I DO NOT OWN SPOP OR ANY OF IT'S CHARACTERS. I ONLY OWN MY OC'S.

Warning: This chapter contains swearing, violence, bloodshed, and death

'Thinking'

"Normal speech"

Computer messages

"Mechanical"

"Memory"

Chapter 7 - A Damsel In Distress

-Location-

Fright Zone

...8 Months Later...

"Nutrient levels are good, growth hormones at stable levels, body heat normal. Oxygen levels are good, no foreign pathogens detected, everything is looking good". Two scientists stood next to glass containers with datapads. "That's wonderful to hear, the reavers look like they are growing nicely". Nardo walked up to the scientists, several yellow lenses moved and shifted as they stared at the containers.

Inside was a clearing green liquid that surrounded what looked like fetuses. "Very good, I was afraid our first batch wasn't going to be successful at all but here they are. All growing accordingly, every single one".

The three began to walk away and as they did metal shielding began to lower and cover the glass. "Yes sir, it's quite extraordinary that we're able to grow life without any parents", the woman said with awe and slight joy. "I think it's still freaky, it's weird looking at fetuses".

"That my colleague is life, both amazing and freaky to look at". Nardo said raising a clawed hand, the woman giving a snicker at the unusual giant's antics. "You're in a good mood today sir".

"That I am, not only are the reavers coming along nicely. The new drones are coming along quite nicely. Though it's a little slower than I would have liked but you can never rush progress. And best of all Force Captain Scorpina is coming back from her first mission. She should be here in a few hours".

"Wasn't she sent to command some ships to attack the coastal villages"? The woman asked, "right again, she was tasked to conquer the coastal villages not protected by the sea gate. It isn't something she can't handle, besides with the shipment of plasma weapons I sent her. Scorpina should be more than well equipped to handle anything".

A large door opened to reveal the main laboratory. A group of scientists were testing a prototype drone at one station. Plants that would best suit the tower farms Nardo had introduced.

The giant still couldn't believe the Horde was relying on traditional farms they had taken over for their food source. He looked at another station, a new group being shown Maximilian and the basics on reavers.

Nardo looked down at his datapad to see that Scorpina had arrived early. Could this day get any better? Nardo went over to his locker and unhooked his helmet and set it down as he took off the rest of his gear. After a few minutes of changing he was in his usual uniform. The bottom of the coat wavered as Nardo walked with haste to the loading bays.

He passed many saluting guards and cleaners. He would quickly return the salutes but he didn't pay them much attention. It wasn't long before he walked into the hangar bay. She would have been flown from the ports.

He slowed his pace when he saw wounded soldiers step off the dropships. He looked around for the Force Captain and even more bizarre was that all the Scorpionkin that had gone with her were missing as well.

He walked around until he spotted a lieutenant. He walked up to the young man and stood straight. "Lieutenant, where is Force Captain Scorpina? Why is all of her kin missing, what happened"?

The Lieutenant jumped but quickly placed his hand on his side. He turned to Nardo and did his best to stand at attention. "You haven't heard? We were ambushed by a large fleet of pirates. They had sorcerers hold our ships still while they boarded us. There were just too many of them. Even with our rifles, they overwhelmed us. We were barely able to loosen a few ships from their grasp and getaway. It looked like they were trying to capture as many of us as possible but they seemed more interested in Scorpionkin than anyone else''.

Nardo just stood there silent with an unreadable expression. The soldiers nearby stood around nervously waiting for orders. "Get the wounded treated, prepare me a call to Lord Hordak. I want all the information we have on these pirates". Nardo cooly said, he quickly turned and began to head inside.

Hordak was currently out on a campaign against the states that laid on the outskirts of Brightmoon and Plumeria. They were controlled by dukes and duchesses that paid taxes to their respective kingdoms. Other than that, they were mostly left to do as they please due to the distance from the capitals. With his absence, Nardo would have to wait for the lord to answer his call before he could act.

On the outside, Nardo looked calm but on the inside he was furious. 'How could this have happened, there were 26 ships in that fleet! How were they overwhelmed so fast, even with the new armaments they still were captured'. Nardo walked into a computer room and waited as the call rang.

