Over the next few days and weeks, Comet was taken under the wing of the 3rd torpedo squadron. They showed him the basic manoeuvrers and how to fire his gun and torpedoes. Comet was a quick learner, and soon could fire his torpedoes like a real trained warship. But he had problems with his gun. Being a tugboat, he wasn't build to take the recoil of an 10cm gun, and so was always knocked off balance when he fired his gun. He tried to become stronger, but still, he couldn't take in the knock back of the gun. Over the time he trained with the girls, he was always observed by two people: The admiral, and Rodney. The admiral saw that the young tugboat had problems with his guns, and therefore contacted the factories if they could come up with something to replace the ten centimetre turret. Rodney on the other hand, was jealous of Comet's 'promotion' to a warship.
"Why should a clapped out steamship like him go out and fight?! Somebody like me would be much better suited for such work!" Fumed the railway tug, as he saw Comet fire his gun, just to nearly fall backwards again.
"Look at him! He can't even fire his gun properly without tipping over!" He scoffed.
"Yeah, and you wouldn't do better than him; you two are build from the same blueprints, only that you are diesel fuelled! So do us all a favour and SHUT UP!" Said a bigger tug next to him.
"I will show them what I'm worth, just you wait and see." Muttered the smaller tug, and oiled away, to get to his next assignment.
After a few hours, they decided to finish training so that Comet could refuel and get to his other duties. The small steam tug sighted as he sunk into his seat at the café.
"Ugh, that bloody turret! I wish I could go back to use my railway guns. At least with those I could fire two rounds without landing on my bunker every time..." Grumbled the tug, as he started eating his food.
"Cheer up Comet!" Smiled Mac, as he and his brother joined Comet at his table.
"We have news for you!" Grinned Rock, as he sat next to his brother.
"Spill it." Said Comet, happy to have at least some sort of distraction.
"Prometheus is coming back this afternoon!" Cheered the two switchers.
"Really?! Oh boy! That's great!" Cheered the railway tug.
Prometheus was one of the two ocean going tugs of captain Walters fleet, and was away for quite some time now, since he needed an overhaul. He was often regarded as an 'gentle giant' because of his size, strength and charming manner. He was one of the most respected tugs in the whole naval district, and even was respected by the Red Stacks!
"Captain Walters said he would arrive this afternoon with the sixth destroyer division." Said another, deeper voice, as a bigger tug sat down next to them.
"Ah, Bull, it's good to see you again. I thought you were working up river?" Asked Comet.
"I did. I finished this morning. Now its up to the railroad to finish their work there." Smiled the bigger tug, just as Mac and Rock perked up.
"W-w-wait! The sixth destroyer division is bringing in Prometheus?!" They nearly shouted.
"Oh yeah, I nearly forgot. You two are in love with two of those girls." Smirked Comet.
"We're not!" The twins protested simultaneously.
"Suuuuurrrreeee." Grinned Comet, finishing his meal, and checking his watch.
"Well, I need to go. See you lot later, and if you see him before me, say 'hi' to Prometheus." Said Comet, and marched of to the launching station.
Once he got his equipment and his barges, he moved to his first stop. To his delight, there at the bay stood engine #23, with it's driver, Mr. Brady. Mr. Brady and his engine were the oldest working duo on the railroad that served the naval district. They were also the first who made friends with Comet and his steam tug friends. Comet always helped Mr. Brady to repair the old #23 whenever he found the time, since the old 4-8-0 was already over 90 years old. When he got the barges in place however, he was surprised to see that Mr. Brady wasn't as cheerful as he usually was. Once the trucks were on the tugboats barges, he steamed up to the locomotive.
"Good day Mr. Brady. Have you heard the news? Prometheus is coming back this afternoon!" Said Comet, trying to cheer the engineer up.
"Sounds good boy..." Said the engineer glumly.
"What's the matter, Mr. Brady?" Asked the Tug.
"I got a letter from the management today. They said that by the end of the month, I will be retired." Said the man sadly.
"They can't do that! You gave them years of dedicated service! Surely they can draw it out for another few years!" Said Comet.
"Sadly, they can't. They put a new maximum working age into action, and they said I'm already past it!" Sighted the engineer.
"It ain't fair. What will happen to #23 when your gone? Only you know how to work with her after all!"
