Fallen From Glory
Chapter 8
There was a heavy thud as the Gunsinger docked with the station know as MercBay, the go to station if you needed a job outside of the Solar Alliance. Captain Rikket was getting ready to go onto the station to look for a job or two for his ship to perform, the ships funds having been near depleted from the cost of the repairs the singer needed. His first stop a small coffee shop in the station, it was his favorite of his and was owned by a friend of his, whenever he was here he always got a cup and with the young raven on his heels the cat left the ship in the hands of his first mate and went aboard. The first thing the young girl noticed was the people around her she may not have been on many space stations in her short life but still this one was the most . . . Unique. What set this station apart from the few Solar Alliance stations she’d seen was the people on it, the people on this station looked gruff, some haggard and several looked like they’d shoot you just for looking at them funny, some of them frightened her making her cling to the captains shirt as she followed him into the station. The cat took a deep breath in as he reached his first destination the small coffee shop and once inside he was greeted by a male, human with almost unnaturally bright red hair, the man saying as he saw Rikket walk in,
“Hey Rikket come in buddy, take a seat I’ll get you a cup of joe.”
The cat did just that, giving the man a high five as he walked past, the young raven almost surprised that the captain would use such an informal greeting but then again she didn’t know to much about the cat as a person so she thought nothing of it. The pair sat down at a table near the counter, the man with the bright red hair asking as he made the cats coffee,
“So Rick, who’s the little one? Seems to have a few to many feathers to be your kid.”
The cat smiled a little then responding as he rubbed the girls head,
“She’s my godchild, I’m taking care of her while her father is indisposed.”
The man nods then asking as he came to set Rikket’s Coffee on the table,
“So you thirsty? We’ve some nice teas on the menu.”
The girl nodded asking for a menu which she was quickly given one at which point she browsed what they had to offer and quickly choosing a raspberry tea. The man returned to the counter where everything was set up getting the girls tea and returning saying as he set her tea down in front of her,
“Here you go little one, I hope you enjoy it.”
The girl nods and takes a drink of her tea the man then taking a seat looking to the cat, the red haired man then asking,
“So Rick, what brings you out to MercBay?”
Rikket sets down his cup with a nod saying as he drank his mouthful of coffee,
“I’m looking for a job, my funds are running a little light at the moment, had to get the Singer repaired a little while ago, If I don’t get more money soon I’ll have to pay my crew out of my own pocket. So Frank, you heard of any good jobs lately?”
Frank rubs his chin a little thinking of anything he had heard, then replaying as he set his hand back on the table,
“Well, I have heard of some merchants that need a load of cargo shipped, also of some suits that need a ship escorted but their rather low paying jobs, or require a ship with a rather large cargo capacity other then that I’ve not heard of anything suited for you and your ship Rick sorry.”
The cat nods saying as he reached over to pat then mans shoulder,
“Not a problem, its still something to go on.”
The man nods looking over as he saw more people coming in,
“Well looks like I’ve more people to tend to, I’ll talk to you later Rick.”
The cat nods going back to his coffee as the red haired man Frank went back to his work quickly greeting the new people. The raven girl looked around as she drank her tea then back to the cat who was enjoying his coffee, the cat then asking as he finished his coffee,
“So how’s the tea Missy?”
The girl nods with a smile saying as she grabbed the handle on her cup,
“Its pretty good.”
The cat nods then saying as he set his cup down on the table once again, the cup now empty,
“Alright well lets get ready to go, finish you tea.”
The girl nods drinking her last mouthful then watching as a girl from behind the counter came by to pick up their cups, Missy then followed Rikket to the counter where he quickly paid for their drinks with his hololog swiping it in front of the register, the pair turning as they heard Frank saying goodbye from the counter, Rikket returning with the same. Once outside Missy asks as she looks up to the cat,
“So where are we going now?”
The cat responds as he looked down to her,
“I’ve got a few places that we can look into jobs at, just follow me and stay close this station gets some pretty rough types here.”
The girl nods then following after the captain as he left the coffee shop behind. She followed the captain to several places to inquire into jobs for a mercenary ship, but the few jobs they had come across where either not suited for a ship like the singer or just paid to little to be worth the risk in the cats mind and thusly he refused the jobs. It was around noon when something finally came up that caught the cats eye, Rikket and Missy had sat down for some lunch when they where approached by an alien female, a tiny little thing a few inches shorter then Missy with blue skin with long dark yellow hair, the female speaking in a language the raven didn’t know but apparently the cat did. Missy then asking as she poked Rikket’s arm,
“What is she saying?”
Rikket says with a smile as he turned to her,
“Oh sorry, she says she is here on behalf of her employer, she says he has heard of me being on station and would like to hire us for a job.”
