by Bruce Marcom
Nelma says, “Course laid in.”
“Activating jump engines,” Helma announces over the ship wide intercom.
“I heard you had a wild night last night,” Nelma says.
Eve says, “Yeah, my head is still killing me and I am tired.”
Helma laughs. “Those Faerie folks can party, that is for sure.”
“Next time, I am going take you two with me and leave Gartooth up here,” Eve says.
Gartooth says, “Aww. That will suck. I like parties.”
“The leprechauns would have fun playing pranks on you all night,” Eve chuckles.
Helma says, “That would be fun to watch!”
“No doubt!” Nelma agrees as they laugh together.
“Time to border?”
“12 hours.”
“I am going to sleep for a bit. 42, you have the command. Wake me when we get to the border or if anything exciting happens.” Eve yawns. She gets up and goes in the captain's office, dropping down to sleep on the bed in there.
***
Twelve hours later, they are coming up on the border. Eve gets up to sit in the captain's chair once again. Sensors start going crazy and alarms are going off on consoles.
“Report.”
42 answers with excitement. “Sensors picking up a large mass of ships heading our way.”
“That would be our escort,” Eve says.
42 says, “Our escort? It says there are 10,123 battleships coming this way.”
“Indeed, that is our armada, all of them. That does even count the 30,000 Dragon Legionnaires protecting Dragon Space, or the Dragon Defense Force,” Eve says. “What do you think those millions of unemployed telepaths have been doing for the last three years? Only 20% of Dark World is used for training and that is for training pilots. The other 80% of the planet is a big manufacturing plant for battleships and fighters. It operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in shifts.”
Grimtooth says, “That is one big wanking armada! That is bigger than even the Elemental Empire's fleet. By a long shot.”
“Yep.”
42 says, “Incoming transmission.”
“On screen.”
Xaqu appears on screen. “Hi, Mom.”
“Hello sweetie. You ready for this test run?”
“Yes I am.”
“Good, because I am hoping these junkers you and you sister designed don't fall apart on the first jump into space,” Eve says with sarcasm.
“Oh, Mom. Stop being mean. You know I don't design junk.”
“I am just messing with you darling,” Eve winks. “Helma, drop us in formation with the rest of the fleet. Link us up to formation jump command.”
Helma says, “In formation now, linked up with formation jump command. We are now the lead jumper. All the other ships will auto jump with us to the same destination and still be in formation.”
“That has to be one of the top ten inventions in the last 20 years, at least for fleet maneuvers,” Nelma remarks.
“Yeah. Chaca invented that. That makes fleet maneuvers so much easier,” Eve says with pride.
“Engage jump drives.”
The fleet wide intercom activates as Helma says, “Fleet jumping in 30 seconds.” Helma presses some buttons and the engines activate. The whole fleet jumps at the same time.
***
Deep in Pirate Lord space, Laughing Skull was one of the busiest of all the Pirate Lord worlds. The owner Lord Cos was a black market guru that made his fortune from doing business. He never got into the raiding and looting thing like most other pirates did.
In the central control room in Lord Cos's main palace, Cos has just received a message saying his associate Pirate Lord Tala was captured because of a betrayal by Pirate Lord Voth. The rather large black Wolfkin is taking it pretty hard. Tala is a close personal friend as well as a partner.
Dodo the communications officer says, “Sorry, sir. I know she meant a lot to you. We also lost ten fighters.”
Lord Cos says, “Damn that bastard! He keeps screwing me. I just don't know how to get back at him.”
Then suddenly, every alarm in the room and in the palace starts going off, include air raid alarms; the screeching echoes throughout the city.
“What the hell?” Cos starts freaking out.
“GEEZ... over 10,000 battleships of unknown design just dropped out of light speed right in front of the planet. There is a freaking planet-size freaking planet destroyer of some kind leading the pack.” Dodo is nearly in a panic trying to figure out what it happening.
“HOLY CRAP!” Lord Cos yells.
Dodo says, “Want me to scrabble the fighters?”
“ARE YOU KIDDING ME? What are 300 fighters going to do against that?” Lord Cos is pacing back and forth nervously.