"She'll be retired as well. And if no buyer comes up, she will be scrapped." Said the man with a tear in his eye.
Just then, the wharf manager came up.
"Could you please move these barges? Rodney needs the space for his load."
"Of course sir. Don't worry Mr. Brady! I think of something, I promise!"
"Just don't do anything stupid kid. See ya around." Said the engineer glumly, and got back into the cab of the locomotive, getting the old engine moving.
Comet moved out of the wharf, deep in thought of how to help his old friend. He was so deep in thought, that he didn't notice Rodney move past him, but not towards the normal goods wharf, but towards the wharf where the military equipment was stored. He had made up a plan so that he would get some action himself. He moved up to the wharf, and blasted his air horn. A man walked up to him.
"Yes? What do you want?" He asked gruffly.
"The admiral send me. I'm here to pick up the railway guns." Rodney purred.
"Huh? He never said anything about somebody coming up to fetch them today." Murmured the man.
"That's because it is a secret special order, given only to a tug that can be trusted the most. That's probably why he didn't asked Comet to pick them up." Said the tug, sweetly.
"Hm, alright, if its the admiral who ordered it, then it must've been important. Get your barges in position, we'll bring them up right away." Said the man, and walked off, to get a shunting engine to shunt the railway guns onto the barges.
After a few minutes, the railway guns were loaded and secured.
"Alright, your ready to move." Said the man.
"Thank your for your cooperation. Tata." Oiled the tugboat, and moved off.
The workman glanced after the boat for a few seconds, before turning around and going to the wharfs office. He got inside and up to the telephone. He dialled a number, and waited till the called one picked it up.
"Hello? Nagato? Can you ask the admiral something from me please? This might be important..."
Comet was coming up to his final stop of the day. It was the small island that was in front of the entry of the naval district. Here, that people had started a small logging operation, and had placed a short logging railway for transportation of the logs. Comet was had placed his barges at the pier for the small tank engine to load its trucks onto the barges, and to get the empty ones off of them, when his radio perked up.
"Comet? Can you hear me?" It was Edwin, the oldest of the steam tugs. He was a paddle steamer, and in charge of transmitting messages via the radio to the tugs that were to far away to be called up to captain Walters dock.
"Loud and clear, what's wrong Edwin?"
"The admiral need to see you right away. He said its high priority that you get to the briefing room straight away." Said Edwin.
"But what about my delivery?" Asked the railway tug.
"Mac and Rock are already on their way to pick them up. Be quick now." Said the old paddle steamer, and cut the transmission.
"Hm, what could be so important that the admiral needs to pull me off my duties? Could it be that we need to move out again?" Muttered the tugboat, as he untied himself from his barges.
"Mac and Rock will take my barges back to the port!" Shouted Comet to the workmen on the pier.
"Alright! See you tomorrow Comet!" Shouted one of them back, as the tugboat steamed off.
When Comet reached the launching station, he was surprised to see that Rodney's outfit wasn't there.
"Huh? Is he late? He's usually finishes before me..." Pondered the tug, as he walked off to the briefing room.
He reached to room, knocked, and walked inside. He was surprised to see the rest of the third torpedo squadron there as well.
"You too huh?" He asked.
"Yes. But we don't know why." Mutsuki said.
Their questions were answered when not only secretary ship Nagato, but also the admiral stepped inside the room.
"Good afternoon. I'm sorry to pull you away from your duties, but there is a very serious situation at hand, that we need to take care of." Started the admiral, as he pulled out a map and opened it, waving the ships girls and tugboat over.
"I was called from the wharf manager of the wharf for military equipment roughly 45 minutes ago. He asked if I gave the order that a tug would collect the railway guns from the wharf. Of course, I did not gave such an order, so I called both captain Walters and captain Red, and asked if any of his tugs have yet to turn up at their tasked location. After a bit of calling and contacting, we found out that Rodney never picked up his trucks at the wharf. We expect that he took the guns, and went outside of the naval district." Explained the admiral.
"That bloody nitwit! He knows the dangers of going out there! What was that moron thinking." Grumbled Comet.
"Worse is to come. Captain Red explained to me that he hadn't had a proper refuelling since this morning. This is now more than 6 hours ago. His fuel tank however, can only hold fuel for 8 hours. Furthermore, the last radio signal we got from him was showing him in the north-western corridor. This region is currently in control of the Abyssal." Continued Nagato, pointing to the north-western part of the map.