Soon Hordak appeared on the screen. He stood in a tent with another Force Captain. "What is it Force Captain"? Hordak questioned. "My Lord, Force Captain Scorpina has been captured along with a majority of her forces. This is not the work of the rebels. Instead, it was done by a fleet of pirates, as we speak I am gathering all information on this threat". Hordak's features smoldered at this information. "Alert Shadow Weaver immediately, she will decide what to do about this". "Yes my Lord," Nardo spoke while bowing.

With the command given out, Hordak cut the transmission. He was disappointed that Hordak hadn't appointed him to deal with this. Though he couldn't fault the man, he was still a foreigner and Shadow Weaver was 2nd in command. Nardo immediately turned and set out to find the sorceress.

Shadow Weaver and Nardo stood at a holo map of the islands where Scopina was captured. "We know that the pirates aren't connected to the Princess Alliance. So when we attack we won't have to worry about allies coming to defend besides a few other pirate clans that buy from them. The clan we are dealing with call themselves the Thunder Waves. They get the name from the water and lighting magic their sorcerers wield. They can summon storms to turn their battles to their favor. Waves that can hold or capsize ships".

Nardo was interrupted when the doors suddenly whooshed open. "What has happened?! Where is my daughter"!? A large man stormed in, his clothes were that of royalty. A high rank sat on his chest. "Calm yourself King Skorpios, we are dealing with the situation right now". Shadow Weaver said coolly. "Don't give that shit Shadow Weaver I know you don't give a damn about her. I will personally lead a fleet to the islands these bastards are hiding".

"I strongly advise against that". Skorpios turned his glare to the giant. "Who are you to tell me I can't go and rescue my daughter"?

"Force Captain Nardo and the art of war tells you not too". "you are too emotionally invested in this, your anger and desperation will blind you in battle. You will end falling for the pirate's traps and end up captured just like your daughter. Shadow Weaver, I am the most experienced Force Captain that we have right now. Allow me to lead the rescue force". Shadow Weaver arched her brow at this "And how do I know you are not just as emotionally invested"?

"I know how to keep my emotions from controlling me. This isn't the first time one of my, companions have been in mortal danger before. I will ensure the safe return of Force Captain Scorpina and her forces".

She studied Nardo for any doubt. Upon finding none she turned to the King. "You are both free to go". It wasn't a request, Skorpios stared at the two with an unreadable expression. Before begrudgingly walking out of the room. Nardo began to follow when he was stopped by Shadow Weaver. "Do not fail me Force Captain. I will not tolerate you to embarrass me in front of Hordak".

"Hmmph" Nardo merely grunted in response as he walked away. He walked down the hallway on his way to the hanger. "Force Captain Nardo". Nardo turned around to see Skorpios walking up to him. "I wanted to apologize for my attitude. I was just so angry, I'm still am. Shadow Weaver doesn't care about Scorpina or her men, and giving you four ships just proves it". "Four ships? I thought she said a small fleet, that sounds more like a patrol group".

"My little Scorpina was in charge of most of our ships. With the pirates taking most of them we don't have many ships left. Shadow Weaver may be keeping as many of the ships we have left to defend our ports but they are fortified enough to defend themselves without the aid of ships''. Nardo digested the information and already began to come up with plans to overcome the numerous enemies he was about to face.

"I will give you my fleet, the Venom Sails. They may not be as technologically sound as the Horde's ships but they will be more than willing to do anything to save their princess". Nardo focused back on Skorpios. "Thank you King Skorpios, they will no doubt be of use to me". Skorpios waved the giant away,"oh just call me Skorpios. The title king is redundant at this point. I've given up almost all of my power to join the Horde".

Nardo's eyes widened a little at this. Thousands of years ago when the time of monarchs was coming to an end for his people. The Lords and Ladies greedily held onto their power even when they were hopelessly outmatched. "It must have been difficult for you. Not many people would willingly give power, much less a king".

"Yes, it was in a way, but my people's safety came first". This bewildered Nardo even more, to hear a King willingly give up power for the safety of his people was unheard of.

