Air Force Supreme Commander Strike Freedom, Lord Penguino, Commader Futtle Scish, Commander Gastly Taipan, Governor Wingnut, and General Vaniellis sat down to their tensest meeting yet.
"Vaniellis," said Strike, "How's the situation in the r/fnki system?"
"Not good," Vaniellis replied. "The Anti-Arkos Alliance outnumbers our forces five to one, mobs of otherwise unaffiliated have swelled their ranks. They've driven us off all but one planet in that system, and we're losing ground by the minute. Soon all our troops will be corralled into a killing pen. They won't last much longer, and once they're gone, I have word that the AAA fleet will attack our planet."
"I'm not surprised," said Wingnut. "I warned you making Blue Whale King the sole Moderator was a bad idea."
"And now he's planning to bombard r/CinderDidNothingWrong from orbit until there's only molten glass left," said Penguino. "The entire starfleet is set to depart today."
"So we have a problem on two fronts," said Strike. "Prevent the massacre of our troops in r/fnki, and prevent Blue from committing genocide against r/CinderDidNothingWrong."
"I still can't believe he would do such a thing," said Gastly Taipan.
"He's not thinking straight right now," said Penguino. "He sees r/CinderDidNothingWrong as an existential threat that won't be subdued until they're completely destroyed. In his mind, it's us or them. It's the thought process of one who's mad with grief, anger, and fear."
"So there is hope of talking him down," said Vaniellis. "He's not irredeemable."
"Not yet, anyway," said Wingnut.
"It won't be easy," said Strike. "We'd have to set up a situation where he'd have no choice but to listen to us."
"And we still want him to win the fleet battle first," said Penguino. "r/CinderDidNothingWrong's starfleet still needs to be destroyed, that hasn't changed."
"But we also need to defend this planet," said Wingnut. "Vaniellis said that the AAA fleet will attack us soon. With the entire Arkos Starfleet leaving, that makes us vulnerable."
"Then we need to make sure Whale defeats the Ember Fleet as quickly as possible, then talk him down as fast as we can, and return while our defenses hold," said Penguino. "I'll go with the fleet, and bring my squadron with me."
"I'll go help talk Blue down," said Strike. "He met me first, he might listen to me."
"I want to go too," said Vaniellis. "Talking Whale down was my idea."
"What about our ground forces in r/fnki?" asked Wingnut. "Someone needs to evacuate them."
"Leave that to me," said a new voice, and a woman walked in. She wore a robe in Reading Rainbow's colors (that is to say, ALL the colors, plus black), and had an air of officiality.
"Who are you?" Futtle Scish asked.
"I am Melanie Antiqua, Grand Hostess of Ship Wars and the daughter of the late Princess Canada. I owe Arkos a favor. You tried to save the life of my mother during Ship Survivor II, when neither the Badass Alliance nor the Church of Thorns valued it."
"But we failed," said Strike.
"You still did your best, which is more than anyone else can say. And, to be honest, I do not like White Knight at all, and I think it's an outrage that they are getting so much support. Denying them a victory will be very satisfying for me. I'll evacuate your troops, and have them all home before White Knight or their horde can lay a finger on them."
"Can we trust her?" Futtle Scish asked.
"She's the Grand Hostess of Ship Wars," said Vaniellis. "One doesn't get much more trustworthy than that."
"Very well," said Strike. "Thank you for your help, Grand Hostess."
"I won't let you down," said Melanie. "I must go now if I am to save your troops." She walked out the door.
"So," said Strike. "Vaniellis and I will go to talk Whale down after the fleet battle, while Penguino and his fighter squadron help him win. Futtle Scish, GT, divide my squadron between yours to defend the planet. Combined, you'll have about 75 fighters, which should be enough to hold off the AAA fleet for at least an hour or two."
"Nobody gets past the Serpent of the Skies!" said Gastly Taipan.
"I'll oversee the ground based anti-orbital defense cannons," said Wingnut. "That should buy us more time as well. I will not let any enemies set foot on this planet."
"So it's decided, then," said Strike. "All we need to do is figure out how to stop Blue from glassing r/CinderDidNothingWrong once the battle is over and force him to listen to us."
"I have an idea about that," said Vaniellis, "but you're not going to like it."
Spoilers.
After a week of preparations, the Arkos Starfleet was departing. Grand Admiral Blue Whale King's blue destroyer the Pyrrhic took the lead, while the other ships followed in a V formation. 21 ships in total, with 10 on each side of the flagship.
