“We’re not taking it off you, William, but I’m very happy to hear you’ve named your baby. What have you called it?” I asked.
“The Flying Scotsman!” He broke into hysterics again.
“Hilarious, William. But seriously, what have you called it?” Ember asked.
“No, really. Any vehicle ah ‘ave, gets called the Flying Scotsman. Every bike, every car, at least 'til ah got banned for life drink drivin’ again. A cannae very well break with tradition now!”
Ember looked at me, as if to say, ‘Are you going to do something about this nutter?’ I just shrugged, “It’s different, I’ll give you that. But you know, if you get a bigger ship in the future, you can’t just rename it right?”
“I’m quite happy with ma baby here,” he said, slapping the unit next to him with a big thud.
“Great. It’s been good to meet you, William. Hopefully, we’ll meet face-to-face soon, after this battle’s over.”
“A look forward tae it, Captain. Thanks for callin’.”
I ended the communication.
“We need to speak to Acclo,” Ember said. “Why the hell have they put him in charge?”
“He’s alright. Might be good to have a different outlook,” I replied.
Ember shook her head, but I could see she was holding back a smile.
“Captain!” Elyek said loudly. “There are more ships arriving. Lots more.”
“Good,” I said. “Hopefully, we can get on with this, so we can get the hell outta here. I’m liking it less and less by the minute.”
“Yes. I hope so too,” Elyek replied.
We watched the ships arrive over the next two days. And still we heard nothing from the Fleet Admiral. Not until the fourth day, when we received a call from Rufus, with Astrid, William and Wulek all linked in. He began speaking quickly: “There have been reports of a large fleet moving through the Dark Sector. Fortunately, we have been heavily reinforced by the arrival of ships from a mercenary group, a powerful one called the Rotushna. This has prompted a call to arms.”
“What’s the plan?” I asked.
“We’re now apparently moving forward to meet whatever is coming. The Uprising ships need to go to these coordinates to be positioned in front of the fleet, along with the other smaller mercenary groups. We’ll be the first into the fight. A position of great honor, so I was told.”
The expressions on the faces of everyone involved in the conversation told its own story. “That sounds more like a death sentence than a position of honor,” I said dryly. “You all heard that shit. What do you think?” I addressed everyone present.
“We are being sent in as cannon fodder, Captain. To draw fire and hopefully soften up the enemy for the Empire fleet and Rotushna to claim the real glory. We will not even be a sidenote if this battle goes well. Although if we lose, we will probably be blamed for that,” Wulek said. Astrid nodded in agreement.
Surprisingly, William just sat calmly, listening.
“Are they fucking serious, Rufus?” Ember ranted. “I bet they’re looking to save money on our fee too! Don't have to pay us if we’re space dust.”
I had to say, my anger was bubbling a little at the insult, too. “Rufus, get the Fleet Admiral up and patch him through to me. You’ve done a great job so far, but now I need to speak to this son-of-a-bitch myself,” I fumed.
“Are you sure you want to change who communicates at this stage, Shaun? It will look odd. I’m perfectly capable of getting us moved to another position.”
“Rufus! I’m at the head of the Uprising. This situation could cost all our lives. This Admiral’s obviously a complete stuck-up prick. If we must deal with him, then I’ll do it.”
Rufus seemed to sulk. “Very well, Shaun. I will do as you ask.” His screen went black.
“I’ll keep you all up-to-date with what’s happening,” I said before everyone’s links closed.
A few minutes later, Fleet Admiral Mollissan appeared on the screen of the Uprising in all his glory. He was a pudgy, pink-colored alien that looked for all the world like a cross between a pig, a cat and a man. He even had big whiskers sprouting from his flat nose. “Captain Rufus,” he said, not even looking at the screen, “I haven’t got time for idle chat with you. We’re planning the engagement here. Why have you not begun moving into…” He stopped, finally noticing he wasn’t talking to Rufus. “Who are you? This is an outrage. Who put this communication through?” he yelled, looking around his own bridge for a culprit.
