by Josh Kilen
As they stepped into the throne room, the very fat man on the throne looked nothing like the king they had heard so much about.
"Welcome!” he greeted them, “So sorry for the armed guards, but I heard what you were looking for and I happen to be in a position to help." The King smiled widely.
Ryanis looked at him suspiciously, "So, do you know which way the Malogan fleet went?"
The King smiled, "Come now, that's not REALLY what you are interested in, is it? You want to know where King Jupiter is, isn't that right?"
Ryanis was surprised but nodded, "That's right, but if you know where he is, then why don't you go after the king and get reward for yourself?"
The King looked shocked, "Oh I would but then I would run the risk of making the Malogans suspicious, and that is something I cannot afford to do. Instead I have a proposal; you retrieve the stolen King and we'll split the reward. Everyone wins!" The King smiled while rubbing his palms together.
"Okay, we'll consider your proposal. What do you want for the information?" Ryanis asked.
The Bandit King laughed out loud, "Oh how I do love dealing with professionals, you never expect something for nothing. Very good, that's actually why I called you up to my chambers. Your reputation precedes you Sean Ryanis, and I am in need of your expertise. I'm sure you're aware the Bandit King title can only stay with the Ice Bandit who has the most of our loot. Until recently, that was me. Yesterday, it was stolen from me."
Ryanis looked surprised, "I’m shocked you still have the throne."
"As am I, and that wouldn’t be the case if it weren’t for... extenuating circumstances. You see, it wasn’t another Bandit who took my loot. It was an army of Fire Pirates. Since an outside force came in and took the loot, no one is sure what to do. Some of my people are saying that we have to submit ourselves to the Fire Pirates, by our own laws, because they have the most of our loot. I can’t let that happen. So I need you to find where the Fire Pirate's hid the loot. If you do this for me, I will tell you what you need to know."
"How can we be sure that you have the information we want?"
"You can't, but if you have a better option I suggest that you take it."
Ryanis walked over to Sophia and Shaker, "Are you sure this is where the trail ends?"
"I checked three times before we landed. It looks like the ships just disappeared, no hyperspace trails, no sign that they left. There's definitely something going on." Shaker said.
Sophia agreed, "This whole thing smells fishy, but the payday's worth the trouble. I can find the Pirate’s trail and probably the King's loot, Shakes here can set up a mutual transfer beam so that the info passes simultaneously. No cheating on his part."
"Don't call me Shakes, Soph."
Sophia shrugged and smiled.
Ryanis turned back to the Bandit King, "It's a deal, we'll find your loot, and you'll give us the information through a mutual transfer beam. Deal?"
The Bandit King frowned at the suggestion of a mutual transfer, but he couldn't protest without looking like he was trying to cheat Ryanis.
"Fine, just be quick. I don't know how long I can hold off my people, if I can’t then neither of us get what we need."
Ryanis, Sophia, and Shaker were escorted back to the Tiberius and took off. Shaker made sure to explain everything to the Princess. "And it looks like once again we're going to have to delay taking you back. We can't waste time going all the way back to Martosis."
"Honestly, this is the most fun I've had in years. I can't wait till someone starts shooting at us, I bet that's thrilling!"
Shaker just shook his head, "Just wait till it starts happening, we'll see if your tune changes."
Sophia recalibrated the tracking machine to find the Fire Pirates ship signatures. They found the trail and plotted it into the Tiberius' navigational computer.
After several jumps through hyperspace, the trail ended in the middle of an asteroid field. Long range scanners revealed a huge asteroid had been hollowed out to create a massive base, suitable for all Fire Pirate operations. The base was well fortified, there was no way the Tiberius would survive a frontal attack on the base. It was also protected from spy's, so sneaking in was out of the question as well.
"What do we do now?" asked Shaker, "I just assume that you have some brilliant but completely insane plan cooked up."
Ryanis looked over, "Not…yet..." just then a blip came on the monitors. Ryanis smiled, "Never mind, I've got a plan that's just crazy enough to work."