Cos grabs the headset and puts it on. He hits the transmit button,” Um... Hello?”
Vid-Com activates planet-wide on every screen. Eve's face appears on all the screens.
“Greetings, Lord Cos. I hope you have been faring well,” Eve says ominously.
Lord Cos is confused for a moment, then says, “Lady Eve? Er... I mean… Empress? What brings you to my humble abode?”
“Actually, I am here for Pirate Lord Tala. I have a potential business proposal for her.”
“Oh, so our little rouse didn't fool you.” Lord Cos is cautious, still not really understanding what is going on here.
“You didn't really think I couldn't read all of your minds did you?” Eve smiles.
“To be honest, I wasn't really sure,” Lord Cos says with a slight fake laugh.
“There wasn't anything in them that I was worried about. Typical pirates, but I already knew that, Ha ha. Is Tala available?”
“Unfortunately, she was captured by my rival, Lord Voth about an hour ago. One of her crew betrayed her. I am deeply upset over the matter,” Lord Cos says with deep emotions.
Eve can sense his feelings of dismay. He truly cares for her.
Eve does her best to reassure him. “Well it will be more unfortunate for Lord Voth if he has harmed her. If he has, we will be erasing his planet off the star charts. Don't fret, Lord Cos. I will retrieve her. Can you transmit me the coordinates of his planet?”
“Transmitting now,” Lord Cos informs.
“Excellent. Now if you will excuse me, I have some mass murdering to do,” Eve says.
“Good luck, Your Highness. Vid out.”
Dodo is impressed. “Wow. Where did you meet her? I didn't realize you had such powerful friends.”
Lord Cos explains, “Who do you think that statue and painting in the main hall are of? Tala was right. Those did go up in value after all.”
“Oh, yeah. Forgot about that. She looks a little bluer now,” Dodo recalls.
“Voth is finally going to get what is coming to him. That makes me happy enough,” Lord Cos says. “I am going to go and check out my statue of the Empress. Better put an alarm on it. We don't want anyone stealing it. “
***
Gartooth says with a chuckle, “I bet he was crapping in his pants when he saw 10,000 ships suddenly pop up on his scanners.”
Helma laughs. “No kidding. I know I would have.”
“Me, too!” Nelma giggles.
“That is the effect I am looking for. It is called shock and awe. It puts your opponent in a state of confusion and panic. I learned that from General Scales.”
Gartooth remarks, “I took some of his classes. He is a smart old dragon. Tough, too.”
“That is why he runs the military,” Eve says with confidence.
“Coming up on Planet Voth. Dropping out of light speed in five minutes,” 42 informs.
“Fleet: prepare for battle. Groups 1 through 10: take out the planetary defense system just as we drop of light speed. Do not give them a chance to react. Everyone else, shoot any ship that is not ours,” Eve commands.
***
“This is for all those ships of mine you destroyed!” Lord Voth is overwhelmed with
anger as he hits Tala's swollen face again.
Tala, barely conscious, says, “You... hit... like ... wanker... because you are a wanker...”
“Damn you, bitch. I am going to cut your eyes out and feed them to my dog. Gimme my knife,” the human male says as he grabs the large blade.
“You want us to hold her down for you, boss?” one of the other pirates in the room asks.
Then alarms start wailing loudly all over the palace complex, followed quickly by explosions and aircraft flying overhead. Chaos spreads everywhere. The intercom activates. “Boss, a massive armada of about 10,000 battleships just dropped out of light speed right on top of us. They took the defense grid and every ship that was on patrol immediately. Tens of thousands of Space Marines are landing all over the main city area.”
Voth screams out in a panic. “WHAT HELL?!?”
Vid screens activate planet-wide as Eve's face appears on them. Lord Voth is looking at the screen in this room.
“Lord Voth, I am Empress Evella Noctu of the Dragon Empire. You have taken something that belongs to me and I want her back. If Tala is not handed over immediately, unharmed, I will blast your planet into oblivion.” Eve’s thunderous voice booms all over the planet's communication system.
