The Rebel Faction

As the fleet came out of hyperspace near the Grappler, it completely dwarfed the small frigate. Some on the bridge found it terrifying, while others found it somewhat humorous that so many combat ships would be sent against their ship. Either these aliens were truly fearful of their one ship or they were showing off their might and beating their chests in a display of force to the intruders from the known part of the galaxy. Whatever the case, the display was truly stunning in its precision and size.

Just minutes before, the Grappler’s computers had picked up a transmission burst from the beacon. The appearance of the fleet now almost confirmed the beacon was transmitting details, most likely sensor reading and positions to the unknown forces. It explained how they quickly located the ship and came out of hyperspace almost on top of it.

As they closed on each other, the Grappler took readings of everything about each ship and started compiling profiles on all of them, estimating their capabilities.

Rob had instructed the crew to keep the ship with weapons powered down and shields to half strength, but the Grappler had adjusted position some since the beacon had sent out its last transmission to test the theory about the beacon.

“Unknown ships, this is Rob Stellar. Judging by the fact that you have no opened fire on us, I take it that you are here to talk instead of fight. I welcome this completely and am ready to proceed when you are. Inform me of when you would like to conduct this meeting. It is my hope that you would allow us to meet in person instead of simply over comms.” He paused and looked out at the formation of ships arrayed before them, waiting for a reply.

The order from the unknown commander was a surprise to Rob and the crew as a whole. Everyone objected and the Captain had the bright idea to try and run, which he promptly disregarded as crazy. There was really nothing any of them could do against the forces they faced and to Rob there was really no choice. This was the reason he had come here. It did not turn out as he wanted, but then again, he might still get his meeting, which was something. He really hoped the man they were dealing with was not stupid enough to hold them hostage indefinitely. That act would start a war that would not act well.

Under the orders of Rob Stellar, the engines and weapons were powered down as per request. The ship would be left unattended, but a code was inserted into the main systems that would trigger a self-destruct if any secure part of the ship was breached or if it was activated without proper command codes.

Rob left with the last group of crew, which included the entire bridge crew. Before the departure he finally got a change to go to his quarters and inject his meds. He had waited too long and wondered how long it would take the damage to his system to heal as well as what percentage of his system would never be healed again do to the extremes of damage. Rob felt weak all over and the pain did not subside as quickly as usually.

Taking a deep breath to relax, Rob started putting together his kit to take onboard. If he was going to be imprisoned for a while, he needed his medications.

After some time, Rob sat in his cell, leaning against the wall, gazing up at the cameras he knew were there, keeping tabs on him from time to time. He hoped the meeting would take place soon.

Rob was shocked and surprised when the ship was filled with Chiss. Very few people had ever seen these humanoids within the Known Galaxy, but after Thawn, a high number of the population knew what they looked like. However, knowing what a species looks like and what they act like, are two different things. From what Rob had learned over the years of reading literature the Chiss were a great race of well-disciplined and highly refined peoples. These were people that could be conversed and reasoned with, perhaps.

Another unexpected move was when he was handed the data pad with all the codes in it. That told him at least something important about the man in charge of this fleet and maybe even more about the Chiss as a culture.

With codes in hand, Rob exited his room and started to move down the halls towards the longue. He did not have a great map, but Rob had always been good with engineering and deciphering schematics and technical readouts. With those skills he started to wonder the hall and quickly made a mental map of that level.

Finally, after a short time, he reached the Lounge designated on the map. Rob entered the security code and within seconds the door slid open and he stepped inside, looking around slowly. The room was minimal, just like the mess halls on the Stellar Enterprises ships and probably all over military vessels. He was the only one in the room, so he stood beside the center table and waited until someone came for him.

AS he stood, his stomach growled as the hunger inside him grew. Since taking his injection, Rob had not had time to eat and therefore his body was now utilizing all the calories it had available to it. Burning through his internal reservoir quickly.

