Tennokiken Voyagers: Three

They all almost ran out onto the Venture's bridge, except for their captain Kelly Miles. She calmly took her central seat, the green eyes blonde watching the others return to their stations as she assessed the situation.

"Good luck," Ai wished Dan softly as she let Rio take her seat.

"Thanks," Dan blushed, the brown haired young man going over his control panel as Eiko left. Both young women left the bridge along with the other secondary officers even as the alarm for battlestations sounded.

"Jesse," Kelly said calmly to the ships engineer, "ready the engines for re-entry to normal space. I want the conventional drives back on-line as soon as possible."

The blonde nodded, going over her controls. "You'll have them, Kelly," Jesse Kain said firmly, "and as much power as I can squeeze from the Venture's drives."

"Thanks," Kelly gave her a smile. She looked forward to the navigation and tactical stations, "Dan, Rio?" Both looked up at her and she said, "We don't know what's going to happen when we emerge into normal space, act with your own discretion."

"Right," Rio agreed.

"Yes, Ma'am," Dan gulped, hands resting on his controls, trying not to feel so nervous.

"Lucille," Kelly looked back towards the light brown haired woman on communications, "try to get a signal from the other ship's transponders as we re-enter normal space. It might help us to better identify our friends and foes."

"I'll pulse fire the communications array as we emerge," Lucille nodded. All starships had transponders that were hardwired into the hulls, ones that in theory couldn't be tampered with. Still, Lucille wasn't holding her breath.

"We're approaching the corresponding point for the gravimetric distortions," Rio reported, using the advanced sensors tied to the tactical station.

"Cue reenter to normal space," Kelly said calmly, "in five."

"Five.. four.." Jessie counted down as she began the process of reconfiguring the drives, "three.. two.." There was a subtle rumble, the ship shifting.

"One!" Dan had his hands on the control surfaces as the stars reappeared outside the ship. He saw the incoming missile almost as soon as Kelly barked an order, turning the Venture ninety degrees and kicking the drives into gear.

In the distance lights flared as a battle was fought against the dark backdrop of space. Three freighters, not well armed, exchanged fire with two vessels that were clearly once military, and by the look of them only recently retired. Their shields easily warded off the light fire of the freighters, but another ship was causing them some trouble.

"What the hell is that?" Rio spoke aloud the question that was in everyone's mind even as she prepared firing solutions on her control panel.

It looked like several ships had been salvaged, pieces extracted and used to assemble the odd looking ship on the screen. An angular, blocky front, a curved, rounded middle, what looked like a bridge module attached to the base of the craft, and an oversized engineering section wielded to the back. And painted on the side, a white skull and crossbones on black field.

"I'm getting transponder signals back," Lucille reported, "the freighters are 'Lucky Bell,' 'Angel's hope' and 'No Deficit,' I'm not getting anything from the ex-militaries and the other ship is 'The Revenge.' She's tagged as a privateer."

"Privateer?" Kelly murmured.

"Firing," Rio launched the first salvo of sublight missiles, directing them towards the two attackers. "Should I fire on the Revenge?"

"No," Kelly leaned forward in her seat, studying the situation on the screen intently, "bring us in supporting the Revenge."

"Right," Dan brought the Venture down at maximum speed, the slim vessel sliding through streams of enemy fire. The larger military vessels began to move away from the freighters, clearly not liking these odds.

"Battlecruisers," Rio growled out, "how the hell did raiders get battlecruisers?"

"Jesse," Dan worked his controls, "can we get any more from the drives? They're going to jump before we can reach them."

"Sorry," Jessie frowned, "we're already at .95 lightspeed, and the drives are redlining."

There was a flash of light and the two vessels were gone, disappearing into the safety of hyperspace, destination unknown. Without knowing the precise vector of their entry they couldn't predict where they had gone, and their weapons were ineffective in hyperspace anyway.

"We're being hailed by the freighters," Lucille spoke up, "they report that they've suffered considerable damage." She paused as something else came up. "And the Revenge is requesting to speak with our captain."

"Jesse, get engineering teams ready to go over in the shuttles," Kelly said to the engineer. "Put the Revenge through," she then ordered Lucille. The screen shifted, and the bridge of another ship appeared. A figure sat in the command chair, face and body mostly hidden by a long cloak. Her left hand gleamed silver, resting on the arm of her chair.

"Well," the cloaked figure said calmly, a bit of amusement in her voice, "it seems that the Fleet has sent us a patrol vessel at last. I have some information that might be valuable to you, may I have permission to come aboard?"

"Permission granted," Kelly trusted her instincts. She saw Rio's face go red and added, "No weapons, your command staff only."

"Understood, we'll be launching a shuttle over in minutes," the shadowed figure disappeared as communications were cut.

"Where have I heard that voice?" Jessie muttered to herself softly.

Kelly stepped off her chair, "Rio, Jesse, to the meeting room." She lead them inside before turning to Jesse, "You know her?"

Jessie shook her head, "The voice was familiar, but..." The younger woman shrugged finally, "I'm sorry, I can't place it."