"All ships, report in," Whale said.
"Inquisitor Captain Stormzx, standing by."
"Captain Maldevinine, standing by."
"Captain Falcon Lord, standing by."
"Captain Only T. Results, standing by."
"Captain Laranna, standing by."
"Captain NinJonic X, standing by."
"Captain Unholy H. Grenade, standing by."
"Captain Jackson Creed, standing by."
"Captain Believe Destiny, standing by."
"Captain Untitled Mann, standing by."
"Captain Rex Burnside, standing by."
"Captain Storm Mann, standing by."
"Captain Ace Luck, standing by."
"Captain Ejsa Casa, standing by."
"Captain Sam Shazam, standing by."
"Captain Blue Jay, standing by."
"Captain Invincible Girl, standing by."
"Captain Kyle Nator, standing by."
"Captain Girusa Tuku, standing by."
"Captain TvTrope SuperWiki, standing by."
"All right, that's everyone," said Whale. "Time to get into position for the jump."
"Not everyone. Lord Penguino, standing by with my fighter squadron. We're coming with you."
"Excellent," said Whale. "Now, for the jump. Penguino and company, stay close to my ship. I'll go over the rest of the plan, for Penguino's sake.
"TvTrope, Girusa, Kyle, Invincible, Ace, Jay, Sam, Ace, Storm, and Stormzx, split off at the Neopolitan Junction in hyperspace, and await my signal to attack. Your group is designated the East Fleet.
"Maldevinine, Falcon, Results, Laranna, NinJonic, Grenade, Jackson, Destiny, Untitled, and Burnside, hang behind me. Await my signal to exit hyperspace. Your group is designated the West Fleet. Any questions?"
"Yes," said Penguino. "Does this mean that your ship and my squadron will be alone in enemy territory at first?"
"That is correct, Lord Penguino. It's all part of the plan. Having second thoughts?"
Penguino swallowed. While Whale's motives were currently unhinged, he could never doubt his strategy, even if it seemed reckless to others. "No, Grand Admiral. I will see this through."
"Good to hear," Whale replied. "All ships, prepare to jump in three, two, one, NOW!"
And with that, the 21 capital ships and 25 fighters vanished into hyperspace, leaving their world behind.
It's been a while since we've checked in with r/CinderDidNothingWrong.
Laughing Fish sat on his throne, playing Plants Vs. Zombies on his tablet. The faint noises of the game echoed in the cavernous obsidian chamber, mixing with the occasional sounds of torches sputtering on the walls.
After a while, Laughing Fish turned off the game and put the tablet down. "I never could beat survival fog," he said, sighing. "Damn dolphins."
"Is there anything I can do for you?" asked the servant standing on the left side of the throne.
"No, but thank you, Hoesack."
The room was silent for a couple minutes.
"Do you ever get second thoughts about all this, General Cordelia?" Laughing Fish asked the woman on the right side of the throne.
"Of course not, your excellency," replied Ylissian Cordelia, general of the ground troops and co-Moderator of r/CinderDidNothingWrong.
"Me neither," said Laughing Fish.
Just then, another guard burst into the room, carrying a chipmunk on her shoulder.
"Sir! The Arkos Flagship has appeared in orbit!"
"With a large squadron of fighters," the chipmunk added.
"Thank you, Exo, Chipmunk," said Laughing Fish. "General Cordelia, raise the shields and prepare the ground defenses. Exo, Chipmunk, tell Admiral Koanos to scramble the fleet." They all saluted and left for their tasks.
"And Hoesack," said Laughing Fish.
"Yes?" the servant replied.
"Bring me a taco."
"Yes sir."
Meanwhile, our favorite cetacean finally lays eyes on the homeworld of his enemies.
The blue flagship and 25 starfighters exited hyperspace in the r/CinderDidNothingWrong system. A vast reddish nebula lay behind their target. It was a supernova remnant, the embers, or perhaps, cinders, of the stellar collision that created the gamma ray burst that destroyed the original world of Arkos, and slew the goddess Pyrrha Nikos. Two partially dissipated spikes protruded from the nebula at opposite ends, the remnants of the deadly beam. One of them traced the path to the asteroid field that was once Arkos.
"So that's our target," said Blue Whale King. "It's just how I imagined it." At the center of the nebula backdrop, from their perspective, was r/CinderDidNothingWrong. The planet was mostly gray and black, partially illuminated by red volcanic regions and yellowish city lights.
