Britz-Pfft, and you guys thought I couldn't do any worse than a two month slump, probably even thought I was lying eventually about Moonbeam not being dead, he was just resting... Sleeping.. Hibernating... for eight months. I don't usually do this but I want to thank Hell-Flame-Narf, something about his foolish, foolish loyalty to me has inspired something, and Moonbeam rises from the dead once again.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
"Alright boys an' girls, I think we need to get out of the house, make ourselves known." Moonbeam told the posse members collected around the cockpit, they agreed with various grunts and noises of approval.
"We don't know enough, we got our book learning down, but now we got to listen to a voice of experience, a man in the know, Mace, give us something buddy."
Mace, who had now been an official posse member for going on two standard days looked about in surprise, he had been using the time constructively to make a paper airplane with long, careful strokes, "Aw shit, I didn't know this job came with pop quizzes" The other members groaned.
"Come on, you want to fry some Yeerks, we want to fry some Yeerks, well.. Fry something anyway." Moonbeam said. "...Actually anything would be nice right now."
Mace finished his airplane with slow deliberation, picked it up and looked at it, "Alright, I got an idea."
Minutes later they were standing at the door of the navigation room, "So what's this big plan?" Taz grunted.
"I saw this in a movie once." Mace replied, then to the computer he spoke clearly "Computer, display star map of Yeerk controlled space."
Instantly the room bloomed with hundreds of tiny stars, some with little pinpoint planets, no bigger than a full stop, slowly rotating around them, others without, it was like gazing in on a minute universe.
"Computer, analyse flight of this object through the room until I say stop." Mace said, he handed the paper plane to Moonbeam, "You want to do the honours?"
Moonbeam took the plane and tossed it lightly through the room, it floated through the air, swirling around entire star systems, "Stop." Mace said a moment before the plane did a final swoop and fell to the ground.
"Computer, when I said stop, the plane was closest to which system?"
"Object closest to Pentasera system, Empire controlled, only inhabitable planet Gervasid and Sstram home world of Pentasera..."
"Alright, withdraw star map." He turned to Moonbeam and the posse "Bada bing, Pentasera, good a place as any."
"Just like that huh?" Dave asked.
"Just like that." Mace replied.
Chapter Thirty
"Navigation?" Moonbeam called.
"Check."
"Weapon systems?"
"Locked and loaded Dave."
"Tunes?"
'Stone Cold Crazy' by Metallica ripped through the ship's sound system "Checkin'." Rasped Roach.
"Alright ramblers, let's get ramblin'."
The Blade Ship hummed majestically off the ground under Moonbeam's touch, and after a moments consideration veered wildly to the right, scraping the wing painfully against the side of another, rather exotic ship.
"Ahh, nothing a little buffing won't get out." He told them as they drifted away and sparks ceased to fill the side view screens, the posse exchanged worried looks.
The Phoenix picked up speed as it exited the landing bay and arched skywards, once out of the atmosphere Dave let the autopilot take over and the ship burst through to pure white, he still found that incredible looking, vast expanse of jack shit, after a moment of taking it in he zoomed over the flickering navigation screen.
"Alright people, we're detouring through some pretty dicey areas, I want three at the helm at a time, Mace, Siggs, Roach, you pull first shift, I'll be counting sheep if you need me."
"Alright boss." Roach replied and turned Metallica down slightly from its dull roar, Moonbeam, Rach and Taz walked from the room.
Taz made for the newly transformed weight room, Rach lingered a moment "You alright Dave? You've been sleeping an awful lot these last few days."
Moonbeam smiled at her "Just catching up with an old friend." He laughed uproariously and left Rachel bewildered in the hallway.
Chapter Thirty-One
"First time huh?" Mace mused over Siggs' question, "Course I remember it, sixteen, shitty party, friend of a friend kegger, would've been the worst I've ever been to if I hadn't gotten laid, I was fucked on the drink, she was more fucked on drugs, our eyes meet across the room and five finas later I was banging her Harrat style over the bathroom sink."
"That's a beautiful story Mace, how was it?" Roach asked.
"Oh I was great, right up until I passed out, hit my head on the bathtub and woke up the next morning in a pool of my own vomit." The other two roared laughter, "Yeah yeah, laugh it up, happy times then."
A buzz alerted them to the fact they were entering normal space and they watched as the vestiges of white melted to a view of an asteroid field mere parsecs away, Roach shook out a Marlboro from Siggs pack, "Not to many more jumps now."
Mace turned back to the two humans, "Alright then, your first time, fire away."