"Understandable," Kelly said gently. "I assume you'll want to be onboard during the meeting, but make sure the engineering teams are fully equipped before they go to the freighters."

"Right," Jessie took off, heading out of the meeting room and down below to the Venture's engineering section.

"All right," Kelly gave Rio a smile as they stood there alone, "yell if you need to."

"What were you thinking?" Rio muttered, pushing her black hair back. "We know absolutely nothing about this captain, or why she's out here."

"We know she's fighting the raiders," Kelly shrugged, "and the information we received did mention that private ships had been commissioned by the freighters to defend them."

"Maybe," Rio scowled. She took a breath and sighed, "Permission to have a security detail there when they dock?"

"Denied," Kelly said. She gave her a impish little smile, "I'm sure you're more than capable enough to defend us."

"I wish you'd take this sort of thing more seriously," Rio sighed.

"I do," Kelly assured her as they went out to the bridge. "Dan, the bridge is yours," she instructed him as she and Rio went in to the lift.

"Isn't he a bit green for command of the bridge?" Rio asked as they descended to the docking bays at the base of the ship.

"He won't stop being so green unless he gets seasoned," Kelly shrugged. They exited, not walking long before Jesse came over from the other docking bays.

"Engineering teams are on their way," Jessie reported.

The three walked on to the main launch bay, where a large shuttle was rising up through the floor. The door sealed beneath it, it settled down and air began to pressurize the chamber. The shuttle was a converted civilian model, designed for speed and maneuverability.

The status light went green and Kelly said, "Let's go in."

The side of the shuttle opened as they entered the bay, and four figures climbed out. An older man looked around him cautiously, followed by two young women and the taller cloaked figure. She strode towards them, and Rio frowned.

The cloaked figure stopped where Jesse stood, reaching up to flip back the hood of her cloak. Black hair, with coppery highlights flowed over her shoulders, a striking face made more distinct by the sapphire cybernetic eye. "Hello, Jessie," she said warmly, "it's been awhile."

"Siobhan?" Jessie stammered, looking up at her in shock.

Before Kelly could bring herself to ask the questions buzzing in her head arms were thrown around her neck as a familiar voice cried out, "Mother!"

Kelly gaped in shock, looking at the face that had haunted her, her one real failure. "Isis?" she blurted out in shock.

Tennokiken Voyagers: Four (With assistance from Dan Wisner and Liliandra)

"Mother!" Isis held Kelly close to her, "I've missed you."

Rio had a wry smile on her face as the black haired officer observed the joyful reunion, "Ka-san? So you had some wild times before taking command, hmm...?"

Kelly stammered as the little blonde felt her face going red, "It...It isn't like that!"

Jessie tilted her head to the side with a thoughtful look, "You have a daughter? I know I didn't see this in your file..."

Kelly looked over at her chief engineer in surprise, "You've looked into my file?!"

Jessie gave a casual shrug of her shoulders, "Well of course, I had to make sure you weren't like Commander Donovan."

Kelly shook her head with a sigh. "Oh. I see. Well..." she trailed off.

Isis seemed uninterested in releasing the captain, instead she just snuggled in closer murmuring, "Mother..."

"Well, I can see you know my tactical officer," Siobhan noted with a smile, her black hair flowing in a braid down her back. She, along with her two companions, wore simple jumpsuits oddly carrying a skull and crossbones emblem on the shoulder.

Kelly struggled a bit in the young woman's grip as she answered. "Ye... Yes."

"Well, isn't this a touching moment," the man who had accompanied Siobhan quietly noted, a slight smile on his face. Brown hair was tied back in a rough ponytail, and he had an oddly scholarly look about him.

"Be nice, Shane,' the silver haired young woman beside him scolded.

"All right, Sylvie," Shane smiled down at her fondly.

Kelly felt her cheeks going red as she wondered, 'At what point did I lose control here?'

Rio took in the mildly panicked look in her captain's eye and stepped forward. "Hrm. All right that's enough..." with a firm motion she separated the two women, only to find herself under the piercing gaze of Isis.

Isis' voice was soft yet dangerous as she asked, "Ex_cuse_ me. Are you someone important?"

Rio frowned, "I'm the ship's security officer."

Isis nodded thoughtfully, "Darn, guess that means I can't kill you." As Rio was reacting to that she grabbed Rio by the front of her uniform, picking her up off the ground to add, "Touch me again and I'll just put you in the infirmary."

Kelly puffed out a breath, "Isis?"

"Yes?" Isis beamed.

Kelly sighed, "Let her go please."

Isis put Rio down with a thump, "Ok."

"Now that we all know each other better," Siobhan smiled, "I have information that might be useful to you, as well as an offer to make."

Kelly nodded, "We'll use the bridge level meeting room, follow me." They strode off together, climbing into the primary lift and rising to the bridge deck.

"What happened to you?" Jesse asked softly, standing nearby Siobhan. The dark blonde seemed unaffected by the cybernetics that seemed to cover half of Siobhan's body, gleaming metal in the place of flesh.

