Pherik ‘Serpent’ Zail stood beside one of the port turbolasers, his blue eyes locked on the young Gran sat at its control. Zail had spent a lot of time honing his weapons skills of late, and had started to take an interest in the proficiency of his ship’s gunners.
The VSD
Brilliant had only been his for a while, but Serpent was proud of it like no other ship he had commanded, and constantly pushed his crew to be worthy of (what he saw to be) the honour of serving on board. “Okay, Mr Traquan, let’s see what you can do,” He said, and gestured. Nearby, his Weapons Chief, tall and proud Kol Yandeer, hit the button for the training simulation to begin.
Instantly the Gran gunner, who had only recently transferred on board, was thrown into simulated combat. Computer holograms of enemy fighters flew across his screen, and Traquan swung the massive cannon to and fro trying to hit them. Zail took it all in, noting everything. He saw the hunched-over way that the Gran sat in his chair, the harsh way Traquan held the gun controls (enough to drain the colour from the Gran’s knuckles), and he noted the darting movement of the young gunner’s three eyes.
And, when finally the simulation ended, Serpent noticed the youngster’s score.
“Not good enough,” Said the Captain to his subordinate bluntly. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Kol Yandeer nod in concurrence, the Weapon’s Chief having little patience for failure.
“Sorry, sir,” Said Traquan, his tone of voice meek.
Pherik sighed. “Gunnery is not about throttling the turbolaser until it complies, it’s about moving
with your canon, smooth and graceful,” He said. “You need to
focus!”
“I know, sir,” Said the Gran. “And at the Academy I could do that. It’s just that... out here...”
Zail frowned. “Oh it’s different out here,” He agreed darkly. “You screw up at the Academy, you get a bad grade. You screw up in space you get your crew mates
killed. Now practice and keep practicing until you can perform under
real pressure, not just the imagined pressure of having your Captain stare at you!”
Traquan nodded nervously, and then Serpent turned to walk off, leaving him to it. Yandeer fell into step beside his Captain, and when they were gone from the gunnery station and into the nearby corridor, he said, “I’m sorry for him, sir.”
“I shall be watching him,” Said Zail simply, “And any others who don’t perform well under pressure. I want our gunners to be the best in the Fleet, Kol.”
“They will be, sir,” The bigger man assured him.
Serpent and his Weapon’s Chief marched to the bridge, where Zail took his place at the centre of the command walkway. He checked his chrono, and knew that he was just in time. He stood straight, smoothing out his neatly pressed uniform and running a hand through his freshly trimmed hair. This meeting had been a long time in coming, and he wanted to look his best.
“Emerging from hyperspace in ten!” Called Ysanne Samasl from the helm.
Zail nodded. “Easy as you can, Ysanne,” He said, wanting everything to go right.
The swirling chaos of hyperspace receded, and the starlines shrank back into pinpricks of light. Through the large forward viewport, Serpent watched as they returned to realspace, and he beheld the vessel that they were here to meet. Both mighty craft hung in the void between stars, far from civilisation, an obscure meeting place from which to plan their attack.
“Incoming hail,” Said Dev Mishima at the helm. “The message is from a...” He paused, confused. “A Captain...
Zail?”
All eyes on the bridge turned to Pherik, as he continued to stare at the
Venator-Class Star Destroyer that was now approaching to come alongside. “Hello, father,” He said softly.
-----
Serpent and his senior staff took a shuttle over to the other ship, the antique yet formidable
Blazing Crown. As they landed inside the hangar (which ran down the centre of the ship and was entered from the top rather than the bottom, as in newer designs) Pherik took in the sights. Oh the history of the place! This ship had served in the Clone Wars, part of the famed Broken Circle Armada, and its Captain had been there too. For near thirty years, his father had been on this ship, and as a boy Pherik had longed to set foot on it and see Ardus Zail’s pride and joy.
Now, finally, he would get that chance.
They were greeted by the vessel’s XO, Lieutenant Joshate, and led to the bridge. Serpent mused on this as he walked, and thought it so like his father not to meet him in person. When at last they reached the bridge, he took a glance around. Zail had never been on the bridge of a
Venator before, and could not help but notice the familiar lay out of the bridge. Command walkway, crew pits, this was definitely a Star Destroyer.
Pherik ignored the curious glances of the bridge crews, saw them murmur amongst themselves at his presence. Though their voices were low he could hear a few of their comments. “He looks just like the Captain” and even “They have the same eyes!”
