CHAPTER 10

AN OLD FRIEND, A SHIP, A DESTINY

A stunned silence filled the room after Fina had finished.

My mind was slowly processing what she had said.

"So, what your trying to say," I said slowly, "is that the Procyon Armada have got their furry hands on…the Black Gigas?"

Fina nodded grimly, "This is a powerful Gigas, with enough power to rival that of Zelos."

"If that's the case lass," Silver commented, "Why don' we just go to this Arcadia place and get it?"

Fina shook her head, "I'm afraid we cannot retrieve Zelos, for it's was destroyed when Vyse, Aika and I saved Arcadia."

I looked sceptically at her, "I've seen a Black hole, there is no way nothing artificial can create that."

"It is clear you require more proof," Fina nodded her head.

She closed her eyes, her brow knitted in concentration.

All of a sudden there was a bright flash of white light, making every one shield their eyes.

When the light faded Amelia gasped in surprise.

Standing before us was a stasis Pod of sorts. It was at least a head and a half taller then I was, and about twice as wide as me.

Through it's clear front was a person I thought I would never see again.

"Is that?" Jim asked as he gazed hard into the glass pod, "Mr. Arrow?"

Fina nodded.

Sure enough, there stood Mr. Sylvester Arrow, a look of terror on his face.

"I managed to transport him out of the clutches of the Black Hole before it took his life," Fina explained as Amelia came up and touched the cold glass that separated her from her former First Officer, "When the Procyon Armada found Aidacra, they found it ready to fire, so they spent five years trying to figure out how to fire it, before testing it on Pelusa. Afterwards they discovered that the Corerillium had degraded over the four centuries the Black Gigas had been drifting in space. They needed to find a fresh supply. Earth was not only the best supply, but it also was close to the Empire without being in Empire space."

Turning to the Stasis pod, Fina quickly pressed a few buttons on it's side, causing the it to hum loudly.

In a blast of steam the door popped open, a terrifying scream filling the air as it did so.

We covered out ears to block out the noise as Arrow screamed as loud as his rocky lungs would allow. The was a sudden bump, followed by a crash that shook the floor we stood on.

I looked down at my feet in surprise.

There lay Mr. Arrow, the long-thought dead First Officer of the R.L.S Legacy.

I smiled down at him, clearly Fina had caught him while he was still falling, "Welcome back Mr. Arrow."

Arrow looked up at me in surprise, "Lieutenant? What happened? Is the ship safe? Is the Captain safe? What's going on?"

"Whoa, easy there sir," I knelt down beside my friend, "It's all o.k. You've been out a long time. We saved the Legacy, the Captain is safe, and we found Treasure Planet."

Arrow looked at me with confusion, "What to you mean we found Treasure Planet? We haven't got there yet! The last thing I remember was that blasted fellow Scroop cut my lifeline…"

He was suddenly caught off guard as Amelia suddenly pulled him into a tight hug, crying into his uniform.

"I thought I had lost you forever!" she sobbed, "You've been gone for so long,"

Fina smiled as she caught the confused looks on the astronaut's faces.

"My I introduce Mr. Sylvester Robert Arrow, aged three hundred and sixty five. Former First Officer of the R.L.S. Legacy. Supposedly died in the gravity of a Black Hole when his lifeline was cut."

"What do you mean former First Officer?" Arrow asked huffily as he stood up, Amelia still clinging on to him, "I am the First Officer of the Legacy."

"Mr. Arrow," I said hastily, "You've been gone for six years. I took your place as First Officer when I married Amelia."

"Ah, so you did have a soft spot for him!" Arrow said triumphantly.

"But now neither of us can do that job because…the Legacy, has been destroyed. I'm sorry sir."

Arrow regarded me with his tiny yellow eyes, before detaching his Captain from his neck and walking over to me, placing a heavy hand on my shoulder.

"Don't worry yourself Lad," he said with a smile, "I'm sure you did a grand job. If the Legacy is destroyed…well…I'd be honoured to serve under you on the next ship you and Amelia command."

I smiled up at him, "Thank you sir,"

I looked over at Fina, before detaching Arrow from my shoulder and walking up to her, shaking my head as I did so.

"This may prove the truth to Amelia and the rest, but if you what you say is true, then you still have to prove it to me."

