by Dark Knight
Captain Anit’za waited for everyone to at least finish eating what they were munching on, before dropping the advanced version of his plan. Took him a couple of minutes, and apart from some reactions that he had mostly anticipated and prepared for, the crew and its new addition were now exchanging stupefied, almost shocked looks.
Amazed perhaps were they of the simplicity of his plan?
Soon everyone sprang into action. Some were delegated to repair duty, others went directly to the medbay or their quarters. The ship was almost vibrating with excitement, it seems, as her captain managed to push everybody’s “turbo” buttons.
Alric spent most of his time working on personal equipment repair in his armory. On occasion Brynjar was seen there, but mostly the marine was aided by Mack. Neither man talked much, which was strange considering the biker had reacted so aggressively towards Boris. After inspecting the venerable star marine’s uniform, Mack just walked over and shook his hand thanking the soldier for his service. Then offered his expertise in weapon maintenance, which Alric gladly accepted. From then on both were practically locked inside the armory, only leaving it to grab some snack and get rest in their quarters, which Mack didn’t use. He defiantly chose to sleep in the cockpit of his GAV. Somehow the gruff guy even managed to spare an hour before rest to reload and rearm his craft, preparing it for the battle ahead. His FTL ’crutch’ was docked on the starboard hull of Starshatter, too bulky to fit in its hangar bay currently.
Lilly and Vasilisa spent the time preparing for their parts of Anit’za’s master plan. Programming all navigation routes was Vasilisa’s job, and she made sure that the ship was not using its main drives but the gravitational pull of Pion system gas giant. The whole maneuver was to be launched by one single engine puff, and the young spacer felt safe. After all, that was what she had learned and practiced to do throughout her early childhood, then perfected the skill by plotting course after course on board of ’Princess Frog’. Vasilisa had to uphold the legendary reputation of her culture and people. A spacer was not called such if they couldn’t plot the best possible course to reach their destination, with minute fuel expenditure. That she did, and after all the calculating, re-calculating and proof mapping, the tired woman went back to her quarters. The sonic shower was a blessing, as were the strong arms of her husband, waiting to hug her into blissful sleep.
Everyone soon noticed that Starshatter’s mainframe had become slightly more responsive and nimble in its calculating prowess. Whatever had caused this to happen, all did what was expected of them, yet were somewhat nervous every time when entering the ship’s bridge.
Pre-programming the attack bots was Lilly’s duty as the ship’s Sysop. Surprisingly, they had copied one of those taz’aran programs and it was contained in an isolated data-crystal, stripped from all of its traps and failsafe protocols. This time the bunny pulled every dirty, underhanded trick that her buddies from “Slowpokes” (inc.) had taught her. She didn’t know how good those tazzie or pirate sysops were. In fact she cared little for their well being, and hoped that their own re-programmed bot would viciously turn them against each other. She would very much like to try and mind-hack them, but... the bunny couldn’t be in two places at the same time. Tazzie soldiers had to be satisfied by the pleasant company of her Manlicher’s rail projectiles, her dagger sticking from their backs, or their legs tripping a bobby trap planted by her. Maybe even a cluster mine? The bunny was adamant and prepared to this time kindly return the favor, repay the taz’arans for all of their tender mercy. Lilly had stocked up with plenty of power packs, grenades, cluster anti-personnel mines and other supplies. Terran vengeance came in different packages and sizes.
And sometimes it was exacted by paws.
Brynjar was seen seemingly everywhere around the ship. As the ship’s chief engineer he had to oversee the repair of one damaged system after another. Even though Starshatter in her current state was not in any way a heavily battered vessel, the damage that their enemies had inflicted was considerable. The breaching charges that those filthy pirates used to gain entry had left a gaping wound in his hull. Even with the parts that Brynjar had so prudently stashed in their cargo hold, it was a time consuming, backbreaking job. To crown it all he had to perform a complete overhaul, and out of space dock, of his ship’s fried starboard shield array. Working on the outer hull while mid hyper-jump was not advisable for anyone, but perhaps a legendary Precursor engineer. He wasn’t even close. The molten armorplating had to wait for a more opportune, later moment.
Whatever time he had left, Brynjar spent on lacing some of the empty containers in their cargo hold with the leftover stealth composites. That stuff wasn’t cheap and, of course, could be applied in a plethora of other ways than the obvious intended use. But the captain had his Plan and he, as the ship’s dutiful engineer had to deliver. For a time he was struggling with the idea of simply deploying his mech on the outer hull of ’Pion base’. Stomping over everything he could create big enough of a distraction so that his crewmates could fulfill their mission objectives, yet that was but a “wet dream” as his Terran friends would instantly say. Indeed a towering and huge mech may inflict terrible damage to the station, but it was not designed for such a clownish display of tactical ineptness. His strategic armor was exactly that – a strategic weapon of war and an asset best used on the ground. In this case, a squadron of space mecha or heavy fighters and bombers could, and would be better in dealing with a space installation of this size. However sad it was to constantly bump in his “sitting” mech while moving around with a plethora of tools, parts and containers of all sizes, Brynjar knew well enough – his time will come again. You do not use a nuke to kill a fly.
