The large cargo vessel floated in the dark void, the small flakes of corrosion drifting slowly from its cargo of weathered metal containers. Ten thousand pinpricks of multicolored light shone all around as the vessel sat in deep space, awaiting its uncertain fate.

The atmosphere on the bridge of the ship was grim, they had been trundling along happily under full warp when they had been interdicted, that alone was cause for alarm as their shipment was supposed to be secret as was their route. As the cargo ship was dragged from warp, they had almost immediately picked up an approaching warp signature. The interdicting ship had hailed them soon after with a strong warning “This is the Mortifying Command, prepare to be boarded, any resistance will be met with extreme violence. I look forward to continuing this conversation with you in person.”

Pirates. Just his luck, Captain Gentry Marmal sat back into his padded seat in defeat, his thick shaggy fur rubbing the wrong way but he ignored it. His ship, the Dean Yatne pattern cargo ship ‘IS Troubled Waters’ wasn't even armed. He had no way of defending himself even if he wanted to, and the six anti-meteoroid point defense lasers would do little but warm the hull of the approaching ship. It had solid lines of a purpose built vessel, not the generally lumpy abstract appearance of a heavily modified design.

As he watched the signal that represented the Mortifying Command draw ever closer he heard one of his crew speak angrily “What are you doing? Just letting them board without any sort of defiance? You are dooming us all!”

Before Captain Marmal could retort another of the crew, his communication specialist, spoke up angrily. “And it's a damn good thing we didn't try anything. That’s a fucking warship, look at the guns.”

Captain Marmal and the four others looked at an expanded view of the incoming vessel and he noted with mild surprise that it was indeed a military vessel. A Drabbon class corvette to be specific. It was a bit lumpy looking, the many jutting nodules of defense weapons looking like some vast piece of ancient seabed pulled up from the depths. Its overall shape was disturbingly organic in appearance as its surface was coated in some sort of thick regolith-like substance. ‘What was a military ship doing in the hands of pirates?’ he wondered to himself.

He sat back in his command chair. “We don't know their intentions, this could be a routine military inspection for all we know. Tensions are high in this region after all, maybe the Captain thinks we are suspicious and just wants to take a look around.” Though he sounded less confident than he hoped as he said it.

His communications specialist, a human male named Denver, disagreed quickly, “I'm not so sure, they aren't flying any Union or Hegemony military designation that I recognise and their colors are not regulation standard either. There appears to be…. Oh, yeah. Captain, they are definitely not friendly…” Denver said as the ship shuddered under some form of impact.

“What the Shrac was that!” Captain Marmal swore in surprise.

Another of his crew complained, “Well, there goes our communications array, looks like they didn't want us calling for help.”

“Shit.” Marmal swore, using the Human expression. This was bad, their cargo scaffolding was full of medical supplies bound for one of the warfront worlds. If they lost it he wasn't sure if he would be able to get a contract of its value again anytime soon. But it was an insured cargo so at least he wouldn't be held personally responsible for its loss. He sunk further into his chair, it creaked under his weight. As an atraxses, he was much larger than the humans the ship had been designed for.

The bridge fell silent, there were only five of them on board, and they all seemed to be contemplating the same train of thought he was.

Soon after the telltale clunk of a docking umbilical mating with an external airlock reverberated through the ship. Captain Marmal stood and did his best to make himself presentable, smoothing down the longer fur on his chest and straightening his shoulder epaulets. If he was going to die, might as well leave a good looking corpse as his uncle had used to tell him. Thinking of the old silverback made him smile a bit in spite of the dire situation, he made his way off the bridge quickly. His quartermaster, the man who had been so adamant about fighting back earlier, followed him with a dash.

Turning to the human who had decided to accompany him he gave them a solemn nod “Thanks for coming Joey. Maybe the sight of us complying will make them more amenable to a peaceful resolution.”

