Moonhawk 2 - The Blackcrow

Chapter 5 - Increasing Paranoia

A short beep was heard and Captain Hawk spoke through the intercom. He wasn't pleased with what just happened. "May I ask, out of curiosity, what just happened with the reactor?"

Another short, awkward silence went in. No one had the courage to speak, but someone had to report it. Flash piped up nervously after he found his words.

"There was a small defect with the reactor's systems, Captain. But I repaired it in time. The core is fine now." Flash felt guilty that he didn't tell the complete truth to his captain, but he didn't want Shepp nor Nero to get into even more trouble than they already were. Nero and Shepp looked totally shocked at Flash after he defended them.

"Alright, Flash. Whatever defect caused it, thank you for repairing it." Captain Hawk was grateful and ended the communication.

Flash let out a relieved sigh after the call ended and walked out of the room. Even Shepp didn't expect that Flash would protect them like that. Why did he do it? It is unusual for him to do such a thing for his crew members. With a curious expression, Shepp followed his yellow colleague's footsteps down the stairs. Not even Bane could understand the yellow one, but he was secretly impressed.

"Instead of fighting and bringing us into danger," the yellow one began, "Why don't you two just work together?"

Back on the space station Wildwhirl, went a grey bean down the corridors to the hangar. A lot of engineers were down there doing their tasks. Some of them noticed the grey general walking towards his shuttle. They were surprised to see General Cole and got distracted momentarily to acknowledge him. Cole nodded in response and went to his shuttle, put in some coordinates, and flew out of the space station at hyper speed. He went to a place where a special someone could help him with his mission. He had a plan on how to get that material back without anyone noticing he was the one who took it, but he needed a certain object to allow him to do so.

As the shuttle appeared again in a different solar system, Cole saw a neutral planet in front of his view. Blue seas and oceans decorated the planet as well as small islands. Cole typed something in his communication system to contact the headquarters for their permission to land. After he got it, he directed his shuttle to the hangar below. A lot of transport shuttles and gliders flew their common daily routes. The trees that grew there were gigantic and tall. Their leaves had purple and red colors. It appeared to be autumn on Kelki, the planet where he awaited a certain someone after he landed.

A sensitive, rose bean gingerly walked closer to him. There was something different about her, but he couldn't quite put a finger on it. He was too focused on his shuttle to pay much attention.

"Cole, my honey? Is that you?" she asked, her voice was soft like an angel. Cole remembered his wife's voice and froze for a moment before he realized she was behind him. It had been months since he last heard her beautiful, calm voice. The general stepped out of the shuttle and turned around. The first thing he noticed was that her stomach was bigger than the last time he saw her. It wasn't much of a difference, but it was noticeable enough. The grey bean greeted his wife before she could realize he was distracted.

"Indeed it's me, Camilla."

"It has been months since you last visited us. I remember the night we had. Such a lovely memory." Her voice had something different to it, which Cole couldn't quite explain. Something gentle, but in a different way than usual.

"I remember the night as well. However, I'm here to pick something up. I sent you a message earlier about it. Could you find the gem?" He asked.

"Yes, I have it here. But I'm curious... for what do you need such an exotic gem? You know how dangerous they can be." A flashback played in Cole's mind. He truly knew how dangerous they could be, but he had to do it.