Insertion

Episode 22: A New Hope

by Sean D'Anna

=====

A long, long time ago, in a galaxy not very far away...

=====

It is a time of great tension. The Moon Kingdom is in a power
struggle against an evil faction from a nearby solar system known as
the Intergalactic Federation. Diplomatic missions have not gone well,
and war seems eminent.

The evil Galactic Forces of Dark Valdis are converging for battle,
in order to strike against the Moon Kingdom. Spies have brought vital
information back to Queen Serenity in the hope of stopping the
invasion before it becomes a conflict that destroys the fragile peace
of the System. Along with unconfirmed reports of a super-weapon that
could sway the balance of power.

Mindful of spies within her own empire, the Queen sends her own
daughter, the Princess Serena with a message to the Galactic Imperial
Fleet, lead by Admiral Jadeite.

The young princess was intercepted by enemy forces on her way to
her transport on Earth, and now flees for her very life. Escaping to
the surface of the planet, she is now chased by the evil forces of the
Intergalactic Federation...

+++++++++

Ranma Saotome stood looking up at the sky. He'd been in this new
place for almost two weeks now and had yet to meet a single soul. He
was in a desolate place, surrounded by desert on all sides. Still,
there was enough to sustain him. He stared down at the spiral he had
drawn on the ground and frowned.

He was dressed in a black pair of pants, and had a white button up
shirt on with the sleeves rolled up. They had developed a dark tan
since arriving in the new place as well.

"You're sure about this?" muttered Dan as he looked at it.

"Well, I think we've got that 'Soul of Ice' thing down. The spiral
is the only other part we need to learn," replied Carrot with a small
shrug. "Unfortunately, without a sparring partner..."

"Right," agreed Ranma.

"We don't even know where we are, and you're worried about this
stupid technique?" said Pissant.

"If we find a way back, we need to be ready," replied Ranma.

"We need to toughen up too, we aren't fast enough to get this to
work easily," said Carrot with a small frown. "He's faster than us,
and we're going to take a few hits at least."

"He's right," said Dan.

"What's that noise?" commented Ranma as he forced them to look at
the horizon. A cloud of dust could be seen moving towards them in the
distance. It was too small to be a sandstorm though, and several
sparkles could be seen reflecting off the surface of some metal.

"Some kind of car?" said Carrot as he raised their hand to shield
his eyes.

A whining hum became more audible as the things approached. It was
obvious there were several of them. They were all moving at high
speed.

"Visitors," said Dan with a small frown.

Their forms became clearer as they closed in at high speed. There
was one large vehicle, and seven smaller ones. They were all hovering
above the sand and blasting forward.

"It's a chase," said Carrot as he noted energy bolts being fired
at the larger craft. "What the hell?"

"Get ready," said Ranma.

"That big one isn't returning fire, I don't think it's armed,"
commented Dan.

"Pirates?" asked Carrot.

"Could be," said Dan.

"Oh no. This is very bad," whined Pissant.

The smaller vehicles were like bikes with jet engines attached to
them. The larger ship looked somewhat like a boat with a flat bottom.
They were blowing huge clouds of dust up.

"What do we do?" asked Ranma with a slight tensing in his voice.

"Hopefully they won't notice us," said Dan.

Carrot had pulled something off of their belt and was holding it
ready. It was a long rod made of metal, they had it on them when they
were transported, but didn't get the chance to use it in the battle
before.

"They're heading right for us," said Ranma as the things moved
closer. They blasted by him, blowing up a cloud of sand in their path
as they roared through the area loudly.

"Shit!" cried Dan angrily as they shielded their face. They spun
around to watch the group move off.

"Two of them are circling back," said Carrot as he noticed two of
the bike like hovercraft break off of the main group and turn back
towards him.

A four-foot long blade of red light shot from the metal rod and he
readied himself in a kendo stance.

"Here they come!" said Ranma.

The men were dressed in black uniforms of some kind. The bikes had
long front ends with foils attached to the tips for steering. They
also had a laser mounted just below the foils. One of the bikes fired,
and Ranma moved the blade at impossible speeds, blocking the shots
with the blade and sending them ricocheting away. The two vehicles
passed him on either side, blowing up a gust of wind that knocked him
off of his feet.

The boy rolled back onto his feet as they circled around for
another pass.

