Fallen From GloryChapter 5It was about six in the morning, ship-wide standard time, when Missy, the young raven girl, woke from her slumber. Taking a look around after rubbing the sleep from her eyes she noticed the room didn’t smell so bad any more and the stain from Rikket’s spilled drink had been cleaned. Thinking of the cat in question she looked over to where he had been placed by Rugger the night before, but he was gone. Looking over from the bed she glanced over to where the bathroom was on the other side of the room, there was a thick layer of steam puffing away from under the door, she could only assume that the captain in question was in the shower getting ready for his day. She thought for a moment of joining him and getting a giggle or two out of teasing him but then decided against it and choose to wait for her turn rather then tempting the devil.
Sitting up from her place under the blankets the young raven pulled herself to the edge of the bed, then kicking her feet back and forth as she looked around the room for anything interesting or just something to do. The room itself was rather plain, even if it seemed to have better equipment and amenities then other rooms she’d seen, it was still on the boring barren side by her standards, in her room alone she had to holodisplay TVs and other such distractions, however on the table at the end of the room she soon saw a plate sitting under a cover, some breakfast most likely from the smells wafting from the plate in question. Hopping out of the bed to investigate said plate she lifted the cover and found that it was breakfast, scrambled eggs, some hash browns, and flapjacks with butter and maple syrup. Licking her beak the young girl sat down in one of the few chairs at the table and grabbed her fork and the butter knife.
Her first strike was the flapjacks, cutting a big chunk on the light and fluffy cakes, then stuffing it in her mouth, cooing with delight as she only slightly struggled with the large piece she had stuffed into her mouth. She looked up as the door to the bathroom slid open and Rikket walking out in his usual attire with a few additions, what was clearly a ballistic proof vest dressed up with some pockets and other items rested over his usual dark blue short sleeved shirt, he also had a pair of black pants made from what looks to be denim or perhaps a material closely related to it; it was surely a far cry from the admirals uniform that she had been told he use to wear in the past. The cat in question looked over to the young raven who was still in heaven as she was eating the fluffy flapjacks and smiled as she waved at him, Rikket then asking before turning to what looked like a locker of some kind,
“Enjoying your breakfast Missy?”
The young bird nods with a smile, a little bit of syrup dripping down the side of her beak as she tried to talk but then remembering her manners choose to simply give him a thumbs up. He smiles then produces some kind of key, an old fashion key used back in the twentieth century on earth, the key itself seemed to be made of iron or steel, the young bird not knowing the difference in the metals. He then says to her as he unlocks the locker,
“Yeah, I had to ask Rayner to make you something more vegetarian, he tried to load your plate up with bacon and sausage exclaiming that ‘if she won’t eat the fish then she’ll eat pork for sure’.”
The young bird giggles as she finishes the last of her flapjacks then notices what was in the locker the cat had been fiddling with. Fixing a leather belt around his pants she saw a pair of pistol holsters one on each hip, then placed inside of said holsters were a pair of pistols, state of the art too, she’d never seen such weapons beyond the little toys some of her friends played with as children. Setting down her fork she asks,
“Are those . . . Real?”
He nods then pulling another weapon from the locker, a new age sword modeled after the katana made from metals she could not recognize, the blade itself had a dark red color to it and the handle was another metal pure white wrapped with time tested leather, sheathing said sword he then slung it over his shoulder and onto his back and fastened it’s belt tightly around his chest. Looking over his shoulder Rikket could almost feel the fear filling the young girl, the fork she had once again picked up was chattering against the plate as she shook a little. The old cat sighed a little, the idea of combat was normal for him, being a ship captain and all, however he had forgotten this young girl was very pampered and had never been anywhere near a fight, let alone so close to the possibility of death. He turned around after taking one more item from the locker, closing it then sitting down next to her to put an arm around her shoulder and says,
“I know you must be scared Missy.”
She nods then forces a mouthful of eggs into her mouth, looking up as the old cat says,
“However we can’t afford to beat around the bush here, for some reason, someone wants your family dead, and yes that includes you.”
She nods gripping onto his arm as fear crept over her, then captain then resuming,
“You don’t need to worry though, this is the very reason your father sent you to me, if anyone wants to hurt you, they’ve got to go through the Gun Singer herself, and her fighting forces too.”
Then pulling her to meet his eyes he says,
“And then even if the guns of the Singer go silent and all of my crew lays dead, they’ll have to go through me to get you. No one will hurt you, That I swear on my life.”
Kissing her forehead the young black raven nods, having calmed down a little, she then watches as he fastens something to her wrist, he then says,
“Should the ship be boarded this will protect you from weapons fire.”
The young girl asks looking at the device that had been fastened to her wrist,
“What does it do?”
