The Ace of Spades Campaign - Raid on Sterling part 08

Fight! Fight!
Later that day, when Kimberley, Gwendoline, Julia and Celeste headed off to receive payment for the cargo they had delivered to Pablo Kinte, the rest of the crew made their way to Pablo's Place for a well earned break. Judith and Sharuna would have preferred to have stayed on board The Ace of Spades. They weren't really into carousing and socialising, preferring more cerebral pursuits on their own. However, Kimberley had insisted they go. They had been cooped up on board for too long and a change of scenery would do them good. Besides which, with the rest of the crew accompanying them, what could possibly go wrong?

Storm led the group into the bar. She was Kimberley's second-in-command, and she took charge when Kimberley was otherwise engaged. It was mid-evening when they arrived and there was a roughly even mix of civilians and mercenaries in the bar. Of the three bar staff, two were serving drinks and chatting to their customers. That left one pretty young barmaid to serve them. Her name tag identified her as Cheryl.
"Hi, there" she greeted them cheerily. "What can I get you?"

The crew crowded around the bar and placed their orders. Judith had brought her pet daggertooth cat, Fizz, along. He wore a collar and a leash, which Judith kept a tight hold of. His nose twitched as he took in the curious new smells. He attracted quite a few stares as well as questions and ideas about what kind of animal he was. None of the staff or customers had ever seen a daggertooth cat before.

"You're new here," Cheryl noted. "Where are you from?"
"We're part of the crew of The Ace of Spades," Storm answered truthfully.
"Did you say The Ace of Spades?" a loud, angry voice bellowed. All eyes turned to see a large, bearded, muscular man stride menacingly towards Storm.
"Yeah, what of it?" Storm replied as she set her drink back down on the bar.
"I've got a bone to pick with you lot," the stranger said. "When I tell you to get out of my way, you damned well better get out of my way. Pronto. You hear me, bitch?"
"And just who the hell are you to order me around?" Storm countered angrily.
"I'm Brutus," he snarled. "Captain of the Jessica Lane. You owe me an apology."
"Yeah, right!" Storm sniggered. "Go screw yourself!"
By now the crews of The Ace of Spades and the Jessica Lane were squaring off against each other. The threat of violence hung heavily in the air and the bar fell silent as all eyes were fixed on Brutus and Storm. Judith and Sharuna deliberately moved away from their companions. If this went as bad as they feared, they wanted no part of it. That shifted the odds slightly in favour of the Jessica Lane with eight men facing seven women.

"Fucking mouthy bitch!" Brutus exclaimed.
Storm was just about to offer a comeback when he punched her in the mouth and split her lip. She should have seen it coming, she realised, but dammit, he was fast. Fast and strong. She staggered back a pace, hurt and humiliated.
Immediately, a shout went up from the other patrons in the bar, "Fight! Fight!"
The crew of the Jessica Lane shouted out their approval and encouragement.
"Way to go, Brutus!"
"Show her who's boss!"
"Slap the bitch senseless!"
"Fight on!"
"Hit her again!"
"Hit her harder!"
"Jessica Lane rules!"

For Danica, Jeanette, Katja, Kyran, Lynda and Rebecca this meant war. They were riled up and wanted vengeance. Danica, the Venetian scout, was the first to react. She leapt up onto the bar with the agility of a cat and kicked Brutus in the face with such power that she smashed his jawbone. Against almost anyone else, such a blow would have knocked them down and most likely have knocked them out. But Brutus was a hard man and tough as nails. He remained standing through sheer willpower. Even so, the pain was excruciating and he screamed in agony.

Katja Sondquist, Danica's lover, was a fraction of a second slower than her fellow scout. She pushed her way between Storm and Kyran and launched a spinning martial arts kick against a grinning crew member called Frankie Zit.

The blow caught him in the stomach and not only winded him but took him by such surprise that he fell flat on his back. He doubled up in the foetal position as he rubbed his injured stomach.

Storm wiped the blood from her mouth with her sleeve. She made a fist with the knuckles of her index finger and middle finger extended and punched Brutus in the throat. It wasn't as powerful a blow as the one that Brutus had done to her but it proved to be far more effective. Brutus gagged and struggled to catch his breath. His eyes glazed over and he crashed over onto his back. He was well and truly out of the fight.
"Take that, you bastard!" Storm spat at him.

A young Jessica Lane crewman in his late teens decided to take things a step further when he saw Brutus and Frankie knocked down. He drew a knife with a serrated edge from his belt and living up to his nickname of "Slash", he slashed at Katja, hoping to slice her face open. Katja saw the attack coming and ducked back, causing him to miss. "Slash" reversed his swing and instead of attacking Katja again switched his attack to Kyran. Kyran had been in her fair share of bar-room brawls and she deftly stepped back out of range of the knife's swing.

