Chapter 40

Sheets of paper littered Socket's desk. Every single note both the Proxy Prison officer and Tweak had scrawled had been transcribed on her computer and printed off for easier reading. Everything had been bullet pointed, listing each and every task Surge had completed. Well... every task that had wormed its way around the outskirts. Troll could only tell her what he knew, and given he desperately wanted that reduced sentence, he'd been a fountain of knowledge.

Assassinations. Burglaries. Illegal trade deals. Ship hijacking and scrapping. Bounty hunting.

Hacking.

There it was. The key crime. Surge was, in every sense of the word, a professional hacker.

And Socket had hired her.

'I never miss my target.'

Of course not. An assassin never would.

Her eyes wandered to the photo of the molten magnezone fleet poking out beneath a wad of discarded paperwork. There was only one logical answer Socket had for that scenario. As much as a bounty hunter like Surge would lust after a huge price tag on a space pirate, she'd deliberately missed her target and shot the magnezone instead. But why?

It was as clear as day now that Hunter had hired Surge to obtain information on Download Database, including the locations of her memory disks. But wasn't he just another client to the 'jack-of-all-trades'?

A soft knock at Socket's door drew her out of her deep, analyzing thoughts. She already knew who it was, and despite whether it was good news or bad, it still offered her a break.

"Come in," she said.

The door cracked open and Yobi slipped through a gap she thought was much too small for the raichu. The action reminded her of a muk sliding through a drain.

"What do you want?" she asked icily.

"It's done," he said.

"What's done?"

"The virus," he said. "I sent it out this morning."

That got her attention. She lowered her pen and steepled her paws together. "So Download Database is now disabled?"

"I assume so. I designed it so it would render her inoperable, but I don't know what affects it will have on her. I couldn't exactly test it, you see."

"So you have no idea if it's damaged Download Database or not?" Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "Seems rather irresponsible."

"I know, but there was nothing I could test it on. And I needed to make sure it got through Zero Day quickly enough to not damage them, either. They're already unstable as it is."

Socket huffed and retrieved her pen. "So long as Hunter is no longer able to follow our every move, then I can deem it a job well done. Now we just have to wait until Download Database is back in our paws."

Yobi shifted his weight from foot to foot. "And what of the human girl? Is she still part of this plan?"

Socket looked up at him again and frowned. "That human has a death sentence. Tracer is on that job, so she's out of my paws."

"You aren't wanting to use her, too, then?"

"I might do. It seems a fitting revenge plan. She'd be considered dead whatever the outcome."

"Good grief!" Tweak dropped his stamp and looked up at them. "All she did was hit you."

Socket's eyes flew to the chingling, locking him in a blazing fury. But all he did was laugh as he retrieved his stamp, returning eagerly to his work and all the while creating the most obnoxious jingle.

Socket sighed and shook her head, turning her attention back to Yobi. "Is there any way to find out what state Download Database is now in?"

He scratched behind his ear and fixed his gaze on the window. "Not really. The androids can't connect to her any more. I asked BackDoor to check and he's getting nothing. And with her tracking chip being disabled, she's not going to be easy to retrieve either."

"Well, that's Surge's problem."

Surge...

Socket looked back down at her paperwork, but the text just blurred together as her mind went elsewhere. She should probably fill Yobi in on their recent discovery... She shook her head sharply and blinked her paperwork back into focus.

"Our priority now is part two of my plan," she said. "If I have to wait any longer for a convenient android to fill me in on all the details, we'll never get started. So we may as well make progress while I wait."

"I'm guessing BackDoor is still doing a good enough job at keeping you updated on the progress?" Yobi asked.

She pursed her lips together. "He complains a lot. But as a temporary means, it's fine. And I mean... temporary."

Yobi nodded and took a step back towards the door. "I'll continue work on this new android then. That might speed things up."

"What's this one's function?" Socket asked.

A small smile tugged at the corner of Yobi's lips. "To keep pests at bay."

Socket looked up with a start. "So it's an anti-pirate weapon?"

"Of sorts."

Yobi gave her a wave and let the door close after him, leaving Socket to only wonder what exactly the raichu was up to.

...

Wildcard Gamma pulled in neatly at Pulse City's docks, gliding between a gorebyss ship and another themed around an eelektross.

