm out.
"Wilson." They shake hands.
"Very nice to meet you, Wilson. I can show you the ropes on how to survive out here... It's a cruel world we live in boy," Hugh says as he places his hands above the fire to keep warm.
"Thank you," Wilson says ever so grateful.
Over the next few months, Hugh shows Wilson how to steal from peoples clotheslines, gaining blankets, tops, pants and other accessories. He also shows him how to get food from dumpsters, water from the nearby river and money from begging.
One night Wilson is going through the trash to eat like any other day, when a gang of eight young men walk up to him.
"What do you think you're doing kid!?" One of them asks.
"Oh umm... eating?" Wilson says startled.
One of the guys laugh but gets punched by their leader. "Ow!" he let out.
"You being a smart ass?" the leader says pointing a knife at Wilson.
Hugh walks into the alley, looking down at his worn-out shoes. As he looks up, he sees Wilson looking at him for help. The gang look over toward
Hugh, holding knives, bats and chains. Hugh quickly runs away.
"Hugh!" yells out Wilson. The gang laugh and the leader picks Wilson up out of the dumpster and slams him onto the ground.
Wilson grunts. "Just do it! I've lost everything! Why not my life too!" He yells at the gang.
"Whoa, hold on a second boys... This kid has spice... I love that!" the leader laughs, the gang follows the leader in laughter. "How about you join our little gang, The Tigers. You'll never go hungry again."
They help Wilson up. "Sounds like we could have lots of fun," Wilson replies with a little smirk on his face.
The leader of the gang laughs. "You bet ya, the name's Wes."
"My name is Wilson."
"Well Wilson, we're planning to steal a ship to get out of this god awful shit hole and you're gonna help us."
"We will need more than nine men to steal something that valuable," Wilson says.
"Smart kid. Well you heard the boy. Let's go recruiting!" Wes shouts out as the gang cheers.
A few years quickly goes by as The Tigers ranks grow from nine to eighty. Wilson lures kids away from loved ones and Wes threatens them out of fear, to stay and abandon their home and families and join up with them. When their numbers got big enough, they started doing the same to older kids.
"Wilson!" Wes yells out. "I've found the perfect ship but it's heavily guarded."
"Isn't that why we spent the last year building up our gang? So we can attack them head on?" Wilson replies.
"Yeah and I think we're ready. I'm glad I didn't kill you that night. You've become a bigger part of this gang then you realise. My number two, and they all see it." Wes says as he wraps his arm around Wilson. "Get the guys, we are doing this tonight!"
Later that night, The Tigers head to a private hanger owned by the richest man in town. Wes uses a crowbar to pry open the gates. As he successfully opens them, the alarm goes off alerting the authorities.
"Don't panic! We knew this would happen!" Wes yells out to his crew.
As they all prepare themselves, Wilson looks at the biggest ship there and runs toward it, climbing on top of it. At first, security shows up but are massively outnumbered and are quickly taken out by the gang. As the gang attacks the guards, Wilson finds an unlocked hatch leading into the ship and jumps inside. Sirens are becoming clearer and clearer to hear as they get closer and stop in front of the hanger.
"Come out with your hands up," one of the police force officers say.
Wes comes out of the hanger with both hands up. "Go get them boys!" he shouts out as all of the gang rushes out behind him with various types of weapons, heading towards the officers, screaming with rage.
The police are caught off guard as they become overwhelmed, with so many kids running towards them. The police force starts shooting and takes out some of the crew but they take out even more of the authorities.
Wilson tries to figure out how to use the ship's controls. Random stuff starts happening to the ship. Lights flicker on and off, the computer brings up random locations and finally, the engine starts and the ship starts hovering in the air. Wilson finds the controls to move the vessel and fly's it towards the fight, crashing into the gate and appearing above his crew.
He presses a button behind the control stick, firing the ship's weapons at the police cars, blowing them up. The gang cheers as the police are forced to retreat. Wilson hovers just above the ground and opens the back ramp letting the rest of The Tigers onto the ship as they fly up into the distance.
Wes rushes to the cockpit. "We did it!" he shouts out excitedly to Wilson. He pauses, "Your in my seat, I'm the captain here."
