“This is really great cooking Jiirl.” I complimented as I dug into breakfast as we all ate together. The enticing smell of space bacon and space eggs was enough to make the mouth water.

“Why thank you Captain.” Jiirl smiled as she doled out a plate to her husband. “I’ve had ample time to practice while my dear has been away.”

“Indeed!” Hortur nodded emphatically as he bit into a forkful of eggs. “Much better than the last time you cooked for me.” Oh no.

“Why thank you dear. Its good to hear my efforts aren’t in vain.” Jiirl smiled, but there was no joy behind that smile. My body shivered as a chill ran down my spine. It seemed that everyone felt the effects of Jiirl’s words, even Jiirl herself, which could only mean…

‘Aya, return the temperature to normal.’

‘Yes Captain.’ She spoke happily.

‘Thanks. Great comedic timing on that by the way.’

‘Thank you Captain.’

“So which of you won last night’s battle?” I asked as I chewed a mouthful of eggs. Hortur stammered at my question as his face turned redder than the Falrias sun.

“It was a tie.” Jiirl stated without missing a beat. “No talking with your mouth full Captain. I expect better manners out of you than that.”

“Sorry, my mouth just follows my mind most of the time.”

“Still, thats no excuse for bad table manners.” She looked up from her plate, “Though I must apologize for our…enthusiasm last night.”

“Dear!” Hortur cried out in despair.

“We had not seen one another in months you see.” She smiled dreamily, “Space travel is difficult for the Lamlian people. Or at least, it was. I’ll have to have a few with my physician for overlooking this lemon treatment.”

‘Please don’t tell her that they’re my guinea pigs.’ Aya pleaded.

‘My lips are sealed.’

‘I owe you one Captain.’

‘Aya, I’m pretty sure I’m so deep in favor-debt that I may as well just hand control over my body to you at this point.’

‘No thank you.’ She responded immediately.

‘Why? Is there something wrong with my body?’ No response, ‘Aya?’

‘I do not feel like passing your kidney stones for you.’ She mumbled. ‘You should not have drank that soda for all those years.’

‘Well if its so bad for you why do they make it taste so good?’

“So Captain,” Jiirl began as she sipped a cup of freshly brewed lemon tea, “Where exactly are we headed?”

“Back to Araxium Vos. Avon should know of a planet where you can live safely without worrying about the Kingdom intruding on your property.” I explained after swallowing a mouthful of delicious eggs.

“Sounds like you trust this woman of yours.” Jiirl smiled pleasantly.

“I trust her to try and capture, or kill me when we get there.” I shrugged, “Its hard to tell with women.”

“I see.” She nodded, “And whats to stop these rebels of yours from intruding on my property in the Kingdom’s place? They could even capture me in an attempt to get at Hortur, and therefore get at you Captain.” I had to admit, she had a point.

“You do have a point.” I rubbed my chin.

“If I may?” Hortur butted in sheepishly.

“Go ahead.” I nodded.

“What if she were to stay on the ship with us? She’d be far safer on here than on a planet I’ve never been to before.”

“Oh my sun, you just want to keep me close.” Jiirl sighed happily and rubbed her tail against Hortur’s

“No getting frisky at the Captain’s table. We have children present.” I motioned towards an embarrassed Egyle. Gotta lay down the ground rules, else the crew gets unruly.

“I’m nineteen!” She cried out.

“And the way you were gnawing on my shoulder this morning made me think of a teething baby.”

“I was dreaming!”

“About what? Starting a zombie apocalypse? I still have teeth marks!”

Egyle looked away, ashamed as she picked at her breakfast. She knew what she did, and I knew what she did. I had woken up to her leaning against me with her teeth grinding into my shoulder that was soaked in drool. Needless to say, I woke her up and chastised her properly. The Captain is taken and not to be used as a body pillow, or a chew toy by others. Unless said other is a beautiful blue space babe with a penchant for attempting to imprison him and rejecting his declarations of love.