Anchor opened the hatch and mounted the neon ladder, which formed itself into a small staircase. But before he descended he looked back over his shoulder at Macro. The mawile stood trembling slightly under DL's weight. The small squirrel pokemon lay clutched in his arms, but despite her slight form she wasn't much smaller than Macro.

The granbull cleared his throat and scratched his chin with a claw. "You sure you don't want me to carry her?"

"I'm fine," said Macro. "Lead the way, I'll follow."

"You don't look fine," said Matrix as he buzzed over his head to follow Anchor off the ship.

Macro stifled a tut and slowly and carefully descended the neon steps. It took a lot of forward planning since he couldn't see very far past DL. He wobbled slightly on the second-to-last step. In a desperate bid of faith, he threw himself onto the docks and staggered forwards. Something tugged the back of his scarf and he yelped, finding himself dragged backwards into Anchor's steady paw.

"Whoa!" A warm body brushed Macro's foot as someone dived for safety. "Watch where you're stepping!"

Macro's eyes flew to the tiny form of Worm. The sewaddle leered up at him as he thumped his stubby tail on the floor. Macro clutched DL tightly, his heart hammering in his chest.

"Sorry," the granbull grunted. "That were a bit discourteous of me, Cap'n, but I ain't scoopin' you both off the bottom of the dome."

"But you're fine scraping me off the stinkin' docks?" Worm rolled his eyes. "No one thinks about us little pokemon. You're just a load of huge, stompy feet to us."

"That's why I fly," said Matrix.

"Anyway." Worm locked his eyes on Macro's. "I saw your ship coming in. Wondered if you fancied a drink."

Macro shook his head and pulled himself away from Anchor. "Sorry. I've got stuff to do."

"You sellin' that... erm..." Worm pointed a foot at DL.

"No, I am not selling her." Macro frowned. "What monster do you take me for?"

"Oh! It's organic?" Worm chuckled. "I'm sorry. I thought it were one of them fancy new androids and you were trading it for parts."

"Got your hopes a little high then, huh?" Macro turned his back on him and made for the street. "That new technology doesn't just drop out of the sky."

"One can hope." Worm wriggled after them, huffing and puffing as he struggled to keep up. "So. Drinks later, then? What, may I ask, is wrong with the girl?"

"Dunno."

Worm turned to Anchor but the granbull merely shrugged.

"Well, it must be serious if you're having to carry her like a hatchling!" said Worm.

"It's not something we can really talk about," said Matrix. "Anyway. You might want to let everyone know to keep their eyes on the skies. Something is heading this way and we're worried it might be hostile."

"Oh drat. It ain't that thing that's been attacking cities is it?"

Every muscle in Macro's body stiffened and he clenched his jaw. With all the chaos concerning DL, he'd forgotten about that alien creature.

"It's been attacking cities?" Anchor asked.

"Aye. It totally wrecked Favicon City," said Worm. "Pirates have since swooped in to loot the place dry, so don't get your hopes up. There's nowt left. As for the other cities, they've received... well... a glancing blow in comparison. I guess it pays to be prepared."

"Well, prepare yourselves," said Macro. "Once we've dropped DL off, we'll be back out to help you if you need it."

"Have you seen it?" Worm asked. "Is it as monstrous as the reports say?"

Macro's muzzle crinkled. "It looks like someone got a tentacruel, jellicent and ditto, merged them all together then gave it a rock hard shell. Thing trashed my cargo bay."

"You tried to catch it?! Are you a moron?!"

Macro grunted and marched on. "Sometimes I wonder."

Worm huffed and came to a stop, gasping to catch his breath. "Well. Someone's a martyr today."

Macro rounded the corner onto the main street running through Pulse City. The huge sign for Moonlight Lounge stood on his right. He scoured the building names and numbers on the opposite side of the road, searching for Neon House. It wasn't hard to miss. The large apartment block stood almost opposite the Lounge, and running up the side of the door was a control panel with a bell for each apartment.

He juggled DL in his arms, straining to reach the panel.

Anchor placed a paw on his horn, stopping him. "What number?"

"Twelve," Macro muttered.

