Chapter 15: Survival of the Fittest

Chad strode out of the conference room, thoughts spinning through his head. He was a highly intelligent Orfine, and he possessed one of the best minds in the galaxy. However, his knowledge of Union was very limited. Nevertheless, he could predict what a power-hungry dictator like Machinehr would be like. Doubles, hideouts, huge defences... This was no easy task. Chad frowned, and he heard a voice.

"Chad!" It was Walt. Walt limped up to him, and Chad comforted him with a pleasant smile.

"Hello Walt."

"Chad, I see that you have been given the job of hunting down Machinehr." Walt said. Chad nodded and replied:

"That I have."

"Well," Walt said.

"The Genus have a top-line intelligence agency, with many people who have seen anything and everything. We have many spies, and I believe that we may be able to help you in your hunt." Chad smiled, it was a kind gesture which he couldn't afford to refuse. And Chad didn't doubt Genus's intelligence in the slightest.

"Much appreciated, thanks." Chad said, and he shook Walt's ageing hand.

"I must be off Chad, I have... A meeting to attend." Walt said, and he left.

Chad paced across Brunneran to the VIP-parking lot. His ship awaited him, and Chad was off to start his important mission. On his way though, he was stopped again.

"Chad!" He yelled. Chad turned around and smiled.

"Ah, Greeny. Nice to see you, how may I be of assistance?" Chad asked.

"Well, I've just come to inform you that the election for Terran Emperor has just started. My main competitors are Sonar and Gilbert." Greeny said, smiling.

"That is very nice." Chad said. He smiled, and remained friendly. He did like Greeny, but he was a bit annoyed at how quickly Taveius' death was tossed aside by the Empire.

"Well," Greeny started.

"You are a wise and respected Orfine. I was wondering if I could ask-" And he was cut off. A bang echoed, and Chad whipped out his Battle Claws, snarling all around. He scanned the area, and then looked down at Greeny. The Terran was lying on the floor, groaning. A laser hole was protruding through his right shoulder.

Chad scooped the Terran up, tossed him over his shoulder, and dashed for the Brunneran Hospital. For a strong Orfine like Chad, the weight of the Terran was nothing. However, the weight of Greeny's life was very heavy indeed. So much controversy would follow, and the enemy would have a big upper hand. Chad sprinted through the base, passing some stunned Plexxan workers and knocking past a few Terran tourists. Chad was panting, he was running fast and far. He could hear Greeny's breathing grow fainter, and then he spluttered violently. Chad had no choice but to lay him on the ground and examine him. Greeny was bleeding too much, and his heart was already starting to slow down from so much loss. Chad tried filling the wound and resuscitating Greeny, but neither were working. A few Terrans had gathered round. One started to ask:

"Isn't that Gree-"

"CALL THE HOSPITAL YOU MAGGOT!!!" Chad yelled at him. The Terran jumped and went dashing down Brunneran. Greeny started wheezing and his eyes went dazed. Chad had no choice but to dig in the wound, and find the cut vessel. Chad pulled in his claws, and dug his paw into the hole in Greeny's shoulder. Greeny screamed, but Chad ignored him. The Terran wasn't conscious anyway.

Chad finally found the broken vessel: a vein, shot clean through. With great skill, Chad tied the vein around into a loop. The Orfine paws and fingers are much more sensitive than any other creatures, even so, it was very difficult. With the bleeding stopped, Chad could finally pick the Terran up and carry him to hospital. However, Chad realised Greeny has lost too much blood already. The Terran started shaking uncontrollably, in a seizure. His muscles were shaking all over, his eyes rolled back completely. Only then, did Chad get desperate.

"Don't do this to me Greeny... Don't do this... DON'T DO THIS!!!" he shouted at Greeny. Greeny kept on shaking on the ground, and Chad was starting to panic. Wild thoughts raced through his mind: he scanned his memory for any help. Nothing. Greeny screamed out something incomprehensible, and Chad took his last resort. Aware that Greeny needed blood, he did something very brash indeed. He took out his sharp claws, and put a slice in Greeny's pulmonary artery. With a howl, Chad did it... He tore off his left ear. Blood flowed out, and Chad tipped his head sideways near Greeny's chest...

Chad looked at Greeny lying in the hospital bed. He was lucky to have survived, but his fight was long from over. After days of recovery, he would wake up to be haunted by the memory of the attempted assassination. He would then have to run an election campaign, hunt down an assassin and fight a war at once. Greeny needed help, no doubt about it, but it couldn't be from Chad. Chad had to get on with his mission, he had no time to wait around and deal with politics. So, Chad turned and walked out. He went down to the Brunneran VIP Parking, but took an explorer instead of his Invincible. He was heading back to Olfus to sort out a plan.

After a while sitting in his apartment at Olfus, Chad walked to his scarab, Divine Savage. He knew what he was going to do, and it was time to do it. He had no idea what lay ahead, however. On his way, Chad ran into his apprentice: Warhammer. Warhammer came up to him and said:

"Hello, sir!" Chad smiled, and kindly replied:

"How many times must I tell you Warhammer, Chad is fine." Warhammer bowed, and then he looked up and gasped.

"Chad, what happened to your ear!?!?" Chad didn't remove his smile, but felt slightly bitter inside.

