The Big Al
I just keeping Octo
*Author falls in through roof* (I needed a new way to start my introductions =/)
Welcome to a fic that's been bouncing around in my head for about a year and half. I've decided my impact on the Futago Hime world would be limited to two stories. WMotMP is my story related the original concept by BIRTHDAY and this is my story for the actual series. I will then leave it at that.
This story was concocted when stress from trying to take Calculus III, Differential Equations, and Physics II at the same time over the summer, my computer getting a virus and having to be reformatted, and my mom getting her knee screwed up met with the end of Futago Hime Gyu!, reading people's theories about would have happened if the villain of said show had one, and watching "In the Mirror, Darkly" episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise. So, I decided to my own story about my ideas and this is it. I've finally completed the first chapter (after conceptualizing for a good 18 months).
Let me start off by saying a few things.
-This is rated PG-13 for violence, language, and concept. This is not meant for younger readers.
-This is also effectively a bash of Gyu!. I hated the show and thought it was terrible compared to the first series. This story is in fact meant to undo a lot of the damage that was done by the second series. This is not meant for Gyu! fans.
-When I say "Star Trek Parody" I don't mean I'm making fun of Star Trek. I mean I'm taking elements of Star Trek (namely from Kirk's era and actually more from the Starfleet Universe) and using them. It's not an actual Star Trek story but it uses Star Trek terms and technologies.
-There are some terms that I use that have no basis in Gyu! or in Star Trek that it wouldn't be easy to explain in the story. So, I'll define them here.
*CPD: Stands for Cetus Pulsar Date. Cetus is a pulsar that pulses in equal intervals 100 times in a span about the same length as the average year of planets and is considered the universal time keeper. The number is the number of pulses since first contact between planets.
*c: The unit for FTL speeds which are given in times the speed of light.
*sev: The unit for sub-light speeds and stands for standard escape velocity. 1 sev is the speed needed to break orbit of a planet with a surface gravity of 10 m/s^2.
-You might have noticed in my Weathermakers story, I used different translations than were considered official for the series. That’s because I consider Weathermakers my own story based on the BIRTHDAY concept so I could translate the names how I saw fit. Because this story is based on the series, I’ll be using the official translations. So, it’s Wonder Planet, Drop Kingdom, etc.
If I have any more to add I'll probably put it in this post. For now, enjoy the story.
Chapter 1: Dragged into the Looking Glass
It finally came. After five years of education, the day came when the princes and princesses of the Wonder Planet graduated from the Royal Wonder Academy. There was little ceremony on campus as they were handed their diplomas and boarded a train. They knew that would be saved for when they returned home.
The trip home was rather low profile too as they could only be spared one of the smaller trains. Unlike its more streamlined, glamorous cousins, it was designed like a small, old style steam engine pulling a single, boxy passenger car behind it. No one made any complaints known as they boarded the train and it pulled from the School Planet for the last time with them as the passengers.
The machine chugged along the invisible rails connecting the known worlds. Its computer control set them on the line for the Wonder Planet and it accelerated into fast transit. It stood out against the deep blue of the void with a pallet dominated by pastel pink and gold and its lamp cast bright light ahead of it.
Altezza looked about the cabin. There did not seem to be much difference between it and those found on the more modern rail liners. Both were fairly spacious with high, pastel pink ceilings adorned with crystal chandeliers that made the interior bright and warm. The seats were also just as comfortable too. There was not a single thing she could find wrong with the interior but that did not erase her irritation at the exterior of the small train carrying them home.
She did not say anything while boarding. She was more interested in returning home to see her parents again. However, once they were on board, she did not bother to hide her malcontent as much.
“Are you okay, Altezza,” a comforting male voice asked.
She looked up to see Auler was leaning over the back of her seat. The half Doggel looked down at her with genuine concern in his sapphire blue eyes. Altezza felt her mood lighten a little. Auler was such a sap but that was one of the qualities she could not help but like about him. However, she did not dare let it show. She had a reputation to keep.
Atlezza rolled her eyes away. “I’m fine,” she said in a dismissive tone. “I just think, returning home after graduating from the Royal Wonder Academy, they could have given us a proper train instead of this antique.”
“I think it’s quaint,” Sophie cheered as her head popped up from behind the seat next to her bother.
“I wasn’t talking to you,” Altezza growled, batting one of Sophie’s long, floppy ears out of her face.
This garnered some laughs from the others. It only served to anger Altezza even further. She blocked it all out and stared out at the stars and nebulae passing by her window in a mildly irritated glared.
“Can you believe that we’ve finally graduated,” Lione said to change the subject. “It’s been so long since we first arrived at the Royal Wonder Academy.”
“I think this is the very train that brought Fine and Rein.” Altezza found a way to bring her disdain for their train into the conversation.
“They say, ‘what goes around comes around’,” Sophie replied.
Altezza could only shoot her glare.
“It’s too bad our parents couldn’t come to see us receive our diplomas,” Bright said. “However, I heard they’re planning a Graduation Ball.”
Fine nodded eagerly. “I bet there’ll be a huge cake too.” Her mother began to water at just the thought of digging into such a confection.
“Still thinking with your stomach de pumo?” Poomo scolded her. “I guess the Royal Wonder Academy didn’t help you at all de pumo.”
“I guess some things can’t be helped,” Fine said with a forced laugh.
Another wave of laughter came over the passengers.
It had been quite the five years. The first year was by far the most adventurous with Toma, Edward, Bibin, and even the Black Crystal Kingdom threatening the academy. Even though the following four years were comparatively peaceful, they were filled with adventures of different sorts. They would be bringing a wealth of stories to tell their parents, younger siblings, and friends.
However, they were all glad to be returning home to the things familiar for more than a few weeks on summer break. Even after all they had seen and done, it was home they loved the most.
Milro was perhaps the only one not paying attention to the others as they struck up conversations to pass the time. The princess of the Drop Kingdom was absorbed in a letter from her beloved Pastel. She was so oblivious to what was going on around her she didn’t even notice Rein had sat down next to her. She only realized she was not alone when the baby blue haired princess of the Sunny Kingdom asked, “a letter from Pastel?”
“Eh?” Milro snapped back to reality and looked to her. “Yes,” she said.
“Is it a love letter?” Rein said slyly, playfully jabbing Milro with her elbow.
Milro’s face reddened slightly and the beige, Beaver-like ears nestled in her silky, sandy colored hair drooped over. “No, not exactly,” she said in a small voice. “Pastel has traveled to the Drop Kingdom to ask for Mother’s permission to begin courting me.”
“Old fashioned courtship,” Rein gushed. “How romantic!?”