Anchor's huge claw drowned the tiny bell, and a deep buzz came from the panel's speaker. Within no time, Surge's voice rang out at them.

"Who is it?" she asked.

"It's me," Macro responded.

Surge 'hmm'd' and clicked her tongue. "Hardly narrows it down."

"It's Macro. Let me in."

There was a painful pause, and Macro shuffled his feet as he stared up at the door. He half wondered if he should buzz again, then the door beeped and clicked.

Anchor wrenched it open, and Macro trotted inside, followed closely by Matrix. Macro paused, checking over the sign for the room numbers. Twelve was on the first floor. Since he was carrying DL, that meant he needed the elevator.

Anchor called it down and leant against the wall, folding his arms.

"You know, Cap'n," he said. "You've not told us much about this Surge. Are you sure we can trust her?"

Macro sighed and watched the elevator as it came down from the fourth floor. "She's helped me a few times. She's the one who fired the torpedo when we stole DL. I'd say we can trust her more than most other pokemon in this city."

Matrix looked up from his game with surprise, and Anchor scratched at his mohawk.

"She fired it? Well..." He cleared his throat. "Guess I don't need to worry, then?"

The elevator let out a cheerful chime and its doors rattled open. The lone light flickered, causing their shadows to dance over the peeling walls. As it rose, the entire cabin shook and Macro had to steady himself against the wall. When the doors opened again, the elevator wasn't quite in line with the floor and he had to lift his foot to climb out else risk sprawling over the already cracked tiles.

Number twelve was right beside the elevator. Macro let Anchor knock, his huge paw almost sending the door off its hinges. Surge answered, her eyes narrowed into slits. But her expression softened when she saw Macro and his unconscious burden.

"Bring her inside." She vanished back beyond the door.

No 'hello'. No pleasantries. She was as blunt as she had been on the phone. Macro sighed and followed the zigzagoon into her apartment. It was sparse of decoration, unless her weapons counted as such. Pots and pans lay in a heap in the sink and her bed was still unmade.

Anchor let out a long whistle and nudged Macro with his elbow. "You found a pretty one."

Macro grit his teeth together and gave Anchor a violet leer. He clutched DL tightly and trotted to catch up with Surge.

She tossed the sheet aside for him to set DL down. He slipped her onto the mattress and gently shoved her along so she was away from the edge.

"You've certainly got a lot of toys." Anchor looked over the vast array of weapons.

"They're not toys, so don't touch anything." She then turned to Macro. "So, you - What on earth have you got on your scarf?"

Macro looked down at himself and let out a long, pained groan. White powdery residue clung to his black and blue scarf in unsightly clumps reminiscent of fungus. Of course, none of his crew had said anything. Anchor was about as observant as a sock unless it concerned something he was interested in. Macro would like to say the same for Matrix, but he likely noticed and kept quiet for a laugh.

"It's caterpie silk." Macro beat it down and it flaked away under his paw, leaving behind grey marks.

Surge stared at him, her mouth slightly open as she watched him struggle to straighten the fabric back out.

He cleared his throat and waved a paw in dismissal. "It's a long story."

She shook her head and sighed. "Anyway. You said she froze? Something to do with a disk you installed."

"Yeh." His eyes went over to DL briefly. "But before we get into that, I suppose I should introduce you to the rest of my crew." He turned to look at Surge then nodded at the other two pokemon. "This is Anchor. He's my weapons expert, pilot and ship engineer. You already know Matrix."

"Oh yes." Surge leant back against the kitchenette counter. "I know the cute bug."

If Matrix was embarrassed, he didn't show it. He reached into his small bag and pulled out the disks.

"I've gone over these," the ribombee explained. "I can't find anything wrong with them. No discrepancies in the coding. My only assumption is there's a typo or missing command somewhere."

Surge took the disks and rifled through them. "There's nothing written on them to even say what they are."

"They're her memory disks," said Macro. "Socket obviously wanted to make them hard to find."

"And low key," Anchor added.

"They've also been locked," said Surge. "So no one can erase or write over them."

Macro took one of the square black disks off her and looked over it. Sure enough, the safety tag normally located in the top right corner had not only been moved into its 'lock' position, it had been broken away. A permanent measure often found on video games.

