(BSS Mewtwo, formerly ‘Free Trader’ Broken Harlot, Amazon System)
Lorna Crowley and her friends waited in the ship’s lounge for their new Master to come aboard. After the idiot had been shot by the tactical team that had taken their ship. She and her friends had been informed that the ship and its crew were now the property of the Black Star Company’s owner. It was a piece of delicious irony for Lorna, since their former Master had hated Black Star’s owner with a passion for some perceived wrong in another life, and because her father had bought the Northgate Rebel from Black Star after their old ship had been damaged by pirates during a battle where Black Star forces intervened.
Then they’d had the everlasting misfortune to hire The Asshole. He’d seemed nice at first, and good with a gun, which is something they needed. But the first night they were out of port, he changed. He overpowered Myriam in the Engine Room, and flooded the ship with sleeping gas. When they woke up, they were in collars, and her father Darius and a friend of theirs, Liam Greymane, were dead. They had to watch as the bastard spaced their bodies, just to keep them from having any hope, or a chance to bury them properly. Since then, she and her two friends, Gwen Armstead and Myriam Spellwaker, had been this bastard’s playthings. Oh, he didn’t leave them alone, of course. He also ‘hired’ Loren Fence and Celestine Harvest when they reached port, so that he had a full crew.
She hated the bastard for what he’d done, but there wasn’t anything she could do about it. His commands were very specific, and they kept them from harming him, or the ship, or doing anything without his approval, really. They’d found a way to turn that against him, of course, deliberately twisting orders as much as they could. It was a small rebellion, but it was what they could do.
Walking into the room with two of the commandos from before, the man she recognized as the Black Star owner nodded to them all. “Ms. Crowley, is it? I’m sorry for your loss. Your father was a decent sort, according to what my people have told me, and I’m sorry for what that bastard’s done to you. I’m sure my Valkyries have explained a bit of the situation, but I’d like to make sure you know the score. Your former Master is a Nomad, so simply killing him, while cathartic, would not solve the issue. However, we have a solution that we hope will meet with your approval. Allow me to do a bit of theater, as we deal with your former master, and then we’ll talk about what we’ll be doing with you, and the freighter, which I’ve renamed the Mewtwo. No way am I having a Black Star ship with the name Broken Harlot.”
He motioned towards a screen, which turned on, revealing what was clearly a single-person escape pod, and a very angry James Lorde. “YOU! YOU BASTARD! I’LL KILL YOU A MILLION TIMES FOR THIS! LORNA! I ORDER YOU TO SHOOT THAT BASTARD!” The former captain was raving now, clearly incensed by the fact that he had been taken down, yet again. When she didn’t react to his command, he started getting even more irate, screaming obscenities at her.
Their new owner, however, simply smiled, and shook his head. “Oh no, James. It is James, now, yes? I remember you used to go by ‘Lord Kickass’. I would give you credit on coming up with a more original name, but that bar was so low that earthworms were tripping over it. Anyway, your absolute failing in terms of naming sense aside, I’m afraid you have not grasped the situation yet. You initiated an attack run against a Black Star ship. Black Star is a legally recognized shipping company in the Confederacy, so attacking our ships without provocation is an act of piracy. As it just so happened, the Black Star Navy’s Shadowdancer was on hand, and disabled you with pathetic ease. Because the Black Star Navy is a legaly registered and certified Mercenary company, and you were engaged in an act of piracy at the time, all your property has been transferred to Black Star. We were nice and left you your skinsuit, but the ship, the cargo, and the girls all belong to Black Star, which means they are mine, and there is nothing you can do about it.”
“JUST WATCH ME, YOU FUCKING CHEATER! I’LL REPORT YOU! YOU’RE OBVIOUSLY HACKING, AND I’LL—”
Their new master sighed. “James, James. Why must you be such a tool? The admins already know all. They’ve already looked, and found nothing. I’m just better than you, that’s all. In every way, I am better than you. So much so that no matter how many times you try, and no matter how many times you reroll, you will never be able to beat me, unless I let you. To emphasize this point, you should be aware by this point that you are trapped in an escape pod, and the controls have been physically disabled. Don’t bother trying to repair them, you’d need to go spacewalking to do that.”
There was a roaring coming from the other end of the connection. “By the sound of it, you have just entered the atmosphere. Even if you could survive the decompression, or the fires of reentry, without a suit, I’m afraid that opening the hatch would result in a quick end for you. You see, the planet you are dropping towards is called Amazonia. Ah, I see by the look of concern on your face that you understand. Don’t worry, the escape pod has a weak shield system that should prevent the nanites from eating it until you reach ground. And once you land on Amazonia, your bind point will change there, since you no longer have a bind point on a friendly ship in orbit. But don’t worry, there are a lot of very large, very ‘enthusiastic’ women who would be more than happy to add another toy to their collections. Since the nanites will eat the pod, the supplies, your cybereyes, and even your clothes, I’m afraid you’ll have very little luck avoiding them. And when you die, they will not return to you, so you will be blind and naked until someone clothes you and then you’ll just be blind. Forever. With no hope of ever escaping. Because I am, and always will be, better than you.”