He smiles and takes her fork and gently tosses it at her, however it gets repelled and is then tossed across the room then explaining,
“It’s a standard issue repulse guard, it puts out a magnetic field the will repel most solid projectiles and disrupt most energy based projectiles, you should only turn it on if I tell you to do so.”
She nods then watches as the cat shows her how to do so.
~some time later~ After having taken her shower and gotten dressed for the day, the young raven had decided to stay close to her protector, being her safety blanket as he was she refused to be separated from him and as such was sitting in the cats lap humming a song as he was sitting in his chair on the bridge. It was just little more then an annoyance to him, it certainly didn’t keep him from doing his job, but did get a little annoying for example when he’d need to get up and she’d refuse to be moved. Regardless things where quiet, nothing on the scanners and nothing going on in the ship itself. The ship itself was on high alert, armed members of the ships combat teams guarding every vital room of the ship and even then more assigned to patrol the entirety of the ship. Looking to give his captain a break, Rikket’s first officer, Tyler joined the crew on the bridge, the tiger holding a digital art pad and a matching marker which could be set to any color the user wanted; offering the items to the young raven with a smile saying,
“Missy, I’ve got an idea, why don’t you draw a picture for your father, I’m sure he’d love to get something from you.”
She smiled ear to ear quickly accepting the items then rushing over to an inactive console to draw on. Going about drawing her picture left Rikket to look up at his officer, giving him a nod before saying,
“Thanks Tigger, not that I mind her being close but my legs have been asleep for some time now.”
The other cat nods then takes a seat at a console directly to his left. Things where quiet the bulk of the day, the only real ruckus being the old chef Rayner, who had a minor hissy fit when he was asked by the captain to stop trying to force meat products on the VIP. If you where to ask any of the crew on the bridge they might have said it was one of the most boring shifts they’d have in some time, with nothing to do and no where to go the ship was basically idling though the sector they were in, and it would likely stay that way till they had a reason to go somewhere, no need to waste jump fuel right?
~ later that night at the crew rotation ~Looking to his young charge was the captain, Rikket holding the young raven who had fallen asleep about ten minutes ago, her light snores seemed to be contagious as the rest of the bridge hands where exhausted, with the ship being on high alert they had been on edge all day, and that stress of a possible attack had drained them, the cat himself was a little tired as well but looked to take care of his crew first. Grabbing his handheld com device he then said as his device connected to the ships on board com system,
“All hands this is the Captain, night rotation please report to your stations, day rotation you’re dismissed once your replacements arrive. Tigger, report to the bridge for night shift command.”
After the announcement it takes a few minutes till the night shift crew has fully reported to their stations and Tyler had replaced Rikket on the bridge leaving the cat to care for his charge. Taking her back to his quarters, he gently changed the young bird into her Pjs and placed her in his bed where she instantly rolled over and wrapped herself in the blankets. With that out of the way he then went to one of his cabinets and took out a bottle of what looked to be rum and a small shot glass. Taking a seat at his table with the bottle and the small glass, he pours a small amount of the alcohol into the glass then says under his breath as he looked to the bird in his bed,
“Cheers Missy, here’s to your safety.”
He then knocked back the glass and drank his drink in an instant. Pouring another glass but not drinking it, the cat then leaned back in his chair, looking at his hololog and glancing at reports sent to him by his officers. Once half way through the reports, his picks up his glass once more, and ran his finger around the rim a few times before downing it. Setting the glass down once more he looked to the bed, the young raven still sound asleep, as he’d hope she would stay, however fate had other ideas. The moment he turned away from the bed to pour his third and most likely last shot of rum the ship shook violently as something impacted the shields. The young bird woke with a scream as sirens started blaring and more shells impacted the shields protecting the ship, an automated messaged then playing over the alarms saying,
“Red Alert, all hands report to battle stations.”
Tossing his glass, Rikket rushes over to the terrified young bird, scooping her up and leaving the room behind. The crew was rushing through the corridors of the ship as Rikket made his way to the bridge where he heard his first officer shouting,
“Bring the ship about, ready the first salvo!”
The tiger then shouts before four massive booms are heard,
“Fire!”
The shells leaving the ships cannons are seen streaking past the carbon windshields of the bridge and impacting one of three ships attacking the Singer. Rikket then asks as he sets the terrified bird in his chair,
“What’s going on?!”
Looking to his captain the tiger says forgoing his typical salute,
“Three ships jumped right in on top of us sir, two destroyed class vessels backed up by a frigate class.”
Nodding the Rikket asks as he glances at a console,
“Are they broadcasting any identification signatures?”
Shaking his head no Tigger responds as a second volley was fired from the singer,
“Negative, ID’s are black across the board, but I’ve no doubt that it’s the assassins sent after Melissa sir.”
Slamming his fist on the console Rikket asks to himself,
“Damn it all, how did they find us so quickly, we’ve been masking our signatures since we picked up Missy.”
