Year 3506 of the Leron calendar. Planet killers. Our weapons, prided for their horrifying destructive capabilities, are useless. They either don't hit our target or simply have no effect on the entity devouring our star. Our scientists, under great strain, work feverishly to complete our secret weapon.
(Callie)
The pirates arrayed in front of her shifted nervously, glancing at each other. Her request for three volunteers bounced off the wall plating, sending the training bay into a deathly silence. By now, the pirates knew that if no one wanted to volunteer, she would pick randomly. Or worse, she would force the entire crew to perform some grueling punishment.
Four pirates stepped forwards, making Callie smile. The green-eyed, auburn-haired beauty of Lana, the short wiry Keyla, the stalky balding Bertram and the lythe brown furred Rendal. All four of the volunteers shared venomous looks, not with her, but with each other. Callie's smile turned into a toothy grin. This development was a chance to encourage teamwork.
If not unity as a team, maybe unity in their hatred of their commander. "Three of you are going to be the first test subjects... I mean volunteers for team assault tactics." The four pirates blanched. "You will all enter the training course and complete it just like before. Only this time you will do it as a team."Callie said. Rendal, his fur a dark brown, opened his mouth like usual.
"This is Juck, commander. Can't i just do it by myself again? I don't need these pathetic losers." Rendal asked with a snarl. "Why, of course, you can try Rendal."Callie reply calmly. The Tallax's mood brightened, and his chest puffed out proudly. Rendal quickly approached the starting line, preparing to begin. His rotary cannon shifted from where it pointed at the roof plating into a ready position..
"Before you enter, I feel it necessary to explain that all the holograms have been increased to the next ranking of difficulty. And there are now twice as many holograms in the course."Callie said, as though that last part was a trivial detail.
Rendal froze, turning his head back, his dark yellow eyes widening. With a brief hesitation the Tallax slunk back and grumpily stopped next to Bertram with a sour look on his foxlike face. He gave the other a glare, but kept quiet, his tail lowered in shame.
"Commander Ark-an, what's our time limit?" Keyla asked hesitantly.
"Thank you for asking, Keyla. Firstly, you have twelve minutes. However, this time, I expect each of you to display better fire control. If I see any one of you using full automatic, I am going to force all three of you to stay late for refresher training."Callie warned. The group of pirates all wince, each knowing what that meant.
"And what if our team mates hit us?" Bertram asked with a glance towards the erratic Rendal. "Any friendly fire will result in your team being disqualified for the round."Callie said.
There was some excited murmuring at that. The pirates were clearly excited to get out of the training exercise and some were already no doubt planning on taking one for the team. Callie smiled at that. She liked loopholes as much as the next girl, but friendly fire couldn't be tolerated.
"Any team mate who is responsible for friendly fire will be invited to join me in the sparring ring. And I will teach them a lesson they will not forget."Callie said, meeting the eyes of each of the pirates with a burning fire in her bright hazel eyes.
"Can we at least have Lana on our team?" Keyla asked pleadingly. Callie shook her head. "Nope, for today, Rendal is on your team. If you learn to fight properly together, then having a highly mobile member like Rendal could make you a force to be reckoned with. Dont forget, the Tallax are faster than the average human, and your team will benefit from him."Callie said. She turned to the others.
The Tallax each stood a little taller at her compliment."In fact, I will put all of you in random teams. You will learn to rely on each other. You will learn to put your petty squabbles aside and work as a team."Callie said calmly. She had no illusions they would put aside, said petty squabbles, but she could still force a semblance of teamwork.
The pirates didn't like it, but in the end she had the say in training. Despite their bitching, all the pirates did as ordered. She smiled, going through the arduous task of preparing her crew. Not preparing for the raid on an unguarded cargo ship, but for a raid on one of the other pirate crews in this sector.
With that goal in mind, she filled days with training and nights with skulking about the ship. She was sleeping rarely because of the danger, constantly in a state of unease. By the fifth day, the pirates were practically falling over with exhaustion. Four and a half days of drills, exercises, and shooting practice left the pirates in a sweaty, exhausted mess. She gave the haggard pirates a disapproving glare, but inside she was proud of their rapid progress.
After four and a half days and the pirates were already showing marketable improvement. In the standards of Zrixia, or any other respectable navy, these pirates wouldn't have even passed basic training. At least they wouldn't shoot themselves.
There were only two pirates that were able to escape most of Callie's brutal training regime. Ned and Purdin were only allowed to avoid the training because they were on the bridge, flying the ship. Once she trained up two more of the pirates in running the ship, she could cycle them out.