"Long story," Siobhan said softly, "I'll tell you later, maybe."

"Sio.." Jesse glared, but Siobhan refused to elaborate.

"Why is that woman calling you Mommy?" Rio asked her captain softly, "I didn't think you were that old, frankly."

"I'm not," Kelly was looking at Isis thoughtfully. "She's an android, one I helped design and create back before I transferred from science to the command tract."

"I didn't think Fleet had working androids," Rio looked over at Isis thoughtfully.

"It's because of the Isis project that we don't," Kelly said. She tilted her head to the side, "Everything went wrong, and finally Isis suffered a massive cascade failure."

"Meaning?" Rio asked.

"The brain crashed," Jesse had come near enough to offer. "The internal network failed, and the artificial intelligence went down with it."

"I thought she was dead," Kelly mused, "I don't see how this could be possible."

The lift let them out on the bridge level, and Siobhan and her crew gazed about with interest. "Efficient design," Siobhan noted as she took in the arrangement of stations.

"Ma'am," Dan almost jumped out of the command chair, the tall brown haired man throwing a nervous salute.

"As you were," Kelly said gravely, "we'll be in the meeting room. Notify me if there's an emergency, otherwise carry on."

"Yes, ma'am," Dan nodded crisply.

Kelly and Siobhan both moved to go into the meeting room, then Rio reached out an arm. "Let the Captain go in first," she said to Siobhan, eyes flashing with irritation.

"Watch it," Isis cautioned her.

Siobhan narrowed her eyes at Rio, something like lightning flashing between them. After a moment's silence she smiled, "Later."

Jesse rolled her eyes as they all took seats around the table. She studied the faces; Isis calm, Kelly focused, Siobhan irritable, Rio angry, Shane cool, Sylvie concerned and she didn't want to guess what she looked like. 'This is not going well,' she mused.

"We all have questions," Kelly smiled wryly, "some personal, others not."

"Business first, I think," Siobhan said calmly. The single cybernetic eye glowed faintly, "I was commissioned by local freighters and system governments to fight the raiders."

"You can prove that?" Rio asked. Siobhan produced a data disk from her jumpsuit, tossing it over to Rio. The officer ran it through a reader, finally nodding reluctantly. "Their credentials do check out," she told Kelly.

"As you probably know, I'm Siobhan Ward," she gestured to her companions on her side of the table, "Isis, my tactical officer, Sylvie, the medic, and Shane, the best pilot in the sector."

"I wouldn't go that far," Shane murmured before getting an elbow to the side, "Ow!"

"Hush," Sylvie smiled.

"May I ask what information Fleet has on the Raiders?" Siobhan asked. They gave her a summary of the earlier briefing and she began to laugh softly. Siobhan shook her head, "I see the Fleet intelligence is still underestimating things. Isis?"

Isis rose smoothly from her seat before walking over to the monitor screen. "May I?" she looked over at Rio curiously.

"Go ahead," Rio nodded slightly.

Isis pulled an access jack from a concealed port in her wrist and then plugged directly into the monitor. A series of vessels appeared on the screen, all clearly armed, and several military ships. "In our encounters with the Raiders we've faced over thirty different ships," she said simply, "most of them armed with Fleet weapons."

"Thirty?" Jesse paled.

"Half are military vessels, either Fleet or from other space navies. The other half are converted merchant ships, arms and tactical systems added," Isis reported. "Their usual operational pattern is to lead in with the military vessels, then use their commercial craft to finish things up."

"How well are these ships running?" Kelly asked thoughtfully.

"Got it in one," Siobhan nodded to her, "they don't seem to have the crews and training to run these ships at full efficiency. They're dangerous, but clumsy."

"Somebody's building and manning their own little fleet out here," Rio murmured to herself thoughtfully, "but why?"

"Something we'll have to find out," Kelly said gravely. She looked over at Siobhan, "You also said something about an offer?"

"The freighters in this sector stumbled across a derelict space station a few years back," Siobhan said. "After they contracted with me to fight the raiders," she explained, "they gave me the coordinates for the station."

"And you've been using it as a base of operations," Jesse nodded.

"Right," Siobhan agreed with a grin. As Jesse blushed she continued, "We've made a section habitable, and are retrofitting the rest over time. With the possibility of a leak within Fleet, using our station for your base might be a good idea."

There was a moment of silence of Kelly's side of the table as they considered that. "She's right about a leak in Fleet," Rio finally said reluctantly.

Kelly nodded slightly, quickly making a decision. "Take us to the station," she said crisply, "we'll determine if we can use it."

"Fair enough," Siobhan agreed, "we'll lead you there."

Jesse tossed Kelly a pleading look. "Before we head out," Kelly looked over at Isis, "I'd like to spend some time with my... daughter."

Siobhan nodded, "Jesse and I have some catching up to do, too."

"The mess hall should be empty at this hour," Rio offered, "you can talk there." She looked over at Shane and Sylvie, "I suppose I can show you around."

"Oh, joy," Shane muttered.

Sylvie elbowed him in the ribs again before giving Rio a sweet smile, "Thank you."