His quartermaster just scowled and grunted in response. It seemed like the man was less than pleased to have anything to do with the currently unfolding events. He hoped the smaller man wouldn't do anything rash to put the rest of the crew in danger, the other ship had mentioned extreme violence after all if they refused to comply.

The normally short walk down the hallway to the rear of the crew compartment was long, much longer than he would have normally attributed it, but he supposed that was due to the mounting stress that was building in his mind. He felt his muscles tensing and willed himself to relax, depending on what species he would be dealing with they might be able to sense his fear just by smell alone.

He and Joey reached the first main airlock and stopped, he turned to his quartermaster, the shorter human looking like he was ready to be sick. Captain Marmal took a deep breath and then raised his universal communicator from his belt, the small device acting like an omnidirectional unencrypted radio.

“Ok, I am at the door. It has been unlocked, board at your own discretion.” He turned off the small device and hung it back upon his belt. He hoped that he wasn’t about to be bum rushed by a pack of wild cutthroats. He had lost more than one family member to piracy in these troubled times, the war acting as the perfect cover for such unsavory individuals to act with near impunity. Especially so far from the core worlds. Captain Marmal stood as straight as he could, the door shifted as it began to open. He wasn't sure what he would see on the other side of it and so prepared himself for anything.

As the doors opened so too did his eyes widen, what sight greeted him was unexpected to say the least. He had seen many accounts and recording captures of piracy and the foul devils that perpetrated such acts, and those that stood before him didn't look like the sort of rabble he had expected. Indeed their leader was a tall yeown male in a close fitting and neat military uniform. It looked vaguely Union in style but held no insignia or rank other than the four gold stripes on his slouched shoulders indicating the rank of Commander.

The large man himself had silvery grey fur all along his head and exposed limbs that trended towards a more cream color near his clawed hands and feet and the end of his long furry tail. His large four fingered hands claws were retracted currently, likely a good sign as it meant he was relaxed. His predatory features culminated in a slightly pointed muzzle and tall pointed ears, his eyes a pale reflective blue that caught the light like gemstones.

The others that stormed through the door to surround him in a semicircle were similarly dressed, pressed and neat looking dark grey uniforms with no obvious insignia or allegiance. They aimed well maintained weapons at them as the burly yeown stepped forwards and took a deep sniff.

The heavily muscled man smiled wide, his predator’s teeth glinting in the light as his chatoyant blue eyes flashed. As he opened his mouth to speak Captain Marmal jerked as Joey suddenly moved, his hand flashing into his jacket.

With horror he watched the man draw a .44 revolver out of his overalls and point it at the pirate captain. Before he could react Joey fired, the world seeming to move in slow motion as the bullet struck the silvery furred pirate directly in the center of his chest, knocking him back a step. Before Joey could fire another shot at the pirate, a dark-skinned human female with strikingly green eyes raised a weapon of her own and fired it at his quartermaster.

Her weapon emitted a brilliantly bright beam of red light that struck the gun in his crewmate’s hand causing it to detonate. Joey fell to the ground in pain and screamed, his hand now a ruined mess of splintered bone and torn flesh. Captain Marmal just stood there in shock and confusion. He wasn't sure what to do, every single gun in the room was now pointed directly at his head, slowly he raised his large arms above his head. Palms open and head held low as he expected a hail of gunfire to cut him down at any moment, it never came.

Instead the pirate captain stood and brushed his wide chest, the bullet bouncing off the metal flooring at his wide clawed feet. In a flash the pirate drew a shimmering sword and held it to his throat. Captain Marmal swallowed heavily, the blade seemed hazy, as if its surface was not entirely there. This combined with the low buzzing hum coming from the blade marked it out as a shiversteel saber, the rapidly vibrating blade more than capable of laying him open with a touch. He raised his hands higher and tried his best not to soil himself from the fear that turned his guts to knotted cables.

