Episode Five

{{Written by Lauren}}

As the two women stepped off of the Feisty Dragon, the warm, humid air of the Menat marketplace engulfed them in a wave of sticky sweetness. The scent of exotic flowers and spices that greeted them was the distinct smell of Isis.

"Alright Captain, your name for today is simply Victoria. Also, since we are on my turf and must remain inconspicuous, you will be taking orders from me for a change." Violet commanded jokingly and with a girlish smile.

"Violet, I only agreed to this because Kots, Stella and Arturius think its a good idea for us to have some... 'lady bonding time'. Remember that this does not change your position on the ship. When we are on the Dragon, I am the Captain and I call all the shots." Victoria let out a sigh before continuing, "however, since you know Isissian customs best, I will play by your princess rules this once."

A giggle bubbled up from Violet and she replied, "Well lets go then! Menat has the best shopping districe in this hemisphere of Isis!" She adjusted Victoria's military stance to a posture that better suited the blue organza gown and veil she wore. "Now, to keep things simple, Victoria, let me do all the talking and follow my lead on behavior."

Violet then turned and headed toward what seemed to be the entrance to some overgrown temple but turned out to simply be the gates to the open market of Menat. Within its walls, the market looked much like a very crowded and popular garden with nearly every inch taken up by either plants or the bodies of shoppers. Among the greenery, shops filled with jewelry, cloth, spices and other wares could be spied.

'This place is a security nightmare,' thought Victoria as she warily followed Violet, 'Anyone or anything could be hiding anywhere in all these plants!'

Victoria caught up with Violet at the entrance to a very high end clothing store. The younger girl let out a soft sigh of contentment as she reached out and ran her hand down the skirt of a green silk wrap dress. Under her breath she whispered, "Beautiful!" then turned to Victoria and said, "i need half the money they are asking for it, please."

Victoria gave Violet a surprised look but handed her the Isissian money anyway. She then stood back and watched as Violet gracefully haggled the price of the dress down to half with a free pair of matching slippers thrown in in less than two minutes. They left as a very delighted Violet and an impressed, if a bit surprised, Victoria.

"Huh," said Victoria, "Arturius was right when he said you might be able to teach me something."

At the mention of Arturius' name Violet blushed, giggled, and then her face took on a odd look that was a combination of worried, happy, quizzical and mischievous. With that, Victoria knew that the secret she had been trying to suppress would come out.

"I'm fairly certain that I know the secret that has been causing so much tension between the two of you." Violet said as she did her best to look through Victoria's eyes and into her soul. "Why do you keep it a secret from the crew?"

"Keep what from the crew?" the Captain answered as she began defaulting to her military formality.

"Arturius is your mother's other child, isn't he? Victoria, I am far too used to picking up on court gossip not to have pieced it together..." Then, seeing the other girl's distress, Violet quickly added, "I do also understand that discretion is valued, and i can keep this half-sibling drama to myself if you ask. After all, you are my Captain."

The two maintained eye contact for a few moments, sanctifying their agreement and new found respect for one another.

Their friendly silence was broken by Gretchen who suddenly appeared by Victoria and urgently whispered, "Captain, there is more trouble than Kots, Stella, and Arturius can handle. They are at the junk ship yard over on the north side of town."

"Alright, I'm on it. Gretchen, protect Miss Princess here." Victoria tossed Gretchen the purse of Isissian money before striding off into the vegetation.

"Hmmm... You know, I think she and I finally came to an understanding." Violet mumbled as she watched Victoria slip away, "Well now, you appear to be my new shopping companion. Lets go, and help me look for some jewelry to go with my new dress."

"Hold on there, girly, I'm here to protect you, not indulge in your pointless feminine outings. I am just the body guard." Gretchen warned.

"Fine." Humphed Violet, "I will find myself someone to accompany me." Then she abruptly marched down the crowded row of shops.

Gretchen fell in step slightly behind Violet and followed her to a secluded section of the marketplace where the stalls were less welcoming. Violet selected one and approached the shady man guarding the entrance. Gretchen's hand rested on her gun as she eyed the stall guard.

"I would like a small female, please," Violet commanded in hushed yet authoritative tones, "She also must be healthy and intelligent."

"BENNY!" the slave trader yelled to the back of the hut, "Bring up the Baccian girl!" Turning back to Violet he said, "This one is three hundred and fresh in from Baccus last night," as the Benny character pulled a young girl up to the counter.

Violet appraised the girl from head to toe before saying, "My 'good' sir, this girl is worth no more that one hundred and seventy. Are you trying to cheat me?" Then she put on her haggling face and the game began.

Five minutes later Gretchen led Violet and the girl, who was bought for one hundred fifty, away from the grungy corner. As soon as they were out of sight of the slave traders' shack Violet turned to the girl and said, "Okay, sweetheart, tell me your name while i find you something more appropriate to wear. After all, you are my new travel companion."

"My name is Geneva. And, um, well, thanks," thegirl managed to whisper.

"Good lord! They've nearly taken your voice too, you poor dear!" Violet said softly as she picked out a gown from the nearest shop, "Go put this on, Geneva, and we shall head back to our ship, the Feisty Dragon."

Geneva eyed the frilly heap of satin the Lady had handed her questioningly but followed through anyway.

When the three got back to the ship, Captain Victoriana Regency was waiting with her fully imposing figure in the loading bay. "VIOLET!" the Captain bellowed, "where have you been!?" Then she noticed Geneva and added, "And who in heaven's name is this?"

Bonus Episode: Geneva

{{Written by Ginny}}

Geneva tossed and turned, restless in her bed. The twin moons of Bacchus stared at her like judging eyes, overshadowed by the menacing presence of Bacchus' twin planet, Diana, who took up the sky like a greedy onlooker. It made Geneva feel constantly on-edge, as though the planet was just waiting for the right moment to devour them all. She knew Bacchus looked about the same from Diana's surface, but logic wasn't in her mind this clear and cloudless night as she glared out at the interplanetary annoyances that crowded her sky and kept her trapped, and considered her options.

She could argue with her father more, but she knew that would be to no avail. She could run away. She ran over the different choices in her head, and none of them seemed particularly appealing. Where would she even run away to?

There is one more option, part of her mind piped up tentatively. You could always just marry the man. That thought struck her as so terrible that Geneva felt bile rise up in her throat. Throw away the rest of her life, nail herself to the floor here on the tiny, boring, useless, merchant planet of Bacchus, admit that her purpose was nothing but a house-cleaner, baby-maker and dinner-cooker for the son of some neighboring merchant? I'd rather die, she thought firmly, and that decided it. She'd run away. It was her only choice.

--

The docks were bustling as always, full of merchants hawking their wares, children playing and getting underfoot, and shrewd old women haggling and bartering and leaving the poor salesmen wondering how on earth a five foot two grandmother had convinced him that she deserved everything for thirty percent off. Geneva had told her mother she was going to look at cloth for wedding dresses, which had made her mother so hopeful that Geneva would finally be agreeable to the arranged marriage that she'd pushed some money on her and practically shoved her out the door. Now she was scrutinizing the different ships carefully. She needed something big enough that she wouldn't be treated too personally and noted as a runaway, but something small enough that passage wouldn't be too expensive. Something dingy enough that it wouldn't attract attention or have officers of the law on it, but something nice enough that she wouldn't have to fear for her safety being a passenger.

