Return of The Red Devil Read online

  “Yes, Ma'am. The remaining matter would collapse on itself and the star implodes, it would become a supernova!”

  Kyp and Mal flinched.

  The captain narrowed her eyes, “They can do that? I mean, are there historical records that document them ever having to do that?”

  Fang rolled his eyes to the ceiling for a moment as if trying to remember something then stammered out the answer,

  “The Zarintian writings mention one occurrence of a terrible parasite that had to eradicated inside an infected system.

  The System Guardians blew up the central star, any planetary bodies that survived the explosion were tracked down and each one had its own core ripped from it.

  The smaller bodies momentarily became molten lava from that action. All life in the system was extinguished!”

  Kyp spoke up, “Thank you, Fang. --I have indeed woefully underestimated them. I will comply with whatever demands or suggestions they make and not be so disruptive. Number one, do you agree?”

  “Yes indeed, Captain. We should at the least play for time!”

  “Should we confront them with what we know then, Fang?”

  “I see no reason not to, Madam. They have been forthcoming in trusting us with part of their operations, and have not told us any falsehoods as yet. We could see how they react.”

  Kyp growled back in a whisper, “I despise them! They are tyrants!”

  Fang shrugged, “Perhaps so, let it be noted that though they used to rule with an iron fist but in a velvet glove. They were loved and respected by their subjects.

  It may be better at this point to follow their lead than to be most certainly exterminated by our former enemies, the bugs!”

  Kyp scowled and whispered, “Very well then it is a Hobson's choice.”

  Kyp straightened up and cleared her throat, “If the Watchers will allow another question?”

  Circe smiled and nodded, “Why of course, Captain.”

  “Mr. Silverclaw, my historical advisor, tells me that you are in reality, beings mentioned in the Zarinthian texts as 'System Guardians' is this possible?”

  Circe tilted her head an traded an uncomfortable glance with Diane and replied, “Our predecessors were called that ages ago. You are aware of what actions took place back then...?”

  Kyp nodded, “Yes, we are. They caused a nova of the central star of the system that housed their enemy.”

  Circe's mood darkened, her ears flattened and her face clouded with a troubled look, “My sister and I hope to avoid a conflagration of that scale again if it is at all possible.

  What happened then was used as a last resort. That option I hope I never have to avail ourselves of because it is all too possible that innocent lives will be snuffed out along with the undesirable elements.”

  “It also takes a good deal of prepreparation to set up something on that scale,” she added.

  Kyp glanced over at Fang with a look, Is she telling the truth? Fang nodded back.

  Then Kyp, Mal and Fang stared back at Circe and Diane for a long moment before Kyp broke the silence, “Back to the subject of the wolf pack fleet, may I make a suggestion to you both?”

  Circe raised an eyebrow not knowing what to expect, “Certainly, Captain.”

  Kyp continued, “I think you have had the makings of your destroyer fleet at hand all this time. You only need to bolt the proper parts together in the right order. May I have a three dimensional view display of an Aguila on the screen?”

  Diane tapped out the proper keys on a nearby panel and the figures came up in 3D.

  Kyp pointed to key parts of the diagram, “Take your regular super class MULE and add length to its spine to bring it up to 350 to 400 feet in length, then add armament modules, of your choice here, here and here”, she pointed to the display.

  Add armor at these points over here and here. This will give you further backward compatibility with all the MULE utility modules but with even more capacity for expansion later.”

  Circe and Diane stared back dumbfounded.

  Diane blurted out, “Brilliant! Why didn't we see that before?”

  “Yes! Of course! I'll call Orson right away on this!” Circe exclaimed and made enthusiastic trilling noises.

  “Make those modifications, train us as you see fit. Let us run through some shakedowns with the new boats and I will accept the commission as Captain of your Wolfpack squadron for you, My Ladies.” Kyp stated evenly with a steely gaze.

  Circe breathed a sigh of relief, “Thank you Captain! You may have just helped save us all!”

  Diane's ears perked up and she offered, “Would it be too brazen, that we drink a toast to this agreement as a reunification of Past and Present Terra?”

  “It's no secret that I have an axe to grind with the damned Kinty and an old score to settle. I'll drink to that!” Kyp replied firmly.

  “As will I!” Fang spoke up,

  “Aye! I will drink to that with my Captain as well!” Mal added.

  Some glasses were produced and filled with spirits.

  They all raised their glasses and Circe delivered the toast,

  “To the new Terran Federation Alliance and Protectorate!”

  Kyp added to the toast, “--and death to the advancing stinking bugs! May the mange rot their chitinous hides!”

  “To the mange as well!” they all chimed in together and drank on that cue.

  After they all set down their glasses Kyp stepped over to Circe and Diane, “A word with you both, if I may?”

  Circe replied, “Oh! Of course. If the rest of you will excuse us a moment?”

  The rest of the group nodded and wandered off to their compartments.

  When the room cleared, Kyp began to speak again in hushed tone, “I don't understand you. You are System Guardians!” she spat like it was vitriol.

  “You are known to be tyrants! You have total power over simple folk such as my crew and I! Why do you do go to all the trouble of convincing us to work

  with you when you can simply force us to do so!? I suppose you could even make us be happy in our labors to further your agenda! Why do this?”

  I got this Sis! Diane lowered her ears then glanced at her sister.