"We need you to go out and find that tug, and bring him back, before he gets too close to the Abyssal and gets himself in even bigger danger." Finished the admiral.
"Don't worry sir, we make sure we get that dieselhead back before he can blow himself to bits." Grinned Comet.
After getting their equipment, they moved out, but Comet was stopped by Edwin, who came up to him, carrying something in a box.
"What is that?" Asked Comet.
"The admiral said its to replay your cannon. He said that they build it so that it has the same power as your 10cm turret, but with an easier to manage recoil." Said Edwin, and gave Comet the box.
The tugboat opened it, and pulled out what looked like a revolver, only that it looked bigger than a normal one, and had a very long barrel. He pulled it out and mockingly aimed at a tree that stood on the nearby island.
"Huh? A revolver? While I do like the concept of firearms, I don't think that the Abyssal will be that much impressed when I-" But he stopped quickly when he accidentally pulled the trigger, and the revolver fired.
The bang of the revolver was only overshadowed by the explosion when the projectile hit the tree, blowing it to pieces.
"On a second note, maybe this thing will be useful after all." Grinned the railway tug, as he noticed a letter that was in the box.
"Experimental weaponry for light ships #0001: Tug Revolver
This revolver is build to fire the same shells that are usually fired by the 10cm Twin High-angle Guns. With the better grip, provided through the actual grip, the recoil of the gun is drastically reduced, so that lightly build ships can fire the same type of shells are heavier build ones.
Hm, aka I can fire the 10cm shells with this baby. Why do they always need to write the description so long that nobody gets the point when they finished it? Ah well, better not ask. Thanks Edwin! See you later!" Chuffed Comet, as he started off after the girls.
"What took you so long?" Asked Sendai.
"And what's with the Revolver?" Asked Yuudachi.
"This thing is my new weapon. Same shell size, but with a more manageable recoil." Grinned Comet.
"Wow! Its so shiny!" Said Mutsuki.
"Well, it came right out of the factory, so I guess this is the trial run for this baby. But guessing from the first shot, this thing will hurt those Abyssal creeps more than you can think." chuckled the tug, as they moved further north west.
They split up after a while, and went in two teams: The Sendai sisters were one group, and Yuudachi, Mutsuki, Fubuki and Comet were the second group. They slowly made progress, but had yet to find Rodney.
"Do you think he is already at the islands?" Asked Fubuki.
The Abyssal occupied territory included a group of islands, mostly small and unimportant, but ideal to hide a larger mass of enemy ships from the watchful eyes of the fleetgirls.
"Well, let's hope so, 'cause other than that, there are only two other possibilities: either he ran out of fuel and is idling somewhere, or the Abyssal spotted him and are attacking him right now. I personally hope for the first two options." Grumbled the steamship, tightening his grip on his revolver.
They soon got near the islands, but even from their distance, they could hear the distant burst of an barrel, firing a shell, followed by another, and another, and another.
"I think the first two options are no longer an option." Sighted Comet, and got onto the radio.
"Sendai, this is Fubuki. It seams like we found him, and by the sound of it, he is fighting against the Abyssal. I'll send you the coordinates, please get there as soon as possible." Said the destroyer, and sent them the coordinates.
"We'll be there as soon as possible. Try to give him some cover till we arrive." Said Sendai, as she cut the transmission.
"Okay, let's get going. I just hope he still has some fuel left to move at least part of the way back to the district." Said Comet, and chuffed off.
Rodney was desperate. He had encountered a small group of 3 Abyssal destroyers, but was surprised when he couldn't sink them as easily as he thought he would. What he couldn't know was that the railway guns had only just been repaired, and hadn't been stocked up with ammunition. As for that, he quickly ran out of ammo, and had now been trying to escape the chasing enemy destroyers. But the more he ran, the more exhausted he got, and was nearly out of fuel. He rushed behind a small island, when he began to go slower, and slower, and slower, till he cruised to an halt. He had ran out of fuel. He began to panic, the destroyers would get him for sure this time, and would most likely sink him. He turned around with his last ounce of strength, and waited for his fate to come. The three destroyers came up to him, and aimed at him at point blanc range.
"sink" One of them said, but before they could shoot, they were hit into the back.