Siggs gestured for Roach to go ahead and he sighed. "Alright, I was fifth teen, she was twenty two, we worked out at the same gym in a nicer part of Utopia then I could've paid for, she was short, brunette, very hot, we flirted for a coupla weeks, had it off in the gym bathroom, she turned out to be an absolute man-eater."
"How was it?" Mace sniggered.
"So fuckin' good the whole Lamaze class upstairs were smoking."
Siggs roared throaty laughter, Mace looked confused but got the gist and grinned his mouthful of pearly whites.
Outside the autopilot guided The Phoenix effortlessly around the asteroid field, the Yeerk controlled asteroid field with a relentless mining operation at its heart, it's blatant flight collecting unwanted attention.
Two stealth Bugfighters on guard duty rounds turned their attention to the unscheduled Blade ship.
"Sssshould I contact them ssssir?" Onotic 7084 hissed at his commanding officer Norbac.
Norbac 5532 was no fool, His Hork-Bajir eyes were cold and calculating as he watched the undisguised flight of this intruder on his usually quiet rounds. "No, hit them with scanners, maintain radio silence." Onotic punched in some buttons and watched his screen.
In the bridge a buzz came from the sensors, Roach Siggs and Mace stared at it. "What's that buzzing noise?" Siggs asked.
"Probably we're gonna be jumpin' again soon." Roach answered.
"Probably." Mace agreed, "Alright little girl, no stalling, first time, lay it on us."
"Shit sugah, I don't stall." Siggs replied but seemed uncharacteristically slow to speak, "Son of a preacher man was my first, he was seventeen, I was, twelve."
"Twelve!" Roach exclaimed.
"Yeah twelve goddamnit, I was very well developed for my age." Siggs argued.
"Twelve year old southern-girl fucking the local priest's son." Roach nodded, "Your mother must've been so proud."
"Shit darlin', who do ya think was doin' the preacher in the next room?"
After a moment of careful watching Onotic hissed in shock and turned to Norbac, red jelly eyes bulging "The Ssss, the ssss-ssship, it'sssss, thosssse humansss, the human rebelsssss."
Norbac looked at the panicking Yeerk in disgust and remaining emotionless punched the com button "Minedefense 12, this is Minedefense 11, we have the ship in our sights, we believe it to be those rebels from the Earth system that's got the Emperor tied in knots, back us up in attack, we're moving in."
"So how was it?" Mace managed to ask between snarls of laughter, tears rolling through the fur of his cheeks.
If Roach didn't know her better he'd have sworn Siggs was embarrassed by this point, "Terrible, over in a coupla heavin' sweaty minutes, shit was almost boring, don't believe all ya hear on the playground 'bout black fellas." Her seeming indignation sent the other two in fresh peals.
They were still laughing when the first blast rocked the ship and the sensor station began blaring incessantly, "Whoa, what the fuck was that?" Roach yelled. "Asteroid?"
"That didn't feel like no asteroid to me." Mace said slowly. The three leapt to their stations.
"Oh shit darlin's, we got two Bugs comin' in real quick-like from the as'roid field." Called Siggs.
"Shields up!" Mace yelled. Outside the fast moving fighters encircled The Phoenix, lancing beams of light fiercely attacked the wavering shields.
"Come on, come on, come on.." Roach muttered, staring at his screen, "Alright, I got lock, firing torpedo." A deadly ball of blue-white light roared from the front of the ship and blazed towards one of the fighters, slamming it's shields into oblivion and sending it into a dangerous tailspin through the outskirts of the asteroid field, Roach let loose with a barrage of Dracon beams as the fighter attempted to right itself, sending the Yeerks ploughing into a meteor, a collision that ruptured their ship completely, blowing it into a million sparkling pieces.
"Nice shootin' sugah." Called Siggs as she stared down her scopes, "But this one's mine." She let loose with a vicious flurry of laser fire that cut around the remaining fighter and churned several asteroids to dust.
Taz came racing onboard, pulling a robe around his shoulders "What the fucks going on?" He yelled over the battle noise.
"Aww shit Taz nothing to worry bout, just a little local trouble." Roach yelled back, "Don't tell me we short-circuited your electronic rendezvous."
"As a matter of fact you.." Taz was interrupted as the ship shook with fresh blasts.
"Figured as much." Mace told him, "That robe closes for a reason you know."
"Will you boys shut yer pie holes so I can get down ta business?" Siggs growled. She fired a torpedo, it ducked the fighter's failing shields and ripped an entire side off the ship, the flaming wreckage arched off into the asteroid rubble.
