FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Tales from the Hearth Star: Blackman's Revenge

By Psion

A Cmdr. Longfoot Story

As the battle to blockade and take over the Wuff trade station Wannabang concluded, Commander Longfoot and the crew of the Silver Pantry were dealing with a most unexpected development. After disabling a fleeing smuggler ship trying to run through her checkpoint and dealing with its owner when he tried to hijack her armed supply vessel, Longfoot and company discovered he had be carrying a most unusual and highly illegal form of freight in his cargo hold. It was in this hold the crew currently stood as they inspected and prepared to impound the cargo bay's contents.

The plump brown-furred rabbit anthro was silent as she looked into the translucent casing of the cryo-pods, looking through the clear material at the beings held in frozen in suspended animation. She had heard of these beings when the Space Fleet Admiralty hurriedly sent out a dossier to everyone at the rank of commander and above, but to see humans for herself was an experience. Her crew, originally ignorant of these sapients, looked and gawked as they gathered in the cargo hold to figure out what to do with this most unexpected cargo. Everyone from Ensign Zedd all the way to Lt. Synth stopped and stared at the strange, furless humans. Slightly irritating but Longfoot knew she had no one to blame but herself for it. Briefing the crew on the contents of the intelligence dossier she was forwarded was her responsibility.

"What are these creatures?" Zedd wondered aloud, the equine helmsman looking like he wanted to touch the synthetic diamond shell but knowing better then to try it.

"Space Fleet mentioned a species of sapients called humans in an intelligence report from the expedition infiltrating the Hearth Star, I didn't expect us to see them though." Longfoot began to reply as she leaned slightly forward to better examine the pods and their occupants, her black elastic Space Fleet uniform drawing tight around her abundant rear as she studied the machines and their occupants. "A late pre-stellar society encountered by the Wuffs when they took the Hearth Star outside of known space. Their home world was bombarded from orbit, survivors were rounded up and imprisoned by the Wuffs only for a portion of them to escape and hide in the abandoned lower levels of the world ship. The majority of them are still enslaved by the Wuffs." The Space Fleet officer explained as she finished assessing the smuggler's sapient cargo. Fifteen humans in total, each sleeping peacefully in a self-powered pod designed to automatically thaw out and awaken their occupants once the battery depleted. A strange design even for the Wuffs, it was almost as if... Longfoot blinked as she realized the intention of the Wuffs who sold these humans to Starfang.

"Strange, these pods don't appear to have any inputs for drawing power from the ship, either Starfang's or ours. You wouldn't notice it at first but when you look more closely." Lt. Synth mused; the heavy hourglass black and white cheetah science officer was drawing the same conclusions that Longfoot was reaching.

"Lt. Synth, were you able to analyze Starfang's gas before venting it out into space?"

"Yes, it's a potent sedative. Illegal for non-medical use, the smuggler's possession of that alone would have been enough for a lengthy prison sentence. Couple that with fifteen counts of slave trading, he'd never see the outside of a GalRep prison ever again. And I already know what your next question is Commander, yes I can synthesize more of it with the equipment aboard the Silver Pantry if necessary." Synth replied as she waddled around the dingy, cavernous hold of the blockade-runner, holding up a Universal Assay Device to each pod and performing a biological scan of its occupant. "All fifteen appear to be in fairly good health considering how the Wuffs treat their prisoners, it looks like they spent relatively little time in captivity though there's some signs of exposure to industrial pollutants. I can't tell much more then that without running more extensive tests and they need to be awake for that." She reported, her tone confirming that she shared Longfoot's opinion that waking these humans up without preparing beforehand was a very bad idea.

The blond-haired rabbit engineer nodded in agreement. "Very well then. Synth, try to access the smuggler's computer and figure out who he was delivering these humans to if anyone. As for the rest of you, we are going to transfer these cryo-pods to the fore hold aboard the Silver Pantry and make sure to lock the doors once we are done." She ordered; this was going to be a very interesting report to Command.

Like similar vessels of "conventional" wet navies, the Silver Pantry was basically an armed cargo ship designed to carry supplies to Space Fleet ships on long-range patrols far from the nearest base. As such, the lower level of the ship was an open hold equipped with drones and exoskeletons for the rapid unloading and loading of freight. This equipment made quick work of transferring the cryo-pods to the secured section of the hold at the front of the ship. Once the last pod was loaded, the bulkheads separating the secure section from the rest of the Pantry were locked and on an afterthought, Commander Longfoot used her command overrides to change the codes to the secure hold. She may just be overly paranoid but if she was right, five against fifteen were not good odds. In any case, she definitely needed to report this to Command.

Leaving her exoskeleton in the hold and following the rest of her crew up to the operational deck, Longfoot ambled along the long hallway that ran along the ship's spine, connecting the bridge to engineering, crew quarters, the galley, med-sci, and life support. Heading to the bridge and through a side door into the ready room, she took a deep breath and dialed the ansible to send a message to Command. Might as well get this over with, she'd have to report back sometime and sooner was significantly better then later.

Lt. Synth was not surprised when Longfoot called her to join her in the ready room a few seconds later. She could tell that the commander was nervous; this was the first time the Lapeen had to report something big to headquarters since being assigned on this ship, maybe even the first time she had to report in at all since accepting the open command position aboard the Silver Pantry. Synth could hardly blame the other female; the supply vessel was one of several Space Fleet ships that were used as a punishment assignment by the higher ups. Still, what were the odds that the officer that got the commander sent here had a position at headquarters?