"Get close to that one," snapped Carrot as he edged them closer to
where one of the bikes would pass.

"What? Are you crazy?" snapped Ranma.

"Do it!" agreed Dan.

The bikes passed by again, shooting another volley of laser blasts
at him. The blade worked in a blur once again, preventing any of the
shots from striking. As the one nearest to them moved by, the other
side of the weapon came to life, creating a double bladed weapon.
There was a spray of blood as the man fell in half. His bike continued
on with his lower half, and slowed quickly before crashing into the
sand a short distance away.

The remaining bike turned around again for another pass, it slowed
to a stop though a good distance away from them. It fired off a few
shots, and Ranma simply ignored them. They hit the ground around him
kicking up sand. He simply stared the man down coldly.

"I'm going to try something," said Carrot with a frown forming on
his face.

"What?" muttered Ranma.

Carrot simply smirked as he reached out with his chi. "If I can
make a chi ball, I think I can do this too."

"What are you doing?" muttered Dan as he felt the power doing
something.

"No! Stop it!" cried Pissant as he suddenly realized what was
going on.

The biker was lifted up off of his bike by an unseen force. He
grabbed at his neck desperately and kicked his feet as he slowly
choked in mid air.

"Whoa!" muttered Ranma in shock.

Carrot gave a grunt of effort, and the man's head popped off of
his shoulders. He blinked as the body slumped to the ground. "Oops,
too much..."

"No kidding," said Dan in awe. "Man, that was cool."

"Yeah, I'm tired though. That was much harder than I'd thought,"
said Carrot weakly.

Ranma ignored them and turned to look off in the distance at the
slowly fading dust cloud. He turned back towards the bike and frowned.

"What the hell are you thinking about?" said Dan.

"We're goin after em," said Ranma as he started to jog towards the
vehicle.

"What? No way! Do you have any idea how to pilot this thing?"
snapped Dan.

"Yeah. I used to have one," said Ranma calmly as he straddled the
hover bike and started to flip switches.

"Oh," said Dan dumbly.

"At least we know there's people here," said Carrot cheerfully. "I
get the feeling this is about to get even more interesting though."

"You enjoy things like this too much," said Pissant.

They shot forward like a bullet, leaving the dead men where they
lay.

++++++++++++

The howl of the bikers behind them was all they could hear.
"Princess! Stay low!" cried one of the three men around her.

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!" screamed the girl desperately as she ducked below
another bolt of light. One of the men fell off the side clutching at
his chest. "NO!"

"What are we going to do? All the bodyguards are dead!" cried one
of the men desperately as he looked at his only remaining companion.

"We've got to get away!" snapped the other man desperately as
small explosions rocked the ship as more laser fire hit it. Luckily,
the ship was made to take a bit of punishment, and the weapons they
were using where relatively low level.

"What the hell?" said the pilot as he looked on the horizon.

"What is it?"

"Up ahead, I see some canyons! Maybe we can lose them in those
rocks!" cried the man.

"Go then!"

"Do something!" cried the princess as she cowered on the floor of
the ship.

"Don't worry princess, we'll get a...AAAAAAA!" another of the ships
crew fell away, leaving only the pilot.

"We're not gonna make it!" cried the man desperately as he looked
over his shoulder.

Another shot struck the ship, and it lurched forward suddenly,
impacting on the ground and flipping over itself several times as it
tore itself apart along the ground.

The princess had been thrown out early and was lying face first on
the ground. The pilot hadn't been so lucky, the ship exploded in a
ball of fire a short distance away as she looked on in horror. The
bike gang buzzed past her and she staggered to her feet. "I've got to
get out of here!" She turned and ran towards the rock formations
nearby, hoping for some cover. The bikes had turned around already,
and the first few bolts of laser fire exploded around her. They closed
in towards her, one in particular bearing down on her directly. "No!"
she gasped as she realized that they had no intention of taking her
alive.

The bikes buzzed by her again and she fell to the ground from the
force of their passing. She looked up and gasped as she saw the one
that had been heading towards her spinning out of control before he
slammed into a pillar of stone and exploded. She gasped as she saw the
steering foils lying in the sand in front of her, cut off neatly. A
shadow loomed over her and she looked up.

A boy of about sixteen years old was sitting on one of the bikes
with his hand extended down. He was wearing strange glasses with a
tint too them much to dark for her to see his eyes.