A pirate comes running in the room. “Boss, there is a moon-sized planet destroyer right above us, target locking the planet for bombardment.”
Tala laughs, coughing up blood. “Of all the people in the universe that you could have pissed off, Voth, that one is the most powerful and ruthless of them all.”
Voth goes into a massive panic attack.
“What do we do, Boss? We are all going to die. Maybe we should just beg for mercy.”
“Mercy from the Dragon Empress.” Tala laughs and coughs up more blood. “That is hilarious... you know she keeps a collection of severed heads of all her enemies, right?”
“Screw this! Let’s give her Voth and Tala. Maybe she won't be as pissed off at us, then,” one of the Pirates says. They grab Voth and wrestle him to the ground. They untie Tala and try to clean her up.
Minutes later, Space Marines flood the palace and search every room. They enter the room where Tala is being held. The pirates raise their hands and surrender to the Marines. They are taken into custody.
“I am Lieutenant Daga. I am here to get you to safety. Can you walk or do you need a hover bed?”
Tala says, “I am not sure I can walk.” She sits in the chair.
Daga presses his Com badge. “Send a medical team to my location STAT. I have Lady Tala.”
“Roger that. Medivac incoming.”
“Sir, what do you want us to do with him?” The private points to Lord Voth on the ground, tied up and groaning.
“Who is that?” Daga asks.
Tala says, “Voth.”
Lt. Daga says, “Oh the Empress will be most delighted to meet you, good sir.” He chuckles, as do the other Space Marines in the room.
Tala smirks, “Oh, how the mighty have fallen. You can always beg one of these fine Marines to shoot you now. I can't imagine the horrors the Dragon Empress has planned for you.”
One of the Marines is laughing uncontrollably. “Hey guys! He peed in his pants! Ha ha ha!” They all start laughing.
“That is not funny. I will tell you where 100,000 platinum bars are if you shoot me now.”
“So we can end up in the Empress's torture chamber instead of you? Pass. You are screwed buddy.”
They take Voth away and transport him to the Empress's ship. The medical team arrives and takes Tala as well.
Twenty minutes later, Eve is waiting in the landing bay for the medical ship to land. She walks over as they unload Tala's hover bed and rush it to the entrance hallway out of the landing bay. Eve follows them down the hallway where they meet Doctor Farshe.
“Take her to Operating Room C. we are prepared for surgery already,” Doc orders as she scans Tala's body.
“Report,” Eve says.
“She is bleeding internally and has a lot of broken bones. I don't know if she will make it at this point, but I will know after a few hours in surgery.” They reach the operating room and go inside, leaving Eve out in the hallway. Her Com badge beeps. She presses it.
“Go ahead.”
“Your Highness, this is Captain Ujuim. We have Voth in Interrogation Room 12A.”
“On my way.”
After going down several halls, she reaches 12A and goes inside. Eve finds several Marines surrounding Voth, who is tied to a chair.
“Untie him. It will be more fun when he isn't bound. Then leave us.”
“Yes, Your Highness.” They start to unbind him. Fear over takes Voth at the sight of the Empress and he starts thrashing around uncontrollably, clutching his chest. Then he suddenly stops moving and slumps in the chair with his eyes open. The captain scans him.
“He is dead, Your Majesty. Scanner says heart attack. He died from fear of you, I guess,” The captain informs her.
“THAT FREAKING WANKER!!!” Eve yells. She turns around and smashes the table next her and thrashes her tail into some chairs, slamming them into the wall. The Marines exit the room in a hasty fashion. She slams her metal fist into the wall, punching a hole in it, continuing to yell. People out in the hallway start to gather to listen to Eve’s tirade.
General Pace comes down the hall to see what all the commotion is about. He turns to the captain.
“What is going on, Captain?”
“Voth died of a heart attack when he saw the Empress. Before she could torture him. Needless to say, she is not a happy camper right now.”
Pace says, “I’d better wait on giving this report to her then.”
“I would.”
Pace says, “Okay, people. Clear the hall. Nothing to see here. Get back to work.”
A few minutes later, Eve emerges from the room into the hallway where General Pace is waiting. She seems to have calmed down a bit. She looks at Pace and says, “Report.”