Even captain Shimmer was forced to take part in the training. It was mostly to give Shimmer a good idea of the skills of her crew. And also it kept the Captain where Callie could see her. She didn't trust Shimmer one bit, knowing the pirate would betray her at the best opportunity.
There was only a half day left before the cargo ship was scheduled to arrive, and Callie needed the crew to be fresh. Soo, she decided to give them all a present and cut training in half today.
She gave them all a sweet smile. The pirates all flinched, each one of them cursing in Tallaxian. Some of them were probably wondering if prison or execution was preferable to being under the care of their new commander.
After all, at least in prison, they weren't forced to train twelve hours a day every day. And Execution couldn't be so bad, right? The sweet release of death must be preferable to this? She gave the pirates a once over, wondering what they were thinking? If they thought she would let them turn themselves in, or die peacefully, they were sorely mistaken.
Unlike their first day of training, all the pirates were arrayed quietly in front of her. The Tallax had their rotary cannons pointed at the hull playing above them, whereas all the humans had their rifles pointed safely towards the floor and not at each other.
"I know we have only just started our warmup today, but I have decided to give you all a break. You may all go for now. Take the rest of the day off. Our target has already appeared on our sensors, and we need to only wait until it gets closer."Callie said cheerily.
She folded her arms behind her back, leaning back on her heels. The posture and her smile made her look like a beautiful young woman, happy to see a friend. But the pirates knew better, and none of them moved to leave. Their new commander had a weird sense of humour and often played tricks on them.
This had to be one of them, as never once had Commander Ark-an offered a break longer than a twenty minutes for lunch. Lana stepped forwards, looking just as ragged as the others. She was panting for breath, her chest heaving. Today Lana had her auburn hair tied back in a sensible bun. She had a thin strip of brown fabric still tied around her wound, looking more like a headband than a bandage. Her full lips were shaded a light purple, drawing Callie's attention to them.
"Commander, we have only been training for half the day?" Lana asked hesitantly, her face drenched in sweat. Callie nodded. "I have decided that you are all no longer a disgrace. You all look tired, so I am willing to allow you some rest before our raid later tonight."Callie said.
The pirates cheered excitedly and turned to leave. Callie, not wanting to deal with a boarding party of hungover pirates, nipped that in the tail as it was. "I expect you all to pace yourselves. If any of you are hungover tonight, I will put your teams on extra training duties for the next two weeks."Callie said.
The pirates were aghast by that, but still they were excited for a chance to relax. They all left, aside from Shimmer. The captain approached Callie, giving her the side eye. "You know some will get wasted anyway, right?" Shimmer asked. Callie nodded, a strand of her long, silky black hair falling in front of her face.
Shimmers was panting lightly and her white fur was drenched in sweat. Even so, Shimmer looked excited about their raid later that evening.
"You should take a break and cleanup as well, captain, as you will lead this raid."Callie said. Shimmer tensed up at that, her fluffy ears raising in curiosity.
"Don't give me that look, captain. This is why I have been giving you a crash course over the last few days. I am merely going to spectate. I will not interfere unless necessary. As I told you, I have no desire for the mundane operations of the ship."Callie said, giving Shimmer a nod of partial respect.
Shimmer grinned, looking far more exited then earlier. She darted away, looking like she hadn't just done five hours of training. Callie went to the bridge, deciding to be on hand in case she was needed by the two bridge crew members.
Her presence wasn't needed, nor wanted, but Purdin and Ned suffered her presence, anyway. The two pirates, Jemina and Dusal, were the backup pilots, but they were still learning the basics. For the raid, the two experienced crew were on the bridge.
It was an arduous seven hour wait, before she called all the crew to a readiness state. With only five minutes' notice, the entire crew was arrayed in the docking bay, all prepared for the boarding. Many of them shifted nervously, but they didn't lose their hard won discipline by pointing weapons at each other.
Only two of the pirates would be stuck on extra training duty after the raid, as they were the dummies that got wasted. She had the two hungover pirates and their angry team mate acting as reserves, but she didn't intend to use them. Shimmer stood next to Callie, her tail swishing excitedly, while Lenny was in the docking bay with the boarding party. He was not boarding as extra muscle, but it was Lenny's job to gather intel once they boarded the ship.
Callie watched, her stomach churning as the ship activated the phase shift. One second, they were approximately five light hours away from the cargo ship, and the next, they were where their target was estimated to be. To Ned's credit, his calculations for the shift were within a thousand miles.
In the vast expanse of space, that was either an extremely good calculation, or Ned was the luckiest man alive. Considering how vast of a distance five light hours was, it was probably the high tech computers calculations more than Neds skill.
The Grack arka sent out a massive sensor pulse, lighting the massive cargo ship up with active sensors. The ship lurched as it burned hard to match the pace with their prey. Then Shimmer sent a pre-recorded message to the ship, sending a jitney of threats.