"Who?" she muttered.

"Come with me if you want to live," said the boy with a stony
expression on his face.

She took his hand and he pulled her up behind him. "Hold on."

"Who are you?" she muttered.

"Talk later, run now," he replied as he noticed the bike gang
moving towards him. He opened up the engine and blasted forward into
the canyon.

The princess squealed in fright as they passed over and through
the narrow passageways of the canyon at top speed. Ranma's expression
was cold as he stared forward without looking back.

The bike gang had followed and showed their skill by keeping close
behind him. Occasionally they would be sprayed with stones as a
careless blast exploded nearby.

"Hold on tight," said Ranma.

"Huh?" muttered the girl in confusion.

The boy made a sharp turn off the side of a cliff and kicked the
rear of the bike out, turning it sideways in mid air. The vehicle
shifted and landed directly next to the opposite wall, barely managing
not to slam into the side of the smaller crack they had just dove
into.

Two of the bikers managed to duplicate the maneuver. The other two
slammed into the wall and exploded in a ball of flames.

After a moment, the canyon widened suddenly into an open field,
there were a few rock formations scattered around, creating natural
bridges and tunnels.

Ranma frowned as he noticed a particularly small portion of stone.
It was a small pillar with a hoop at the top; it was just large
enough. "Duck."

"Huh?" muttered the princess as she looked at him for a moment and
then turned her eyes forward. "No! You're crazyyyyyyy!" she screamed
as they blasted through the loop.

One of the others made it through; kicking on his air brakes to
slow his decent he turned and followed them as they moved back into
the narrow passageways again. The other was nothing more than a
flaming pile of debris.

Ranma growled as the man pulled up beside him, he reached out for
the princess and grabbed her hair. The girl squealed in pain and fear
as the man tried to lift her out of her seat.

There was a snapping noise followed by a distinctive hiss. The man
looked from the girl and back down to his chest. He was still holding
on to her hair and she stared back at him as he finally noticed the
blade of red light that was sticking through his chest.

He released the princess and Ranma turned the bike off to the
side.

The other merely screamed as he tried to correct his own steering.
It was too late, and he exploded as his vehicle slammed into the wall
of the canyon.

Ranma slowed and looked back for a moment as he realized that all
the attackers were beaten.

"WOOOOOW! That was so cool!" exclaimed the young princess
excitedly.

Ranma turned to look at her and did a double take. "Usagi?"

"Rabbit? Where?" said the princess as she looked around.

"Never mind, we're leaving," he said as he brought the bike to
life again and drove them away.

+++++++++++++

"So, um. Who are you?" said the young blond girl as she looked up
at her mysterious savior. They were sitting around a small campfire as
the sun set in the distance.

"I'm Ranma Saotome. Who the hell are you?" said the boy as he
looked at her.

"You mean...you don't know?" said the girl dumbly.

The boy shook his head for a moment and grinned at her.

"I am the Princess Serenity! Heir to the throne, ruler of the
Galaxy, Future leader of its armies, and soon to be leader of the
Senshi. My friends call me Princess Serena, but you're a commoner, so
Your Highness will have to do."

"Hey. I got news for you Serena. You're leading two things right
now. Jack and Shit, and Jack left town," said the boy sourly.

"Huh?" said the girl as she stared at him for a moment. This was
not how dashing heroes were supposed to act.

"Look, I've got to find some place to dump you off so you can get
back to wherever it is you belong. Got any ideas?"

"I can't go back! I have to go to Mercury!" said the princess.

"Right. I'll just fly us there with this bike," replied Ranma
flatly.

"But, you've got to help me! I mean..."

"Look. I'll just take you back, and you can use that royalty stuff
to get yourself a ride to wherever you're supposed to go. How's that?"
said the boy cheerfully.

Serena was perplexed. This guy wasn't being very romantic at all.
Things like this just didn't work this way, there was a certain way
these things had to be played. He was screwing it up.

"I think I saw a sign for a town a few miles away. We can make it
there tomorrow," he said as he looked out at the horizon. "Then I can
dump you off with the authorities, and go on my own way. I've got
things to do."

"Aha! He's already on a quest!" said Serena as she smirked to
herself. "Are you trying to find someone or something?"

"Huh? Naw. I've got to train," said the boy cheerfully.

"Train?" muttered Usagi dumbly.