Nardo couldn't help but be impressed and have some respect for Skorpios. "I must say Skorpios, I didn't think any king had the ability to care about his people. All Monarchs of the past would have bled their people dry to keep their power. This will be quite the conversation when I get back. For now, I have a princess to rescue".

"Good luck Force Captain, please bring her back safe". "I will, even if I have to personally kill every pirate in my way". A dangerous tone rumbled from the back of Nardo's throat as his eyes flickered red before turning back to a calm purple.

Nardo stood on a metal deck, the salty breeze blew against his face. The smell of fish and the ocean filled his nose with each breath. The air was chilly, just the way he liked it. He turned to see his "fleet" behind him. 3 other Horde ships just as Skorpiois had said. What Skorpios could give him wasn't as many as he thought.

Apparently the Scorpion kingdom didn't have much of a navy since they didn't have that much territory that met the sea. 12 wooden ships with cannons quickly installed on the front of them. They didn't even originally have any weapons. Nardo knew this was going to be a tough fight ahead of him.

From what he could tell from the various witness reports the pirates numbered in the dozens, close to a hundred. While they were made of wood and only possessed harpoons and black powder cannons. They would still be horribly outnumbered, with the threat of the sorceress he wouldn't have been able to sink as much as a few ships before they were boarded.

As confident as he was in dispatching pirates with his superior weapons and himself. They would still lose. He had taken a few drones with him to scout ahead. Perhaps he could use the royal scorpion fleet as a distraction force? 'No I will not sacrifice anyone, Only cowards use their men as distractions'. Sometimes his processor would bring up ideas he would never even consider.

He shook his head and stared out to the horizon. He had already set the drones out as they approached the pirate's territory. He had already come up with a plan to deal with the sorceress. A pair of snipers on each of his ships to take them out from a distance. His ships were also faster than the wooden vessels.

In fact, they were only going a quarter the max speed so the royal ships could keep up. Perhaps once he had dealt with the magic users he could widdle down the enemy down to a more manageable size. It seemed to be his best option but if the sorceress survived long enough for them to get to his ships they'd be doomed.

Another problem he had to watch out for was them knowing about them. While the pirates no doubt knew they would come for them, they didn't know when. If he could deal with the fleet he could focus on finding where Scorpina and her men were being held. They were no doubt being held at their capital but he wasn't sure. It could always prove to be a valuable bargaining chip if they weren't there. Another problem ran through his mind, It had been 2 weeks since they had been captured. Some of them could have been sold away by now.

'How am I supposed to even take over the city? Perhaps a covert team to sneak in and take them back to the ships? No, too many inexperienced in that type of mission and too many to sneak out. Too few of us to charge in, a siege would be too dangerous for the prisoners. The pirates could always hold blades to their throats'.

Nardo went below deck to the command room. In the center, a holo map of the known area floated above the surface. He would just have to wait for the scouts to get back. They were bound to come back in a few minutes so he didn't have to wait long. Though, he still needed to deal with the outposts that would no doubt warn the pirate capital if they saw them.

'Too few of us, so many threats to deal with'. He began to think in speeds that would be impossible for any normal creature to think without the help of cybernetics. 'I need to rescue them, I need to save her, I need'. A thought suddenly glowed in his mind.

'We're here to rescue them from being sold as slaves. They can't be the only ones being sold or already are slaves. Perhaps if I liberate a few outposts and towns I could muster up an army big enough to storm the capital. But we would need to move quickly and quietly'

If a single pirate was able to warn the city of us then the mission would be doomed. He couldn't let a single pirate escape until they got to the city. He would have to kill every single pirate, he personally didn't have a problem with that idea. The thought of cutting through them with his new bardiche made him smile.

After all, they were filthy vermin that pillaged, murdered, raped, and sold slaves. But he wasn't the one he was worried about. The other Horde crew members had good reasons. The pirates stole their comrades and one of their commanders. The Venom Sails had a good reason, the pirates no doubt killed their comrades and wanted to sell the survivors as slaves.

He thought of the ramifications to tell them when the time came, but he couldn't risk it. He had to make sure right here and now that they wouldn't hesitate to kill every pirate they came across. "Lieutenant, tell the others to drop anchor and have their captains meet me in the command room".

