Genesis or Exodus

Chapter one.

Bo adjusted the straps that were holding her securely to the uncomfortable shuttle seat as it shuddered and shook, trying to manoeuvre through a small asteroid cluster that has caused their transportation to pull out of warp ahead of schedule. The supplies, weapon crates and luggage strained against the restraints holding them as the transport shuttle got pelted with the smaller meteoroids. The overhead lights flickered and her pilot cursed as another chuck of rock made contact with the front windshield.

"Frak! Could this ride be any more uncomfortable!," cursed Mackenzie 'Mad Mac' Malikov. She was Bo's second in command and best friend. "I mean commander, seriously. I don't understand why we are heading to some weird science-y, library ship in deep space, instead of being in the thick of the frontal assault in the Quardry Sector fighting the damn Nanchucks!"

Bruce 'The Hammer' Turret grunted his agreement as he shifted his large bulk and cursed as he hit his head on the roof. "Or at least a better ride for this supposed important assignment instead of this miniscule bucket of bolts."

"Hey! I'll have you know that this bucket of bolts has the fastest warp drive for it size and has manoeuvrability that saved our asses from being little, bloody pieces floating around with these asteroids right now! Besides, it's not that small to a regular sized person!" Vex 'The Tech' Roberts responded defensively as he narrowly avoided another floating clump of rock.

"I'm sure he didn't mean to insult your choice of transportation, Vex. Isn't that right, big guy?" Bo arched her eyebrow at her artillery expert and all around pain maker.

"Get us out of here alive, Vex and I promise to share my bottle of aged Vanpalusian Whisky with you."

"You're on, Hammer. No welching on your promise once we are safe! Holy Space Slugs! HOLD ON TO SOMETHING!"

The three passengers held on as several clusters clunked into the shuttle, causing the ship to careen into a larger meteor that Vex barely avoided as it made a horrible scraping sound down the port side of the ship. Red lights and several curses from Vex had Bo unbuckling her safety restraints and heading towards the pilot. Another direct hit almost knocked the commander onto her ass, but her lightning quick reflexes had her clutching onto the hatch that held the emergency space suits and air filters. Bo clawed her way into the cockpit and gripped the back of Vex' chair. "Damage report!"

"My navigation is malfunctioning and the fraken rock must have punctured a hole in our fuel reserves. With the amount we are losing we won't make it to the final directive, that is if a spark doesn't light us up and blow us into little, bitty pieces first!."

"Are we in range to hail the Genesis?"

"If I can magnify the transmission waves with the help of some old military satellites left behind from the last great war... maybe. But I kinda have my hands full keeping this boat in one piece right now, Commander!"

Bo pointed to a large asteroid in the middle of the cluster, "Can you land us on that?"

"The navigation system is glitching, but I should be able to do it manually using just the thrusters which are on a separate fuel supply."

"I need a little more than should, Vex. Can you do it or not?"

Vex nodded and his jaw clenched in determination, "I can do it."

Bo patted him on the shoulder, "then do it. We are going to try to patch the leak so that we can get close enough for the Genesis to send help."

Twenty minutes later the STR-5 Shuttle landed with a loud thunk onto the jagged, rocky surface of the asteroid. Sweat gleamed on the brow of Bo's navigations and tech expert. "Great job, soldier."

Mackenzie and Bruce had both unbuckled and come up front to pat Vex on the back. "Nice job, numbskull," Mac said, playfully.

"Bite me!," was the tech's response.

"Enough! Malikov, you are with me so get suited up. And Bruce pack up any materials and tools that we can use to plug that hole!"

Bo turned to Vex, "Do we have any portable shield generators on board?"

The navigator pressed the ejection button to release his seatbelt allowing it to retract back into the pilot chair. The seat was padded and upholstered with a Ragnoroc hide cover, it's bright red and purple markings the only thing brightening up the otherwise dull interior of the shuttle. "I think we have a few in one of the strong boxes with our body armour, why?"

"I may be able to rig them up to form a protective shield around the shuttle to deflect the meteoroids so we may actually reach our mission objectives."

Vex rubbed his goatee in contemplation before nodding his head, "That could work. I never expected us to be thrown out of warp, if I had known about this asteroid in advance I would have made sure the shuttle was retrofitted before we left!"

Bo tapped a couple of buttons into the console to bring up the galactic map on the Holo-monitor and found the coordinates of their position. "Fraken shit-cluster! There is supposed to be a class two moon here. We are stuck in the middle of what remains of it. What the hell happened here?" Suddenly there came a beeping from the console. "What's that? It doesn't sound good."

Vex slipped past Bo and sat in his chair and plugged in a few commands into the computer as Mackenzie and Bruce joined the commander to see what all the excitement was about. "The sensors are picking up a ship in the vicinity. It's saying it's a Rancor Class-four military Destroyer."

Bo frowned, "But Rancor was destroyed in the last great war against the intergalactic alliance. There are very few Rancorian's left and they are scattered throughout the galaxy."