Commander Longfoot felt a chill run down her spine as Synth joined her just in time for the ansible network to bring up the well-rounded face of Chief Admiral Bargebottom, leader of Space Fleet that kept the Galactic Republic safe alongside the Star Corps and Intergalactic Police Agency. Longfoot should have known that any news involving the humans would have invariably lead to her speaking to Bargebottom directly. Should have known...

Feline eyes, the same yellow feline eyes as Lt. Synth's, regarded Longfoot with cold disdain as the admiral recognized the Lapeen engineer instantly. "Hello Bael." Bargebottom greeted, her tone frigid enough to lower the ambient temperature of the ready room by several degrees as she addressed the commander by her first name. The lieutenant's eyes went wide as a thought occurred to her, no it couldn't be...

"Hello ma'am. The raid on the Wuff black market station was successful. However we recovered a cargo of cryogenically frozen humans from one of the smugglers." Commander Longfoot replied, taking in the familiar sight of the admiral. Chief Admiral Bargebottom was an exceptional figure in Space Fleet, in girth as well as tactical and administrative ability. At one point, Bael imagined the yellow-eyed feline head of the Fleet was a plump pear-shaped female like herself. That would have been a long time ago as the admiral was now a very bottom-heavy blob of a female, one that needed a hover couch to get around. Her legs had largely been "swallowed" by an enormous pair of rump cheeks, what was left was reduced to a pair of stubby thunder thighs, and her belly was a massive billowy repository of years of lavish eating. Crowning this gumdrop mound of proud GalRep gluttony and the incredible elasticity of Space Fleet uniforms was an almost comically normal sized set of breasts and arms before ending with the admiral's "moon-face" head and a short, straight-cut mane of platinum blond hair. And this mountain of a feline was about as cold as the glacier ice on an artic planet.

Upon hearing about the seized cargo though, Bargebottom's frosty mood warmed somewhat. She still was clearly loathing this conversation but the news that Space Fleet might be the ones to make official first contact with a new species was definitely hard to be grumpy about. "What is the status of the humans?" She asked inquisitively.

"Still frozen, their pods have been transferred to the secure hold aboard the Silver Pantry and locked down." Longfoot reported dutifully.

"Was that necessary Commander? Wuffs do use standardized power interfaces." Bargebottom inquired, looking to find some fault in how Longfoot handled the situation thus far.

"The pods do not have standardized energy inputs ma'am, they're built to run off an internal battery and only appear to be capable of drawing power from a starship on casual inspection." Longfoot replied dutifully, quietly thinking chew on that and add it to your couch swallowing ass.

"That's a foolish design even for the Wuffs... who were they sending them to?" The immense feline officer asked as she shifted her weight in her hover couch. No one was fooled by intention of this design. They all knew that the batteries would deplete, the pods would defrost their occupants, and a group of very angry humans believing they were already sold off would awaken and probably kill whoever the intended recipient was.

"I gave the task of examining the smuggler's computers to Lt. Synth while the rest of us transferred the humans to our ship. Have you been able to find anything so far lieutenant?" Longfoot asked, silently grateful to have Bargebottom's gaze on anyone but her for the moment.

Briefly caught off-guard, still slightly amazed that it was Admiral Bargebottom herself that the commander had slighted, Synth quickly looked down at her data pad to double-check her findings. "Yes, unfortunately the smuggler's computer is heavily encrypted with a military-grade cipher. I'm unsure of how a smuggler stupid enough to think a sock puppet would pass for proof of life managed to get a hold of a program that complex but I am slowly making progress breaking his encryption. I have managed to get enough data to determine that he was transporting the humans for someone else, I have a set of coordinates and a time for where he was scheduled to make an exchange." She reported before reading off the time and the coordinates she managed to extract, an empty stretch of space not far from the station at roughly half a day's time from now.

The admiral nodded. "Very well, maintain present position. General Carbloat and I are already on our way to inspect something the Star Corps uncovered while they were shooting up the Wannabang Trade Station." Bargebottom ordered before signing off, her reply carrying an unspoken try not to get into any more trouble until we get there.

As the monitor deactivated, Longfoot deeply exhaled and looked to her XO. Synth looked back at her with abject disbelief. "Admiral Bargebottom? SHE'S the officer that assigned you to the Silver Pantry?"

"Yes..." Longfoot replied as she dejectedly brushed off her uniform. "I'd really rather not talk about it." The blue-eyed Space Fleet officer added, answering the unspoken question that she knew was going to follow. "Let's go see what needs to be done to prepare for the admiral's arrival and see what we can learn about our guests without waking them up." Commander Bael Longfoot stated without much conviction. Hopefully whomever Bargebottom sent to check up on the exchange wasn't who the plump Lapeen thought it was. There's be no living with Captain Cryptal Bargebottom if that were the case...

Meanwhile...

