Hey mates! Sorry that this took longer than usual to get out. Had some slight writers bloc and was sometimes too busy to write but here it is! I hope you like it, I sure do!
Helldate: January 12th, 2020
Sir Pentious, the snake demon, sat at the desk in front of a small display that lay in front of him. Attached to the display where long red and blue connection wires that were connected was the long, white "Starfleet" probe of sorts that Sir Pentious had been utilizing exceedingly to upgrade and advance his ship's systems. But on this particular day in hell, instead of stripping its systems and integrating into his own, he had been trying to access the internal computer systems of the probe, trying desperately to obtain any information that might be of use. However, at every turn as he tried to access it, he was blocked off by firewalls and restrictions, preventing Pentious from retrieving the files. He slammed his fist at the desk as he lashed out.
"Dammit all!" He yelled. "Blast these damned restrictions! I, the immaculate Sir Pentious, have the right given by lord satan to study these files!" Pentious continued to lash out, slamming his fist onto the display, making it jitter for a short while.
Behind the Victorian-styled snake, one of his many dollar store Humpty Dumpty minions walked up behind him with a nervous expression on his face. "Hey, boss?"
"Bah!" Pentious yelled, turning his back to the bootleg Humpty Dumpty. "What is it you intolerable fool!? Can't you see I'm trying to crack the codes to dominance in hell you simpleton peabrain?!" He yelled to the egg, exiting from the chair he was sitting on, and began to tower over the egg.
"B-Boss…" The egg started to stammer, beginning to slightly step away from the now irritated Victorian Serpentes. "W-We found somethin' that you might wanna see…" He continued to explain to the snake.
"Fine then!" Pentious relented as he straightened his gray-colored jacket. "This better be worth my time or else I'll blast you into submission!" He further elaborated, scolding the egg.
"J-Just follow me, sir…." He quietly requested as he walked out to the commands room of the airship, with the Victorian Serpentes following. In front of him was a touch display that was overlooking most of the surrounding command area. On the display was a small red dot which was in a red ring, symbolizing the pride ring.
"What is this red dot you imbecile?" Pentious asked looking over the display.
"That is the reason we called you in Boss." The egg said, standing on his toes in order to put his hand over the display.
"When we tried to connect the computer systems from that thing we found from before, and as soon as we did, this red thing showed up on the map!" The Egg explained to Pentious, who was hunched over the display.
"This…" Pentious started before pausing to recollect his mind. "Isn't this place in the Bryukhanov Sector?" Pentious questioned, looking closely at the display.
Suddenly, Pentious jolted up, snapping his fingers. "Yes, I got it! It's the perfect place to hide something! It's nothing but abandoned buildings and burnt-out reactors, no one goes there!" Pentious exclaimed.
The egg that was next to him was unsure as he spoke up. "Sir… how does a red dot on the screen mean that there's something there?" It asked.
After rolling his eyes Pentious grinned as he stood up as straight as he could, standing tall above the eggs surrounding him. "It's quite simple! The machine we acquired seems to be autonomous seeing as there's no room to put a person in it. So it would make sense it would be used to find something that people wouldn't be able to go to, making it crystal clear that it was trying to find something!" Pentious further extravagantly explained to his minions with the usual bravado he was known for.
"Okay," The egg grumbled as it crossed its arms. "Whatever you say, boss."
While the eggs were usually cheerful and loyal to the point of cult-like devotion to Pentious, the loss of the original airship that was now replaced with a tattered barely held together version made up of the remains was the perfect illustration of their state. It didn't help that they also lost most of their numbers to Alastor and the battle with Cherri and were then worked like slaves to rebuild the ship.
Turning the accelerator to full speed Pentious set out to find whatever was at the location of the beacon. The airship outside began to slowly but surely, head its way to this strange finding.