She had been passing by ship after ship after ship, when she glanced through the crowd and spotted a familiar figure. Her father, looking around the marketplace. He put his hand over his eyes and scanned the crowd. She instinctively knew he was looking for her. She didn't know why, but she did know that she needed to make her decision, and now. Frantically scanning the ships, she spotted one that looked promising. Two men, arms folded, were standing on the ramp talking comfortably while a third man hefted a mess of crates into the cargo bay. The ship was of a good size, and she didn't have time to be picky. She sped up her pace and approached the two men on the ramp.

"Excuse me," she called out politely, and they looked up. One cast an appraising eye over her and she experienced a moment of doubt, but chalked it up to nerves.

"What can we do for you, little lady?" the other man said, and she grimaced. Little lady. Great. Geneva looked young for her age, and it annoyed her, but now was not the time to pick fights.

"I'm looking for passage," she said as confidently as she could. The two men exchanged glances, but she didn't catch what they were communicating to each other.

"Passage?" one man repeated slowly. She assumed he was wondering where she meant to go. The two men started walking up into the cargo bay and she tagged along, determined to get their attention before they took off without her. Besides, being inside the ship would shield her from view of her father.

"I don't much care where," she added, "as long as it's bigger'n Bacchus. Then I'll get some more specific travel plans in mind," she added, realizing too late that she'd revealed herself as a lone and nonspecific traveler. Now they knew that if she disappeared, no one would suspect anything. She was already a drifter.

"We might be able to do that," the first man said thoughtfully, and cast a loaded glance at his partner. Geneva frowned and took an inadvertent step back. She realized that shielded from her father also meant shielded from the crowds on the docks - which meant she was in danger.

"Of course, we'll need to see about fare," she said warily, the idea in her head being that she would ask them what they charged and then, no matter what the cost was, she'd claim it was too much. Then she could find a ship with less frightening crewmen.

"Tell you what," one of them drawled. "We been lookin' for someone to help out in the kitchen. How 'bout we give you free passage in exchange for a little bit of assistance to our chef?" He smiled disconcertingly and she felt waves of mistrust roll through her. Damn. So much for that escape plan.

"I think maybe I should check out some other ships before I agree on anything..." she began, and took another step backwards - directly into the man who had been loading crates. He wrapped his hand around her upper arm. She felt her body tense up to run and opened her mouth to scream, and then she felt the barrel of a gun pressed into her lower back.

"You scream, girly, and you lose an organ," the man said, all too calmly. Geneva shut her mouth with a snap and tried to keep her wits about her. They led her through a hallway and to a set of double doors with bars on the windows. They cranked them open, revealing another set of double doors. So basically an airlock, Geneva thought helplessly. What don't they want to escape? The second set of doors opened to reveal another cargo bay, this one filled with crowds of unwashed people. They looked up with only the most basic of interest. Most looked as though they'd given up hope entirely.

"Passage to Isis," one of the men said with a smirk. "Lucky girl, you're going for free." The double doors closed on the sound of their laughter.

Episode Four (Part II)

{{Written by David}}

After retrieving a fresh scone, Kots meandered quite contently down the hallway of the Feisty Dragon. This ship, albeit getting into the later stages of its life, had become a comfortable place to call home. Its halls lit warmly by the floor-lamps. The rooms had space enough for any ‘practical’ man. The kitchen was usually well stocked, with a delicious chef… No, a chef that cooks delicious food. Kots grinned widely at his own little slip, and bit deeply into the scone. A foul taste filled his mouth, and he felt a hot, thick sludge ooze down his chin. His chewing ceased as he lifted his hand again to see what it was he had bitten into. A bloodied heart stared back at him. Kots stumbled back in alarm, dropping the heart, and tripping over something behind him. It seemed to be an odd lump of dirty clothing and blood stained uniforms.

“Kots! What ‘de hell do ye ‘dink yer doin! Git down!”

Kots stared confusedly towards the laundry. “Erm, hello Mr. Laundry, but did you just speak to me?” Suddenly, an arm shot out from the pile and dragged Kots into what seemed to be a fox hole underneath the ‘camouflaging clothing’. The dim light revealed a very short, very hairy, and a very angry man. He raised his hands to the sky, as if to invoke the powers of some ancient God. “Ye know dat eatin da ‘earts ‘o Cralikun don’t give ye magical powers!”

“Of course they don’t Eric, but the healing properties of the Cralikun heart of unrivaled, so if you wouldn’t mind NOT talking for the remainder of my stay in your cess-pit, that would be ‘mighty fine ‘o ya” Kots despised the men of Plant #32-B with most every fiber in his body. Their accents, their overbearing righteousness, and their complete inability to do anything by themselves all ate slowly away at Kots’s patients. Eric sulked into the back of his corner mumbling something about how the Anubian’s think they can just control anybodies plant, telling them what to do.

Kots spun round, eyes ablaze. He grabbed a hold of the dissenting soldier, and tossed him out of the hole. “I told you not to talk anymore!” Mere seconds later, the familiar sound of the Cralikuns armoured legs came speeding towards where Eric now sat. Kots started whistling a tune, until it was drowned out by the terrorized screams of agony that must surely be Eric’s. Fresh blood had started to seep through cracks in the “ceiling” of Kots’s new found abode when he finally decided to dig through his bag. Figuring that enough Cralikuns had gathered to feast on their newly claimed meant-sack, Kots pulled the pin on a CEG-grenade. He threw off the covering clothing, and came face-to-face with Violet.

Kots’s sudden appearance startled her. Letting out a yelp, she stumbled back a few paces. Recovering her composure, she put on an uneasy smile. “Kots! What where you doing hiding in my clothes? I know you all must think it’s so fun, playing ‘scare the princess’, but I warn you, I’ve got some big guns! And when I say that I’ve got them, I mean that Arturius does. So humpf.” With her speech given, Violet gave a dismissive head nod, and continued walking down the hall.

Kots stood stunned. He stood again in the hall of the Feisty Dragon. There was no blood, no Cralikuns, and no Eric. A heap of Violets dresses and clothing had been tossed about the hallway, and a half eaten scone lay at Kots’s feet. Kots let out a sigh of relief as the realization set in that he was not once again on the planet #32-B, losing a fight that should have been easily won. Also, the relief that Kots did not have a live gren… All emotions, save fear, fled Kots’s heart, as he slowly looked down at his right hand. Grasped firmly was an active CEG-grenade. All that had to happen for Kots to disintegrate all living tissue aboard the Feisty Dragon was have his finger slip from the dead-mans switch.

The dead-mans switch was a clever little safety device installed on most modern Anubian Grenades. It allowed for the user to ready the grenade, without actually lighting the fuse. Once the scanned fingerprint leaves the touchpad, the chemical fuse starts, and you have but a few seconds to vacate the area. It was named the ‘dead-mans’ switch after an entire squad of Anubian shock troopers had become pinned down, and ran at their assailers with these grenades in hand. When one of them was shot down, they fell, and their hand loosened, thus dropping the grenade. This was followed by confused Cralikuns and an entire squad of Anubian shock troops.