**********

Aquillas grunted in pain as something struck him full in the chest, the ballistic fiber weave of his old military uniform capturing the offending projectile without too much trauma to him, but it had still hurt like a packbreaker. He stood in time to see his second raise her weapon in his defense, blowing the offending weapon, and the hand holding it, into smithereens with her Jule2000 laser rifle.

He brushed off his chest with a wince, the small clink of a bullet bouncing from the floor, the only sound beside the wailing of the injured man who had attempted to take his life. Normally he would have responded with violence at the offense, but the attempt had been so shoddy, so brazenly defiant that he couldn't help but chuckle.

Still, appearances must be kept, and so he drew his shiversteel saber and put it to the throat of the large atraxses man with the captain’s epaulets that still stood before him. Their arms were raised and their small amber eyes were wide with alarm, but they stood their ground, brave or in shock he couldn't really tell. Nor did he particularly care.

Aquillas took another deep sniff, his powerful senses parsing millions of molecules of information in the blink of an eye to give him an unparalleled readout of the room.

His second, the tall dark skinned human woman named Bobbie, stood there like a statue. Her face was like a stone and her smell tinged with the sharp bite of anger. But he detected another scent, this one much different, like flower petals on a bed of glass. It was a concern, he smiled at that, the grin turning a bit sour as the pungent smell of fear wafted over him powerfully. The atraxses man seemed to be about to lose control over his bodily functions, Aquillas decided to alleviate the man’s fears a touch before he had an accident and turned the place into a sewer. Nobody would be happy if that happened.

Instead he deactivated his sword, the dangerous hum dying and the blade seeming to solidify as he lowered it towards the floor. Glancing at the still crying stricken man he gestured towards one of his crew, a large atraxses man in a white sash with red crosses on his shoulders. He was the only one of his crew to not be carrying a weapon, an action that he vehemently refused to do upon pain or death.

“Vrith, check his wounds. Give the fool some painkillers too, his racket offends my ears.” He made a note to twitch his large triangular ears in order to force his point. The surgeon moved forwards and immediately opened up his large medical bag as Aquillas returned his attention back to the other atraxses in the room.

He put on a false veneer of friendliness and sheathed his sword. “Sorry about that unpleasantness friend. Please allow me to introduce us, I am Captain Aquillas of the IS Mortifying Command. Me and my crew are here with a business proposition for you.” he paused to gauge the other man’s reaction.

The large white furred man nodded slowly as if he was still in shock, and he very well might be. The other cargohand’s cries had now ceased, Vrith having applied bandages and pain relief to the injured crewman. Nodding his thanks to the surgeon, he picked up the smaller human roughly by the throat and lifted him in the air as if he weighed nothing. Indeed the human was a younger man and likely weighed less than eighty kilograms.

Turning to the cargo ship’s captain, he held the struggling human a few inches off the decking and asked “This man has offended me. Normally I would repay his insolence with a swift vacation to the deep dark, spacesuit not included. But something about his loyalty to you strikes a chord in my own heart. So I may be inclined to spare him, with the condition that there are no more complications in our transaction.” He gave the other man a serious look, the gurgling cries of the man in his grip working to lend a dangerous credence to his request.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

As the other captain nodded Aquillas dropped the human and made a show of wiping his hand on his uniform as if to clean off some stain. “Alright, now that we are in agreement, what is your name man?” as the atraxses hesitated he spurred “Out with it, we don’t have all cycle. We may have disabled your communications, but this area is frequently patrolled and I don’t like interruptions.”

Nodding quickly the large furred man replied “Captain Gentry Marmal…”

Aquillas nodded, “Gentry it is then. Gentry, I have a problem, you see… I know all about your cargo.” he held up a hand as Gentry tried to speak. “No sense in denying it, you see, I have sources inside that would really like to see that crate of adrenaline stims go missing. I'm sure you understand that I am obligated to acquiesce to their desires. Now be a good man and tell me which container it's in.”