USS EXCALIBUR- DECK TWO
Edison Hendrix stepped out of the turbolift, still wearing his gold headphones and listening to his music. Edison for a better word always liked music like the ones he was listening to, mainly thanks to the influence of his grandfather. As he walked down the corridors of the ship, he began to softly hum the tune of the song he was listening to. The song he was listening to was a Jazz song from an Old Earth animated program about a group of cash-strapped bounty hunters collecting bounties across the Sol System. Although it was nearly two hundred and seventy-five years old, Edison still found its themes still prevalent to himself as he entered a new era of his life as a captain.
As Edison continued to walk through the corridors of the starship, he came across two maroon wearing officers standing outside of the door that led into the officer's lounge. Edison paused the song he was listening to and put his headphones from his head to his shoulders as he walked in front of them. They stood aside as he began to walk through them, giving them a nod before the doors opened to the officer's lounge.
Walking into the room the first sight beyond the small arrangement of chairs and a small couch around a coffee table was the large window section giving a view directly outside the back of the ship with the two nacelle sections lying at the edges of the view. Most of the officers were seated on an arch like couch in front of the large window with many different plant species jutting out from the top, being situated in planters placed in a metal housing behind the cushions. The outside view was mostly covered by clouds, but thin details could be made, most notably the red sky with the large overbearing pentagram.
"Where are the demons?" Edison asked, sitting on the cushion, next to She'rl, and putting his arms criss crossed behind his head.
"They're in the cafeteria, probably pushing the food synthesizers beyond their limits. Oh Alastair, you should probably have an engineering team on standby." She'rl said, drinking a red liquid from a glass.
"Already ahead of you mate, they're nearby. Still can't believe we 'ave actual demons on board though, i'n it?" Alastair spoke in his distinguished accent, observing a PADD with a mug of coffee in his other hand.
"Still can't believe it either. Just to clarify, we're not dead or anything right?" Rolf asked, holding a cup of tea, while looking at his own PADD.
"No, from what we found on those websites you discovered we would have changed forms to become something related to who we were in life and whatever sins got us sent to hell, though there is certainly no mention of what happens to non-humanoid species that are sent here. That, and none of the demons knows a single sentient species outside of humans excluding the ones from this place." Kylkuc informed Rolf with precision and nonchalantness typical of a Vulcan while carrying a Glass cup of Plomeek tea.
"You Vulcans really do like the details…" Xehrarv grumbled as he held a can of opened Tellarite fizz.
"So, since we're all here now we should start the meeting. Want to begin Captain?" Atathia spoke at the end of the couch, while carrying a mug of hot Katheka.
"Did I miss a memo or something?" Edison asked, looking confused as he looked at his officers.
"I'm sorry Captain?" Atathia responded, looking confused.
"Why are you all drinking?" Edison questioned pointing to the drinks that the officers were carrying.
"Oh," Atathia said, looking at her mug of Katheka. "Sorry Captain, this whole experience has been nerve-wracking. It makes you really thirsty." The first officer of the ship explained to the captain.
"Just forget I said anything." Edison relented as he pinched his forehead in slight exasperation. "Let's just get this meeting on the road, we have a lot of stuff to go over." Edison said to the crew as he straightened his uniform.
"So first things first, we should probably cover how hell is structured. At the top the one who seems to rule over this place and is situated at the top level of this world as a self-appointed king is Lucifer Morningstar along with his wife Lillith and daughter Charlie who is currently onboard." Edison exemplified, reading from his PADD that he brought from his room.
Slight stupefaction filled the room after hearing what the Captain had to report, with some of the senior officers shuffling in their seats.
Atathia wasn't totally surprised, she had just spent nearly half an hour exploring the ship alongside the demons and sequentially had learned much about demons and their way of life. If she could relate hell to any time in history, she would have to say the Post Atomic Horror on Earth. Then again, she wondered if Hell would be an improvement instead of living during that time.
Like the Andorian First Officer, Kylkuc was emotionless from the information that was presented to him, only giving a raised eyebrow and a patented Vulcan melancholy phrase; "Fascinating."