"Shit I'm bad." Siggs declared, she pulled out a Marlboro and lit in with an unwavering hand, Roach conceded several short sharp claps in her honour.
Mace breathed deeply and let it out in one long gust, "Computer, continue with preplanned Z-space trajectory." The autopilot flared and took over once again.
Moonbeam rushed into the bridge with Rachel in close pursuit "What's going on up here? We under attack or sumthin?"
"Not anymore."
"Alright, I'm going back to bed."
Chapter Thirty-Two
Visser 27's flagship The Judicator hung above the planet Pentasera, his fleet spread out below him. The Visser sat at the bridge, scuffed boot heels on the console in front of him and prayed to whatever gods might be out there for news of Moonbeam and his posse, he was not a patient Yeerk and more inclined to action than thought.
Admiral Pietta raced to his side and saluted, he looked positively flustered, scared almost, but it must have been good news, the Admiral always delivered the best news personally and left the bad up to his inferiors, a cowardly but perhaps intelligent in an army where 'don't kill the messenger' wasn't a sentiment often expressed by Vissers.
"My Visser, we have received word that the human rebels have attacked an asteroid mining colony mere sectors away from here."
Visser 27 leapt into action, "Set course immediately."
"But sir, at this point reports are sketchy, we.."
"Saddle up, and lets ride, Admiral." The Visser growled
The Admiral barely grasped the human sentiment, "Right away sir."
The departing signal and cords spread throughout the fleet and they fired up their engines, by the masses the legions of ships fired off into Z-space, leaving behind only the planets minimum surface guard.
Before the ship's afterimage had even faded a solitary ship ploughed through into the quiet sailing left behind, Moonbeam and his posse stood ready at the bridge.
"See, nothing to worry about." Dave remarked, "And you guys were worried we'd run into a fleet or something, have a little faith."
To Be Continued
Britz-Y'know I don't want to point fingers to save my own ass but Quill has kept us waiting just as long and he's far more popular than my little piece.
(Yeah Quill let's get Quill.)
(Totally should give this chapter a good review first and stick it to that guy.)
Would also like to mention those of you who have started to read this seemingly new fic you've never seen before that already has 12 chapters that you've picked a good time, I swear to be more dilligent in writing if anybody's still out there to care and I think with this next wacky adventure Moonbeam's War is FINALLY getting some punch to it.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
"Alright boys an' girls, I think we need to get out of the house, make ourselves known." Moonbeam told the posse members collected around the cockpit, they agreed with various grunts and noises of approval.
"We don't know enough, we got our book learning down, but now we got to listen to a voice of experience, a man in the know, Mace, give us something buddy."
Mace, who had now been an official posse member for going on two standard days looked about in surprise, he had been using the time constructively to make a paper airplane with long, careful strokes, "Aw shit, I didn't know this job came with pop quizzes" The other members groaned.
"Come on, you want to fry some Yeerks, we want to fry some Yeerks, well.. Fry something anyway." Moonbeam said. "...Actually anything would be nice right now."
Mace finished his airplane with slow deliberation, picked it up and looked at it, "Alright, I got an idea."
Minutes later they were standing at the door of the navigation room, "So what's this big plan?" Taz grunted.
"I saw this in a movie once." Mace replied, then to the computer he spoke clearly "Computer, display star map of Yeerk controlled space."
Instantly the room bloomed with hundreds of tiny stars, some with little pinpoint planets, no bigger than a full stop, slowly rotating around them, others without, it was like gazing in on a minute universe.
"Computer, analyse flight of this object through the room until I say stop." Mace said, he handed the paper plane to Moonbeam, "You want to do the honours?"
Moonbeam took the plane and tossed it lightly through the room, it floated through the air, swirling around entire star systems, "Stop." Mace said a moment before the plane did a final swoop and fell to the ground.
"Computer, when I said stop, the plane was closest to which system?"
"Object closest to Pentasera system, Empire controlled, only inhabitable planet Gervasid and Sstram home world of Pentasera..."
"Alright, withdraw star map." He turned to Moonbeam and the posse "Bada bing, Pentasera, good a place as any."
"Just like that huh?" Dave asked.
"Just like that." Mace replied.
Chapter Thirty
"Navigation?" Moonbeam called.
"Check."
"Weapon systems?"
"Locked and loaded Dave."
"Tunes?"
'Stone Cold Crazy' by Metallica ripped through the ship's sound system "Checkin'." Rasped Roach.