The officer gave a nod and began to call the other ships. One by one the ships slowed to a stop and the captain came aboard. Once all of them were accounted for Nardo leaned on the holo map. "What I'm about to say is difficult. We all know the odds are against us". The other officers gave nods and 'yes's'.

"I have a plan but it won't be easy. We are outnumbered and while we have the means to deal with those witches there's still the problem of storming the capital itself. We don't have the numbers to charge it and none of your men are experienced in covert missions. So the only way to ensure we can rescue Force Captain Scorpina and her men is to bolster our ranks".

The Officers looked at each other confused. "How are we supposed to do that Force Captain? We can't exactly pull more troops out of our asses". A few men chuckled to this, even Nardo snorted. "We do it by liberating outposts and villages on the way. If we free the slaves then they will want to fight for us. We came out here to free our brothers and sisters from the pirates. Why not free others from them, is it not our right as the Horde to be free? Isn't our mission to liberate Eternia and bring order"? The other men and women nodded at this.

"Then how can we say that while these people are slaves to pirates. The Princess Alliance doesn't give a shit about them. I say we free them and let them join our ranks as brothers and sisters. Put an end to who knows how many decades of this vicious cycle". The men and women began to get rowdy. "Hell ya", "I agree" "Down with these bastards" "Let's free them all".

Nardo smirked at this, he had no doubt of them backing him up on this part of the plan. "Which brings up the next part of this plan. We can't let any of the Thunder Waves warn the capital of our presence. We need to kill them all, not a single pirate can be left to live". The Officers went silent at this.

"I know this is a heavy decision to make but remember, these are pirates. They have murdered, pillaged, and raped these waters for decades. They do not give a shit who they hurt or who they kill. They will not show us mercy and if they capture us, death would be the best thing to happen to us". Nardo gave them a few minutes to think this over.

"I need to know if you will back me up on this. I need to know if your men will not hesitate to kill them on sight. If a single pirate warns the capital then this is all for naught. They will hold our people hostage if not kill them outright". The Officers were silent for another minute before one of them stepped up.

"If that is what we need to do to ensure princess Scorpina's safety then so be it". One of the royal captains spoke, the others soon began to agree and say their own reasons for joining. "We only have to do this until we secure Force Captain Scorpina's safety"? One of the Horde Lieutenants asked. "Once we have taken the capital and rescued our forces, yes we will cease this extreme tactic". Nardo answered, even if this officer agreed with the plan he would have to keep an eye on her. He would have to keep an eye on them all to make sure none of them or their men hesitated.

The Horde Lieutenant stood straight,"I will make sure my soldiers understand Force Captain". Even with her speaking with confidence he could still hear some doubt in her voice. It would have to do, he pressed a button on the map and a small island popped up. "This will be our first target, a small outpost. From what the drones were able to see, it holds a barrack building, a few huts scattered around. A watchtower here, here and here". Nardo pointed at the corners of the outpost.

If you drew a line between them it would make a messy triangle. He continued his briefing and soon began to bring up holoships that represent their ships. "They only have two sloop class sailboats. A perfect first target, Venom Sails you will attack from behind. Use your cannons to take out any groups you spot but don't fire upon any slaves. Only make land if you can't shoot them from where you are. Bruce and Reagan, your mission will be to secure the sloops. If you are unable to capture them, sink them. While you do this I and the other corvettes will stay out, and ensure no passing ships see us and none of them escape if they manage to push through your men. Now do you all understand"?

"Yes Force Captain". They all said confidently. "Very good, now return to your ships, all further orders shall be given from the comms". The Captains all nodded and one by one they left the room to return to their own ships. Nardo took one last look at the holo map with his plans drawn on it. He gave out a sigh before walking over to the controls.

"How much longer until we arrive". Nardo asked while looking over two Horde soldier's shoulders. The two jumped before realizing who it was. "AHH, Uh, we, will arrive in 40 minutes sir". "Hmmm good, keep our current speed. Inform me when we're 10 minutes away". Nardo barely heard the man reply as he went topside. His metal boots cranked against the cold hard floor. He gave out a huff as he climbed the ladder in a few steps. The men and women on top were preparing for battle. Some were checking the cannon making sure it was ready to go. Others were checking their rifles and sidearms.

