Maniacs: 01 - The Krittika Conflict
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"There." He turned the copter.
"Think he'd want it this way?"
"I don't think he'd care much how we do it, only that we're here for his send off."
The tone was unsurprisingly sombre as they drew up to the tree.
"You know what to do," said Mason.
He, Liu, and Vik grabbed shovels and started digging. They could have used machinery from the town to do it, but it felt impersonal. It took a solid hour of sweating to dig up the dry ground before they could finally lay his body to rest. They covered the grave back over until it was barely noticeable the ground had ever changed.
"No gravestone?"
"He wouldn't care for it, Erin."
Mason took up position in front of the grave to say a last few words.
"Ed Carter, the Boss. Best man I ever knew. Took me in, taught me to be what I am today. Most importantly, he was there when we needed him. He died just as he lived, fighting for us all."
Nobody else had a word to say as they reflected on his death. The stood silently for a few minutes, and finally turned back to the vehicles.
"What now?" asked Erin.
"Andrews is making the last few repairs to the Lady, and we're out of here."
"Just like that?"
"Just like that. But not before they deliver payment."
They rode back to the ship and found a few dozen people from the town waiting for them. Nolan Machesky was at the head and Kaper just to his side. He carried a case they knew would be full of the money they had fought hard to earn. Mason stepped up to collect.
"I want to thank you for all you have done."
"We destroyed your town."
"No, it was already falling apart. Whatever damage was done today can be fixed with half the money Volkov was stealing from us in a month."
He passed over the case of money. Mason thought for a moment of giving some of it back, but then he was reminded of the hardships they had faced to get it. He took it with a smile, handed it to Liu to take care of.
"I can't say I want to come back here anytime soon, but I wish you every luck."
"We're free to go about our lives as we always wanted, Captain, like you do. Good luck and safe journey."
Mason nodded and looked up at the ship. It was still partly imbedded in the dusty surface from when they made their emergency landing.
"Yeah, I hope so."
The locals passed through them and shook their hands. They climbed into their vehicles, returning to get on with rebuilding their town.
"I'm gonna miss this place," Viktor said.
They all looked at him to clarify his meaning.
"Really?" asked Hughes.
"No," he quickly replied.
They laughed, and it was a welcome break and return to the status quo.
"Seems a shame to leave that truck," said Viktor, pointing to Volkov's luxury armoured vehicle.
"If you want to settle here and keep it, you're more than welcome, but that shit stays off my boat," Mason said sternly.
He lifted up his comms unit. "Andrews, how much longer?"
"Should be about ready."
Mason looked to Mitchell.
"I'm on it."
He rushed up the ramp towards the cockpit.
"With any luck, we're getting outta here. Liu, get Mily loaded up. Let's go."
A minute later, the engines pulsated and fired up to cheers from most of the crew. Mason looked down the ramp for one last time when he noticed a dust cloud with a single vehicle approaching. It was a Marshals’ copter. He waited for them to disembark. They stepped up towards the ramp to address him. Three men came forward in a scene reminiscent of the last time they failed.
"Captain Mason?"
"Who's asking?"
"Deputy Willows. I have a warrant for the arrest of Captain Max Mason and crew for murder, attempted murder, trespassing, and quite frankly, a whole host of other offences. Are you Captain Mason?"
"I think you already know that, son."
"Then come peacefully. You are to stand trial before an Alliance court for your crimes."
Mason smiled and turned around to the others. Liu stood beside him, and he noticed one of Andrew’s pain grenades in his webbing. He lifted up his comms unit.
"Mitchell, prepare for lift off in five."
He turned around, grabbed hold of the grenade as he did, twisted the arming cap, and lobbed it into the middle of them. The engines roared, and the ship lifted off as the grenade ignited. The three men disappeared into a cloud of white dust. Mason could hear them coughing and screaming as they gained altitude, and he hit the door ramp button.
"Didn't anybody tell 'em not to play with fire?" Liu grinned.
He turned around. The others were waiting for his word now they were finally on their way.
"Nice work, all of you. As always, I have a line on a few jobs. But for now, we've got ten million credits to spend and nowhere we need to be."
Liu pulled out beers from a crate and tossed them out. They clashed them together.
"To the Boss, to us, and to making money!" said Mason.
Liu looked around the room at the rag tagged group of mercenaries they had assembled and smiled. They had become a family in the short time they had worked together. He lifted up his beer.
“To Mason’s Maniacs!”