Captain Cryptal Bargebottom, daughter of the admiral of the same name and a younger and more mobile image of her mother, regarded the update to her orders from her parent with a devious smile as her ravenous appetite destroyed another sandwich. Looks like she arrived in the sector just in time after all, "mummy" wanted her to investigate a potential exchange between a smuggler and a currently unknown vessel. Something about a newly discovered alien species called the "hew-mons" or something. Whatever, all that mattered was that she was able to take her warship the Resolute Forager and hopefully keep her rival Commander Bael Longfoot from having all the fun.

The blond Space Fleet engineer was the only thing that could darken the ray of sunshine Bargebottom received from her mother. Her rival since the two females met at the academy, the gluttonous feline hated the "plump pumpkin" as she called Bael. She didn't know how Longfoot was able to accomplish more then sit on her fat ass but the after-action report the feline officer received from an IPA cruiser that took part in the blockade of a nearby Wuff trade station mentioned something about Longfoot somehow stopping a smuggler dead in his tracks with her supply vessel. Clearly that dinner wasn't enough to keep her down and buried for good. Speaking of food...

"Ensign Cheddah! Where's my lunch!" She barked, paging Galley Services from her command couch.

On cue, a Rubent male clad in the black and tan of Galley Services waddled onto the gleaming bridge carrying a tray piled high with all of her favorites. Ensign Cheddah, a member of a rodent-like species that were reputedly the best cooks in the galaxy and the fourth chef to have come and gone since Bargebottom was assigned this position, and already she could tell she was not going to like this one either. Effeminately male, blond hair tied back in a ponytail and tucked away under a floppy tan chef's hat, soft brown eyes and fur, and an exaggerated pear-shaped figure with an enormous butt almost as big as hers. The last detail in particular was a sore point with her and the reason why she tried to run him ragged while stuffing her face.

"New orders from Command, set a course for the following coordinates." Bargebottom shouted at helm, reading off the location her mother wanted her to check before turning her attention to her lunch and dismissing Cheddah with a wave of her hand. General mess was in an hour's time, the ensign needed to get back to the kitchen to prepare lunch for the rest of the crew while they investigated this location for smugglers dealing in some sort of contraband. Exactly what, the feline as wide as her namesake didn't know, but some quick combat beating measly outlaws into dust was a nice start to keep ahead of Longfoot...

Ambling off of the bridge and finally out of his captain's sight, Cheddah exhaled and shook his head. The effeminate mouse sighed as he waddled back to the galley; protruding rump wobbling gently inside his elastic black uniform with every dainty step he took. He had been warned beforehand that Captain Bargebottom was impossibly difficult, that she had gone through four Galley Service officers in the span of two years standard, three transfers and one resigning from the Fleet entirely. Now he could see why, the younger Bargebottom was a spoiled Fleet brat with impossible expectations; one with a very blatant case of butt envy judging by the look of scorn on the captain's face whenever she looked his way.

Shaking his head, golden blond locks flowing like water, Cheddah headed back to the galley kitchen. The gleaming appliances, some of the finest cooking equipment manufactured by the Galactic Republic, glistened back at him as he lumbered through the doorway and started checking the contents of the stasis pantry. At least there was one upside to being stationed aboard the Resolute Forager under Captain Bargebottom, she may be horribly demanding but at least she didn't expect him to work without proper tools. He had just figured out what to serve the rest of the crew when the General Quarters alarm echoed through the ship, safety protocols shutting down the entire kitchen as power was rerouted to combat functions. Well he wanted an excuse to stop and catch his breath anyway....

Bargebottom's feline eyes went wide as the blond-haired captain saw the pirate ship that appeared on screen. The Resolute Forager, a proud warship of the Fleet, buckled and shook violently as armor and shields crumbled beneath the blistering barrage of enemy fire. Of all the pirate ships it could be, it had to be the Crown of Thorns, Captain Alyssa's cherished warship. Captain Alyssa, exile of the Amazonian world of Gladius and arguably the only pirate lord viler then the Wuffs themselves.

As the lights flickered off and emergency power activated after the last salvo, the officer training Bargebottom's instructors fought to drill into her head finally kicked in. "Status report! Can we still move?"

"Negative, engines are down. Weapons are also down. Sensors are down as well except for internal sensors. Life support and communications are the only things that still work. All crew alive and accounted for." SO2 Suker replied, the Vul petty officer looking like he was about to say more when the view screen came to life with a real-time communication from Captain Alyssa.

Bargebottom had read reports about the notorious Captain Alyssa but to see the other female for herself was another thing entirely. The equine pirate captain sat casually in a command chair built to resemble a majestic throne, her athletically toned body clad in a full suit of sky-blue polymer body armor that bore the scorch marks of previous engagements. A magnificent mane of blond hair flowed down past her shoulders as ice blue eyes regarded the Space Fleet captain with utter contempt. She was, if one was interested in females like her, breathtakingly beautiful. Unfortunately, according to the official word, she was also psychotically cruel.

"Well, well, well." Alyssa began as she gently twirled a goblet of wine with a gauntleted hand. "This is unexpected. I arrived here early expecting to meet an associate of mine and here is a Space Fleet cruiser, captained by Admiral Bargebottom's brat no less, and my smuggler nowhere to be found. I'd almost think I was set up except I know Starfang is too stupid to try and double-cross me with anything this elaborate." The pirate baroness mused as she took a sip from her crystal chalice. "So, where is Starfang and the new playthings he was supposed to bring me from the Wuff station Wannabang?" The armored mare snarled and balled her free hand into a fist before slamming it into the arm of her throne.