"That means if anything is wrong with this recent disk," said Surge, "whichever one it is, then it will be impossible to fix."

"That means it downloaded with an error?" Macro asked. "Or it was altered out of malice before the disk was finalized?"

"Or it's nothing to do with the disk." Surge shrugged. "Let me have a look over her before we jump to any conclusions. Don't touch that!"

Anchor's paw hovered over a large gun and he retracted it slowly to his side.

"I was just lookin'," he muttered.

"Look with your eyes." Surge took a deep breath and ran a paw over her face. "Seriously, if that misfires, the entire building is gonna come down around our ears."

Anchor took a step back from the gun, then rejoined Macro's side.

Surge sighed and shook her head, moving over to the bedside unit. Macro watched her like a hawk as she looked over DL. Then she opened a drawer and pulled out a long, black cable.

"It must be so strange to have a jack lead adaptor in your head," she said, more to DL than to the space pirates. She then turned to Macro. "Are you wanting to stay and wait while I do this?"

"I was planning on it." Macro folded his arms and inclined his head on one side. "How long do you think this is gonna be?"

"Yeh," said Matrix. "'Cos I might go to the Lounge and play games."

Surge tutted and attached the cable to her computer. "Abandoning your captain? Not exactly a loyal little bee, are you?"

"I'm used to it." Macro pulled up a chair beside the coffee table.

"If I have time, I'm taking advantage of it," Matrix protested.

"It could be a while," said Surge. "I'm going to treat what's happened to her as a computer crash and leave my tablet running a full diagnostic. You might want to help yourselves to drinks."

"I'm on it." Anchor marched over to the refrigerator and tugged it open. "Woo. Berry juice. Not a bad selection. Someone likes their vitamins."

Surge rolled her eyes.

"I'm guessin' Macro's on the pecha juice," said Anchor. "Can I get you anything, Surge?"

"Pecha for me, too, please," said Surge without looking up.

Matrix buzzed over to Anchor and helped him pour out five glasses. Anchor sat opposite Macro with a sickly green juice that made Macro's nose crinkle.

Matrix raised his glass and nodded. "I'll just finish this and be out of your fur. You know where to find me."

Surge said nothing. Too focused on her task, or plain ignorance. Macro couldn't decide.

He sipped his drink, keeping one eye on the zigzagoon. His heart was hammering as his mind ran through every single worse-case scenario that resulted in DL never waking up. Trapped in an eternal sleep.

A loud scream came through the window, causing Macro to drop his glass. Anchor let his drop to the table, splashing the worn wood with bitter juice. All eyes went to the window, and Matrix shot towards it like a yellow dart.

A cacophony of voices melded in the street below. Shouts, cries, screams.

"It looks like a riot or something," said Matrix.

Macro pushed himself to his feet and ran to join the ribombee. Anchor and Surge appeared on either side and Matrix opened the window, allowing them all to lean out to get a clearer view.

It wasn't a riot.

Pokemon were gathering weapons or belongings and making a beeline for the docks.

"Think our friend showed up?" Anchor asked.

"Looks like it." Macro pushed back from the window and turned towards the door. "Come on, crew. We're gonna head it off."

"Where are you going?" Surge demanded. "What 'friend'?"

Macro stopped by the door and looked back over his shoulder. "There's a monster on the loose. Probably some dimensional beast Socket's warped plan has let loose. It was heading this way."

"And you were going to tell me all this when?"

Anchor spread his paws and looked from the zigzagoon to Macro. "You didn't warn her? You warned Worm."

Macro waved his arm at DL. "Excuse me if it kinda slipped my mind!"

"How could it slip your mind?" Matrix asked. "It wrecked our cargo hold."

More cries came from the street, distressed and frightened mixed with angry and commanding.

Macro gave himself a mental shake and threw the door open.

"Look, I'll explain later," he said quickly. "But right now, I wanna help destroy that thing. It's our fault we let it go in the first place. Look after DL."

He darted from the door with Anchor and Matrix on his tail.

"Just don't ask me to shoot it this time," said the ribombee.

"Macro! Wait!" Surge's voice faded out as the space pirates vanished into the elevator.

...