The Raven girl nods looking on as the cat responded to the tiny alien girl in her tongue, said female then giving a bow and seeing the two where done with their meals asked for them to follow her. The pair after disposing of their trash followed the tiny alien girl till she led them to a rather meeting place, her employer was in a private sound proof booth to the side of the area. Once the girl had opened the door the cat and his charge went in quickly greeted by the tiny alien’s employer, a Husky morph who said as the cat sat down,
“Ah you must be captain Rikket, I’ve heard of you, please have a seat.”
The cat nodded taking a seat in the booth, the cat then asking as he got right to the point,
“So I was told by your aid outside that you had a job for me, what can I help you with?”
The husky nods then saying as he slid a few documents to the cat, Rikket quickly looking at them as the dog morph said,
“Yes I do have a job for you if you’re interested, My name is Nathan and I’m in charge of colonization efforts on the outer rim of Alliance territory for a private organization. You need not worry we’ve been approved by the SAS for rights to the planet in question so don’t have to worry about the legality of our operation.”
The cat nods then asks as he glances at a few more of the reports,
“So why does your organization require a battle cruiser for colonization efforts?”
The dog morph nods then handing Rikket more files saying as the cat looked at the new files, what looks to be reports of battle damage and other such reports,
“Things have been going smoothly up until two months ago when a small time pirate band got word of our operation and started blockading our shipping lane. They demanded a huge sum as tolls for our ships passing through what they call their space, when the higher ups for my organization refused they started attacking our ships, the damage as you can see has been substantial, the loss of life alone has been high.”
The cat nods as he looks over more reports then asking,
“So why hire me? This seems like the kind of thing the Alliance should handle.”
The husky nods then replying,
“We did go to them first, however they don’t have any units in the region that they could mobilize against such a small band of pirates, though they said they would but it would take a few months for them to get approval from head quarters it seems. We’ve already lost two ships to these marauders we can’t wait for Solar Command to approve ships to deal with it.”
Rikket nods finally setting the reports down Missy looking at some pictures of the planet they where trying to colonize as the cat asked,
“So these pirates, what would I be looking at?”
The husky nods then replies in turn,
“So far we have reports of the pirates have at least one cruiser class ship and three destroyer class ships however and this is the part where it gets hairy, they also have a carrier class vessel which has at least four squadrons of striker type fighter craft and two squadrons of bomber type fighter craft.”
Rikket nods saying with a nod,
“That is quite a threat, that carrier alone would be able to destroy a few ships, combine that with support the a cruiser and a frontal assault from the destroyers supported by strike craft, and it would be a tough fight even for the Singer.”
The husky morph nods then asks as he accepts the files back,
“It has been troubling the last few weeks, our workers on planet have yet to receive supplies in some time and our work has all but ground to a halt. So captain, what do you think, can you help us?”
Rikket thinks about it for a moment, then says,
“Before I say anything, I have a few questions, first what would this job pay?”
Nodding, knowing this question would come up sooner or later the husky says as he bring up his hololog,
“Our organization is willing to pay a substantial sum for anyone who can rid us of these pirates, I’ve even been authorized to pay up to six thousand upfront, also we’ll pay the cost of fuel and also cover the cost of the use of the warp relay.”
The two go back and forth talking money till a final price is agreed upon, that being the six thousand up front and twenty four more when the pirates where no longer a threat, plus all expenses and any repairs that may be needed as a result of battle. With the deal agreed to by both Rikket and the husky said morph then said standing from his seat,
“Well then shall we go meet the other captain we’ve hired to aid you in this job?”
The cat nods saying as he stood Missy quickly following suit,
“I was just about to ask if you had any other ships to fight these pirates with.”
The Husky nods then saying as he opened the door on the private booth and leading the way out, quickly joined by his alien assistant,
“Yes we realize that this task is no small order and in no means a job for one ship, our personal fleet consist of two destroyer class vessels but that’s all we have so we went looking to hire mercenary ships such as yours to complement our forces. Lets go find the other captain we hired.”
The Cat nodded in agreement following the Husky morph and his tiny alien assistant the two leading the way to meet the other captain. The trek was a short one the suit and the alien led the cat and the girl to a bar where the second captain was inside. The second captain in question was quickly found, a human looking woman with long dark green hair, but that was here the human ended, her eyes where a solid light green with feline like pupils, The husky saying as he introduced the two captains,
“Captain Rikket, I’d like to introduce you to Captain Jessa, Captain of the M.C. Wild Wind.”
The young woman shook the cats hand then said as she stood finishing her drink,
“I know who you are, Cornelius Rikket, Captain of the Gun Singer right, I got to say its an honor an honor getting the chance to fight alongside of a bright tactical mind like yourself.”
