A/N
Yo, AkumetsuAlucard here. sorry it took a while to write this Chap out, I know it might be a bit Semicolon heavy but as I (think I) said before Grammar is not my strong suite. It also didn't help that I have had a hectic week so I rushed the edit, yet again. Hopefully it won't become a common occurrence, but at this rate I think quite honestly it might just end up that way. To those of you out there who are Grammar sensitive I do apologize sincerely, I know how annoying it can get when reading a story and then there is a blatantly obvious error which the author should have caught. If you have any suggestions for an online spell checking / Grammar checking program (I have tried and gotten annoyed by several already) please shoot me a message, or post it in the comments below. Also I am open for feedback, and comments let me know what you think, how the story is progressing etc.
Regardless all things said and done I present to you chapter 4.
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“Well princess, in that case until the captain returns and decides to overrule me, welcome aboard new temporary crewmembers of the Thanatos class dreadnought, the Knightstalker. When the others assemble, you 2 come with me to the flight deck for the debriefing.”
“ “Yes sir.” ”
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“So let me get this straight Bryan, they did not even attempt to engage the automatic defenses…”
“Yep it was weird Frank, when I had scarlet check em for me they were offline, and the last log for their use on their computers was roughly 3,000 years ago.”
“So we were either dealing with cocky pricks, or idiots. Well I guess that is encouraging, hopefully the rest of their fleet is just as naïve. Do you have anything else to report?”
“Negative skipper.”
“Aright, go on get out of your gear and get yourself some relaxation in the cantina. Once Wolfe and Scarr get up here I will send em down.”
“Thanks skipper, Ima out”
Henry looks over to Frank and asks him;
“Sir, what are these automatic defenses of which you speak, none of our ships have those?”
“What are you on about, every single ship, Apollo class or larger has even some basic forms of automatic defenses that can engage upon going to combat status level 0.”
“There is a combat level 0?”
“Ok, you guys have a lot to learn about your ships, how do you guys not know this stuff from your own ships? Wait a…, 7000 years and this is what I am going to have to deal with… Why me, Why now…”
Scarr and Wolfe both walk into the room and seeing Frank so distraught they immediately ask him;
“What’s wrong bro, wha’s up?”
“I just found out that these guys don’t know how to use their ships to their full potential, the reason that they didn’t use the automatic defenses is because they did not even know that they had them.”
“Really? You mean it wasn’t a trap?”
“Yep.”
“No use crying over spilled milk Frank, lets move on.”
“You’re right Wolfe, OK Wolfe lets hear your report first, then yours Scarr.”
“The nothing to report in regard to our defense crew, the prisoner is currently still incapacitated with Dende and Ducky going over her; they will let you know what they dig up. Oh and they are also going to keep her under until they finish their scans, for safeties sake, she has some wicked talons.”
“Thank you Wolfe and we will take note of that, your turn Scarr, anything you need to report?”
“Yea, I think that we may need to go incognito once we get to Naraku 4, no hard light just nano-tech.”
“Why?”
“Simple really, you saw the princess and her peeps reaction to the hard light and the guys on the enemy ship seemed terrified to see that many sets of it at once. If we want to be able to land the ship to repair it in peace, we wont be wanting to send out a message saying ‘we be rich and suspicious, come try and rob us’. You dig?”
“Got it Scarr, anything else?”
“Nope, Azieruth says he will have the dark matter transferred over in about 10-20 minutes so there is that.”
“Alright you guys go skin down and take a load off in the cantina, also Wolfe, ask Seph to get some Nanosuits growing for the princess and her people.”
“On it boss”
As Scarr and Wolfe leave the Flight deck the princess and a confused Henry stand there awkwardly until the princess says;
“Sir I thank you for the thought, but it is unnecessary for you to waste your nano-suits things on us, besides I am not even sure if we would be able to use them properly.”
“Princess, it isn’t a problem, besides only one person can ever use a suit.”
“What do you mean, if you are not able to swap users on them casually then there must be an incredulous amount of training as a requirement.”
“Hahaha, on the contrary princess, it is nothing like that, they bond to a user’s DNA, and there is no training required. All you have to do is put it on; leave it on for a day in order for it to bond to you and presto. One super suit that only you can use. The only reason we even use hard light is in order to defend against Plasma and Laser weaponry, since hard light is literally the only thing that can stop those easily while still being small enough to protect a humanoids body. Actually I take that back, some of those Bugs have chitinous armor that is resistant to the stuff, but they are just weird.”
“If it won’t stop lasers or plasma, then what’s the point of even wearing these Nanosuits?” Henry who up until this point was quietly digesting all this information inquired.
“Hard blows, Force resistant, projectile resistant, Able to camouflage one in with their surroundings, Lightweight EVP Gear, Enhanced musculature system, and it can even allow one to manipulate their metabolism. Not to mention a few of the nastier little surprises that can be added in once it is able to fully integrate with your body.”