"The Galactic Republic does not deal with pirates." Captain Bargebottom responded without much conviction. Truthfully she was strongly considering telling Alyssa what she knew in the hopes that the pirate would go away so the Resolute Forager could limp to safety.

"You are in no position to do anything else. Your weapons are disabled, your shields are down, your armor is in tatters, any drones you could send at me would be cut to pieces by my new point defense system; your crew's only hope is that you cooperate and tell me where my TEN MILLION CREDIT PURCHASE IS!" The blond pirate shouted through the view screen.

Faced with the strong possibility of her own death, Bargebottom's will faltered. "It's probably still at Wannabang, the Republic blockaded the trade station and seized all contraband cargos. Whatever you bought is probably either still on the station or locked up on a transport bound for headquarters." She blubbered. "Please don't kill us." The fat feline added feebly.

A terrifying grin crossed Alyssa's face as she contemplated this information. "Well then, perhaps you and your crew might have some use to me after all. Do exactly as I say and you might just live to waddle home crying to mommy." The outlaw cackled with a demonic laugh....

Commander Longfoot had just arrived on the bridge, mug of coffee in hand, for first watch when the computer on her command couch lit up with an urgent distress call. Sitting down and bringing it up on screen as the rest of her crew took the ship off of automatic functions, the engineering officer blinked and took a long sip of caffeine to make sure she was awake and wasn't dreaming. No, she really was seeing her academy rival on screen, begging for assistance from any nearby GalRep ships as the bridge of the Resolute Forager sparked and smoked. Captain Bargebottom apparently encountered something vicious out at those coordinates, a fact that didn't bother Longfoot as much as she thought even though it meant that a few good Space Fleet crewmen were probably going down thanks to Cryptal's stupidity. Still, there were protocols to follow and a quick check indicated what she expected.

The Star Corps troop barge had left yesterday, leaving only a token group of Troopers behind to guard the trade station and inspect something that the fat space marines were abnormally vague talking about, something that in itself was telling given how boisterous the Star Corps usually was, and all the other ships that had taken part in the blockade were long gone to saints only knew where. Admiral Bargebottom's ship was just barely in range to pick up her daughter's message yet still too far away to do anything about it. That left only one ship in range to Longfoot's dismay, hers.

"Set a course for Captain Bargebottom's last known position Ensign Zedd. Lai, Sil, start powering up weapons and shields the moment we arrive. The Resolute Forager is one of Space Fleet's long-range cruisers and has easily twice the firepower we do, I do not want to trifle with whatever could disable her." Longfoot ordered just as her command console flashed with another urgent message. The Lapeen knew who that was before Admiral Bargebottom's face flashed on screen.

The elder Bargebottom looked understandably distraught, Longfoot fought to avoid smiling. After all, Admiral Bargebottom was still the head of Space Fleet and it wouldn't do to be unnecessarily smug about this sudden turn of events even if the admiral's daughter was responsible for the direction Bael's career had taken. "Commander Longfoot, I need you to go and help Cryptal."

"Understood, we're already on our way. We should be ready to jump into hyperspace in a minute." Longfoot replied and looked at her helmsman expectantly, Ensign Zedd nodded.

For the first time since the Fleet engineer had gotten to know her personally, the admiral looked visibly relieved. "Good, I will be arriving behind you with the Stout Defiance, one of our new battleships. It should be more then enough for whatever disabled the Forager so don't take any unnecessary risks."

Longfoot nodded in understanding and signed off, a second later they jumped to a desolate asteroid field light years away from any inhabited system. It was the perfect place to arrange the transfer of illicit cargo... or set up an ambush for people stupid enough to come running blindly after ships in distress. Weapons and shields were fully powered and Lt. Synth was running a scan of the immediate area. The wreck of the_Resolute Forager_ was soon found. The Silver Pantry's commander nervously waited as her science officer finished a detailed scan of the wreckage as the badly damaged ship drifted listlessly in the middle of the asteroid field.

Lt. Synth's feline face was screwed in confusion as she finished scanning. "There appears to be no sign of the ship's crew, at all, except for one life sign in the ship's galley."

"No sign?" Longfoot asked, they would have picked up localized distress beacons if the crew was forced to get into escape pods.

"No life signs, no indications of dead bodies either. It's like the entire crew abandoned ship except for one..." The chesty science officer's voice trailed off as she compared the bio-signature to Space Fleet records. "Ensign Cheddah, Galley Services."

Longfoot brought up the sensor report on her own command console. "Hmmm, the entire ship except for the galley has been depressurized. Getting him out will be difficult." The engineer mused just as a small asteroid, a hunk of space rock no bigger then any of them, pierced the Forager's galley section and threw the kitchen's appliances out into space... including a stasis pantry that pinged with Ensign Cheddah's still-strong bio-signature. "Or that could happen." Longfoot exclaimed dumbfounded as she quickly pressed a few buttons on her console to activate the_Silver Pantry's_ tractor beams, quickly scooping up the stasis pantry and bringing it aboard the main cargo hold.

"I'll go pry him out and bring him back up here. Lt. Synth, you have the bridge." The blond commander ordered as she rose to her feet and started making her way to the lower hold.