Not unless you were a Terran.
Dozan, being responsible now for the crew’s overall morale sacrificed most of his sleep. Once he spent an hour singing on the bridge, his captivated audience marveling at the song he’d composed and written for Lilly. Finally complete, Dozan performed the ballad multiple times and, of course, it was broadcasted across the entire vessel.
“Hazel Eyes”
A farmer into warrior forged
I stalk the evil that invaded my home
In deep jungles, cold space or tall grass
In old forests and plains wide
I bravely survive their attacks
When my bullets meet their flesh
At five times the speed of sound
My railgun is my life
My mission is to survive
My dagger is swift
HAZEL EYES
HAZEL EYES
My brown fur, the last thing my enemies see
Their weapons I owned
Their armor my planet destroyed
The forest, the trees my allies are they
No taz’aran can hide from me
When my bullets meet their flesh
At five times the speed of sound
My railgun is my life
My mission is to survive
My aim true
HAZEL EYES
HAZEL EYES
All shall taste my dagger’s blade
Even with flying machines
My enemies cannot win
My rage is bigger then me
For they took my brother from me
When my bullets meet their flesh
At five times the speed of sound
My railgun is my life
My mission is to survive
My dagger is swift
HAZEL EYES
HAZEL EYES
The rifle of mine try as they must
That they never will have
If I die, then they can snatch
Only from my dead cold paws
My Patrons most wise had taught us
When my bullets meet their flesh
At five times the speed of sound
My railgun is my life
My mission is to survive
My aim true
HAZEL EYES
HAZEL EYES
All my friends the invader took
By cold space were they swallowed
No trail I could see, no chance I could follow
With wires of steel and weapons of theirs
Seeds of death I have sown
When my bullets meet their flesh
At five times the speed of sound
My railgun is my life
My mission is to survive
Revenge will be mine
HAZEL EYES
HAZEL EYES
The pain that they caused now hunts them all
Invaders suffer by Sun and by Tree
My traps they will spring for they cannot see
Their evil has given me power and might
Without mercy will I strike!
Certainly, for a short while their troubled minds were eased. What time he had for himself after boosting others with his presence, Dozan spent in his quarters working on what was left of his armored uniform. Alric had promised, and was working on resizing the looted exo-armor suit for him. And so, instead of remaking his uniform from scratch the kil’ra outright fashioned armor fixable pieces. The shield was now painted all over with the emblematic warhammer of their Starshatter’s pin-up girl that he’d drawn straight in its center. The young officer knew – his role in their captain’s plan was crucial. There was no place for failure and the suffering of those taken by force, who were sold like merchandise – they all had to be avenged. Whatever was it that those Push’va scum would throw at them, Dozan was adamant that they’d successfully wipe it out. No matter the cost, no matter how much pain he’d suffer – this time the foot of a Terran morale officer was to step on their deck. A slaver’s deck, that had seen thousands of tortured souls lumber with their bleeding legs all over it! How many millions of lives were snuffed out there? How many a future stolen? There was no limit for the furious rage that those clanners would suffer by his blade and shield! Dozan clearly remembered what his master had told him about Terran vengeance. For no longer there were any safe shadows that those Push’va could scurry away into. And the space they were in – he was there, together with them and making sure it was a space most unsafe. They’d wish that their fathers hadn’t met their mothers this day, when a Terran morale officer and a Kil’ra warrior unsheathes his sword.
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Kera took her time, and walked around the starship together with Awesome, Ort and strangely, were followed right on their heels by a curious Snark. Their cat had developed a bond with Awesome, who after waking up, continued insisting he was in some sort of special place called the “Fluff”. Took her some time to pull him out of this with the help of situational games and her two other companions. Snark’s purring she had decided to study more in depth later. Kera knew that feline purring had a positive benefit to bodily functions, but what surprised her was the fact that it had a healing effect on the hamster’s mind. Nevermind this, Snark also seemed to adore classical music and Kera could swear that her purring sometimes resonated with significantly high amounts of power. When Ort was present he also felt happy and looked stronger, healthier than his usual self. Cat did say where she found the feline, but there were no other records of what had happened to her previous owners. Their recovering hamster fighter pilot was sad, since they had no spare parts to help fix his ’Insanity’, but later prepared himself for the battle ahead accordingly, after Kera gave her medical seal of approval. He was seen scurrying around the vessel together with Snark and Ort, mumbling about increasing the amount of spare munitions on his self. Sometimes they saw him telling tales of his weapon kills to both animals, while they watched curiously as Awesome’s backpack was slowly, but surely doubling in size overflowing with spare power packs...