"Admiral, what's that pinkish object above and to the left?" Penguino asked. "Is it a moon?"
Sure enough, to that direction and somewhat farther out from r/CinderDidNothingWrong was a pink, white, and brown planetoid.
"What?" Whale asked. "We covered that in- Oh, right, you missed the briefing. That's no moon. It's our target's twin planet, r/IceCreamWaifu. Laughing Fish technically owns both planets, but he's rarely active on the second one, and we have good relations with the people who really run things there. We won't have to worry about them."
"But you will have to worry about us," said a new voice over the radio. Sure enough, the Ember Fleet was coming into view as they approached, led by the Arc Furnace. "Hello again, Beluga Boy."
"Koanos," said Whale. "I will make you pay for what you did. You and your entire band of heretics and murderers will be purged from existence. Today, the blood of Pyrrha Nikos, Cayde T. Spade, and all the others that your goddess and your cult have murdered will be avenged. And all will remember this, as the LAST DAY of r/CinderDidNothingWrong!"
Koanos only laughed. "With only one large ship and some fighters? I expected you to perform a reckless attack on us and get yourself killed, but I also expected you to have several ships. We've been preparing for this. I have a dozen capital ships now. You can't possibly survive one against twelve. But I suppose it's fitting. After all, your goddess performed a similar suicide mission."
"ENOUGH!" Whale bellowed, slamming his fist on an armrest of his captain's chair. "I have more than enough to destroy you. Truth be told, I didn't even need to bring the fighters. OPEN FIRE!"
The Pyrrhic and the fighters fired on the Ember Fleet, to no effect. They didn't have enough firepower to get through the shields. The enemy ships approached closer, returning fire.
"Looks like we've got 'em, boss," said Captain Rayen Raven.
"Let's finish this," said Captain Warlock Weeb. "I've been waiting a long time to end them."
"Wait no longer," said Koanos. "Goodbye, little admiral. Pity you could not give me more of a challenge."
"I'll give you the challenge of swallowing those words," Whale replied. "West Fleet, ATTACK!"
Just then, ten more Arkosian capital ships dropped out of hyperspace, forming an inverted half dome formation around the Ember Fleet.
"About time," said Captain Maldevinine. "We were starting to worry."
"Nonsense," said Captain Laranna. "We never doubted you, my king."
The reinforcements opened fire, damaging the Ember Fleet's shields. The Cinderian ships ceased concentrating their fire on the Pyrrhic, seconds before its shields would have been depleted, and engaged the new arrivals. The fight was a lot more even.
"Well this was unexpected, I'll give you that," said Koanos. "But we still outnumber you, and I have reinforcements as well. Fighters, deploy!
The Arc Furnace's hangar bay opened, and two dozen fighters flew out. Among them were the remaining members of the gang who fought Whale that first time by the bar in r/fnki.
"Fucking finally," said Ima Kirby. "I've been wanting to get rid of this guy for a long time now."
"Then what are we waiting for?" asked Gohstfcae. "Let's finish him off."
"We'll strafe the bridge," said Ferrango. "Cut off the head of their whole operation, and be rid of this Whale once and for all."
The squadron flew toward the blue destroyer, firing and launching missiles as they got close to its surface.
"Admiral," said a technician on the bridge, "the shields won't last much longer."
"The point defense turrets can handle it," Blue Whale King replied. Sure enough, the smaller weapon emplacements were firing plasma beams and launching missiles at the enemy fighters, destroying several.
"This is getting sketchy," said Gohstfcae.
"Don't worry," said Ferrango. "There are chinks in their armor. Watch this." He fired at one of the turrets while the shield flickered, getting through and destroying the gun.
"Good riddance," said Ima Kirby, as the rest of the fighters followed suit in removing the Pyrrhic's point defenses.
In the r/fnki system
"Come on, this way!" Melanie Antiqua shouted, as a horde of scout clones surged over the ruins of the Arkosian base on the nearby desert hill. The retreating Arkosian ground forces numbered in the thousands, but the enemy horde had roughly a quarter million.
"Yarg, start the engines," Melanie ordered the pilot of the Reading Rainbow troop transport, as the Arkos soldiers poured in.
"On it," said Yarg Ama Frag, flicking her cat ears in apprehension.
"Just give me another minute," said Jennifer Doombringer, Melanie's sister in law, as she gunned down the White Knight troops with the ship's turret.
"We don't have that long," Melanie replied. "Just keep them off our allies long enough for them to board. Save your vengeance for later."