Serpent and his people were directed to a conference room, where they took seats along one side. A few moments later, the senior staff of the
Blazing Crown entered, led by their CO.
“Captain Zail,” Pherik said to their host, rising and giving a salute.
“Captain Zail,” Responded the other, returning the salute and gesturing for Pherik and his people to sit.
Both men held the position of Captain, but only the elder Zail had the full rank too. Like his son, Ardus Zail had brilliant blue eyes, but they were tinged with sadness. His face was strong and handsome, like his son’s, though worn and craggy, and topped with greying hair.
“Greeings, gentlemen. We all know why we are here, so, shall we get down to business?” Asked the
Blazing Crown’s CO.
And they did. There were eight of them, and they had much to discuss. The task of the two Star Destroyers was to hunt and destroy the MC30c
Redeemer, a modified Mon Calamari frigate, raiding around the edge of Vast Empire space. Serpent himself had run afoul of the vessel while hitching a ride on the Corvette
Devilish Dare*, and now High Command had tasked him and the nearest warship with bringing the MC30c down. It was just mixed fortune that the nearest ship had been his father’s.
The meeting and planning went on for only half an hour. Though Serpent had the more powerful ship, he yielded to Ardus Zail’s leadership, for the other Captain had seniority by a good decade. They came up with a solid plan, to catch the
Redeemer when next it struck at local shipping lanes. Thus they lurked in the void between stars, close to three local trade routes, and resolved to just wait for the Republic ship to show.
When the meeting concluded the other senior officers departed, leaving just the two Zails staring at each other across the gleaming black meeting table.
“Our ships need much preparation,” Said Ardus Zail. “I suggest we get to it.”
Serpent frowned. “We haven’t seen each other since the day I left for the VEN Academy,” He said. “I was actually hoping we could talk first,
father.”
“Later,” Said the other, his tone cold, and rather than look at his son he turned instead to a nearby datapad. “I have plenty to do, I am sure you understand. For now you are dismissed.” And with that he was engrossed in his reports, not sparing Pherik a second glance.
Serpent was taken aback by the abrupt dismissal, but cooperated nonetheless. He rose, and opened his mouth as if to speak, but no, he left the meeting room instead.
-----
As he emerged onto the bridge of the
Blazing Crown, Serpent found the ship’s First Officer, Lieutenant Joshate, standing close by.
“Excuse me,” Said the man, who was human like all of the crew Pherik had seen thus far. “Captain Zail. I was wondering if you and your senior staff would like a tour of the ship. If you have time.”
Serpent’s people were standing nearby. The Weapons Chief Kol Yandeer, the Second Officer Farish Quinn, and Communications Officer Dev Mishima. Zail looked at them all and shrugged. “Sure, show me my father’s pride and joy.”
“I would have thought that was
you, sir,” Said Joshate lightly.
“You would,” Murmured Pherik, “But you’d be wrong.”
Whether anyone picked up on the comment no one reacted to it, and instead Zail and his people fell into step behind the Lieutenant.
They left the bridge and took a tour of the ship. Pherik pushed thoughts of his father from his mind and instead savoured the chance to see one of the old
Venator-Class Star Destroyers up close. They saw the engine room and the hangar deck, the mess hall and sensor suite.
Serpent and his officers commented on how well run the ship was, how orderly and clean. A good ship was a credit to its crew, and the crew a credit to its Captain, and before he knew it, Pherik was again thinking of Ardus. He was of the belief that, despite their problems over the years, they were now getting on better.
Indeed, he was excited to come before his father this day. He had followed in Ardus’s footsteps, and like him had achieved captaincy of a Star Destroyer. Pherik hoped that his father would be proud. Was he wrong?
“What do you think?” Asked Joshate, interrupting his thoughts.
“Sorry?” Asked Zail. They were currently at the guns of the
Blazing Crown, investigating the old vessel’s still formidable armament.
The Lieutenant frowned, as if fearing he had misspoken. “Sorry, sir, nothing major. It was just that some of the crew were hoping that you could help us,” He said. “We need you to settle a bet.”
Serpent raised an eyebrow in confusion, and bid them explain.
-----
Pherik sat at the controls of a DBY- 827 Heavy Duel Turbolaser turret, familiarising himself with the controls. He had been training with starship weapons recently, not to mention overseeing the gunners of the
Brilliant. This was somewhat different, however.
“So what is the score I have to beat?” He asked Joshate, who was now just one of several
Blazing Crown personnel present.
