Starship Hellbent

Chapter 3

Nation/Alliance: Starship Hellbent Federation

Captain: Morgan Gaisler 

Class: Sabre Class Long Range Defense—Military

Operational: 3013 CE

Length: 90 meters

Max. Population: 35 humanoid

Non-Humanoid Accomodation: 1 variable environment mixed use deck

Floor Area: 1350 square meters

Deck/floor count: 4 mixed use, 8 maintenance and restricted access, 1 docking/shuttle bays, 1 variable

"Captain Gaisler," Levy Alhum stood and bowed slightly towards Morgan. "It will be a privilege to serve on board the Excalibur."

Morgan's office on the Excalibur was sparse. There was a desk and command console, two chairs, and a single potted plant.

Morgan nodded to Alhum. "I suppose you'd like to know why I requested your assignment?"

"I must admit I am a little surprised."

"Your powers didn't give you a heads up?" Morgan grinned.

"It's just that I was under the impression that you didn't appreciate the value of my ability."

"That's one way of putting it. To be frank, I don't believe you have any ability—I don't believe in 'magic."

"Captain, 'Magic' is just a word used to described powers that are not well understood."

"I am not convinced you have powers, then, of any sort. I don't mean to offend you, but there isn't really a polite way to say this. I don't think the Wazirs should have a place in the Federation."

"No offense taken. I'm used to skeptics—it's a common attitude."

"Shouldn't you take that as a clue?"

"A clue?"

"That maybe you've devoted your life to a sham?"

"I understand their attitude. If everyone was blind, it might be hard for them to believe in the colours of a sunrise."

"Blind to what? Of all your visions, I haven't yet seen anything that needs an explanation. It's either too vague to be useful or too obvious to be valuable."

Alhum's face tightened and he turned slightly, looking past Morgan. "Perhaps you should tell me now why you requested my assignment."

"I don't plan on being just another Captain..." Morgan began slowly pacing the room. "I am going to make a difference. I am going to change the way things are done around here. There's that saying, keep your friends close and your enemies closer.”

"I have served the Federation faithfully my entire life. To imply that I am an enemy... that is offensive."

"I don't mean 'enemy'. But maybe a liability. I don't believe in magic, and that means the Wazirs are either deluded, or they're charlatans. In either case, it's a danger to have them serving the Federation."

"Unless you are mistaken about magic."

"Well, this mission is your opportunity to prove me wrong."

"Our mission is as an envoy to the Catechumen."

"That is our ship's mission. But your mission, is to provide proof of your 'powers'. In case I am not being clear, I am ordering you to provide proof—decisive proof... of your ability. If you fail, I will report it as a violation of a direct order."

"I'm afraid that magic doesn't always bend the way we want it to. It may not be possible to satisfy your requirement at a whim."

"You have the duration of our mission. Several months at least. Surely that's enough time?"

"Perhaps, perhaps not."

"Of course. Well then perhaps you should get to work?"

****

Ashu Vern took a sip of her drink. "Taste that." She reached the glass over to Nero, her latest co-pilot.

"No, thanks."

Ashu sighed. "I don't get it."

"What's that?"

"Here we are, sitting in a technological marvel—a goddamn hotel bar floating in space... and they can't figure out how to make a drink that doesn't taste like piss."

"Well, maybe they're not used to serving humans around here. Did you order a monkey drink?"

Ashu stared at the glass and shook it gently, sloshing the yellow liquid around. "Looks like piss. Tastes like piss. You think they drink piss?"

"I doubt it."

"You sure you don't want some?" She extended the glass.

"Well now," Nero joked.

Ashu set the drink down and looked around. There were only a few other patrons in the bar, most of them baboon, like Mangeroma. It was dimly lit, most of the light coming through the glass floor below.

Underfoot, among the stars, Ashy could see the wispy teal sphere of Blue Sky in the distance, an artificial planet comprised almost entirely of atmosphere. At the planet's core, an artificial gravity generator held the surrounding gas in place. Whoever started construction left a long time ago, leaving a series of girders and massive platforms—and more than a planet's worth breathable air. Now the whole place was a magnet for outlaws, refugess, and mercenaries across the galaxy—anyone looking to hide. That made it a good place to do business.

"So," Nero was nervously looking around, "have you ever worked with these guys before?"

"Never met them." Ashu was examining her glass, figuring out whether to give it another go, "But I've heard good things."

Three humanoid figures walked through the bar's entrance, decked out in black combat outfits. The visible skin on their faces, necks, and arms was covered in stylized black tattoos. The largest was an alien over seven feet tall, with hairless, reddish-orange skin that looked like cracked mud, and solid black eyes set deep in his massive skull. He struggled to squeeze in through the doorway. The other two were human. The man was six feet tall, bald shaved head, and an impossibly muscular physique, with thick veins visible over bulging muscles. The woman was short and athletic looking, with long, jet black hair. Both of them sported obvious cybernetic implants—eyes replaced, input/output jacks in their skulls, robotic arms. An assortment of energy weapons were slung over their shoulders and hanging from their belts.

Ashu waved them over from her table, leaning over to whisper to Nero. "Just let me do the talking." 

Nero swallowed air as the trio of mercenaries noticed them and began walking over to the table.

The man looked down at Ashu and extended his robotic arm. "Yureky," he introduced himself.

"A-Ashu..." Ashu stood and shook his cold, metal hand.

Yureky motioned to the others at his side, "Wojek and Tuj," he introduced them.

