Patreon LogoYour support makes Blue Moon possible (Patreon)

Navigator ((Atzura and Kolath))

His sleep was broken by tremendous knocking on his door. There was really no reason for anyone to bang on someone's door that hard, but maybe something urgent was happening.

On the other side of the door was Adrianna, the Commander, and of course, her two male clones.
 
Crinth shook his head to clear the cobwebs out and stumbled to the door his shirt till off leaving him in only his uniform pants. Palming the door open he took one look at who it was and snapped into attention a bit embarrassed that he hadnâ??t bothered to put on a shirt. â??Maâ??am?â? he asked as he saluted and waited for her to explain what was going on.
 
"Get your shit. We have some talking to do." She said, turning her back and deciding to wait outside. The clones stared at Crinth, rather emotionlessly. They were a couple of very depressing guys. It bothered most people to be around them, but Adrianna loved it, they were quiet and obedient.
 
Crinth raised an eyebrow turning to put his shirt on and pull his utility belt on. it had every thing he needed including his pistol and knife if he needed. Stepping out of the door as he brushed back his hair from his eyes, â??May I ask what is going on maâ??am?â?
 
"Walk with us." She said quickly, as she headed down the long halls of Lunar Seis. "That old navigator of yours... Ada. You remember her of course? Or did Xenia erase her from your memory?" She walked towards and elevator and pressed the call button, in about eight seconds the elevator had arrived. The clones followed closely after her. "She has a bit of a secret. And we found it. We're going to pay her a visit." She pressed the bottom button, which is where most maintanence workers had to do their jobs. Ada was now into fixing things, and testing prototypes. Perhaps she was a Gomer spy? A terrorist? A killer? Adrianna wasn't specifying anything.
 
Crinth was right with them just a step behind them all joining them on the lift and stood at the back. â??Just what secret was she keeping? And if you really suspected her to be a spy as you said earlier today why did you but her working on prototypes that doesnâ??t make any sense at all. Nothing that is going on makes sense Comannder.â?
 
"We can't act on anything of this matter without proof. When we saw that you used a weapon we didn't have, we put up red flags. However, we had no proof that she was spying or potentially dangeorus. We had to keep her working, and the job she does with aircrafts is simple maintanance. Anyway, let's move on." They came to the bottom floor where they began to walk. "Ada should be around her. Guys, stay in safe mode, we are not here to fight her, just apprehend her."
 
Crinth frowned, something just wasnâ??t right here. â??So I take it that there is something to act on now? Considering that oyu dragged me out of bed and down her and talking about apprehending her?â? Crinth still wasnâ??t getting everything that was going on here but something just smelled fishy.
 
"Just follow your orders. Don't ask questions."

They continued to walk down the hall until they came across a department where people were talking and drawing up blueprints and reviewing how to fix things.

The clones stepped forward and grabbed a woman from the crowd.

"Hey!" She yelled out, "What are you two doing here? Let me go!"

The others didn't dare intervene, the clones were stronger than the woman obviously.

"And here she is, the Ada. I see you cut your hair."

"I cut it about a year ago, mam."

Adrianna smiled, "Here's your pilot..."

Ada looked away, "I know who he is... what's the meaning of this... why did you come here and grab me?"

"We found where your little special weapons came from Ada. You could have told us."

Ada looked away.

"Let's go. Let Crinth escort her. She was his navigator."

Although this wasn't the ideal way to have met her, at least he got a good look at Ada. The clones shoved her in his direction, expecting him to keep her held.
 
Crinth took Adaâ??s arm and started to follow where they led. Something was really starting to smell fishy about this, why would it be expected of a officer to just follow orders. Normally the corps wanted them to asked questions why was it suddenly a bad thing. Crinthâ??s hand fell to the butt of his pistol as he led Ada, something wasnâ??t right and he wasn;t going to be taken off guard.
 