The stasis pantry was a ubiquitous appliance throughout the Galactic Republic, an iconic eggshell white appliance that used low-powered stasis fields and miniaturized refrigeration technology to keep food preserved for months if not years. The Galactic Academy of Sciences was still conducting tests on the device, as not even they were sure just how long the technology kept food good for. The ship's own limited cargo handling system had seen to deposit the one Longfoot fished from the wreck of the Resolute Forager in the center of a small empty space in the middle of the main hold.

With no small amount of trepidation as even GAS had never tried using the technology on living beings before, Longfoot opened the stasis pantry. Ensign Cheddah flopped out and landed on the deck floor with a wobbly thud as Bael took him in with a glance and smiled as she realized how he managed to fit himself in there. A blond-haired Rubert with a very effeminate hyper-pear, an unusual body type for his species, Cheddah looked up and regarded her with soft brown eyes shining with overwhelming relief. His black-clad stomach was bloated and swollen tight like a balloon as the pantry's original contents audibly groaned and gurgled inside of him, his gut hanged down past his knees in a giant ball crammed full of Space Fleet rations and whatever exotic ingredients Cryptal's palette demanded. Clearly there wasn't quite enough room for both him and the food in the stasis pantry so he solved the problem the only way a sensible GalRep citizen would, especially one that might have been looking at his last meal if this insane scheme didn't work.

"Ma-ma-ma'am, I can't-can't tell-tell you how-how-" The still-thawing Rubent began with a chatter, greeting Longfoot with a stiff salute and fixing his equally stiff chef's hat as he made a comical attempt to stand at attention.

"It's alright Ensign, can you tell me what happened to Bargebottom and the rest of your crewmates?"

Cheddah's eyes slowly went wide with fear, either recalling the incident or something he ate got the blood flowing through his system fast enough that he could talk somewhat normally. "We were ambushed. Captain Bargebottom had just sent me back into the kitchen to make the crew's lunch when suddenly she called for General Quarters. Next thing I know the ship was disabled and losing atmosphere on several decks and I had to lock myself in the galley as Captain Alyssa's raiders boarded the ship."

Longfoot's ears twitched nervously. "Captain Alyssa? Are you sure?"

The rodent-like chef nodded and shifted his posture to better handle the person-sized lump of food in his stomach, causing the giant ball to wobble ever so slightly. "Yes ma'am, they came aboard in heavy armor wearing her crest, forced the rest of the crew aboard her ship, they particularly had to drag Petty Officer Suker aboard, and somehow forgot about me." He explained, smiling as he recalled that little bit about Suker. Longfoot thought that sounded like a Vul name but she couldn't picture a Vul outright fighting anything. Oh well, if she ever got a chance to meet them she'd make sure to ask.

Something about this story wasn't adding up though. Bael knew her rival was a consummate coward so hearing that she surrendered wasn't a surprise. What was a surprise was how completely she was thrashed based on the status of the wreckage. "How did the Crown of Thorns manage to get enough firepower to best a Space Fleet cruiser? I know it's powerful enough to beat the Silver Pantry but the Resolute Forager should have been able to put up a decent fight."

Cheddah shook his head, finally defrosted enough to regain a functional range of motion. "I don't know ma'am." He began.

"Commander, this is Synth. We found Bargebottom and the others." The lieutenant interrupted nervously over the ship's communications.

"Where did you find them?" Longfoot asked; a bit unnerved by her XO's tone.

"Its better if you come back to the bridge and see for yourself." Synth replied with a worrying abruptness. Now Longfoot knew something bad was happening. Synth could be a habitual smartass, part of the reason why she ended up on the Silver Pantry's crew, but she never was that short with Longfoot before.

"Understood, I'll be right up." Longfoot replied before turning back to Ensign Cheddah. "Come with me, we'll figure out what to do with you later, right now I better go see what happened to your captain."

Returning to the bridge with the bloated Cheddah waddling in tow behind her, Commander Longfoot put on her best serious face. "Alright lieutenant, what is... oh." She began, noticing Captain Alyssa's face on the view screen with Cryptal Bargebottom and her crew standing awkwardly on the pirate's bridge.

"Hello, you must be Commander Longfoot, Cryptal's best friend from the academy. I understand you came into contact with something that belongs to me and maybe even still have it." Alyssa greeted with cruel sarcasm as the Space Fleet officer sat down in her command couch.

"Yes I am Bael Longfoot, Commander of the Silver Pantry." She began, quietly bringing up passive scans of the pirate warship and an estimated time of arrival for the Stout Defiance. Thirty minutes standard before "mommy" Bargebottom came riding in with a battleship and already in range to send instantaneous communications with Longfoot's supply vessel. Maintaining eye contact with the pirate that currently held the advantage over her, she smiled and discreetly tapped a few buttons on the arm of her command couch. The conversation was being recorded and a copy was being transmitted to Admiral Bargebottom. That way if she screwed up, at least it would all be on record. "Yes Captain Alyssa, I know the admiral's daughter from our time in the Academy. I'm not entirely sure what you're getting at though."

"Bael please! I'm sorry, I'm sorry I cooked up Sniggles and tricked you into eating her! Please save me!" Cryptal Bargebottom blubbered abruptly.