"Can I be your co-captain?" Wilson says with a smile of hope.
"No. Now piss off and join the rest of the trash."
"But we did this together..." A utter look of betrayal dawns upon Wilson's face.
"No! I did it and if you talk back to your captain again, I will take you out and show my crew what I do to people who back talk me!" Wes yells out, the power going to his head.
"So, I help you get massive numbers into your gang, steal the ship for you and you're going to toss me aside and treat me like the rest of them?" Wilson asks with rage slowly appearing in his eyes.
"You didn't do shit! Now leave!"
Wilson goes into a violent rage. He runs at Wes grabbing his head and slamming it into the console multiple times, even after the console was painted red with Wes's blood. "I will not... be treated... like this... anymore... by anyone!" he screams out as the remaining gang walks into the room in shock.
Wilson turns around, still gripping what's left of Wes's head. He looks at the remains of his crew. The numbers have diminished due to the non-thought out plan. "I'm the new leader of The Tigers. If anyone has a problem with this speak to Wes," he says throwing Wes's body at their feet. "Actually... we're The White Tigers now."
Back on The Tiger Claw, moments after Dex and his team leave the atmosphere of Shiron, Sh'kar's home world...
"Sir, their transmitter signals are on an escape pod and their ship has lost power. It seems as if they are fleeing," the pilot says to White.
White walks over to the pilot. "Destroy it," he says. The ship fly's towards the pod and shoots at it and blows it up. There are no bodies to be seen. White looks over to the ship as their target go into hyperspace. "Damn it!" he rages, throwing his hands down, smashing a control board as sparks fly from it. "They think they can escape me! I'll kill them! All of them!"
"We have no way to track where they are going. How will we find them?" the pilot asks.
White breathes slowly to calm down and think. "We need to go to the source to find the problem."
"Where's that?"
"Halfe World. Plot a course."
The White Tigers warp into hyperspace and within a few minutes, they appear in Halfe World's atmosphere. White walks out of the bridge and onto the ship bay. He jumps into one of their small fighters then takes off out of The Tiger Claw. He starts to proceed to the planet.
As he enters the main city, where the Ambassador made his speech, he looks out from his ship and sees a destroyed vessel in the city's ship bay. White brings the fighter down onto a landing platform next to the wreckage. He jumps out from the fighter landing on the pavement, over five metres from the ground, leaving footprints and cracks in the concrete.
Commander White follows the trail of destruction, until he sees an abandoned podium where Ambassador Raygan held his speech. He heads over to the event where some people were still gathering, wondering what happened. White heads straight up the steps towards the podium as security put their hands up.
"Sorry sir you can't come up here," one of the guards says as White completely ignores them, pushing them out of the way.
"Miss Leah, we have a problem," the other security guard radios. White looks around and sees a bullet hole in the back of the platform behind the podium.
He investigates it and places his finger around the hole. 'Looks like he was meaning to get him but missed. Why didn't he finish the hit? Why would he betray me?' he thinks.
"Can I help you?" a woman says politely as she walks over to White.
"You can help by staying over there," White replies pointing to the very end of the stage.
"I'm sorry but you can't be here, this is a crime scene," the woman continues.
"What happened here?"
"The Ambassador got kidnapped. I don't know who would do such a thing. He was trying to help."
"And you are?"
"My name's Leah. I'm the Ambassador's aide."
"Perfect, you're going to help me."
"Help you? Do what?" A look of concern grows on Leah's face.
"Find the Ambassador."
"I... can't... I have to stay here and help the distressed people. I'm next in charge."
"It wasn't a question." White hits Leah in the face instantly knocking her out and throws her over his shoulder. The two security guards come rushing up the steps, pulling out thei
r guns.
"Drop her!" one says. White throws Leah at them, crashing into the guards, causing them to roll down the steps. White walks over to the groaning guards, picks up Leah then walks over the security guards, completely ignoring them. The people freak out rushing in all sorts of directions trying to get out of the area as White causally walks back to his fighter. White throws Leah into the ship but as soon as he's about to climb up into the cockpit, the planets law enforcement shows up with six vehicles and two ships, all with their sirens on.
