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The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/Auggy74 on 2024-12-27 16:02:28+00:00.
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Terran Foreign Legion Ship Twilight Rose
Gryzzk watch the viewscreen, fascinated by what he saw. After a change of shirt and a cup of tea, things seemed to be going smoothly. Hurdop Prime was an interesting thing โ very much like Vilantia, but at the same time different. It was smaller, rockier, and the lights from the cities seemed dimmer somehow. Still, the planet loomed larger, and he was about an hour from completing the first leg of his mission. He tapped his communicator for the supply room.
Lieutenant Gregg-Adams was bright and cheerful as he answered. "Yes Captain?"
"Lieutenant, begin moving the excess cargo from our hold to one of the shuttlecraft. It'll be easier to shuttle down that way rather than transfer to the Godsfang and then have them shuttle down. Make sure there's room for the...crew of our other ship."
"Understood. Gregg-Adams out."
Reilly spoke up shortly thereafter. "Captain, Hurdop Traffic Control requests we put the ship into a parking orbit. The Major's already negotiated the sale of Ship Fifty-Seven back to the Hurdop government for a refit. FYI, we're making bank on this. And, ah, Captain Jojorn would like to speak to you before they are transferred off to Hurdop."
Gryzzk nodded. "Very well. XO has the bridge." He left and went to medical first.
Doc Cottle was there, reading from his tablet. He glanced up at Gryzzk and chuffed softly. "Prumila ate two helpings of curry and went to sleep, Captain. She's resting now, probably be awake in about half a day or so. I'll let her know you stopped by."
Gryzzk nodded and then went to the brig. The crew of Ship Fifty-Seven were all asleep in a pile on two bunks except Jojorn, who was pacing the length of the cell whispering to herself. She looked over at Gryzzk as soon as she scented his approach.
"I have a request, Captain." She spoke clearly, keeping her eyes level. "I need to know why my ship failed. Why we failed."
Gryzzk chewed his cheek for a moment. "In a broad overview, your ship was not well matched with ours. Your gunner missed their shots on our ship, and our helmsman is very good which allowed us to close with your ship and disable it. Afterward, we were able to board and...well, I believe that's the part you know."
Jojorn shook her head. "That's not enough. There had to be more. Certainly your ship is fine, but we could have. We should have been a better match."
"I believe we may need someone with more expertise with respect to ships." Gryzzk tapped his tablet.
"Tuckers Bar, Ball-bearings, and Bowling, where we shake, rattle and roll all night."
"Chief Tucker, this is Captain Gryzzk โ please bring your technical assessment of the ship we are currently towing and come to the brig."
"Oh, this is gonna be good. Tucker out."
The Chief showed up a few minutes later with his tablet in hand. He looked at Gryzzk, the occupants of the brig, and then back to Gryzzk. "You're shittin' me."
Gryzzk shook his head. "No. Chief Tucker - meet Captain Jojorn, Captain of the Hurdop Youthfleet ship Fifty-Seven. Captain Jojorn, Chief Warrant Officer Tucker, head of my engineering department."
Tucker looked at Jojorn for a long moment. "Fffuck me running. How old are you, kid?"
Jojorn bristled a bit. "I am thirteen. Old enough to be in command. I had excellent scores in leadership and command simulations."
Tucker glared at both Gryzzk and Jojorn. "Fucking thirteen. She should be at school. Having sleepovers and getting moon-eyed about whoever she thinks is cute, not leading no goddamn Charge of the Light Brigade. Same for the rest of them. Scuse my goddamn French, but what the actual fuck are your planets playing at?"
Gryzzk held up a hand. "Something we're trying to correct. For now, would it be possible to provide a technical readout of the ship and mark each specific area that contributed to the current situation?"