Everyone on the bridge of the Silver Pantry turned and looked at Cmdr. Longfoot. The female engineer merely tilted her head back and laughed so hard she cried. Her plump abdomen wobbled like a gelatinous dessert as she continued to chortle with a deep, hearty belly laugh. By now everyone on board except Ensign Cheddah would have know that it was Admiral Bargebottom's ire that the commander had earned and all of them would have recognized Sniggles as the name of Admiral Bargebottom's prized pet. And if there was any doubt as to how the two went together, Cryptal's hasty plea took care of that.

"You're recording this aren't you?" Alyssa asked with a bemused smirk when Longfoot finally stopped laughing.

"For black box protocols yes, just in case you decide to destroy me. As for your other remark, are you talking about the cargo of fifteen cryogenically frozen humans we seized from the smuggler Starfang?"

"He only got me fifteen?" Alyssa bellowed. "Why that lying flea-bitten... I'll kill him for this."

"Too late, we already did." Longfoot replied with a smile.

The equine pirate's face began to turn a deep shade of purple as she glared a hole in her opponent's face through the digital view screen. Longfoot decided to continue. "I will not pretend I don't know where the humans are, I'm sure your sensor officer already picked up the fifteen unknown life signs kept in stasis down in my cargo hold just as my ship noticed that yours is surprisingly undamaged for having just faced a Space Fleet cruiser with a combat-capable crew. Curious, how did you acquire the firepower to end a fight that quickly?"

The captain of the Crown of Thorns smiled as her anger briefly faded. "Wouldn't you love to know where I picked up your level of firepower?"

Longfoot was unimpressed. "What I would love, based on reports of your antics in the gladiatorial pits aboard the Hearth Star, is to force you on your knees and make you suck on the nearest erect Vul penis after all your teeth have been pulled. But we can't always get what we love can we?"

Alyssa's grin broadened. "I like this one, your rival has a lot of fire in her for a fatty." She said while looking over at Cryptal. "But I'm a busy female and I can plainly see you're stalling for time so I'm afraid I must cut this conversation short. The humans we currently have on board are wearing out, my crew and I will need replacements soon. My raiders will be boarding your ship now to collect what's mine."

Longfoot was silent for a moment as she considered her options, she still had twenty minutes standard before the Stout Defiance arrived out of hyperspace and even if Alyssa didn't somehow acquire the weaponry required to take on a Fleet cruiser, she still had the Silver Pantry completely outgunned. There was only two ways out of this and after that comment she would be damned if she just surrendered.

"Alright, we'll stand-by to receive you then." Longfoot said with her best smile and abruptly cut the connection with the Crown of Thorns. Once the feed went dead, she turned to the rest of the bridge. "Alright, we have only a few minutes before they get here so we need a plan and we needed it fifteen minutes ago. Lt. Synth, do you have any of that sedative Starfang tried to use on us synthesized?"

"Not in any quantities that would be effective Commander."

"Of course it wouldn't be that easy... okay then, can we interact with the human cryo-pods remotely?"

"Yes... we also have plenty of spare Fleet side arms in the general stores." Synth replied as she figured out where Longfoot's train of thought was going.

"Alright, do it. Wake them up and have the cargo loader bring a crate of weapons to their pods. The rest of you go get something from the ship's locker, time to see if the humans know how to speak Universal." Longfoot replied as she prepared the ship for boarders as Alyssa's vessel latched on to hers. If this worked, she was definitely going to receive a chewing out but at least she'll live to receive one.

Through the electronic gaze of the Pantry's internal security feed, Longfoot and her crew watched as the humans stirred and forced themselves out of the Wuff cryo-pods. Limbs moved with a fleeting stiffness as fourteen lean humans in worn clothing assembled around one that the commander guessed was the leader of this particular group. A tall man, fairly lean and one of the paler-skinned ethnicities from what little Longfoot had to read on the species. A man with a harried look in his blue eyes as he quickly surveyed his peers and their surroundings.

Quickly checking the status of Alyssa's raiders on another screen, she turned her attention back to the awaken humans as they found the weapons and finished passing them out among themselves. Paging the secure cargohold as she briefly sucked in her breath, time to see how much of a mistake this was.

"Attention, this is Commander Longfoot of Space Fleet. Do you understand me? Nod if you understand me, there isn't much time." She warned quickly.

The fifteen looked around but nodded all the same, briefly talking amongst themselves in one of their own languages. The translation provided by the ship's computer was encouraging, the humans definitely understood her.

"This is Gabriel Blackman, who the hell is Space Fleet?" The leader finally spoke in crude Universal as Alyssa's pirates reached the still-locked door to the secure cargo hold and knocked ominously on the alloy door before starting to try hacking the lock.

"Space Fleet, the navy of the Galactic Republic. And we have no time, you have seconds before Alyssa's pirates are on top of you." Longfoot replied.

"GalRep?" Blackman replied with a confused smile and the common abbreviation for the Republic before motioning for the others to get ready for the pirates.