"Another story for another day, Warhammer. Now, I am on an important mission. I am off to Adhara, would you like to join me?" Warhammer stood up straight, and with a proud smile said:

"Of course I would!"

"Excellent, come with me then." And they headed for Chad's Scarab. After a while, Warhammer moved in front of Chad to his right side. Chad laughed, and asked:

"What are you doing Warhammer?" Warhammer replied:

"Sorry, I forgot you couldn't hear on your left side." And the truth finally hit Chad:

"Warhammer, were you talking to me?"

"Yes, sir." Warhammer said. Chad then felt very helpless indeed.

Chad's explorer came scarab to Adhara. He was coming up to the outer ring of asteroids, and in the distance, he could see the faint light that was Guanus. Chad came up to one of the asteroids, and went into orbit.

"Warhammer, stay here. I'm going to look around." Chad said.

"Yes, sir!" Warhammer replied. Chad sighed, and jumped out of the ship. The size of the asteroid was tiny, and it only took 20 minutes for Chad to search it. Nothing. When he got back in his scarab, he scanned the asteroid. Nothing. Then, Chad went to the next asteroid. Three asteroids later, Chad had still found nothing, and he decided to move to Guanus, very close to the Union Starbase. In his ship, he flew around Guanus, searching for anything. And Chad spotted something: Away from the few colonies and mines, Chad saw what could only be a bunker. He smiled.

"Warhammer, we're moving to orbit."

Chad got out of his scarab and raced towards the bunker. He got to the door, and pressed his good ear up against it. He could hear some muffled sounds, some which could be distinguished as hisses and clicks. Slah'ke. Partially through anger with Machinehr, and partly due to his mission, Chad decided to blast his way in. He jogged back to the Scarab, and pulled out a bag. He jogged back to the bunker door, and lifted what was in the bag. Explosives. Chad then set the explosives on the door. When they were set up, he grabbed the trigger, and ran out back. When he was there, he crouched down and pressed the trigger.

BANG! The door blasted open. Shouts and hisses of anger could be heard, and Chad could even hear the clashing of metal, metal that was guns. Chad realised how stupid this was, but he couldn't pull out now. He jumped on top of the bunker, and jumped off the other side, landing perfectly. Slah'ke were standing in front of him, pointing guns at him.

"Handssssss up, Orfine." One said. Chad with a smile put his hands up- and whipped out his battle claws. The Slah'ke fired shots at him, but Chad deflected them all. He then did a forward flip to land inside the bunker, and using his claws, stabbed one in the heart. He then did the Canee. A Canee was an Orfine martial art, and the most deadly around. Chad was a master of it. It involves spins, flips, almost dancing, the whole time attacking and defending with legs, fists and battle claws. Chad spinned, danced, flipped, did everything, and all of it gracefully. The Slah'ke couldn't lay a shot on him, and one by one, they fell to the might of his battle claws. Chad spun around, dodging a shot, and did a flip to land right in front of the last Slah'ke. He then spun his leg low, knocking him to the ground. Chad jumped up and stabbed him in the heart.

Chad searched the bunker, for any hint of where Machinehr might be. There were sheets and positions of some important information, but nothing about Machinehr. Chad grabbed a few of the more important sheets and put them in his bag outside. He came back in, pulled out his claws and snarled. A large Slah'ke was there, standing at least 9 feet tall, wearing more polished and modern armour than the others, and carrying a huge sword. No doubt, this was the head of the bunker.

"Prepare to die, Orfine. You will ssssuffer for what you have done." The brute said.

"On the contrary, it is you who is to die." Chad replied angrily, still snarling. The brute chuckled and said:

"Big words for a small dog." And he jumped up and slashed his sword down. Chad blocked the slash with his battle claws, and lay a kick into the Slah'ke's stomach. The large lizard was taken off guard, but he quickly recovered, going into a complicated sequence of blows. Chad blocked them all, however, the Slah'ke was growing better. Finally, the Slah'ke went for the stab. He had underestimated Chad and Chad caught the sword in between two claws, and twisted his hand. The Slah'ke gasped as Chad spun his mighty sword around and caught it. Chad threw the sword aside, and walked towards the Slah'ke, snarling menacingly. The Slah'ke at first looked scared, but then snarled back.

"What do you want, you ssssssslimy dog?" He asked Chad.

"Where is Machinehr?" Chad demanded, grabbing him by the neck.

'I don't know." The Slah'ke said. Chad punched him in the stomach, stabbed him in the leg, and kicked him in the jaw by doing a back flip. All in one move. The Slah'ke groaned. Chad put his claws up to the lizard's throat. He then said:

"I know you do, tell me or you die."

"I'll never tell you, long live the Union!" And Chad cut his throat.

Chad walked back to the scarab. He had got a few important sheets for the war, which he would give to John Howard, but apart from that, he was no closer to finding Machinehr. Chad jumped back into the scarab, and said to Warhammer:

"Let's leave this dirty system." Warhammer pointed at something, and replied:

"Sir!" Chad looked at what he was pointing at, and gasped. There was a fleet of Dagons, and they seemed to be chasing a few Terran Invincibles. Chad said:

"We've outstayed our welcome." And he started the hyperdrive sequence. As they started to jump, Chad peered at the Dagons. Just before he left, he realised something shocking. Up front was Longsword, S117's prized flagship. As they made the jump Chad looked down at his knees. S117 was dead.