‘Masochist.’ Came Aya’s remark.

‘Aya, let me give you a lesson about life. People always want what they can’t have.’

‘So you only like Aevalonis because she will never be yours?’

‘Of course not! I don’t believe in love at first sight Aya, but she came close. She’ll be mine, its just going to be an uphill battle.’

‘As you say, Captain.’ Aya sighed.

‘Just you wait Aya, I’ve got a surefire plan that’ll make her fall for me instantly. Women love being serenaded.’

“Regardless,” Hortur coughed, “I think it would be best if she stayed.”

“Well Jiirl, do you want to be a crew member of the Boatsy? To go where no Lamlian has gone before, see new and interesting planets, and help your Captain obtain the hand of his beloved Avon?”

“Well when you put it that way, I don’t see how I can say no.” She smiled.

—————————————————————————

Aevalonis Malwyrd Kalrastros marched through the upper deck of the first of the completed Battleships, ‘Nylumi’. In her language it meant Light of Hope. A good name for one of the first ships that would spearhead their successes in battle against the Kingdom. Ever since the Hero had left, more and more systems had risen up in revolt along the galactic rim. Balros had been hard at work doctoring footage of the Hero and her. Footage that made it seem as if he had sworn fealty to her.

Footage that was even now being spread through the Gal-Net.

She hated it. She hated the feeling that she had betrayed the Hero. Hated that she hadn’t stopped Balros’ plan when she had the chance. But most of all, she felt disgusted that it was necessary. She saw firsthand the hope that doctored video brought to her people. To have a Hero fighting alongside them made their cause just.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“As you can see, the Nylumi is ready for her maiden voyage with the Lombadis and Rathtun to be completed in a few days.” Her chief engineer, Obsal, praised with a rocky grin as they entered the bridge. Specialists worked with engineers as they manned their stations, making sure everything was at peak performance.

“Thank you Obsal. With these ships, our rebellion can begin in earnest.” Aevalonis smiled but felt little joy.

“Permission to speak freely, Lord?” Obsal asked as he regarded her with curious eyes.

“Of course Obsal, you don’t need to ask.” He gestured towards back into the hall. With a nod, Aevalonis followed the Korglan. Once they were out of sight, he sighed.

“Whats wrong Lord? I’d expect you to be in a much better mood over our recent successes.”

“Is it that obvious?” She smiled.

“Lord, my facial expressions are less obvious than yours these past few days.” He chuckled roughly.

“Its-”

“The footage?” She nodded,

“It doesn’t feel right, to take advantage of his trust like that.” A derisive laugh escaped from within her. “He was right.”

“About?”

“How his apparent joining us would cause many to follow. More planets have joined up with our rebellion in these past few days than the last few months combined!” She pulled her hair in frustration.

“Heroes have always been highly regarded in Salyzan history.” Obsal noted. “It makes sense that many would view him as someone who knew what was right and wrong.”

“Is it right to do the wrong thing in the pursuit of a greater right?” Aevalonis mused.

“Well, it may not be my place to say such things, but no. What you have allowed to take place is more than a betrayal of his trust. You have also betrayed the trust of those that looked up to Heroes of the past and that will now follow you, expecting the Hero to be fighting alongside them.”

“Thank you for your honesty Obsal.”

“Any time, Lord.”

————————————————————————

The bridge of Boatsy was full of activity as my crew set the stage of our grand re-emergence in Araxium Vos. I had been rehearsing my sonnet to Avon the whole trip with guidance from Jiirl and Egyle. In an hour, we would emerge from hyperspace and send a video communication straight to Avon. From there, I would let the power of song form an unbreakable bond of love between us. Sadly, we had no instruments to use, nor a stereo system, so it would just be my voice.

I hoped I could do Meatloaf justice.

‘This is hopeless.’ Aya spoke pessimistically.

‘Its got a fifty fifty shot of working Aya.’

‘You always say that when things are hopeless.’

‘You’re just jealous that I’m not singing for you.’