The cat nodded shaking her hand saying in return as the lot of them got ready to leave, the husky paying for the second captains drinks,
“I’ve never heard of the Wild Wind, what type of ship is she?”
The woman says with a proud look on her face,
“She’s a carrier class ship, I think you’ve been told why this job would need one.”
The cat nods before hand not sure how he was going to deal with the pirate strike craft when it came down to it, Rikket then asking,
“I see, tell me what is the capacity of your ship?”
The woman responds as they walk along heading for the docking ring,
“The wild wind has four total squadrons, three strike class fighters and one bomber class fighter.”
The cat nods thinking about how he could use them in the coming battles, and while the cat was deep in thought Missy asked as she looked up to the female captain asking once she get her attention,
“Excuse me, captain Jessa, can I ask you just what you are?”
The woman nods with a laugh then says,
“I get that question more often then you’d think, I’m a half breed, my mother was human and dad was a tabby morph, look at these.”
The woman pulls her cloak to the side showing off her orange and white tail running down her backside, then a pair of feline ears that sat on the top of her head under a hat, she then continues as she puts her hat back on,
“I tend to keep them both covered when I’m in a bar like that, to much of an invitation to wandering hands and other such drunken groupers.”
The girl nods watching the woman’s tail as they walked Rikket then asking as they finally made it to the docking ring,
“So when do we leave?”
The husky says as they walk on,
“The sooner the better, things will only get worse if we delay any longer.”
The cat nods then asks,
“Do you have a ship at the station or will you need a ride?”
The husky shakes his head saying as they finally arrived at the docking platforms,
“That would be the ladder, me and my assistant took a transport ship here, would either of you two captains have a spare room?”
Rikket nods then says,
“The Gun Singer has a few V.I.P rooms open, you can stay there till we arrive if you wish.”
The husky nods in agreement, Rikket then turning to his fellow captain saying to the woman,
“We should get our ships ready to leave, contact me once your ship is ready to make way.”
The woman nods then leaves to get to where her ship was docked at Rikket then saying to the husky morph and the tiny alien,
“If you two will follow me, I’ll show you to the Gun Singer.”
The pair nod and follow Rikket and Missy to the Singer, an A.I voice saying once Rikket was on the ship,
“Captain Rikket has returned to the ship.”
Rikket then says as he picks up his com device,
“All hands, get ready to make way, we leave asap.”
With that Rikket then says as he turns to the husky and the alien,
“If you two will follow me I’ll show you to your quarters.”
The husky nods following Rikket as he show them to one of the V.I.P. rooms after which he showed them to the mess and introduced them to the chief in charge of said place. The crew of the Gun Singer made ready to leave and about an hour later they got contacted by the Wild Wind, Captain Jessa letting them know they where ready to go as well and with that Rikket said taking his seat on the bridge,
“Alright, lets set our course to the nearest warp platform**.”
With that both ships made ready for a jump to the nearest warp platform said trip taking about two hours but once at said station the Husky returned to the bridge as a man from the platform got in contact with the Gun Singer asking for payment and destination,
“I’ll be paying for this vessel and for the M.C. Wild Wind, we’ll be needing to go to the relay at Doversystem.”
The man confirmed the destination at which the husky paid the station with his hololog, Rikket then saying as his com device tuned to both his ship and that of the wild wind,
“All hands of the Gun Singer and the Wild Wind, prepare for a warp jump.”
Missy asked as Rikket sat in his chair said girl being told to join him,
“What’s going on?”
The cat says with a grin as he pressed a button making seatbelts cross over their front side,
“We’re about to go really, really fast.”
In minutes both ships reported ready for the jump a person from the platform head saying over the ships intercom,
“Destination set, pathway cleared, Dover station ready to receive jumps, all hands brace yourselves.”
There is a loud sound of an electrical discharge as an energy field is emitted from the platform which envelopes both ships the same voice from before saying as the electrical sound got louder
“Jump in five, four, three, two, one.”
From the bridge of the Gun Singer a white light shone from the outside and instantly the ship was shot from the relay in a bright flash, if anyone watching from the outside blinked they’d have missed it. With the jump in progress both crews got ready for the job to come, not sure what to expect from the pirates they’d be facing, and a certain young bird terrified by how fast the ship was now traveling at this being her first warp jump, Rikket laughing a little as she clung to his chest.
~end of chapter~
Author notes **
*Warp Jump platforms*
These large stations are set up across the galaxy to propel ships at speeds up to 12x faster then a standard ship engines can produce, used mainly to get from one side of the galaxy to the other these relays are usually expensive to use and are only used when the destination for a ship is to far to reach by normal jumping means. so far a total of 12 stations are set up across the galaxy all sponsored by the solar alliance
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