The captain of the cargo ship wasn't just going to give up right away. The captain of the cargo ship appeared on the screen in front of them, his face red with anger. The captain was a human, with a portly build, and a head of greying hair.
"Captain, should I share a feed of us?"Ned asked, glancing back to Shimmer. "No, let him wonder... But put me on speaker."Shimmer replied.
"Its done."Ned said, his hands moving deftly.
"Greetings captain, this is Shimmer, captain of the Grack arka. Turn off your engines and prepare to be boarded. Any resistance will result in lethal force."Shimmer said, her voice in a deep growl.
The speakers crackled, as the captain's face changed to one of outrage."Go screw yourself, you stupid foxes can go throw yourselves in a black hole!" shouted the captain, speaking in the Zrixian tongue.
The voice was overlay'd by the translation software, as the tirade was translated into Tallaxian. It was an odd disconnect, as Callie could understand both tongues perfectly. Of course, the translation wasn't perfect, but it still conveyed the cargo ship captains' displeasure.
"Ned, would you please open the missile bays and secure a lock on the cargo ship's spine?" Shimmer asked calmly.. "It's done, captain!" Ned said confidently. The active missile sensors lit up the cargo ship. More importantly, was the other captain's reaction. He paled as he heard that order, his anger turning to abject fear.
Callie could understand the man's fear, as their ship's spine breaking would leave them drifting in interstellar space, far from any aide. It could be weeks before someone came along to find them, maybe months.
His face a bright red, and sweat trickling down his forehead. The captain of the other ship replied. "Alright, you can board, but don't hurt my crew." Shimmer snarled in delight.
"Take all of your crew to the bridge of your ship. Any crew members still roaming about when we are collecting our cargo will be seen as free targets."Shimmer said excitedly. Callie sighed. The greedy fox enjoyed drama far too much.
The enemy captain looked like he had stepped into a pile of cow dung, but he did as ordered. Purdin, having done it before, guided them in, attaching the ship's docking clamps to the side of the arrow shaped cargo ship's hull.
Callie let out a sigh. Just because the captain had agreed to their terms didn't mean he wasn't going to look for concessions.
"Stop your complaining! I told you, I have no intention of harming any of your crew! If you stay on the bridge of your ship, none of you will even see us!" Shimmer said, sounding exasperated.
"You must understand, Shimmer. As the captain, I must ensure the safety of my crew and my ship."The cargo ship captain said.
Callie tuned out the conversation and watched the ship's display. Sixteen pirates waited in the docking bay. When the airlock cycled, they didn't just rush in. One group, the hungover team, stayed put, guarding the airlock. Much to her relief, the others moved forwards in groups of three, each group working in a buddy system.
They were spread apart by about twenty feet, to limit casualties with an explosion. Lenny followed at the back, making the last group have four members. That was fine tho, as he was only boarding the ship to tap into the ship's database, and steal recent info.
The raid was going smoothly, and already half the crew was loading their cargo bays with their valuable goods. So far, not a single shot was fired, and she counted that as a win. Mostly because the pirates were not ready for a firefight.
"Commander, i just sent you a list of the crew aboard the ship like you asked."Lenny said, his voice steady despite being aboard an enemy ship. Callie pulled up the file on her comm to analyse the data.
Next to Callie, Shimmer started shouting again, her voice a deep growl. "I swear, if you don't shut up, I may change my mind! Maybe i will take some of your crew to throw out an airlock for sport!" Shimmer shouted angrily.
Callie tried to ignore the captain and her shouting match, focusing on the pirates moving about the cargo ship. It was too loud to read over the compiled data, so she focused on the camera feeds..
All the pirates had a live feed, showing what they were doing. When one camera suddenly cracked, Callie blinked. Over the speakers, she heard the sharp crack of unsuppressed gunfire. The squad, under attack, quickly fired back, their stun rounds missing their agile target as the person fired from cover.
The air crackled with energy, and a flash of green energy slammed violently into one of the two pirates. The defender exposed themselves for a little too long, and took a stun round that stagger them.
The figure cried out, twitching from the powerful stun round. The other pirates were not idle and moved to give aid to their comrades. Unlike before, they moved together, covering each other as they boxed in their inexperienced opponent.
The staccato rhythm of burst fire filled the air over the speakers, and their lone enemy stagger. The enemy's energy barrier faltered under the pressuring fire. In the camera of Rendal, Callie got a good look at their lone enemy, and her stomach clenched.
What was she doing here? Callie butted in, interfering in the chase. "Do not kill them, I want them alive."Callie said over their helmets, making sure all the pirates heard her orders. She glanced at Shimmer apologetically.