Episode 8
Bill the Fire Pirate scout meandered along his patrol route. Nothing much ever happened, so he rarely worried about keeping much of a look out. They were out in the middle of an asteroid field in the middle of an uninhabited system; who was going to find their base in the middle of nowhere?
Just as Bill settled a little deeper into his chair, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see a large man grinning at him.
"Hi!" the man said. But before Bill could say anything back Ryanis stunned him. The scout slumped out of his chair to the floor.
Ryanis took the seat and turned on the communication system, sending a message to the Tiberius, "Shaker, you read? First step done. I'll dock and then you send Sophia over."
Shaker flipped a switch, "Ready to receive you Ryanis, docking initiated. Guess that personal transporter of the Princess's worked all right." And the pirate ship docked smoothly alongside the Tiberius.
As the door to the pirate ship cabin opened, Ryanis was surprised to see the Princess alongside Sophia. "What are you doing? You expect me to take you into a Pirate Base? Are you crazy or just suicidal?"
"I can help! I've had plenty of training and you can use me. Besides, I need to get off the ship and do something. I just want to get my father back." the Princess pouted.
Ryanis had the comm up and was about to order Shaker to come around, but thought better of it. "I must be nuts, but I'll allow it. Sophia, get her a weapon she knows how to use."
Sophia reluctantly complied.
Ryanis flew the stolen pirate ship closer to the base. Since it was a known vessel, it passed right through the base's perimeter defenses. Everything was going to plan so far.
The scout ship docked easily, Ryanis flew it gracefully onto the landing pad. The ship’s hatch opened and out stepped three very shaggy looking pirates. They found some old pirate clothes in the lockers (pirates have a very distinct way of dressing) and Ryanis, Sophia, and the Princess put them on for disguise.
As soon as the crew stepped out, the dock captain came right over.
"Hey, don't know you. That's Bill's ship. Where's Bill?"
Ryanis hadn't expected this, but he was pretty good at thinking on his feet, "Oh ya, Bill, he got sick. Real sick. Asked me to cover. Feelin sick myself, need some rest," and Ryanis headed towards the base, the ladies following. The dock captain moved to stand in their way.
"Woah there, who the space are these other two? Patrol's a solo assignment." he checked his roster, "And you're not due back for 6 more hours. This ain't right. Guards! Sound the Alarm! Intruders!"
Ryanis and the ladies sprinted for the exit but it was already blocked. Surrendering was their only move. The dock captain came over and removed Ryanis' pirate mask.
"Hey, I recognize you. Ryanis, right? Lots of rumors about you, most of them embarrassing," The captain laughed at his own joke, "And who do we have here, two ladies. Don't know this one, but she's pretty enough. Make a good addition to our little side operation. And what do we have here, looks like we hit pay dirt gentlemen!" He said as he looked at the Princess.
The Princess looked at him defiantly, "Yes, you hit dirt; dirt, grime, and BO by the smell of it. Ugh, take a shower please!"
The Dock captain's smile faded quickly. "Take these prisoners to the Base Commander, he'll know how to sort 'em out." He pointed angrily toward the door.
Three guards moved Ryanis, Sophia, and the Princess down the corridors. Ryanis whispered sarcast
ically, "You know Princess, I don't think I have ever been captured this much, ever. You must be good luck or something."
She whispered back, "Don't worry your pretty little head, I have a plan."
Ryanis looked at her like she was crazy, "Well, this I have to see. Just hope we live to see your plan work. Wait, is this part of your plan? It's going real well so far."
"Hey you two, shut it." The pirate guards prodded the captives forward.
They came to a large round hatch, which the largest guard opened. Inside the Base Commander stood to greet them, "There they are! Such good fortune these days. Ryanis and the Princess of Martosis, together, two bounties in one!"
Ryanis looked confused, "Two bounties?"
The Pirate Commander laughed, "You didn't know? Well, for your information, Martosis seems to have misplaced their Princess and pinned her disappearance on you. So they want her back alive. As for you…well, let's just say they're a bit flexible on your condition." Then the commander nodded towards the guards to snatch up Ryanis and Sophia.