He smiled wide, his yellow teeth making the other man shiver slightly. Gentry shook his head and asked “But why? I understand its value on the black market, but what do pirates need with…” But he didn't finish his question as Aquillas cut him off with a snarl.

“We are not pirates!” He said loudly as the cargo ship's captain shrank back in fear. “We are renegades, yes, but not pirates. I don’t want to hear that word leave your lips again, understood?” he said in a dangerous voice. A few of his crew chuckled as the other man nodded sheepishly. That pungent stench of fear was back and he rolled his eyes. These soft cargo runners, they had never faced a single dangerous day in their lives, not really.

He frowned as his mind went back to a dark place, the sounds of shouting and screams of innocents over a radio link flashing through his mind briefly. He shook his head to clear it slightly and felt a comforting hand on his shoulder. There was only one person with the familiarity to make such a gesture and he smiled as he turned to see Bobbie with her arm outstretched. Her face was a blank mask, but he could smell the truth of her inner self. Her emotions may not have been visible, but her concern oozed from her very pores as clearly as a sun shone to his heightened senses.

He shook his head slightly and she took a step back, her scent returning to its blunt natural state. Looking back at Gentry he waved a hand and gestured towards the hall across from them. “Well, are you going to show me around or not?”

He chuckled a bit as the man jerked and gave a sharp nod, his eyes flicking to the sword sheathed at his hip. Aquillas gave it a pat and the man swallowed audibly before motioning towards the hall. “Would you like me to lead or…”

“Yes, if you would. No more surprises, remember? We will just hold onto your mate here as a spot of insurance you might say.” Aquillas motioned to Bobbie and she pushed the man towards a particularly grizzled looking nerivith woman with a chipped horn, her name was Denni Brigg. As the most senior of the enlisted voidsmen on his ship, she was in charge of maintaining discipline among the crew. And now that they had decided to strike it out on their own she was also acting as his main security officer.

Denni grabbed the man and gave a wide smile. “I can keep an eye on this fine piece of meat for ya Aquilas. And if he behaves, maybe I'll give him a special treat.” she giggled girlishly, the sound at odds with her scarred and battered features. The story was that she had survived explosive decompression, and from the looks of it he could very well believe it. What mattered to him was that she was loyal to him, and good at keeping the others in line.

“Just dont break him, yet. We may still need the good Gentry’s cooperation.” He told her with a wink. She saluted and dragged the fearful looking man into the ship alongside several of the crew. She would probably spend the next twenty minutes telling the poor sap her old war stories and tales of fighting flesh tearers on the western frontier.

Shaking his head he motioned from Gentry to move. As they started down the hall he asked “So, this ship is marked in the merchants books as independent. What’s his story?”

Gentry glanced over his shoulder at him and shrugged. “My grandfather was a businessman, always wanted to go into the merchant business but could never afford it. So my father made it his life’s mission to obtain a ship, and he did. But before he was able to use it if he succumbed to a terrible sickness…” the man trailed off.

“Sickness? One that the doctors couldn't cure?” Now he was genuinely curious. Modern medicine had made a mockery of virtually every disease ever encountered, including cancers. What could have been so bad that it had claimed his father’s life?

Gentry paused near a bulkhead door and shook his head sadly. “He was sleepstricken.”

Aquillas cocked his head. That was a relatively uncommon metabolic degeneracy syndrome caused by years of abusing Occusmite, a type of ocularly applied stimulant. “I assume he worked himself to death then?” His tone was reverent. He didn’t know this man but the bonds of pack and family meant a lot in his culture and the loss of a parent was a hurt he very well understood.

Gentry seemed to understand his respect as he just looked at him and gave a solemn nod before continuing down the hall. “The bridge is just ahead, I have already sent a message to the others to remain calm, please don't hurt them. They're good boys, a little zealous, but good workers.” Gentry rambled as they entered into a larger room full of consoles and control devices.