Fina gave a sort of half smile, "You always did want the facts in black and white. Seeing the Silver Crystal has only recently been introduced, you do not know how to access the Visual Library, which would prove what I say. I will have to show you myself."

She turned to Amelia.

"Captain Amelia, I request your permission to show your husband the truth."

Amelia raised an eyebrow, "Why do you need my permission?"

Fina bit her lower lip, "It require…close contact."

Amelia's eyes dawned with realisation, before nodding.

Nodding back, Fina stood up close to me, practically toe to toe, sliding her arms around my neck.

As if I knew what to do, I slide my arms around her small waist, bringing her closer to me.

She peered up at me, her cheeks actually flushing red, before she pushed my fringe out of the way of my tattoo, before pressing her forehead to mine.

All I could see was her aquatic green eyes, and the funny feeling that our Q-shaped tattoos was glowing on our heads and shoulders.

We stared at each other for a few moments more, before she brought her lips to mine.

Suddenly everything vanished. The room, the people, everything, except for me, and Fina, who now stood next to me, her hand in mine.

We appeared to be floating in an everlasting room, only the ceiling and the floor we visible.

"Where are we?" I whispered, my voice echoing through the room.

"This is the Silvite Visual Library," Fina said back, "Here I will show you whatever proof you need."

The room suddenly seemed to stream away, replaced by the glistening Etherium, a nearby Red Super-giant nearby.

"That," Fina said, knowing I was looking at the star, "Is the Star Pelusa. That is the Legacy," she said, pointing to a small ship in the distance, "And that, is Aidacra, the Black Gigas."

Near to us she indicated to a large black, menacing looking sphere. If she hadn't pointed to it, I wouldn't have seen it, for it was almost camouflaged against the blackness of space.

The view changed again, this time to what appeared to be a Control Room. Inside, around a hundred Procyons rushed about pressing buttons and feeding a machine with a bright orange liquid. Near the machine stood a Procyon I had become quite familiar with, holding a star-shaped crystal the colour of soot in his hands.

Captain Leinad Noycorp.

"Finally," he whispered to himself, "After five years, we can finally test this weapon. This is just the beginning!"

"Captain Noycorp!" A soldier called as he poured in the last of the orange stuff, "We are ready to test the Machine. Sir, can I once again stress that after this we can't fire the weapon again until we find more Corerillium."

"Keep you pathetic excuses to yourself Elba!" Noycorp bellowed as he approached the machine, "We can find more Corerillium. I must see the destructive power the texts we found describe. With it, I could destroy the Terran scum, and maybe even, rule the Procyon Confederacy!"

"Of course," I sighed as the captain laughed like a maniac, "He always seemed like the betraying-your-own-government and-taking-over-the-universe kind of guy,"

"Oh great and magnificent Aidacra!" The Procyon Captain cried as he held the crystal over his head, "Help me to vanquish my foe. Use your beam of negativity to destroy this system! YOUR MASTER HAS SPOKEN!"
With that he slammed the crystal down into the top of the machine.

The view once again switched back to outside as the Black Gigas powered up, a circle of white, streaked with black, began to spin, around twelve spindly arms slowly unfurling like a deadly flower around of it. Suddenly, a bright beam shot out from Aidacra, it's greyish colour standing out against the dark, slamming into Pelusa with full force.

Slowly the Star began to darken slightly, before suddenly exploding. There was a sudden flash of light, then blackness.

I realised the reason it was dark was my eyes were closed. I couldn't tell, but I had the feeling I was back in the room, everyone staring at me, the pressure of Fina's lips on mine evident.

"Daniel, you dog," I heard Peter say, knowing he would have a bemused smile on his face, "Keep this up and you'll have a girl on every planet."

I opened my eyes slightly as she pulled back, a sad look on her face.

"Now you know," she whispered.

"Yes I do," I murmured back.

I smiled down at her for a moment, before turning to everyone.

"We have to destroy Aidacra," I said flatly, "it's power is too great."

"So that's it?" Jim gawped at me, "She kisses you, and you suddenly believe her?"

"She showed me the destruction," I said as I caught glance of Amelia, "She showed me how to access the Visual Library. I have seen the power of this…Gigas. But there's just one problem," I turned to Fina, "we don't have a ship capable of destroying something of that magnitude. The Legacy is in pieces and even if she wasn't I very much doubt she had anything we could use to take it on."
Fina shook her head, "You would not be able to take on Aidacra directly. You must take a different approach. You must fight fire with fire you must destroy the Terran Star.