Her wild imagination began to take hold and she was light-years away in her own little world.
Milro turned to the space passing by their window. They were passing through a rather desolate star system with a red sun glowing dimly but no planets to be seen. She wished they could reach the Wonder Planet more quickly to see her family and Pastel.
Just as she began to drift back into her thoughts she thought she saw something outside. For the shortest moment of time, she thought she saw all the stars blink out of existence. Even the red sun was gone in what had to be less time than it took to blink an eye. Milro thought that she had blinked but the train had not disappeared.
Everything was as it was before. Milro thought it was just her imagination but the cabin went dark. The entire train suddenly jolted with the terrible sound a twisting and grinding metal. Everyone was thrown forward as it came to an abrupt stop.
Milro expected herself to fall into the seat in front of her. Instead, she tumbled through the air towards the front of the car. It took her a second to realize she was weightless as was everyone else.
“What’s going on?” Altezza cried out as she tried to keep down her saffron miniskirt.
“The train’s lost power,” Shade announced.
“Brilliant observation,” Altezza snapped.
Shade and Bright pushed off to the front of the cabin. They opened the door and pulled themselves toward the engine. Milro followed them to the control room of the train.
The train was computer controlled so there was no one at the controls. Shade floated to a chair and pulled himself down to it. Fortunately, the computer ran on the train’s batteries for the screen lit up when he turned it on.
“We’re off the track,” Shade observed from the readout.
“Did we jump them?” Bright asked.
Shade toggled through readout after readout. “It doesn’t look like it. We should be on the track going by our position but there’s no sign of it within a parsec.”
“How can that be?” Bright asked.
Before any of them could think of an explanation Lione’s panicked voice came from the cabin. “Shade, Bright-sama, Milro, come quick,” she cried out.
They pulled themselves back into the cabin to see everyone staring out one side of the train. They wore an expression that seemed to be a combination of awe and horrified shock. They peered out themselves and gasped in amazement at the sight they saw.
A craft of some kind was sitting in front of the nearest star. It was huge with a hull of gold and silver that gleamed in the red light. It was crafted in the image of a bird of prey with sweeping wings attached to the main body and a slender neck that led to the head ending in a sharp, downward point like a beak.
“What is it?” Rein asked.
“Perhaps, it’s a rescue craft,” Altezza suggested.
Bright looked back at the ship. He’d never seen anything like it. There was something almost malevolent about it. Its curves made it look like it was hunched up and glaring at them like a ravenous hawk glared at a trapped mouse before gobbling it up. He paid special attention to the large guns on the sides of the head, the tips of the wings, and the belly. He did not know what it was but he seriously doubted it was a rescue craft.
A field of purple energy was loosed from the belly of the craft that enveloped the train. Before anyone could guess what it was, they hit the opposite side of the cabin. The field was pulling them towards a door that slowly opened to reveal a bay.
They did not know whether to be relieved or frightened. Were they being rescued or abducted? All they knew was they could do nothing as the bay drew nearer and nearer.
Unseen to them, below them and the ship, it appeared as if a part of the star field began to waver. The area took shape as an object and began to become opaque. It became fully visible as a vessel in the shape of a giant, light blue stingray.
It raced towards the first ship from almost directly below. Cannons emerged from their ports on the head and loosed searing beams of blue energy. One beam struck the first vessel’s starboard nacelle, making it loose arcs of energy and its power to fluctuate. The other tore into an area where the field was coming from, throwing off globs of molten metal.
The field ceased. No sooner was the train out of the grip of the first; the new ship grasped it with a blue field of its own. It quickly pulled it into its bay and shut the doors behind it.
The first ship came about. However, the glowing, blue engines on the back of the new ship’s wings flared. It accelerated at an incredible rate and seemed to stretch. It disappeared with distance until a distant flash indicated it had crossed the light barrier.
It took several seconds for everyone to gather themselves. They first realized they felt the heavy pull of gravity again. They looked to each other sprawled out on the floor and seats.
The train had stopped moving to their relief. At least, it was not moving compared to what they were in. They were no longer in space as an unmistakably artificially generated light flowed in through all the windows.
“What was all that about?” Shade asked as he sat up.
“I don’t know,” Bright replied.
“I believe I know,” Rein said gravely. “We’ve been captured by space pirates.”
“Space pirates?” everyone else asked.
Rein nodded. “They’ve captured us and will hold us for ransom. Until they get their money, they’ll force us to be their slaves. Then, if we don’t obey, they’ll make us walk the plank.”
All the while she was imagining in vivid detail what she was speaking of. Her imagination got so carried away; she latched onto Bright and screamed, “protect me, Bright-sama!”
Poomo highly doubted that was the case. However, he knew they were no longer in space. The small, white fairy floated up to the window and looked around.
They were in a bay or hangar of some kind. The first thing he noticed was a metal staircase leading up to a catwalk on the second level. Past it was a large door in the floor labeled with a large ‘3’. He then looked to the door on the opposite wall. His eyes lit up as he recognized the curled teardrop that served as the Drop Kingdom’s emblem painted on the door.
“We’re in good hands de pumo,” he practically cheered. “Have a look de pumo.”
Everyone looked out the windows and heaved a sigh of relief. Not only was it not pirates, they had been picked up by a ship from their home planet. Once the notion of them being on a Drop Kingdom ship sank into Altezza’s mind, she shot a glare at Milro.
“Milro,” she sneered. “Why are we on this antique if your kingdom has ships like this?”
“Eh?” Milro turned to her. “I didn’t know my kingdom had any starships.”
“Wait a minute,” Bright said as it struck him. “None of our kingdoms have ships like this. No one has starships for that matter.”
“Then, what are we on de pumo?” Poomo asked.
Pyupyu and Kyukyu suddenly collapsed. The tiny pink and blue angels settled on the floor as their breathing became labored.
“Pyupyu!” Fine exclaimed.
“Kyukyu!” Rein cried out at the same time as her twin sister.
Fine took the pink Pyupyu gently in her hand. “She’s burning up!” she exclaimed at the feeling of heat coming from the tiny thing.
“Someone’s coming,” Auler announced.
The door with the emblem split and the two halves slid into the wall. Two beings practically jumped into the room. The appeared to be Humans except they had what looked like gill slits in the sides of their necks and their hands were webbed. Both had Prussian blue hair and wore jackets, pants and caps in a blue camouflage pattern.
They knelt at either side of the door and produced large, aqua and gold guns they aimed at the train. One made a motion with his head and more people poured into the bay. Some were gilled humans like the first two wearing camouflage while others were anthropomorphic Beavers and half Beaver/half Humans wearing the hats and coats and dresses, shawls, and bandanas worn of the Drop Kingdom’s work force.
