Emerald Warrior

A Spunky Heroine Story by elveloy

Molly pushed her limp ginger hair back behind one ear and sipped her glass of white wine. She screwed up her face—had the barman made a mistake and given her vinegar instead? Hesitantly she tried to get his attention but he ignored her to serve down the other end of the bar.

She took another sip with resignation and shifted position on the bar stool ever so slightly to get a better view of the television set above the bar. Princess Leia was fanning a blaster across the screen. Molly sighed. Why couldn't she be like that? Someone who had adventures, someone who could fight, who could whip the ass of anyone who dared to challenge her with one hand tied behind her back.

Nervously, she edged away from the boisterous group of men crowding in next to her, but still managed to get a splash of beer on her jacket. Overflow from a glass being waved enthusiastically in the air by one of them to make a point. She bet that never happened to Leia. She dabbed uselessly at the damp stain.

Molly looked wistfully up at the screen again, then down at her green tartan skirt. There was a small tin whistle poking out of her pocket with a green "Encouragement Award" ribbon tied to the end of it. It would have been much better if it was a blue ribbon for first prize or even a red for second, but an "Encouragement Award" was better than nothing, wasn't it? She sighed again.

If only she'd taken up something exciting, like karate or rifle shooting, instead of Irish dancing! If she were ever faced with a band of marauding aliens she supposed she could always drive them insane with endless repeats of River Dance.

On the plus side, she supposed, at least dancing had made her fit—she could run fast enough if she had to. Even though she was only five feet tall she could outrun most of her friends. That reminded her, where was Megan? She spun on the stool to gaze hopefully around. Megan had promised faithfully to meet her at the pub so they could walk home together after her class, but she hadn't turned up. Probably had a better offer, Molly thought dispiritedly. God her life was boring! If only something would happen!

~~~

Daily Tell 22 September 2012

Hundreds of people across the UK reported seeing a large meteor shooting across the night sky.

It was seen breaking up into pieces last night, with sightings reported across northern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Many people described seeing a bright fireball moving across the sky with a large tail.

Concerned callers from Antrim to Arbroath likened the lights to flares, fireworks and even a plane crash. A small pub in Antrim was totally destroyed by falling debris. Twenty people are confirmed dead and one person is missing, presumed dead.

~~~

Molly tossed her fiery red hair out of her eyes and glared suspiciously at her surroundings. Brown sand, broken by rocky outcrops, stretched as far as the horizon. Patches of low purple scrub appeared to follow the occasional gully.

She was sitting cross-legged on the sand. Her green tartan skirt was rucked up around her hips, emerald green boots were on her feet matching her emerald green cloak, and a silver sonic rifle was clutched between her two hands.

She stood up, brushed off the sand and primed her rifle. A small sound had her spinning around, almost faster than the eye could see.

She saw a stranger standing a few metres behind her, staring open-mouthed in astonishment. He was middle-aged, tall, with silver hair and dressed all in black.

"Hands up!" she demanded.

The man's face broke into a smile despite himself. "You've got guts, little girl, whoever you are. Where did you come from?" he asked, coming toward her.

"Stand still and put your hands up! This is your last warning!" Molly repeated, irritated.

Alejandro Vega continued to walk closer—still smiling—unable to believe the girl would use that odd weapon on him. A second later he was on his knees in the sand, both hands clutching his ears, almost weeping.

He stayed there, shaking his head to relieve the pain as Molly ceased firing. However, she kept the rifle pointing at him and a nasty little blade sprang out of the end of it from a concealed compartment.

"Who are you?" she demanded. "Where is this place?"

He drew himself up proudly. "I am Alejandro Vega, leader of the Vega clan. This is my land."

"Yes, but what country is it?" Molly wasn't quite sure why she asked that, but nothing in her surroundings looked remotely familiar. For some strange reason she had been expecting to see a river, and green hills.

He gave her an odd look. "You are in Calafia, on the planet Canis Minor in the Sirian system," he explained carefully. "Where did you think you were?"

"I can't remember," she said, lowering the rifle. "I can't remember anything!" For a moment she felt like bursting into tears, but fought hard against the feeling. She knew she couldn't show any weakness.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" repeated Vega, relieved that the rifle was no longer pointing at him, but not quite sure yet whether he believed what the girl was saying.