"Well, I don't know really…" Alastair said, looking concerned. "From what I 'eard, she's the daughter o' the devil, mate! I don't know, she just seems not right by me. Are yer that she'd help us?" Alastair raised the question with a tone of worry in his voice. He was already worried that they were in hell, but having the daughter of the devil on board truthfully scared him.
Atathia was the first to respond, "If she had any malicious intentions then she must be near perfect at hiding it, in reality, she's the kindest and most well-meaning out of all the demons on the ship from what I've gathered. She was more filled with wonder than any expression of plotting. However one of our guests seems to meet the profile you described."
Edison chipped in, "That does bring me to my next point, below the royal family are the seven deadly sins with one ruling over each of the lower levels of the world which is divided into layers. Below them are a small but more numerous nobility called "Goetiac Princes" scattered throughout the planet and then a large collection of overlords mostly on the top level. Our guest Alastor seems to be the most feared and one of the most powerful of the latter."
"That would explain why he was the source of the subspace interference. The energy that he displaced was strong enough to be picked up by our sensors." Kylkuc commented on Edison's remark.
"We've also detected some similar readings centered around other beings in hell but none with as high of a frequency and wavelength as Alastor."
"We should also make extra sure to stay off the radar of any of hell's nobility as well. Starting with Lucifer, he seems to be the type that only cares about a potential threat to his power, but is mostly content to let anarchy prevail and to be apathetic towards the holdings of the lower nobility and overlords. The rest however constantly plot against or even openly combat each other for influence and power. They also tend to treat everyone below them with contempt, exploitation, and disdain. If any were to catch wind of our existence they would do everything in their power to acquire our ship and technology." Edison explained, reading the information of the situation of hell from his P.A.D.D.
"You mentioned beings below the nobility, what do we know about them?" Atathia asked, crossing her legs while leaning back.
"Below the overlords on the hierarchy structure are regular sinners who were also once human. They assume a form related to their personality and sins when they arrive in hell. They make up the second-largest portion of the population and tend to be mostly middle or working class. Below them are the most interesting groups that are also the only ones that fit the definition of a biological species and are all born in hell. They include red or pink humanoids called succubi and incubi, canid-like beings called hellhounds, and small-statured humanoids called imps. Combined, their population slightly outnumbers the sinners and they are at the very bottom of the hierarchy with only the succubi and incubi being declared to be near-equal level with the sinners. The imps and hellhounds however are essentially third-class citizens with nearly all destined to live in poverty and subservience" Edison further elaborated as he continued to read from his P.A.D.D.
"What do we know about Heaven?" She'rl asked.
"Unfortunately…" Edison said as he scolded through his notes. "...nothing. While the computer systems will be continuously gathering data as we stay here I doubt they will find anything more about it."
Edison sighed as he put his P.A.D.D back into his side pocket. "Now that we know about how this place works, this brings us to the most important aspect of this meeting," Edison said as he clapped his hands. "How do we get out of here?"
The whole senior crew reflected on this question requested by the Captain. To put it simply, even before he asked it, the entire crew was thinking of how they were leaving.
Alastair stood up as he took a drink of the coffee in his mug. "Well Captain, it's 'ard ter say. The bloody energy barrier we came across appears ter be impenetrable o' all physical forms on entry, on us current side at least. We could 'it with everything we got it wouldn't even make a dent."
"So shooting our way out is out of the question, sorry Xehrarv." Edison said as he seemed to be in a realm of thought in his mind.
"Wait, Number One, Is there any way we could replicate the wormhole that brought us here?" Edison asked Atathia.
"I was thinking of that," The Andorian first officer began, "When you were on the surface, I was reviewing the scans we were able to conduct before our systems failed. It seems to be a large hole in spacetime caused abnormally high gravimetric density, maybe in part caused by the route of the black hole causing ripples. But even then, it wouldn't be enough to cause needed." Atathia explained to Edison.
"That's… informative number one. But how does that connect with us escaping this hellhole? No pun intended." Edison asked.