"What!" Cried Peter, "You must be joking!"

"I am not joking Dr. Armstrong. To destroy the Gigas, you must fight like the Gigas. You must make the Terran Sun go supernova, and turn into a Black Hole. This will suck Aidacra in, destroying it, the Procyon Armada, and the Black Moon Crystal."

"But what about Earth?" Volenski pressed, "What about mankind?"

"The entire human civilisation was moved to the Moons of Laar, to harvest Solar Crystals. The animals of the planet all suffocated from the dust that was flung into the atmosphere when the Procyons started mining the planet for Corerillium."

"So…there's nothing left?" Volenski asked.

"No nothing."
As cold silence over shadowed the room before I spoke up.

"Well, we can't create Black Hole. You said it yourself, the Legacy wouldn't able to do that, even if it was in one piece."

Fina smiled, "The Legacy, no. But the Delphinus can."

"Wow," Peter breathed.

"Wow is right!" I continued.

Before us lay a ship that wouldn't have looked out of place in the British Navy.

She looked more streamlined then any sailing vessel from Earth or the Terran Fleet could get. Her bow was elegantly pointed, narrowing out gently to the stern. The hull seemed to curve slightly into a wave shape as well as two long dorsal fins protruding down from the stern to give it balance, stability, and speed. Settled below these were four powerful-looking engine, each easily the size of a small longboat at least. she was easily larger than then the Legacy, about five times larger. There appeared to be four cannons in total; two main cannons that spanned the front deck, and two, slightly smaller secondary cannons just below, port and starboard, enabling the ship to fire in any direction, except from behind. Near the secondary cannons were four even smaller cannons, which looked like they were supposed to be operated manually, and looked like the AA guns used during World War II. The bridge sat high above the deck, built into a tower that eventually led to the lookout post at the top. A wide observation deck led out from the bridge and swept over a few of the cannons, offering the captain a wide view of anything around him.
Unlike the Legacy, she wasn't painted much. For the most part she was left in her natural steely silver colour, though she was trimmed here and there in a royal purple, in a thick stripe along the hull and across the dragon motifs on the bridge and galley. In bold, gold letters along her side were the words H.M.S Delphinus.

"This is the H.M.S Delphinus," Fina explained as we boarded via a gangplank onto the Observation Deck, "The ship of the legendary King of Rogues, Captain Vyse Dyne."

"Captain wh…oft!" Mikhail began, only to be elbowed roughly in the ribs by Walden.

"No it is alright," Fina smiled as she opened a large airlock-like door, "It is understandable you would not know who Vyse was, even though I have explained about him. Vyse was known as the King of Rogues, that is to say, the most famous, and infamous Air Pirate in Arcadia's history."

"That's pretty famous," mused Jim to himself.

"The Delphinus has undergone many a upgrade since I have been in this planet, and indeed, even before that," Fina explain as we headed down a brightly lit corridor, "I upgraded the engines, so she could fly at great velocities, as well as through deep space. The ship can now act exactly like the Legacy, so you can use the Observation Deck and Lookout Post while travelling the Etherium. The Ship is powered by the Six Crystals, so you have an unlimited power supply. I even carpeted and added proper walls over the pipes, allowing access ports of course, for maintenance, as well as an elevator that runs through the entire ship. The weapons have been reconfigured as well. Originally, they only fired explosive ammunition, similar to the ones on your planet back home, but I reconfigured them to fire blasts of pure energy instead."

By this time we had reached the elevator and were heading up to the Bridge.

"Also, the cannons energy source has been reconfigured to be powered by moon crystals.

The Yellow and Purple Moon Crystals power the main forward batteries. You can use either use the Yellow Crystal to destroy, or the Purple Crystal to disable. The same goes for the secondary batteries, only red is for destroy, and blue is for stun. The Green Crystal will create a powerful shield for the ship, making it immune to the Procyon Armada's weapons."

"Well, what do you know?" Peter muttered quietly, "A ship with a stun setting."

I smiled before turning to Fina, "What about the Silver Crystal? Does that have any part of this?"

Fina looked up at me gravely, "That Crystal," she said quietly as the lift slowed down, "feeds the most powerful weapon on ship, and the weapon that will spell the end of the Black Gigas."

I threw a questioning glance at Amelia as the doors opened and we followed the Silvite out onto the bridge.