The commander walked over to the Princess, "My dear, why don't we get to know each other while these two get to know one of my air locks."
Episode 9
As the pirate guards took Ryanis and Sophia away to the air locks, the Princess saddled up to the Commander, "Oh, must you kill them? They did help me come to you. Plus, he's a more than competent pilot. Plus, we wouldn't have found you if it hadn't been for Sophia here. I'm sure a smart, handsome pirate such as yourself could think of some use for these two." The Princess trailed her finger on the front of his jacket as she batted her eyes.
Ryanis couldn't believe it, was she flirting? And that was her best effort? To his amazement it seemed to be working.
The Commander began to blush from the attention, "Well, I think that maybe I can find somewhere more useful to put them than the air lock… now, let's talk about you and me," he grinned a missing tooth smile as he put his arm around the Princess' shoulder.
Which gave her perfect access to his weapon.
Faster than anyone thought was possible, the Princess reached into the commander's holster and pulled out his gun. Whipping around him, she pinned his arm to his back and held the gun to his head.
"Put your guns down, now!" she growled at the guards, pressing the gun harder into the commander's temple.
The Pirate Commander screamed, "Do what she says! Do it!"
The guards complied, slowly putting their weapons on the floor. Ryanis and Sophia quickly picked them up and stunned the guards, their bodies crumpling to the floor.
Ryanis changed the gun's settings to blast, pointed at the Commander, and motioned the Princess to step away. The commander was left in the middle.
Ryanis took control, "Okay, tables turned. Now, where's the Ice Bandit King's loot?"
"Don't know what you're talking about, you'll never get away with this you know. We won’t let you out of here alive…” Suddenly the Commander screamed “AAAGGHHHH!"
The gun in the Princess's hand was smoking. The Commander crumpled to the ground.
The Pirate shouted, "You shot my leg! Aaagh, I'll never walk again. You're crazy!"
The Princess glared at the Commander, and used her roughest voice, "Be appreciative that it wasn't your head. Now, what do you know about the loot?" She covertly gave a small smile over at Ryanis.
He caught the smile and was taken aback. What happened to the prim and proper Princess? Ryanis quickly regained his composure and took control over the situation, "I'd listen to her. As you can see, no one on my crew messes around."
The Pirate Commander put his hand up, "Okay, okay, we took the loot. It's locked in our deep cargo hold. They told us to take it, helped us even. They said it was our payment."
"Who? Who were you helping?" Ryanis asked.
"The Malogans, they had us smuggle some important mucky-muck of theirs to their stronghold on Atorrax. Seemed like a fair trade at the time."
The base alarms began to blare. "Heh heh, I told you that you'd never get out of here alive." The Commander said as he revealed a hidden emergency transmitter.
"Nuts," said Ryanis and shot him with the stun setting. The commander fell to the floor with a thud.
"We need to go, now. Good job Princess, but if you ever wound a hostage without my permission again, I'll shoot you myself. Got it?"
"Yes sir" the Princess said with a smirk. Ryanis couldn’t help but smile in return. "Okay, we need to get back to the Tiberius." Ryanis said.
"Any idea how we're going to do that?" Sophia asked.
"I'm working on it. Don't worry, I'll think of something." They ran out of the holding room.
The sirens screeched in the hallway as they quickly headed toward the dock. Without Pirate clothes, the three stuck out like sore thumbs and it was mere moments before they were found. The Pirates fired down the hallway, on blast setting. They were out for blood.
Turning around, running the other way, Ryanis pulled out his communicator, "Shaker, do you read me?"
The device crackled, "Ya, what happened? Ships are all converging on the base. What did you do?"
"Nothing out of the ordinary, just makin' friends as usual. I need you to come get us, our new buddies play a little too rough."
"I'm on it, what's the plan?"
"We're gonna teleport out of here, but I need you within range. Head to the base and I'll signal you when we're ready." Ryanis said.
Shaker responded, "Got it, watch your back."