"Well here's what I and Alastair thought up: we could calibrate the polarity inducers, increase the power capacity of the electroplasma nodes, and channel as much power we can to the main deflector dish we maybe have a shot at duplicating the anomaly by creating the same gravimetric matrix it once had."
"But Captain, I wouldn't advise conductin' the measure as o' now," Alastair said to the Terran Captain. "If we do that, there's gonna be a right large chance that we'll overload the bloody deflector dish and 'ave the ship be blown into two. And with our current payload, we could cause a crater the size o' New York City. The slightest wrong move, we could be joinin' the demons dahn 'ere permanently." Alastair explained to Edison.
Edison nodded as he stood up, circling around the couch as he began to ponder about the situation at hand. Alastair made it clear; the procedure that they were planning had a high chance of killing them all, but it was their only plan on how to get back home. This proved the circumstances complicated, but that was the job of captains, solving the questions and choosing what was best for the ship.
After a short time of walking and pondering, Edison finally returned to sitting at the couch where the rest of the senior officers were. "I have an idea. This place clearly displays properties that are different from ours. We should conduct scans of the area soon. We can think of overloading the deflector dish as a last case scenario." Edison instructed the senior staff.
"Well then, seeing as we're going to be here sometime, we should get a native from here, so to speak." Edison started. "Suggestions?" He further asked.
"Well, the choice is oblivious." Kylkuc stated. "Ms Morningstar, being the daughter of the ruler of this civilization would be the logical choice in deciding who can consult us."
Meanwhile, in the mess hall of the Excalibur, things weren't as bleak as they seemed about being trapped in an strange and unforgiving world.
Charlie was both exhilarated and nervous. On one hand the technology she was witnessing had made it seem as if she were whisked away into a dream that had nearly all the solutions to her problems but on the other she was dreading the possible response that these people would refuse to help her when she inevitably brought up the request that Vaggie had given rise to.
In the meantime however, she was enjoying a marvelous platter of shrimp alfredo. It was still hard to believe it had materialized in front of her from rearranged atoms. Surprisingly the process by which it was made didn't have much if any adverse effect on the taste.
Vaggie had synthesized some chicken empanadas, husk a ribeye steak, Angel was having lasagna, Alastor had decided to try some venison, and Niffty was chowing down on some sushi.
While the demons were enjoying the newfound discovery of food replication, a trio of Starfleet officers looked at the demons in confusion.
"Any idea what they are?" A male Caitian officer of the group asked.
"Beats me…" The Female Human officer responds. "But the only thing I know is that spider guy just ate enough Lasagna to make an Italian blush."
"You know what," The female officer said, putting the mug of coffee she was drinking from down. "I'm going to ask them." She said, walking forward to, unbeknownst to her, the demons.
"Hi there." The Female officer said, introducing herself to Charlie, who was still eating the shrimp alfredo.
"Hi!" Charlie says, putting down a forkful of shrimp back into the bowl she was eating from. "Can I help you?" She elaborated in her usual enthusiasm.
"Oh no, I'm fine." She started to speak. "I was just wondering if I could ask you some questions. Just nervous, really."
"Okkie Dokkie! What is it?" Charlie questioned, giving her full attention to the officer.
"Are you from here? If so, where exactly are we?" The officer asked, leaning on the table that Charlie was sitting at.
"Oh yeah… I'm from here." Charlie started. But as Charlie was going to respond to the second question, she hesitated. She had seen before with Francois how scared how these people could be when faced with the realization that they were in hell. She couldn't blame them after all, Hell had been depicted as the worst place the mind could imagine and while it wasn't really true, they weren't completely wrong since it was a complete dystopia. The best course of action, Charlie thought, would be to wait to reveal that they were in hell until Edison and the rest of the higher officers gave her the go-ahead. "Um… we're on the planet… Gehenna." Charlie said, trying to make up a believable planet name.
"Gehenna? Never heard of it." The Officer responded.
"Oh, well you heard of us now!" Charlie joked as she finger gunned at the women.
"Alright…" The female officer said, returning back to the table where she originated from.
