Captain Emilia Parrott was standing in front of the holo rig in the captain's cabin watching the stars as her ship cut its way across the vast, empty void of space. It had been a long week. She'd been drilling the crew as hard as she could on non-lethal boarding tactics and the fab was still working at capacity to churn out shock sticks and stun rounds. The crew hadn't been keen on what she was asking them to do but in the end they had come around to her side. Most of them anyway.
"Captain, Pierre and three crew members have begun breaching the bridge," Polly chirped. Parrott sighed. So it began.
Her plan was simple. They would approach the fleet in a friendly posture, then hit it with an EM pulse and go straight for the Atlas. Once on board, the weapons the fleet possessed would be little use against their armored survival suits. They could secure the bridge with minimal casualties and take control of the ship. Parrott suspected that she could convince most of the fleet to join them in heading to P3-2822, but even if she couldn't the Atlas contained the gene bank, and with it, the power to restart the human race.
"You've lost your mind," Pierre had said. "You can't attack your own people."
"If it's for their own good you're god damn right I can," she'd replied.
"And who are you to determine what's best for them? We didn't found a dictatorship when we escaped earth. You made your case, now you have to let them think for themselves."
"I would, except they're a bunch of ignorant fools that don't understand how the galaxy works. They've spent too much time cooped up in their little commune with the Temic and don't realize the danger they're walking into."
"So teach them. Show them. Turn those you can to your side and leave the rest to their fate. What was the saying? 'You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink.'"
"Except you can. If you're strong enough you can tie up that horse and force a funnel down its ignorant throat. And I recently threw a Vak across a room on a high g world."
"You're making the same mistake that you did with Gorb. Using force without even attempting diplomacy."
"Except this time if diplomacy fails the body count goes up. We can only do this cleanly if it's a surprise. The more time they have to see us coming the more blood we'll have to spill."
They'd been going back and forth like that the whole time they'd been pursuing the fleet. After a while Pierre was just doing it to keep up appearances while he plotted and gathered allies in secret. Unfortunately for him, the all seeing ship's AI could read lips.
Parrott chambered a magazine of concussive rounds into her mag pistol and tested the blades of the two cutlasses she had tucked in her belt. She was wearing her regular regalia, but for good measure it had been reinforced it with hidden armor plating. The power armor had been conveniently sabotaged so no one would be stupid enough to attempt to fire thermal rounds on the ship. The cabin itself was a disaster zone. All the furniture had been smashed and pushed to the side to make room for what was to come. The entire exercise felt like a waste but if she wanted her full crew back she couldn't just kill Pierre. She needed to humiliate him.
"They've breached the bridge and discovered your absence. They're heading for the captain's cabin now."
With a wave of her hand Parrott dismissed the star field and pulled up the security feed for the cabin door. Sure enough, here came Pierre with Ruddo and two other crewmen in tow. Vinnie and Sharron by the look of it. They were all wearing armored survival suits and carried mag rifles. Ruddo was also carrying a cutting laser. As they approached the door Parrott took careful aim at it from across the room.
"Open the door Polly," she said just as Ruddo was about to go to work. As the door slid open she fired and the concussive round took Ruddo square in the chest. The explosion knocking all four of the invaders from their feet and Parrott rushing across the room to gather the weapons of the four crewmen that lay stunned in the hallway. As she returned she began breaking them down, leaving the pieces behind her as she walked.
"Stun rounds Pierre? That's just insultin'." Pierre and the others were struggling to their feet and beginning to walk unsteadily forward, following the trail of gun parts.
"You won't get away with this Emilia!" Pierre half growled, half yelled as he broke into a jog, co-conspirators in tow. This time it was Sharron's turn to take a concussive round to the chest. The blast knocked the other crewmen back into the hallway but flung Pierre forward into the cabin.
"Polly, close the door" Parrott commanded and the door snapped shut. While Pierre was recovering she stowed the pistol and drew her cutlasses. He hadn't been as close to the blast this time so it wasn't long before he rolled onto his back find Parrott advancing on him, blades drawn.
"Attacking the fleet is wrong," he gasped as he crawled backward. "It doesn't matter how many aliens we kill. There are plenty of them. But there are what? 20,000 humans? If your op goes wrong we could lose all of them. We could lose the gene bank! How can you be willing to take that risk?" His back hit a wall and Parrott walked right up to him.
"Shut up," she said as she dropped a cutlass at his feet and stepped back to give him space to stand.
"What is this?"
"Yer voice. Use it."
"My voice?"
"Y've only seen the galaxy outside the fleet as a member a' this crew. Y' 'aven't been out there on yer own. So 'eres how the galaxy really works. No one cares about the noises comin' outta that mouth o' yers. Communicators don't mean shit. There's only one universal language an' that's violence.
"I'm gonna stop the fleet Pierre. Yer not gonna convince me otherwise. Y' can try t' turn the crew against me, sure. But I swear t' god I'll vent the ship, an' Polly an' I'll steer 'em in the right direction with lasers an' rail fire if we 'ave t'. If y' want control o' the ship then yer gonna 'ave t' take it from me the way I took it from its original owner."
"Captain, Ruddo and the others have begun cutting through the cabin door."
"Looks like I've got a third option," Pierre said as he grabbed the cutlass and rose to his feet. "Wait for the cavalry to put their guns back together and knock you out."
"You'll be dead long before they make it through," Parrot retorted. She lunged at him but Pierre parried the blow with ease. He tried to follow this up with a devastating downward slash but was caught off guard when Parrott blocked the blow with the hidden armor in her sleeve. Taking advantage of the opening, she slashed at the joint on his left torso. It wasn't a deep cut, but a yelp of pain signaled that it was deep enough. She kicked him and he stumbled back into the wall.
"This is pointless," he barked. "I have allies securing the ship as we speak."
"Do y' now? Polly, what's the status o' Pierre's mutiny?"
"All conspirators save those in and outside the captain's cabin have been stunned and taken to the brig."
"Y' see? Y've already failed. This is just theater t' make sure no one else gets any bright ideas."
Pierre roared and charged but Parrott dodged deftly to the side and slashed his right torso joint. He turned just in time to block a killing blow and the two were lost in a whirling dance of steel. Metal flashed and sparks flew as blades collided and bounced off armor plating. Pierre was holding his own at first but it soon became clear that his injuries were taking their toll. He was slowing. Barely able to block incoming blows as Parrott forced him back across the room.
"Captain, Ruddo and the others have nearly finished cutting through the door," Polly chirped.
"Then I guess we're done here," she replied as she knocked the blade from Pierre's hand and kicked him onto his back. She chanced a glance at the door and sure enough there were only a few pieces of sparking metal holding it in place. Pierre was trying to struggle to his feet when she walked up and put her blade against his throat. "So, when that door opens which would y' rather be? My ally 'r a corpse?"
"Alright," he panted, "you win. I'll take ally. If you're going to do this someone has to be around to make sure you don't go too far." He put out his hand and Parrott took it to help him to his feet. But as he stood he stepped in close and she felt a hidden blade slide in between two armored plates.
"Now y're learnin'" she coughed. Then she knocked him back and decapitated him in one swift motion. "But next time... a little t' the left." She felt her legs buckle and next thing she knew she was on her hands and knees coughing up blood. She heard the cabin door give way and looked up to see three figures standing in stunned silence in the ruined doorway.
"Go ahead," she barked, "be slaves if y' want to. But me, I die free." And with that the last of her strength failed her. She closed her eyes and let the gentle hum of the engines carry her away.