He’d been expecting this for a while now. She’d once promised that she would murder a world for him. A particularly disturbing promise, considering her capabilities, but at the time it had just sounded like a protective mom.
When the door opened, and he could see her standing there in her armor deliberately fashioned to look as if someone had formed bone into armor plates, especially the skull of something just big enough to form around a helmet….
He smiled, and rose to his feet. “Well, mom. I’d like to thank you for the rescue… even if me needing it is your fault.”
The figure stopped right at the door… “..My fault? How could that… what’s wrong with your arm?”
He blinked. He’d barely done anything and she’d already realized something was wrong. “Broken. I…”
“I’m gonna break every one of these fuckers limbs and then stick them all in a simulation of getting…” He was reasonably certain that if he didn’t stop her, she was going to start down a long list of how she would make people suffer for daring to touch her ‘baby boy’.
“I broke it myself while killing a traitor. A crew-member who was on my ship because you insisted I couldn’t do this alone, and she froze up my restrictor suit. I had to break one of the arms and stab her with the support strut.”
She stopped. “....You… broke off part of your restrictor frame… and stabbed her to death with it!?”
For a moment she just stared at him; then abruptly stepped forward, wrapping him in a hug. “I always knew you had it in you! Mommy’s little boy!”
Kyle gave her an awkward one-armed hug, glad that he had the nerve block in place, and wondering what further damage this was doing to the broken limb. And also extremely embarrassed at the fact there were witnesses to this atrocity.
She released him, shaking her head. “Well. We need to get you onboard and get out of here. Honestly, a broken arm is a good excuse; we can go ahead and replace the bones in that arm and shoulder with fully-formed ones, and you won’t need a restrictor suit for that arm anymore. The surgery won’t be much worse than just normal recovery from multiple fractures.”
“...That would be intensely weird, having one limb I could use at full strength and another I couldn’t…”
She shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. Just take your supplements and your whole body will match in a few years. You’ll be as strong as your father ever was. Now. Lets get the hell out of this scrapheap.”
Kyle nodded. “Of course. Are we hauling my ship, or the dragon, with us? Some proof of what the Empire was hiding might be useful to hold them to account for what they’ve done here.”
As he stepped out of the interrogation cell, seeing Zeke and the others held at gunpoint, he nodded at them. “Oh, and these are the crew who were with me that didn’t betray me.”
His mother stopped, looking them over for a moment. “...All furries? Thats a bit weird. Or wait, is it all one family? No matter. Glad you didn’t take after your aunt. The other prisoners can come along if they’d like, but keep an eye on them.” The soldier who was watching them gave a quick nod.
Zeke stared at her. “Ahh… Ezekiel Rush, Commodore Huxley. Grateful for the rescue.”
She shook her head as she led Kyle through the ship, ignoring Zeke entirely. This was actually the first Kyle had seen of the ship; what should’ve been clean painted-white corridors with numerous gaps and tears shorn through them.
Some from railgun fire. Some from plasma. Apparently the story of a baby dragon getting loose was true. Good thing, too; it likely gave the Skulls a perfect opportunity to seize the ship.
As they worked their way through the ship,walking past corpses, blood-trails, shattered bits of molten metal… arriving at the open hatch of an assault shuttle, two of the Skulls saluted; with his mother saluting right back before leading them into the ship…
And inside, a single man was strapped to one of the chairs.. He looked distinctively Japanese, in a way that was fairly uncommon outside the Empire; and wore a pure white skinsuit with the red rising sun badge on the chest and shoulders. One of his legs was missing at mid-thigh, but he seemed surprisingly lucid.
As she stepped in, she glanced back. “Oh. And to answer your question. A couple of our support ships are wrapping this whole giant tangled-up mess in a net and hauling it back. Empire ships usually blow their main reactor to avoid capture, so one with a missing main reactor to capture is a fairly nice prize… even in this sorry state. There’s a stray Cruiser out there that slagged all the mining colonies that we’re gonna see if we can trap when it comes after these boys, but once that’s settled, one way or another, we’ll be gone.”
The prisoner grimaced. “You may have defeated this one small task force, mercenary. But a thousand more will rain down on your head.”
A low laugh. “Buddy, your little task force just murdered thousands of people in unclaimed space and committed an act of piracy, and we witnessed the whole thing. Your country is gonna have a choice of either saying you gentlemen went rogue, or claiming responsibility and possibly starting a third galactic war… and just like the first time, its gonna be everyone against you. No…. if they have half a brain-cell between them they’ll just negotiate for me to keep this dragon secret and decry the actions of a few rogue captains.”
She shrugged. “So long as all the people involved are dead, BSE will be fine with it, and just want repayment for the lost lives. They’ve already got all the imagery of the ‘pirates’ who raided the system. Look quite a bit like an Empire task force.”
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The man stared at her. “.... They…. Will disavow me. Not just me, but my crew… all of our families…”
“Hey, you had to know this was a risk.” She glanced at Kyle. “Did he do anything to hurt you at all?”
Kyle glanced at the man… and shook his head. “No. They kept me prisoner, but the only actual injury I suffered was when I stabbed the agent.”
“Excellent. Well then. As per standing policy on the abductions of the members and families of Screaming Skulls members, the level of retribution will be directly proportional to the suffering inflicted on those abducted. We will be confiscating your equipment, lightly beating those of you who survived uninjured, and then releasing you to any authorities who wish to try you for your crimes.”