Kots stood frozen by anxiety. He was cycling through all of his military knowledge, trying to recall some little tidbit that related to disarming the switch. Unfortunately, he drew a massive blank. Just when he thought he was out of options, something from ‘Old Earths’ history struck him as a possibility. He chortled as he drew a heavy wrench from his bag. Imitating his old professor, he recited the old line, “In Russia, when it doesn’t work, hit it with something!” The blow fell straight onto the screen of the switch, which was currently covered by Kots’s pointer finger. A loud crack reverberated through the hallways. Suppressing the pain as his training had taught him, Kots investigated his handy-work. The screen was demolished, and the triggering mechanism seemed to either be jammed or short-circuited. Moving his gaze slightly downward and to the left, he noticed his finger seemed to be hanging at a rather odd angle. With a shrug, Kots pocketed the now dead grenade, retrieved his scone, and headed off to the infirmary. “Another day, another scare…”

Episode Four (Part I)

{{Written by Anne}}

Victoria was not pleased. The ship had landed safely, and though Arturius and Stella had both reviewed the distress call they had received from the planet, Victoria had yet to see any of it. The ship’s gangplank lowered as she waited for it to hit the ground before walking out into the fragrant air of Isis. Stella flanked her right side, and Arturius her left-bristling with weaponry as usual.

“Don’t worry, Cap’n, Arty and I got this all under control. You an’ Lady Violet just go an’ enjoy your little shopping trip. Anything we can’t handle, Kots and Marie can.”

The Captain growled. “Would you quit addressing him as ‘Arty,’ Stella?”

“No can do Cap’n. He grins when I say it.” Arturius shook silently with laughter, making the guns on his back rattle like porcupine quills.

“Arturius, how many weapons are you carrying?” She slyly asked him.

He straightened up immediately, reporting, “Fourteen handguns, nine rifles and long range guns, six bayonets and,” he checked under his great coat, “exactly thirty-five blades.”

Kots walked up beside him. “Gonna need more,” he mumbled around his pipe.

Stella harrumphed at them both. “Well, time to get moving. The three of us will handle the distress beacon, while the two of you go shopping. Marie can stay here and mind the ship.”

“This isn’t your ship you know. You only get to captain the Nun-you’re still Prima here,” said Marie.

Victoria turned and leaned awkwardly to see into the kitchen, where Marie was talking from. “She makes a good point, you know,” she said quietly to Stella.

Marie appeared in the doorway of the kitchen wielding some wicked looking cookie cutters and wearing and outfit that was more suited to fine dining than kitchen labor. “Luckily, I’ve started scones, so you can proceed with the orders.”

“Still ain’t happy Cap’n?” Stella peered at Victoria, who was still seething.

“Hardly. Ready Violet?”

Violet blustered out of the back quarters of the ship carrying a pile of clothing which seemed to fall apart as she walked towards them. “I told you, it’s the Lady Violet Rosa Chandra Lillian d’Tarquin of-“

“Yes, yes, no one cares on this ship, now let’s get this over with,” said Victoria. It was a mistake.

No sooner had the words left her mouth than Arturius had grabbed Victoria and had her pinned against the airlock, his arm over her throat.

“You WILL respect the lady.” This caused several reactions, all which happened at the same time. Stella had both guns cocked and pressed against Arturius’s heart and head, and Kots had a gun to his own head as well as Stella’s. All of it only took a split second, training locking in before instincts. Victoria locked eyes with Arturius and he immediately released her, turning away from her to hide his shame at harming one he swore to protect.

“Kots, Stella, put up your weapons, this is between Arturius and I.” Both put up their weapons and stepped back to give the two space.

A scone bounced off Stella’s head. “Scones are ready!” Said a jubilant Marie. Both were happy to have an excuse to leave. Violet started forward.

“You need to go get ready for your shopping trip Lady Violet,” Arturius said quietly. She backed away to her room, also glad for the release.

Arturius faced Victoria and hugged her tightly. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I’m sorry…”
“Me too. Sorry it had to come to this.”

He pulled away, “This? No, that was my fault entirely. I only meant-I just…” Words failed him again.

“No. I’m sorry. I’m sorry we’re here on this ship, sorry we have to sneak to this planet like criminals, sorry we can’t go back to what we had,” she smothered whatever other emotions were welling up inside of her by navigating around his weaponry and giving Arturius another crushing hug.

“I’m not.”

She appraised him.

“Because this way I get to be with you. This way I see you. This way we get to work together, side by side-as it should have always been.”

“But we could’ve been so much more. I was lieutenant-general when I left. You had quite the military career in front of you as well.”

“Not as much as you did. You were landed and titled, remember? For someone of my class, there’s only so high I can go.”

“Yes, but it meant something.”

“It couldn’t’ve lasted forever. We both know that. Your father would have stripped me of all rankings I had gained if he knew we fought together.”

“And mother?”

Arturius let out a long sigh.

“You need to go get dressed for shopping now. I doubt the mutilated outfit of an Anubian general will pass for proper aristocratic shopping clothes in a district like this.”

They stepped out of the airlock, Arturius to run over schematics again with Stella and Kots, and Victoria to see if Violet had anything that would fit her, and then if it was something she wouldn’t be recognized in.

She followed the trail of clothes Violet had dropped when she had rushed up to the gangplank before. Entering the secondary crew quarters, she saw a mess of fabric and jewels strewn about the bunks.

“Oh good! I’m glad you’re here so I can dress to what you’re wearing and we won’t clash. A lady of society never clashes with her companions. Let’s see, blue or gold for you?”

Victoria appraised both dressed with a mixed air of confusion and duty. “Lady Violet, there is something I should address before we begin this excursion.”
She stopped and looked up, “Yes?”

Victoria was still shaken by the episode with Arturius and had a hard time wording what she was trying to say in the best of circumstances. “Right. Well, you should know, even though we were born into the same class, we um, well, I was raised in a, hm, somewhat different household than most. Isis is a beautiful lush planet, filled with gardens and the best of the arts in the Anubian system. Anubis is primarily a governmental planet, focused on maintaining that government through laws and the military. The household I grew up in was ruled by the iron grip of my father.”

“I know this. I’m not stupid, remember? Your dad and my dad knew each other from the military. That’s why he was able to call in a personal favor when our province was experiencing trouble and when he got hauled off to military trial on Anubis.”

“Yes, but my point is that since I was my father’s only child, I became what he poured all his military vigor into. He ignored my mother to the point that she ran off with someone from the plebian class.” Violet’s eyes widened. Victoria ignored it and continued, “I was never raised to be a ‘lady’, I was raised to general the Anubian Army with an iron fist. So even though we are of the same class, I lack the finer training you might’ve had in finishing school.”

Violet smiled. “Don’t worry. I’ve got this one covered. We can put you in the blue and I can wear the gold and I’ll coach you as we go. Sound good?”

Victoria was confused. “Did you catch any of that?”

“Oh yes, and I’m more then refined enough for the both of us, so we’ll have no trouble at all blending into society. And this is my planet, remember? We’re playing on my turf now.”

Victoria could only nod as Violet wooshed chiffons and silks around. Violet paused in her frenzied repackaging of her wardrobe.

“Did you say ‘your father’s only child’? So your mother had more than one baby?”