Pulse City was in an uproar. The streets heaved with pokemon of varying size and species. Some towered over Macro, stepping over his head and making him feel oddly vulnerable. Space pirates and residents stampeded back and forth, but most of them were heading towards the docks.

From the crowds and sirens, Macro guessed the docks was where the beast had been spotted. All the ships were crowded out, and pokemon shoved their way through to reach their respective ships. Some were pulling out, turning tail and heading into the vastness of System Sky.

Above them, the familiar shape of the strange jellyfish creature zoomed in on the horizon. So it hadn't reached them yet... Macro felt a flood of relief.

"Get to the ship," he told his crew. "We'll head it off and fire."

"So we're hunting strange, ominous creatures," said Anchor. "Gotcha."

Macro paused as he looked over the sea of scrambling bodies. "We just need to work our way through. I can dart between legs while Matrix can fly overhead. But you-"

"Nah, we're stickin' together," said Anchor. "I ain't losing you - or time - in all that."

The granbull scooped up Macro under one arm and barged through the crowd. The mawile waved his arms and shouted in protest, but was silenced by sparks flying from Anchor's flaming fangs. Pokemon darted out of the way as heat singed their fur, and they shot the space pirates looks of venom.

Macro raised his paws over his head, shielding himself from bumps and scrapes as Anchor powered his way through hard, scaly and thorny bodies. He didn't open his eyes until Anchor set him back down beside his ship.

"Made it," said the granbull. He ushered Macro onto the stairs. "What do you plan to do with the creature when we've shot it?"

"Well I don't plan on catching it again, that's for certain," said Macro. "I guess we just let it fall."

"But there's land beneath us," said Anchor. "What if it falls on someone, or crushes a building?"

"That's for System Ground to deal with." Macro fell into his seat and gestured to his crew. "Let's get this ship in the air and start firin'."

Anchor grumbled under his breath as the schooling wishiwashi fired to life. Wildcard Gamma pulled out of the docks and, unlike many of the other ships, turned towards the alien creature. Macro caught a glimpse of confused and angry faces staring up at them from the crowd below.

As they moved along the outer dome of Pulse City, the crowd thinned out. Larger space pirates herded the frightened mass towards the ships while the bolder of the group worked together to defend against the alien. Gathered on the outermost edge of the dome, space pirates of all sizes gathered, decked out in thermal suits and helmets. Frost clung to the light fabric and their breath misted over the surface of the perspex glass. Smaller pokemon aimed their lasers, waiting for the monster to draw close enough, while a massive aggron stood with a missile launcher resting on his plated shoulder.

The city turrets aimed towards the creature, lying dormant as the pokemon manning them waited to fire.

"Hope we don't get caught up in all that onslaught," Anchor muttered.

"Then make sure to dodge it," said Macro. "Hopefully they'll appreciate a helping paw."

Matrix eyed the small army and wound his antenna in his paw. "Seems a bit overkill."

"If that thing's been destroying cities, I worry this might not be enough," said Macro. "Just concentrate all our fire power on that... jellyfish thing."

Anchor brought Wildcard Gamma to a stop, turning to face the alien head on. The strange creature didn't appear remotely phased. It kept 'swimming' towards them at the speed of knot, its long tentacles pulsing back and forth.

"Should we shoot now, Cap'n?" Anchor asked.

"Wait a minute," said Macro. "Wait for it to get a bit closer. We don't want to risk missing and agitating it."

"If I were to hazard a guess," said Matrix, "I'd say it's already pretty agitated."

"Still," said Macro. "Give it a little time, then we can get a nice good shot in."

No sooner had the words left his mouth, a narrow laser beam shot past the ship towards the creature, glancing off its head. The jellyfish swerved to the side, bringing its tentacles up to lash out at its invisible foe. Then it turned towards the onslaught and darted towards them with alarming speed.

The entire small army went into an uproar, firing bullets, missiles and lasers right at the creature. It ducked and swerved, dodging the majority of them while the remainder hit its billowing tentacles and head frill.

"What are they doing?!" Macro roared.

"Guess your message didn't reach the turrets." Matrix rolled his eyes.

"I didn't send them a message!" Macro bit back.

"Exactly." Matrix turned back to his navigation system, silently winding his antenna in one paw.