The three destroyers turned around, just to be hit yet again by a barrage of shells. They were bombarded again and again, and one by one, the enemy ships were destroyed. Rodney couldn't believe what had just happened, and turned to the direction of where the shots came from.
"Thank you for your hellllllp..." He began, but was shocked to see that it was the third torpedo squad, and steaming upfront, with an large grin on his face, was Comet.
"Well, well, well, looks like you needed help from the 'old fossil' yet again huh?" The steamtug grinned, but then got serious.
"What the hell were you thinking?! You had no reason to take these guns, nor go out to bloody sea!" He growled.
"And? That didn't stopped you from going, did it? We diesel tugs are much better suited for real battles than you steamers are! We are better than you in everything, and we will show the admiral that you are on the way to the scrapyards!" Sneered the diesel.
"With the show you pulled today, its unlikely that the admiral will ever send you out to battle. Now come on. We need to get back to the port bef-" But the rest was cut out when a shell raced past them and blasted a crater into the island next to them.
"What the hell?!" He exclaimed as a group of 5 battleships rounded the bend of the island, their cannons aimed at them.
"Where did they come from?!" Shrieked Mutsuki.
"Looks like they were with the destroyers, and it looks like they're pretty pissed about the fact that we sank them." Said Comet nervously, before shacking that off.
"Mutsuki, Yuudachi, get this nitwit and the railway guns back to the port ASAP! We'll give you cover till your out of range." Ordered Comet.
"We can't leave you-"
"This was NOT an question. That's an ORDER! Now GO!" Shouted the tug, as he reloaded his revolver, and started to fire at the ships.
"Fubuki?" Asked Mutsuki, looking at her friend.
"Trust him. We will give you cover." She said, a confident smile on her face.
"Let's go, Yuudachi." Said the destroyer, and they both grabbed Rodney and the barges, and started to tow them to safety.
"Are you sure we can do this?" Asked Fubuki.
"No. At least, not on our own. But we can at least distract them long enough to buy those three time, and wait till backup arrives." Said Comet, as he continued to fire at the ships.
"That doesn't sounds very promising." Said Fubuki.
"I know! But we can't do anything against it! Just keep up firing!" Said Comet.
They continued to fight, but the battleships had an easy game with the tugboat and destroyer. They kept hitting them, and slowly, both ships felt themselves sink deeper into the water.
'Come on guys! Where are you?!' Thought Comet, as he took yet another blow.
Just then, he felt both a cold sensation and a stinging, burning pain hit him, as he looked at his outfit, and saw a big hole in his firebox, with hot embers falling out of it, as well as a large, gaping wound, with blood spilling out of it.
"Ah crap, MY FIREBOX IS DAMAGED!" He shouted to Fubuki.
"IS THAT BAD?" She asked.
"VERY!" The tug replied, and loaded another row of 6 shells into his revolver, and resumed firing, this time with only one hand at his revolver as the other was keeping pressure on his wound.
Just then, the radio perked up.
"We're out of their guns range poi." Came Yuudachis voice.
"Get out of there quickly!" Said Mutsuki.
"Easier said than done, my firebox was hit, I don't think I can make enough steam to make it out of here." Chuckled the tug sadly.
"What do you mean by that?" Asked Mutsuki, worried.
"It means, say Prometheus sorry that I couldn't see him back." And he cut the radio link.
"FUBUKI! Get out of here! I'll cover you!" Shouted the tug.
"What?! I can't leave you here!" She shouted back.
"Don't care about me just go!" He shouted, and with the steam he still had in his boiler, rushed over to Fubukis position and started to push her out of the battle zone, the battleships on their tail.
"Come on girl! I can't push you all by myself!" Comet growled, as Fubuki finally started moving on her own.
When Fubuki had enough speed, Comet slowed down.
"Good bye Fubuki! It has been an honour to fight with you!" Shouted Comet, as he slowed to a stop.
"Wait! Don't do that! It's suicide!" Shouted Fubuki.
"I rather have me sunk, than to have you go with me!" Came the reply, as the tugboat started to move towards the battleships.
He pulled up his revolver, and fired till he ran out of shells. He wanted to reload, but he was completely out of ammo. He put the gun into a pocket and scowled at the enemy battleships.
"If it needs to, I battle you with my bare fists!" He shouted at them, and rushed up towards the Abyssal, preparing his torpedos.