“Hey, Admiral. I’m the leader of our mercenary group. Rufus is one of my captains,” I seethed with barely concealed anger. “Having discussed your request with my crew, we can't understand why you’d send the smaller mercenary groups, who are unfamiliar with each other, into battle first. Wouldn’t it make more sense to send larger, well-connected groups first, with smaller groups providing support?”
He was flustered by the fact I’d called him out; he was obviously used to having his orders followed without question. “You have been sent here for a good sum of money to be under my command!” he yelled, angrily. “And while you are under my command, you will do as I say. Now get up there to the front of the line and do your damned job!” He snapped the last few words as if that were final.
“Admiral, our ships are worth probably four or five million senlars, and there are 200 people on board. I guarantee you that I'm not throwing all that away for a few thousand senlar at the order of some joker who wants to use us as cannon fodder.”
“So you are deserting!” he declared.
“Don’t think so. I mean, can you desert as a mercenary?” I replied seriously.
“You most certainly can. Mark my words, you will become the enemy of the Galactic Empire. I will make sure of it.”
“But don’t you need to pay us for being here before we can actually desert?”
“What?” he blustered.
“We haven’t been paid anything yet, so I’m saying we can’t really desert because we’re not officially part of your fleet. Which is probably intentional, as you’re intending to use my people to soften up some unknown enemy and make your job easier,” I explained.
His response was to bluster speechlessly.
“Look, Admiral. We’ll fight this fight with you, but it’ll be as equals. Not as pawns. Have a think about it and get back to me.” I flipped the comms off, then announced to the bridge: “What a turd burger!”
Elyek was staring intently at me. In fact, most of the crew was. Only the Torax looked amused. The Veiletians and humans looked horrified. “Was that wise, Captain?” Elyek asked.
“Is dying on the whim of an ignorant prick a better alternative?”
“No. Only, perhaps you could have been more diplomatic?”
I looked at Ember, and she just smirked at me.
Calegg shouted suddenly, “Captain, they're charging their weapons!”
“Oh, shit! We need to run quick! Someone let our other ships know. Tell them to follow us.”
Luckily, we still had lines open to them. “Follow us where, Captain? We can't go backwards. We are surrounded by Empire and mercenary forces. What should we do?” Elyek actually screamed the last part. That was the first time I’d really seen them lose their shit.
I looked to Ember, who just shrugged. “Sorry, Shaun. I've got nothing other than to go back in time and tell you not to piss off the admiral of a Galactic fleet. This is on you. Suck it up, buttercup, and get us out of this.” Then she leaned back in her chair like she was going to have a nice nap!
“Fuck! Alright then. Elyek, head toward the Dark Sector. Match the Thoth and Seshat’s top speed,” I said.
Astrid and Rufus both appeared on the screen. “Shaun, what the fuck is going on?” Astrid screeched.
Rufus just didn’t speak.
Probably praying for a decent answer from me, which I really didn’t have. I just had a very vague plan… okay, it was a very vague hope. “Just get your jumps charging, now! The Galactic Empire is a ba
g of dicks. They were gonna outlaw us for not agreeing to die like the utter, fucking morons they must think we are. Although that kinda doesn't matter because we’re already outlawed here.” I was mildly distracted for a moment while our ship jerked suddenly to avoid a shot.
“I hardly think starting a damn fight with a whole fleet of them was a good solution,” Rufus said coldly. “Perhaps you should have let me continue the negotiations.”
I could tell both the Seshat and the Thoth were also making evasive maneuvers from the unsteadiness of Astrid and Rufus. I wanted to switch Rufus off from the conversation, but knew it would look petty.
Astrid broke me from my thoughts. “And why are we flying straight toward the Dark Sect… oh, no… there’s a fleet of ships ahead of us; the enemy is here!” She let out a low growl.
Rufus abruptly added, “I thought the whole point in you talking to the admiral was to save us, Shaun. Yet it seems you’ve just pushed us into certain death.”
