The Hoodlums

Note: Originally written in 2011. A spinoff short story within the Knight Squadron series that just never fully developed.

***

The Hoodlums, a rag tag squadron of Valkyrie pilots are tasked with the most dangerous missions.

***

Chapter 1: Death Among The Stars...

Like a flock of predatory birds the twelve Valkyrie starfighters of the Luftwaffe quickly descended on the powerless Jaheem II-Class Destroyer, as it drifted just inside the Siria System's asteroid field. A flash of light and a barely recognizable XT-2400 light freighter left gravity-drive and joined the twelve star fighters.

"Alright Hoodlums," Captain Borne Monsoon said through the squadron's comm frequency. "Let's tighten up formation and lock in attack position. Keep your eyes peeled! I don't want them taking us by surprise if this turns out to be a trap."

"As ordered Lead!"

"Loud an clear, Cap!"

The others each rogered up and in turn opened their fighters' wings to the characteristic "V" position that gave the famous fighter it's name. The heads up display in Monsoon's fighter showed that the Jaheem warship had barely enough power to maintain it's shields and protect against the asteroids closing in around it.

"Big Boss, this is Lead," he said.

"Go ahead Lead," a female voice called back.

"Make a pass over the Destroyer and have Kari scan for any sudden changes in their power output. If their down to emergency power they should have a steady decline and nothing more."

"Understood Cap." The XT-2400 light freighter flew ahead of the fighters and made a bee-line towards the stranded Destroyer. The freighter bristled with dozens of sensor arrays and antennas as well as a few gun ports that had been added on since the squadron came into position of the old ship.

"Jaheem Destroyer Malice, This is Captain Monsoon of the Reich Republic Luftwaffe Starfighter Command, Commanding Officer of Hoodlum Squadron. We received your distress signal and are here to accept your surrender and tow you out of here. Please acknowledge."

"Captain Monsoon," A raspy voice came back after several seconds of silence. "This is Captain Yataro of the Malice. I recall stating in our distress message that we would only surrender to Commander Hunt and Knight Squadron."

"Knight Squadron is currently on mission elsewhere," Monsoon replied. "It's either us or nobody. You will open your main hangar bay and allow myself and three other pilots to land. The rest of my squadron will fly patrol while you and I discuss the terms of your surrender. We also have the KMS Freedoms Flame patrolling outside the asteroid field. Any funny business and they will launch three additional squadron, and in this environment fighters can maneuver much easier than a capital ship."

"Understood Captain," Commander Yataro called back."One flight follow me in and keep your weapons ready. I trust this guy about as far as I can thro..."

"Captain!" The female voice called again from the freighter. "We're picking up multiple signals powering up from the asteroids."

Monsoon looked down at his own scanners and saw several red dots appearing. "We've been suckered in Hoodlums. Weapons free, I repeat weapons free."

"Break off by flights," Ty Weldon listened to the older pilot in the lead call out to the other fighters. "Big Boss get on the horn with the Freedom and tell them to send back up."

Ty could see the shapes of several M35 fighters coming at the Luftwaffe group from the cover of the asteroids.

"What the Hell?" Ty's wingman called over the frequency.

"Another trap for the Knights," Ty said as he switched his weapons from cannons to quantum torpedoes. He quickly received a target lock tone and fired. Without waiting to see if the torpedo hit it's mark the young pilot broke left.

"Cut the chatter back there seven," a deep guttural voice called over the frequency. "I want you and eight flying cover for the Big Boss while Kari hacks into their systems."

"Affirm five," Ty said. "Lets go Devin."

The De'aaron pilot hissed something in his native tongue before responding to his wingman. "Why we always getting' stuck on babysittin' duty, Ty?"

"Would you rather be back at command staring at dots on a scanner screen?"

The two Valkyries veered to the left towards the freighter as it passed over the Destroyer. "Big Boss, you've got four eyeballs on your ass. Break left so me and Devin can take them out."

Without a word the freighter broke suddenly. The M35 fighter, not expecting the sudden maneuver, were late to respond and in a matter of seconds three were destroyed by the two Valkyrie pilots.

"WATCH IT TWELVE!" Ty took a glance at his scopes and saw that the signal for Hoodlum twelve had disappeared.

"Twelve report!" Monsoon's voice came over.

"She's gone captain!" another voice replied. "I got the bastard in my sight's now."

"Big Boss, how much longer until your done?"

"We're at eighty percent now, Captain," the female said. "About thirty seconds and we'll have all the information from their systems aboard."