"There were rumours that several Rancor destroyers were abandoned after their planet was destroyed and the remaining survivors scattered into hiding. It is probably manned by pirates that we know patrol in these outer, less policed systems, picking of traders and slave ships. If they pick up our presence they will destroy us," Bruce commented as he started to shut off several of the non essential systems to help mask our presence.

"Okay, new plan. While Mac and I are out fixing that damn hole, you and vex will be monitoring and keeping an eye on our new friends and broadening our communications range so that we can reach the Genesis with an encoded distress and rescue message. The asteroid field will mask us from their scanner and sensors, right."

"Affirmative. We are well hidden and are one tenth the size of their ship. I doubt that they are monitoring for something so small."

Bo patted Vex on the shoulder and moved to allow Bruce in beside him, "Okay, so we all know what to do?" A chorus of 'yes, Commander' sounded and Bo gave a firm nod, "Then let's get to it." ...

Lauren adjusted the knob on the microscope, "fascinating. I have never seen such a complex sample of plant matter," she muttered to herself. "It appears to be more animal than plant. But its appearance says otherwise." The blonde ecological engineer stood up and approached the larger sample that was now encased in a living capsule for sustained preservation. It floated in the orange tinged fluid. The uncategorised sample appeared to be a regular species of fern (Polypodiophyta) with its intricate leaflets making up the frond, with the only thing separating it visually from its ancestors was the colour, a deep purple with flecks of gold. But Lauren suspected that the plant that she had recovered from a small uninhabited planet was a lot more than just a plant. The woman wondered if the plant was in fact sentient. "This will require more study," she said as she typed several notes into the console beside capsule before sending it up to the holding area with all the other samples that required more thorough research before being archived. She pressed enter and watched as a mechanical arm took hold of the capsule and set it onto the conveyer belt to be transported to its numbered space in one of the Genesis' many storage areas.

A beeping sound followed by a man's voice broke the silence. "Matriarch Lewis, ma'am?

Lauren rolled her eyes at the title she had been born with, "please don't call me that, Hale. What is so important that you need to interrupt my work?"

"I just received an encoded message of distress from the envoy that was sent from the Galactic Alliance Elders. They sustained damage to their ship and are requesting assistance. The message also said that a Rancor Destroyer was scouting the area."

"Then they are probably dead by now and we should be moving away from the area. The last thing we need is more pirates trying to board us. We are still cleaning up the remains of the last lot that tried it!"

"I just received a second message that confirms that they are still alive and are insisting that we go to their aid."

"Insisting? Who are they to order me around? I can wipe an entire planet out of existence with what I have on this vessel! It's why the pirates keep coming. Tell them we can't help them and be done with it. Then initiate a jump to the next quadrant." Lauren was met with open air through the communications link. "Hale are you still there? Did you hear me?" Lauren decided to hop onto her hover disc and head towards the bridge.

After a few more seconds Hales voice returned, "permission to speak freely Matriach?"

Lauren sighed as she glided effortlessly through the long stretching corridors of the enormous ship. "Granted. Speak your mind, Hale. You think we should help them even though their mere presence upon this ship is unwarranted and unwelcome!"

"Y-Yes, ma'am. I know you are not happy with the Elders for sending a team of soldiers here..."

Lauren took the corner fast, her shimmering flying disc moving up the wall as she effectively surfed through the corridors. "They have no authority over me! One little accident on the last exploration and they think I need protection! It's preposterous!"

"Yes, ma'am, but the people aboard this stranded shuttle are just following orders. They require help and we can easily dispose of the Rancor Destroyer before they even notice what the Genesis is. It is the Elders you are angry at not these soldiers..."

Lauren did not respond as she came to a halt in front of the elevator that would take her up to the bridge. She deactivated her Hover Disc and placed the shiny silver circle, that now fit in the palm of her hand into the utility pocket of her trousers. Moments later she exited the elevator and joined Hale at the console. "You have their coordinates?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Her anger had cooled somewhat and it diminished completely when she looked at her friend, "Set course to pick up these soldiers," she said with a sigh that only made Hale smile wider.

Genesis came out of warp and was instantly in visual distance of the Rancor Destroyer. Genesis was the size of a space station and was rarely recognised on sight. That gave Lauren the advantage in this situation. The destroyer fired several torpedo's which did nothing to the Genesis' superior shields and Lauren shook her head as the opposing ship locked onto her vessel to fire again.

"Should I return fire?" Hale asked, looking at Lauren, the Genesis' mother.

"Destroy them. We can't allow them to spread the word on our location. We have enough problems without having every pirate in the galaxy trying to take my ship."

"Aye, Aye, Matirach." Hale touched several keys on the main weapons console and locked on to the smaller, inferior vessel that was between them and the stranded soldiers sent by the Elders. "Locked on, Lauren."

"Fire!"