Hiding behind deactivated cryo-pods and the emptied weapon crate, the humans waited until Alyssa's raiders finished hacking the door and rushed in before opening fire. There was no doubt they recognized the blond, statuesque pirates in heavy combat armor, battle cries of "Eat it blondie!" echoed through human firing line as did cries of "For the Junction!" Of the eight Alyssa sent down to collect her prize, two were taken down instantly. The other six fell back in a fighting retreat that at first went uncontested then the humans rose up and leap-frogged from cover to cover, chasing the fleeing pirates through the main hold and picking off two more before the four survivors fell back to the upper levels and tried to secure a defensible position only to get caught in a flank between the ascending humans and Longfoot's crew.

As the last of the boarders fell in a flurry of energy bolts, Blackman's band climbed up to the upper levels of the ship and stared at Longfoot and her crew. Gabriel and his group cradled Gladius laser rifles and boarding shields clearly taken off of dead or wounded Amazonian pirates as they regarded the six Space Fleet sailors with a mix of distrust and disbelief. At first there was silence then Gabriel finally spoke.

"Okay so who talks first? Do you talk first or do I talk first?" The human greeted in the same rough Universal he used before, carrying a noticeable Wuff accent to his words and a somewhat standoffish tone in his voice. Guess there was no question which species he practiced his use of the language on.

"I am Commander Longfoot, my crew and I recovered your cryo-pods from a smuggler during a blockade of the Wuff trade station Wannabang. Apparently you were to be sold off to the space pirate Alyssa of Gladius, she has taken the crew of another Space Fleet ship hostage in attempt to force me to trade you for them. I need your help to take over her ship and rescue my peers and the other humans she has captive on board."

"We never got off Wannabang?" Blackman asked, his previously hardened mood lightening up ever so slightly. "Maybe there's still time... As for Alyssa the Blond, bitch queen of the bimbo pirates, you had us at 'other humans she has captive.'" He replied with a smile as the other human warriors grinned excitedly and rose their weapons back up as they joined Longfoot in boarding the Crown of Thorns.

The transition from the Silver Pantry to the Crown of Thorns was as stark as it was immediate. Space Fleet preferred to color the interior their ships with grays and shiny chrome offset by warm browns and dark reds. Alyssa meanwhile seemed to favor dark polished marble, ornate columns, and a general parody of the bright whites and blues of her native Gladius.

The humans carrying boarder shields went aboard the pirate ship first with their shields raised, their cohorts with laser rifles following right behind them. Part of Longfoot's mind subconsciously made a note of how well the humans handled themselves in forcing their way aboard Alyssa's ship. That same part of her mind also noticed that the humans accepted her offer of cooperation rather easily. Hopefully she was just being overly paranoid.

Resistance was unsurprisingly fierce once they were aboard. Equine raiders in full armor either attempted to fight in melee with large two-handed swords or the laser rifles that the people of Gladius favored. Though their armor was reasonably resistant against energy weapons, the volley of fire was simply too much with the melee pirates being cut down almost immediately and the rifle-mares lasting a bit longer before succumbing or retreating. Here again Blackman's warriors left Longfoot with another mystery as while all of them were clearly battle-hardened guerrillas to some degree, the humans trusted with the laser rifles were undoubtedly a significant cut above their peers and clearly quite acquainted with fighting in very close quarters. The Space Fleet officer wondered if they were professional soldiers of some variety before the Wuffs attacked the humans' home world.

Despite heavy fighting, the humans managed to quickly force their way onto the bridge of the _Crown of Thrones_with Longfoot and her crew struggling to keep up. Next thing she knew, they were on the bridge after an aggressive hail of gunfire badly wounded the bridge crew. Alyssa was on the floor, lying on her back and staring down the barrel of a Fleet blaster pistol held by a very angry looking Gabriel. "Hiya bitch, remember me?" The human greeted with a tone that could chill plasma, a control console destroyed in the fight for the bridge sparking ominously behind him.

"Gabriel Blackman. Raiding your pathetic little village aboard the Hearth Star was probably the only mistake of my career. If I knew you'd be this annoying, I would have made the Wuffs triple their offer for my marauders to take you down." Alyssa snarled.

"Well you didn't and here I am helping myself to your captives." He smiled back, gesturing Bargebottom and her crew towards the door with a wave of his pistol. Once the rescued Space Fleet officers started moving, Gabriel and his men backed away after them.

"Say Longfoot, what happens if I were to shoot a door control panel?" The weathered man asked casually.

"It would stay stuck in whatever position it was left in."

"Good." Blackman answered simply as he slammed his fist against the door controls, shutting the door, and then shot them out with a short-range blaster bolt, sealing the bridge shut behind them.

With the rest of Alyssa's crew dead, wounded, or so cowed by the abrupt turn of affairs that they locked themselves in their quarters, the formerly captive Space Fleet sailors were armed and the humans began to sweep the rest of the ship. Along the way, Longfoot noticed several modifications to Alyssa's ship that bore a suspicious resemblance to Space Fleet equipment right down to the components and sub-assembly designs. Someone had been providing her with GalRep military technology...

Significantly intimidated by recent events, Cryptal Bargebottom stayed close to her rival. "Why are you staying here Bael? We need to escape before Alyssa can rally her crew and take back her ship."

"Because we haven't found everyone yet, I convinced Blackman to trust me by offering to help him find the other human captives Alyssa's keeping on this ship." Longfoot replied, their conversation punctuated by the sharp report of a human or Space Fleet officer finding and shooting a pirate.

"Need I remind you I outrank you?" Bargebottom replied, unmoved by Longfoot's humanitarianism and wincing every time someone fired off a shot.