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Lorna blinked as horror and twisted glee warred within her. She’d heard the reports of Greenwave, everyone had. As far as she knew, Lorde’s eyes were fake, as was right arm, which he’d had made into a cybernetic monstrosity that allowed him to extend an energy blade from the wrist. He would be a cripple on a planet with Greenwave! He deserved it, of course. He deserved worse for what he’d done to them all, but at least some kind of justice was being done to the bastard!
Their new owner ignored the fresh tirade of profanity, and motioned at the screen, which turned off. He turned back to them, and said, “Now that the idiot has something to stew over for however long he stays down there, let’s talk about you five, and what happens next.” He took a seat in the largest, most comfortable chair, and motioned for the other girls to sit as well.
“As you are probably aware, a significant portion of my company is made up of slave workers, or relatives of slave workers. The overwhelming majority of them were people who, like you, came to me because life kicked them squarely in the teeth, and for one reason or another, they’d been enslaved. Some were fleeing Jagloth. Some were convicted, wrongly or not, of crimes. Some were ambushed by someone they trusted. Some attacked me, or mine.”
“Regardless of how they came to be in my service, they are now Black Star, and Black Star looks out for its own. My analyst has been going through the records, and you were doing good work before the idiot took over. There’s a suggestion that the lean times since then are mostly due to the idiot not knowing how to lead, but also because of a certain amount of resistance from you girls. I say this, because if the resistance continues, you’re only going to be hurting yourselves.”
Lorna was confused as she looked her new Master over. What was he saying? And how had he gotten an analysis of their performance so quickly? What did this mean for them?
“Lorna Crowley, I am offering you the position of Slave-Captain of the Black Star Ship Mewtwo. You will have authority over the ship funds, subject to audit, of course, which will be split in quarters. One quarter to me, as the owner, one quarter to the Company, one quarter to the Ship for repairs and supplies, and one quarter to you and your crew. At any time you may purchase your freedom for the price of one hundred thousand credits, each, to be paid for out of the crew share of the profits, at which time the ship’s pay schedule will be converted to the typical fifths arrangement, and you will be Captain of a ship owned and operated by Black Star. Is this acceptable to you and your crew, or would you prefer another position within Black Star?”
Lorna’s mouth dropped so low she was fairly certain that she was about to scrape the floor with it. From the sound the others were making, they were in similar states of shock. “Y-you’re letting us choose? But we’re slaves. You could just order us and we’d have to do it, even if you ordered us to go down on you right now!”
Their Master sighed, and said, “Yes, well, contrary to my slanderous reputation—” He glared at one of the commandos who had a sudden ‘coughing fit’ to hide her laughter. “Fine, contrary to my well-deserved reputation for having a slave harem and sleeping with any willing woman I desire, there are limits. And frankly, I’ve got too many women to deal with already, so I don’t need to go adding more lovelies to my regular rotation. If you come down with a need to have me fuck your brains out, then I will not say no, since you’re all lovely ladies, but my girls would do unpleasant things to me if I stopped paying them enough attention.”
“Anyway, I find that people tend to do better at their jobs if it is a job they like, or have chosen. So, if you want to do something else within Black Star, then once we can get a new crew for the Mewtwo, we can split you girls up and get you where you need to go to do those jobs. But if you stay aboard, you’ll be together, and you’ll be in charge of your destinies. Also, being a slave of a corporation conveys some protections to you when crossing borders, and those who attack you, attack Black Star, and that demands retaliation.”
Lorna looked at the other girls, but it was Gwen that said, “She’ll do it, and I’ll be here to make sure she keeps it straight.” Each of the girls nodded, and looked expectantly at their leader.
Lorna sighed, and said, “Fine, I’ll do it. I’ll be your Slave-Captain.”
Their new owner clapped his hands, and said, “Excellent! Now, in the future, you’ll be able to decide personnel needs as you see fit, but according to your files the only one of you with any piloting skills is Lorna, and you’re mostly checked out on short range shuttles and ground craft. Frankly, a Black Star freighter needs better than that, since you’re going to have a target on your back for being part of the hottest new company. More so than just having one of our freighters as an ‘indie’. We’ll guide your ship through the Gateway to Nuevo Edo, now that we’ve dealt with former Captain Lorde, and take you to the Black Star facilities there. There’s some simple upgrades that we keep out of the ships sold to external clients that will make you a real terror to your enemies… if you have a pilot who can take advantage of it. Fortunately, there’s a hot stick pilot who was being ill utilized by her former masters, and has been without a ship once the X’thari killed the rest of her crew. Her name is Samantha Michaels, and we’ll get her situated with you once we get to port. Any questions?”
Loren spoke up, “Is it true you paid a girl to pose the bastard with a dead body?”
Their master simply smiled, and said, “Well, the story goes something like this…”