The laser cannons fired a series of three shots which blew the Rancor Destoyer into oblivion with no question of survivors. "Lock onto the stranded shuttle and teleport it straight into the hangar. Send them a communication to not disembark their shuttle upon arrival or they will be fired upon. Is that understood? I will go and greet these unwanted guests myself!" Lauren didn't wait for a response before exiting the bridge and surfing her way through almost ten kilometres of long winding corridors to the hangar bay.

Bo and Mackenzie were sealing up the final edge of the patch (which was a console hatch that Bruce had commandeered from one of the computer panels within the shuttle, much to Vex's horror), with some extra strong hold industrial gel, when the sound of weapon fire caught their attention. Vex's voice sounded through her helmet to inform the commander that the cavalry had arrived and was being fired upon by the destroyer. The asteroids and meteoroids surrounding them on all sides made it impossible to see much, that was until a huge fiery explosion lit up the darkness.

Moments later Vex was telling Bo to haul ass and get back into the shuttle for immediate teleportation to the Genesis. The commander ordered Mac to abandon the tools and hustled her back into the small ship which was soon dematerialising from the rough and rocky terrain of the asteroid and re-materialising onto the smooth, metallic deck of a humongous hangar filled with numerous ships and shuttles of all shapes and sizes. "Holy Shit! This ship must be huge!"

"Mac, Hammer... Load up the gear," Bo ordered. "Vex, is the air breathable within the hangar? Will I still need the suit."

Vex checked the sensors before responding, "Yes, Commander, the air is breathable, but I was informed that we are not to leave the ship until someone is here to greet us."

"I don't take orders from these people! Prepare to disembark, that's an order."

Vex turned in his chair to face his commanding officer, "They said they would shoot us if we left the ship before our welcoming committee arrives."

Bo scoffed, "they won't shoot us. They wouldn't dare, The Elders would be pissed if they shot us and the Galactic Alliance would rain holy fire upon them." Bo grabbed her Rifle from the rack and headed to the main door and pulled the lever and stepped into the small decontamination chamber. The commander poked her head back into the main section of the shuttle and addressed her squad, "Stay inside until I give you the signal that it's safe to come out." Then she slammed her fist into the button, closing the inner door and allowed the room to do its thing before opening the outer door and allowing her access to the hangar.

Lauren arrived just in time to see a striking, brunette clad in full Alliance military garb, exit the small transport shuttle with a high powered rifle at the ready. Lauren noticed the stripes and insignia's as her eyes took in the sight of the Genesis' new guest and realised this was the leader of her newly appointed protection squad. She heard the automated turret guns come out of the defence towers surrounding the huge hangar and aim their barrels at the small shuttle and the woman that had just exited it.

"I would have thought a soldier would be better at following orders," Lauren said as she came into the open and in the sights of the brunette, who had stopped in her tracks when she noticed the multitude of firepower aimed right at her.

Bo turned her attention to the blonde striding towards her with purpose, her face set in a hard line of obvious displeasure at her presence. "There are very few people I need to take orders from and I highly doubt that you are one of them," Bo retorted, her voice arrogant with a tinge of annoyance. "I would have thought you would have been a little more grateful for the Alliances help."

"Well, you'd be wrong! I operate outside the Galactic Alliances jurisdiction and do not have to abide by their rules and regulations. I am extending them a courtesy in allowing you aboard my vessel, so you will treat me as if I am your commanding officer, or you can get back in that tiny ship and piss off!"

"Look Lady!..."

Lauren stopped directly in from of the scowling soldier and poked her in the chest, "No, you look. I am The Matriarch of this ship and with a mere thought I could blow you and your little ship to kingdom come. You are not on the battlefield now and your attitude and attempts at Alliance intimidation will not fly with me. The Elders are just looking after a very essential and lucrative commodity to ensure that they remain the second most powerful force in this universe and I will tolerate it because they provide a lot of income from our dealings, but the minute I decide that you and your team are too much trouble I will remove you from Genesis. Have I made myself clear?"

"Is this some kind of joke? The Galactic Alliance IS the most powerful force in this galaxy, who else could possibly be more powerful than them?"

Bo was looking at Lauren as if she was a crazy person and it pissed her off immensely. She rarely felt the need to boast and exert her power, but the woman standing in front of her, with her arrogance and self importance had her doing exactly what she hated doing. "I am," she hissed. "Genesis and I are the most powerful force in the galaxy."

Author's Note: So this little idea has been floating around in my head for months and I finally managed to get started on it. The question is if you, my faithful readers are interested in me continuing it. Please let me know your thoughts because you guys have always been good at showing me your support. ;)

I would like to say a big thank you to my girlfriend, Rafi who has been incredibly supportive as I talked about my scattered ideas for not just this story but my others a well.

Another carving chapter will be getting written as well as Dusty Love over the coming week or so. But I wanted to post a chapter of this to see if you will embrace it like my other stories. :) Thank you again.

Doccubus21

xoxo