"I've got a great crew to watch it for me," Ryanis said looking over at the Princess and Sophia.
Teleporter rooms are usually located close to the hull and this one was no different. Typically they were used to transfer equipment and goods directly to ships. Humans didn't use teleporters because the things they teleport don't always end up how they started. Transporting multiple objects isn't always an exact science.
They fought their way into the teleport room and Ryanis quickly set the controls, "Shaker, we're ready. You there?"
They could hear explosions sounds along with Shaker's voice, "Ya, hurry up though. They spotted us and aren't happy about you leaving. They must really like you."
"I don't want to overstay my welcome, transporting in 5 seconds..." Ryanis ran to the pad just as a fresh batch of guards streamed into the room.
The teleporter hummed as Ryanis, Sophia, and the Princess disappeared with a crack.
On the Tiberius, three bodies fell onto the deck with a loud crash. The ship shook all around them. The base unloaded it's fighters to find and destroy the intruders. The Tiberius' shields were doing their best to withstand the attacks, but they weren't going to hold for long.
After a quick check to make sure all their parts were in order, they raced up to the cockpit.
Ships were flying everywhere, laser blasts were falling on the Tiberius like a rain storm. The shields were down to 10%. Shaker moved to the co-pilot seat as Ryanis took the helm, and the Princess and Sophia strapped in.
Ryanis pulled out of the fire fight just in time to see the shields depleted to nothing, and 10 pirate raiders were right on the Tiberius' tail. There guns were locked on for the kill.
Episode 10
The shields were down to nothing, multiple pirate bogeys where aiming at the Tiberius for the kill shot, and yet Sean Ryanis wasn't worried. He'd been in worse situations, but not by much.
He swung the Tiberius hard to the left and braked while pulling around. The pirate fighters flew past and Ryanis piloted the Tiberius in behind them. Shaker shot several down with the quantum cannons. The remaining pirate ships broke off to circle around and start another attack run. More ships were closing in to join the fight.
"Shaker, plot the coordinates for just outside Atorrax, quicker the better."
Shaker quickly entered the coordinates and Ryanis punched the hyperjump control just as a Pirate fighter locked on. The Tiberius jumped into hyperspace, leaving the pirates in the cold.
Everyone
let out a deep breath.
On the trip through hyperspace, everyone in the crew pitched in to make repairs. Sophia and the Princess worked on the main fuel condenser unit while Ryanis and Shaker tried to put the shields back in working order.
Shaker stopped soldering and whispered to Ryanis, "This whole job smells of set up somehow. I just can't see where. It's just been a little too easy."
Ryanis arched his eyebrow, "Easy? Really? So being captured constantly and then nearly dying isn't enough for you? I'll try to remember to make it more challenging for you next time."
Shaker rolled his eyes, "That's not what I meant and you know it. I can't put my finger on it. I just have a bad feeling. I don't suppose you have a plan when we get to Atorrax?" he asked hopefully.
"I figure we'll probably see what we see and do what we do." Ryanis said with a pat on Shaker's back. All Shaker could do was laugh.
The hyperjump came to an end and the Tiberius alerted the crew. They made their way up to the cockpit, and Shaker scanned the planet.
"Wow. It's actually worse than I thought. This is a major Malogan stronghold. We're talking laser and missile defense systems, both on the ground and on orbiting platforms, a smart-mine detection net which requires a customized algorithm to pass through, and then there's the patrol ships. There is no way we can assault, no way we can sneak in, and I don't think your taking over a ship trick will work here. No ships patrolling outside of the mine net. It's basically the most unfriendly planet ever created. Any bright ideas?"
A dark voice spoke behind them.
"You can land the ship on the Planet."
Ryanis and Shaker glanced up from the monitor to see Sophia pointing a blaster at the Princess. Ryanis' hand went to his holster, but Sophia waived him off. "No Ryanis, if try anything I'll be forced to shoot off one of her limbs, then I'll probably have to kill you. My Masters won't care about you, but they want the Princess unharmed. Now, set your course for the planet."