jeriendhal | Fic: Captive of the Red Vixen, Part One

Okay, I'm going straight to Hell now.

"Milord!" the first mate said, hand pressed to the com at his ear. "Engineering has been taken by the pirates!"

"Anything from bridge?" Rolas asked, feeling his heart sink. He could hear his crew firing at the pirates from ten meters forward and around the corner from his own callback position, but the intensity had lessened as one after another of his loyal crew had fallen.

The first mate grimaced. "Nothing, milord. We have to assume it's been taken as well."

Rolas closed his eyes, tail drooping in defeat. "That's it then, we've lost." Lost everything.

"We can still fight, milord. If we move into the ductwork...."

"They can just shut down the life support then and flush us out. No, I won't have any more casualties on my honor." He raised his voice to the crew ahead, still intent on protecting their Lord. "Stand down! Hold your fire and stand down!" He walked around the corner, into the middle of the corridor, in plain view of the battlesuited pirates guarding the far end, while a pitiful three remaining of the original dozen or so of his defenders still knelt behind a hasty barrier of metal shipping boxes. The rest lay crumpled on the floor, breathing still, Holy Den Mother be thanked. The pirates had evidentially been on the hunt for slaves as well as cargo, so they had used stunners, even in the face of the crew's plasma weapons. Not that those small arms had done much good in the face of armored troops.

"Surrender!" one of the pirates called out. He was creo, judging from the rough gutturals in his speech, even through the distorting effect of his battlesuit's communicator.

Rolas raised his arms above his head. "We surrender. Crew, throw down your weapons and come forward." His crew, all good vulpine souls, obeyed their lord and came out, placing their hands atop their heads and kneeling on the floor at the lead pirate's order.

“I ask for mercy for my crew,” Rolas said.

The pirate lieutenant chuckled. “I ain't the one to ask. Don't worry, the captain will be here to take care of you.” And with that their hands were bound behind their backs with cufftape and they were moved with none too gentle shoves forward to the ship's mess, where they and the rest of the still conscious crew were made to wait.

“Who do you think they are, milord?” his first mate whispered.

“Just pray they aren't part of Mavra Chan's fleet,” Rolas whispered back. He looked around the mess, counting heads as unconscious crew members were dragged in, to be bound and wait for the pirate captain's pleasure. He didn't think the pirates belonged to that infamous warlord. For one, they wouldn't have been so merciful as to use stunners, even if they were hunting for slaves.

“Well, well, well,” a female voice called out from the hatchway. “What a fine crew we've caught today, gentlemen.” To Rolas' ears it sounded vulpine, a fact confirmed when she walked into the room.

“Goddess bless us, it can't be...” his mate began to mutter, then his jaw dropped open when she entered.

Vulpine. Female. Those basic facts managed to register on Rolas' brain while the rest of it spun crazily. A very beautiful female, with fine features, a dancer's elegant gait, and a voice that sounded of pure honey. Her pelt was deep red, save for her black paws, and her eyes were a penetrating ice blue. She was dressed outrageously, in little more than a pair of wide red silken sashes at her hips and busom, accented by a very practical gunbelt that held a large stunner pistol. Rolas' eyes began to water as her scent, or rather her perfume, hit his nostrils, making her smell of smoke and heather. She looked over the gathered prisoners with a smile upon her lips.

“I am the Red Vixen,” she announced. “Which of you is the ship's captain?”

TBC