As quick as the officer had left another had walked up to Charlie wearing a more security oriented outfit. Causing the demons to all turn and look at him.
"Ma'am, the captain has requested your presence in the observation deck to discuss things."
Adopting a slightly worried and nervous expression Charlie replied, "Is everything alright?"
"Everything is fine, he just requested you to learn more about this place." The comment from the officer caused Vaggie to narrow her eye in suspicion.
"I'm coming too."
"Vaggie you don't have too-"
"It's alright Charlie, besides I'm sure they shouldn't have a problem with me tagging along." Raising her eyebrow at the officer, Vaggie searched for any sign of resistance to her request only to find none.
"Very well, follow me to the observation deck."
As the two got up they only stopped for a moment to listen as Alastor spoke.
"Oh, don't worry my dear vagitha. If they were going to attempt anything they would have done so by now. And I'm sure whatever they wish to discuss with you will be very interesting."
Letting out a huff of annoyance Vaggie continued on her way with Charlie to meet the captain.
As they walked through the dense corridors of the starship Excaibur, the two demons continued to follow the security officer. The Officer that was escorting them was a male, had dark skin, medium height, and with straight long brown hair.
"So… what is your name?" Vaggie asked the officer.
"Oh, it's Idowu." The Officer said, continuing to lead them in the hall, before stopping before the turbolift, which opened for them.
A short while later, the demons and Idowu crammed themselves inside of the turbolift, with the doors closing behind them.
"Deck two." Idowu commanded the turbolift, which began traveling through the turbolift shafts of the ship.
"So…" Charlie began to speak. "How is life on earth?" Vaggie asked.
"Earth? Oh, it's great. Why do you ask?"
"I'm just curious." Vaggie responded.
After a short trip in the turbolift, the doors opened to the demons and Idowu as he led them outside of the turbolift. They began to walk through the decks before coming in front of the observation deck, which Charlie and Vaggie were let in, leaving Idowu behind.
Immediately the two were struck at the beauty of the plants and the stern viewport, although much of it was hidden and exposed by the clouds. But quickly pushed those thoughts aside as Charlie opened her mouth.
"You wanted to see me, captain?" If there was any apprehension about Vaggie accompanying her no one showed it.
"Oh," Edison said, sitting upright from his slouched position. "Yeah, I did. So the senior officers and I talked and what we came up is that we're probably going to be in this place for the long haul." Edison explained to Charlie, standing up from his seat.
"Since we're going to be here for sometime," Edison said as he walked up to Charlie. "Maybe, we could come to a partnership of sorts, so to speak." Edison suggested.
"Yes! That would be gre-!" Charlie clamored in joy.
"Wait, just one more thing," Edison said, cutting Charlie off in her joy. "Before we come to any sort of agreement, we need you to answer any questions we have on this place."
For the briefest of moments, Charlie felt a sadness she only experienced a few times only to be replaced back with the joy she had earlier as their request was perfectly reasonable. "Of course, anything you want to know."
"Oh well it's about heaven. You see, we don't know much of it, and apparently, much of Hell shares the problem. Mind if you could tell us anything of note from it?" Edison asked.
"Well I don't know anything about what it's like but it is a world you see orbiting the planet. I bet it's a wonderful place, everyone happy and smiling except when they…"
As fast as Charlie was describing heaven with hope and childlike happiness it quickly turned to sadness and silence as she let her head down and brushed her head with her hand taking a deep breath.
"Expect when they what Ms. Morningstar?" Edison asked, concerned on her sudden change in attitude.
Taking a few more deep breaths Charlie began. "Every year on December 31st heaven sends down countless exorcist angels too….c-commit c-controled genocide to deal with hell's overpopulation."
The senior staff, with the Captain himself in particular, became agape and complete with shocked gasps. Starfleet had come into contact with genocidal peoples in the past, most notably the Romulans, the Sphere Builders and the Xindi, who had craved a deep dark slash onto the pages of history in the Federation. However, a controlled genocide of a people happening once a date seemed virtually barbaric, like something you'd here from Nazi Germany, Khan's Forces, and the Post Atomic Horror. But it seemed impossible for Heaven, the word most synonymously connected with good virtue, would do something so senseless and cruel.