Rebecca Ellington was an orphan who had endured and survived a tough childhood. She had grown up on the streets and was once part of a gang of youths who terrorised their neighbourhood. Since then she had matured a lot but she was still one of the most proficient fighters on The Ace of Spades. She was the equal of Danica, Katja and Kimberley but not as good as Celeste or Julia. But then, no-one else on board was as skilled as that pair of killers. So, against a bunch of untrained brawlers she was in a much higher class than the guy she faced. His name was Grillbert Beep and he had one of the most ridiculous haircuts she had ever seen. He wore purple wraparound glasses to match the colour of his hair. She was going to enjoy putting him in his place. She hit him with an elbow thrust to the face that bust his nose. He yelped in pain and clutched his broken nose in both hands, leaving his lower body unprotected against a knee to the groin. Grillbert crumpled to the ground, writhing in agony and screaming for his mother.

Jeanette Grey claimed to be an ex-UFP gunner and so she had military training and was more than capable in a fight. This was all true but there was far more to her than she was prepared to tell. The fresh-faced young punk she faced was also in his late teens and he was clearly out of his depth. His name was Rondo Dib and he sneered at her in such a manner that suggested he could take her easily. Jeanette quickly proved him wrong as she punched him in the stomach, forcing him to double up in agony. She finished him off with a deadly karate chop to the back of his neck, which rendered him unconscious.

Without any doubt, the ugliest member of the Jessica Lane was a guy known only to his colleagues as "Growler". He looked like he'd been in many a fight... and lost them all! He had broken and missing teeth, a nose that was bent in two places, part of one ear had been bitten off, his eyes were bloodshot and his face was criss-crossed with scars. His hair was bright red, which contrasted strongly against his pale skin. He carried a large wooden club. Leaping across the prone bodies of Brutus and Frankie, he charged at Storm, screaming incoherently in rage. Storm instinctively ducked back as he swung his club at her head. It was lucky for her that she did but even so, she was still hit with a glancing blow that rattled her. It could have been a lot worse if he had connected properly.

Kyran Calaveri was pissed off at the punk who had tried to attack her with a knife. She did not enjoy fighting like some of her comrades on board, but when she did, she'd often fight dirty. And so she kicked "Slash" right in the balls, bringing tears to his eyes and knocking the breath out of him as he gasped in shock. As he bent over, she grabbed his head in both hands and kneed him full in the face. He went out like a light.
"You're not so cocky now, are you?" she said derisively.

By now the fight was going very badly for the crew of the Jessica Lane. They were down but not out. A blonde, middle-aged crewman called Drew "Belcher" Belchard attempted to avenge his captain by taking out Danica. He feinted a swing of his club at her thighs before smashing it down against the ankle of her right leg. Danica was not fooled by the feint and nimbly avoided the blow.

Lynda Pelligrosso, along with Judith and Sharuna, were the most pacifistic members of the crew of The Ace of Spades. However, she was so appalled at the behaviour of the Jessica Lane crew, especially those who had hit Storm, that she could not idly stand by. Against her better judgement she joined in the fight, grateful that Julia had taught her a few martial arts techniques. She feinted a kick to "Growler's" groin. He tried to block it with his club. With his head unguarded, she delivered an uppercut to the jaw with all the force she could muster. No one was more surprised than her when his eyes rolled back in his head and he passed out.
"Oh, my god!" she exclaimed. "Did I do that?"
"Way to go, Lynda," Storm beamed at her, full of pride.

It was at this point that Rizlo Batty, one of the two Jessica Lane crewmen still standing decided that enough was enough. They had just had their collective asses well and truly kicked.
"Hold it! Hold it!" he shouted. "Enough already. You've beaten us fair and square. We surrender, okay?"

"Let them go," Storm ordered her crew. To Batty and Belchard she said, "get out of here now and take your friends with you. If you ever bother me or my crew again you'll suffer far worse than you have tonight. Be thankful that you only faced off against the weaker part of my crew. Believe me, you do not want to mess with the others, because they'll do far worse than what we've done. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, ma'am," they muttered glumly. "We won't trouble you again."

Judith dashed to Storm's side to tend to her facial injuries. Lynda and Sharuna offered words of sympathy to their pilot. The five others made sure that the Jessica Lane crew left peacefully. Frankie Zit had recovered enough to help Batty and Belchard carry and drag their battered and bruised colleagues back to their ship. This was one fight they would not forget in a long time.
Danica and Katja smiled at each other before high-fiving and hugging.
"Get a room, you two," Rebecca chided with a grin.