Tucker took a breath to steady himself. "Alright. The only actual damage inflicted was our railgun giving your engines a country asswhoopin' that moved your old girl from 'mostly dead' to 'check the pockets for loose change'. Before all that happened - your targeting system hasn't been realigned with your weapons in about four years, and on top of that your weapon placement looks like it's been changed twice. As far as your mobility, about two-thirds of your thrusters are dead, and the ones that do work are maybe half power. Your power plant itself is damn fine, and that's about the only thing you had going for you - but that's like dropping a Ferrari V12 in a Pinto. Your power distribution's a mess of crossovers, spaghetti'd conduits and reroutes that send more power to dead ends then anywhere useful. Thermal regulation looks like you were just venting out to space. Life support and inertial dampeners look like they've been running off the secondaries for months. That's the major stuff that pertains to battle, not the fiddly stuff like sensors and comms. Now for worst part - all that mess means you're alive. Your superstructure's more weld that actual shipmetal; you had maybe a one in five chance of coming out of R-space alive if it didn't crack up on entering R-space and your R-drive didn't shit itself at the thought of jumping in. Honest opinion? You and your crew need to thank Cap over there for saving you from yourselves. Not everybody in space is so polite."
To her credit, Jojorn took the information in and didn't try to deflect. "Thank you, Chief. I will...consider this."
Tucker's eyes softened for a moment. "You should. And Captain Kid? I know times are hard and you got the shortest end of any stick ever offered, but - get a few more years under you before you try this space thing again. Maybe get a better ship, do something not as violent. Galaxy's got enough sad endings out there without fuckin' Hurdop Teen Hunger Force out there floating around like furry icicles."
Jojorn looked up. "I believe my life may be going in another direction now."
"Good. Don't screw it up. Cap, I'mma go do work while you get your kids on to their next adventure. See you at breakfast." Tucker left and headed back to Engineering.
Gryzzk smiled wryly. "He's a very good engineer but peculiar." His rank chimed and Reilly's voice came over. "Captain, Shuttle Damask Rose reports ready for departure. Standing by for you and our...passengers."
"Captain Jojorn. Wake your crew, and have them follow me. We'll be placing you in the care of the Vilantian emissaries who are here to share their knowledge and learn from you. The hope is that we will make both worlds better. Stronger. Maybe you can help them?"
Jojorn seemed a bit uncertain. "I...we will try." But she went to the bunks and woke the others of her crew as gently as she could. They quickly gathered their old clothes under their arms and began walking out to form lines that made their way to the upper shuttle deck, where they all settled in quietly. Along the way, Nhoot joined them and fell in step with Gryzzk to "help say bye 'til next time." Nhoot was carrying a large satchel, but refused to let Gryzzk carry it.
As soon as they separated from the Twilight Rose, Jojorn stood up and took a breath.
"Crew of the Youthfleet Fifty-Seven. It's been my honor to be your captain, and work with you day and night for Hurdop. For those who are too young to fight and earn their food as we did. But when we touch down, we will go separate ways. We will teach the Vilantians about Hurdop, each of us in our own way." Jojorn swallowed, fighting back something. "Show them our strength. Show them our kindness. And when we can, we will meet and help each other. Because that -" Jojorn stopped again, her eyes wet. "That's what a crew does. And when we've taught them enough, we will take our own ship again and take to our birthrighted stars." Jojorn sat back down, looking toward the rear of the shuttle and wiped at her face for a moment.
Gryzzk saw that there were nods and a few hidden tears around the cabin as the shuttle went roaring through the atmosphere to finally touch down at the spaceport, which was alive and bustling with activity. As they left, Nhoot gave each member of the Youthfleet ship their own tablet and a smaller version of Rhipl'i, and quickly gathered them to show them how to send messages through R-space as well as through the local grid so they could talk to each other as well.
The sun was bright, the gravity was wrong, and Gryzzk was not having a good time for about five minutes. The sky was almost dizzying to him for a time, and he wasn't the only one who appeared to be suffering from a sort of vertigo. The Vilantian Lords were standing about, talking to each other and their new staff members. As they left Nhoot Gryzzk and the crew of children gathered to meet them. For a moment.
Then there was a bit of chaos as each of the Hurdop children all sniffed at the Vilantian Lords and ladies in turn before huddling together to talk with the occasional head poking up from the huddle.
"Captain, what are they doing?" Lord A'kifab looked warily at the knot of children.
"I believe they are selecting who they wish to be with."
"They're children."
"They are, but they were given an adult's charge. You may b...
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