“You’re gonna have to trust me here, guys. Whatever happens is probably gonna suck badly, but not half as much as the situation we were in.”
“How can you be sure?” Rufus asked.
“I can't, but as long as we give it our best shot, and keep pushing forward no matter what happens, I know we’ll get out of this and be stronger for it.”
“So we’re just going to fly straight at the enemy?” Astrid deadpanned.
“Yes, we are. Think about it. Whoever lives in the Dark Sector has been strong enough to keep the Empire at bay. I’m hoping the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Yeah, I get they could be absolute skin-eating maniacs, but they might not be, too.”
“We're seriously going to try to defect in the middle of a massive standoff?” Rufus said, his voice dripping with disdain.
I just wanted to reach through the screen and break his fucking neck; a thought I’d never voice out loud, but it was there.
“Shaun is right, everyone,” Ember argued for me. “This shithole of an Empire is our enemy. We were gonna try to affect it from within. Until today we didn't know there was anyone else but the Galactic Empire and the Fystr Empire in the galaxy. I say let's go and see if we can make some new friends.”
I was profoundly grateful for her support. One by one, they all started nodding in agreement, their confidence rising. Apart from the pilots and the rear gun station operators, that is: they were a bit busy.
The Empire’s fleet had begun moving after us. Once the enemy fleet came into view around the moon base, they stopped cold, content to let the Dark Sector aliens wipe us out. I really hoped that wouldn’t be the case. But as we approached the opposing fleet, I won't lie, my stomach was trying to escape from my ass. I really needed a holiday after this. As we moved out of range of the Empire fleet’s weapons, I ordered for our pace to be slowed down to a less insane velocity, as we headed toward either doom or salvation.
Looking over to Ember, who was sitting watching the screen intently, I asked: “Hey! After this, do you fancy finding a nice little planet to settle down on? I can maybe find some work fixing alien roofs. I've been checking out their construction techniques, I think I could pick it up easily enough.”
She looked at me, her face an emotionless mask. Then she started laughing. “You fucking ass, Shaun.”
It was actually a genuine question, and I hadn’t intended for that to be her reaction, but her laughing seemed to cut through the tension on the bridge like a hot knife through butter. A few others began laughing. For a moment, everything seemed like it was going to be okay.
That stopped a second later when we were hailed by one of the Dark Sector ships. “Hwista,” I said, “bring up the display, please. We’re gonna have to be open and honest.”
Hwista nodded and up popped an alien on our screen. Whatever they intended to say died on their lips for some reason. They stood there, now open-mouthed.
“Err, hi. Are you okay?” I asked the flustered brown and gold alien.
“What… wh… why are you here?” he stuttered, pure fear written on his face.
“Do you think you know me or something?”
“You are Fystr. What brings you here, to the other side of the Galactic Habitable Zone?” his voice trembled.
“Dude, you need to chill the fuck out. We’re definitely not the Fystr. We fucking hate those guys. We come in peace, looking for friends and as you can probably tell we don't get along with the Empire much either.”
“I don't understand. You clearly are Fystr. No other species looks as you do.”
“Yeah. We’re pretty unique looking.”
“So, does that mean you are Fystr?” he questioned again. “Although I will admit, the longer we talk, the more I am inclined to believe you, despite your appearance.”
“Not sure how to take that, pal. But anyway, we’re humans. We are from the Fystr Empire though. The bastards like to keep their foot on our necks, so we don’t get out much,” I laughed. Don’t know why, but I did.
“We know of the atrocities they commit. That still begs the question, how are you here? This is a long way from your home. And as far as I know, if you're one of the hindered, then you should not be capable of spacefaring.”
“You seem to know a lot, and you guys must be pretty tough to keep the Empire at bay.”
“The Empire is an annoyance at best. They continually encroach in our territory, and we continually kick them back out again. That is of little importance today. Please explain how you are here?”