“The planet is secure. What do you want us to do with a few thousand pirates that on the surface?”
“Execute them all. Then have all the Marines return. Let me know when they are all in the ship.”
“Roger that.”
The general walks down the hallway into an airlift and disappears. Eve makes her way to the bridge. She arrives at the bridge a few minutes later and sits in her chair.
“Bring the planetary mass drivers online. Target all the cities and fire at will on my order,” Eve commands.
Gartooth says, “Okay... Isn't that overkill for such a small population?”
“We need to test all of our weapons to make sure they work properly,” Eve adds.
“Okay, boss,” says Gartooth as the crocodile presses a bunch of buttons. “Ready when you are.”
Eve's Com badge activates about thirty minutes later, and she presses it.
“Report.”
General Pace reports, “All aboard.”
“Thank you. Gartooth, fire at will,” Eve commands.
The ship rumbles and shakes as huge asteroids begin raining down on the planet below, creating huge craters on the surface. After an hour of firing on the surface, the mass drivers cease.
“The whole surface has huge craters and it is no longer a Class C planet. All life has been destroyed,” 42 explains.
Eve presses a button and announces to the entire fleet, “Prepare to Fleet Jump to Dragon World in five minutes.” She activates her Com badge and says, “General Pace, pack up Voth's body and have it shipped to Lord Cos when we reach home.”
“Roger that.”
“Nelma, let me know when we are home. I will be in the medical bay. 42, you have the command,” Eve says as she leaves the bridge and heads to the medical bay.
After a few hours in surgery, the Doctor comes out to find Eve sitting in the waiting area.
“Surgery is complete. I have fixed her up as much as I can. She will have to be monitored for the next few days. She is not con
scious yet, but I will contact you as soon as she is.”
Chapter 6
Eve still had not named her ship. People were just calling it the Command Ship, which was fitting since it was impossible to confuse it with any of the other ships. Eve finally decided on a name, calling it 'Dragonstar.' This had been the temporary name and would be perfectly suitable for a final name. People seem to like the name and so it was entered into the ship registry that day. They were about two days away from Dragon World when Tala regained consciousness. Eve went to the medical recovery room to check on her.
Sitting next to Tala's bed, Eve asks, “How are you?”
Tala says weakly, “I am doing better. Your Doctor is amazing.”
“Yes, she is,” Eve says with a smile. She takes the feline's hand and continues. “You will be up and terrorizing those innocent merchant ships in no time.”
Tala tries to laugh, but it just hurts too much.
“I would like to get out of this room for a little bit. Been driving me crazy looking at the same four walls.”
“I am sure we can arrange that. Doc says you can move around in a hover chair if you want. You can go to the observation deck if you like?”
“Sure. I need to change into a nice robe or something.”
“I brought a nice silk one for you.” Eve hands her a blue high fashion robe. An attendant brings over a hover chair. After Tala puts on the robe, they help her out of the bed and into the chair. They leave the room and travel down many halls and up several airlifts, finally making it to a very large chamber where many people come to eat, socialize, or just look out the big window.
Tala looks around curiously. “What is this place anyway?”
“You are aboard the starship Dragonstar. There is a 3D image over by the window that will show you what the ship looks like.” Eve points to the wall and moves Tala over to it. She waves her hand over a blue button and a 3D image appears, showing the ship.
An animated computer voice begins describing the ship. “This is the Starship Dragonstar. We are Planet Destroyer Class, have 20 Mass Drivers, a few thousand large, medium, and small weapon batteries, and missile launchers. Class A armor and Shields, Quantum Generator with backups. Contains 10,000 fighters and 30,000 Marines. Crew personnel averages around 100,000, with 50 bridge personnel. This is the main command ship for the Dragon Fleet, which currently has 30,000 Dragon Legionnaires and 10,123 Class A Battleships.
“Holy bejesus. You invade much? That is a wanking big armada,” Tala says in amazement. She looks out the window to see thousands of battleships flying in formation in unison. She asks, “Why did you come for little old me, may I ask? I am just a beat up old pirate.”