Tactical Space Wu-Shu

Them's Fightin' Words

ASHURA'S POV
When the six bridge officers returned to me to report their safe incarceration of the Ravager crew and the deposition of two of their number to stand guard, I nodded in satisfaction. "Alright. Where's Maes? I need him here like right now." As they looked around in search of him I closed my eyes and squeezed the bridge of my nose. I felt the pressure of a bad headache brewing there. A voice behind me made me open them just as quick and turn around. "You called for me sir?" There stood my Navigation Officer, ever present as needed and at attention with a storm of his own visibly brewing deep in his eyes that I was quick to pick up on. "Aye, let's go to my quarters and talk in private. We've much to discuss after that shit show just now." We left the bridge and headed towards the dorms. For a long while we walked in a comfortable silence, lost in our own thoughts. When he could bear his thoughts alone no longer however, Maes became the first to speak. "So what are your feelings towards this Vikrov character? That's all I really think he is, personally. Just another crazed, homicidal character dressing his agenda up with dark tales of woe and good intentions. All I heard back there was a long and sad story about how he inadvertently eradicated his own people with his lust for power. Inadvertently or not, eradication is still eradication." I found myself agreeing with him as he fulfilled my unspoken purpose for summoning him. For many years, since even before I landed my first command, Maes had been there as a jack of all trades, adapting his skill set to fit each situation as was necessary. He was a hell of a navigational officer, an excellent judge of character, and an even better friend, a sounding board for me to bounce certain thoughts off of and see his views on them. In our line of business, an honest and trustworthy advisor like him was invaluable. I needed to see what he made of Vikrov's performance before I confirmed it with Archangel, to see if he felt the same as I did about the war minister and his intentions here in our universe. And as he spoke he proved he was directly in synch with my line of thinking, reinforcing my own theories about the situation with what he said. "I feel the exact same thing. There's something else he isn't telling us. Something aside from a rogue T.B.O. that we've never seen or heard of. It may just be that he plans to sacrifice us in a gambit to make another of those stones he spoke of. I don't know, it seems to be like you said before. He's looking for the next throat to cut but he'll find no victims here. Prepare a message to the nearest base controlled by the U.G.A. telling them we have made contact with a sentient race with assumed hostile intentions. Tell them to preare for war, and tell them to prepare a reception for us. We have to debrief our dear friend the war minister. Terran style. Above all else we need to get to the bottom of all this." Jaeger nodded. "Of course sir. And what of Vikrov's fleet? They still surround us on all sides." As testimony to that fact, a comms officer from the bridge crew came running full tilt down the corridor to hail us before we entered my dormitory. "Sir! I have an urgent message! We've recieved word from the Ravager fleet, asking about the welfare of that Vikrov guy and his soldiers. They say they will fire on us if we don't provide proof of their continued existence sir." I felt a flush of irritation at that. "They won't fire when we have their own damned minister of war here on the ship with us. Maes, go with him and after you send my message to the UGA, speak to these Ravagers. Tell them that their war minister is under arrest for his unprovoked attack and must answer for his crimes before the U.G.A. council. They are to hold their positions, any deviation from this area will be taken as an act of war and treated accordingly." They both saluted and jogged back towards the bridge. I made my way down to engineering, I needed to have another talk with Chief Engineer Stone about that rat. When I got near the  engineering bay, lost in my thoughts, who came careening around the corner but Sarita Stone herself, arms and legs pistoning furiously to increase the distance between her and engineering. My hands shot out, catching her the moment before we would have painfully collided. Again. I made sure she was steady before releasing her with a smile. "This is becoming a habit Engineer Stone." She glared at me, rather adorably so. "That is-" I cut her off mid rant. "Yes, yes I know. Chief Engineer Sarita Stone, right? My sincerest apologies. Now, what's the rush? Everything okay back there?" She closed her mouth, still glaring and said nothing for a second. "For the last time, it is CHIEF ENGINEER to you, captain. Forget again and I in turn may choose to forget you captain this vessel. As to your last question, no. Everything is not okay. My rush is actually the rat...it's establishing it's...dominance. It broke out of it's cage while I was doing another analysis of it's dna. It's currently loose in the engineering bay going berserk." She stared up at me in solemn tranquility, completely at odds with her statement and her previously panicked and flighty state. I stared at the utility belt on her waist, noting in confusion the occupied holster there. "You're armed. Why didn't you just taze it?" She glared up at me in frustration. "Because I was afraid! It's a