"Ty!" Ty turned just in time to avoid the green tracer bolts from an incoming M35 fighter.

"Thanks Dev," Ty replied. "Hey I bet I can take down four more before you get your third kill today."

"What'll you give me?"

"Twenty credits."

"You two knock it off!" Monsoon said. "This isn't a casino."

"Roger Captain," Ty replied without enthusiasm. He lead his new target, keeping the crosshairs of his weapons system a few inches ahead of the M35 he was chasing. As he squeezed the trigger the red bolts of energy tore the wing pylon loose on the enemy fighter and sent it careening out of control.

"We're done Hoodlums," The female aboard the Big Boss announced.

"Roger that, you guys get the Hell out of here," the Captain ordered.

"Permission to attack the Destroyer, Captain?" Ty asked.

Monsoons aged voice came back at once giving them permission to attack the Destroyer which was now attempting to leave the asteroid field.

"Go for the engines Devin," Ty shouted as they closed in on the large ship. "Rusty!"

The bulky H4 mech-droid responded form behind Ty's cockpit with a series of whistles and beeps.

"Shut up," Ty said to the droid. "Find me a weak spot on their engines. Find it and put it up on my HUD and then transfer it over to Devin's fighter."

The droid gave it's usual response and within seconds the image of the left most engine on the capital ship appeared with a large portion of the engine highlighted.

"You seeing this Dev?" Ty asked as he rolled his fighter to avoid colliding with a smaller asteroid.

"I see it," Devin answered. "Must have taken some abuse from these rocks. Looks like their gunners have us in sight."

Both fighters broke in opposite directions to avoid a barrage of incoming green tracer batteries fired on them.

"All this just to take out the Knights," Ty sighed. "What a waste."

"The Knights stand for something," Devin shouted back. Ty looked out his viewport to see the other Valkyries fire a quick burst of tracers as a nearby M35 fighters before breaking off and continuing towards the star destroyer. "Their a symbol of the Reich now. Destroying them would cripple morale."

"Oh, spare me," Ty said. More of the pulse cannons on the large ship were now trained on the two of them. "Divert more power to your forward shields."

"Got it."

Ty and Devin executed a series of barrel roll maneuvers to avoid the large energy bolts. More fighters were now in the fight as a squadron of A-10's had come to Hoodlum squadron's aid from the Freedoms Flame just outside the asteroid field.

"Their shields are down," Devin said just as the reports started filling Ty's own screens.

"Alright, link your torpedoes to my targeting computer and stay on my ass."

The two fighters were far too close now for the pulse cannons to track. The smaller turrets still fired on them but with no luck. Ty and Devin skimmed the hull just under the Malice's plasma cannons.

As they reached the aft of the ship Ty hit his emergency break and forced the nose of the ship downwards. The force of the maneuver slammed him into his seat.

As soon as he heard his targeting lock tone, Ty fired two quantum torpedoes. Devin who had shot past his wingman fired his as well. The targeting systems in the the De'aaron's torpedoes, being slaved to Ty's own, turned and headed back at the Malice's already damaged engines. The four torpedoes punctured the engine plating and detonated inside. The force of the explosion ripped Ty's shields down to thirty percent as he sped away.

"Good shooting guys," Hoodlum five shouted as he passed overhead.

Ty smiled and looked around. The Destroyer Malice now floated in space with one engine still online. Both dome shield generators atop the command deck were destroyed as were several of the gun turrets. The debris from dozens of M35 fighters and sadly a few Valkyries and A-10's floated amidst the asteroids.

"We've had enough," the raspy voice of the Malice's commander came over the main frequency. "Call your ships off and allow my remaining fighters to dock. We surrender."

Ty smiled as he heard the commander's plea for surrender. His voice was soon followed by that of Captain Monsoon's.

"Your pilots will leave the asteroid field where they will be escorted to the KMS Freedoms Flame auxiliary docking bay. You and your command staff will leave the Malice on an unarmed shuttle and dock as well where out CO will meet you and discuss the terms of surrender. I hope this little "trap" of yours was worth the lives of four of my pilots."

"Four?" Ty shouted. "Who all'd we loose back there Devin?"

There came no response to Ty's question. Ty looked down at his scopes and saw that the transponder codes for four of the Valkyries in the squadron had disappeared, including Devin's.

"What happened?" he asked calmly.

"Took a shot from the Malice right after he launched his torpedoes," Hoodlum nine growled. "He took many enemies with him. It was a good death."

"We'll mourn later," Monsoon's voice came over in a scolding tone. "Let's escort these fighters to Freedom. They even look like their up to something and you slag them."