The princess pipes up “Didn’t you just say that you only have to leave it on for a day?”
Ghost butts in before frank can explain himself by saying;
“That is in order for it to complete the initial bond; In essence, the more you use it the more powerful it becomes. After a while they will make you able to fight better by helping you guide your body to the most efficient way of doing almost anything.”
“Thank you for your input Ghost, and It is almost exactly as he said princess. Anyways, why don’t you head on back to the mess, I am going to have to go over some stuff with Ghost and Scarlet about the NAV Data.”
“Very well Mr. Frank we will take our leave, and thank you for the Nanosuits you are having made for us.”
“No prob princess.”
As the princess and Henry take their leave and head towards the mess, Frank heads towards the bridge, as he walks he starts talking;
“Ghost, Scarlet, Find anything good in their logs and data banks?”
“Not much yet, however we did notice some discrepancies between their data logs and our own, especially in the NAV data department.”
Scarlet adds in “Yeah Frank, we noticed the problem with the galaxial coordinates being off by a few degrees in the princess’s ships data, however we wrote it off as their instruments having been inaccurate. Yet when we looked at these Dradarians info we noticed the same problem.”
“So what do you guys think it is?” Frank asks thoughtfully as he reaches the bridge.
“We are not sure, it could be a polarity shift, or it could be outside forces at work.”
“Ghost, are you talking about that odd message we received from the Andromeda galaxy that we still haven’t been able to interpret?”
“Yes, Scarlet please explain.”
“Sure Ghost, well Frank, the problem is we wont be able to reach outside the galaxy, or the whole galaxy with our current scanner strength in order to locate what has caused this shift. The only place that should still have a scanner powerful enough to reach the outer rims, and even a goodly portion of the Andromeda galaxy would be on the Hyper-light base near the galactic center.”
“Scarlet, are you referring to the Captains’ side project that is constantly gathering data and compiling it for him?”
“Yepers, that scanner is the most powerful and complex out there that we know of, the only other one that comes close is that one on the Yggdrasil base.”
“Thanks for the info Scarlet, However I think we should try to find the captain before we casually mess with his tech, not to mention the location of that scanner, I think it would be a bit dicey going that close to it before we manage to get our bridge tech working. Besides on top of all else the only other one who can use those scanners halfway right would be Luna.”
“Roger that Skipper, so is it alright if we have Solomon get to work on the repairs?”
“Give him the go ahead Scarlet, and you can assist but I need Ghost to monitor the ship from the central bridge console for me while I get me some grub, and check in with Maxx to see the status on the new crew members quarters.”
“Roger Chief, Have fun.”
“Thanks Ghost, Keep me posted on the prisoner, and Luna’s status. Oh by the way, what’s on the menu for breakfast?”
“Roger Dodger, as for the breakfast menu, lets see. You can get a specific order, or an assorted breakfast buffet with…”
“That’s enough Ghost all I needed to know was the breakfast buffet part, I think that I will be able to get a good quantity, hells bells I am so hungry right now, the coffee from earlier just awoke my appetite in full force. Go ahead and set the course, as soon as we are ready to leave send me a message then set off. The sooner we get to that base the sooner we can try and figure out where the captain went.”
“Roger, I will have Maxx, meet you at the mess.”
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Meanwhile at the ships Cantina Bryan, Wolfe, and Scarr are sitting at the bar discussing the finer points of music with one of Ghosts sub-routines with Bryan leading the way in the argument;
“No Ghost, you bloody fuck nugget, blues bands do not get our squads pumped up for battle.”
“Listen and trust me if the blues don’t motivate your squads to fight better than they might need slight psychoanalysis.”
“Fuck no.” Wolfe Growls, “Do you even know what the heck would happen to them if we let Dende mess with their heads a little bit, it would be a disaster.”
Scarr nods his head in agreement while saying; “Just look at what happened to McClearskies and his Squad after they were ‘analyzed’ by Doc, they could never fly again, and they were our bloody fighter pilots.”
“Look guys, I know all this. However, that was 3000 years before we went into hibernation. He has gotten much better at his job.”
“Lamb of god is better at firing people up, hell metal for the win Ghost.” Says Wolfe
“I don’t agree, with that, Theory of a Deadman, and rock will rule forever, hell, even Franks favorite band is a rock band.”
“I don’t agree with the band, however Rock for the win. Besides,” Scarr interjects “None of us will allow Doc Dende to ever psychoanalyze our men, ever, and that is final. If you don’t like it we will have Seph wipe all the Blues, Jazz, and the like form the ships storage.”
“How dare you, threatening my music Like that.”
“Your music, Ghost? I think you forgot everything on and in this ship minus the personnel, belongs to the Cap’n. So don’t be such a donkey-dick about it and quit your bitchin’ nancy.”