They aimed pistols and rifles of the same design at the train as they took position on the catwalk and the deck. The princes and princesses looked around and saw gold, parabolic dishes set in aqua, parabolic barrels pointed at them from almost every direction. They were paralyzed with fright as they tried to make sense of what was happening around them.
Milro looked out and saw one of the smaller Beavers talking with a gilled woman. She knew she recognized him but it took a second for her to discern exactly who it was. “That’s Spigot,” she exclaimed in shock.
“Spigot?” the others asked.
“Yes,” Milro said. “He’s the chief engineer for our cloud machine. However, I don’t remember him ever having a beard.”
He was about the only thing familiar about any of this except the uniforms worn by the Beavers and half Beavers. However, they seemed different as well. A few, like Spigot, had stripes on their sleeves and straps on their shoulders. Most of the others had patches sewn to the pockets on their sleeves and shawls. All of them had circular patches decorated with the picture of a nautilus shell.
The gilled humans were completely unfamiliar to her. She had never even heard of a race like them before. Their uniforms and weapons were also unfamiliar. Like the ship, they were clearly from the Drop Kingdom, but she could swear they did not exist.
Spigot and the woman motioned for a younger blue haired and gilled human to come to them. It was impossible to hear what they were saying from inside the train, but, judging by Spigot pointing at the train, he was being instructed to board it. He saluted and began walking towards the train, taking his rifle in both hands.
The royals felt their hearts begin to pound against their chests as they could hear him at the door. With what had to be incredible strength, he physically forced the door open. He walked up the steps and surveyed the cabin with his rifle at the ready.
His silver eyes narrowed into an irritated squint. “I don’t believe this,” he sneered. “The Coalition has sunken to a whole new low.”
Before they could even begin to make sense of what he said, the gilled Human aimed his rifle at them. “All of you,” he barked, “put your hands on your heads and exit the vehicle in single file.”
When they didn’t comply pointed his weapon the door at the back of the cabin. With a squeeze of the trigger on the gray handle, he loosed a brilliant blue beam that appeared to be surrounded by white rings. The beam struck the door and blasted a sizable hole in it.
Everyone gasped and stared in amazement and horror at the demonstration of his rifle’s destructive power. They all stood up and placed their hands on their heads. They then filed past the rifle wielding man who watched them with piercing eyes.
“Move, move, move,” he barked and trained his rifle on each of them as they passed by. He noticed the 11 tiny Tanetane Princesses were in more of a cluster. “I said single file!” he roared and pointed his rifle at them.
The princesses practically jumped back in terror and quickly formed up in a line and filed out after the others.
“You too, sister,” he sneered, pushing Milro with his weapon as she walked past.
Milro had to stumble to keep her balance after being knocked forward. She was the last one out of the train as the others stood with the hand still on their heads and every weapon trained on them. She was perhaps the most shocked of all. She knew nothing of her kingdom having such ships and weapons.
She also noticed a squirrel-like Riri wearing a white coat was among the group. She immediately recognized him as Doctor McChi, a well known physician from the Peanut Lake area of the Drop Kingdom. He was scanning the others with a device and closely eyeing the readings on his screen.
“Well, Doc?” Spigot asked. “What are they? Imposters? Clones?”
“They’re definitely who they appear to be,” McChi replied, still watching the screen of his scanner. “They don’t have the genetic hallmarks of cloning either.”
“But, it can’t be them,” Spigot declared. He then turned to the royals. “You can put your hands down.”
They complied and slowly lowered their hands. It did not make them feel anymore comfortable as they still had all the guns trained on them. Even the typically lighthearted Sophie seemed to be in the grips of dread.
“I have a theory,” McChi said, finally looking away from his scanner and slipping it into his coat pocket. “I need to do more extensive scans in Sick Bay.”
“Alright.” Spigot turned to the gilled woman he had been talking to. “Major Izu, make sure they’re under heavy guard. I don’t know what these are, but, until I do, I’m not taking any chances.”
“Yes sir,” the woman said in a sharp voice and gave a stiff salute. “Martinez, Smith, Gerhard, and Brown, escort our ‘guests’ to Sick Bay,” she barked.
“Yes, sir.” Four of the camouflage clad individuals, including the one that herded them out, formed a box around the royals. They others lowered their weapons and walked out of the room. With their rifles resting on their shoulders, the four escorted the princes and princesses out.
The royals were marched through the corridors of what they guessed was a ship. The hallways were narrow with low lighting and a dull pallet of grays and blues combining to make them almost a dim as twilight. The floor was bare metal as their camouflaged escorts’ boots made a dull clunk when they hit the floor.
They occasionally passed other people. All of them stopped what they were doing and stared at the royals passing by. It was especially disturbing that the expression they all wore was the one worn by people who had just seen a ghost.
The others glanced back a Milro when they thought they could manage it without being noticed. They hoped she had answers but she seemed the most confused. The people looked like they came from her kingdom, its emblem was everywhere, but they should not exist.
They quickly came upon double doors with the medical symbol painted on either side. They guessed it was Sick Bay and sure enough, when the doors opened, the room beyond was filled with beds surrounded by analytical equipment. It was much brighter both in lighting and paint color which took their eyes a moment to adjust to it.
Once they could see better, the royals examined the room. The beds were empty and the only people that had been in the room were wearing nurses’ tunics and dresses. Cabinets covered the walls that had no beds. Several cages and aquariums were arranged on shelves to hold various animals, many of which they had never seen before. Other shelves held bottles and jars filled with pills, powders, and liquids of various colors. It all seemed to the standard fare for a medical bay aside from the animals.
The two escorts that were behind them took position at the doors. They slipped their rifles off their shoulders and held them in both hands. To everyone’s relief, they pointed them to the side instead of at them.
Doctor McChi motioned for one of the Beaver nurses to come to him. She took one look at the royals and gasped with the same expression of mortified amazement the others had all given them.
“I know,” McChi said. “I need the quantum scanner tied into the imaging chamber. I’d also like the portable one.”
“I’ll get right on it,” the nurse said. She took one more look at them in disbelief as she walked over to a control panel across the room.
“Do I have any volunteers?” McChi asked as he came to stand next to a bed on a track. “I need to scan one of you in the imaging chamber.”
The royals followed the track with their eyes. It led from where the bed was through a pair of doors. They felt a little apprehensive. After all that had happened, they were not sure if they could trust it.
“I might as well go,” Altezza grumbled.