"Alright ramblers, let's get ramblin'."
The Blade Ship hummed majestically off the ground under Moonbeam's touch, and after a moments consideration veered wildly to the right, scraping the wing painfully against the side of another, rather exotic ship.
"Ahh, nothing a little buffing won't get out." He told them as they drifted away and sparks ceased to fill the side view screens, the posse exchanged worried looks.
The Phoenix picked up speed as it exited the landing bay and arched skywards, once out of the atmosphere Dave let the autopilot take over and the ship burst through to pure white, he still found that incredible looking, vast expanse of jack shit, after a moment of taking it in he zoomed over the flickering navigation screen.
"Alright people, we're detouring through some pretty dicey areas, I want three at the helm at a time, Mace, Siggs, Roach, you pull first shift, I'll be counting sheep if you need me."
"Alright boss." Roach replied and turned Metallica down slightly from its dull roar, Moonbeam, Rach and Taz walked from the room.
Taz made for the newly transformed weight room, Rach lingered a moment "You alright Dave? You've been sleeping an awful lot these last few days."
Moonbeam smiled at her "Just catching up with an old friend." He laughed uproariously and left Rachel bewildered in the hallway.
Chapter Thirty-One
"First time huh?" Mace mused over Siggs' question, "Course I remember it, sixteen, shitty party, friend of a friend kegger, would've been the worst I've ever been to if I hadn't gotten laid, I was fucked on the drink, she was more fucked on drugs, our eyes meet across the room and five finas later I was banging her Harrat style over the bathroom sink."
"That's a beautiful story Mace, how was it?" Roach asked.
"Oh I was great, right up until I passed out, hit my head on the bathtub and woke up the next morning in a pool of my own vomit." The other two roared laughter, "Yeah yeah, laugh it up, happy times then."
A buzz alerted them to the fact they were entering normal space and they watched as the vestiges of white melted to a view of an asteroid field mere parsecs away, Roach shook out a Marlboro from Siggs pack, "Not to many more jumps now."
Mace turned back to the two humans, "Alright then, your first time, fire away."
Siggs gestured for Roach to go ahead and he sighed. "Alright, I was fifth teen, she was twenty two, we worked out at the same gym in a nicer part of Utopia then I could've paid for, she was short, brunette, very hot, we flirted for a coupla weeks, had it off in the gym bathroom, she turned out to be an absolute man-eater."
"How was it?" Mace sniggered.
"So fuckin' good the whole Lamaze class upstairs were smoking."
Siggs roared throaty laughter, Mace looked confused but got the gist and grinned his mouthful of pearly whites.
Outside the autopilot guided The Phoenix effortlessly around the asteroid field, the Yeerk controlled asteroid field with a relentless mining operation at its heart, it's blatant flight collecting unwanted attention.
Two stealth Bugfighters on guard duty rounds turned their attention to the unscheduled Blade ship.
"Sssshould I contact them ssssir?" Onotic 7084 hissed at his commanding officer Norbac.
Norbac 5532 was no fool, His Hork-Bajir eyes were cold and calculating as he watched the undisguised flight of this intruder on his usually quiet rounds. "No, hit them with scanners, maintain radio silence." Onotic punched in some buttons and watched his screen.
In the bridge a buzz came from the sensors, Roach Siggs and Mace stared at it. "What's that buzzing noise?" Siggs asked.
"Probably we're gonna be jumpin' again soon." Roach answered.
"Probably." Mace agreed, "Alright little girl, no stalling, first time, lay it on us."
"Shit sugah, I don't stall." Siggs replied but seemed uncharacteristically slow to speak, "Son of a preacher man was my first, he was seventeen, I was, twelve."
"Twelve!" Roach exclaimed.
"Yeah twelve goddamnit, I was very well developed for my age." Siggs argued.
"Twelve year old southern-girl fucking the local priest's son." Roach nodded, "Your mother must've been so proud."
"Shit darlin', who do ya think was doin' the preacher in the next room?"
After a moment of careful watching Onotic hissed in shock and turned to Norbac, red jelly eyes bulging "The Ssss, the ssss-ssship, it'sssss, thosssse humansss, the human rebelsssss."
Norbac looked at the panicking Yeerk in disgust and remaining emotionless punched the com button "Minedefense 12, this is Minedefense 11, we have the ship in our sights, we believe it to be those rebels from the Earth system that's got the Emperor tied in knots, back us up in attack, we're moving in."