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“I couldn’t have said it better myself Bryan, thank you, and Scarr you too overstepped your boundaries. You know how the captain likes the occasional jazz.”
“Sorry Wolfe.”
At that moment, Henry walks in to the cantina that now had an awkward air, the command crewmembers look towards him, Henry moseys towards the bar and asks for a shot from Scarr, after Scarr gives him the shot, they continue their conversation as if he was not even there.
“Don’t forget the last time someone purged an entire genre from the system. May those poor bastards rest in peace.” Bryan says while holding his hand to chest and looking mournfully towards the ground.
“Do you mean that Dominion ship that managed to wipe part of our data when the Cap’n was working on upgrading the ECM’s and they were down for all of like three minutes, when they got that lucky shot on us.”
“Yeah Wolfe, remember He took that whole ship down in record time, not to mention he did it in person. No weapons, just his armor and his hands. That have to have been the angriest I had seen him in at least 20,000 years.”
“Please, don’t remind me of that incident Scarr. That clean up OP took forever. Anyhow on this topic, a round of drinks in honor of our fallen foes Scarr, Straight shots of whiskey please.”
After Wolfe had finished speaking, Scarr poured, and then handed shots to Wolfe and Bryan they raised their glasses and all said;
“To the fallen, may they rest in peace.”
Henry looks as if he is about to say something when Ghost cuts him off with;
“Frank says I have to focus on the Ship guys, we can finish this discussion about music later.”
“Whatever Ghost, consider it finished.” Scarr says as he pours Bryan another shot.
Henry finally asks his question while hoping to be able to get some information on their mysterious captain;
“Scarr, what was that about your captain?”
“Well Henry, you heard me, someone messed with his music, so he hurt them back. He was really pissed that they waited for our ECMs’ to be down before they fired an EMP at us. The problem though lied in the fact that the data bank that held our music was the only one that was not protected from radiation surges. He took it as a personal affront to himself. The worst part though, is that they all survived, he wouldn’t kill them, he let them live with the knowledge of what they faced forever haunting them.”
“So what size ship was it, an Apollo, or an Ares?”
The three command crewmembers look at each other for a moment before breaking out in uncontrollable laughter. As the others were recovering Wolfe’s ears perked up as he noticed a sound from outside and subtly signaled to the other two that they had someone listening in. Bryan and Scarr gave slight nods in acknowledgement as they continue laughing. Bryan was the first to recover his voice; he looked at Henry and said;
“What? No, no, no, not at all silly. It was a Zeus class heavy battle Cruiser, fully staffed, and crewed by heavily armed raiders.”
“Wait, A Zeus class…” at this point poor Henry started getting pale while realizing he was sailing through the stars with true monsters straight out of a horror story. He quickly asks Bryan;
“Are you all that strong?”
“No, Most of our individual limits would be a lot closer to a Poseidon Light battle cruiser, the cap’n is the only one who can go that far and long without tiring.”
Scarr butts in; “Don’t worry; we can’t all be as strong as him. if anything when he is in a rage, a two on one with us command crew members would pressure him a little, if it was us three we would win maybe 70% of the time if Frank joined us we could subdue him until he came out of his rage.”
“Do you mean he is a berserker?” Henry asks the three.
Wolfe adds “Yeah, Scarr here is also one, however he is no where as bad as the Cap’n.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Well, let just say The Cap’n always experiments on himself before he finishes refining the technique and uses it on us if we approve. So he gets the unrefined, once it is refined for stability a lot of the time it is nowhere near as powerful as the original. If you want to know more I can ask Frank to let your folks flip through some of the unclassified documents.”
“Thank you sir Wolfe, I would be much obliged if you were to do that.”
“It’s no prob, if you are going to sail with us it would not do to be keeping secrets.”
The princess who was eavesdropping on this conversation from outside since right when Wolfe noticed, finally walks in while asking;
“So what is your captain’s name?”
All four people in the cantina turn to look at her, with Henry being the only one surprised. As she comes closer to the bar, Wolfe says;
“We were wondering when you would join us princess; you do know it is extremely rude to eavesdrop don’t you?”
Bryan and Scarr nod in confirmation, while Henry looks back and forth between the princess and the Command crew in surprise. Meanwhile the princess looks shocked that she had been caught in the act;
“She asks since when did you know?”
Wolfe answers with “Since you showed up lady, you really need to work on your sneaking skills, maybe Bryan here aught to send you through the ringer. Especially since sneaking is right up his alley.”
“Good point Wolfe.” Bryan says with a smirk, “Then again I don’t know if she is up to the task especially since it was so obvious.”
Henry spews the shot Scarr had just poured for him all over the floor. While catching his breath he says with an incredulous tone to his voice;
“Obvious?”
“Yeah, trust me she is an amateur, if Frank says its ok, we will have you train with my squad in the simulation for sneaking, assassination, and counter-espionage.”