Victoria smiled. Violet didn’t miss anything.

Episode Three

{{Written by Anne}}

“Arturius, I know we’ve had a lot more in common than Basic, but really-“

He cut her off, “Really? Yes.” He snorted. “Really, I think you ought to consider that I do have seniority over you-if not in rank, then in age, and that this is more than a matter of a captain and her crew. This concerns our history together and if you are not willing to accept that-“

This time Arturius was cut off by a high pitched wail coming from the lower decks. Both Arturius and Victoria locked into their military training. They checked their weapons, and, swords drawn, bolted towards where the noise had come from.

As they approached, it happened again, only this time they recognized it as singing. But because they were flying in an enclosed steel ship, the acoustics made something that was normally quite pleasant echo off the walls like torture screams. Victoria signaled Arturius to fall back and he shot her a glance that would have stopped meteors. Sneaking forward and peering down the hallway, she was able to discern that it was coming from the weapons locker-formerly the brig. Arturius separated himself from the shadows like liquid darkness and covered the captain. She peered up at him.

“All crew members are accounted for?”

“Aye. All save Cornelius.” She nodded curtly in response. They still had to pick him up following his last mission and Stella was still on board visiting-so indeed, all were accounted for. All other crew members were sleeping-Arturius and the Captain had the night watch together.

She signaled for him to cover the left side of the door, and at this order, he did not hesitate. Both moved silently to the door, armed and ready for whatever lay within.

Pausing, and holding her breath, Victoria waited. No noises were heard, and the door had an airtight lock, so not even light could pass though. That the two of them had heard sound at all was odd-a fact which only contributed to their caution.
Both heard a loud crash, followed by an inhuman shriek.

Their previous conversation forgotten, the two of them moved together as only siblings can, and moved into formation in front of the door. They locked eyes and kicked the door down.

Arturius held a laser rifle in one hand, and his long sword in the other, Victoria was armed with her pistol in her left and saber in her right. The sight that greeted them was far less fearsome than the sight they presented in the smoking doorway.
Thick fuzzy rugs covered the floor, in shades of pink, purple and maroon. The walls were draped with silks in similar colors, and a chandelier hung from the ceiling. Where laser guns had previously been stored, now a huge canopy bed with a multitude of pillows atop it sat. As they observed the room, the bed seemed to keep producing pillows.

“Oh dear stars, it’s multiplying,” cursed Victoria.

“No, someone’s in there,” replied Arturius. As he moved forward, Violet emerged from the pillows amidst a shower of glitter and bounded forward.

Arturius’s eyes immediately softened. “Violet,” he said. The endearing way he said it could have melted supernovas.

Victoria gripped his arm, “Not so fast. What the hell have you done to my weapons locker?”

Violet grinned. “I needed a room-I’m sure you understand, being a lady of high society. And obviously being an aristocrat, and of higher class,” she giggled at her own redundancy, “means I get a separate room. Or quarters. Or whatever. That’s what you call them, right? Quarters?”

Victoria growled.

Arturius sheathed his weapons, and readjusting the dozen or so others that he wore at all times, jovially replied, “Of course we do. This is lovely Violet. You know, Victoria and I, back on Anubis, used to-“

Victoria, still stunned by what lay before her, just barely managed to stop Arturius before he revealed too much. “Don’t,” she growled again. Arturius quieted.

“Sorry Captain. I was only-I just thought-” he didn’t finish his sentence. He didn’t need to. She knew what he thought, and she knew it was wrong to reveal it in front of Violet.

She snapped into military mode and began barking out orders. “Arturius, you will leave this room immediately and report to my quarters at 1100 hours. Violet, you will clean this up and when you are finished we will have a private conversation about how ALL my crew members are equal. And so long as you are on my ship, you are my crew, which means?”

“Everyone is equal.”

“Very good,” she turned on her heel and left to leave. “And Arturius, you are not to speak to anyone on the ship until we speak again.” He snapped to attention and saluted. She dismissed him and he preceded her as she left the brig-converted-weapons-locker-turned-salon. Which was harder now that the rest of the Feisty Dragon’s crew had gathered following the crash as the door was kicked in and the commotion that followed. Victoria raised her voice, “The rest of you are dismissed as well-there’s nothing to see unless you’ve never seen a pillow in your life.”

The crew dissipated in front of them, except Stella, who hung back to speak to the Captain.

“Victoria, Cap’n,” she said quietly. Still walking, Victoria acknowledged her with a glance. “I heard you and Arturius arguin’ a while ago.”

“And? What’s your point?” Victoria stopped and faced her.

“How far back do the two of you go anyways? I’ve seen the glances Violet and Arturius give each other, and I know you have too. What’s your problem with a shipboard romance? I think it’d be good for the both of them. Help Violet learn how to fight and maybe teach Arturius a thing or two about civilized life.”

Kots dropped from the ceiling. “Evenin’ Captain.”

“Hello Kots. Howsit?” He nodded, took the pistol from her holster and put it in his medical bag. Sitting on the ground, he produced his pipe and began to chew on the end as he contemplated Stella and Victoria. “You be nice to him.”

Stella glared. “And what does that mean?”

“She knows that I know that you don’t know what I know about knowing.”

Victoria looked back at Stella. “Continue,” she said, unfazed.

Stella ran back through the conversation to remind herself what her point was. “Oh, basically, I just think that you’re being way too constricting of the two of them, and not just as a couple either. Arturius is under your thumb being squashed and Violet just needs some lady bonding time. You’re the only other one on this ship that comes from high society, she looks to you because you both have that aristocratic upbringing.”

“Arturius too. On Anubis. His upbringing wasn’t so different from mine. And we are not lovers-“

Kots cut in, “That’s a nasty thought.”

Again, Victoria was not thrown off by his interjections. “So banish any thoughts that you have of that. I’m just protective of him, is all. And Violet comes from something I can never go back to.”

“Yeah, but she can, and you need to help her maintain her hold on reality while she’s on board this ship. This is the life we chose, but not one she chose.”

Victoria held out her hand for her pistol. “I’ll remember that the next time the two of us go shopping.” Kots stared at her for a moment and after briefly rummaging through his bag, presented her with a jeweled purse filled with Isisian money.
“Guess you’re going shopping.”

“Guess I’m giving my-“ Kots looked up at her, “brother in arms, Arturius, a talking to.”

“And then shopping?” Stella helped Kots up off the ground.

“Yes. We’re already on course for Isis, so it’s convenient Kots gave me this bag of money.”

“Yeah, and where’d he get it from?”

“The pillows are one thing, and so is the shag carpet, but WHERE IS MY PURSE?”

Kots grinned and whispered conspiratorially as both Stella and Victoria said all at the same time, “Violet.”

Episode Two

{{Written by Alina}}

The Feisty Dragon and the Singing Nun touched down on Osiris after a stormy and unpleasant descent.

“The instrumentation indicates that we’re at the outskirts of a large city,” said Stella. “Let me contact some connections and we’ll have fuel and a warm place to stay the night.”

Cornelius lowered the gangplank and they exited the Dragon. Around them in the darkness, swirls of dust obscured their environment. Other than the wind, the city was eerily quiet. Not a single window in a single building was illuminated.