“One thousand three hundred and ninety nine,” Said the First Officer. “Your father set it during the Clone Wars, and in all these years no one has managed to beat it.”
“And you think I can?” Asked Pherik, still confused by the proposition put to him by the ship’s gunners.
“Well, some think no, others think yes,” Said Joshate. “There’s a lot of money riding on the idea that someone can beat the Captain’s record, and well... you’re his son. Figure you’ve got a good chance.”
Serpent sighed. It had taken them a lot of persuading to get him into the turret, and he still was not convinced that he could do this. However, he did relish a challenge, and three of his own bridge officers were in attendance to cheer him on. “Okay, let’s go,” He said at last.
The training system was far more classic than the one used on the
Brilliant. Instead of hologram targets, pods of garbage were launched from the Star Destroyer at random intervals and angles, and it was Zail’s job to shoot them. The DBY- 827’s targeting computer analysed the speed and accuracy of every hit, and then calculated and awarded points accordingly.
Serpent stared across the gun barrels and out into space, and he heard Joshate activate the training systems.
The first garbage pod flew into Pherik’s field of vision from the right, and he swung the turbolaser turret towards it. He resisted the urge to fire a volley, knowing that he would be rated on the shot-to-hit ratio, and waited a split second for the perfect angle. He fired once, and scowled as he misjudged the distance. The target slipped past, but he quickly readjusted and fired again, catching it with the second shot.
Now two more pods launched, from the top and from the high left, and Serpent hurried to get a lock on them. To his delight, and the cheering of the assembled
Brilliant crewmen, he nailed both in quick succession.
More targets came within his firing arc. From left and right, and now moving at a variety of different speeds. Zail fired on instinct now, barely noticing the whir of gears and the shudder of the canon barrels as they slid alternately. A few shots went wide, their course and speed beyond his ability to judge, but many more connected. Holding himself to a high standard, he snarled in anger at every miss, and even at those hits that were less than dead centre.
The timer on the exercise ticked down, and eventually the computer buzzed to announce its end. The power to the turbolasers automatically shut off, and Pherik slowly rose from the turret chair.
“Okay,” Said Joshate, “Let’s have a look,” And so saying he accessed the targeting system and brought up Zail’s score. The figure flashed up on screen in bright green figures.
978. A full three hundred short of Ardus Zail’s record.
Joshate and the
Blazing Crown gunners cheered, evidently having bet against Pherik, and his own people looked crest-fallen. “No way,” Said Kol Yandeer.
“I tried,” Said Pherik sadly. “But I guess I’m just not my father,” And so saying he walked off.
-----
An hour later and Zail was back on the
Brilliant, dealing with an emergency in the engine room. A headache was growing in Serpent’s skull, and as he spoke to his Chief Engineer he idly rubbed at his temples, trying to get rid of it.
“So, can we go
anywhere?” He asked her.
“Sorry, sir,” Replied Xela Fendar, her dangling face tentacles dancing lightly as she spoke softly. “We had no idea the hyperdrive was this close to collapse. We should have spent longer in dry-dock following all the battles we’ve been in.”
“Why didn’t your people catch this before now?” He asked in exasperation.
The Khil woman shrugged helplessly. “It’s the sort of glitch that is only caught during a complete shut-down and maintenance.”
“Can you fix it?” Asked Pherik.
“It will take a few days,” She replied firmly, “Maybe thirty six hours.”
Zail’s headache jumped a gear in intensity.
“Okay,” He said, resisting the urge to yell at her. It was not her fault, and a raised voice would not magically fix the engine. “Get right on it, Xela,” He said, and headed to the bridge.
Once there he headed straight to his office, dropping into his chair and activating the communications system on his desk. It took a moment for his hail to the
Blazing Crown to be approved, and soon the image of his father floated above him.
“Captain Zail,” Said his father, his greeting cold as ever. “How goes your preparation?”
“Badly, sir,” He replied bluntly, following Ardus’ example of dealing with the other as a fellow Captain rather than a parent. “We have a
major glitch in the engines. The
Brilliant is going nowhere.”
The elder Zail frowned. “I am disappointed in you, Pherik,” He scolded, suddenly sounding like a father. “A Captain should take better care of his ship.”
“My ship runs like clockwork,” Serpent countered firmly. “This problem is brought about by simple wear and tear and combat stress. Or have you forgotten what it’s like to be on the front lines fighting our enemies?” He asked pointedly.
Annoyance flickered across Ardus’s craggy features. Unlike the
Brilliant, the
Blazing Crown was not part of the Second Fleet, and therefore did not get the chance to battle the likes of the Republic or Imperial Dominion.
