Special Notes: This story was already written to fit the 25k character limit of the Rendo writers gallery before the incident, so I'm putting it here. I also have to give many many kudos to Tina for expertly resolving the situation that occurred. My significant says I should finish off the last ten chapters as it wouldn't be right to just yank the trilogy at the last ten chapters. Then she says to do the second trilogy on the new site. I hate it when she gets all reasonable on me. [The Princes XX] [Hideout] Fox sat in the Captain’s chair of the Ava Bachen pirate ship and watched out the front view port as asteroids slipped passed the ship. Tolo and Tana was busy piloting the ship through the dangerous field of rock the size of houses as Seni searched for a safe navigation route. The rest of the crew were stationed at view ports around the ship calling out asteroids coming too close. There really wasn’t much for Fox to do so he pulled out his Carina Corax and read. The philosophical debate between the Carina and Corvus Orbs, the advanced species that Fox now knew terraformed the planets Carina and Corvus, seemed to surround the methodology of how to best raise the two species up to a technological level. Corvus promoted cultural manipulation of the Daraian people while Carina advocated the Carinians growth through genetic manipulation. But—something was missing. There was no reference to the actual creation of the two species, though Fox was still a long way from completing the translation. The ship shuttered as it grazed a large asteroid and Tolo cursed. “There’s too many of them,” said Tolo. “Damage?” asked Fox not looking up from his book. “Hull armor held,” reported Seni. “No damage.” “Why isn’t Falon flying the ship?” asked Fox. “I own the ship,” replied Tolo. “Falon and Goa, take the helm,” ordered Fox. Tolo and Tana protested fiercely but a glance from Fox got them out of the pilots chairs and the Daraians sat down; Falon took the pilot’s position while Goa took the co-pilot; the difference was almost immediately noticeable as the ship settled down and glided around the asteroids. “What do you want us to do?” asked Tolo tersely. “There’s no one at the engineering station,” said Fox. “That’s where you belong, and Tana can take the communications station.” “So they’re the pilots from now on?” asked Tana also upset. “You should have had them flying from the start,” said Fox calmly. “Wasting talent is why you haven’t been successful.” Falon danced the ship through the asteroid field and Fox decided to quote a few passages of the Carina Corax. “I am the light that holds the darkness of the deep…” Falon dodged between two asteroids with only inches to spare. “…I am the light that brings order from the chaos, I am the keeper of the day…” Falon headed straight for a large asteroid spinning wildly and Fox switched to the Corvus Corax and recited. “…I am the shadow that holds the darkness from the light…” Falon flipped up and over the asteroid; the cargo ship performed acrobatic moves it surely wasn’t intended for. "The ship isn't made to do this," Tolo screamed. “…I am the shadow that brings order from the chaos, I am the keeper of the night…” Falon spun the ship in a long arc and the Ava Bachen gracefully passed through the center of a hollow asteroid. Tana ran over and knelt beside Fox’s Captain chair and gripped the arm-rest. Goa, the female Hawk, glanced back at Fox. “I’ll be damned, you’re a Shadow Priest!” “…the innocent can walk in the light because I dwell in the dark. I am the shadow and I am true and right, do not fear, I will hold back the night." “Some of that’s from the Corvus Corax,” said Falon looking back at Fox, “but it’s from the section intended for Ravens, Goa might be right, but at the very least you’re a Shadow Warrior?” Fox pointed at the view port calmly and nodded. Falon turned back to his controls and fired the reverse thrusters and ducked under an asteroid, the ground rushed by only inches from the view port for at least five-hundred feet before the ship sailed off into space again. “Not all things that dwell in the shadows are Ravens,” said Fox to cover his confusion; the section intended for Ravens? Wasn’t the entire Corvus Corax for Ravens? He would have to re-look at the Corax. “I heard the Ravens have been bringing off-worlders into their Temple,” said Falon, “and Shadow Warrior graduation happens around this time of year and now we find you out here. Where’s your mate, Raven?” “I left her,” said Fox setting down the Corax. Falon was unraveling the mystery quicker than he thought any of them could have. He would probably end up having to tell them anyway though. “What’s that mean?” asked Tolo, his eyes glued on the view port as Falon continued their death trek through the field of lethal rocks. “He’s a Raven Shadow Warrior that left his mate and now he’s an outcast just like the rest of us,” explained Falon. “I don’t get it?” said Tolo. “The Ravens allow their males the right to leave their mate, but if they do they are cast out of the Temple,” explained Falon. Fox was relieved, Falon’s guess was close but he didn’t really know who he was. The explanation would be good enough for now though, they would all believe him an outcast