musclar goat sized rat and it was shooting lazers out of it's fucking mouth!" I shook my head. Of course it was. We just couldn't catch a break here. I heaved a sigh of frustration before taking off towards the engineering bay. "On me, Chief Engineer! Have your taser at the ready!" I paused outside the door, pressing my ear against the cool metal to see if I could hear what was going on inside. I heard an ominous growling follwed by what sounded like mid caliber arms fire. I prepared to breach, remembering what she said about it shooting lasers. That's most likely what I was hearing in there. That little rat bastard was in there tearing up my ship! I met Chief Engineer Stone's eyes. They were wide with terror, her tazer held tightly at her side. When I raised a hand to key the entry pad, she shook her head vehemently at me. I nodded back just as frantically, we had to contain it before any more damage was done. With a muttered oath I drew my tazer, hit the entry pad and swung the barrel into the opening doorway. The term "goat sized" came back to mind and I remembered just how big goats actually are as I started down the culprit. The rat, if you could still call it that, had rose gold fur and razor sharp fangs the length of my forearm. Equally sharp claws raked the steel grating on the floors as it turned to face me. It's golden eyes glared me up and down with an intelligence that shouldn't have been possible before it let loose an ear splitting roar. Chief Engineer Stone screamed and covered her ears. I watched in dread and fascination as a golden aura of energy flared up around the rat, outlining it's body in the cascading energy waves. It roared again and the aura flared in response, the golden hairs on it's body standing on end. I called out, expecting it to attack soon. "Shoot it!" I followed my own advice, bringing my weapon to bear while setting it to stun, and fired. The rat roared once more in response, the aura flaring out further and the metal prongs from my tazer quickly melted into nothingness as they came into contact with the aura haze. I then quickly reassessed the threat potential of the rat, if it could do damage like that without even physically touching anything, it just may be a problem. I was at a loss as to how to proceed though. I knew it wouldn't respond well to anything else we did after my unsuccessful attempt at tasing it. It didn't give us time to formulate a plan B however. Growling savagely, it rushed me, leaping into the air with it's fangs bared and ready to tear into my flesh. I saw my life flashing before my eyes and then I heard another roar, but this one wasn't from the rat. This one tore itself from the throat of the chief engineer before she swung a metal bar through the air. It passed through the aura haze with a sizzle and caught the rat soundly over the head bringing it to the floor with a crash and a squeal of pain. She hit it over the head again and this time it went still. Panting in my adrenaline induced exhaustion, I slid down to the floor, never taking my eyes from the rat. Hands shaking, the chief engineer bent down to take a closer look at the rat and after a moment she stood back up. "Well it's still breathing. Here, help me re-contain it captain. Quickly before it reawakens!" I agreed with her line of reasoning. Together we hefted the rat, whose aura had now vanished and secured it in a fresh, blast proof case. I needed to get a hold on this rapidly spiralling situation. After we double checked to ensure it was securely locked, I started to breathe normally again. I gave her a nod of assurance. "Excellent work there Chief Engineer. Now, grab the other end and let's get this bastard to the bridge." When she nodded her understanding I addressed our ship. "Arhchangel you've been quiet for a while now, what's the deal? We definitely could have used some help just now in case you hadn't noticed. Anyways, are we in good enough shape to withstand an assault if they end up attacking?" The A.I. wasted no time in replying. "Apologies for my absence sir. I went out for a coffee break. Needed a smoke." I grunted in irritation under the weight of the rat and at his attempts at humor. "Now is not the time for you to be experimenting with jokes. Status report please." Archangel responded apologetically. "Understood sir. As for my absence, I wanted to appear as if I am a lot less aware and able than what I am in front of the Ravagers, and I was also reading the vitals of War Minister Vikrov while he told his story about their exile and the destuction of their planet. He spoke the truth sir. As to your question of our survival if they attack, I have plotted various potential outcomes and many result with us taking little to no damage. I've selected the most favorable course, awaiting further commands." Knowing we were safe if they attacked us made me feel a lot better and ascertained my next course of action. I looked back over my shoulder at the Chief Engineer.  "Double time Chief Engineer. We're urgently needed at the bridge." As they picked up the pace, the strain became apparent in her voice. "Yes sir. If I could salute right now I would but this rat is too damn heavy." I huffed in amusement and exertion. "The truths you tell Chief Engineer, the truths you tell. "

AUTHOR'S NOTE
THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO NAJ_THA_GOD FOR HIS FEEDBACK IT'S BECAUSE OF HIM THE RAT TOOK A MAIN ROLE. ANYWAYS, PLEASE VOTE, COMMENT, AND SHARE!