"Need I mention that your mother received a real-time feed of my conversation with Alyssa starting right BEFORE you confessed to cooking up Sniggles? By the way, she should be here any moment if she hasn't already arrived in-system." Bael Longfoot replied, smiling as her rival turned pale.

"You didn't."

"I did because I wasn't sure if Alyssa wouldn't just try to destroy the ship and salvage the human cryo-pods from the wreckage. If that was the case, I wanted your mother to know what happened. As for the confession, well that was your doing, not mine."

As the two females quietly argued amongst themselves, the search continued quickly on. Having a firm idea what their new friends were looking for, the Space Fleet sailors joined the humans in searching room to room until they found the slave quarters near the bottom of the ship. Upon seeing for herself what Alyssa classified as "worn out," Longfoot was grateful she possessed a stomach that was as strong as it was fat. Like the Wuffs she occasionally traded with, the captain of the Crown of Thorns clearly regarded her thralls as disposable. Bruised and battered, some of them quite noticeably so, and clearly underfed just enough that they would have the strength to do whatever it was Alyssa wanted them to do yet not enough that they would have the strength to resist. And then there was the smell, oh the smell, several of both her crew and Bargebottom's visibly retched at the assault on their olfactory nerves while others audibly gasped at the state these sapients were in. Longfoot couldn't blame any of them. None of them expected anything like this.

Yet despite being battered, starved, and filthy, Alyssa's human slaves still somehow had the strength to look up and smile at the sight of their rescuers. Gabriel Blackman appeared unfazed by his surroundings, another detail Longfoot was quick to note, and began to address the freed slaves. "Alright listen up people, we're getting you out of here. Those of you who have the strength to move under your own power, help those that can't. Alyssa has a large escape shuttle a deck below us, it's big enough for all of us and has a hyperspace drive. Get down there and get on it, we'll take you somewhere safe on it." He ordered to the sound of feeble cheering before turning back to Longfoot. "And I believe this is where we part ways."

Longfoot had a feeling her temporary ally had planned on breaking off things with her right here and she could see a dozen things wrong with his plan. "Don't be foolish. Several of these people need a doctor badly and all of them could use a bath and a few hours experiencing what a GalRep kitchen can do for them. Even if you do have a safe haven somewhere, a jump-shuttle has a very short range and I doubt you know where your home is relative to here." She countered.

The lapine sapient could see the wheels turn inside Gabriel's head as she stared into his brown eyes. He maybe compelled to fight her help tooth and nail for whatever reason but he was not an idiot, he could see the sense in what she was saying. "Alright new plan. We're taking everyone back with Bunny Girl here onto her ship."

Longfoot smiled as they returned to the Silver Pantry uncontested, she had convinced him for now. But for now was all that mattered, she could puzzle out his motivations later. Come to think about it, she did remember reading about another human by that same name in the file sent by the Hearth Star infiltration team. Perhaps the two were the same, if so it would explain a great deal about Blackman.

The bulkhead was sealed and the Pantry was forcing its way out of Alyssa's clutches when Longfoot's personal communicator pinged with a message that was as welcomed as it was dreaded.

"Commander Longfoot, this is Admiral Bargebottom! What the devil is going on over there?" The admiral barked over Longfoot's personal communicator as the Stout Defiance reached effective range for short-range communications... and perfect range for subjecting Captain Alyssa to the battleship's many weapon batteries judging by the explosions that crippled the Crown's engines.

"It's a very long story Admiral, but at least I get to tell it to you." Longfoot began as she returned to her bridge with Gabriel Blackman as Zedd took them away from the _Crown of Thorns_post haste. "However, I have someone with me I know you'll want to talk to." She replied as she took a seat at her command couch and transferred the communication over to the couch's built-in electronics. She then gestured to the human leader.

"Okay, do I just talk or is there a button I need to press down and hold?" Blackman began, his Universal becoming a bit slower and more carefully pronounced.

"Who is that?" The admiral could be audibly heard over the chair's built-in speakers.

"Well that answers that... this is Governor Gabriel Blackman of the human space station Lighthouse. And who am I addressing?" Blackman replied diplomatically.

"Chief Admiral Bargebottom of Space Fleet. Well Commander Longfoot, you just cost me a fifty-credit bet with General Carbloat. Have to say though that's the first time I've ever been glad to lose to the Star Corps at anything. Well met Governor Blackman, I look forward to speaking to you in person back at the Wuff Station Wannabang... what is it with Wuffs and puerile names?"

"Thank you however as I was about to tell the Commander, I need to get back to the Lighthouse."

The admiral paused; Longfoot immediately realized Blackman was not going to like what he was about to hear. "Governor Blackman... I'm sorry but the Lighthouse is under attack by the Wuffs. While I was here handling Alyssa's nonsense, Carbloat's Star Corps managed to break the encryption on your ship and download the location of your station. With the coordinates in hand, Carbloat took his base ship and troopers off to Lighthouse. The last message I received from him was that he arrived in sight of the station and that there was a Wuff flotilla attempting to board your station."

In that instant, Blackman had gone from being confident to looking like someone had punched him in the gut. Bael Longfoot watched as the human looked down and suddenly found something interesting about the bridge's polished floor...