  Diane took a breath, “We could do that, but my sister and I don't work that way. We believe in giving people a chance to work with us first.

  It is because of who you are and where you come from.

  We have no one here with any real battle experience, and we need an experienced captain, especially one that has engaged this enemy before.

  If we made you one of our minions it would destroy your autonomy. In the middle of a firefight there is no time to call home and ask what to do, every time a new situation presents itself.

  If you choose to help us, that is a whole different matter.

  After we repair your ship you are free to go but we hope you will stay. We do desperately need someone of your caliber

  –Please. Will you teach us, stay and fight with us?”

  With that Diane slowly went down to one knee before the demure red panda hybrid. She extended her hands each palm upwards and a magnificent long sword appeared in her open palms. Circe followed in kind as well.

  Kyp was totally astounded by this display at having this much raw power begging for her hand to command their ships!

  She hesitated almost a full minute then blinked and fluffed her tail, apparently deeply moved, but then she quickly covered the show of emotion, “Make no mistake, my Ladies, my crew and I will give this our best shot.

  But I don't do this for you or my own ends.

  I have only seen a little of what's been done here over the centuries while I've been gone.

  What I do is for New Terra.

  I don't have to like you or be your friend in order to work with you effectively though.

  Oh, and I do wish sincerely thank you again for rescuing my crew and I.

  So, I guess I do owe you one on that point.”

  Circe and Dia
ne smiled and nodded in understanding, rising slowly to their feet again.

  “Just one other request?” Kyp asked.

  “Name it.” Circe replied.

  “When the Dragon Lady is repaired I'd like to go round up my old friends and destroyer captains--”

  “Yes, it shall be so.” Circe answered, “If I may make an observation?”

  “If it is in my power.”

  “Having read you, I know what you went through to get to this system, I have seen through your eyes how you and your crew work under extreme pressure.

  Some would have chosen to give up hoping for a shred of mercy from your pursuer.”

  The answer came, “Yes. I knew that man well, what he was capable of. I played a hunch to choose an uncertain, possibly disastrous end, over what I knew was certain death for us all.”

  “Might you indulge my curiosity at bit more, Captain?”

  “I suppose so.”

  “You incinerated a hive world run by the Kinty. I'm pretty sure you didn't have that technology at the time, so how did you pull it off?”, Circe asked.

  “Well, Ms. Smith, I had a situation where dragons owed me a favor, I took them up on it. They traded some of their tech for me to use to pull it off, since they also had a vested interest in being rid of those pests.”

  “Fascinating!” Diane exclaimed.

  Circe nodded, “But what I really wanted to know is: could you teach my pilots to fly like you do?

  Your tactics would be invaluable! I'd be very appreciative!”

  “I would be glad to!” Kyp smiled softly.

  “I bid you then, a good night my Ladies,” and the good Captain, with a slight bow of her head, turned on her heel and padded out the door.

  “Good evening to you as well, Captain,” Diane chirped.

  They watched her leave.

  Diane blinked, “Wow. I guess she sure told us a thing or two!”

  “Yeah, she's a tough one to crack” Circe acknowledged.

  “She has a lot of guts though--”

  “True, dear clone sister. She will always be a challenge to work with, I think. But she has hard battlefield experience and is a natural born leader. She is also a natural born killer.”

  “But...didn't you just waste some street gang guy for that?”

  Circe winced, “Yes, I did, Circe paused, “Kyp is unusual. She does not kill unless she has to, but when she does, it is without remorse or hesitation, importantly, she takes no pleasure in it.

  Unlike our street thug, the late, 'Stump Knocker', who was into it just for the sheer pleasure of killing,” Circe shuddered and grimaced for several seconds at that earlier memory.

  Diane showed a grim smile and gave Circe a pat on the shoulder. “Sorry, Sis. I know you were only following the code. It can be a dark business at times. But look! You gave me a new life, didn't you?”

  Circe just nodded and patted Diane on the paw-hand then smiled back.

  “But hey, no wonder you went out on a limb to sign her up! ”

  “That's for sure, Di. We need her for all the reasons that make her a good ship's captain and squadron leader.”

  Circe reflected a moment, “One other thing little I found out from her initial mental scan,” Circe was smirking a bit now.

  “Oh? What's that?”

  “She is not just an exile, she is a fugitive. The Assassins Guild will stop at nothing to kill her.

  She is on the run. It benefits her to work with us, we are better equipped to provide protection and weapons, but that is not the most important part....”

  “It's not?”

  “It gets better, Did you examine that little fur sample I gave you?”

  “Ah, no,” Diane then stared at it carefully a moment, “Holy crap!”

  “This genome has Mutial Genetics Corporation all over it!” Diane stammered.

  “Yes! All her crew are of the Epsilon, Super Soldiers genome. Most of them are of the Epsilon Sigma series, but she is an Epsilon Omicron 17 series. One in a million. A born commander!”

  Circe shook her head, “Not only that, but the Kinti have a paralyzing fear of her now, that is legendary. The bugs even came up with a nickname for her after she blew up one of their secondary hive planets. They named her, The Red Furred Devil!”

  Diane just gave a low whistle and rotated her lapine ears back at that revelation, “She’s kind of a scary lady, isn’t she.”

  “Yes, she is”

  Circe gave Diane a pat, “Lets go get those new plans down to the ship yard. We're going to have a battle fleet to build!”

  :To be Continued

  And that is part of another story!