"Roger that," Ty said. He quickly moved his fighter into position behind Hoodlum five and six, then removed his glove and pulled out a small black grease pen. On the left wall of his cockpit, just behind the viewport he wrote the name "Devin Karr" beneath two other names.

***

Chapter 2: Replacements...

Captain Borne Monsoon, a stern faced man of fifty-seven, with graying hair and deep set eyes, waited impatiently in the main hangar bay of the star cruiser KMS Freedoms Flame for the shuttle bearing his new pilots and mechanic, which was already half an hour late. "I'll be having a talk with the pilot," He said to himself as he checked his wrist chrono yet again.

Behind him in the main hangar were four battered and scarred Valkyries which two droids were busy looking over. Monsoon had ordered the droids not to attempt any repairs on the new fighters until the new mechanic arrived to give his assessment.

Finally the landing lights to his right came to life signaling that a craft of some kind had just received clearance to land. He straightened up, and ran his hand over his uniform to make sure no wrinkles had amassed since he had put it on.

What started as a small white dot in space, turned quickly into the shape of a large Kestrel-class shuttle. The same kind of shuttle had been used by the Jaheem before their defeat nearly ten years ago.

The sleek, white ship passed through the magnetic shield that separated the contents of the hangar, from the vacuum of space. It hovered on repulsor lifts for a few seconds before settling down just feet away from Captain Monsoon.

The shuttle powered down and the entry ramp underneath the cockpit slowly lowered. Four beings dressed in the black/silver jumpsuits worn by the Luftwaffe pilots stepped off and saluted Captain Monsoon.

Monsoon returned the salute then took in the new pilots. "You must be Marcus," He said to the first. Kris Marcus was a tall human, about five inches taller than Monsoon with a tan complexion, black hair cut dangerously close to his skull, and a black goatee around his lips.

"Yes sir," Marcus said.

"You'll be replacing one of our best pilots, Klaus Talbot."

"Thank you sir," Marcus said. "It'll be an honor flying as your wingman."

"Quit kissing my ass, son," Monsoon said. "You won't be flying on my wing. I moved Lt. Edo from two flight up to my wing after our last mission. You'll be flying as Hoodlum six on Lt. Slater's wing."

Monsoon stepped away from the silent Marcus and stood before the next pilot. This one was a male Rovian, with green skin and two large, bulging, black eyes. Even for a Rovian this pilot was very short.

"Name!" Monsoon demanded.

"Fffff... Fliiii... Flight Offffff... icer Hui, sir" The Rovian stuttered.

"What's the matter son?" Monsoon asked. "Are you scared of me?"

"Nnnnno... sir," Hui replied. "I jjjjj... just get excittttted."

"You're going to need to fix that stutter before next week Hui. You'll be flying wing for Lt. Secada." Monsoon said.

The next pilot was of a species Monsoon had never seen. He stood six feet tall with a thin body, and four arms. His head rested atop a thick neck and was adorned with slits for nostrils, and two black eyes.

"Name!" Monsoon said again.

"Flight Officer Hekker," the strange alien said.

"I don't believe I've ever come across a walking stick before," The Captain said. "Where did you come from?"

"Troilus," Hekkar said. "The planet Troilus, sir. I'm not a walking stick. I'm a Dex."

"And I'm Korscian." Monsoon said. "You'll be flying wing for Lt. Welborn in two flight. Your call sign is now Hoodlum eight."

Finally Monsoon rounded on the fourth pilot. He was nearly as tall as Marcus, with dark blue skin, two large black eyes and a dozen or more long tentacles hanging behind his head like hair. "Kemp?" Monsoon asked.

The Natuolan nodded. "Yes sir!" Obispo Kemp said.

"You'll be flying in one flight with me, however, you'll be Lt. Hiro's wingman." Monsoon explained before stepping back to talk to all four pilots.

"Now let's get one thing clear right now," He said in a raised voice. "This isn't Knight Squadron, or Bandit Squadron. Hell, this isn't even Viper Squadron. This is Hoodlum Squadron. People don't apply for this squadron like the others. If you study the history of our squadron you'll see that we have the highest combat death percentage of any squadron in the Luftwaffe. Now don't let that little fact freak you out. Every death that has occurred in this squadron, as tragic as it is, is a result of a personal mistake or a conscious decision on that pilot's part. If you fly with a clear head, and learn from your other pilots, you'll be fine. Now if you will follow me," Monsoon said. "I'll take you to meet the rest of the squadron."

The four pilots followed the old man through the hangar towards the group of Valkyries where several other pilots were at work.