"My name is Molly. I'm a fighter," said Molly, suddenly confident. She blinked. How had she known that, when she couldn't remember anything else?

This time Vega didn't make the mistake of smiling incredulously. She certainly knew how to use that weapon—maybe she was a fighter. He made a rapid decision.

"I always need fighters. My clan is fifty fold, one of the biggest on the plains. Will you come and join us?" he asked. "Let's say a week, as a trial. You'll get room and board in return for your services, and we'll see how you work out."

Molly looked at him for a long moment. Her instincts told her he was genuine, and it wasn't as if she really had a choice. Where else was she going to go?

"Agreed." And Molly followed Vega through the desert to her new home.

~~~

Molly had proved to be an asset, mused Vega. Not only was she a crack shot with her sonic rifle but she could kick a man's jaw shut, twice, before he could finish his first word. She had the fastest feet of anyone Vega had seen. It hadn't taken the men in the clan more than a couple of lessons to learn to treat her with wary respect, despite her size.

On the other hand, she had no idea how to operate a flyer and had no knowledge at all about Calafia, or even Canis Minor. She had frozen in astonishment the first time she went to Gulch City and saw a Canid, and the sight of her first Venturi made her whip out her rifle without a second thought, causing all five of its spikes to stand straight up in fear. It had taken Vega some time to smooth that over!

Canis Minor was frequently referred to as a frontier planet, attracting people—and others—who liked to make their own way without too many rules and restrictions.

Although Calafia had two cities, they were both a long way off to the east. Out here in the desert, Gulch City was the nearest town, with only a few hundred inhabitants. Most of the local population lived in clan or family settlements dotted over the plains, growing enough food to be more or less self-sufficient. However, their chief occupation was prospecting: prospecting—not only for gems and unusual stones—but also for new plants and life forms that might be valuable off-world.

Mostly everyone sold direct to the traders in Gulch City, but once a year, Vega or Diego would take their best finds all the way to New Venturo in the far east of Calafia to sell at the huge trade fair.

Unfortunately, like some sort of universal rule, where there were prospectors there were raiders, those who either unable—or couldn't be bothered—to find their own riches. The Vega citadel was well defended and hadn't been attacked directly for years, however, anyone caught outside its protection after dark ran the risk of being targeted like anyone else.

~~~

Molly flew her craft low over the desert, heading back to the citadel. She'd had a brilliant day out practising her twists and turns, rising and diving with the thermals, but now the sun was sliding toward the horizon. The sky might be a clear blue now but storms would come with the evening. And so would the raiders.

She signalled her approach and the ground opened beneath her. Neat as a kestrawk, she guided the flyer through the small space and landed smoothly in the citadel courtyard. She rolled her craft into the hangar and spent a few minutes ensuring it was ready for the next trip.

"Dad wants to see you when you finish," Diego announced. He had followed her into the hangar and now stood watching as she polished the flyer, with arms folded across his manly chest. He stroked his jaw absentmindedly. Molly nodded in acknowledgement and then ignored him, as she always did. She knew he fancied her but she wasn't ready to be involved with any man yet, not until she found out a bit more about herself. Like, who she was, and where the fuck she had come from.

She went to find Alejandro Vega as soon as she finished with the flyer, wondering what he wanted.

"Ah, there you are, Molly," the older man smiled. "I think it's time. Your flying has improved in leaps and bounds. I think you're ready for your first raid. I'm sending you out tonight with Jorge and Alberto. Diego will be in charge as usual, so follow his instructions."

Molly's face lit up. She had been waiting so long for this opportunity. The raiders went out at night to hit homesteads under cover of darkness. Vega's fighters went out too, to defend them. She could hardly wait.

The sky was pitch black before Diego announced their departure.

Molly climbed eagerly into her flyer, keeping her excitement under control as she ran through the quick check list again, even though she was certain everything was in order. The last thing she wanted was a technical problem out in the desert at night. She knew the other three would be doing exactly the same thing. She checked her communications system. "Molly here. I'm good to go," and heard identical responses from the other three.