"So how was it?" Mace managed to ask between snarls of laughter, tears rolling through the fur of his cheeks.
If Roach didn't know her better he'd have sworn Siggs was embarrassed by this point, "Terrible, over in a coupla heavin' sweaty minutes, shit was almost boring, don't believe all ya hear on the playground 'bout black fellas." Her seeming indignation sent the other two in fresh peals.
They were still laughing when the first blast rocked the ship and the sensor station began blaring incessantly, "Whoa, what the fuck was that?" Roach yelled. "Asteroid?"
"That didn't feel like no asteroid to me." Mace said slowly. The three leapt to their stations.
"Oh shit darlin's, we got two Bugs comin' in real quick-like from the as'roid field." Called Siggs.
"Shields up!" Mace yelled. Outside the fast moving fighters encircled The Phoenix, lancing beams of light fiercely attacked the wavering shields.
"Come on, come on, come on.." Roach muttered, staring at his screen, "Alright, I got lock, firing torpedo." A deadly ball of blue-white light roared from the front of the ship and blazed towards one of the fighters, slamming it's shields into oblivion and sending it into a dangerous tailspin through the outskirts of the asteroid field, Roach let loose with a barrage of Dracon beams as the fighter attempted to right itself, sending the Yeerks ploughing into a meteor, a collision that ruptured their ship completely, blowing it into a million sparkling pieces.
"Nice shootin' sugah." Called Siggs as she stared down her scopes, "But this one's mine." She let loose with a vicious flurry of laser fire that cut around the remaining fighter and churned several asteroids to dust.
Taz came racing onboard, pulling a robe around his shoulders "What the fucks going on?" He yelled over the battle noise.
"Aww shit Taz nothing to worry bout, just a little local trouble." Roach yelled back, "Don't tell me we short-circuited your electronic rendezvous."
"As a matter of fact you.." Taz was interrupted as the ship shook with fresh blasts.
"Figured as much." Mace told him, "That robe closes for a reason you know."
"Will you boys shut yer pie holes so I can get down ta business?" Siggs growled. She fired a torpedo, it ducked the fighter's failing shields and ripped an entire side off the ship, the flaming wreckage arched off into the asteroid rubble.
"Shit I'm bad." Siggs declared, she pulled out a Marlboro and lit in with an unwavering hand, Roach conceded several short sharp claps in her honour.
Mace breathed deeply and let it out in one long gust, "Computer, continue with preplanned Z-space trajectory." The autopilot flared and took over once again.
Moonbeam rushed into the bridge with Rachel in close pursuit "What's going on up here? We under attack or sumthin?"
"Not anymore."
"Alright, I'm going back to bed."
Chapter Thirty-Two
Visser 27's flagship The Judicator hung above the planet Pentasera, his fleet spread out below him. The Visser sat at the bridge, scuffed boot heels on the console in front of him and prayed to whatever gods might be out there for news of Moonbeam and his posse, he was not a patient Yeerk and more inclined to action than thought.
Admiral Pietta raced to his side and saluted, he looked positively flustered, scared almost, but it must have been good news, the Admiral always delivered the best news personally and left the bad up to his inferiors, a cowardly but perhaps intelligent in an army where 'don't kill the messenger' wasn't a sentiment often expressed by Vissers.
"My Visser, we have received word that the human rebels have attacked an asteroid mining colony mere sectors away from here."
Visser 27 leapt into action, "Set course immediately."
"But sir, at this point reports are sketchy, we.."
"Saddle up, and lets ride, Admiral." The Visser growled
The Admiral barely grasped the human sentiment, "Right away sir."
The departing signal and cords spread throughout the fleet and they fired up their engines, by the masses the legions of ships fired off into Z-space, leaving behind only the planets minimum surface guard.
Before the ship's afterimage had even faded a solitary ship ploughed through into the quiet sailing left behind, Moonbeam and his posse stood ready at the bridge.
"See, nothing to worry about." Dave remarked, "And you guys were worried we'd run into a fleet or something, have a little faith."
To Be Continued
Britz-Y'know I don't want to point fingers to save my own ass but Quill has kept us waiting just as long and he's far more popular than my little piece.
(Yeah Quill let's get Quill.)
(Totally should give this chapter a good review first and stick it to that guy.)
Would also like to mention those of you who have started to read this seemingly new fic you've never seen before that already has 12 chapters that you've picked a good time, I swear to be more dilligent in writing if anybody's still out there to care and I think with this next wacky adventure Moonbeam's War is FINALLY getting some punch to it.