The battleships got ready to blow the small tugboat out of the water, but before even one shot could be fired, they were hit by a large barrage of shells. Both Comet and Fubuki watched in awe and shock, as the battleships were destroyed.
"They finally came." Sighted Comet, and turned around, expecting to see the Sendai sisters, but was surprised to see a large convoy of ships, leading them was the sixth destroyer division, and a large tug, with sunglasses, small moustache and a gentle smile.
"Just in time, wouldn't you say my dear Comet?" Said the tug smoothly.
"I would rather call it 'better late than never', but its good to see you again Prometheus." Grinned the tug, as he shook hands with the bigger tug.
"But where did the extra firepower come from? It was way to heavy to come from the destroyers." Asked Comet.
"Dies war unser verdienst." Came a German voice, as a row of battleships and a cruiser moved up to the tugboat.
"Comet, please meat the 'Kommando Störtebeker' Battleship Tirpitz and Bismarck of the Bismarck-class, Admiral Scheer and Admiral Graf Spee of the Deutschland-class, Prinz Eugen of the Admiral-Hipper-class and Scharnhorst of the Scharnhorst-class. The admiral has called them in for a special operation, and we met them on the way." Smiled the large tug, as the German battleships moved up.
"So you are the tug that wants to be a fighter? Welcome to the fleet then!" Smiled Bismarck, as she hugged the small tug.
"Ugh, thanks, Ms. Bismarck. Uhhh, air!" The young tug panted, as the large battleship squeezed the air out of him.
"Ups, Entschuldigung." Grinned Bismarck sheepishly.
"No harm done." Smiled the tug, but winced slightly when the pain from his wound made itself noticable again.
"Hmm, I wouldn't say so. You look like you could need some downtime in the docks." Mused Tirpitz.
Just then, the rest of the torpedo squad three arrived.
"Sorry we couldn't come sooner, he slowed us down." Said Sendai, pointing at the Red Stack tug.
"I'm sorry to break it to you, but you missed the party." Chuckled Comet.
"Who are you? More fans that want Naka-chans autograph?" Asked Naka, as she looked at the German battleships.
"How about we get to your base first? We'll explain everything on the way." Suggested Prinz Eugen.
"Good Idea. Um, Prometheus, would you mind giving me a tow? My firebox got blown." Chuckled the younger tug sheepishly.
"Of course my dear." Said the bigger tug smoothly, grabbing the smaller tugboat, and started to pull him back to the naval district.
They slowly arrived at the district, and were greeted by the admiral, captain Walters and Red, and the tugboats of both the Steam fleet and the Red Stacks.
"Congratulations! You did a good job today, all of you! 'Kommando Störtebeker', it is good to see that you arrived here save and sound. Your quarters are in building #4, the rooms are signed with your names. Mutsuki, Yuudachi, would you be so kind and show them the way?" Asked the admiral.
"Of course sir!" Saluted the two destroyers, and walked off with the group following behind.
"Now, the rest of the third torpedo squadron can go refuelling and replenish their ammo, with the exception of Fubuki and Comet." Said the admiral, as the rest of the squadron walked off to Mamiya's café.
"Now, Fubuki, Comet, you shall go to the docks and get repaired, and afterwards, you'll take a long rest. You did more than enough for today." Smiled the admiral kindly.
"Thank you sir." Saluted the two ships, and walked off to the docks.
The admiral now turned to Prometheus.
"Prometheus, my old friend. It is good to have you back again. I hope they did a good job."
"Of course sir. It is great to be back with my friends again." Smiled the tug.
"I'm glad to hear it. Now, captain Walters and the Steam fleet have organized a little celebration at your home, so you should hurry along." Said the admiral, whispering the second part and winking at the tug.
"Very well sir." Said the tug smoothly, and walked over to the Steam fleet, who greeted the returned friend with handshakes and pats on the back.
"Oh yes, and then there was the tug who ran away." Said the admiral coldly as he turned to Rodney, who was trying to sneak away.
"Rodney. Today, you showed how stupid, uncooperative, and childish you really are. You were jealous of Comet, and tried to play the hero. And not only did you brought yourself into danger, you nearly caused the destruction of two precious world war two relics!" Boomed the admiral.
