The Thargoid Advantage Part 2
20 Sep 2022Creamy Goodness III
Continued from The Thargoid Advantage Part 1
Puerberry was backing away from the door while holding the big weapon out in both hands, pointing it at a red glow that was starting to appear on the door. He was already nervous because he was on his live evacuation test, and now it looked like the ship was getting hijacked.
“Fuck fuck fuck. Whatdowedo. Whatdowedo” he said, a slight tremble making the end of the gun judder uncomfortably.
Raising an eyebrow, Creamy was glad there was no section for this exact situation on the examiners pad. He had an opinion on how the captain of a vessel transporting civilians should behave, and Purberry wasn’t living up to his expectations.
“Well, for a start we remember that we are the captain of a ship full of passengers that need to be kept safe” said Creamy in his normal tone. “And we stop pointing that hand-cannon at the door. The door is not our enemy”
“There’s fuckin armed guys braking in Creamy! They are gonna kill us, or force us to fly them somewhere, and then kill us. This is a fucking hijacking man!” exclaimed Purberry wondering why his examiner didn’t even sound remotely worried.
“Yeees, but there are only two of them and they are still on the other side of th...”
“They are going. To fucking kill. Us.” Explained Purberry slowly because Creamy didn’t seem to get it.
Purberry kind of knew the Imperial. He’d seen Creamy around the company’s carrier, Errand of Mercy quit a few times. He knew the guy was a good liner pilot, a party animal, and a bit of a dumbass. To Purberry, Creamy was the male version of dumb blond party girl stereotype. How he was such a good liner pilot and test examiner for the Pilots Federation boggled his mind. Purberry had to take charge of this situation; he engaged his mag-boots and marched over to Creamy.
Creamys’ hand moved so fast, Purberry didn’t understand what had happened until Creamy lightly tapped him on the skull with the butt of the pistol Purberry had been holding, and then he tossed it over his shoulder.
“Listen old boy, I’ve been nabbed a few times” said Creamy, that was a massive understatement. “Being kidnapped, hijacked, or otherwise abducted is normal for Imperial nobility. I had classes about avoiding it as a child don’ch know?”
Taking Purberry by the shoulders, Creamy walked him over to the side of the glowing door and put him safely out of line of sight of anyone that may burst in.
“You just wait here, and I’ll deal with those two, then we’ll decide what to do next” said Creamy giving Purberry a reassuring smile before he kicked off the floor, flipped over and mag-booted himself to the ceiling on the side opposite Purberry. “We do have over one hundred and fifty evacuees and crew to take care of, we can’t go to pieces just because a pair of blighters with a cutting rig are trying to menace us, now can we?”
There was still time before the door was breached, so Creamy took a few deep breaths and smiled reassuringly at Purberry, hovering his hand over the Open button.
"Are you ready that man?” Asked Creamy as if they were about to play a game of tag with some friends.
Purberry stared at him hanging off the ceiling looking calm and confident. Take care of the passengers and crew he had said; ass holes were cutting the doors open to kill to them, and Captain Goodness was still thinking of the crew and the passengers. If he was ever on a liner that was being attacked, Purberry would want a captain like this guy in the cockpit. It was weird to admit, but the imperial was being kind of inspirational right now.
“Umm, wait!” Said Purberry feeling useless and wishing to change that. He bounded over to the Flight Suits locker “Use the suits as a distraction. You know, make it look like we’re still flying, give them a target.”
Quickly Purberry put one suit in his seat with the helmet visible from the door, and the other he mag-booted to the floor in front of the door before he retrieved his pistol.
“There done” said Purberry darting back to his hiding spot “Ready when you are captain Goodness”
He was standing with the pistol up beside his face, but Creamy could see this time the barrel was steady. Purberry had found his stride.
“Capital idea that man. Well done” chuckled Creamy. It was better than letting the bad guys notice a low haggling Imperial to take a few snap shots at.
Creamy would have to remember to write some glowing positive comments in the Examiners Observations box. Pressing the Open Door button, Creamy braced for action. Almost instantly, a swarm of shots ripped through the empty flight suit in front of the door. Another weapon appeared through the portal, firing at the suit in the chair. Creamy made his move. Gripping the doorframe, he swung down kicking each man in the chest and slapped his hands down on their extended weapon arms.
As the disguised hijackers were knocked off their feet, Creamy stopped their backwards motion by grabbing their weapon hands. A sharp twist was accompanied by a wet cracking sound from the wrist in Creamys’ left hand. As soon as he was rooted, Creamy kicked the man on his right side hard in the ribs. A shield absorbed the blow, so Creamy drew his foot back then planted it in the man’s armpit and pulled until his shoulder came out of joint.
Now both men’s weapon arm was disabled, Creamy let them go, stepped back and unleashed a flurry of kicks that didn’t stop until their shields gave out, and the would-be-hijackers floated limp and unconscious in the small chamber outside the cockpit.
