Chapter 13: Rank and File

Space Pirates, even though they are so different from us humans, work in similar ways as humans. They show loyalty, respect, honor. All human characteristics. They even salute to some degree. The small things that keep our society together keeps theirs together, as well. Yet, we have different goals, different achievements, and different histories. The most notable differences are our appearances and languages, but we are all the same on the inside. I hate getting sentimental. Space Pirates are vile beings, through and through. No measure of soft intellectual thought can change that. I'll kill every last one of them.

His claws bounced up and down on his chair. Rattling against the stern metal, they pinged as each tapped on the chair relentlessly. His eyes darted mindlessly into space. No literal meaning there. If to be technical, he was just staring at the blank monitors before him, but the expression justifies the action anyway. Commander Veron stood next to Ridley's large chair, giving orders to lesser troops. The pirates satisfied his orders in a rather savage manner, sending grunts and murmured grumbles to one another throughout the process. I couldn't imagine if they were actually talking to one another or giving insults as if it was a competition to finish first.

"So, Commander, what do you suppose we do?"

High Commander Ridley swiveled to look at him, waiting for a response. Veron's eyes swept the floor before he could muster a reply.

"It seems to me was have two options. The Federation have left many of their outposts for some reason we haven't confirmed. We could move in on their territory...or..."

"Or what?"

"...or we could pursue the Hunter."

Ridley cocked the skin above his eye, regardless of the fact that he lacked eyebrows. It almost seemed like he was making a face at Veron, but the Commander knew all too well what Ridley was doing. Every Space Pirate knew that expression. He was cooking up something in that complex mind of his.

"What would constitute us finding her?"

Veron noticed a pirate not maintaining his post, so he delivered the troop a slap to the back of its scaly head. It immediately jumped back into rhythm and began tapping away at the keyboard of odd figures and geometries before it. Veron himself then jumped back into his train of thought and turned to the High Commander.

"Ridley, it is evident that we won't get anywhere with the Hunter about. She is always one to infiltrate and destroy our operations."

"That is true, but we haven't heard of any activity from her in recent memory. The only thing we have of her from any recent event is that chunk of armor you found at SR-388. For all we know, she could be doing something else. That could buy us time for-"

"I'm sorry, but I have to disagree with you, your honor."

For some reason, Veron was the only one that called Ridley "your honor". Ridley didn't care enough to make it mandatory for all of his underlings to refer to him as such. His own name suited him just fine and only superior officers ever mentioned his High Command position. It made him a little uncomfortable when the Commander spoke those words, but he kept that to himself. That was the least of his problems. In fact, it didn't seem like much of a problem, at all."

"You do, Veron? Please, tell me your reasoning behind that."

Veron swayed in his stance a little, trying to find the right words to convey his message to Ridley.

"When have any of our operations been completed without her interruptions?"

"Tallon IV."

"Yes, we did settle in rather well, but she came in and took us out eventually. Regardless of what we do, she eventually ruins us and we have never got close to taking her out, unless you count unintentional events, but she has gotten through those, as well."

Ridley pondered this for a moment. Veron had a point, but his problematic rival hadn't been a pain for him in quite some time. He couldn't risk losing more assets. Sure, he could use the time to set up something...anything...but Samus would eventually destroy it. Veron was right.

"Fine. But, don't go in blind. Get as much intel as you can. I'm sure you don't know where she is, do you?"

"No at all, sir."

"That's what I thought. Figure out where she is or where she has been and track her from those points."

Ridley pushed at a few of the buttons on his chair, then resumed the conversation.

"Take whatever you need for this mission. I'm giving you clearance in all fields. Do whatever you need to do to take her out."

"Do you wish for us to take her into custody alive, sir?"

"No. I don't need more of our resources keeping a wretched human alive. I'd rather have her dead than alive. Whenever you have the opportunity, get rid of her. I want her dead."

Veron gave an odd salute, odd by human standards, anyways. Ridley returned it with his over-sized hands and nodded, then turned back to resume whatever he was doing before Veron confronted him on the issue. He didn't remember what he was exactly doing, so he just whipped his soldiers into shape as they were getting off task again.

"Superior Helgon, reporting sir!"

If there was one thing Commander Veron didn't like about Helgon was his perkiness. The Space Pirates were known for being dark and cruel. Veron liked keeping it that way. Helgon reminded him of a young, spunky human soldier. If he didn't know any better, Helgon could have been one of them in Space Pirate costume.

Veron returned Helgon's salute. Helgon stood at Veron's height, which put Veron in an uneasy state. He wasn't a threat to his position, as he couldn't see Helgon being promoted to Veron's rank, but Helgon was a dedicated soldier nonetheless. Helgon was a good soul, so the Commander could never put him down on any action. He never seemed to make mistakes. Ever.

Being a Superior, Helgon was only two ranks lower than Veron. Between the Commander and Superior ranks was the Master Superior. While there were dozens of Superiors, there was only one Master Superior, just as there was only one Commander and only one High Commander. Master Superior Ulron was very much like his Commander counterpart, a stern and hard-headed soldier, but he wasn't here yet.

The room was eerily empty save for the Commander and Superior. It was one of the many conference rooms on the Space Pirate Mothership, the Righteous Virtue. Ridley crowned the ship with the name when he first set his eyes on it as it was transported from the Homeworld ship facilities. It was at least five times larger than Master Superior Ulron's vessel, the Merciless, and at least seven times larger than Veron's ship, the Absolute. Ridley's room was not that far away, but the conference hall felt like it was the only one for miles.

Finally, a shower of light burst from the sliding doors across the room. A lone shadow appeared in the blinding light. The eyes of Veron and Helgon adjusted and recognized the silhouette as Master Superior Ulron. He was almost unrecognizable compared to Veron except for the battle armor they wore, which signified their ranks. His stride was strikingly similar to that of Veron's. Helgon's gaze jumped from the two aliens as he tried to distinguish who was who.

"Good to see you again, Commander."

"Likewise, Master Superior."

"Well, let's get down to business. We have some important matters to discuss. Sit, sit, this may take awhile."