Callie watched on camera as the young woman's barrier collapsed and she took a stun round to the side. The young woman's light blond hair fell out of its ponytail as she stagger dropping her pistol to the floor plating. Unwilling to take anymore casualties, the pirates followed up their attacks with five more shots to the downed woman's center mass.
Rendal pelted the downed enemy mercilessly, his speakers blaring from the gunfire. Callie gritted her teeth as she watched the camera feed. Just because they were stun rounds didn't mean they couldn't kill someone. If their enemy took too many jolts, she could die!
"Rendal! If that young woman dies, I am going to throw you out of an airlock!" Callie shouted over the chat channel.
She heard a snarl, but Rendal stopped his merciless barrage. "But commander, Keyla was shot in the shoulder, and Bertam was hit by that orb of death!" Rendal said, sounding furious.
"I said, stand down Rendal! Jasmine and Dusal go help Rendal. Bring our wounded and the prisoner back to the ship. But let me make this very clear, if our prisoner dies I will make sure you join her in death."Callie said, her tone sounding ice cold.
Turning to Shimmer, Callie gave the Captain a nod. "I will see to the wounded and our new guest. Keep the rest of the crew busy with loading the ship."Callie said. Not wanting to draw her commander's anger, Shimmer simply nodded.
Rendal, Dusal, and Jasmine brought the prisoner and their two wounded back to the ship's docking bay. They left the single dead pirate, but she would deal with that later. By the time they reached the docking bay, Callie was already waiting for them, her heart racing in her chest. Rendal dragged their struggling prisoner, none too gently, into the docking bay.
All the while, the prisoner yelled obscenities at him in Zrixian. Rendal was big for a Tallax, and easily carried the athletic young woman by the back of her shirt with his jaws. The prisoner looked like a thrashing young pup trying to escape its mother. At the sight of the young woman struggling, Callie let out a sigh of relief.
Callie held her medical bag in hand and rushed to Bertram first. Their prisoner looked like she wouldn't keel over and die, so she could wait. Callie opened Bertram's cracked visor, reaching in to check his pulse. His helmet hissed and opened, revealing his frantic expression as he blinked rapidly. The man appeared to have a concussion and was out of sorts.
Waving to the three reserve pirates, Callie gestured to the one who didn't get wasted earlier. "Milo, get over here. Make sure Bertram doesn't go to sleep. You two, keep an eye on the airlock, make sure we get no more surprises."Callie ordered.
"Yes, commander."Milo said, rushing over and kneeling beside Bertram. The other two, face their stood near the door to the cargo ship, keeping an eye on their thrashing prisoner.
Callie ignored their prisoner, as she seemed more than fine for now, and moved to Keyla. The gunshot wound looked bad, having struck Kayla's shoulder, where the armour was thin to allow movement. Callie rolled Keyla over and grimaced, noting a distinct lack of an exit wound.
Callie bit her lip. She unclasped the front plating of the soft suit, and it retracted. Keyla peered up at her, her eyes red with tears. Callie placed the gauze over the wound and applied pressure. Not having time, she removed a tablet of morphine and put it in Kayla's mouth. Even still, Keyla screamed as Callie applied pressure.
"Let me go!" a familiar voice shouted in Zrixian. "If you killed my friends, I am going to eat your heart."Rendal snarled, in passable Zrixian. Their prisoner struggled some more, but she was being held face first against the floor plating.
"They can go to the abyss! Screw you!" the young woman shouted back.
Ignoring the incensed yelling, Callie spoke aloud. "Rendal, go to the bridge of the cargo ship. Bring me their medical kit."Callie said, keeping pressure on the wound..
"What about the prisoner? If I let her go, she will attack you?" Rendal asked, with a rare display of concern.
"Don't worry about me Rendal, i can handle the prisoner."Callie reply calmly.
Rendal released his weight from his captive and pushed her further inside the docking bay. With a hateful glance for the captive, Rendal rushed off into the enemy cargo ship. He wasn't worried about the commander's safety, but for his teammates.
Rendal had a look of determination on his foxlike face, and she knew he would be back shortly. Callie smiled, her enforced teamwork was paying dividends.
So far, their prisoner hadn't had the chance to look around at her captors, and was still trying to recover from being zapped. When Rendal all of a sudden released her and ran off, Taniya lay still.. She tapped into her reservoir, channeling the last of her energy into a ball of destructive force.
With a burst, she pushed herself into a roll and flipped, twisting forward, ready to strike down her enemies. She froze, energy in hand. Bright hazel eyes blinked up at Callie in confusion. Taniya didn't see the pirate captain she expected, but her friend looking back at her.