"Fine," Jenny replied.
The ship lifted off just as the last Arkosian soldiers were on board, and not a moment too soon. The White Knight army flooded over the landing pad, firing at the belly of the retreating troop transport as it flew away.
"Did we get everyone?" Yarg asked, as Melanie entered the bridge.
"Yes, everyone alive," Melanie replied. "But we're not out of the woods yet."
As they left the desert planet in the r/fnki system behind, they saw nearly 30 capital ships pursuing them.
"That's a much bigger fleet than I anticipated," said Melanie. "I hope Whale gets back soon."
The Whale War in r/fnki was officially lost. The battle in r/CinderDidNothingWrong was just getting started.
"Don't worry, Whale," Lord Penguino said as the enemy fighters continued to damage the flagship. "We're coming for you."
Penguino's squadron abandoned their attack on Warlock Weeb's ship, and dove toward the Pyrrhic with the sun behind them. Within minutes, they had destroyed most of the enemy fighters.
"Look out!" Ferrango called.
"What the fuAAAAAUUGGGHHHH!" Ima Kirby screamed as his fighter exploded mid sentence, incinerating him.
"Kirby, NO!" Gohstfcae shouted.
"Stay focused," Ferrango said. "Keep heading for the bridge."
"I WILL defeat Whale," Gohstfcae said, speeding toward the bridge. But in his overeagerness, he accelerated too hard. His fighter pancaked and burst into flame against the bridge tower, leaving nothing but a scorch mark on Whale's flagship.
Ferrango sighed. "Looks like it's up to me. Shame I'm alone now, even if I was always the most level headed. For the glory of Cinder!"
He turned up, preparing to fire his missiles through the bridge windows.
"Thank you, Penguino," said Whale. "I'll take it from here." He grabbed a control, firing one of the bridge point defense cannons at Ferrango. The enemy fighter disintegrated just before it fired. Pieces of it bounced off the shields a couple feet away from the windows, but one item got through and plastered against the transparent metal: the tattered and singed remains of Ferrango's gigantic sombrero. Whale turned on the windshield wipers to brush it away.
"Are you okay now?" Penguino asked.
"Yes, I'm glad they're finally gone," Whale said. "Thank you, Lord Penguino, I don't know what I would have done without you."
"You're welcome, it's a good thing you let me come. No matter how sure we are of our plans, just remember that we can make grievous errors."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Whale asked.
"Nothing," Penguino said, though it sounded like it was, in fact, a very weighty statement. "Let's finish defeating the enemy fleet, then we can talk more."
"Yes," said Whale. "Please return to your previous battle."
Penguino's squadron flew to resume their attack on Warlock Weeb's ship, which was now even more damaged. Both fleets were still exchanging heavy fire and had suffered damage, but neither had lost any ships yet.
"Admiral," said Captain Falcon Lord, "we've lost shields and are taking damage."
"Us too," said captain Only T. Results. "I think this has gone on long enough."
"Agreed," said Blue Whale King. "Disperse formation."
The half dome formation dispersed across a much wider area.
"Fools," said Koanos. "Now we can pick them off. Our victory is near."
"East Fleet, ATTACK!" Whale ordered.
"What?!" Koanos exclaimed. He looked around, and saw ten more Arkosian capital ships emerge from behind r/IceCreamWaifu.
"Time to kick some heretic ass," said Inquisitor Captain Stormzx, leading the East Fleet to strike their enemies. "AVE IMPERATOR!"
"Glad to be of service, Admiral Blue," said Captain TvTrope SuperWiki.
Soon, all 21 Arkosian capital ships were engaging, and had the Ember Fleet surrounded. Two Cinderian frigates exploded under the combined fire, and several more enemy ships were about to follow suit.
"No, no, NO!" Koanos shouted. "This cannot be! Warlock Weeb, this strategy was partially your idea, do something!"
"There's too many of them," Weeb replied, "we must rely on the Goddess Cinder's mer-"
He never finished that sentence.
"Your goddess has no mercy," Whale said. "Neither did you, so neither shall we. You reap only what you sow."
"You can't defeat Cinder," said Rayen Raven, even as more of the ships around him blew up, and his own was losing structural integrity. "Our goddess lives, and yours does not!"
His ship disintegrated in a fireball the next moment.
"Nor do you," Whale said. "Looks like we're almost done here. I'll start heading to the planet. Maldevinine, Burnside, Results, NinJonic, Grenade, Untitled, Penguino and squadron, finish them off. The rest of you, follow me."