"Yeah. I've got a lot to learn before I can go back to where I
belong. Then I can kick that guy's ass!" said Ranma as he clenched his
fists. "I'd better beat up that little brat while I'm at it. That
witch, how dare she do that to me!"

Serena blinked, the boy was laughing to himself. He almost looked,
well, evil. "Are you all right?"

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine," he replied as he sat down. "I'm goin to
sleep. Goodnight." He pulled his blanket over his body and rolled away
from her. Within moments he was snoring loudly.

Serena simply stared at him, it was the most horrible sound she'd
ever heard. "This is my prince charming?" She thought back to the
young Endimyon. "Well, he is a flake...but he doesn't seem all that
bad right now." She sighed and lay on the ground. "I guess I'd better
sleep too."

++++++++++++++

"What?" Serenity gasped in shock as one of the Senshi bowed before
her.

"The princess never arrived at her destination. We found the
bodies of her bodyguards and some unknown men. There wasn't much
left," said Jupiter as she stared at the ground.

"My daughter?" said the queen as she stood up with her hand held
over her mouth.

"Not found. Possibly kidnapped, or ..."

"Find her! Bring her back to me at once!" snapped the queen.

"Of course," said the woman as she looked up at her queen with a
frown burned onto her face.

Serenity turned towards one of her attendants. "Contact Pluto, I
want to know everything she knows about this."

"Don't bother," said Setsuna as she walked into the room and
stared at them for a moment.

"You said nothing of this," said Jupiter coldly as she glared at
the girl.

"I knew nothing of this. Something clouds the stream of time,
something is not right. I cannot see what it is though," replied the
Senshi of Time calmly.

"So?" said Serenity.

"So, I cannot see your daughter's possible fates, it is dark to
me," replied the woman coldly. "I will inform you if I learn more, do
not summon me until then. I cannot be distracted this way."

Serenity nodded and turned towards Jupiter. "Find her, bring her
back to me, at any cost."

"As you wish," said Jupiter as she bowed to the woman deeply.
+++++++++++++

"What is this place?" muttered Serena in disgust as she held her
nose and stared at the dusty buildings below them.

"Tal Shitar. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and
villainy," replied Ranma flatly.

"Oh," muttered the girl in surprise. "What are we doing here?"

"Well, we're going to need a ship to take us to the moon," replied
the boy with a smirk.

"The moon?" said the girl dumbly.

"I'm not turning you over to anyone here. Any other town would
take us three days to reach. The moon is a four hour trip for most
ships, maybe seven if we can get on a barge for cheap enough."

"So, it's the fastest way do dump me off?" muttered Serena
irritably.

"Hey. You've got it," said the boy with an oblivious smile.

++++++++++++

"What's your business here?" said a rough looking guard at one of
the gates that entered the spaceport. Ranma was sitting on his bike
with Serena behind him. She was wearing a heavy brown cloak to hide
identity.

Ranma waved his hand in front of the man's face and smirked.
"These aren't the droids you're looking for."

"What? What the hell are you talking about kid?" snorted the man
angrily.

"It's nothing, private joke," said the boy with a small chuckle.
"We're looking for transport to the moon. You know of a place where we
can find it?"

"There's a commercial liner in the next town. Three days away,"
said the man flatly.

"I'm in a bit of a hurry. I'd rather not pay commercial fare
either," replied the boy with a small shrug.

"Try that place," said the guard as he pointed out a small dirty
looking bar.

"Right," said the boy calmly as he pulled away.

+++++++++++++

"You're selling the bike?" said Serena dumbly as she watched him
take the money from a group of teens.

"That's right, it's worth the price of a trip to the moon at
least," said the boy with a shrug. "Probably three or four trips
honestly."

"Oh."

"Well, let's go find ourselves a ride then,"

+++++++++++++

"What's your business here?" said the rough looking guard as he
looked down at his clipboard as someone else drove up to his gate in a
land speeder.

"That's none of your concern," said the icy voice in reply.

"Huh?" said the guard as he looked up. He sputtered in shock for a
moment and bowed his head. "Forgive me!"

Jupiter nodded as he opened the gate and stared foreword. "This is
the closest spaceport, and the most likely place where they'd try to
take her off planet." Her thoughts were cut off as she glanced around
and noticed the large number of bars. There were probably hundreds of
smugglers and shifty traders. Any of them would be willing to
transport the kidnapped princess for the right price.