“So, there’s nobody here,” said Marie.

Cornelius shone his forearm into the street in front of them. As he did so, a handful of creatures skittered away from the light and into the alleyways around them.

“Were those people?” said Violet.

“Yes, they were,” said the Captain, “but not anymore. My instruments are picking up the residue of some powerful interference with this city’s infrastructure. Something in the air, water, or electrical systems has been tampered with, recently at that. Stella, let’s establish a new landing point, I have a bad feeling about this place.”

“No, really?” said Marie.

“Aw, $#!^,” said Stella. “The Nun’s lost power. I can’t reach my crew, or my contacts. The Dragon’s done the same.”

“It’s the interference,” said the Captain. “Our support systems are jammed as long as we remain in this area.” She turned to face the others.

“Arm yourselves, all of you. Turn on whatever lights still work, and send up a signal flare. We need to reach someone, or wait until the storm ends and try to find something on foot. Go now.”

Violet and Marie grabbed pistols, Cornelius strapped on his fire-engine red mid-range blaster, Stella picked up a stolen Anubian blast rifle, and the Captain and Arturius armed themselves to the teeth with pistols, blasters, and numerous blades.

The flare lasted a dangerously short time in the stormy night sky, and only a feeble targeting light off the gangplank remained operable. They guarded the entryway warily as the night wore on, getting only colder and darker. Once in a while, another of the beasts would flash in and out of their light, and the Captain would caution them not to shoot, for fear of startling it into attacking them.

“They won’t bother us so long as the light holds out,” she said. “They seem to have another source of food, which I don’t recommend investigating.”

“You know what they are, don’t you?” said Cornelius. “Why is that?”

“Yes, I think I do,” said the Captain, “but if I’m right, there are worse things than these to contend with. Keep your weapon in your hand.”

“Someone’s coming, Victoria,” said Stella, her ears picking up the subtle approaching footsteps.

The Captain squinted into the darkness. Gradually, a figure appeared in the distance, limping and hunched. He was wearing the garb of an Anubian officer. A swarm of the creatures appeared from an alleyway and ran towards him.

“Should we shoot?” Stella asked.

“Yes,” said the Captain after a slight hesitation. The band opened fire on the creatures, sending them sprawling into the dust. They took flight, and the Anubian, who hadn’t broken his slow but persistent pace, entered their light.

“Are you friend or foe?” Arturius demanded.

“I am Kots,” said the stranger, sinking to his knees.

The Captain’s head jerked towards him and studied his face. Arturius’ eyes widened.
“Get him some medical attention,” the Captain said.

Stella looked as though she wanted to refuse, but obeyed her captain. She gathered some supplies from inside the ship and began tending to his injuries.

“This isn’t his first encounter with those things,” she said, “they’ve taken some pretty good chunks out of him.”

“We have you in our power, Kots,” said the Captain. “Now tell us how we can leave this place.”

“The only way is to find the Instigation, and bring it to me to dismantle it. That’s how you end the interference.”

“Where is it?” said Arturius.

“Deep in the center of the Anubian camp,” said Kots, “it will be well-guarded, as will the hold, in which they keep the few remaining humans. To find the Instigation, you must travel to the other side of the city on foot, enter the camp, get past the guards and retrieve it without getting captured.”

“You come with us and show us the way,” said the Captain.

“I would only be a danger to you,” said Kots. “I was followed by guards when I escaped. As you search for the Instigation, they will be searching for me. You should go now, while some of the guards are away looking for me.”

The Captain nodded. She entered the ship and donned her old Anubian uniform. Arturius did the same.

“Stella, Marie, and Violet, stay here and protect Kots and the ships at all costs,” said the Captain.

“Captain…” said Stella. The Captain shot her a look and she was silent.

“Stella, you need to stay here to tend to Kots, and to listen for anyone coming. Cornelius, I need you to come with Arturius and I to find the Instigation. I know it will be dangerous for you because you don’t have a uniform, so try to stay hidden.”
“Yes, Captain,” said Cornelius.

The three of them stole off into the night in the direction from which Kots had come. They ran quickly but silently on the distorted, uneven ground. They crossed the city without sight of any of the creatures, and paused at the border of the Anubian camp, where some guards were posted. They slowed to a walk, making themselves as unnoticeable as possible. They walked deeper and deeper into the camp, unseen by the occasional guard. Then, their luck ran out.

“There, the tall one, it’s Arturius!” said a guard to his fellows. Suddenly they were being fired upon, and wordlessly they turned and fled back in the direction they had come, splitting up to act as a distraction. They flew over the ground, hardly noticing its many bumps and grooves. They lost their pursuers before reaching the edge of the camp. Still separated, they slowly circled back to the far side of the camp. Cornelius found himself in an abandoned branch of the city, and turned around to search for the others and the Instigation. As he reentered the main camp, he noticed a large gathering of guards discussing the arrival of Arturius. They were gathered around a prisoner, and Cornelius remembered what Kots had said about the Anubians capturing the remaining humans. Fearful that it was one of his companions, Cornelius left his hiding place and dashed to the prisoner’s side, finding only an Osirian. Startled, the guards took hold of Cornelius’ gun and led him to the hold with the Osirian. As he was being led, Cornelius searched for the location of the Instigation, but saw nothing plausible. The hold was small and cramped. The guards continued to discuss the situation, and although they didn’t give any clues about the Instigation, they revealed that they hadn’t yet discovered Kots. Even in the Anubian camp, the interference prevented the use of any electric lights, and at first Cornelius didn’t recognize the new guard that showed up at the hold.

“What are you doing?” said one of the original guards to the newcomer.

“Guarding,” said the new guard standoffishly, flashing an officer’s badge. The other guards quieted. Cornelius, however, spoke up.

“There’s a guard at twelve o’clock and another at about two,” he said loudly and clearly. “No sign of it but he’s okay. I’m right by the door.”

“Does he have a communicator?” said one of the guards.

“No, that’s impossible,” said the other, “the electricity’s out for miles.”

“I’ve been searching for Arturius,” said the new guard, “have they captured him yet?”
“No, but it won’t be long.”

The new guard moved towards the door and opened it.

“I’m taking him to interrogation, this is no Osirian,” she said.

Cornelius was taken out of the hold and led to the back of the camp. The Captain, aka the new guard, let him go and returned to the center of the camp. As she explored, she came across the Instigation, and Arturius, who was hiding in a corridor. She picked up the Instigation and began to run back towards the edge of the camp, Arturius close behind. Her dark uniform made her nearly invisible in the night. As more and more guards noticed the Instigation, she handed it off to Arturius, who ran with it as fast as he could. Three guards closed in on him from different angles as the edge of the camp approached. A guard fired at an unstable escarpment in front of him, and the building collapsed in his path. He tripped and flew through the air, losing the Instigation as he did. Right behind him, the Captain picked it up without missing a beat and continued to run. Cornelius appeared from the shadows behind them, helped Arturius to his feet, and ran alongside them. Some of the creatures noticed the sound of gunfire and ran to its source, meeting the Anubian guards head-on. Narrowly avoiding the beasts themselves, the Captain, Arturius, and Cornelius ran back towards the Dragon. Near the end of the journey, the Instigation began to make a loud whirring noise, which attracted the creatures. A pack of them descended on the Captain, jumping on her abdomen and biting down hard. Arturius took the Instigation and handed it to Cornelius, who ran up the gangplank of the Dragon to safety. Arturius took out a long blade and began slashing at the Captain’s attackers. The Anubians were fast behind them, firing fully now that they didn’t have to avoid hitting the Instigation. Suddenly from within the Dragon, there was a flash of light, and then the electricity in the city returned, brightening their surroundings to greater visibility. The creatures left off attacking the Captain, and the Anubians closed in. Violet appeared from the ship and ran to Arturius while providing covering fire. She grabbed his hand and he in turn tried to help the fallen Captain to her feet. She was weakened from the attack and fell down immediately. The Anubians reached them and carried the Captain away. Violet pulled a struggling Arturius onboard the Dragon just as the gangplank was being raised. Stella piloted the Nun away from the storm with the Dragon still in tow, and within a few minutes they were on the other side of the planet, in daylight. Stella took Cornelius into one of the back rooms.