"HOODLUMS!" Monsoon shouted and all seven pilots looked up from their work. "We've got new pilots."

Most of the pilots who were atop their fighters climbed down and moved towards the new group. "Which one's mine?" a blue-skinned Arcadian female asked in a sultry voice.

"Hui this is Lieutenant Secada," Monsoon said.

Tai moved forward gracefully and extended her hand to the young Rovian. "You can call me Tai honey," she said.

Dali Hui struggled to get words out and eventually fainted and fell backwards. The veteran pilots all laughed as Marcus and Obispo helped Hui to his feet.

"That's enough Lieutenant," Monsoon said though his face was much softer now.

"Sorry Cap," Tai said with a smile. "A girl's got to have her fun."

"Alright, alright," Monsoon said as the male pilots wolf whistled. "Welborn, Secada, Lee, and Slater stay here. The rest of you get back to work."

The four rookie pilots and their new wingmen stayed while the others left the area. The rookie looked over at the casual demeanor of the others nervously. At the same time each of the veteran pilots were thinking of good jokes to use later about the rookies "fresh out of training" attitudes.

"Hui you met Tai already," Monsoon said. "Tai take him and show him around, but be nice."

"Oh, I will," Tai joked and grabbed Hui by the arm and took him away towards the other end of the hangar. As they walked away Monsoon sighed as he saw Tai lay her head on the Rovian's shoulder in another attempt to tease him.

"Slugs this is Kris Marcus," as Monsoon spoke a large grey skinned Ivorian stepped forward. "Take him to the simulators and make sure Tai doesn't give that kid too hard a time."

"Come on," The Ivorian said in a deep, guttural voice. The Ivorian and Marcus walked off together in the direction that Tai and Hui had gone.

"Welborn, you and Lee take these two to the lounge and introduce them to the others," Monsoon said. "I need to go see what's taking our new mechanic." Monsoon turned on his heel and walked off towards the shuttle several meters away.

Ty Welborn and Lee Hiro, a short statured snivvian looked at each other then at Hekker and Obispo Kemp.

"Well grab your bags and let's go," Welborn said.

The two rookies picked up their bags and walked towards the nearest turbo lift with their new wingmen.

"You guys fresh from the academy?" Lee asked.

"Yes, sir," Hekker said timidly.

"Cut that crap out," Lee said. "We're all Hoodlums. No sirs or ma'ams. I'm Lee and this is Welborn."

"The more formal you are," Welborn added. "The more the others are going to pick on you."

"Sorry about that," Obispo said. "We are fresh from the academy like you said. They kind of drill that in your head there."

"Yeah, we all went through the same deal," Welborn said. "Some of us went through the Jaheem Academy some of us went through the Luftwaffe Academy. We all came here with that immaculate military bearing. Once we got here and found out how laid back it is, we dropped it pretty quick."

The turbo lift stopped and the four pilots stepped off and walked down the hall towards the recreational lounge.

"You're running a little slow this morning," Monsoon said to the female mechanic busy unloading her gear from the shuttle.

"Sorry sir," she said. She turned and offered a quick salute. Her name was Alina Horne. Her dark pink skin identified her as a Zeidan, a species known mostly for their ability to manipulate the opposite sex via pheromones secreted from their skin. "We ran into some mechanical issues halfway here. I don't know who your last mechanic was, but he did a piss poor job on this tin can."

"Which is why we got a hold of your superiors and had you transferred here," Monsoon replied. "Your old CO tells me you're the best. I'm going to be asking you to prove it almost every day. Keep my birds flying and we wont have any problems."

"Very good sir," Alina said, though in truth she was barely listening as she rummaged through a crate of tools. "I also have those new mech-droids you requested onboard." She tucked a loose strand of blue hair behind her ear and tossed a small case to the Captain.

Monsoon opened the case and found five new droid restraining bolt controllers inside. "Thank you," he said. "Before you get started I have two assistants you might need to meet.

The pink skinned women looked up and raised an eyebrow. "Assistants?"

Monsoon nodded and shouted across the hangar deck, "ARNIE! SLY! Get over here!"

Alina watched as two droids came towards her. The first was a short bipedal droid with two eyes set atop his metal body. "This is Sly," Monsoon explained. The droid said nothing.

"He's quiet now, but he'll be a handful later. Just make sure you inventory your tools before locking up at night." The other droid said. The smaller droid waved a mechanical hand at the taller one and said something in a strange dialect of clicks and beeps. Alina interpreted the smaller droid's mood as angry.