++++++++++++

"So, you're looking for passage to the moon?" said the green
haired woman who sat across from them. She looked to be in her early
twenties and had hair that fell down to the middle of her back. She
was very pretty, except for the eye patch that covered her eye. She
was wearing a white shirt and tight black pants with a blaster at her
side.

"That's right. We'd like something quiet," said the boy with a
smirk.

"Well, that's the trick isn't it? It's going to cost you something
extra," said the woman coldly.

"Sure," said the boy with a small shrug. "But how much extra?"

"5,000," said the woman as she sat back in her chair.

"I'll hire you for 4,000," said the boy calmly. "I know I can find
someone here who will gladly do it for 3."

The woman smirked at him, "Deal. My name is Hanna."

"I'm Ranma Saotome, and this is Serena," replied the boy calmly.
"When are you leaving?"

"Well, we should be ready any time now. It's a cargo ship, I run
interplanetary freight mostly. Exotic foods, things like that."

"Huh?" muttered Serena. "I thought you were a smuggler or
something."

"Ha! Ha!" laughed the woman as she threw back her head and gave a
rough snort. "Sorry Honey. I'm legit, taking passengers isn't illegal
you know."

"Oh, sorry," replied the girl with an embarrassed blush.

"Sorry to disappoint honey, but how many corn fields do you see on
Mars?"

"None of course," replied the girl.

"But they eat corn don't they?"

"Um, yes..."

"Well, how do you think it gets there. There's a few smugglers
here, but this is mostly a shipping port." The woman pat her on the
back and smiled gently. "You got to quit readin all those fantasy
programs kid. I'm in dock three. Meet me there in a few minutes and
I'll be ready."

"Right," said Ranma. "Serena, you go with her. I'm gonna go buy
some supplies. We'll have a bit of traveling to do once we reach the
moon too."

"Huh?" said the girl in surprise.

"We aren't going to land at the palace. The spaceport is on the
other side of the moon," said Ranma calmly. "It'll probably take us
two days to reach it when we get there."

+++++++++++++

"This is it?" said Serena as she looked at the large craft in
front of her.

"Not very impressive?" said the woman with her eyebrow arched.

"Well, I don't really know what I was expecting," admitted the
girl.

"It's a fast ship," replied the woman with a small shrug. "She may
not look like much, but she's got it where it counts."

"Right. Is it safe?" muttered Serena flatly.

"I'm still here aren't I?" replied the woman with a slightly
annoyed frown.

"Oh, I guess so then," replied the princess cheerfully.

++++++++++++

"I'm getting traces of her DNA, fairly new," muttered Jupiter as
she scanned the space port with a binocular shaped scanning device.
"She's still here."

Ranma walked out of a nearby store with a bag over his shoulder
and blinked. There was a large area of clearance around the woman, and
she was easily recognizable. "Jupiter?" he muttered dumbly.

She looked at him with a strange device of some kind and slowly
lowered them. The smile on her face was not nice at all. "So, you have
her then."

"Hey! This is great!" said the boy cheerfully as he started to
walk up to her.

She jumped forward, an arc of energy forming in her hands as she
dove towards him. "Where is the princess!?"

"What the?" he gasped as he jumped back.

"You will pay for your insolence," she said as she slowly stood up
and glared at him. In her hand was a war hammer made out of
lightening.

"Hey! Hold on a minute!" he sputtered as he backed away from her.
"I'm trying to..."

"Die! I don't need you to find her!" she snarled as she charged
forward.

Ranma moved before she could react. A blade of red light met her
weapon and she gasped in surprise.

"Cool off!" snapped the boy as he shoved forward with his hand. He
didn't even touch her and she was thrown back into a bucket of water.

The senshi of Jupiter screamed in pain as the liquid reacted to
her powers.

Ranma cursed under his breath and dashed towards the spaceport.

++++++++++++

"Well, a girl has to defend herself right?" said Hanna as she
hugged the large barrels of the lasers on the underside of her ship.

"I guess so, but why so big?" she said.

"Honey, these aren't for shooting people ya know. This is for
other ships."

"Oh," said the girl with a small frown. Naturally she had seen
warships, but this seemed like a little much for a ship as small as
this one.

Ranma burst through a doorway and rushed up to them.

"Huh?" muttered Hanna.