Purberry peeked around the door; he couldn’t believe what he had just seen. He didn't even have time to level his weapon before it was over. Looking at the friendly Imperial in disbelief, he asked “Where the fuck did you learn to fight like that?”
“Well, you know; abduction awareness classes and what not. After the second or third time, one tends to get rather fed up with being kidnapped don’ch know?” said Creamy, uncharacteristically humble.
Creamy is one of life’s natural peacocks; a show off in every sense of the word. Usually he takes every opportunity to talk about himself and list his many achievements; the sort of guy that just so happens to strike a pose every time he stops moving. On some level, Purberry knew Creamy wasn’t quite being himself, but he put it down to the stress of the situation. Not wishing to let Creamy do all the heroics, Purberry decided on a plan of action.
“Right, ok. You take care of those two, and I’ll get us back to the Hospitality” he said pulling the flight suit out of his seat. “We can’t hang around here, Thargoids or scavengers could show up any moment”
With a salute, Creamy got to work on his assigned task. He wondered if he should take over because now this was now an emergency situation, but Purberry seemed to be in control. Creamy didn’t want to get in his way now the man had a full head of steam.
“Once we’re in super cruise, I’ll contact fleet control and let them know what’s happened” Said the captain-in-training while he flicked through the internal cameras. None of them showed anything. “Shit! There are no internal feeds.. .and the internal coms are off line too. We’re blind up here”
Creamy had just finished binding the beaten men with the cuffs they had stolen from the security officers they had obviously over powered. Now they were unarmed, and secured to the hand-rails Creamy had cuffed them to.
“Bugger!” he exclaimed “What about contacting the fleet, or local coms? Are we able to tell anyone what has happened?”
After a short test that Purberry was already undertaking, he had an answer for Creamy “Nope”
“Well.. that’s rather vexing” Said Creamy making an effort not to curse. “I’ll put this stuff away” he said indicating the arm full of gear he had confiscated from the hijackers, and the bullet-ridden flight suits “then we’ll jump to the Hospitality. We’ll get help from them”
Once Creamy was sat down and buckled up, captain Purberry charged the FSD. Nothing happened.
“That’s a negative captain Goodness. The FSD is unresponsive. Now what do we do?”
Creamy bit his bottom lip and followed Purberrys’ gaze to the cutter damaged door. Unlike Creamy, Purberry was thinking about the disguised hijackers on the other side. If those men had made it up here in those uniforms, the security team was probably dead. To make it up to the cockpit this quickly, they were lucky or organised; they could be after more than just the ship he thought. Either way, if Purberry didn’t find a way to let someone know what was happening, the hijackers were going to take the ship, crew, and all the passengers somewhere never to be seen again.
Creamy had similar thoughts, but he’d jumped straight to his passengers and crew being in peril and not given the rest of the situation even the lightest evaluation. His charges being in danger would not do. Pressing the release on his harness, and then slapping his hands down on his knees Creamy stood up.
“Right o, listen here old boy; I’ll leave you in charge of the ship. Don’t let anyone in here that isn’t me or a guard that knows the phrase. I’m going to take a little stroll down to maintenance and see if I can’t get things back on track. Remember, you’re the captain of the ship. Your attitude and your manor, sets the tempo for everyone on board. So, get on the PA and make an announcement. If it still works, let anyone that’s resisting the hijackers know you are in charge of the ship. That should add a little grease to their elbow, and take some vinegar out of the raiders what?”
That said another thought came to him. Creamy made a quick note on his examiners’ pad and placed it face down on the dash feeling the magnet pull it to the surface. Captain Purberry was working hard to get his heavy class evacuation-ship licence and Creamy wasn’t about to let him fail because some raider had shot his examiner.
“Oh and see to it that gets to Personnel" he said pointing at the pad "then have them send it on to the test centre. And no peeking, liner pilots honour what? Warned Creamy playfully.
He straighten his uniform and nodded to Purberry “Ta tar for now Captain” said Creamy as he strolled out of the cockpit hands clasped behind his back.
Purberry watched him walk away. It was a suicide mission; captain Goodness may be good at kicking people, but those dudes had guns. On the other hand, it was also a death sentence staying locked in the cockpit. They weren’t going to get the FSD, or communications back on line without fixing the problem at the source.
“Good luck captain Goodness” he called before locking the cockpit door. He turned to look out the canopy at the rescue ships jumping to the station. In the distance he could see the escort wings engaging Thatgoids to keep them away from the rescue efforts. He lightly tapped the PA button watching another EOM evacuation ship approach while he had a think about what to say.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Captain Purberry. After a small difficulty arose up here, I am happy to inform you that I have corrected the error. I am confident that my crew are working hard to recalibrate the FSD and a few minor internal systems that are also experiencing interference. After that is done, I will have us all flying safely to the rescue ship Hospitality. I thank you for your patience”