The elder Zail set his face back to neutral and went on. “What do you suggest?”
“The
Redeemer could show up at any minute, and we need to hit it now while we still know it’s in this sector,” Said Pherik. “I suggest we quickly transfer as much equipment and personnel from my ship to yours. Torpedoes, Stormtroopers, even a squadron of my TIE fighter complement if we can squeeze them in to the
Blazing Crown’s hangar. When the Republic frigate appears, we hit it with your ship alone.”
The other Captain Zail nodded. “Very well,” He said. “Begin moving things across immediately.”
“Will do,” Said Pherik. “And one more thing,
I want to join you on your ship.”
Ardus’s blue eyes narrowed. “Really?”
“I began this mission, I want to see it through,” Said Serpent. “My XO and Chief Engineer can oversee the repairs in my absence.” He trusted in Xela Fendar, and he knew that his First Officer, Vagen Eosel, was just itching for a chance to run the
Brilliant, if only for a while.
“On my ship you would be under my command,” Said Ardus. “The privileges accorded your position of Captain would not apply, and with your rank alone you would not even be able to serve as one of my senior staff.”
“Then make me a gunner,” Said Pherik.
A grey-white eyebrow rose. “Very well,” Said his father.
-----
The following three hours were a frenzy of activity. The two Star Destroyers extended their docking tubes and shuttled over everything the
Brilliant had to spare, including personnel. There was a lot more that could have been done, but their highly complex operation had to cease when the
Blazing Crown received a distress signal from a VE Merchant Navy vessel.
It was under attack by a Republic Mon Calamari frigate. The
Redeemer had showed itself.
The docking tubes were withdrawn, and the
Brilliant was left with a skeleton crew as the other Star Destroyer rushed off to face the enemy.
Serpent sat in a long hall with four of the
Blazing Crown’s turbolasers placed along it. The weapons were already powering up in expectation of a fight, the whir of generators ringing loud through the chamber. From his position at the gunnery controls of Turbolaser Number Three, Serpent saw the brilliant blue and white of hyperspace rush by, knowing that it would only be a minute or two until they reached their foe and battle began.
Pherik looked to his left and right, at the gunners with him. The three personnel, two men and one woman, had quietly accepted his temporary appointment as their lead gunner, and he was counting on their professionalism to cooperate swiftly with his orders.
“Systems check,” He said, running through the standard start-up protocols of the DBY- 827 turret canon. The console at his right hand was green across the board, and the gunners at stations One, Two and Four reported the same.
Let the battle begin.
-----
The
Blazing Crown emerged from hyperspace right in the midst of the fighting. All at once Serpent’s vision went from the spectacle of faster-than-light travel to the scene of a Republic frigate bearing down on a trio of bulk cruisers. Pherik’s eyes traced the smooth lines of the
Redeemer’s Mon Calamari design, a type of vessel not possessed by the Vast Empire. There were few other types of ship that Zail so instantly associated with the word ‘enemy’.
It only took a few moments for the
Redeemer to switch targets, ignoring its transport prey and turning its weapons on the
Blazing Crown. Turbolasers erupted, spewing fire towards the Star Destroyer as it launched its complement of X-Wings. Instantly his father’s ship responded, launching both its TIEs and the
Awe Squadron off the
Brilliant.
The order from the bridge came through Pherik’s headset. “Target the X-Wings! Fire at will!”
Serpent’s hand danced across the nearby targeting computer, updating it with data from the bridge Sensor Station. The enemy fighters were tagged from One to Twelve, and as he watched their approach he picked one out for the gunners in his section. “Prioritise hostiles Seven and Eight!” He called.
“Yes, sir!” They confirmed and opened fire.
Zail took aim at number Eight, and waited for it to come closer. His hands took the grip of the guns, holding it firmly but not too much so. His words to young Mr Traquan coming back to him;
gunnery is not about throttling the turbolaser.
The range finder ticked down, and as soon as it hit one point six kilometres, he squeezed the trigger. Neon-green fire blazed from the nozzle of his canon, tracing a line across space. The X-Wings, agile and with experienced pilots, banked and dived out of the way. Number Eight was not about to oblige Pherik by getting hit, and he chased after it.
Serpent felt the turret chair sway underneath him as he swung the canon to the left, then up sharply. One of the odd problems of being a gunner was simply staying seated but he was strapped in tightly.