“...You will be handing me over to…”
“BSE is a multinational. They have offices in at least seventeen star nations, including the Empire. They’ll get to decide, since they’re the victims.”
The man gave a slow nod… and watched as the hatch closed behind him, the shuttle lifting away after Zeke had boarded alongside the other two surviving crew. “...So what happens now?”
“Once the Cruiser has been dealt with? We call your superiors, and BSE. And we negotiate.”
“...How are you so certain the cruiser will be dealt with? It has significantly more firepower than the… ‘Harbinger of Sorrow’. Not only is it more advanced, but your vessel is primarily a carrier.”
“Ohhh, the Sorrow isn’t the only ship here. And your mass-murdering friend thinks he’s coming to help deal with a thrashing dragon who wasn’t quite dead, but should be now, and a couple of its spawn, and left the other ships of your task force damaged. As soon as he arrives? Well. Lets just say things won’t go well for him.”
***
The Harbinger of Sorrows was a carrier, first and foremost. While she had railguns, missiles, and defensive weapons, her primary armament came in the form of the shuttles, gunships, and fighters she carried; which the Empire captain got to see first-hand as the shuttle opened up inside the bay.
He’d never seen the type of interceptor on display; a sleek, dagger-shaped central body with a curving wing projecting out on each side; studded with…
He stared. Skulls, mostly Human and animal. Covered with some sort of polymer, and in various states of disrepair. Cracked. Broken.
It… looked like something he would expect from pirates. Not mercenaries.
As he was half-carried half-hopped across the bay, he could see men and women guiding pallets of salvage off of his ship. Computers. Weapons. The Empire was the most advanced of the star nations… or claimed it, the United Worlds likely was on par… which meant that everything they could carry off would be valuable.
And they weren’t completely certain the ruins of his ship would survive the upcoming ambush. So they wanted to take anything that wasn’t nailed down, just in case.
When they reached a small lift, barely big enough to fit them, the guard who was helping lift his broken body kept a gun leveled on his body, smiling at him. “Can’t be too cautious with you zealot types, can we?”
He blinked, and closed his eyes… his life was over. His career, of course, as well. He’d looked forward to an eternity with his implant enshrined beside his ancestors, looking over his family. Now… he had to hope that his family didn’t suffer unduly by association.
When the lift opened next, it was on the bridge of a starship… and the mother and son he’d come over on the shuttle with were already there, looking over a display.
***
“Seriously. If I hadn’t brought any extra crew, I would never have taken this job. I’d be out there, already, looking around. And my ship wouldn’t be a ruined hulk.”
His mother studied Kyle for a moment. While he had a sling on, otherwise he was in the same dark skinsuit he’d boarded in, and looked a bit out of place.
“Fine. And if you took the job alone, what would’ve happened?”
Kyle sighed. On the display between them, a holographic image showed the area of space around the wreckage. Three ruined Empire destroyers, the Sapper, and a dead dragon, amidst a cloud of debris. And a few sensor buoys, waiting for the Empire cruiser to arrive to let the Skulls know exactly where to shoot.
“I would have shown up, investigated, found the dragon, tried to kill it with a few mines, and then left, calling for backup, advising the BSE of what I’d found. By the time I got back, the Empire would’ve probably heard my message, beaten any backup here, and cleansed both all evidence and the dragon from the system.”
He looked thoughtful. “They’d try to paint me as a lunatic, as if I’d cried wolf about some space monster, or even as if I’d been working with the pirates. You’d believe me. Most people wouldn’t, but they’d also know I wasn’t working with them, since I was in training when the pirates struck before. Pretty much the only merc company I’d be able to work with going forward would be the Skulls, but I’d…”
“...Hmm. Likely become obsessed with finding a dragon and proving it was real. Maybe get killed sneaking around Empire space.”
His mother chuckled. “Well now. That’s actually a solid analysis. Though, to be clear, I was already following you. When you went to get backup, I’d be right there. Impossible to say how the timing would go, but we’d likely end up taking on the Empire head on, and taking some heavy casualties.”
“You… followed me. With a goddamned task force.” Kyle stared at her. “That’s…. insane.”
She shrugged. “I arranged a contract a few light-years out so I could be nearby for your first mission. Good thing, too. So. Did you learn your lesson?”
“Yes. Not hiring a crew again, period. The only way anybody else gets onto my ship is if I already know and trust them before they board, and I’m the Captain.”
“......Interesting. Suppose this lesson backfired. So, you don’t like your new crew? Did they do something wrong? Oh. Hold up.”
On the display, the Empire cruiser had suddenly emerged; the buoys had reported its location, speed, and trajectory.
“Time to do some work.”
All around the bridge, signals were going out, from the Harbinger of Sorrows to her two sister ships. They had a dangerous enemy to kill; and only moments to take advantage of surprise before she realized something was wrong.
With a ship of this quality and firepower… either they did critical damage in the opening seconds… or it would turn into a slugging match that, despite outnumbering her three to one, they were unlikely to win.
The captive captain, now strapped to a chair on the bridge in case they needed him, was staring at the display as well; clearing wishing he could do something to warn his comrades about what was coming.