As Blue Whale King's ship left the battle behind to attack r/CinderDidNothingWrong, Koanos's ship was the last of the Ember Fleet. Though damaged, the massive dreadnought was still holding together under the barrage.
"Not so fast, Moby Dickhead," Koanos said, steering the ship himself while the crew panicked, even as some of the bridge instruments smoked and sparked. "I'm taking you down with me." He aimed the Arc Furnace at the Pyrrhic, started an automatic sequence then headed for an escape pod.
"All ships, execute Order 96," said Whale. Just as the Arc Furnace accelerated, all the ships in the Arkos Starfleet pushed on it with their tractor beams. It missed the Pyrrhic and overshot, becoming brief flash of light as it impacted like a missile against the planet below.
"That tactic was never going to work twice," said Whale. "So long, Koanos."
Down on the planet, people aren't pleased.
"Your excellency," said the hologram of General Cordelia, "we've lost the entire Ember Fleet. The attackers have taken damage, but they still have all their capital ships and most of their fighters. I will fire the ground to space cannons as soon as they are in range."
"See that you do," said Laughing Fish, grabbing a 14th taco from Hoesack. The hologram saluted and disappeared.
"I had my doubts about Koanos's plan," Laughing Fish muttered, staring at the floor. "I wish I had listened to them."
Now, the moment of truth.
"Time to finish this," Blue Whale King said. "Our first priority is taking out their shields. Otherwise, we're not going to have enough firepower to glass the planet. All ships, scan for the shield generators. Also A Pun gave us a report, but they may have mov-"
"Whale, no," said Penguino. "We already did what we needed to. We destroyed the fleet, they can't attack us or anyone again. There's no reason to massacre the civilians."
"Those civilians are just future conscripts, who all worship an evil goddess. And I'm sure they have many dirty tricks up their sleeve, just as their thot deity did. We can't be safe until this place is destroyed forever."
"Is that what Pyrrha would want? What Cayde would want?"
"THEY'RE GONE!" Whale shouted. "Because they didn't have what it takes to deal with this scum! I do! And I'm not going to let them murder anyone else! All ships, target the cities assigned to you on your charts, then fan out from there until we cover the planet. Maximum firepower."
"Whale, you can't! The AAA Fleet is on its way to r/ArkosForever right now!"
"Then we'd better hurry!" Whale replied. He turned to his own crew. "Helmsman, take us above their capitol."
"Whale, please I-"
"Enough. Communications, jam his signal."
With that, the fleet moved over the planet, preparing to open fire.
In r/ArkosForever, the battle begins.
Melanie Antiqua's troop transport emerged from hyperspace, and the Anti-Arkos Alliance Starfleet was not far behind.
"Melanie Antiqua to Arkos, the good news is that I brought back your troops. The bad news is, the AAA fleet is larger than we anticipated."
"How many do they have?" Governor Wingnut asked.
"27 capital ships. 11 from Lancaster, 7 from White Knight, 5 from Milk & Cereal, 2 from Dragon Slayer, and one each from Knightshade and Silent Knight."
"This is bad," said Futtle Scish. "We only have 75 fighters here."
"And the anti-orbital defense cannons," said Wingnut.
"And the shields," said Gastly Taipan.
"See?" said Jenny Doombringer. "We can take 'em, no problem."
"At only 3 fighters per enemy capital ship?!" Futtle exclaimed. "Even with the other things, this doesn't look good."
"Then we'll just have to hold out the best we can until Whale and the others return," said Melanie. "Get ready, they'll be coming out of hyperspace any minute."
"Cannons are online," said Wingnut. "Even without the Starfleet, they're not touching this planet without a hell of a fight."
Moments later, the AAA Fleet emerged from hyperspace.
"Fighters, form up," GT ordered. "Defensive wall formation."
The 75 fighters were already in a rough sphere around the planet, then they moved to equidistant positions and became the nodes of a secondary shield.
"How long will it hold?" Melanie asked.
"We'll just have to see," Futtle replied.
The enemy fleet drew closer, then stopped.
"Greetings, Nation of Arkos," said a new voice over the radio. "This is Inquisitor Rade Blunner of White Knight. We do not wish to cause unnecessary bloodshed. However, Blue Whale King must face trial for his crimes. Deliver him to us, and we will leave the rest of you unscathed."
"This is Governor Wingnut of Arkos. Blue Whale King is not here. Please leave, or we will be forced to defend ourselves."