In the room there were a few other people, two human males and a slaaveth male. The slaaveth jumped up as they entered the bridge but was dragged back down by his two mates. “Sit down you idiot.” one of them hissed, likely trying to remain unheard. But Aquillas’ powerful ears picked the whispered words up as clearly as if they had been spoken to him directly.

“That’s right boy. You would be better off staying planted in that chair, we won't be taking much of your time. I am on a tight schedule as it were.” He looked back to Gentry and pointed an accusatory finger. “Pull up the manifest. I want to know exactly where the shipment is. No funny business and you all walk away with your lives.”

Gentry nodded and glanced at Bobbie as she entered and stood by the door, her laser rifle in hand and ready to use at a moment’s notice. She scanned the room with practiced precision, her military bearing clear and her violent intent obvious.

Aquillas looked around the bridge as Gentry tapped away at his command computer. The ship was rather spartan, even by his military standards. The grey walls were bare except for some piping and the bridge window was small and almost porthole-esk. All in all it was a rather depressing and cramped space that he would have hated to call home for any real length of time, nothing like the textured grey walls of the Mortifying Command. The Drabbon class corvette looked more like the inside of some natural underwater cave than the dungeon-like conditions of the IS Troubled Waters. The slaaveth design of the vessel much more organic in both appearance and feel.

He smirked at that, what a little bit of paint and discipline could do for this place. He looked over to the large atraxses captain as Gentry spoke up suddenly. “I have it, the exact crate number was O988-443R. It looks to be on the aft armature, third from the bottom. It is the bright white one.” he said as if the other instructions were not clear enough.

Aquillas switched on his wrist assistant and raised it to his mouth. “This is Aquillas to the Mortifying Command, come in Gorshk.”

After a moment a slightly crackling male voice answered him through his direct connection. “This is Gorshk, good to hear from you Commander, are we ready to harvest the goods?”

Aquillas gave Bobbie a nod and then answered with a wide smile. “Yes we are. Crate number is O988-443R, if you need further clarification now is the time to let me know.”

Gorshk spoke in a cheerful manner “Not required, I see it. It's a big white one at the back, easy to spot. I mapped out the designations of all her containers the moment we arrived, I was simply waiting for the target to be nailed down. Okay, repositioning the manipulators now.”

There was a slight bump as the Mortifying Command made contact with the much larger container ship, then another as something was forcibly detached from its skeleton-like gantry. Nodding in a satisfied manner he asked “Gorshk, report?”

“Package is secure, return for peach cobbler.” Gorshk said. Aquillas just shook his silver furred head. Sometimes that man could be as cryptic as the ancient writings of the lost, but damn if he wasn't the best pilot Aquillas had ever served with.

Nodding to Gentry, Aquillas shambled over to the uncomfortable looking man and slapped him on the shoulder. The contact making the larger man wince. “See, that wasn’t so hard now was it Gentry. You still have the rest of your cargo, your crew is safe and sound. Well, except for shooter mcgee at least. But a little cybernetic surgery and he will be as good as new, you offer workman’s comp for your crew don’t you?” he asked the cargo captain with a single raised brow.

Gentry nodded and Aquillas slapped his shoulder again. “Good man. Alright, this is where we go our separate ways, you tell your military contact what happened and be sure they don’t try to screw you with the compensation alright. Now stay on the bridge, we will send your missing man to you in a minute. Don't turn on your engines till we are good and gone or I swear to Frine I’ll blow your ass to hell. Understood?”

Gentry nodded and swallowed again. Before turning to leave Aquillas took another deep sniff and smiled. The room stank of fear and anxiety, a scent he could well get used to. It was like a tangy morsel wrapped around a savory treat to his senses, the complementing oders almost intoxicating in their potency. Giving the wide eyed crew another smile he whirled and stalked off the bridge and down the long hall towards his own ship. To his shuttle anyways, they hadn’t docked directly, instead he had used one of the Mortifying Command’s parasite vessels to make contact with the container ship.