We didn’t have many options available to us, and if these aliens could fuck the Empire off with ease I wanted to be their ally, so with a shrug I told him everything: “The Fystr caretaker in charge of our planet chose not to cripple our society when he should have. Instead, he developed a way to boost a few humans, or 'hindered' did you call us? Anyway, he helped us to surpass our mental barriers. So while we're not Fystr, we’re not hindered anymore either.”
The yet unnamed alien listened intently to what I was saying, nodding his head. “This is fascinating information and of extreme importance to our leaders. Will you wait where you are while we get in touch with them?”
“Um, that’s not impossible. The Empire fleet is coming, and they want us dead. Not to mention you guys.”
“We will allow you to pass further into this solar system beyond our defenses. You will be safe from them and us, but you must swear to me that you wish no ill will toward us.”
“Sure, buddy. Like I say, as long as you’re not a bunch of serious douchebags, we're here to be friends.”
The screen went dead. I looked to Ember, who was looking at me. “Well that was weird,” I quipped.
“Really weird. I wonder what's going on here. How did he know so much about the Fystr? We’re literally on the other side of the galaxy,” she replied.
“Never mind that, let's get our asses to the only thing that looks like safety at the minute, the other side of their fleet. You okay with that, Hwista?”
“Sure, Captain. Plotting a course right now.”
“Elyek, are you okay letting the other ships know what's going on? Leave Rufus until last.”
Elyek grinned a little. “Of course, Captain. I'll get right onto it.”
Seconds after we got moving, Hwista spoke again. “Captain, the same ship is hailing us.”
“Put them through, please.”
The screen came back on. The same alien as before appeared and spoke. “My leaders have requested to connect with you on a direct line. Will you speak with them?”
“Sure. If nothing else, this shit is fascinating,” I said, smiling.
He gave me an odd look, then the screen went haywire. When it calmed down, it was my turn to be shocked to bits. The dude on the screen was only a bloody Fystr.
“Okay! What the hell is going on?” I shouted angrily. “We're armed to the teeth and we're ready for you, motherfuckers.”
“Calm,” he said gently, and not in keeping with the usual Fystr pomposity at all. “We are not yo
ur enemy, at least I do not believe we are, if what I have been told is true. Are you really the hindered ones? You have managed to evolve?”
“Yeah. Not to mention escape the Fystr Empire too. Only to find you fuckers in the opposite part of the galaxy.”
“We no longer see ourselves as Fystr. Not for a very long time, young man. For example, has a group of hindered ones from your planet ever committed horrible crimes? Would you wish to be judged the same as those people just because you are from the same planet?
“When the great purge occurred, not everyone agreed with the methods employed by our race. Those who did not care for what we had become left rather than be a part of it.”
“Why the fuck didn’t you stay and fight? Stop them doing what they did to us all?”
“We were far too few in number to counter their cruelty, so we had a choice to make: be executed as traitors or disappear, sequestered as far away as possible.”
“That’s actually a pretty good answer to be honest. Although I wish you could’ve stopped the bastards. So what the hell is going on over here? You're at war with the Empire?”
The ageless ex-Fystr laughed. “They are forever nibbling at our borders, like flies on a corpse. But we are not a corpse. We have nothing to fear from the Empire. They are as a child to an adult. Our main aim is to stay hidden from the Fystr Empire. You, however, are just too intriguing. We share both a common ancestry and a common foe.”
“It certainly looks that way.”
“Will you visit our planet, so we may commune face-to-face?” he asked.
“Seems risky. You could be luring us to our deaths.”
“Yet if you are refugees, you have few choices. And I assure you we are not deceiving you.”
I couldn't really sense any deception, and this was kind of a big deal. I looked to Ember. She shrugged, but seemed quite positive. Glancing over to Elyek, their expression was as neutral as a gray wall. No help there then. It seemed like I was making this decision on my own. Turning to the not-a-Fystr, I smiled. “We’ll come, but no funny business,” I said, pointing at him.
He looked confused, then answered anyway. “Excellent! It shall be fascinating to meet our descendants. And perhaps we can be of value to one another?”
Condition Evolution 3: A LitRPG / Gamelit Adventure Page 22