She climbed onto the bed and laid down on it. McChi pushed a button on the wall next to the doors. The bed slowly slid back and the doors opened to allow it to slide into the cylinder behind them. The bed came to a stop and the doors slid shut. The walls then began to glow and gave off a soft hum.
Outside, everyone watched as a silhouette of Altezza’s body appeared on the screen above the doors. It was odd to see her without her signature blond rat’s nest, even if it was just the outline of her body. McChi pressed a button in the pad to toggle through images of her anatomy.
“Do you need me to do anything in here?” Altezza asked.
“Just relax and lay flat on your back,” McChi replied.
“Quantum scanner is tied in,” the nurse said as she handed him another instrument.
“Thank you,” McChi said.
He punched up a graph with a wave pattern on it. He eyed it carefully and nodded as if he understood something from it. He then waved the scanner in front of the others and eyed what its screen displayed.
The doors slid open as Spigot walked in. “How goes it, Doc?” he asked.
“Everything checks out as it should,” McChi replied. “Except, this Altezza has broken her arm several years ago.”
“Yes,” Bright said when he heard this. “When we were little we’d play hide and seek under the ballroom in the mechanisms. One day, she fell and broke her arm.”
“Altezza-sama, at least, our Altezza-sama, never broke her arm,” McChi replied.
Spigot put everyone’s bewilderment into words. “What are you getting at?”
“Physicists have recently discovered quantum resonance,” McChi explained. “Everything in our universe vibrates at a certain frequency on the subatomic level. However, these people vibrate at a different frequency to everything else in our universe. I believe they’re from a different universe. It’s probably a universe with a high degree of congruence with ours, but different nonetheless.”
Everyone gasped. Though, it did explain many things.
“Does that mean the Coalition has found a way to cross into other universes?” Spigot thought out loud.
“What do you mean ‘a different universe’?” Shade demanded. “What’s going on here? Where are we? What’s this Coalition everyone’s talking about? And why are people looking at us as if we’re back from the dead? I want some answers.”
“You are on board the SR-05 Nautilus, a Drop Kingdom New Light Cruiser,” Spigot said. “And, as far as we’re concerned, you are back from the dead. You, or rather, your counterparts from this universe, were all killed by the Black Crystal King four years ago at the onset of the General War.”
The royals all gasped in horrified shock.
The I.C.S. Punisher was underway once again after the damage to its nacelle was repaired. As threatening as it seemed stationary, it seemed even more menacing in motion. It appeared to constantly be in a swoop like a raptor at its prey at a couple hundred times the speed of light.
Political Officer Norris sat in the command chair at the center of the Punisher’s glamorous bridge. He stared forward at the huge viewscreen taking up much of the front wall. The stars appeared to streak pass due to the illusion created by the warp field surrounding the ship.
Norris was a blob of a man; his bulging gut exaggerated by his sloppy posture. About the only things kempt about him was his steel gray hair he kept in a crew cut and his dull grey uniform. His beady, ice blue eyes seemed sunk into his fleshy head under his heavy brow as they remained fixed forward.
A door behind him opened and a woman with long, deep purple hair walked in. He knew it was Commander Maltese. As a political officer, he had found every way possible to identify members of the crew down to the rhythm of their walking.
The Commander walked down the steps and came to stand next to him. “Norris,” she said coldly.
“Yes?” he replied in an uninterested tone, not bothering to look away from the viewscreen.
“You’re in my chair,” she said.
Norris casually looked around him. “So I am.”
“Then kindly get your bloated ass out of it,” Maltese snarled.
Norris intentionally took as much time as possible in removing himself from the command chair. Maltese peeled back her lip slightly in revulsion both of his disrespect and the way he moved. She honestly wondered if there was any bone under all that lard.
Once he was out; she took her time to sit down it. The command chair was almost like a throne with plush upholstery and lavish embellishments. The Celeb Planet’s navy wanted you to enjoy command and Maltese did so very much.
“You may be the Praetor’s eyes and ears on this ship,” she said, facing forward. “However, she is my command.”
“We’ll see how long that lasts.” Norris turned to the officer at the radio console, “put Admiral Fisk back up.”
Maltese felt her heart quicken at the mention of the admiral. No doubt, Norris had informed him of how they had failed to capture the Wonder Planet princes and princesses from the other universe.
The stars on the view screen were replaced with the image of the admiral. He had a boxy head with a flattop hair cut to match. An eye patch was strapped over one of his eye sockets while his remaining gray eye glared forward.
Maltese knew he had lost his eye as punishment for underestimating the Wonder Planet. She feared what fate might await her for her failure.
“There you are, Commander Maltese,” the admiral said in a cold, gravelly voice.
Maltese opened her mouth to explain.
“I want no excuses,” Fisk roared, cutting her off. “The Praetor is furious as is the Black Crystal King. I gave you a simple yet vital mission and you somehow found a way to botch it.”
“Did Political Officer Norris inform you about how the Wonder Planet Cruiser escaped detection?” Maltese asked. “It appears they perfected a cloaking device.”
“I don’t care,” Fisk growled. “If our latest technology works the way it should, all the technological developments made by the Allies will be rendered moot. However, we need those princes and princesses to assure we can safely cross into other universes.”
“I will find them,” Maltese declared.
“Don’t be so sure,” Fisk said in a calmer but still condescending tone. “The Edison Planet has dispatched ships in search of them and Black Crystal King has his forces hunting them as well. You’ll be hard pressed to redeem yourself on this one. Fisk out.”
The screen went back to the star field.
Maltese felt her blood begin to grow hot. She snapped her head in the direction of the officer sitting at the sensor station. He was the same one overlooking things during the operation.
She piled all her rage onto him. It was his fault she was humiliated by the Wonder Planet ship. It was his fault she had to be berated by Admiral Fisk. He would be the one who would pay.
She stood up and drew her disruptor from her belt. The officer barely had time to turn around before she fired. The energy discharge tore into him and began vaporizing his body from the strike to his chest. Within moments, he was gone with barely a scream.
“Sub-Lieutenant, you’ve just been promoted,” she said, not bothering to look at the officer to her side. “Take your station, Lieutenant.”
The officer, shaken by the latest happenings complied. She sat down slowly in the chair and tried to keep how mortified she was of sitting in a dead man’s chair from her face. Maltese walked up to her, making her feel even more uncomfortable.
“I don’t care if you have to grab this galaxy by its spiral arms and shake it until the Nautilus falls out,” she said in the officer’s ear. “I want her found.” She then pressed the barrel of her disruptor to the side of the officer’s head. “And, if you have any desire to live a long life, you want her just as badly as I do.”