“Wait you are in charge of those men Bryan, I though you were the Comm.’s man” The princess says.
“I gotta have a hobby.”
“Stop skipping around the subject please,” The princess asks while finally recovering herself, “What is his name if you would be so kind.”
Before anyone can respond or retort, Ghost speaks over the Comm.‘s; Command crew come in, Doc Dende requests your presence at the Medical bay yesterday. The prisoner is coming around.”
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Yessicanda POV
I start waking up from a deep slumber and see a crowd of odd beings around me, a 7 ’6’’ foot tall hare Theriocephian, a 6 foot tall panda Theriocephian, and 4; 7 foot tall wolf Theriocephians. The first thing I think after seeing them is; what the heck, and then it all starts coming back to me. I was visiting the prince to receive a medal for my success in a recent battle, when he also bestowed upon me a token of his favor. After that, everything faded to black, and I assume I was knocked out.
However, I feel as if there was something was wrong with my memories, why does it feel as though a large chunk of time has passed since then. Then I realize that my Token is gone, which I also though odd, why would someone try to take such a useless trinket. I try to get up when I realize that I am being restrained. I look towards my two main captors who were talking between themselves. They notice me looking towards them and the Hare says;
“Greetings and welcome back to the land of the living, I am Frank Vergil, First mate of this vessel, I apologize for the inconvenience but I had Doc Dende here remove your slave token. Doc, introduce yourself.”
“Yo, I am Doc Dende, nice to meet you, do you mind if I psychoanalyze…”
The Hare who calls himself Frank quickly intervenes; “Doc, down. You lost those privileges after the Fox McClearskies incident. Remember?”
The panda called Doc starts incoherently grumbling under his breath but goes back to monitoring a screen of instruments, while Frank looks at me
“Do you mind if I ask you some questions?” he asks casually.
“I don’t see how I have any choice in the matter,” I say back to him while looking at my restraints, darn they look sturdy. As if he read my mind he says
“Don’t bother trying to flee; they were made to hold something much stronger than you. Now question one, what is your name?”
I answer “Yessicanda Rhiannon A captain in the imperial Dradarian royal navy.”
“Ok, Doc?”
“Control question is a go Frank, vitals locked, go ahead and ask away.”
“Thanks Doc, now, why were you trying to catch Princess Samantha Therioceph for the Dradarians, Miss Rhiannon?”
My mind blanks out. I yell “WHAT THE HELL! How dare you accuse me of such eggshrooms. The last thing I recall was having a token of favor bestowed upon me by the Dradarian Prince.”
“So it is true,” he says to himself while contemplating something he then says to me; “Well lady, is this the token?” and he holds it up in front of me.
“Yes” I say, “Now give it back.”
“Not unless you want to return to being the prince’s brainwashed slave.” He says back to me.
“What…” No, that explains why it feels so odd, as if a large chunk of time has passed. “That manipulative bastard, I will gut him in an Honor duel.” I scream and start thrashing in the restraints, I must kill him.
Frank looks over to the Doc and asks, “What does the monitor show Doc?”
“She is not lying, I told you that it would restrict her memory, and make her passive to the one whom she takes orders from while making her vicious towards others.”
“Truly a nasty a trinket” Frank responds to the doc’s words with such a short answer he turns to me and says;
“Quit squirming, First, how good are you with piloting fighter crafts?”
Calming myself, and stopping my thrashing, I tell him; “You are looking at one of the best fighter pilots this side of the galactic center”
“Awesome, then in accordance with the traditions on board this vessel, we have found you to have had injustices committed against you; your nation’s leaders betrayed you. Now we have an offer for you.”
“What is it?” I snarl, “I have my pride as a Dradarian and will do nothing to embarrass myself.”
“Will you join our crew, and swear to be a blood brother to those who fight against injustices throughout space in any and all forms while bearing the mask of Piracy. Becoming an outcast to your own society in order to help those in need, while assisting from the shadows in ensuring the balance of power for the greater good, the freedom of all sentient beings in this galaxy?”
Right as he started saying that a small crowd had come in full of Theriocephians two of them look at him in shock, one with a regal bearing about her, the other looked like a stern military sort. Before they can object, as it looks like they are about to I say;
“Yes, so long as I am allowed to get back at those who betrayed my trust back in Dradar.”
“And who might those by Miss” The one called Frank asks as he undoes my restraints.
“The Royal Family and the corrupted hive of scum and villainy that currently resides in their palace.”
“We will in due time, I hereby accept you as Lieutenant Rhiannon, our new small craft wing leader. Welcome aboard the Knightstalker.” Then he and a few other clap for me while the two were shocked look as if they are about to pass out from shock.
I see the one called Doc pull them to the side and Talk to them as Frank escorts me to the Bridge to give me a tour of my new home.