Suddenly Zail got a break. Fire from one of the other gunners intersected Eight’s flight path, redirecting his course. Serpent readjusted quickly, taking advantage, and sharply angling his turbolaser to the low right. He squeezed the trigger, and a volley of shots collided with the wing of the Republic fighter.
It listed, clearly damaged, but Pherik was rarely in a mood for mercy. He followed its doomed path, laying on the fire, and did not let go of the trigger until the X-Wing was obliterated.
“Got one!” He called triumphantly into his headset.
Zail heard some words of congratulations from his fellows, but he had no time to acknowledge them. He was already turning to his section’s next designated target, X-Wing number Seven, trying to hit it before it passed outside his firing arc.
He was just trying to get a lock on it, when it rolled and changed course suddenly, pursued by a duo of TIE Interceptors. “Hold fire!” He called instantly, loathe to hit any of his own people.
The other three gunners complied instantly, a testament to their training and discipline. Pherik was forced to sit idly by and watch as the TIEs did his job for him, chasing down and obliterating the X-Wing.
The job was done, at least, but Serpent felt pained that he had to let the foe slip away. There was a harsh side to gunnery, he now realised.
Once the Interceptors had passed, Zail went right back to looking for targets. When none appeared in his line of sight, he turned to the gunnery computer, scanning the surrounding space and looking for likely candidates to come dancing into his firing arc.
There! A single X-Wing was drawing close, about to come in to visual range. “Hard left people!” Serpent called, and he and his people angled their cannons in that direction, lying in wait for their prey to rush into their firing solutions.
Three.
Two.
One.
“Fire!” He called as the X-Wing came roaring across the
Blazing Crown’s hull. All four cannons in Pherik’s section opened fire on it, four arcs of green laser fire intersecting at the Republic fighter. The ship made a good try at escaping, weaving in and out, but dodging four dedicated gunners simultaneously was just not happening.
It exploded brilliantly from the sustained fire, causing Zail to wince a bit under the intensity. When his eyes had recovered he realised that he had no idea which of them had dealt the killing blow. “We’ll share that one,” He said into his headset, and heard the others concur with the assessment.
Serpent turned again to the targeting computer, looking for more likely suspects, but none presented themselves. He widened the scan, and it took him a few moments to realise the truth. “They are all gone! We got them all!”
It took Pherik a few seconds to process this, but it was quite obvious. The
Redeemer only carried twelve fighters, and the
Blazing Crown was carrying three times that. Their victory in the starfighter arena was assured.
Just as he realised this he heard a voice in his headset. The ship’s Weapons Officer was confirming the annihilation of the X-Wings, and informing the gunners that they would now be changing target. The
Blazing Crown was pulling alongside the Republic frigate, and the capital ship on capital ship slugging match was about to begin.
Zail watched the
Redeemer grow larger in his sight, and realised suddenly that he had never engaged in this form of fighting before. Surely it would be simple? If he could hit a fast moving starfighter, then it stood to reason that he could hit a five hundred meter long warship that completely filled his vision.
As they drew closer his opposite numbers on the Republic vessel opened fire, and the shields of the
Blazing Crown blazed bright azure as they absorbed the intense fire.
Quickly, however, Pherik’s keen blue eyes picked out the angle of their foe’s attack. They were not just firing indiscriminately, their shots were targeted. They were aiming for the Star Destroyer’s turbolasers!
So
that was the game! Understanding at once, Serpent used the targeting computer to bring up a schematic of the MC30c, and marked the frigate’s gun emplacements as targets. “Gunners! Aim for the turbolaser marked ‘Cresh’!” He ordered, and they opened fire at once.
Mon Calamari designs had tough shields, and the
Redeemer was little different in this regard. A constant barrage of fire rained up the Republic warship, but it held firm for a long time. Fortunately, so did the shields of the
Blazing Crown, for which Serpent was thankful. He knew that the moment the Star Destroyer’s deflectors failed, he and his fellow gunners would be prime targets.
Some pilots whispered that capital ship gunners had it easy, that they fired but had little risk of being fired at in turn. Zail now knew this for a lie.
The moment that thought entered his head, though, so did another. Pherik looked at his firing pattern, at his prioritising of the enemy’s canons, and suddenly realised his mistake. He had been looking at the frigate as a
gunner did, in terms of self-preservation, as a man trying to destroy the one thing capable of harming him.
But Serpent was not a gunner, he was a
Captain, and his first priority was not his life, his first priority was the mission!
“Change target!” He ordered at once. “Hit the engines of the
Redeemer instead!”