“Yes, Commander,” the officer managed to say.
Welcome to a fic that's been bouncing around in my head for about a year and half. I've decided my impact on the Futago Hime world would be limited to two stories. WMotMP is my story related the original concept by BIRTHDAY and this is my story for the actual series. I will then leave it at that.
This story was concocted when stress from trying to take Calculus III, Differential Equations, and Physics II at the same time over the summer, my computer getting a virus and having to be reformatted, and my mom getting her knee screwed up met with the end of Futago Hime Gyu!, reading people's theories about would have happened if the villain of said show had one, and watching "In the Mirror, Darkly" episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise. So, I decided to my own story about my ideas and this is it. I've finally completed the first chapter (after conceptualizing for a good 18 months).
Let me start off by saying a few things.
-This is rated PG-13 for violence, language, and concept. This is not meant for younger readers.
-This is also effectively a bash of Gyu!. I hated the show and thought it was terrible compared to the first series. This story is in fact meant to undo a lot of the damage that was done by the second series. This is not meant for Gyu! fans.
-When I say "Star Trek Parody" I don't mean I'm making fun of Star Trek. I mean I'm taking elements of Star Trek (namely from Kirk's era and actually more from the Starfleet Universe) and using them. It's not an actual Star Trek story but it uses Star Trek terms and technologies.
-There are some terms that I use that have no basis in Gyu! or in Star Trek that it wouldn't be easy to explain in the story. So, I'll define them here.
*CPD: Stands for Cetus Pulsar Date. Cetus is a pulsar that pulses in equal intervals 100 times in a span about the same length as the average year of planets and is considered the universal time keeper. The number is the number of pulses since first contact between planets.
*c: The unit for FTL speeds which are given in times the speed of light.
*sev: The unit for sub-light speeds and stands for standard escape velocity. 1 sev is the speed needed to break orbit of a planet with a surface gravity of 10 m/s^2.
-You might have noticed in my Weathermakers story, I used different translations than were considered official for the series. That’s because I consider Weathermakers my own story based on the BIRTHDAY concept so I could translate the names how I saw fit. Because this story is based on the series, I’ll be using the official translations. So, it’s Wonder Planet, Drop Kingdom, etc.
If I have any more to add I'll probably put it in this post. For now, enjoy the story.
Chapter 1: Dragged into the Looking Glass
It finally came. After five years of education, the day came when the princes and princesses of the Wonder Planet graduated from the Royal Wonder Academy. There was little ceremony on campus as they were handed their diplomas and boarded a train. They knew that would be saved for when they returned home.
The trip home was rather low profile too as they could only be spared one of the smaller trains. Unlike its more streamlined, glamorous cousins, it was designed like a small, old style steam engine pulling a single, boxy passenger car behind it. No one made any complaints known as they boarded the train and it pulled from the School Planet for the last time with them as the passengers.
The machine chugged along the invisible rails connecting the known worlds. Its computer control set them on the line for the Wonder Planet and it accelerated into fast transit. It stood out against the deep blue of the void with a pallet dominated by pastel pink and gold and its lamp cast bright light ahead of it.
* * *
Altezza looked about the cabin. There did not seem to be much difference between it and those found on the more modern rail liners. Both were fairly spacious with high, pastel pink ceilings adorned with crystal chandeliers that made the interior bright and warm. The seats were also just as comfortable too. There was not a single thing she could find wrong with the interior but that did not erase her irritation at the exterior of the small train carrying them home.
She did not say anything while boarding. She was more interested in returning home to see her parents again. However, once they were on board, she did not bother to hide her malcontent as much.
“Are you okay, Altezza,” a comforting male voice asked.
She looked up to see Auler was leaning over the back of her seat. The half Doggel looked down at her with genuine concern in his sapphire blue eyes. Altezza felt her mood lighten a little. Auler was such a sap but that was one of the qualities she could not help but like about him. However, she did not dare let it show. She had a reputation to keep.
Atlezza rolled her eyes away. “I’m fine,” she said in a dismissive tone. “I just think, returning home after graduating from the Royal Wonder Academy, they could have given us a proper train instead of this antique.”
“I think it’s quaint,” Sophie cheered as her head popped up from behind the seat next to her bother.
“I wasn’t talking to you,” Altezza growled, batting one of Sophie’s long, floppy ears out of her face.
This garnered some laughs from the others. It only served to anger Altezza even further. She blocked it all out and stared out at the stars and nebulae passing by her window in a mildly irritated glared.
“Can you believe that we’ve finally graduated,” Lione said to change the subject. “It’s been so long since we first arrived at the Royal Wonder Academy.”
“I think this is the very train that brought Fine and Rein.” Altezza found a way to bring her disdain for their train into the conversation.
“They say, ‘what goes around comes around’,” Sophie replied.
Altezza could only shoot her glare.
“It’s too bad our parents couldn’t come to see us receive our diplomas,” Bright said. “However, I heard they’re planning a Graduation Ball.”
Fine nodded eagerly. “I bet there’ll be a huge cake too.” Her mother began to water at just the thought of digging into such a confection.
“Still thinking with your stomach de pumo?” Poomo scolded her. “I guess the Royal Wonder Academy didn’t help you at all de pumo.”
“I guess some things can’t be helped,” Fine said with a forced laugh.
Another wave of laughter came over the passengers.
It had been quite the five years. The first year was by far the most adventurous with Toma, Edward, Bibin, and even the Black Crystal Kingdom threatening the academy. Even though the following four years were comparatively peaceful, they were filled with adventures of different sorts. They would be bringing a wealth of stories to tell their parents, younger siblings, and friends.
However, they were all glad to be returning home to the things familiar for more than a few weeks on summer break. Even after all they had seen and done, it was home they loved the most.
Milro was perhaps the only one not paying attention to the others as they struck up conversations to pass the time. The princess of the Drop Kingdom was absorbed in a letter from her beloved Pastel. She was so oblivious to what was going on around her she didn’t even notice Rein had sat down next to her. She only realized she was not alone when the baby blue haired princess of the Sunny Kingdom asked, “a letter from Pastel?”
“Eh?” Milro snapped back to reality and looked to her. “Yes,” she said.
“Is it a love letter?” Rein said slyly, playfully jabbing Milro with her elbow.
Milro’s face reddened slightly and the beige, Beaver-like ears nestled in her silky, sandy colored hair drooped over. “No, not exactly,” she said in a small voice. “Pastel has traveled to the Drop Kingdom to ask for Mother’s permission to begin courting me.”
“Old fashioned courtship,” Rein gushed. “How romantic!?”
Her wild imagination began to take hold and she was light-years away in her own little world.