The Bridge itself was large and roomy, and was decorated in a fashion that reminded me of the Legacy's Stateroom.

The walls were pure white in colour, lined with gold trimmings along the ceiling and floor.

Left right and centre, slightly elevated above a small portion of floor in front of it were three large consoles, the one on the right and left had two small chairs, while the one up front and centre had just one.

The consoles beeped softly to themselves, their consoles lit up with different schematics, targets and nav maps on what appeared to be advanced touch pads, depending on which console it was.

The one on the left seemed to be a engineering and weapons console, the one on the right appeared to be Navigation and science, and the one at the front was obviously the Helm.

Slightly elevated, backed against centre of the back wall, was a large chair.

The Captain's Chair.

It seemed to be squared off slightly, firmly embedded in the floor. It was mostly iron grey, safe for the black cushioning and arm rests, the right of which appeared to have some sort of screen in it.

"Why do I suddenly feel like I've walked onto the Enterprise?" Peter asked as we all gazed round the Bridge in awe.

"Since her time on Arcadia, as I said before, The Delphinus has been enhanced in and out with Silvite technology," Fina explained as I eyed the Command Chair, "The systems have been upgraded with what you would call touch-screen technology, only more advanced. The Helm has been upgraded from a wheel type mechanism, for example, to make way for three simple movement touch pads: one for speed, one for turning, and one for increasing the pitch

"Say what?" asked Jim.

"It means it makes the ship go up or down bolts for brains," Peter said with a smirk.

"This is truly an amazing ship," Arrow commented as he looked through the main window at the front of the bridge, "But when you described the weapon and shielding capabilities, you only told us of five of the crystals that powered them. You said you integrated all the crystals into the ship. Where is the Silver Crystal?"

Fina smiled gravely.

"It powers the Moonstone Cannon," she said in barely a whisper.

"The Moonstone Cannon?" Jenny asked with a smirk, "Now that rolls off your tongue nicely doesn't it?"

Fina looked down in dismay as I threw Jenny a dirty look, "I thought you might say that," she said quietly, "people who had seen it's destructive power gave it the nickname of the Legacy Cannon."

"Must be pretty powerful to get it's own nickname," mused Susan.

Fina nodded darkly, "Originally the Legacy Cannon was powered by a Red Moonstone the size of Mr. Arrow. It had the same power as two of the most powerful Gigas on Arcadia, but now, even Zelos' would be put to shame.

You see, ever since I found out about the Prophecy Document, I have been constantly upgrading the entire ship, but the Moonstone Cannon especially. You see, before the Cannon was able to destroy a small floating island, roughly the size of Earth's Isle of Wight, but now, a single blast would totally obliterate the Earth itself."

"And withstand the heat of a star for enough time to make it go Supernova," Amelia finished, as though reading her mind.

Fina nodded, "Exactly. It is for this reason alone I have programmed the Legacy Cannon to only be activated, targeted, and fired by the Captain, and the Captain alone."

"But that would mean it would only be able to be fired by this Vyse guy," Silver pointed out, "And if what you say is true lass, He's been dead for the past…" he counted it off on his cybernetic fingers, "One hundred years at least!"

Fina smiled at the old Cyborg, "Which is why you must decide on a new Captain for the Delphinus. Once the Ship recognises you. He…or she, will be bonded to her until the day he, or she, dies," she glanced over at me with a smile, "If he dies at all that is."

"I'll do it!" Cried Peter as he jumped up and promptly sat in the Command Chair, "All engines to full. WARP SPEED!"

"Star Trek fanatic?" I whispered to Jenny.

"Star Trek fanatic," Jenny sighed as she ran a hand through her hair, shaking her head with embarrassment.

"I think Captain Amelia should take command once more," Arrow said gruffly, "She is the Captain after all, with Mr. Dearing as her First Officer of course."

Amelia smiled up at her rocky companion, "Thank you for your words Mr. Arrow," she said, shaking her head sadly, "But must decline."

Arrow looked down with worry, "But why Ma'am?"

"Because the Legacy was my life, aside from my ever loving husband and our children. She was like a fifth child. I made sure people looked after her, she was always in tip top shape. But now…" she paused as she looked at the wreckage of her ship, the one she loved so much, out of the front window, laying on its side, "Now she lays there, against that rock, broken in two. I don't think I could ever command another ship like her, least her memory fade into the wood work as it were."