"That's… awful." Edison said, trying to comfort Charlie. "But may I ask, how are these "days" carried out?"
"T-there's a giant clock tower in the center of hell that counts down to when it happens. A um…siren system goes off while it is happening for the next 24 hours. T-those well off will hide in personal bunkers or their palaces while people with shelter do their best to barricade their homes. The exorcists arrive near the tower and spread out across all the rings, mostly focusing on those in the streets before attempting to break into homes. Th-they are…" Charlie sniffed. "…indiscriminate on who they target. Once it is over I-I am tasked with shooting fireworks into the sky to signal the end. Then there is usually a frenzy to grab any angelic weapons left behind or from the rare defeated exorcist since they are one of the only things that can permanently kill sinners." Charlie explained doing her best to keep it together while Vaggie rubbed her shoulder with a sympathetic look.
"Jesus… I-I'm sorry Ms. Morningstar." Edison, struggling to find words, while putting his hand through his brown hair. "I'm sorry that your people have to go through those hardships." Edison tried to comfort Charlie.
Clearing her eyes of the few tears that had accumulated Charlie smiled. "Thanks Captain."
"No problem." Edison said, letting out a reassuring smile. "Let's try to talk about something else…" Edison said further, trying to recollect his thoughts.
"So, you have a hotel here. What's the point of it, are you just operating it because of profits or are there other motives?" Edison asked.
Donning a more cheerful mood Charlie explained the mission of the formerly named Happy Hotel.
"Oh! I actually opened it up as a solution to the exterminations. It's a place for sinners to rehabilitate themselves. If I can get sinners to redeem themselves then they could get sent to heaven! That way we won't have an overpopulation problem and the exterminations can stop."
Edison raised an eyebrow at the idea. "Redeeming? So you're trying to send demons to a place that tries to kill as many of them every year? Are you sure that Heaven will allow them in?" Edison asked Charlie in a polite manner.
"I-I-I….ummm. It-its gotta be worth a try at least! And heaven is the only place they could go."
"Well… that's true. And well who knows?" Edison said with a reassuring chuckle. "Maybe Exterminator angels and regular angels are different and they'll let demons in. They are supposed to be the land of complete good after all." Edison said comfortingly to Charlie. "There is one last thing to talk about, what can you tell us about your parents?"
"Um, well their names are Lucifer and Lillith. They were loving parents and they did their best to raise me with love. Dad is a very cheerful and goofy kinda guy but very serious and calculating when he needs to be while Mom is very caring, graceful, and regal. She even used to have a singing career before things got too busy. They are both always busy with managing hell, signing papers, going to meetings, and talking with other nobility. They raised me in the castle where I would regularly have play dates with children of their close friends until they sent me to high school. It wasn't a fun time but I graduated and continued studying at home. But as I learned about and experienced the exterminations I was heartbroken. I am my people's princess, yet I could do nothing to help them. So I came up with the idea of the happy hotel using one of my family's old abandoned properties. Dad…didn't take it well, but he won't try to stop me while Mom was more supportive. I guess I should also mention Dad was originally an angel that got sent down here soon after humanity was created. He and mom haven't told me any specifics since it is too painful for her and dad doesn't like being reminded of it, but I know it has to do something with her once being the first human female."
"Yes, you said that you were the daughter of Lucifer when we met. And to be completely honest, I'm happy to hear that your parents are actually good parents."
Letting out a short laugh Charlie responded. "Thanks, most demons tend to view my father with fear or as a ghost story that varies from person to person because of his power and seclusion from everyone but the other nobles."
With a determined face Vaggie spoke up. "So now that we've answered your questions, will you agree to help us with the hotel?"
"Helping? Well uh…" Edison said, scratching his hand on the back of his head as he began to slightly sweat. "We… aren't allowed to help you." Edison struggled to speak.