He pressed on a mic that sat on the side of his head. "Sniper team, you know your objectives. Sorceresses take highest priority, conserve ammo, and if need be, hold fire on all other targets until a sorceress appears". He received multiple affirmatives and walked to the front of the ship. This was going to be an easy victory but he could never stop the feeling that the pirates had something up their sleeve.

Nardo could have sworn time had sped up for them because it didn't seem long until he could see an island in the horizon. He shut his eyes close and brought his hands together for a short prayer. He was never a big believer in faith. But that didn't stop his Mother from dragging him to church every time she went. Even when he went to war he would still pray before each battle when it was allowed. He only did it to honor his Mother who no doubt would have done the same. He would never tell it to her face but he did feel a little safer when he did. The thought of his mother began to dampen his mind but he violently shook his head to get rid of the thought.

He had a battle to fight, his men needed him. His eyes glowed once more as he turned to the command room. When he entered the room, the other soldiers were busy on the radio communicating with the other ships. He grabbed a mic from his chair and spoke into it. "Venom Sails, you know what to do. Destroy those watchtowers and gun down any pirate you see. Once the threat has been dealt with we will join you, Force Captain Nardo out". He set the microphone down and watched the battle through the drone's eyes.

He could see the royal ships close in, using their cannons to destroy the watchtowers. The wooden watchtowers didn't stand a chance against the barrage of red hot plasma as they exploded into a shower of burning splinters. The two ships he had assigned to stop the sloops had already sunk one of them before it could even get a few meters out. He turned the camera to see that the new wreck was right in front of the other ship. By the time the other ship had turned enough to get out, the two royal ships had already begun to fire upon the pirate crew. Mercilessly cutting down the few pirates that manned the boat.

Something caught Nardo's eyes, there couldn't be more than 35 pirates here. "Something isn't right, there should be more than this". Nardo spoke out loud, he moved the drone's camera to the horizon. He zoomed in and what he saw caused him to widen his eyes. There on the horizon were 25 ships, larger than even his own. "Corvettes, hostile ships to the northwest. Form a firing line and prepare for battle"! Nardo yelled into the mic. The pilots began to type into the controls, moving the ship. As the ships came into view he ordered the corvettes to start firing on them the moment they got into range. He turned his view back at the battlefield to see that the Venom Sails were now storming the beach. They would no doubt win the battle before too long. "Inform the Venom Sails to immediately pull out half of their ships to join us. Once the rest have dealt with the pirates on the island, they will join us as well". Nardo commanded as he began to move the drones around to get as much as the battlefield mapped down as possible. The more he knew the less of a chance another surprise could catch them off guard.

He could see orbs of green energy fly through the air and hammer down near the enemy ships. They were firing at the maximum range the cannons could fire so accuracy would take a hit. The shots that did seem to hit the ships were blocked by walls of water. 'Ah, I was wondering when we were going to meet these infamous water sorceresses'. Even if the energy rounds did manage to hit they would cause minimum damage. Energy weapons were powerful, but when used on planets the effective range of them fell.

The rounds would lose much of their power as they flew through the air. But what choice did they have though? They were outnumbered and once the sorceress held their ships down they wouldn't be able to move until they took care of the witches.

All he could do was wait until they got close enough for the sniper team to begin firing.

Nardo continued to watch the cannons fire until he noticed something through one of the drones. It was a group of rocks just under the surface. A toothy smile slowly grew as an idea formed in his mind. With a little more exploring he saw a path that was big enough for his ships to slip through. While it did seem a good idea at first to go through the path so they were protected on all sides. It would spell doom if the ship in front was sunk, the rest would be trapped. Him moving completely behind the rock formation would be good enough.

He changed the map to show a path to the rocks. "Mariners, take us here, we'll run the pirates upon the rocks". The pilots saw the map on their screens and grinned as they began to move the ships. He pointed to the other side of the rock formation and a marker appeared. "Tell the Venom Sails to move here. They will be in the center while we protect their flanks. keep facing the pirates, the cannons will have a harder time hitting our ships".