Diego gave the signal and the roof above them opened to reveal a small patch of dark sky. He led the way, angling his flyer up through the gap with centimetres to spare, followed in rapid succession by Jorge, Alberto and Molly.

Diego was listening to the general com unit chatter, trying to pinpoint where tonight's attack might occur. A group of dogmen, or Canids to give them their proper title, had been on the rampage for the last couple of weeks, targeting human homesteads and the occasional Venturi burrow and he was really hoping to get a crack at them tonight. Canids were usually a well behaved and law abiding race but every so often one would go bad and then there'd be trouble.

"We're under attack!" The words he had been hoping for, came out of the general chatter and burned his ears. At last! He smiled triumphantly as he sought their location. "Got you!" he murmured.

"Raiders at location 14.576," he announced to the rest of his team. "That's the Cartwrights!" He shook his head in angry disbelief. How dare the dogmen attack so close to Vega, were they being deliberately provocative?

As one unit, the four flyers wheeled toward the Cartwrights' homestead. Hopefully they would be in time, before the raiders did too much damage.

Storm clouds raged in the sky above them, occasionally allowing a dazzling flash of silver light to break through for an instant from the larger of the two moons, before they were swallowed up again in darkness.

Molly spotted the raiders on her scanner before she saw them with her eyes. Three flyers, two in the air keeping watch and the other on the ground, presumably while its occupants hunted for valuables. The homestead came into visual range at the same moment the airborne raiders turned to attack the new comers.

Orange flame shot toward Diego, in the lead. He slid his flyer sideways from the blast, ducking underneath and firing his own weapon. Jorge and Alberto peeled off, only to converge on the second flyer, raking shots across its bow from both sides at once. Mortally wounded, the raider got off one final shot before plummeting to the ground. Jorge's flyer shuddered, half of one wing missing. Fighting the controls, Jorge managed to slow his descent, at least enough to land roughly but safely, about half a click from the homestead. Alberto swung back to help Diego with the last airborne raider.

"Looks like you've got those two covered," said Molly, as she brought up a picture of the third flyer on her screen, the one on the ground. "I'll take care of the last one."

"No! Wait for us!" ordered Diego, struggling to turn his flyer.

"No time," said Molly cheerfully. "I can handle it."

She could see a body sprawled about twenty metres from the flyer. Was it one of the Cartwrights or a raider? She couldn't tell from that distance.

She brought her flyer down swiftly and leapt out, her rifle ready in both hands. A dogman in khaki leathers and a ridiculously large hat was watching her from near the grounded flyer, a sneer of disbelief spreading over his pug face as he saw who was confronting him. It looked like he had been keeping guard; a still-burning cigar was on the ground where he had just tossed it.

Shit! That meant the nearby body was probably one of the Cartwrights. Molly fired her rifle at the same time the raider brought up his gun, but she was faster. The sonic pulse tore through the dogman, his long sensitive ears subjected to the full range of the high pitched sound.

He had one moment of unbearable agony before his head exploded in a messy soup.

Molly spared him a brief glance to confirm he was no longer a threat and looked around for other raiders. If the dogman had been on guard, that surely meant others were inside looting the house. She ratcheted down the setting on her rifle to the lowest frequency and fanned it across the wooden homestead, walking forwards as she fired.

Two dogmen staggered out, their hands over their ears, tears streaming from their eyes and fell face forward in the dirt. Molly gave the house one more sweep for luck and... every window in the house exploded.

Oops!

She grimaced in silent apology to any humans still inside, who would probably now have burst eardrums, presuming the dogmen hadn't already killed them. At that moment, two women and three men staggered out, hands over their bleeding ears and collapsed onto the ground next to the unconscious dogmen. Thank Sirius! At least they were all still alive!

That reminded her. She went back to the first body on the ground and prodded it curiously with her foot.

Joh Cartwright groaned once and sat up. He looked dazedly around and saw his family, groaning weakly from prone positions in front of their house, then up at Molly standing over him, her rifle pointing off to the side, ready to be brought into play again if needed.

"Sweet Sirius, Molly, I'm not sure which was worse. Being attacked by the dogmen, or rescued by you!"

Molly grinned.