"But sir! I only wanted to show that we diesel tug-"
"And there you go again! As far as I can see, today you showed everyone else that diesel tugs are not only inferior towards steam tugs, you also showed that you can't be trusted to go beyond the gates of the naval district! You can be lucky that, in my eyes, steam tugs, as well as diesel tugs have the same level of worth at this district, and nothing is going to change that. I always knew you were jealous of the steam tugs, and I always hoped you would come to sense. Sadly, this isn't the case. That's why I and captain Red have decided that you shall be removed from this naval district, and you shall be moved to the reserve base, at the Hokkaido naval district." Said the admiral coldly, as Rodney's eyes widened.
"Y-you must be joking." He spluttered.
"No, this is the truth. Tomorrow morning, two escort ships will come in to bring you to the base. Be ready at 7am sharp, and don't try any tricks. Good day." Said the admiral, and turned on his heel, walking back to his office.
Rodney turned to captain Red.
"Please sir! You can't do this!" He begged.
"No Rodney. I have had enough with your dangerous acts! We might be competing tug fleets, but this went too far. This is your own fault, so you need to take to consequences." Said the Red Stacks captain firmly.
"G-guys?" Rodney turned to his now ex-colleges, but they either just looked to the ground, stared at him with cold expressions, or looked away entirely.
Rodney was at a loss for words. He just stood there, his mouth agape and his mind blank. Slowly, the Red Stacks walked off, leaving the shocked tug where he was. Rodney looked around, his eyes fell onto the steam tugs, that walked off with their returned friend to his welcome back party.
"YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS STEAMERS! YOU WILL PAY!" He shouted, but his shout fell on deaf ears...
The next morning, Rodney was picked up by a group of military tugboats. Rodney had tried over the course of the night to escape, but the admiral had put guards on the launching station, so that he couldn't get inside. Once he was out of the mouth of the districts entry, the admiral sighted. He hoped he'd never needed to send a ship away, but sadly, that was not the case. He tried to get his mind of the topic and went to his work. The factory wanted to have the results of the revolver, so they could produce more of them, for other ships. He also needed to sign the paperwork for the preparations of operation 'Black Flag'. Just then, he remembered something that Comet had said to him last night. He shuffled through the papers on his desk, and found a letter from the railway. After re-reading their offer a few times, he nodded his head, and signed the piece of paper.
"Nagato, could you come in please?" He called.
"Yes sir, what is it?" She asked, as she stepped in.
"Could you bring this letter to the mailbox? I'm a bit busy right now." He said.
"Of course sir." She said, and took the letter.
Shortly after she left, Ooyodo came in, looking distressed.
"Sir! This just came in! The escorted transportation to Hokkaido had been attacked by the Abyssal! They said that the escort ships could escape, but they lost Rodney in the rush!"
"Oh dear. The poor tug." Muttered the admiral.
"Your orders sir?"
"We can't do anything for him. If he really was lost in the escape, we can't help him, even if we want to." Sighted the admiral.
Elsewhere...
Rodney stirred, and woke up. Just then, an unbearable pain shot through his body.
"Good, you are awake" Came a voice.
Rodney opened his eyes, and looked around. He was surrounded by Abyssal ships, all of them eyeing him with expressionless faces. His heart began to pump wildly, as he started to tremble in fear.
"Please don't sink me!" He squeaked.
"Look how scared he is. He's so cute!" Chuckled a voice.
"What do you want from me?" The Red Stack asked.
"We remember you. From yesterday. You were the fool who tried to attack us without backup." Said one of the battleships.
"Yes, so what?" He sneered.
"Why were those escorts taking you away?" Asked a destroyer this time.
"The threw me out! Just because of this moron of an steam tugboat Comet and his little girlfriend Fubuki." Growled the tug, as the Abyssal hissed.
"What did you say?" Asked a Carrier.
"That they threw me out!" He shouted.
"Their names!" Boomed another Carrier.
"Comet and Fubuki."
"You hate them, don't you?" Asked the battleship from before.
"Yes. I hate them! I want to repay them for what they have done to me!" He snarled.
"We can help you with that." Purred the battleship.
"Why should I trust you? You nearly destroyed me yesterday after all!" The tug asked, suspicious.
"You have nothing to lose, don't you? Your friends betrayed you, and your admiral sent you away in disgrace. We can help you become a real fighter. A real hero..." Purred the ship again.
Rodney thought about it for a while, and then smirked.
"Tell me more..."