The ship shook, lurching forwards and sending Macro sprawling onto the dashboard. A torrent of narrow lasers skimmed past the window, driving the creature to the right of Wildcard Gamma. Macro pushed himself back up, catching Anchor's concerned glance. The mawile swiftly buckled himself into his seat and sighed, shaking his head slowly.

"We're gonna go down in flames." He groaned and ran a paw down his face. "Just fire."

"Roger." Anchor's paws flew over a series of buttons on the dashboard, then he began to steer the ship forwards.

The familiar sound of the smaller wishiwashi snapping into place filled the cockpit, followed by a deep whir as they spun around the barrel of the ship. Bubbles flew out in a stream, exploding before they could reach their target. The impact blew the creature back and it floated on the spot, its eyeless face peering out at the bubble bombs as though it was reconsidering its actions.

"I don't think it likes it," said Matrix.

"Of course it doesn't," said Anchor. "They're bombs."

"Water type bombs," Matrix added.

"He's got a point," Macro told Anchor. "Get closer! Pepper that thing with them!"

Anchor silently drew the ship closer to the alien. Macro craned his neck around to try and get a view of the army. Their weapons flashed by the windows, skimming Wildcard Gamma's hull. But Macro's eye was drawn in by a flood of colourful ships pouring towards them from the docks. The lead ship was a gorebyss, followed by a magikarp and two basculin.

A grin spread across Macro's face. Back up. The more fire power aimed at that monster, the faster it would fall.

He turned back to the battle, just as another stream of bubble bombs flew from the ship's turrets. The strange creature doubled back then raised its tentacles. Hundreds of glowing rocks shot from it, striking the bombs before they could hit. They exploded on impact, drawing closer to Wildcard Gamma and creating a shock wave. The ship lurched backwards, right into the line of fire from the turrets.

Macro's seatbelt jabbed into his ribs as he jolted forwards in his seat.

"Oi!" He called over his shoulder, not that he could even see the pokemon manning the turret. "Watch where you're firin'!"

"That attack was power gem," said Matrix. "That creature is using the same attacks pokemon know."

Macro met the ribombee's eyes and he glanced away nervously, winding his antenna around in his paw so tightly Macro feared he might tug it off.

"You telling me that thing's a pokemon?" Macro asked.

Matrix shrugged and glanced out of the window. The strange creature was heading straight for them.

"Send out another bubble beam!" Macro told Anchor. "Even if it doesn't hit, it'll delay it getting to us. Then we can think up another plan."

Anchor gave a noncommittal grunt and the ship's turrets fired into action once more, spraying the beast with exploding bubbles. It reared back to counter attack, but the bubbles lit up with a blue light as a stream of ice flowed through them, hitting the creature head on. The gorebyss ship pulled up beside them, the long fin on its head glowing with a soft, silver-blue light. Once the attack ended, it faded out and a soft bubble surrounded the entire ship.

Fire then shield. One of those lasers that needed a bit of recharge time.

Macro turned back to the alien. It was still reeling from the laser attack. Frost clung to its head and right tentacles, and it flailed as it tried to dodge the slower bubble bombs as they exploded around it. Loud tinkling flew from an unseen mouth as it thrashed in the air, desperate to avoid the onslaught.

"I have an idea," said Anchor. "I'm gonna get behind it."

"What for?" Macro asked, aghast.

"I'm gonna herd it towards the army," Anchor replied. "Get it close enough that they can hit it with their weapons. Put it completely in the line of fire and see if it can handle all of that. If it works, it'll go down like a sack of rocks."

Before Macro could reply, Wildcard Gamma ducked to the side, drawing away from the gorebyss. The elegant ship took their previous spot and the fin atop its head began to glow softly, almost pulsing as it charged up its next aurora beam imitation.

The basculin ships seemed to have the same idea Anchor had. They came at the monster from the opposite side, the frowning faces of their ships screaming business. If they weren't going to herd it towards the army, Macro assumed they meant to tackle it head on. He doubted it, however. Ships that relied on physical, brute strength often didn't survive very long in the sky.