The royal scorpion vessels only had infantry held plasma cannons. They didn't have time to build more suitable armaments for the ships. The range and power of the cannon were weaker than the corvettes. They came with an advantage though, they were hand held which meant multiple could be brought on board. He had enough to provide each ship six of said cannons and with enough ammunition to level a small fortress.

Nardo's smirk vanished when he felt the ship screech to a halt. He quickly grabbed onto a rail above him before he could be thrown across the room. "Scheisse, what the hell was that"! Nardo yelled out on instinct, the comms master quickly recovered and listened to the radio chatter.

"We've been grabbed sir! water is holding our engines back"! The ship shook violently once again. "They just covered our cannon, we can't shoot at them"! Nardo could see the pirate ships approaching fast, it would only be minutes before they were upon them.

He could see red beams of plasma shoot through the air as the marksman rifles fired. 'Good, the sniper teams should be able to deal with the witches momentarily'. After a few shots he could see one of the corvettes freed. 'Good, now I know for certain that the sorceresses don't have some kind of magic shield'.

With a zoomed in look he could see the pirates panicking after seeing their magic users fall over dead. The sight of red beams of energy cutting through their sorceresses with ease would no doubt scare them. As he was looking at the ships with the zoomed vision he noticed something strange on one of the ships. The crew on it were different, they wore ragged trousers and had metal collars around their necks.

He could see a few pirates with whips ordering them around. 'A ship manned by slaves, could they have any more weaknesses'? A smile grew on his face as the last of the ships were freed from the water. He grabbed a mic to the sniper teams. "Sniper teams, do you see the ships manned by slaves"? He received multiple affirmatives, "Why don't we liberate them, take those masters out".

The marksmen all gave out chuckles with one of them saying. "Way ahead of you Force Captain". A beam of red plasma shot forth and railed against a pirate. The man grabbed his chest to cover a new cauterized hole. He could be seen screaming in agony before falling over. His fellow slave masters looked down in horror as they too began to be razed down. The slaves began to cower expecting to be gunned down too.

When nothing happened to them they stood up. A pirate came up no doubt yelling what was happening only to see all the slave masters dead. The slaves began to surround him seeing him being one of the last left. He took his whip out to keep them back only to have a beam cut through his wrist, Cutting his hand off. This was the final push to send the slaves in a frenzy as they charged forward to reclaim their freedom.

Nardo turned to the communication officer, "tell the corvettes not to fire upon the slave ships. I'll mark the ships for them, inform the Venom Sails to only fire at what we fire at. We can't risk hitting those slave ships". The man gave a nod and began to send out orders. He watched through the holomap that the corvettes had made their way behind the rocks.

Most of the Venom Sails had begun to make their way behind them. It would look very suspicious when they got to the position. Though that was not a concern, by the time the Venom Sails reached their destination the pirates would already run onto the rocks.

The pirate's ships were getting dangerously close now. He changed his view to the corvettes to see that they were now being fired at by their own weapons. The Horde crewmembers took cover behind the walls and shot back. "Return the greeting"! The Deck Captain yelled as he fired his pistol.

Several deckhands were gunned down before they could seek cover. The sniper team on board laid prone as they too received fire. The gunner moved the cannon and fired upon the pirates who fled and dove from the scene of fire. With the cover fire from the cannon the three medics rushed towards the wounded and pulled them to cover.

Two of the pirate's ships turned and unleashed a barrage into the Venom Sails. The cannonballs whistled through the air, singing death and ruin. The sound of wood exploding into splinters thundered as royal crew members were sent flying into the water. Thankfully the rest of it's sister's remained unscathed as they returned fire.

Nardo glared at the screen as he watched one of the Venom Sail's ships begin to sink. His attention was grabbed however when one of their own ships began to fire at them.

With a closer look it seems all five slave manned frigates were now in full revolt and aiding the Horde in fighting the pirates. Nardo's smile turned into a full toothy smile as the frontline frigates crashed into the rocks. The ship's bow cracked and bent as the keel was torn to shreds by the ragged rocks. Water rushed into the lower decks and any pirates not quick enough to get to higher ground were shoved into the bulkhead and crushed by heavy crates and barrels that were sent tumbling around by the force.