"Back in the eleveator boys." She said, letting the clones step in, then watching Crinth and finally sliding in herself. "Ada, Ada, Ada..." She said with a smile. She lifted a portion of the floor dial, there was four more buttons there. Very likely they were basement rooms, storage rooms and such. She smiled, "All this time... you were right under our noses."

They arrived at the lowest room, it was massive, filled with boxes, and very cold in temperature.

"Go. We know where it is. Go open your doors. Crinth let her go. She's not armed."

Ada looked at him, his grip was super tight, and he was a good looking boy, just as her monitors showed. She didn't speak to him though, he seemed like Adrianna's puppet.
 
Crinth moved in front of Ada placing himself between her and the others. â??I donâ??t know what is going on here commander but you are starting to worry me that you are doing something beyond your jurisdiction. I want to know what is going on here right now or Iâ??m getting on comm. to the MPs and letting them sort this out.â? He already had his commlink in hand ready to thumb it on if her explanation wasnâ??t good enough.
 
"We now know that Ada's been developing weapons. Good weapons. Now while we don't know her goal, probably profit, it's our right to protect Lunar Seis. So we're going to hire her as our development expert... or destroy her lab... and kill her." She said, looking back at him. "You wouldn't get very far pressing that button anyway, we'd still kill you." She said, whistling as Ada moved, looking back at her before opening her door. The door opened from the bottom up.

"It's okay. You don't need to call anyone, and Commander, you don't need to worry, I can explain myself." Ada seemed confident about what was happening.

"I do make weapons, but I want to use them to better our forces. I kept this hidden because tinkering with weaponry is forbidden."
 
Crinth looked from the commander to Ada and then shrugged and slipped the comlink back into his belt at the same time putting the restraint back on his pistol. He had realized that this was not going to end badly as he had once feared. He waited as things unfolded still not sure of all that was going on but now he was sure that Ada wasnâ??t going to be wrongfully executed he knew that he wasnâ??t going to need to step in and save her.
 
"Tinkering with weaponry is forbidden, you can sell our technology to other systems, maybe even Gomers. You could create weapons to destroy us, be a terrorist to Lunar Seis. I might have to shoot you in the face."

Ada frowned, "It's not for so much commander. I am busy making weapons to better our fleet. That burst shot is my most poweful weapon in stock."

Adrianna followed her with her clones. Inside, there was a lab, a huge lab, and two young men supervising everything. They seemed startled when Ada entered, let alone with company.

"Ada! It's been more than a week since you've... what are they doing here? Com... Commander!"

Adrianna frowned, "Who are these fools Ada... boys get ready to shoot."

Ada rushed towards her, "Whoa! No! They are my handpicked staff. They are weapon experts... they alone have been running this entire lab without my help. They are two of the best at what they do, please..."

Adrianna nodded towards her clones, whom released their guns.

"I told Crinth that the burst shot was sent to my by a friend, I didn't want to get into trouble... or him into trouble. It looks like that's exactly what happened though. And now I'm not his navigator anymore."

Adrianna shrugged, "Crinth got matched with Xenia. I believe they spent the night together." She said nonchalantly. Ada looked at him a second before looking down. "Well... that's good for them..."
 
He shivered at the name of Xenia and sighed, â??About that pairing commander I will need to talk to you about a transfer as soon as possible. Just her opinions about how things work around here are too different then mine. I would find it hard to trust her when I donâ??t know if she will sacrifice me just to advance her career.â? He fell silent for a moment wondering why he had felt he needed to say all that right now. â??However this can wait till later, forgive me.â?
 
Adrianna laughed, "She can't advance her career if you die. She'd lose it!" She said, still laughing. "These pilots are priceless. Plus... I can't undo the two of you. Rules state that if a navigator is removed and replaced, the pilot must work at least a month with this new navigator before asking for another. I'm not about to break our own rules."

"I was just having Crinth test out the weapons. Unmanned Gomers seemed to be the perfect practice."
 