Wildcard Gamma drew closer to the creature's left, then fired another stream of bullets. It moved away from them, rather than towards the small army, putting it in striking distance of the basculin. The creature swung around in an arc, throwing glowing rocks straight at Wildcard Gamma. Several hit the bombs, while those that didn't struck the hull and window. Macro flinched back from the windscreen, raising his paws to shield his head. When he looked up, he was greeted by a spider web of cracks and a pitiful groan left his mouth. He'd have to deal with that later.

His eyes went back to the basculin ships. They were much closer to the beast now, and the furthest one opened its cargo hatch mouth wide. It sent out a stream of steaming water, all the while still moving towards it. The creature screeched as it skimmed its tentacles. A glancing hit, designed to drive it away from them. The other basculin opened its mouth in the same manner, but rather than fire a weapon, it instead snapped it shut with a speed that caused Macro to flinch.

Another screech came from the creature and it flailed, striking the ship with its tentacles. A stream of purple flowed from its wounded limb, raining down onto System Ground. The basculin span behind the creature, one of it tentacles clasped in the tightly closed jaws of its cargo hold like a tiny noodle.

"Alright," said Anchor. "Looks like it's workin'."

But the creature held on with one tentacle, hanging from the basculin ship's exit hatch. It pulled itself up as the ship slowed down, spreading out on top of it like a tiny hat.

Macro raised an eyebrow. What was the creature up to?

The basculin ship span on the spot, opening its jaws wide. It snapped them closed over the side of the other basculin, tearing a huge hole in the hull. The other ship retaliated with steaming water, missing its sudden foe and instead striking Wildcard Gamma on the nose.

"Oi!" Macro waved his paw. "What are you attacking each other for, you fools! Hit the creature!"

"I think it's taken over the ship," said Matrix.

The hostile basculin turned on the spot towards Wildcard Gamma, letting the friendly ship plummet towards the ground below. Macro's heart sank as he watched the ship vanish through the clouds. His eyes went back to their former ally. Through the basculin eye windows he caught sight of the pilot. An emolga, desperately trying to bring the ship under its control.

Matrix was right. The creature was controlling it somehow.

Its tinkly voice filled the air, and the ship opened its jaws. A stream of boiling water flew at Wildcard Gamma.

Anchor threw his weight against the steering stick and the ship lurched to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack. Steaming water skimmed the hull of the ship, followed by a stomach-churning crack. There went one of the turrets...

The gorebyss sent forth an ice attack, hitting the creature in the head. It flailed, smashing the head of the basculin and spraying purple acid over its head and windows. The corrosive liquid burned through the metal and the emolga went into a panic, rushing away from the ship's controls.

Wildcard Gamma launched another stream of bubbles, catching the creature's limbs and driving it from the basculin ship. It finally released it, letting the abandoned ship plummet through the clouds.

A small yellow and black shape leapt from it, followed by two other small pokemon. Their parachutes kicked in, drowning out their small bodies as they followed their ship towards System Ground.

"All right. New plan." Macro ran a paw over his face. "Don't let that creature touch my ship."

"Gotcha." Anchor fired up the turrets once more.

Bubbles flew at the creature before it could gather itself. It backed away from Wildcard Gamma, dodging some of the bombs but not quite getting out of the way of the attack. It was blown backwards towards Pulse City. The gorebyss ship closed in behind it, hitting it with another ice laser. The ice and bombs combined sent the creature like a ping pong ball right towards the army.

The waiting troop caught on, sending a torrent of weapon fire right into its bulbous head. Missiles, bullets and lasers struck home, blowing it backwards towards the waiting ships. Anchor didn't hang around, and neither did the gorebyss. All attacks concentrated on the creature, drowning out its cries. Then the attacks lessened off, and the tentacled monstrosity dropped like a stunned ducklett towards the world below.

"We did it." Anchor sat back in his seat and wiped a paw across his brow. "Wow. It took an army to stop that thing. What was it made of?"

Macro said nothing. He watched the creature vanish into the blackness, his claws digging into the dashboard. Anchor's words were spinning around his head, breaking him into a cold sweat. They'd saved Pulse City, but what city was below them exactly?

Never mind the creature alone falling on top of a city. It had followed two fallen ships. A sudden rain of shrapnel, bringing a brutal end to another city.

Save one, lose another. He hoped desperately that was the only monstrosity to come from Socket's toying with time and space.