Shaking his head the tiger turns around as more rounds impact the singers shields, one of the crew members shouting,
“Shields at seventy five percent coherency sir!”
Nodding Rikket pulls up a holographic display of the current field as his ace pilot replaced her replacement with a slight yawn but then pulling a pair of goggles over her eyes that connected to the tactical systems to give her the most accurate information at that point in time, the captain then shouting after glancing over the field data,
“The destroyers will most likely try to bored us using the fire from that damn frigate as cover, we’ll need to be ready for that!”
Alarms continue to ring out as the ship is pounded by another volley of weapons fire from assassin vessels, Rikket then commanding as the young raven stumbled over and clung to his leg,
“Mai, Bring us about to, Zero mark six eight four, by zero mark nine eighteen.”
The red fox panda at the helm nods shouting “aye captain“, moving the ship to the designated coordinates narrowly avoiding another volley from the frigate, the destroyers then attacking with smaller caliber energy cannons, Rikket then saying as the ship got into position,
“Gunnery crews prepare for the first chorus.”
There is a moment before a response is given be the gunnery hands reporting ready, Rikket then shouting,
“FIRE!”
Then a synchronized volley of weapons fire rings out from the ships guns, almost like a rhythm to a song, impacting the destroyer closest to the ship, quickly ripping though said ships shields and causing a large amount of damage to the hull. The young raven looked amazed as she heard the ships guns continue to ring out its song then looking over to the white tiger who says as he picks her up,
“What did you expect, the ship is named the Gun Singer for a reason, and there’s no need to worry the captain is one of the best strategic minds this era has to offer, he wasn't just given the title of vice admiral after all.”
Looking over to the cat in question the raven looks on as he continued to order his crew, ordering the helm through a set of cords after set, and continuing to order different attack patters each one rightly named a chorus, as each volley sounded like a part of a song the ship itself was singing as a whole. It wasn’t till Rikket had ordered his fifth attack did things change, the crew cheered as one of the hostile destroyers went up in a huge explosion, Rikket then saying aloud,
“Well done, but don’t let up, still two hostiles to deal with!”
Now the young bird knew why her father had trusted her safety to him and his crew, watching the cat in command was like watching a master chest player massacre a novice the other side didn't stand a chance even out numbered as the Singer was, his every move was precise and calculated and his every shot found its mark, and slowly she became less afraid even relaxing to the point where she started kicking her feet back and forth cheerfully and cheering every time the crew did. However things suddenly changed for the worse, eight massive shots suddenly violently shook the ship, one of the hands shouting as the volley subsided,
“Sir! Shields at twenty five percent coherency!”
The cat looked dumbfounded for the first time in his military career looking over as his first officer shouted,
“Captain, it’s a battleship class vessel, the damn thing just jumped is right behind us!”
Using a holoscreen to pull up visuals of the hostile ship in question, Rikket then shouts holding up his com device,
“ALL HANDS, BRACE FOR IMPACT!”
The screen showing the huge battleship firing again, pounding the Gun Singer with a relentless volley that after several hits found its mark making the ship jerk violently as several explosions found their way to the hull. Rikket says as he removes himself from the position he took over the young bird who had been thrown to the floor by the blast,
“Who the hell are these guys?!?”
Looking over he saw where one of his crew hand been monitoring the shields the crew member in question out cold having slammed his head into his console during the attack. Checking on his crew member, he then glances at the readings, which showed that the shields where gone. Grabbing his com device, he then says after quickly changing channels,
“Mayday, mayday, this is Captain Cornelius Rikket, of the M.B.C Gun Singer, to any and all alliance ships within range of this transmission. We’re under attack from unknown hostile forces, and require immediate reinforcements over!”
There is static for a few moments before a voice responds,
“Roger that Gun Singer, Alliance ships inbound to your location.”
Rikket says as he tends to another of his crew,
“Be warned alliance fleet, hostile forces have a battleship class vessel, repeat, Hostiles have a battleship over!”
After hearing the conformations from the other side of the call, Rikket then looks over as his first officer says,
“the remaining destroyer is inbound, the frigate and battleship have ceased fire.”
Rikket nods then says,
“Looks like they want to make sure the job is done in person.”
Looking as his officer nods Rikket then says as he holds up his com device once again,
“Medial teams report to the bridge, and Rugger I need those shields back, work your magic my friend.”
The turtle shouts from his side of the conversation,
“Would you like a side of fries with that order? I’ll get the shields back just give me a few moments!”
Nodding Rikket then says,
“All hands prepare for hostile boarders!”