“I wanted to talk to you out of earshot of Kots,” she said.

“Would you care to explain who he is?” Cornelius asked. “For example, is Kots his first name or his last?”

“Neither, it’s his title: Keeper of the Secrets. He doesn’t have a name.”

“And why do the Captain and Arturius trust him, and you don’t?”

“The Keeper of the Secrets is a position in the Anubian army that’s possibly the scariest #$%^ thing you’ve ever heard of. They’re trained from a very young age in experimental weaponry, in a branch of the army that technically doesn’t exist, if you catch my drift. You only bring a Kots into your mission if it is absolutely necessary, and if you don’t care how many civilians you end up killing. Victoria worked with this particular Kots and his predecessor a few times on missions, and those missions were the ones that really let her know there was corruption in her institution. There was a disillusioned Kots working with us as one of the leaders during the revolution. Or so we thought. He ended up ruining us as a double agent. If you ask me, there’s no such thing as a disillusioned Kots. They don’t have names for God’s sake, the military is literally their whole life. On the other hand, if one were to work on our side, it would be extremely valuable.”

“Do you think this one is legit?”

“Honey, I just know what I’ve seen, and I’ve never seen a Kots that wasn’t just an organic machine for the Anubian military.”

“The Captain trusts him.”

“And you can bet your @$$ that’s the only reason I’ve kept him here. Though now he might just be useful.”

“How so?”

“He’s probably the only person in the world that the Anubians want more than the Captain. We can negotiate a switch, maybe.”

“Let’s talk to Arturius first.”

Stella sighed.

“He seems pretty fond of Kots too, for some reason, but yeah, we should talk.”

They entered one of the many hospital rooms on the Nun where Kots was being held. He had perked up considerably since being medicated and was now strolling impatiently around the room smoking a pipe. Arturius left Stella to guard him and left the room with Cornelius.

“Kots is going to help us get the Captain back,” he said.

“But how can we trust him?”

“Do you know who he is?”

“Stella told me. I don’t see why we still have him around, quite frankly.”

“This Kots is different from the others. He has a brain, he’s human, despite everything they did to him. You of all people should appreciate that.”

“Didn’t you think that before, and then get betrayed at your weakest hour?”

Arturius looked away.

“This Kots is the reason there are no other Kots’. He killed them all. Nobody hates the Anubians like him. I hate to think what they did to him to cause that. They’re discontinuing the program because of him, you know.”

“What was all that back there, the Instigation and such, if that wasn’t a Kots mission?”

“It wasn’t his mission, it was meant to kill him.”

“They destroyed a city to kill one man?”

“You don’t understand the power of a Kots. He is the only one that can help us get the Captain back. We have to act fast. I don’t need to remind you that they have her as we speak.”

Cornelius looked inside the window at Kots. He was sticking his finger up the sink in his room, and watching the water explode out of it when it could no longer stand the pressure.

“I think he’s bored,” said Arturius. They opened the door.

“Are we ready to go?” said Stella. “I’ve transferred the fuel from the Nun to the Dragon. That way the four of us can take the Dragon while the others stay to fuel the Nun.”

They parted ways with Marie and Violet, and Stella sat down at the pilot’s seat of the Dragon.

“Now bear with me, I’ve only flown this thing once before-“

“Then let me do it,” said Arturius, “it used to be my ship.”

“Right.”

They switched places, and Arturius flew the Dragon back towards the storm cloud that marked the Anubian camp. The journey seemed agonizingly slow, but finally they reached the city.

“What are you waiting for,” said Stella, “free valet parking?”

They disembarked.

“I’ve put the ship under some very powerful cloaking,” said Kots, “and the same goes for us. They won’t be able to see or hear us as long as my finger stays on this button.”

He indicated a small device with a red button at the top.

“And now, we waltz in, get the Captain, and waltz back out. It’s that simple.”
“Is it,” said Stella, “why should we believe you?”

“I know where they’ve taken her. It’s where I was until just recently. Let me show you the way, and your Captain will be waiting for us.”

Stella drew her rifle and stuck it to Kots’ neck.

“You better %^$#in’ be right about that,” she said.

Kots led them through the camp, down numerous hallways, and into an interrogation complex. When an Anubian entered the Captain’s room, the four of them slipped in behind. The Captain lay looking dazed on a padded platform. The Anubian stuck a needle into her arm and left. Kots released the button, and the Captain’s eyes lit up. Kots placed a wristband around the Captain’s wrist and pushed down on the button again.

“She’s in the cloaking now,” he explained.

“How do you feel, sweetheart?” said Stella.

“Better, now that you’re all here,” said the Captain, “they stuck me with needles, drugged me, and asked me the same questions over and over, so really it wasn’t unlike a trip to hospital.”

They laughed.

“You can take that gun away from poor Kots now, Stella,” the Captain continued. Stella reluctantly holstered her gun. They helped the Captain to her feet and escorted her out of the camp, forming a square around her. They boarded the Dragon and flew off incognito.

“Well, that was quick,” said Violet upon their return.

“Yes, I think the most difficult part was the Captain’s backseat driving,” said Arturius.

“Thank you Kots,” said the Captain, “You’ve saved all of us today.”

“Captain,” said Stella, “we’re picking up a distress call from Isis, there’s trouble with Violet’s family.”

“What!” said Violet, “what’s wrong?”

“I can’t tell, it just says to come quickly, and it’s on the emergency frequency.”

“Hang on, I’m getting something too,” said Cornelius, looking at his communicator, “but it’s not from Isis, it’s here. Some old friends of mine are in trouble with a new gang that’s sprung up nearby.”

“Bad timing,” said Marie.

“Cornelius, take care of your friends, and we’ll answer the call and be back before you know it,” said the Captain. “There’s no reason that adventures should only happen one at a time, like they do in stories.”

“Are you sure?” said Cornelius.

“Obey your Captain,” said Stella, handing him his belongings, “even when it’s hard.”

{{Epilogue by Dane}}

Later, when alone:

Arturius gently took Victoria's arm and led her quietly through a back tunnel of the ship to a small lounge the two of them often conversed in.

"Captain... permission to speak freely..."

"Oh, drop the formalities. You merely wish to lecture me on the dangers of wandering alone and that I should never leave your side, is that right?" she snapped back at him in a manner similar to one mocking a sibling.