now and accept him more readily. “Aren’t Shadow Warriors those assassins?” asked Tana. “Yes they are,” said Goa. “We are all very lucky to still be alive.” “A gigantic galaxy and billions of targets and my idiot brother attacks the most dangerous man in a thousand light years,” said Tolo. “Worked out for us,” said Goa. “I got no problem fighting beside a Raven, even if you are an off-worlder Raven.” “I thought Hawks hated Ravens?” said Fox. “I don’t know, some do, some don’t, but I’m different, obviously,” said Goa. “I mated with a Falcon.” “There’s the hideout,” Falon announced. Fox looked up and wondered where. “I don’t see anything,” said Fox. “Oh, it’s there,” said Falon. “Hey Tolo, watch how it’s done.” Falon spun the ship into a descent and headed directly for a very large asteroid, or maybe a small planetoid, Fox wasn’t sure of the correct designation. The ship rotated again until the bridge was facing down towards the asteroid. “You’re insane!” shouted Tolo holding on to the engineering command chair with white knuckles and looking very pale. “What’s wrong?” asked Fox innocently. “He’s landing upside-down,” shouted Tolo. “That’s why it takes you an hour to land,” said Falon. “There is no up or down, you always think wrong and that’s why you can’t fly.” Falon guided the ship through a landing tunnel and down several hundred feet. The ship rotated again until it was facing up. Falon completed the rotation only moments before the ship landed on it’s struts. “Well, we’re on the ground, lets see this hideout of yours,” said Fox. Kota staggered onto the bridge followed by the smallest Demonian Fox had ever seen. “Who was flying?” demanded Kota while the small Demonian cursed and shouted in his native tongue. Fox replied in the Demonian language and the small reptilian increased the volume of his shouts and his tail dropped low and whipped back and forth. Fox calmly walked over to the Demonian and punched him in the nose. The Demonian staggered back and dropped his head, the barb of his tail flattened to the ground. “Now, who’s going to show me the hide-out?” asked Fox walking past the Demonian and the wide-eyed Kota. The Demonian fell in meekly behind Fox and followed him off the bridge, the others scrambled to catch up. “Why did you hit Rock?” asked Kota. “Demonians are a hierarchal society and only understand dominance or submissiveness,” explained Fox. “Rock and I now have an understanding.” The crew made their way to the cargo bay where Fox’s Needle ship was and found a large man polishing Fox’s ship. “I take it this is Squish?” asked Fox. Squish looked up from his task and smiled a big innocent smile. “Yes, that’s Squish,” said Kota. “He’s a half-wit.” “Squish like shiny ship,” said the large man and then frowned. “Squish not a half-wit.” Fox approached the man and patted him on the shoulder. “Are you good at cleaning things?” asked Fox. Squish nodded emphatically and smiled. “Squish make shiny,” said the man. “That is a very important job on this crew,” Fox told the large man then turned to the rest of the crew. “Nobody is to call him a half-wit again, understood?” The rest of the crew nodded and Fox saw approval from Mono and Leto, the Cormon warriors. On Cormon everyone had purpose; the elderly, the young, the infirm, and even those with limited mental abilities could sharpen a sword or prepare armor; the lowest was just as important as the greatest General. Fox walked down the ramp and surveyed the pirate hideout. The hideout was a very large square metal box at first appearance, but Fox knew better, this was a ship airlock. Makeshift living shelters were built against one wall of the structure and an assortment of crates full of nothing valuable was scattered around the floor. On the other side was a smaller mining ship against the wall. The ship looked like it had seen better days. Wires dangled down, one engine was missing; the whole ship had been salvaged. Fox looked up at the Ava Bachen and figured some of those patched hull plates probably came from the old mining ship. Fox wasn’t interested in the pirates living area and walked to the massive blast doors intended to bring ships through. The blast doors were scarred and blackened, someone had tried very hard to get through these doors. “Did you do this?” Fox asked Kota. “Naw, we don’t have anything big enough to make those marks,” replied Kota. “They were like that when we found this place.” “How did you find it?” asked Fox. “We used to just hide in the outer part of the asteroid belt, that’s when we used that old Carinian mining ship over there,” explained Tolo. “Then an Imperial Battle Carrier shows up and we hid and watched them going in and out of the asteroid field for a month.” “Yea, after they left we searched around and found this place,” continued Kota. “The Ava Bachen was just floating outside abandoned, so we took it.” “Mono guessed the Ava Bachen must have been in here and in their way and they shoved it outside before they started blasting away on these doors,” said Tolo. Goa and Falon wandered over to see what was going on. “Do you know why those Imperials wanted in there so bad?” asked Goa. “Yes, I do,” said Fox laying his hand on the blast doors and smiling. “These are supply