‘If these past few days are anything to go by, I’m glad.’

‘Ouch.’

“Everything’s ready Captain.” Jiirl reported as the white bed sheet hung in front of the captain’s chair, forming a backdrop to my stage.

“Perfect. Alright team, operation Serenade is a go in…” I looked at the time. “Forty eight minutes.”

————————————————————————

Aevalonis sat in the strategy room of the Battleship Nylumi as they patrolled near the Araxium Vos shipyards. The galaxy was aflame with blips of red that consumed entire systems throughout the Salyzan Kingdom. More and more planets joined the rebellion as the footage made its way from system to system as fast as news could travel. King Lavian’s fleet even had to divide into smaller fleets to handle the rising threats near their locations.

She was watching the galaxy tear itself apart over a Hero that hadn’t even joined them to begin with.

“Report.” Balros stated in his usual informative fashion. “Another three systems have joined the rebellion.” He pressed a finger against the galactic display, shifting three systems very close to the core from blue to red. Aevalonis stared wordlessly at the new acquisitions. Those were human worlds. Pure human worlds that had joined a rebellion for the sole purpose of granting freedom for other races such as herself.

“Those are…humans…” Lyrin spoke with wide eyes as she put to words Aevalonis’ thoughts. “Why would humans help us?”

“Because they see one they look up to doing the same.” Balros stated. “Those systems are quite zealous over following what the Hero decrees. If he says jump, then jump they shall.” He smiled in satisfaction.

“Does the Hero know about this?” Lyrin asked curiously. Balros scoffed,

“Of course not. Hes a fool.”

“Well thats a given.” Lyrin laughed, “Still, if he learns that those people would follow his every word, theres no telling what he’d do.”

“A new ship has just appeared out of hyperspace.” Yvael spoke from her station and stared directly into Aevalonis’ eyes. “Its the Boatsy, and its requesting a video transmission.”

A cold sweat dripped down Aevalonis’ back. Did he know about the video? If he did, would he try to stop them? Not that he would be able to in that Frigate of his. Could Balros cover up the Hero’s destruction if they were forced to fight? They had already spread one massive lie, what was another?

“Patch it through.”

Instantly, a live feed from the Boatsy’s bridge popped into view. The Hero, Chet, stood in front of a large white sheet with his hands behind his back and his eyes closed. He did not move, he did not speak. Not but silence could be heard.

“Hero-” Aevalonis began, but was cut off by the Hero putting up his hand. ‘He knows.’ She could feel her dread creeping up her spine. Everyone in the strategy room looked from Aevalonis to the Hero. But where once there was silence, there soon became song.

“And I would do anything for love! I’d run right into hell and back!”

“Dun dun.” Came a voice from off screen.

“I would do anything for love! I’ll never lie to you and thats a fact!”

“Dun dun.” Came another, lower voice.

“But I’ll never forget the way you feel right now oh no! No way! And I would do anythi-”

Just as quickly as the song had begun did it cut off. All eyes locked on to Balros.

“My finger slipped.”

—————————————————————————

‘Captain, it appears that our transmission was cut off.’ Aya informed me of the painfully obvious hang up I had just received.

‘Can we get it back?’

‘Negative Captain. We appear to be blocked from any further transmissions.’

‘They can do that? Shit.’ I had to think a little. ‘Alright Aya, we’ll do this telemarketer style. Can we change our ship’s ID?’

‘Of course Captain.’

‘Well why didn’t you tell me earlier?!’ I shouted at the robot in my head.

‘You didn’t ask.’

‘Well I’m asking you to kindly change our ship’s ID.’

—————————————————————————

“Lord, we appear to be receiving a new video request.” Yvael spoke from her station while snickering.

“From who?” Aevalonis asked curiously.

“From the…ahem…U.S.S. Bitch Dont Hang Up On Me.”

Aevalonis sighed a long, exhausting sigh.

“Balros, please leave. Yvael, patch him through.”