"You could have gotten yourself killed! What were you thinking?!? I TOLD you to watch yourself and to stay close to me in firefights. I'll have you kno-"

Victoria abruptly cut him off, rolling her eyes and letting a soft sigh escape her lips. "Arturius, I know you will always come for me. And if you'll remember, I've had quite a bit of military experience myself and have outranked you for quite some time now. Now please quiet your nerves. I'm fine."

He looked sullenly at her. "So you had to bring in the superiority card again. Why must we linger on that?"

"Hush now. It's time for us both to get some rest. Apologies for bringing that up, you know I don't mean it."

"Yes. I know. It just bothers me. As it always has." He gently kissed her cheek and bade her goodnight.

As he departed to his own quarters, Victoria grimaced slightly at the various scars of the day's adventure. She nodded slightly to herself, holding a grin tightly to her lips. Arturius. Never a man could she count on more than he; and with this parting thought she quietly resigned herself to her quarters.

Episode One

{{Written by Alina}}

“Fire at will.” Victoriana Regency, former Lieutenant General of the Anubian Army and captain of the Feisty Dragon, stared out the console window of her craft. Beside her, Cornelius Zydeco sent the command through to the main computer and readied the ship’s moderate defenses. Between them and slightly behind them, Arturius sat at the armaments console and selected his method of attack. Cornelius noticed the indication on the main console and turned around.

“Short range lasers? Just how close to them are you planning on getting, Arturius?”

“It’s the right choice,” said the Captain. “Our long range options won’t penetrate their defenses, the only way is to maneuver the ship between their shields and the walls of the craft. If we pilot the Dragon close enough to their shields, our shields should merge with theirs for a brief period of time, giving us a direct shot at their unprotected hull. It’s a long shot, but it’s all we can do.”

“But even if that works once, how can we do it to the nineteen other ships that the monitor is picking up?” Cornelius said.

“Hopefully, by then we’ll have backup. Place the shield strength at maximum, Cornelius, this is going to take a delicate touch.”

Cornelius made the adjustments and sat back in his seat.

“She’s in your hands now, Captain.”

The Captain furrowed her brow and turned the course of the Dragon directly into the oncoming fleet. The distance between their hull and that of the first Anubian Infiltrator narrowed further and further.

“We’re going to experience a little turbulence now,” said the Captain.

“A little?” said Cornelius. “Violet and Marie, I seriously recommend some seatbelts unless you’re cool with severe head trauma.”

Violet, who had been standing behind Arturius’ chair, now sat down and buckled up. Marie stopped pacing the deck and did the same.

“Impact in ten seconds,” Cornelius read off the monitor. “Five, four, three, two, one!”

There was an ear-wrenching crack of electricity, as when lightning strikes very close to one’s person, and suddenly the Dragon was in motion. The few things in the cockpit that weren’t bolted down soon were ricocheting off the walls and ceiling.

“Is that your coffee mug, Marie?” said Violet, narrowly dodging a projectile.
“Maybe,” said Marie.

The Captain clenched the controls tightly, then suddenly made a 90 degree turn so that the guns pointed directly at the Infiltrator’s hull.

“Now, Arturius!” she commanded.

Without a second’s hesitation, Arturius engaged the short-range lasers, and the Infiltrator took a direct hit. Cornelius switched the Dragon into reverse and the craft drifted away from the Infiltrator.

“You hit the fuel cells!” he said. “It’s paralyzed now, great aim!”

“If Arturius’ aim with a cannon is as true as it is with a bow, we’ve done much more than that,” said the Captain.

“You mean you were aiming for the modulator? That’s impossible, with all the turbulence we couldn’t have hit something so…” Cornelius noticed a red glow coming from the center of the Infiltrator.

“Oh my God we hit it. We have to get out of here.”

“Brace yourselves,” said the Captain. “I’m merging our shields with those of another Infiltrator. Since we’ve fused with an Infiltrator just now, our shields should be carrying trace amounts of their shields’ energy. That means that the next infiltrator’s shield is going to be more likely to accept our shield, and we can stay merged for longer. We can stay there until the explosion is over.”

“We can stay there for longer, maybe, but it’s not going to be any more pleasant,” said Cornelius. “Impact in ten seconds, brace yourselves.”

Again, the Dragon fused its shield with an Infiltrator, causing the piercing blast of energy and ensuing chaos. Outside the ship, the first Infiltrator collapsed in on itself, then exploded. The blast lasted only a few seconds, but the shrapnel continued to pelt the shield after its duration. Gradually, the intensity of the Dragon’s turbulence increased, and the infrastructure of the ship began to make groaning and rattling noises.

“The Infiltrator’s shields are starting to recognize that we’re foreign,” said Cornelius, “they’ll repel us soon, and then the shrapnel will hit us.”
“Hang in there,” said the Captain.

All of a sudden, the communicator began to play a familiar melody, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Suddenly, the sky was filled with Infiltrator debris, as one by one the remaining nineteen were destroyed. The Captain disengaged contact with their merged shield, and flew them out of range of the many explosions. Cornelius turned down the power on the shields to normal range.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to hear the Sound of Music,” he said.
“Initiate an airspace communication with the Nun,” said the Captain.

The Feisty Dragon and the Singing Nun made contact, and Cornelius opened the air channels. Stella entered the cockpit, and everyone got up from their seats to greet her. She moved her goggles from her eyes to her forehead and grinned widely.
“&^%* yeah! I didn’t even hit anyone this time!”

After saying their hellos, they moved from the cockpit to the main cabin of the ship. Although it was a mess from being so violently shaken, Marie soon had them all eating dinner. While the Captain, Arturius, and Violet delicately manipulated knives and forks, Stella wolfed down her food with her hands, one of which was still gloved.

“We’re low on fuel from running the shields so high,” said the Captain. “We need to refuel before attempting another mission.”

Stella nodded.

“Osiris isn’t far. The Nun can tow you there now.” She twisted a buckle on her glove and opened communication to her crew.

“Oy! Get our friends to Osiris you bunch of *#$5-@$$ed sons of fishes. If we’re not there by tomorrow morning, your @$$es are all going to hurt long into next week.”
Cornelius looked at her uncomfortably.

“Captain, why do you let her do that?” he said.

The Captain didn’t look up from her dinner plate.

“The way Stella runs her ship is different from mine. I think you’d best not criticize her judgment, seeing as she saved all of our skins earlier.”
“But I don’t understand how you can relate to each other at all. How did you ever have the opportunity to get this close?”

The Captain looked at Stella.

“We met under parallel circumstances,” she said.

“I’ll tell you the story,” said Stella. “It was several years ago now, but once upon a time your Captain was in the Anubian army.”

“Just like Arturius,” said Cornelius.