He began to laugh as he connected his radio to the entire fleet. "Hahahaha, like a bird to a falcon's claws. They fall to our superior technology and tactics. All ships, finish the pirates off but be mindful of our brothers and sisters. Today we free them and we take our weapons back. Tomorrow we will move to the next pirate target and one by one we will carve a path to their Capital"!

A few of the enemy frigates began to flee when they saw the battle lost. But were unable to get far as the corvettes aimed for their sails and stopped them dead in the water. The battle was soon won after setting the grounded frigates ablaze. Any pirates that jumped into the water either crashed into the rocks or were picked off by nearby deckhands.

Even with such a decisive victory Nardo still suffered many casualties. With the pirates shooting at them with their own weapons many Horde soldiers were caught surprised. The Venom Sails didn't have much for cover and were completely exposed. At the end Nardo had lost a tenth of his men and one of his ships.

It appeared that only 3 of the slaves ships had survived. The three had minimal damage on them thankfully. A new problem that he discovered was that there were two sinking slave ships with many of their crew in the water. "Mariners, take us closer to the nearest sinking slave ship". The pilots nodded and began to move the ship out from the rocks.

The other slave ships were doing their best to rescue their comrades but were not equipped with the best equipment. Nardo's corvette was the second to reach the wreck. A few slaves nervously watched the Horde as they pulled up. Deckhands began throwing lifelines over for the overboard slaves to catch.

Nardo oversaw everything through the cameras. There were thankfully no problems, they were able to bring up any slaves they could and were currently being checked by the corpsmen. Nardo knew it was time to personally meet them. "I'm going topside, radio me if something happens". He walked through the corridors, before climbing up in large strides before hopping out of the hatchway.

He walked up to the Deck Captain who was currently heaving a rope with 2 others. On the end of the line were five ex slaves clinging on for dear life. "Damn it, I said one at a time". The older beastmen grunted, Nardo walked to his side and grabbed onto the thick rope. "Finally some hel-",the Deck Captain was caught off guard to see a Force Captain helping personally. Nardo gave out a small huff as he quickly pulled the rope up with ease.

Two deckhands ran from the side and began to help the ex slaves up. "That the last of them Deck Captain"? The beastmen nodded as he looked around. "All that we could get sir, the rest are either on their own ships or the others of our own". Nardo nodded at this as he looked over to see a few pirates tied to the railing. "They swam up to our lines. We were going to deal with them, once we rescued and treated all the enslaved".

Nardo held up his hand. "Hold off on that thought, keep them alive for now. I want to question them on how they knew exactly when we would be here".

The Deck Captain saluted as he went back to overseeing the mess. Nardo looked over to the slave ships to see a few looking back. It was time to finally meet the slaves and see if they would join them or not. Nardo took a deep breath in only to smell the strong smell of blood and smoke from the surrounding wrecks. Down in the water floated several dead pirates, burn marks from plasma fire dotted them in various places. This place was no doubt clean and beautiful before.

Now it was full of death and destruction, the air filled with whimpering and cries of the injured. It reminded him so much of back home when the Elexans first came. Or 'First Ones' as these people called them. Nardo's face began to sour at the mere thought of those monsters. He quickly changed his focus to aiding his men and deal with the wounded. Perhaps speaking with the ex slaves would have to wait until they had treated all the wounded. It would aid in their image if they started treating the wounded slaves and began unshackling them. Nardo walked up to the corpsmen and began to help them treat wounds. Yes, talking would have to wait.

AN: I'm not sure if you guys are wondering when Adora and the other princesses will make an appearance or not. They will definitely be in this story but they will have to wait a little bit longer. If you haven't already guessed this story takes place around 2-3 decades before the events of Shera take place. It probably will be around chapter 15 before they show up if not more. I'll probably do a mixture of chapters before shera and flashbacks to help speed things along. Other than my little rant I don't have anything else to say so I wish you all a good day.

Translations: Scheisse = Shit