"WHAT?! What do you mean you aren't allowed to help us!? What's stopping you?!"
"Listen, just calm down Ms. Vaggie!" Edison tried to calm Vaggie down as he straightened his uniform. "You see, we have a rule in place. It's called the Prime Directive, Starfleet's most important rule: the noninterference with other cultures and pre-warp civilizations. We can talk to a few people like you since it likely won't interfere with your society and no one would believe you if you told them about us. But helping you in this hotel while utilizing our technology, the Prime Directive doesn't allow it. It would interfere with your world's development, and we have faced too many interferences going wrong until we had to make the Prime Directive. I'm… sorry Vaggie." Edison explained to Vaggie, while trying to keep his voice in a polite and non-threatening tone.
Taking a moment to center herself with her hands on her head Vaggie walked a few paces before turning around. "Can't you just supply us with something like food or help us in a way where people can't tell if it's advanced technology or something!?"
"I'm sorry Vaggie, I can't permit that."
"W-what if you end up finding out that you're all permanently stuck here." Charlie voiced after shedding a few more tears over the news.
"Then we're stuck here then! Listen. When I got this badge, I took an oath promising to protect and uphold the laws of Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets. Listen, I want to help you. I really do, but the prime directive forbids any form of interference that would endan…" Edison tried to explain to Charlie and Vaggie before trailing off. "Wait a second…" He said to himself as he pulled up his P.A.D.D.
Tilting her head, Charlie asked, "What is it?"
"I remember reading this old clause back in the academy… something about being stranded from Federation space, if connecting with a pre-warp civilization is necessary to the ship's survival, an exception can be made."
"I-is there a way those conditions are or can be considered met?" Charlie asked as her sadness and pleading started to turn into a glimmer of hope.
"Got it." Edison said, finding what he was looking for. "...Starfleet personnel may not violate this Prime Directive, even to save their lives and/or their ship/installation, unless a previous contact has been made between Starfleet and the other world parties," Edison said, putting away his P.A.D.D.
"Previous contact? Do you mean that there has been contact with Starfleet and hell before somehow?" Vaggie asked as she rubbed her chin.
"Well, the demons didn't exactly welcome us with open arms, a few took potshots at us when we almost crashed here," Edison said. "And we kinda shot a probe into a wormhole that likely ended up here…" Edison said quietly and fastly.
Edison then sighed as he put his hand over his face and took a few paces around the sofa. "I might get a court-martial for this and be sent into some jail on a moon, but who gives a shit at this point. We'll help you guys with your hotel, but you gotta help us too. Got it?"
To his surprise, Edison had to keep himself from falling over as Charlie launched herself at him to give him a hug with tears of joy in her eyes.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you! I almost never thought anyone would want to help me!" Charlie said, still hugging Edison.
"Don't sweat it, Charlie, Starfleet's main principle is helping people… But it would help me a ton if you would stop hugging me so I can breathe…" Edison said, with his voice flattering as his face began to swell.
"Oh! Sorry!" Charlie stated as she backed away with a sheepish grin.
"Alright everyone, we have work to do. She'rl and Alastair, find out how long you can keep this bird up in the air. Kylkuc, find a way to deliver the news that we're in hell to the crew safely. Rolf, find more about Hell through it's internet, we're going to need as much information about this place as we can get. Xehrarv, find out the tactical abilities of our neighbors here. Atathia, do as much research as possible on Alastor. He might be our shot of getting out of here. I'll be working on how we're going to be working with our new friends here. Dismissed." Edison commanded his crew, which responded by giving him nods.
"Let's get to work, people!" Edison said, leaving the observation room, as he signaled Charlie and Vaggie to follow him. "So, tell me more about this Alastor guy."