stations, they are all over the galaxy and are how the Kitsune can sustain invasions without the need for long supply lines.” “They can’t open their own supply stations?” asked Tolo. “Lord Wolf isn’t the real Emperor and doesn’t have the Imperial Command Codes to access these,” said Fox. “I wish we could get inside,” said Kota. “We would be the greatest pirates ever. Mono and Leto busied themselves scratching symbols into the blast door; something Fox thought they must do a lot; the door was covered in Cormon runes. “Rock, can you give me a list of what the ship needs?” asked Fox “It needs to be pushed into a junkyard,” replied Rock timidly. Fox laughed and turned away from the blast doors, “Lets make due with what we have, come on everyone, we have a lot of work to do. I want to take down our first ship in two weeks.” The pirates showed Fox the rest of their little home and prepared a meager feast of something that may or may not have been meat. The Cormons struck up a chant and danced while the others watched on. The two Daraians joined the dance and then Squish joined in with his own version of the dance. The crew spent the next several weeks working on the Ava Bachen. Engines were dismantled, control panels pulled apart, access plates pulled up. Fox saw one recurring theme throughout the ship. The ship was in very bad shape. Three weeks later the pirates were still working on getting the ship to the standard Fox wanted when Rock stomped out of the Ava Bachen cursing and dragging cables and wires behind him. “It’s impossible, this thing just won’t fly much longer,” shouted Rock. “There’s a reason the Imperials abandoned this thing.” Fox glanced up from the inverter he was working on as the small Demonian dragged the multi-colored wires across the floor. Fox had set up some crates in a u-shape and created a work space where he soldered and hobbled pieces back together, it really was a miracle the ship had even remained flying as long as it had. Fox looked at the part he was trying to fix, it was hopeless. He was trained to fix minor things on a Needle ship and small cargo ships, but this ship needed a complete refit. If he attacked anything bigger than a mining tug, the ship wouldn’t stand a chance. “Rock,” shouted Fox. “Get everyone out here.” The crew gathered around and waited for their Captain to say something. Fox looked each one in the eyes before speaking. Falon or maybe Rock was the oldest of the group at maybe twenty-four. Would they be old enough to remember, or understand. He really didn’t have a choice, he would need their cooperation. “We need parts,” said Fox. “Where are we going to get them?” asked Tolo. Fox tapped a command code into his wrist implant and the massive blast doors on the other side of the ship airlock began opening. “How?” asked Kota. The entire crew stared at Fox confused, Falon figured it out first. “You said those doors would only open with an Imperial code.” “Only the Emperor has the codes,” replied Fox. “How did you get them?” asked Tana. “Emperor Tarin died when I was thirteen,” said Falon. “That was ten years ago, but I remember watching the news Vids with my father. Emperor Tarin crowned his son the new Emperor. I don’t remember the boy’s name, but he was six.” “My name is Sionnach.” “Your father got you out before the nuclear war on Kitsune, didn’t he?” asked Falon. “Actually, I lived through two nuclear blasts,” said Fox. “Ancestors! How strong are the Kitsune?” asked Kota. “You were going to use us,” said Mono, the male Cormon warrior, “but the ship is so damaged you need the supplies in there, so now you’re forced to tell us.” Mono pointed at the open blast door into the supply station. “Yes, I am,” said Fox. “Wait,” said Kota confused. “There’s no booty?” “I fully intend to let you keep as much loot as you like,” replied Fox. “I only want you to attack as many Imperial ships as possible and be a thorn in Lord Wolf’s side.” Mono and Leto turned and walked away. “We need to discuss this,” said Mono. The rest of the crew followed Mono and left Fox standing alone. Fox watched them walk away towards the shelters against the wall and then headed towards the open blast doors to see what he could find. The interior of the supply station was a massive ship yard and supply warehouse built into the planetoid. The Ava Bachen could be moved into here and completely refitted, with one problem, he needed real engineers to complete the refit. Fox left the supply station and returned to his Needle ship that was now sitting outside the Ava Bachen. He left the blast doors open and wrote a quick note to the pirates to move the Ava Bachen inside the ship yard if they could. Fox climbed into his Needle ship and lifted off and up through the launch tunnel. He needed help and a Com-signal wouldn't get out through this much rock. Two hours later Fox returned and maneuvered his Needle ship inside the ship yard and out of the way. The pirates sat around the ramp of the Ava Bachen waiting for Fox. “Where you been?” asked Kota. “Making a call” asked Fox. “Have you decided what you want to do?” “You shouldn’t have tried to use us,” said Mono. “And we suppose you want to keep it a secret who you are?” “Yes,” said Fox. “Do we really get to