“Yep. They even went through Basic together. In the beginning, neither of them understood the corruption of the Anubians, and both were very dedicated to their professions. After Basic, they parted ways. Victoriana took a track to becoming an officer, and Arturius became an infantry private. Your Captain fought many battles on the side of the Anubians, and she distinguished herself so much that she rose through the ranks to become a Lieutenant General. It was about that time that she began to notice the level of corruption infused with the structure of the army. Missions were undertaken for the most unimportant reasons. One general wanted the resources of a certain planet, another started a crusade against the religion of another planet that bordered on genocide. A war was started with Osiris because two of the Generals were angered in a gambling dispute. Now you know Osiris because you grew up there, it’s a giant tangled mess of gangs. There are bad gangs, and really bad gangs, big ones and small ones, and a few that are almost palatable. That’s where I come in. I was a fairly high ranking member of a medium range, okay kind of gang. Unfortunately, that was the gang that got in trouble with the Anubians, and it was Victoriana’s job to hunt me down. She did a @%$& good job of it too. She had me cornered in the middle of nowhere in the Southern Swamps. She approached me with a loaded gun, and was about to fire, but I guess the sight of me made something click in her brain and conclude once and for all that what the army was doing was wrong, and that she didn’t want to go along with it any more. If they would sink so low as to kill a young, unarmed girl crouching in the reeds, she couldn’t associate with them anymore. She let me go that day, and I didn’t forget it. Now, years later, I began to have similar feelings about the gang I was in, that even if my gang was less deplorable than some of the others, it wasn’t really good. One day as I was pondering leaving the gang, I saw her in a bar fight against no less than five opponents. I recognized her, and to repay her for saving my life I helped her win that fight. I left my gang that day, though on pretty good terms, and we’ve been working together ever since.”

“Wow,” said Cornelius, “I understand what you mean by parallel circumstances now. But how did you meet up with Arturius again, and how did you meet Marie and Violet, and get this ship?”

“One thing at a time! Jesus! Well, the two of us stowed away on board an Isisian cruiser bound for Anubis, where Victoriana hoped to foster enough dissent in the military to initiate a revolution. It took us a few years to do it, but through a series of underground networks and a whole lot of blood, sweat and tears, we amassed enough revolutionaries for a moderate sized coup. Unfortunately, there were a few double agents put into all the wrong places, and with their foreknowledge of our attack plans we were hopeless. It came down to a final showdown between ourselves, a handful of loyal revolutionaries, and the whole strength of the Anubians in a cheap used shipyard. Now who should own the shipyard but a man who had been to Basic with your Captain, Artirius. Now Artirius had been in battles too, but had long since been discharged from the army because of a severe injury to his chest, which you can still see in the form of a scar. Since being discharged, he had fared somewhat poorly in the civilian world as he had no marketable skills. He had soon become disillusioned with Anubian society, and when the revolution came around he was one of the first to join its ranks. We exchanged a few shots with the Anubians, but in the end we had to abandon the fight in the very ship we sit in now. We’re all that’s left of that revolution now, but another one is in the works. As we gain more ships, we gain followers, crewmen, and officers. One day we’ll have a fleet of our own, and we can come out of the shadows.”

“But what about Violet? She’s not from Osiris or Anubis, how did you meet her?” said Cornelius.

“Well,” Stella continued, “it wasn’t long before the revolution made news on other planets, however hard the Anubians tried to suppress it. The contacts we made on other planets formed a sort of alliance that was willing to protect us from the Anubians in exchange for aiding them in various ways. The alliance gave us a distress call from the planet Isis saying that some of their royalty was in danger. The Captain and I were hesitant to accept this one, but you will never find a man more chivalrous than Arturius, and he made us come to the rescue. We saved miss Violet here, and stayed on Isis for a time to recuperate. By the time we decided to leave, Violet and Arturius were inseparable. It was so cute!”

Stella took the opportunity to pinch both of their cheeks without their consent.
“Since Violet was smarter and handier with a weapon than her parents would have us believe, we decided it was alright to have her on board with us. As for Marie, it’s something of a different story. We were on a mission on Osiris which took us undercover into a brothel. Not the most dignified mission, but definitely the most fun.”

Cornelius grimaced.

“That’s where we met Marie.”

“She was a…” Cornelius trailed off.

“I was a hooker cooker,” said Marie.

“She was the chef for the brothel,” Stella explained. “We had no intention of taking her with us, but she stowed away. We didn’t realize it until we were far from the planet. We smelled cookies coming from the kitchen, and when we came in we discovered that she had baked for us. She begged to stay and we couldn’t say no, especially to peanut butter and coconut cookies. She was with us for several missions, and she’s a great fighter. Then one day we went to refuel on Osiris. I’m familiar with a lot of the gangs there, and I’m able to use my connections to get us things we need. That day, however, we made a series of mistakes that got us in trouble with one of the newer gangs that I didn’t know about. Luckily, you did.”

“Deadly Steel,” Cornelius nodded, “It was quite the task taking them down. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

“So, what did you do before you joined up with us?” Violet asked.

“I was just an independent agent, trying to protect the few people on Osiris who weren’t a part of any of the gangs. It was hard work, but I had nothing else to do with myself. Those gangs killed some people very close to me, and I didn’t want anyone else to follow their fate. People fed me and kept me safe in gratitude.”

“Start from the beginning. How did you end up with a glowing arm, for example?”

“Oh, that. Well, I was born on a little independent asteroid colony owned by the TridentCo mining company. My whole family was essentially enslaved by the company, and I barely saw them at all. We worked in the mineral mines in exchange for store credit, with which we bought everything we had. When the wages went up, the prices of goods went up too, so we always just barely got by. One day, they took me away from the little asteroid where I lived and took me to the corporate headquarters on the pretense of my getting a better job. I don’t know whether my parents consented or not, because I haven’t seen them since. Anyway, instead of getting better jobs at corporate, me and the other selected miners were subjected to a series of experiments to try and maximize our mining abilities. We were injected with all kinds of chemicals, and underwent rigorous training and brainwashing ‘lessons.’ The worst part was at night, though. In our drug-induced sleep, they would perform surgeries on us to implant us with tools and weapons that could be activated with our brains. One of those is my ulna, a bone in my forearm that I can make glow green. One night I skipped my medication just because I was curious, and only pretended to sleep. When they came in for my surgery, I realized what was going on and I tried to escape. They held me down and got some drugs into my system, but I escaped. I commandeered a small shuttle and flew it away as best I could. I fought the drugs for as long as possible, but I fell asleep at the controls, and ended up crash landing on an unknown planet, which turned out to be Osiris. I was taken in by an elderly couple, Jacob and Elizabeth Coverley, and they taught me all about life. Real life, anyway, not what I had had before. Then one day they were killed by one of the gangs, and I devoted myself to stopping things like that from happening again. I used my embedded tools to take down several of the worst gangs in my area. It took me a long time to learn to use my tools, because I hadn’t finished the training. I still have no idea how many there are, or how to use all of them. When I met you guys, I didn’t feel as weird, what with all of you being as unusual as I was. It was only natural to come with you. Then I became the engineer, and we went through all those missions, we got the Nun, and here we are. I don’t know if I’m abandoning my planet or my family, or where I belong, or who I am. There are so many unknowns.”

“All of us had to leave behind something we cared about when we got on this ship, sweetie,” said Stella. “All of us have seen corruption at the top, and stared it in the face.”

“When a tower becomes too heavy at the top, it will fall down,” said Arturius.

“I’ll drink to that,” said the Captain with a smile. They lifted their glasses.
“Now I think it’s time to get some sleep,” she continued, “Tomorrow, Osiris, and who knows what awaits us there.”