With the orders given, the combative teams dash about the ship as the destroyer vessel finally docked, a loud slam echoing as he reached its destination. As the teams readied for a face to face battle, Rikket and Tyler where taking the young bird to ships safe room attached to the war room, the only section of the ship that in the worst case scenario could survive adrift for several days outside of the few escape pods on board. Tyler couldn’t help but ask as they finally reached their destination,
“Why go through the difficulty of boarding us? That battleship could tear the Singer to pieces, that would still kill the girl.”
Nodding Rikket then says as he places Missy down in the safe room,
“We’re dealing with assassins here, someone wants Missy dead, if they just blew up the ship she could survive in an escape pod, someone wants to make sure she doesn’t make it and the best way to do that, is personally.”
The young cat nods readying his weapons for a fight, Rikket reading himself as well drawing his pistols, then looking back to the raven girl, all of her confidence having been drained away leaving her a terrified mess of panic and dread. The captain tries to comfort her saying as he looked over his shoulders as a few more members of his crews combat teams joined them in the room,
“Do not fear Melissa, no one will hurt you as long as I still stand.”
The rest of the crew agree in unison, and within moments the ships automated warning system started calling in a robotic voice over and over again as an alarm siren started
blaring loudly,
“Intruder Alert!”
Within moments the sounds of combat and weapons fire echoed thought the ship as the invaders clashed with the ships combat teams. Locked inside of the sealed room, stood the young raven girl, cowering in a corner as she heard the sounds of battle and death for the first time in her life with only the flashing of the red siren lights to comfort her and it was only a matter of time till she heard something she didn’t want to hear, the sound of gun fire from the room right outside hers, whoever the invaders where, they were now directly in conflict with the captain. The cat in question was forced to back peddle as one attacker charged him, a blood thirsty look in the males eyes as his weapon flew through the air. The cat quickly ended to fool, placing his pistol right in-between the hyenas eyes and pulling the trigger, but was instantly knocked off of his feet as yet more attackers surged into the room, however one thing the captain and his crew stationed throughout the ship instantly noticed was something Rikket’s first officer stated as he brought the new attacker to a bloody end,
“These idiots are insane, they’re just rushing head first into our forces.”
The cat agreed with a nod as he stood and spat blood on the floor, his officer going on to say,
“Its like they don’t care about their own well being, they only want to kill people!”
The cat then says with a snarl as more foes stood in the door way, the few crew members still alive with them backing up to protect their captain,
“Then if they’re so ready to die, then I’ll be happy to oblige them!”
Holstering one gun, he then drew his sword with his now free right hand, and lead the charge into the new group of insane attackers, with a grace and agility that surely you’d only see from a cat, dodging blades and projectiles alike as he blasted with his left and cut with his right. His first officer was no slouch either his skills in battle were extraordinary and precise, not one attacker survived his tactically precise shots, even going as far as placing a round right over the captains shoulder and into the skull of a human the older cat had not seen yet. The battle went back and forth as the well trained troops of the Gun Singer clashed with the absolutely insane assassins boarding the ship, honestly the captain was forced to spill more blood that night then he ever did before in his life, the madmen just kept coming like a plague of locus till finally the destroyer they came from was emptied not a soul left aboard. The crew managed to force the now abandoned vessels off of the Gun Singers hull dooming the abandoned vessel to drift for now, however it was not yet over, the captain watched as both the battleship and the frigate closed in obviously getting ready to board the ship themselves, however at that moment friendly reinforcements arrived from the SAC guard base that was stationed about two systems away, totaling about five cruises and three battleships, said ships then opening fire on the unknown attackers, the battle was short however, the overwhelming firepower of the alliance ships quickly managed to destroy the frigate as the battleship made its escape.
In the moments after the battle ended and as the crew recovered from their experience of the battle itself, they then went about cleaning up, the captain thanking the alliance fleet for their timely arrival and asking them to give his regards to their commander, afterwards he went to check on his charge, the young raven who was still locked away inside of the room he had put her in. Once the door was opened the first thing he heard was a horrified scream, the young girl fearing that It was one of the assassins coming to finish the job, however upon seeing the old captain she jumped to her feet and ran over to him with tears in her eyes, crying aloud as he picked her up and comforted her. After she calmed down she looked on as the cat gave her a once over, she was bleeding a little from the few scrapes and scratches she had, however he did note that she was holding her left arm, and looking closer it seemed that she had somehow been grazed by a stray round that had pierced the safe rooms wall, he intended to take her to the medical bay to get her looked at but that would have to be later, for now with the battle behind them fatigue claimed the young raven who had fallen asleep leaning against her vaunted protector’s leg. Looking to his officer, the younger cat said as he watched his captain pick up the young girl,
“Not to worry sir, I’ll take things from here, you should get her to bed.”
The older cat nods carrying the young raven back to his room, where he was sure she’d be safe till she woke in the morning. However he knew that he wouldn’t be getting any sleep tonight, there was to much to do and to many questions to ask, and he intended to find out the answers to those questions.
~End of chapter~