They nodded. Nero was awkwardly silent and motionless. They all sat, except for the monstrous orange alien Tuj. From up close, Nero and Ashu could better see the hardened, clay-like body of the reddish-orange alien. Within the deep fractures that covered his rocky flesh, the colour was a deeper red. He stared down at the table with his solid black eyes; Ashu assumed he was looking at them, though it was difficult to tell from the solid black orbs set in his skull.

"You're just gonna stand?"

Ashu looked up at the towering alien.

"The seating here," Tuj mumbled with a deep resonating boom, "is insufficient."

Ashu glanced over the trio, eyeing their gear. "You all look ready for a war."

"Always be ready," Yureky answered matter-of-factly.

"That's my philosophy too," Ashu spoke coolly. "But I never thought of bringing a plasma cannon to a business meeting."

"Who is he?" Yureky tilted his head towards Nero.

"My co-pilot," Ashu answered.

"Does he talk?"

"Yeah," Ashu sheepishly answered. "I mean. I can. I'm not supposed to but—"

"Well..." Ashu leaned fowards, interrupting her stammering companion, "let's get down to business."

"Alright." Yureky clasped his hand on the table, "Tell me what you need."

"I need back-up on call. Two months."

"Back-up for what?"

"My ship's not built for combat. I need guns in the area, in case we run into trouble..."

"What kind of trouble are we talking about?"

"It's hard to say."

Yureky looked unimpressed with Ashu's answer. He furrowed his brow and waited for an explanation.

"My line of work is unpredictable," Ashu added.

"Can you quit jerkin' me around and tell me what it is you're trying to get us into? Smuggling, or what? Recon? T-Jamming?"

"I don't share the details of my operations."

Yureky leaned back. "Well you know, if we're gonna do our job properly, we need to know what we're getting in for."

"I don't plan on getting into any gunfights."

"But you might?"

"Yea. It's possible, I suppose."

"Then we need to know what to expect. You gotta at least tell us what sectors you're movin' through."

"Sorry. That's how I operate."

Yureky closed his eyes and slowly rubbed his face in exasperation. He looked over to Wojek, who shrugged her shoulders. Yureky turned back to Ashu. "Fine. But the price is gonna reflect the risk."

"Of course."

"So two months on call, you said?"

"Yep."

"Where do you want us?"

"Here—Blue Sky. Just sit tight and if I run into trouble I'll Q-link the specs... but you'll need your T-drive up."

"Like I said, we're always ready." Yureky's face took on a look of concentration as he calculated the cost. "Okay. Seventy k."

"Here's a better idea. I put you and your crew up here at Blue Sky. Docking fees, food, resort creds—"

"No way. You expect us to work for rent?"

"I wasn't finished. There's a bonus -sixty-five k for the call."

"I don't know."

"Look at it this way... you get the call, that's gonna work out to more than seventy k. You don't, then you just got two months paid vacation. Relax, check out the resorts."

"Relax? Does it look like I need a vacation?" Yureky laughed. "Can you imagine," he turned to face his comrades, "sittin' on the beach sippin' cocktails?" Tuj chuckled. Wojtek faced back towards Cassia. "We're not in this for vacation time."

"I don't care what you do with the time. Plan your next job if you want. It's two months pay to sit tight."

"We're used to jobs with a little more action."

"I try to avoid the kind of action you're talking about."

"And it's less pay then we're used to."

"Unless you get the call."

"Right." Yureky leaned back and rubbed his head for a long moment. "Yeah." He looked to his comrades. "I guess we could use the time to work on upgrades. Alright—but you cover restocks."

"I'll go half on restocks."

"You don't want us goin' stingy on deploys if you get in trouble."

"I don't want you blowing your load so I can pay for new stock. Half."

Yureky sighed audibly. "Fine, half on restocks."

"So we got a deal?"

Yureky stood up and extended his hand to Ashu, and they shook. "We got a deal."

"Say," Ashu took on a more casual tone, "your ship's specs are pretty impressive. You think I could take a look before I head out?"

Yureky grinned. "Be my guest," he said, and pointed to the glass floor. Ashu, Nero, and the trio of mercenaries watched as a combat vessel drifted into the starry view through the clear platform below.

"The Muramas." Yureky extended his open hand, presenting the ship with a proud smile. The vessel had a sleek black hull, with smooth curves, and unbroken lines of coloured flood lights running around its mid-section. "180 degree rotation on any plane in a quarter second." Through the glass floor, they all watched as the ship flipped and rotated rapidly. "Dynamic acceleration over 500MSS." The vessel darted from place to place, demonstrating its agility. "Spatial displacement matrix -Blink Drive." The Muramasa disappeared and instantly reappeared a short distance away. "Six fusion reactors. Four independent anti-missile laser arrays. Eight Horos. Forty eight fusion drop-mines. Variable frequency shielding. Phase field generator. Comm jammers, lock jammers, gate jammers. Two rails. Six laser pod bots. Short range and long range missile arrays. Dual plasma-kinetic flak cannon. Black hole generator—we could just about fly through a star and take out a planet when we got to the other side. And all of it controlled..." Yureky looked over at Ashu and tapped on his skull, "...right from here."

"Neural link to your ship? Isn't that dangerous?"

"Not as much as a quarter second delay when you got missiles locked on your tail."

"Well, when you put it that way. But you're not worried about hackers?"

"Neural ID and quantum encryption. Unhackable. Worst-case, I can manually-override or just plug in directly."

After a moment, Ashu let out a short laugh.

"What's so funny?"

"Just thinking about all the laws you're breaking. Neural link. Unlicensed tunneler. 'Droid compliance. Prohibited weapons."

"Yep. I don't really even keep track any more."

"Just don't get caught in Allied territory."

Yureky grinned. "We've never run into a problem we couldn't blast our way through."