Milro turned to the space passing by their window. They were passing through a rather desolate star system with a red sun glowing dimly but no planets to be seen. She wished they could reach the Wonder Planet more quickly to see her family and Pastel.
Just as she began to drift back into her thoughts she thought she saw something outside. For the shortest moment of time, she thought she saw all the stars blink out of existence. Even the red sun was gone in what had to be less time than it took to blink an eye. Milro thought that she had blinked but the train had not disappeared.
Everything was as it was before. Milro thought it was just her imagination but the cabin went dark. The entire train suddenly jolted with the terrible sound a twisting and grinding metal. Everyone was thrown forward as it came to an abrupt stop.
Milro expected herself to fall into the seat in front of her. Instead, she tumbled through the air towards the front of the car. It took her a second to realize she was weightless as was everyone else.
“What’s going on?” Altezza cried out as she tried to keep down her saffron miniskirt.
“The train’s lost power,” Shade announced.
“Brilliant observation,” Altezza snapped.
Shade and Bright pushed off to the front of the cabin. They opened the door and pulled themselves toward the engine. Milro followed them to the control room of the train.
The train was computer controlled so there was no one at the controls. Shade floated to a chair and pulled himself down to it. Fortunately, the computer ran on the train’s batteries for the screen lit up when he turned it on.
“We’re off the track,” Shade observed from the readout.
“Did we jump them?” Bright asked.
Shade toggled through readout after readout. “It doesn’t look like it. We should be on the track going by our position but there’s no sign of it within a parsec.”
“How can that be?” Bright asked.
Before any of them could think of an explanation Lione’s panicked voice came from the cabin. “Shade, Bright-sama, Milro, come quick,” she cried out.
They pulled themselves back into the cabin to see everyone staring out one side of the train. They wore an expression that seemed to be a combination of awe and horrified shock. They peered out themselves and gasped in amazement at the sight they saw.
A craft of some kind was sitting in front of the nearest star. It was huge with a hull of gold and silver that gleamed in the red light. It was crafted in the image of a bird of prey with sweeping wings attached to the main body and a slender neck that led to the head ending in a sharp, downward point like a beak.
“What is it?” Rein asked.
“Perhaps, it’s a rescue craft,” Altezza suggested.
Bright looked back at the ship. He’d never seen anything like it. There was something almost malevolent about it. Its curves made it look like it was hunched up and glaring at them like a ravenous hawk glared at a trapped mouse before gobbling it up. He paid special attention to the large guns on the sides of the head, the tips of the wings, and the belly. He did not know what it was but he seriously doubted it was a rescue craft.
A field of purple energy was loosed from the belly of the craft that enveloped the train. Before anyone could guess what it was, they hit the opposite side of the cabin. The field was pulling them towards a door that slowly opened to reveal a bay.
They did not know whether to be relieved or frightened. Were they being rescued or abducted? All they knew was they could do nothing as the bay drew nearer and nearer.
* * *
Unseen to them, below them and the ship, it appeared as if a part of the star field began to waver. The area took shape as an object and began to become opaque. It became fully visible as a vessel in the shape of a giant, light blue stingray.
It raced towards the first ship from almost directly below. Cannons emerged from their ports on the head and loosed searing beams of blue energy. One beam struck the first vessel’s starboard nacelle, making it loose arcs of energy and its power to fluctuate. The other tore into an area where the field was coming from, throwing off globs of molten metal.
The field ceased. No sooner was the train out of the grip of the first; the new ship grasped it with a blue field of its own. It quickly pulled it into its bay and shut the doors behind it.
The first ship came about. However, the glowing, blue engines on the back of the new ship’s wings flared. It accelerated at an incredible rate and seemed to stretch. It disappeared with distance until a distant flash indicated it had crossed the light barrier.
* * *
It took several seconds for everyone to gather themselves. They first realized they felt the heavy pull of gravity again. They looked to each other sprawled out on the floor and seats.
The train had stopped moving to their relief. At least, it was not moving compared to what they were in. They were no longer in space as an unmistakably artificially generated light flowed in through all the windows.
“What was all that about?” Shade asked as he sat up.
“I don’t know,” Bright replied.
“I believe I know,” Rein said gravely. “We’ve been captured by space pirates.”
“Space pirates?” everyone else asked.
Rein nodded. “They’ve captured us and will hold us for ransom. Until they get their money, they’ll force us to be their slaves. Then, if we don’t obey, they’ll make us walk the plank.”
All the while she was imagining in vivid detail what she was speaking of. Her imagination got so carried away; she latched onto Bright and screamed, “protect me, Bright-sama!”
Poomo highly doubted that was the case. However, he knew they were no longer in space. The small, white fairy floated up to the window and looked around.
They were in a bay or hangar of some kind. The first thing he noticed was a metal staircase leading up to a catwalk on the second level. Past it was a large door in the floor labeled with a large ‘3’. He then looked to the door on the opposite wall. His eyes lit up as he recognized the curled teardrop that served as the Drop Kingdom’s emblem painted on the door.
“We’re in good hands de pumo,” he practically cheered. “Have a look de pumo.”
Everyone looked out the windows and heaved a sigh of relief. Not only was it not pirates, they had been picked up by a ship from their home planet. Once the notion of them being on a Drop Kingdom ship sank into Altezza’s mind, she shot a glare at Milro.
“Milro,” she sneered. “Why are we on this antique if your kingdom has ships like this?”
“Eh?” Milro turned to her. “I didn’t know my kingdom had any starships.”
“Wait a minute,” Bright said as it struck him. “None of our kingdoms have ships like this. No one has starships for that matter.”
“Then, what are we on de pumo?” Poomo asked.
Pyupyu and Kyukyu suddenly collapsed. The tiny pink and blue angels settled on the floor as their breathing became labored.
“Pyupyu!” Fine exclaimed.
“Kyukyu!” Rein cried out at the same time as her twin sister.
Fine took the pink Pyupyu gently in her hand. “She’s burning up!” she exclaimed at the feeling of heat coming from the tiny thing.
“Someone’s coming,” Auler announced.
The door with the emblem split and the two halves slid into the wall. Two beings practically jumped into the room. The appeared to be Humans except they had what looked like gill slits in the sides of their necks and their hands were webbed. Both had Prussian blue hair and wore jackets, pants and caps in a blue camouflage pattern.
They knelt at either side of the door and produced large, aqua and gold guns they aimed at the train. One made a motion with his head and more people poured into the bay. Some were gilled humans like the first two wearing camouflage while others were anthropomorphic Beavers and half Beaver/half Humans wearing the hats and coats and dresses, shawls, and bandanas worn of the Drop Kingdom’s work force.