The whole ordeal had gone quite smoothly in his opinion, with one exception. He glanced to his side towards the thin human woman walking stoically by his side. “Did you have to blow the poor kid’s hand off Bobbie?”

The black haired human woman chuckled, her face breaking into a smirk. “No, but what kind of message would it have sent if I let them off easy with a warning.” She changed her voice, taking on a slightly mocking high pitched tone as she gushed “Oh no I shot you, but you told me it's okay. I guess I had better not shoot at you again or you might get really mad and give me a sternly worded warning.”

Aquillas snorted, wrinkling his blunt muzzle as she laughed again. “It wasn’t like that. I would have given them something to think about.” he grumbled a bit more as she rolled her eyes at him. If any of the others had treated him in a similar manner he would have thrown them in the brig overnight, but she was different.

He gave her another glance, her bright green cybernetic eyes striking in their similarity to his own. She had gotten them after her own were destroyed by a laser burn, the faint scar of it still visible faintly on her dark almond skin. A slightly lighter line that crossed from her left cheekbone to her right eyebrow.

He couldn't really place what she was to him, at times she was like an older sister. Overly protective and always looking out for his best interests. At other times she acted more like a nymph, or a potential romantic interest. Her subtle looks and the way she moved her body around him when she thought he wasn't looking, and her smell. He took another tentative sniff, trying not to be suspicious. There it was, that faintly sweet smell, just underlying her normally hard scent. It was definitely there, but it was so small that sometimes he thought he was imagining it.

He shook his head to clear it of thoughts as they reached the small adjoining airlock to the shuttle. A small splatter of blood was all that remained as his crew had retreated back on board. He raised his assistant to his mouth “Link me to Denni.”

After a moment the gruff voice of his Bo’sun answered him. “Hello there commander. What, is it time already?” a scuffling noise could be heard in which he recognised the unmistakable sound of a man trying to speak but muffled. “Okay, he will be over in just a minute, or two.” the link cut with another cackle from the eccentric woman and he just shook his head.

They weren't military anymore, he knew that. But it would be nice if Denni would act with a touch more decorum. The poor guy, he shuddered internally as he imagined what she had been doing then decided he didn’t actually want to know.

Bobbie gave a small chuckle and he shook his head again. “That woman, she better not have hurt him too much. I really don't want any more complications.” he grunted.

Bobbie patted his arm and gestured towards the shuttle. “Well, from what I know of Denni and her, particular tastes. I doubt he had too rough a time of it. In fact he was probably having more fun than we were.” she chortled just as a pair of figures came walking through the airlock.

The young man’s hand was still wrapped in bandages and he had a look of unease on his face, but his scent was anything but upset. Denni was gliding along beside the young man, as they reached the ship she gave the young man a slap on the ass, causing him to jump and yelp.

“Aheh, you keep that cute little rump of yours safe now ya-hear?” she giggled as the man looked at him, a little terror seeping through his features.

Aquillas just gave him a toothy grin and pointed towards the direction they had come, “You better get on out of here before I decide to let her keep you.” without another word the injured man scampered off and was gone.

Aquillas started through the airlock. “You didn’t hurt him too much I assume.”

Bobbie just smiled as the scarred woman cackled again, she was the oldest member of the crew and had the most experience. That afforded her a bit of a higher standing compared to many of the other crew who had much less training. Aquillas still wanted to keep his ship disciplined, otherwise it would all fall apart as the crew succumbed to their baser instincts.

He wasn't running a rabble after all. They were a military ship, with all the honor and standing that implied. He wasn't Union, nor was he Hegemony. No, they were renegades from both warring factions, truly a force all to themselves. And in such a time of chaos and turmoil as the Hegemony of Independent Systems rebellion, the galaxy was his plaything.

Continued In E1:P2