Rob was studying the construction and design of the entire room when the entire rear wall moved open to reveal another part of the lounge he had not seen before. It surprised him slightly that he had been watched for all this time, but he had expected to be watched from the moment he had boarded this alien ship.

As he studied the man for a few seconds, he could tell this was the leader of these people from the way the man acted. Per his instructions Rob moved towards the rear table where the Commander sat. He pulled the seat out and slowly sat down, trying to relax somewhat as he looked upon the blue skinned Chiss leader.

“It was a hard invitation to refuse, but I am glad for the offer. Thank you for taking care of my crew and once again I’d like to express my gratefulness for your well treatment of my Survey team that you took into custody.” Rob paused for a moment before pushing his hand out towards the Chiss. “I should introduce myself to personally, however. I am Rob Stellar of Stellar Enterprises.”

Sitting in the hard chair was making Rob’s body ache slowly, but he made no visible mention of it as he listed to the man talk. He had a note that the Commander never revealed his name, which Rob’s analysis told him meant one of two things; either the man was not aware of the custom of introduction found in the Known Galaxy or he simply did not wish to state his name and title.

“Pacify is a rather harsh way to put things, but I can understand where you are coming from. That was the reason why I agreed to have my crew transferred to your ship. I wish to learn more about your customs, laws, and the general way you conduct yourselves so that we can honor them in the future.”

He crossed his fingers in front of him as he listened to the Chiss man talk about his frigate and getting through the security code. Rob’s face was unchanged when there was mention of hacking through those codes. Those top layers of codes were only in place to be a false sense of security to anyone hacking the ship’s systems. In reality those codes were meaningless. The real security protocols and command codes were embedded into the ship’s main command code structure, removal or tampering with said code sequences would result in an unusable vessel. If the removal was progressed, the self-destruct could be triggered quickly.

Since the chiss had just moments ago mentioned how advanced he believed the ship to be, there was no way these Chiss, even as advanced as they were, to crack the code completely. They had never seen anything like this before and would need days to even get through the routine code structures of such a system, having to hack every single security algorithm along the way as they pushed deeper into the coding. In all, Rob was not worried they would get their hands on any really sensitive data without the help of command staff from the Grappler.

“Thank you for kind words. As a military leader I accept your compliment on the ship and will have to relay it to the team that designed her. The security codes were merely a precaution. I had little doubt your scientists or engineers would have much trouble after I realized we were dealing with Chiss.” Rob stated, feeding on the other man’s vision of his race’s superiority. The words he said were ones he believed internally, making them project out as very genuine. It was a technique he had learned after so many years of negotiating with other parties from across the galaxy. He was a business professional and as such he could project out whatever feelings he wished the other to see.

The only feeling he could not fully suppress was the bodily pain building inside him once more, slowly rising from the very core of his body and spreading out over time.

“I must say that your vessels are very formable and beautiful as well. I am very glad we did not have to face them in combat.” He paused once more as the other Chiss walked in with the drinks and fruit.

With his body being devastated by disease, Rob did not feel that having hard alcohol would help much considering his liver was highly affected. He could hardly refuse, however, and slowly reached for the drink with a fake smile on his face. With his other hand he took some fruit and took a small sip of the Brandi. Not having been a big fan of alcohol generally, the strength of the drink overpowered Rob at first, burning down his throat before slowly subsiding and revealing a rather delicate aftertaste. He quickly bit into the fruit and savored the cooling it gave his mouth, until finally taste came back to him. The taste itself was strong, but pleasant and made him want more as he looked over at the Commander.

“It is very good, but I must admit I am not much of a drinker. However, if I was, this could perhaps be my drink of chose. These Gonda fruit was very delicious as well; I have never had anything like them. Perhaps we could talk about a trade for some of these Gonda plants or trees at some point?” Rob paused as he finished the remaining piece of fruit in his hand and swallowed. “Pardon my bluntness, but I don’t believe I caught your name. I believe it was always good to know who you are having dealing with. Especially if that said person is holding your people and you in custody.”