They aimed pistols and rifles of the same design at the train as they took position on the catwalk and the deck. The princes and princesses looked around and saw gold, parabolic dishes set in aqua, parabolic barrels pointed at them from almost every direction. They were paralyzed with fright as they tried to make sense of what was happening around them.
Milro looked out and saw one of the smaller Beavers talking with a gilled woman. She knew she recognized him but it took a second for her to discern exactly who it was. “That’s Spigot,” she exclaimed in shock.
“Spigot?” the others asked.
“Yes,” Milro said. “He’s the chief engineer for our cloud machine. However, I don’t remember him ever having a beard.”
He was about the only thing familiar about any of this except the uniforms worn by the Beavers and half Beavers. However, they seemed different as well. A few, like Spigot, had stripes on their sleeves and straps on their shoulders. Most of the others had patches sewn to the pockets on their sleeves and shawls. All of them had circular patches decorated with the picture of a nautilus shell.
The gilled humans were completely unfamiliar to her. She had never even heard of a race like them before. Their uniforms and weapons were also unfamiliar. Like the ship, they were clearly from the Drop Kingdom, but she could swear they did not exist.
Spigot and the woman motioned for a younger blue haired and gilled human to come to them. It was impossible to hear what they were saying from inside the train, but, judging by Spigot pointing at the train, he was being instructed to board it. He saluted and began walking towards the train, taking his rifle in both hands.
The royals felt their hearts begin to pound against their chests as they could hear him at the door. With what had to be incredible strength, he physically forced the door open. He walked up the steps and surveyed the cabin with his rifle at the ready.
His silver eyes narrowed into an irritated squint. “I don’t believe this,” he sneered. “The Coalition has sunken to a whole new low.”
Before they could even begin to make sense of what he said, the gilled Human aimed his rifle at them. “All of you,” he barked, “put your hands on your heads and exit the vehicle in single file.”
When they didn’t comply pointed his weapon the door at the back of the cabin. With a squeeze of the trigger on the gray handle, he loosed a brilliant blue beam that appeared to be surrounded by white rings. The beam struck the door and blasted a sizable hole in it.
Everyone gasped and stared in amazement and horror at the demonstration of his rifle’s destructive power. They all stood up and placed their hands on their heads. They then filed past the rifle wielding man who watched them with piercing eyes.
“Move, move, move,” he barked and trained his rifle on each of them as they passed by. He noticed the 11 tiny Tanetane Princesses were in more of a cluster. “I said single file!” he roared and pointed his rifle at them.
The princesses practically jumped back in terror and quickly formed up in a line and filed out after the others.
“You too, sister,” he sneered, pushing Milro with his weapon as she walked past.
Milro had to stumble to keep her balance after being knocked forward. She was the last one out of the train as the others stood with the hand still on their heads and every weapon trained on them. She was perhaps the most shocked of all. She knew nothing of her kingdom having such ships and weapons.
She also noticed a squirrel-like Riri wearing a white coat was among the group. She immediately recognized him as Doctor McChi, a well known physician from the Peanut Lake area of the Drop Kingdom. He was scanning the others with a device and closely eyeing the readings on his screen.
“Well, Doc?” Spigot asked. “What are they? Imposters? Clones?”
“They’re definitely who they appear to be,” McChi replied, still watching the screen of his scanner. “They don’t have the genetic hallmarks of cloning either.”
“But, it can’t be them,” Spigot declared. He then turned to the royals. “You can put your hands down.”
They complied and slowly lowered their hands. It did not make them feel anymore comfortable as they still had all the guns trained on them. Even the typically lighthearted Sophie seemed to be in the grips of dread.
“I have a theory,” McChi said, finally looking away from his scanner and slipping it into his coat pocket. “I need to do more extensive scans in Sick Bay.”
“Alright.” Spigot turned to the gilled woman he had been talking to. “Major Izu, make sure they’re under heavy guard. I don’t know what these are, but, until I do, I’m not taking any chances.”
“Yes sir,” the woman said in a sharp voice and gave a stiff salute. “Martinez, Smith, Gerhard, and Brown, escort our ‘guests’ to Sick Bay,” she barked.
“Yes, sir.” Four of the camouflage clad individuals, including the one that herded them out, formed a box around the royals. They others lowered their weapons and walked out of the room. With their rifles resting on their shoulders, the four escorted the princes and princesses out.
The royals were marched through the corridors of what they guessed was a ship. The hallways were narrow with low lighting and a dull pallet of grays and blues combining to make them almost a dim as twilight. The floor was bare metal as their camouflaged escorts’ boots made a dull clunk when they hit the floor.
They occasionally passed other people. All of them stopped what they were doing and stared at the royals passing by. It was especially disturbing that the expression they all wore was the one worn by people who had just seen a ghost.
The others glanced back a Milro when they thought they could manage it without being noticed. They hoped she had answers but she seemed the most confused. The people looked like they came from her kingdom, its emblem was everywhere, but they should not exist.
They quickly came upon double doors with the medical symbol painted on either side. They guessed it was Sick Bay and sure enough, when the doors opened, the room beyond was filled with beds surrounded by analytical equipment. It was much brighter both in lighting and paint color which took their eyes a moment to adjust to it.
Once they could see better, the royals examined the room. The beds were empty and the only people that had been in the room were wearing nurses’ tunics and dresses. Cabinets covered the walls that had no beds. Several cages and aquariums were arranged on shelves to hold various animals, many of which they had never seen before. Other shelves held bottles and jars filled with pills, powders, and liquids of various colors. It all seemed to the standard fare for a medical bay aside from the animals.
The two escorts that were behind them took position at the doors. They slipped their rifles off their shoulders and held them in both hands. To everyone’s relief, they pointed them to the side instead of at them.
Doctor McChi motioned for one of the Beaver nurses to come to him. She took one look at the royals and gasped with the same expression of mortified amazement the others had all given them.
“I know,” McChi said. “I need the quantum scanner tied into the imaging chamber. I’d also like the portable one.”
“I’ll get right on it,” the nurse said. She took one more look at them in disbelief as she walked over to a control panel across the room.
“Do I have any volunteers?” McChi asked as he came to stand next to a bed on a track. “I need to scan one of you in the imaging chamber.”
The royals followed the track with their eyes. It led from where the bed was through a pair of doors. They felt a little apprehensive. After all that had happened, they were not sure if they could trust it.
“I might as well go,” Altezza grumbled.