"Go! Now!" cried the boy as he rushed up to them.

"What the?" muttered the woman dumbly.

He rushed by and pulled them both into the ship bodily.

"What the hell are you doing?" snapped the woman as she jerked her
arm away from him.

"We've got to get the hell out of here! Right now!" said the boy
as he stared at her.

"Why should I?" snapped the woman in retort.

"Hey! It's...Jupiter?" Serena's face went from pleased to
uncertain in a matter of seconds. "What is she doing?"

"Trying to kill me!" snapped Ranma angrily.

The Senshi was walking through the crowd of people shocking anyone
who moved in her way with a field of energy around herself. She looked
up at the ship that her target had disappeared into and scowled even
deeper. "You won't escape."

Ranma swallowed as he read her lips. "The Jupiter I know sure as
hell isn't this strong!" he thought.

"What the hell have you gotten me into!?" snapped Hanna in shocked
horror.

"Go!" snapped Ranma angrily as he took the seat next to her. She
worked furiously at the switches and started the engines.

"Shields are up!" said Ranma, "Weapons on line." His panic
suddenly turned into a cool smile.

"What the hell are you...NO!" cried Hanna.

Ranma turned the laser turrets and fired a few blasts into the
doorway where Jupiter was approaching from. It shattered and crumbled
down, blocking the senshi's path.

"My career is over!" cried the woman as they lifted off. "I'll
never run freight again! Waaaaahhhh!"

"This is so cool," said Serena cheerfully. She removed her hood
and leaned over the shoulders of both pilots.

"Um, is that who I think it is?" said Hanna as she noticed the
girl's face and hair finally.

"Yup," replied Ranma.

The doorway he had blocked off shattered back open suddenly.
Jupiter was standing with the hammer in her hands and glaring
hatefully at the ship as it lifted off. "No you don't!" she screamed
as she raised her hand. A bolt of power came down from the sky,
narrowly missing the ship as it blasted upwards.

She glared at them as they flew away and frowned. The hammer in
her hand vanished and she turned to walk back to her own ship.

++++++++++++

"I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die!" cried Hanna as they finally broke
through the atmosphere of the planet.

"Relax would you? We got a way," said Ranma calmly.

"What the hell is that?" said Hanna as she noticed something
really large approaching them. It was between them and the moon.

"It's a battle cruiser, a little one," replied Ranma calmly as he
began to work some of the controls on the ship. "I'm bringing the
shields up to the front."

"We've got to get the hell out of here!" said Hanna desperately.

"Why? Hail them, I'm sure they'll be more reasonable than Jupiter
was," said Ranma calmly.

"Um, okay..." the woman reached for the communication controls.
She was stopped when the ship suddenly jolted.

"What the hell are they trying to do?" muttered Ranma as he saw
another volley of laser fire blast towards them. "They're trying to
kill us!"

"Um, we should probably run away," said Serena nervously.

"Can't you tell them to stop or something?" said Hanna as she
stared at the princess.

"Oh. Oh yeah," said Serena with a thoughtful look on her face.
"I'll just tell them to stop..."

"We just lost communications," said Ranma with a sour frown.

"What?!" cried the two women.

"Oops, there goes the shield," said the boy as he watched the
power readout drop. "We're doomed."

"Fuck this!" screamed Hanna as she pulled a set of levers on the
console.

"What was that?" said Serena dumbly. A split second later, she was
thrown off of her feet and slammed into the back wall of the cabin.

Ranma smirked as the stars outside the cabin suddenly became lines
of white light. "Well, this is certainly interesting."

+++++++++++++

"What happened?" said the young Endimyon as he stood on the bridge
of the cruiser and glared at the captain.

"A warp drive in a ship that small?" muttered the man in shock.
"That's..."

"It's an interplanetary freighter. Of course it has a warp drive,"
said the young prince flatly.

The captain sputtered in shock. "We used standard practice for a
ship that size, incapacitate the shields and take out the engines."

"The only problem is, you're used to dealing with small class
fighters," commented the boy calmly. "Now Serenity is who knows where.
If you don't find my fiancee, I'm going to have your command taken
away Captain."

"Yes my lord!" said the man as he jerked his arm up in a salute.

"Don't worry Serena. I'm coming," said the boy to himself as he
ignored the man and looked out over the stars.

++++++++++++

TBC...