Crinth remained silent after that not sure that he agreed with the commander. He never said anything about her letting him die but sacrifice could mean many other things. He would just have to do his best to stay ahead of her in the area of thinking so that he didnâ??t end up turned in for treason or something of the kind. He just didnâ??t trust Xenia in anyway.
 
Adrianna looked around. "Is the burst shot the only weapon you are making right now?"

"No mam. I was able to duplicate our shield system..."

Adrianna immediately grunted.

"...And form a more reliable shield which deflects more towards the shooter, and not away from the target."

She began to talk with her hands. If your clone Dominick is flying next to Crinth in a triangle attack pattern... our shields now deflect oncoming fire. If Dominick is shot, and for some reason Crinth's shields are low... the shot can deflect back, and actually kill Crinth, hence getting Xenia fired. Which I would be happy about."

Adrianna frowned.

"But if you use my shield, the shot can be fired back at the person firing, increasing the chances of a better counter attack.

"How long would it take for you to make burst shots..." She asked.

"For how many?"

"For seven pilots..."

"A week... maybe two..."

"That's not fast enough. Make it in three days."

"I don't have the manpower."

"So get it."

Ada frowned, "I'll do it... provided you meet my own conditions. I want this stupid title removed. And I want to return to my own profession. I want to navigate my own pilot."

"Crinth?"

"Anyone mam... just give me a pilot and let me guide him home every time."
 
Crinth had nothing to add to this right now just was listening most of it going over his head not sure what he should or should not say. He had hoped that Ada would want him back as her pilot but when she didnâ??t make that request he sighed softly but quickly checked himself waiting for orders like the good soldier he was.
 
Adrianna frowned, she negotiating with anyone. "Fine then. I'll make you Crinth's second navigator. There hasn't been many pilots with two navigators, but you can go on and do that. Your regular pay will return to that of a navigators and you will be allowed to hire people to run this plant. We need burst shots, we need your shields and we want more weapons for the Gomers."

Ada nodded. "That's fine by me."

"Good. Listen to me. Crinth you are now out of my Elite. I want to create a new small unit simply called Attack Force. I want you to be in charge of it. It will have seven pilots, including you. I will go out and find the majority of your team, I'll let you select one or two people you may know." She said with a smile. You're all going to have burst shots, hyped shields, and all of Ada's goodies. Do you understand that?" She asked, as if he was a dumb child.

Ada sighed, that many burst shots were dangerous.
 
â??Yes maâ??am. I will need more say in who is chosen though, if we get to many over lapping skill sets we will not be able to work as well together. Also my rank is not fitting of a command like that Iâ??m still just a mere lieutenant.â? He looked over at Ada frowning a little at the look on her face she seemed worried. â??I think it would also be wise to have the pilots help work on the systems as well since they will need to know them inside and out once we are flying.â?
 
"Well in case you forgot Crinth, I'm in fucking charge here, so I don't give a shit what you say. I know my personnel, and I know whom and what to get. If you don't want to lead it, step aside, and I'll let my boys handle it. You can just follow orders." She answered back rudely. Somehow, even if he hadn't meant to, he rubbed her the wrong way.

Ada tried to break things up, "It's fine, I can find tons of interested scientists and technicians to work down here. It will just take some time before everything is set." She said, trying to put Adrianna in a better mood. That woman was impossible to deal with when upset.
 
Crinth fell silent even though he had done nothing wrong he just had expressed his opinion on what would be needed. However in the military you shut up when you were told. â??Yes maâ??am.â?
 
"Good. Then Ada, go find some hires. I wante scientists in here in a few days. Crinth go find a few nice pilots. If you are absolutely out of options, you can take one or both of my boys with you. They'll keep you alive."

"We're leaving. I want Attack Force up and running ASAP Ada!" She yelled, her clones following after.

The two scientists inside sighed and looked over at Ada. "This isn't happening... is it boss?"

Ada shrugged, "What choice do we have?" She crossed her arms. "This beats my old job though. I can't believe I'm a secondary navigator."
 
Back
Top Bottom