She climbed onto the bed and laid down on it. McChi pushed a button on the wall next to the doors. The bed slowly slid back and the doors opened to allow it to slide into the cylinder behind them. The bed came to a stop and the doors slid shut. The walls then began to glow and gave off a soft hum.
Outside, everyone watched as a silhouette of Altezza’s body appeared on the screen above the doors. It was odd to see her without her signature blond rat’s nest, even if it was just the outline of her body. McChi pressed a button in the pad to toggle through images of her anatomy.
“Do you need me to do anything in here?” Altezza asked.
“Just relax and lay flat on your back,” McChi replied.
“Quantum scanner is tied in,” the nurse said as she handed him another instrument.
“Thank you,” McChi said.
He punched up a graph with a wave pattern on it. He eyed it carefully and nodded as if he understood something from it. He then waved the scanner in front of the others and eyed what its screen displayed.
The doors slid open as Spigot walked in. “How goes it, Doc?” he asked.
“Everything checks out as it should,” McChi replied. “Except, this Altezza has broken her arm several years ago.”
“Yes,” Bright said when he heard this. “When we were little we’d play hide and seek under the ballroom in the mechanisms. One day, she fell and broke her arm.”
“Altezza-sama, at least, our Altezza-sama, never broke her arm,” McChi replied.
Spigot put everyone’s bewilderment into words. “What are you getting at?”
“Physicists have recently discovered quantum resonance,” McChi explained. “Everything in our universe vibrates at a certain frequency on the subatomic level. However, these people vibrate at a different frequency to everything else in our universe. I believe they’re from a different universe. It’s probably a universe with a high degree of congruence with ours, but different nonetheless.”
Everyone gasped. Though, it did explain many things.
“Does that mean the Coalition has found a way to cross into other universes?” Spigot thought out loud.
“What do you mean ‘a different universe’?” Shade demanded. “What’s going on here? Where are we? What’s this Coalition everyone’s talking about? And why are people looking at us as if we’re back from the dead? I want some answers.”
“You are on board the SR-05 Nautilus, a Drop Kingdom New Light Cruiser,” Spigot said. “And, as far as we’re concerned, you are back from the dead. You, or rather, your counterparts from this universe, were all killed by the Black Crystal King four years ago at the onset of the General War.”
The royals all gasped in horrified shock.
* * *
The I.C.S. Punisher was underway once again after the damage to its nacelle was repaired. As threatening as it seemed stationary, it seemed even more menacing in motion. It appeared to constantly be in a swoop like a raptor at its prey at a couple hundred times the speed of light.
* * *
Political Officer Norris sat in the command chair at the center of the Punisher’s glamorous bridge. He stared forward at the huge viewscreen taking up much of the front wall. The stars appeared to streak pass due to the illusion created by the warp field surrounding the ship.
Norris was a blob of a man; his bulging gut exaggerated by his sloppy posture. About the only things kempt about him was his steel gray hair he kept in a crew cut and his dull grey uniform. His beady, ice blue eyes seemed sunk into his fleshy head under his heavy brow as they remained fixed forward.
A door behind him opened and a woman with long, deep purple hair walked in. He knew it was Commander Maltese. As a political officer, he had found every way possible to identify members of the crew down to the rhythm of their walking.
The Commander walked down the steps and came to stand next to him. “Norris,” she said coldly.
“Yes?” he replied in an uninterested tone, not bothering to look away from the viewscreen.
“You’re in my chair,” she said.
Norris casually looked around him. “So I am.”
“Then kindly get your bloated ass out of it,” Maltese snarled.
Norris intentionally took as much time as possible in removing himself from the command chair. Maltese peeled back her lip slightly in revulsion both of his disrespect and the way he moved. She honestly wondered if there was any bone under all that lard.
Once he was out; she took her time to sit down it. The command chair was almost like a throne with plush upholstery and lavish embellishments. The Celeb Planet’s navy wanted you to enjoy command and Maltese did so very much.
“You may be the Praetor’s eyes and ears on this ship,” she said, facing forward. “However, she is my command.”
“We’ll see how long that lasts.” Norris turned to the officer at the radio console, “put Admiral Fisk back up.”
Maltese felt her heart quicken at the mention of the admiral. No doubt, Norris had informed him of how they had failed to capture the Wonder Planet princes and princesses from the other universe.
The stars on the view screen were replaced with the image of the admiral. He had a boxy head with a flattop hair cut to match. An eye patch was strapped over one of his eye sockets while his remaining gray eye glared forward.
Maltese knew he had lost his eye as punishment for underestimating the Wonder Planet. She feared what fate might await her for her failure.
“There you are, Commander Maltese,” the admiral said in a cold, gravelly voice.
Maltese opened her mouth to explain.
“I want no excuses,” Fisk roared, cutting her off. “The Praetor is furious as is the Black Crystal King. I gave you a simple yet vital mission and you somehow found a way to botch it.”
“Did Political Officer Norris inform you about how the Wonder Planet Cruiser escaped detection?” Maltese asked. “It appears they perfected a cloaking device.”
“I don’t care,” Fisk growled. “If our latest technology works the way it should, all the technological developments made by the Allies will be rendered moot. However, we need those princes and princesses to assure we can safely cross into other universes.”
“I will find them,” Maltese declared.
“Don’t be so sure,” Fisk said in a calmer but still condescending tone. “The Edison Planet has dispatched ships in search of them and Black Crystal King has his forces hunting them as well. You’ll be hard pressed to redeem yourself on this one. Fisk out.”
The screen went back to the star field.
Maltese felt her blood begin to grow hot. She snapped her head in the direction of the officer sitting at the sensor station. He was the same one overlooking things during the operation.
She piled all her rage onto him. It was his fault she was humiliated by the Wonder Planet ship. It was his fault she had to be berated by Admiral Fisk. He would be the one who would pay.
She stood up and drew her disruptor from her belt. The officer barely had time to turn around before she fired. The energy discharge tore into him and began vaporizing his body from the strike to his chest. Within moments, he was gone with barely a scream.
“Sub-Lieutenant, you’ve just been promoted,” she said, not bothering to look at the officer to her side. “Take your station, Lieutenant.”
The officer, shaken by the latest happenings complied. She sat down slowly in the chair and tried to keep how mortified she was of sitting in a dead man’s chair from her face. Maltese walked up to her, making her feel even more uncomfortable.
“I don’t care if you have to grab this galaxy by its spiral arms and shake it until the Nautilus falls out,” she said in the officer’s ear. “I want her found.” She then pressed the barrel of her disruptor to the side of the officer’s head. “And, if you have any desire to live a long life, you want her just as badly as I do.”
“Yes, Commander,” the officer managed to say.