Ellefu tugged on her hair as she watched over his bandaged form. Sita sighed and motioned her to sit down, “He will survive. You need not fear for our safety.”

She snapped back, “It has been documented on Falos monitoring equipment that we were there and did nothing to prevent this.” She tugged at a more rapid rate, “If the emperor decides we were trying to kill him, we will be face to face with an army of Mannequins.” Sita didn’t seem to disagree but didn’t seem worried.

Sadvimsati bent his limbs carefully back into shape so the bones would set properly before binding his limbs tight. She expected the pain to wake him, but he was still unresponsive. She checked the base of his neck, putting a small amount of pressure on a specific spot. She hoped she was right and tugged on his neck while pinning down his shoulder. His eyes came to instant alert and he said, “Okay, that’s a new one.”

Sadvimsati let out a breath and reassured him, “I take it you mean the pressure point that I-“

He cut her off as he rubbed his neck, “Not quite. I mean the pain of having that one get hit. Normally don’t let anyone get close enough. Should have known you might know about it.” She looked nervous but he shook his head, “You are fine. I needed the jolt to get my adrenaline going. Would have slept off the head wounds otherwise.”

Sita laughed, “That explains the odd neurological quirks of your mind.” He rolled his eyes and waved her off.

“Okay, legs are shattered up to the knee, so that should be fine. Ribs are powdered but that’s just a day ending in Y.” He patted his body down and seemed pleased, “No actual fractures in the skull despite repeated blows and my collar bone only has hairline fractures. I should be able to recover.”

Ellefu grabbed him by the neck and growled, “What the hell were you thinking?!? If you had died we could have had a Mannequin Death squad on our doorstep.”

He spoke firmly again, “That reminds me, where is the ship now?” Moving to get up he was blocked by Sita. Pushing her hand aside he stated, “We need to get moving now.” Speaking into the comm as he walked on shattered legs towards the cockpit. “Does anyone have the current location of the ship?”

Ett responded over comms, “We traveled to a nearby nebula to throw off any pursuit from the planet we just left. Why?”

He continued up the hall despite the concerned looks and protests against him moving. “Because that broadcast has probably made its way back to the capital which means a Mannequin fighter squadron is already tracking us.” Ett was entirely silent and stunned beyond words. “Loyal commander of the realm and right hand to the Prince means that a lot of people are trying to kill me. The emperor allows it because he has a sick fascination with the ‘silly games’ his officers play as they vie for power.”

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Dodici replied over the comms next, “How in the hell does the empire operate at all?”

He sighed with a grumble, “It doesn’t. There are about ten of us doing field work that actually matters for the security of the empire, an entire army of knights being sent on various missions where failure means death and disgrace, and then the right and left hands to the throne who make sure the scheming Vizers don’t do anything stupid to kill the emperor and topple this crumbling ivory tower. To most people it is a loose collection of military dictators that hide behind the flag of the empire so everyone is too scared to stop them.”

Vint tapped away at the displays as he entered. Seeming to be the only one on yellow alert. “Four combat fighters seem to have entered the nebula.”

He seemed deep in thought as he sat down, wincing in pain for only a moment before leaning forward in his chair, “Okay, so either someone wants to try to be cute or they broke off from a larger combat freighter.” He pulled up his own panel and was annoyed, “Not on scopes yet, but that’s fine. I’m going to get us out of here, but I need you all at your stations and to trust me.”

The girls all slowly did as he asked as he started to see through the viewports the various Falos fighters combing the nebula. As they darted about, it was with such mechanical precision that one could be mistaken for believing them to be unmanned. He flipped a few switches at his controls, seemingly glad his arms weren’t among his broken bones. As he did, the fighters turned in an instant to start sweeping the area around where they were hiding.

“That’s it. Sniff for the trail like the good hounds you are.” As the fighters drew closer, he shifted the orientation of the craft carefully. “Okay, found a nearby planet. Now to make a fake break for it.” He motioned for full power in the engines. The ship rocked and his face distorted in unimaginable pain as it burst into max speed. The fighters quickly adjusted their position and began pursuit, firing powerful lasers at the craft. The team was able to quickly maneuver around the shots, each movement causing the captain immense pain. Still, he smiled a giant smile.

Viisi hissed, “We can’t outrun them and one clean shot is all it will take to make us target practice”

He laughed, “These tools don’t need practice, but that won’t matter in a second.” He took a deep breath before overriding the controls and cutting the engines, flipping around to fire at the attackers. The machines dodged effortlessly and hit each of his radial engines with a blast. He closed his eyes, seeming to throw the ship into a spin just as it hit the atmosphere of the planet. Seeing their quarry begin to burn as it plummeted, they broke off and returned from whence they came.

The girls looked at the accepting pose of their “captain” with fear. Moments would pass as the heat built up in the ship. The controls were locked and they began to burn up. It was only as they felt they were going to be destroyed utterly that his eyes snapped to alertness, crimson fire glowing in his eyes. “Now.” A moment would seem to pass of nothing but fire, but the heat eventually subsided. And they were once again in the deep coldness of space. The looked out in confusion as constellations that they recognized. As they turned to ask what it was he had done, they saw him unconscious in the captain’s chair, his breathing heavy, his bandages soaked in his blood and sweat and a smile of complete satisfaction on his face.