A voice came back over his headset, from the man at Turbolaser One. “Please confirm, sir. We are no longer aiming for their weapons?”
“Confirmed!” Said Zail. “Our mission is to stop this frigate preying on VE shipping. Any moment now it’s going to try and flee and carry on that mission, and our job here is to stop it. Now hit the fraking engines!” He roared.
They shifted targets, laying on the fire, and a few moments later the shields of the
Redeemer began to fail. Alas, so did the shields of the
Blazing Crown! Republic fire ripped into the hull of the aged Star Destroyer, obliterating a gunnery position a few decks down from Pherik’s section.
“Keep going!” He ordered, heedless of the fact that he could be next.
Serpent and his people locked onto the engines of the MC30c, ripping through its depleted deflectors and tearing flaming gouges in its thrusters sections. The rear end of the
Redeemer crumpled, secondary explosions erupting along it.
“Yes!” Exclaimed Zail in sudden triumph.
Moments later the hail of fire from the
Redeemer ceased, and escape pods began to launch from the dying frigate. Serpent and the other
Blazing Crown gunners continued to lay on fire, sealing the warship’s fate, and the battle was swiftly concluded.
The day belonged to the Vast Empire.
-----
A day later and the
Brilliant had finished repairs and transferred back all the personnel and equipment that Zail had had loaned to the
Blazing Crown. The two vessels were just about ready to go their separate ways, and Pherik was headed to see his father one last time before he and his ship got underway.
“Come!” Said Ardus Zail’s voice from the other side of the door.
Serpent stepped through, into the bridge office of his father. He glanced around at the immaculately clean room, sparse in its decor. A portrait of their lost home world of Alderaan hung on one wall, as did several of the medals and honours that Ardus Zail had received in his service to the Republic, the Empire, and the VE.
And on the desk at which his father sat was a hologram. It showed the Zail family, all four of them, Pherik’s dead brother and mother included. “That was the day at the zoo**, wasn’t it?” He asked.
“Yes,” Said Ardus, his eyes drifting sadly to the picture before gesturing for his son to sit opposite him.
Serpent took the seat and got straight to business. “The
Brilliant will be underway as soon as I return to her. I am here to officially apologise for our lack of presence in the battle, and to congratulate you and your crew on a job well done.”
“Noted,” Said the other Captain Zail.
Pherik observed the absence of a ‘thank you’ and grew instantly angry. “Well if that will be all then I’ll be off!” He snapped, rising and heading for the door.
“Sit, Pherik!” Commanded his father.
Serpent paused and turned to look back at his sole surviving parent. “Why? The official business is over, we can go back to our lives now.”
Ardus Zail sighed, opened a nearby drawer and pulled out a bottle of Corellian ale and two glasses. “Perhaps I owe you an apology.”
“Perhaps?”
“Fine. Yes, I owe you an apology. I have hardly said two words to you, and for that I am sorry,” Said the Captain, pouring the drinks and handing one to his son.
“Just tell me why,” Asked Pherik, taking a seat.
“When last we spoke face to face you were headed off to the Academy, to join the VEN**,” Said Ardus. “Now you come before me, having risen meteorically through the ranks to command a Star Destroyer yourself. Doing in a few years what took me
decades.”
This was not about jealousy, Serpent knew, so he said, “You feared I wasn’t worthy?”
His father nodded. “But not now. You showed great humility in giving up your captaincy for the good of the mission and placing yourself under my command. And then you showed great skill at the gunnery position, a position I held myself once.”
“I recall,” Said Pherik.
“What I am trying to say, son,” Said Ardus with a smile, “Is that I am proud of you.”
“That’s all I ever wanted to hear,” Replied Serpent, and they clinked glasses in a toast before drinking together.
As equals.
- OOC:
- 5171 words. My Cert story for Bridge Officer Tier 3! I’ve wanted to do a story re-uniting my character and his father for a long time, and this was the perfect chance. I hope the character development did not get in the way of the cert!
After Action Report: Serpent’s ship, the Brilliant, meets up with the ship of his father Ardus Zail, the Blazing Crown. Together they are to track and destroy the Republic MC30c Redeemer, but the Brilliant develops a fault and can’t go. Serpent transfers some of his people to the Blazing Crown, with Serpent himself serving as one of the Crown’s Gunners for the battle. Serpent serves well and earns his father’s respect.
* See Serpent: Gunnery, here, for the details of that incident.
** See Serpent’s Father: The Story of Ardus Zail, here, for the details.