"How convenient," Rade replied. "Unfortunately, your nation's credibility is very low at the moment. If that is your answer, we will have no choice but to seize and search your planet."
"This is Captain Slip-Snap of White Knight. Give us the Whale or we'll tear you apart!"
"This is Admiral Venom Ahab of Lancaster. It is in your best interests to comply."
"And this is Gastly Taipan, Serpent of the Skies. Begone, or you'll taste of MY venom!"
"Kinky," Ahab replied.
"Enough," said another voice. "This is strategist Generic Usernaym of Lancaster. What is your answer?"
"I already gave you our answer," said Wingnut. "Blue Whale King is not here. Please depart, or you will suffer heavy losses."
"Maybe he's really not here," McDouggal of Milk & Cereal said to his allies.
"Nonsense," said Generic. "You can't trust Arkosians any farther than you could throw a whale. Time to attack."
"So be it," said Rade. "All ships, attack!"
The AAA fleet opened fire, and the Arkosian fighters and ground cannons followed suit. r/ArkosForever was ablaze with war.
At r/CinderDidNothingWrong
The Arkos Starfleet descended over the planet, aiming their weapons. But before they could fire, the ground fired first, striking and damaging several ships.
"They have ground cannons too?!" Captain NinJonic X exclaimed.
"That wasn't in Also A Pun's report," said Captain Believe Destiny.
"Must be part of their new preparations," Whale growled. "New priority: Move to a higher orbit, and take out those cannons!"
The cannons continued firing. "We're taking heavy damage," said Captain TvTrope SuperWiki. "We'll have toAAAAGGGGH-" the connection cut off as his ship exploded.
"TvTrope, NO!" shouted Captain Ace Luck.
"Ascend faster and take out those cannons!" Whale shouted.
"We'll have to fire through their shields," said Captain Storm Mann, as the fleet ascended. "That will be a lot more energy intensive."
"Better than losing more ships while we take out the shield generators," Whale said. "Now open fire on those cannons! We'll deal with the shields next."
The ground to orbit cannons were hitting the Arkosian ships far less and with less intensity now that they were in a higher orbit, but some shots still connected.
The Arkos Starfleet returned fire with a far more intense barrage, sending a constant stream of death rays, missiles, and antimatter. Most of it exploded against the shields, forming a bright layer of plasma and flames over the planet, but some got through to strike the ground.
Below, the citizens of r/CinderDidNothingWrong looked up in terror at the infernal light show as it cast an orange glow over their gloomy cities. The shots that got through shook the ground with explosions. Most of those missed, but one by one, the anti-orbital defense cannons fell into the molten craters around them and blossomed into bright mushrooms of flame on the dark planet.
"Aim the remaining cannons at their flagship," Laughing Fish ordered, as his throne room shook.
"On it," said the hologram of Ylissian Cordelia.
Up in space, Blue Whale King was in a good mood, despite the loss of one of his captains.
"All right, most of the cannons are gone," he said. "Now, those who aren't near one, start firing on the shield generators. We should have just enough ammo to finish the job after that."
Soon, the shield generators began falling as well, opening more and more sections of the planet to unlimited attack. But the few remaining cannons concentrated their fire on the Pyrrhic. A couple of the shots connected, flipping it on its side and removing the shields.
"What?!" Whale shouted, grabbing his chair to avoid falling over. Out the window, he saw Penguino's fighter squadron moving around the ship. Soon, the flagship began to right itself and move to a higher orbit.
"What's going on?" Whale asked.
"Penguino and his fighters are pushing us up," said a sensor technician.
"Communications, unjam Penguino's radio," Whale ordered.
"Thank you," Penguino said. "Now hurry, we must go home. Whale, I believe you can do the righ-"
The signal cut off as another large explosion rocked the ship from below, followed by the sound of airtight bulkheads slamming shut.
"Penguino, NOOOOO!" Whale cried. "All weapons, fire on that cannon now!"
"Admiral, we have a security breach to teleportation," said an officer.
"What the hell is it that could be more important than-"
Just then, Whale felt himself dematerializing, and congealing somewhere else.
He looked around, and found himself in a gigantic black room with shiny surfaces and a high vaulted ceiling, lit by torches. At the far end was a tall throne on a dias. In that throne, was a humanoid Great White Shark.
"Welcome, Blue Whale King," said Laughing Fish. He stood up and walked down, pulling a metal cylinder off his belt. "We have a lot to discuss."