The airship of Sir Pentious hovered over the neglected and dilapidated factories and inactive power plants of the Bryukhanov Sector, out in a desolate territory outside of Pentagram City. It used to be an integral part of a power grid for Pentagram City and its surrounding areas. However, it all changed five years earlier when the Schreiber power plant suffered a catastrophic meltdown, causing most of the Bryukhanov Sector to be irradiated and the entire sector being abandoned. It had been mostly used since then as a hiding place for the dumping of goods or evidence that needed to be hidden by Mafias and other criminal organizations, but still essentially uninhabited due to the extreme levels of radiation and chemical exposure.
"I don't get it. What do you expect to find boss?" The Egg next to Sir Pentious asked as the Airship continued its course to the red dot that was found on the map.
"How should I know, you smooth brained imbeciles! All I know is that something important is located here and that that highly advanced probe was likely looking for it. And whatever it is will now be mine to help ensure my rightful rise to power!" Pentious said, speaking in a triumphant voice, almost as if his ultimate victory over his enemies will be assured with the capture of this object.
"Wait boss!" The Egg said, while looking at the large window in the front of the control room. "Over there!" It said, pointing forward.
In front of the airship, coming into view, was a sight that was deemed unusual, even for hell. In a straight exceptionally wide line, there was a row of destroyed and collapsed buildings, heading a unusually straight line. It was like if a large knife was slashed through the surface of hell, leaving a gash in it's surface.
"Dear Lucifer…" Pentious said to himself as the airship hovered and passed over the trial of destruction. The damage looked relatively aged and not contemporary, as if it happened a few years ago, mainly due to the lack of smoke and the fact that the rubble around the area had settled.
"Increase speed." Pentious commanded, and soon the airship began to slowly speed through the annihilation of the buildings.
"Why hasn't anyone said anything about this?" One of the eggs near Pentious asked, looking at the carnage that laid before it's eyes.
"Maybe they have." One of the more doubtful eggs replied.
"Maybe, because the radiation levels are almost off the charts!" Another egg manning a monitor stated with shock.
The airship persisted along its course to whatever the computer had located. As it continued towards its course, the eggs and the snake inside of the airship saw where the long trail of destruction ended: the remains of the Schreiber power plant. However, there was something peculiar about the power plant, for starters its cooling tower had collapsed, leaving the top portion as the only surviving remains. Secondly, the part of the reactor that was parallel to the cooling tower had seemed that it was collided with, having parts of the building fallen to the bottom. But what was arguably the oddest peculiarity from the destroyed reactor was what was sticking out of the remains of the cooling tower. There were two white, almost grayed, narrow circular nacelle like structures sticking out of the tower, with it connecting to something underneath the rubble. Looking back to the display, Pentious saw that the red dot was supposedly right in front of the airship.
"Wait a second… prepare to fire the laser at the cooling tower!" Pentious commanded, bringing up the weapons display on his console as he made the airship stop in front of the cooling tower.
"Fire the laser at the cooling tower? Are you crazy boss?! That could make the entire reactor explode!" The egg next to the snake implored to Sir Pentious as he began to charge up the laser.
"I know what I'm doing you Flapdoodle! And unless you don't want to be thrown into a pool of uranium, then can it Hornswoggler!" Pentious said, pushing forwards a lever. Immediately after, the the entire ship began to shake as the laser turret in the front of the airship fired a directed pink energy blast at the cooling tower, causing the segments of cooling tower to be slammed into the ruined buildings, causing some to fall down because of the damage. Due to the laser blast, the cloud of smoke engulfed what was once was the cooling tower, and the crew of the airship coudn't see a thing.
"Bah! That's it, I am taking us further in!" Sir Pentious exclaimed in frustration as he grabbed the levers taht controlled the ship's navigation controls, controlling the ship as it passed through the cloud of dust and ash, which definitely has a shit ton of radiation in it but who gives a crap. The Airship, when exiting the cloud, turned towards it's rear before stopping. The cloud began to dissipate and lessen as Pentious squinted his eyes, trying to see what was in front of him. He was able to make lettering from what ever was behind the veil of smoke and ash, and he to read from it. After a brief moment, the lettering was visible to the entirety of crew of the airship.
U.S.S EXCALIBUR
NCC-1664