She turned to me, a loving smile on her face, "I believe my First Officer would be a better commanding officer of this ship. I will follow where he leads, like a wife should."

I smiled at her, but Jenny had other plans.

"Well, why don't we vote? Daniel, the Captain…or Peter?"

"Sounds fair," Volenski said with a smile, "But why Peter?"

Jenny shrugged as Peter came down from the Captain's Chair, "He's just eager. Alright people say who you want to command this hunk of hardware…now."

"Daniel," Fina said meekly.

"Daniel," Amelia said.

"Mr. Dearing," Arrow commented.

"Dan," Jim continued.

"Daniel," Mikhail said quietly.

"Commander Dearing," Susan grinned.

Danny-boy," Silver boomed.

"Danny-boy! Danny-boy!" Morph squeaked as he turned into a Mini me and started dancing like a loony round Silver's head.

"Daniel," Jenny added with a gentle smile.

"Me…OWWW!" Peter yelped as Jenny elbowed him in the ribs, before crossing his arms and sulking, "Oh alright, Daniel."

"The vote is unanimous," Jenny said with a smile, "I guess you're the new Captain."

My eyes widened, "Don't I have a say in this?"

"We're all agreed Danny-boy," Silver said with a grin, "We all think that your perfect for da job. Might as well take it."
I looked uncomfortably around, "I'm not sure I'm up to this…" I began.

"Oh Tish tosh," Amelia said as she lay a hand on my shoulder, "You captained the Legacy on numerous occasions since the Children were born."

"Yeah but that was simple stuff. You know, get Senator A to Spaceport B., or deliver Cargo C. to destination D. and so on. Saving the Universe is a big thing."

"You can do it," Jenny whispered.

"We know you can," Fina added.

I sighed and looked at the large, grey chair.

"Well…I guess I could give it a try."

Fina smiled as the rest of the group cheered, aside from Amelia, who only smiled and squeezed my shoulder.

"Then it is agreed. Please sit and the Computer will recognise you."

She beckoned to the Chair, with an encouraging smile.

I gave a small smile back, before settling down into the chair and placing my hand on the black screen.

"Captain Identity not recognised," Fina's cool, calm voice rang out from the speakers, "Please state your full name, Rank and authorization code."

I shot Fina a questioning glance as she shrugged guiltily.

"I didn't know who's voice to use, I've been the only one on this planet for years."

Smiling I called out to the computer. "Daniel Kennedy Dearing. Captain. Authorization Code:" I paused. What was my Authorization code?

I glanced at Fina who mouthed, "Make it up."

Nodding I continued.

"Authorization Code: Dearing Alpha One."

Authorization confirmed: Dearing, Daniel K.

Rank Captain.

Authorization Code: Dearing Alpha One.

Please create Authorization Code for Moonstone Cannon."

"Stand by,"

The Computer beeped in response.

"Well, what now?"

"You must create a new code for the Legacy Cannon. It knows what the Cannons nick name is if you would rather use that then the original. When you want to activate it, call out "Stand by Legacy Cannon: Authorization Code: what ever you want it to be, then call fire."

I nodded.

"Computer, resume."

"Please create Authorization Code for Moonstone Cannon."

"Authorization Code: Dearing Beta Two."

"Authorization Code, confirmed. Stand by to finish details.

Name: Daniel Kennedy Dearing.

Rank: Captain.

Authorization Code: Dearing Alpha One.

Moonstone Cannon Authorization Code: Dearing Beta Two.

Are these stats confirmed?"

"Correct,"

The Computer beeped for a moment, compiling the data.

"Details confirmed. CAPTAIN ON DECK!"

The last part made everyone jump to attention.

I smiled as I settled back into my chair, "Now that I could get used too."

"This has been a tiring day for all of you," Fina said at last, "I suggest you all get some sleep. Tomorrow, Destiny will be at hand, for Daniel, and for us all."

I just thought i'd add a side note about Aidacra here, cos i think i didn't describe it well.

Basically, it looks like a Borg Sphere from Star trek (at least that's what i based it on) About the same size as our moon. the gigas lasers arms are deployed similiarly to Star Wars' Trade Federation ships legs(you know, the funny sphere things from Episode II) with the laser itself fired from a disk in the centre on its equator.

Ihope that's a better description, and now, back to our regular sceduled programming.

Dearing