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The crew of Starshatter was ready. Their equipment checked, armor and spacesuits repaired, weapons and other gear, immaculate. Traveling time in hyperspace used up to the last possible minute, their ship finally materialized on the outskirts of Pion system. Slowly, the perfectly plotted course led the ship be pulled exactly where its navigator and captain wanted it to be – in a stable orbit around the huge gas giant. Floating just above the highly ionized upper atmosphere of that planet made their ship almost undetectable, lest it activate all of its main systems.
From the inside of its hangar bay a single Clanner dropship wearing the colors of the Aleska emerged, and slingshoted by the ship’s emergency grappling arm, slowly flew away from the now all but empty starship. A few seconds later, a second object, jet black and somewhat smaller than the dropship left the hangar, again propelled by Starshatter’s grappling arm and vanished, blending with the surrounding darkness of outer space.
Whatever happened now, it was irreversible. There was no coming back. The only way was forward to success, as failure would spell certain doom for every one of them.
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The harbor master of Pion base was not a pirate and when that strange, battered Aleska dropship popped up on his sensor screen he, of course, tried contacting his superior. And then his comms started acting strange. Not only that, his entire link with Pion base central command flickered for a second causing some containers to be released from their mag-locks.
Fine! He would deal with this on his own again, as he always did. Calling the vessel on their coded clan Aleska frequency, the harbor master received an immediate and properly decoded answer that calmed him down a bit. On the holo-screen he saw a strange alien man, who wore his faceplate closed but responded with the posture and tone that could be expected from a proud Clanner:
“I require a landing pad for my vessel, harbor master. My ship had sustained battle damage after a clash with the Terrans, and even though they’ve managed to kill my warriors, I still come hauling precious loot!”
His holo viewer showed that behind the man were two shackled and collared slaves, a Terran man and an Avern’a woman, dirtied and covered with bruises. There were also a number of containers bearing the markings of nearby Terran Minarchy colonies, secured and mag-locked to the floor-plating. And so the harbor master did what was entirely logical in such a case. He opened a hole in the hangar bay’s shields and allocated one of his free landing pads to accommodate the newly returning Raider. Again, while he did this the system flickered. More of his auto-loaders mishandled containers and one even smashed into the wing of a landed taz’aran patrol fighter.
Come on! What was happening today?
Preoccupied with this, he failed to notice the jet black, shadowy object, that slid through the still opened shield. Its silhouette blended in with the darkness between various shutdown craft, parked and ready to service the bigger starships moored outside. Then it folded its segmented wings and waited.
________________________________________________________________________________
The base was huge and finding anything in it, let alone locating one specific slave market seemed a task insurmountable. And yet Lilly refused to give up and continued sliding from corner to corner; already the scout had hacked a number of idle PDA’s with little to no success. The degenerates simply lacked any data relevant to her mission and the bunny was now more than annoyed having had sifted through most obscene alien holo-pictures, and all sort of useless social network drivel. Her captain was, so far, playing his role well. So were both Kera and Boris, who due to their sad past experiences were probably the best candidates for this “job” among everyone on their vessel. If Awesome was here he’d probably chuckle and say that they are “professional slaves”.
Huh? That didn’t... come out that good. The bunny sighed while sneaking up behind one inquisitive taz’aran guard, dagger in paw. This time there will be no mercy given, not now and not here in this place full of tortured spirits. The guard was suspicious of the trio for some unknown rea
son and moved towards them angrily raising his weapon hand, yet in doing so he passed right next by the cloaked bunny. For a second time after they landed here she had to kill and hide a body. Lilly was suddenly amazed at the ease of how she took life now; eyes unflinching, paws steady and mind uncaring, her blade punctured the neck of this trooper and instantly murdered him. His body then silently pulled back in the shadows of that service tunnel she was lurking in, exoskeleton managing the increased load with relative ease.
The small shadow again skulked behind her three crewmates, hands rapidly loading the data crystal she’d snatched from the guard’s PDA into her own computer. Either their encrypting was laughingly weak or Lilly was “gittin’ good” as they said on Earth, because she easily plowed through the defenses, and luckily, uncovered exactly what they were looking for. The biggest slave auctioning and detention center was surprisingly close to Pion base’s main hangar bay.
Lilly very carefully sent the info over to her captain’s PDA using their encrypted link and he stopped. Slowly Anit’za played a scene involving the supposed insubordination of his slave. The collars were actually real and so were the spacesuits that they had used to fix their captain with one very convincing, Clan Aleska ranger disguise. He, of course, had his pistol and plasma saber ready at hand. On his back’s mag-slot the captain carried one of those looted laser rifles, whom the Aleska used in battle during their failed attempt to capture Starshatter. In addition he had Kera’s stunner and that actually worked really well giving him a slaver’s vibe and all.