keep all our loot?” “Yes, I just want you to annoy and disrupt Imperial ships as much as possible,” said Fox. “You going to keep the Gunslingers off us?” “I don’t really control them.” “What happens when you’re the Emperor?” “I’m the Emperor right now,” said Fox. “I have all the Imperial Command Codes, the entire Imperial treasury, and unlike Lord Wolf who is bottled up in his Palace, I’m free to move about.” “Okay, but what happens when you sit on the throne,” asked Mono, “are you going to double-cross us?” “You will have died a hundred years earlier of old age by the time my plan to retake the throne is complete,” explained Fox. “We get to kill Imperials?” asked Mono. “I plan on putting Wolf heads on pikes all over the galaxy.” Mono raised an eyebrow and Kota paled slightly. “I’m not sure which of us is the pirate,” said Mono. “You are a terrifying man.” “My ancestors didn’t conquer the galaxy by being nice,” said Fox, his eyes narrowed and sparkled dangerously. “We really get to kill anyone?” asked Leto. “Start with House Wolf, and no Gunslingers,” said Fox. “As we discover the other House’s that helped Lord Wolf we will add them to the list.” “I agree,” said Falon. “There’s no honor in killing those that are not our enemy.” “You have too much honor, Falon,” said Tolo. “Alright then, you’re with me?” asked Fox. “No, we couldn’t care less about you getting your throne back,” said Mono. “We just want to get rich.” “Well, that’s a start,” said Fox. “What’s Squish doing?” “He’s trying to push the ship into that supply station like you asked,” said Kota. “None of us know how to use the lifts.” Squish had his shoulder to the back of he Ava Bachen and had been trying to push it into the supply station for the last half-hour. “Someone go stop him before he hurts himself,” ordered Fox. “Give him something useful to do.” Rock went over and grabbed Squish and put him on untangling the mass of wire that had been dragged out of the ship. Fox’s pirates worked on the ship the best they could and inventoried equipment, weapons, spare parts and other things they could use from the supply station. Kota found an entire fleet of Needle ships tucked away on a lower level of the station and Fox dragged two of them out to add to his own. Four days later Squish ran into the ship yard yelling and the pirates ran out to the outer ship lock to see three cargo ships descending through the launch tunnel. “It’s okay everyone,” shouted Fox. “I called them here to help us.” “Who are they?” asked Tolo. “Daraians,” replied Fox. Falon and Goa were instantly interested, it had been months since they had seen another Daraian. The cargo ships landed and the ramps lowered. Fox walked over to greet the Daraians exiting the ships. A tall Daraian met Fox half-way and the pirates gathered around behind Fox to listen. “I’m Lord Sparrow.” “You are not the Lord Sparrow I knew,” said Fox. “You knew my father, he died of a horrible sickness several years ago,” said Lord Sparrow. “He told me about you and to help if Blue Fox ever contacted me.” “I hoped he would remember that,” said Fox. “He was a good and honorable man, my Raven father died of the same illness, I am truly sorry.” “Well, this is going to cost you a fortune,” said Lord Sparrow. “I don’t know why my father helped you and I’m only here out of respect for my father’s wishes. Now, what do you want?” “I want to buy fifty-one percent of the Dart Ship line,” said Fox. “You may have forty-nine percent, it will make you very wealthy, but, we are partners and allies from now on.” “You want to buy a ship that hasn’t been built and can never be built?” “Why do you say it can’t be built?” asked Fox. “The engines won’t work on that design, it was a great idea, but there is a light speed barrier, it just won’t work.” Fox handed Lord Sparrow a notebook. The Daraian opened the book and read the equations on the first page and then flipped through the rest of the pages filled with equations. “Oh ancestors, is this a trans-dimensional drive?” “Not quite,” replied Fox. “We do not have the technology yet for a pure trans-dimensional drive, but you will build me a Carrier one day with one. For now, that’s a hybrid light-speed trans-dimensional drive that will significantly break the current speed barrier. Do we have a deal?” “We need to talk figures,” said Lord Sparrow. “Without me, you have a pretty drawing of a ship hanging on the wall,” said Fox taking the notebook and writing a rather small figure on the cover. Lord Sparrow crossed through the figure and wrote a new number. The two men went back and forth for several minutes before Lord Sparrow agreed. “Congratulations, Master Fox, you are the majority owner of the Dart Ship.” Lord Sparrow tucked the notebook away and looked up at the Ava Bachen next. “So, is this the pirate ship you want me to fix?” “You know what this place is?” asked Fox. “I know what it is,” said Lord Sparrow. “Never thought I would get this close to one.” “You make my pirate ship into a Battleship and you can keep everything you find in this station.” “Deal,” said Lord Sparrow. Fox and the pirates got out of the way and let the House Sparrow engineers take over making the Ava Bachen into the most feared pirate ship that would ever fly.