Chapter 2: Vipers Revenge

Captain Jonathan 'Viper' Helmut, of the Vipers Revenge, watched the small ore freighter come towards his ship, its ram scoop sweeping up the debris from the shattered asteroids. Looking over at his security and sensor officer he said, "Tyron, are the boarding shuttles ready?"

Tyron Jackson looked up from his sensor console and replied, "Yes Captain, I don't know why Skull wants an ore collector but what Skull wants is what he gets, so one ore freighter coming up."

Jonathan got up and walked over Tyron, limping as his metal leg clicked on the deck. "We are not paid to question orders..."

"I know, we just do or die. Launching shuttles now."

The shuttles barreled across space to the ore freighter. While the three fighters circled the ship, they were looking for any warships that may be hiding in space.

Captain William Wilkes walked over, and tapped the ram-scoop injector board and saw it was filling up nicely.

"That's it baby, scoop that space junk up, and convert it to its natural resources."

Deep in the ship, the foundries convert the natural resources to bars of gold and other components while precious gems are gathered and stored in special boxes to be sold on the market. William walked back to his chair, and checked his request form and scanned the payment plan. Sitting up, he examined one contract for plassteel plates for the construction of a new battleship for the planet New Mexico. Pay was four point five million for one million slabs.

"Now that's a nice little haul," he said as he looked over at his nephew, he said, "Jimmy, contact the governor's office on New Mexico. Tell them we will take the contract. Half up front."

"Ok, Uncle, I will..." The flashing on his scanners caught his eyes, and he checked the feed, and he said, "Uncle, we have incoming shuttles."

Dropping his reader William looked over and replied, "On screen."

Jimmy activated the scanner and it focused on a Class three Alderian assault shuttles with weapons hanging on its hard points. The bright paint job showed it was not Alderian Navy anymore. "Pirates! Turn us around, get us out of here!" Turning on his com unit, he started shouting into it. "This is the independent ore collector Crusher, we are under attack by pirates. We are requesting assistance from any Alderian ship."

A voice came across the speakers, "This is the destroyer Admiral Nimitz. We are twenty minutes away, turn on a heading of 12..."

The Crusher lurched as she was hit by laser fire from the shuttles, taking out its main communication array. While the remaining shuttles locked onto the access ports and docked. Explosions detonated from the three hatches and the pirates started boarding the ship. Gas grenades were tossed into the rooms and the workers of the huge ship were knocked out and then were gathered up and hauled away to one of the storage rooms. While this was going on, more pirates continued their advance deeper into the ship.

William watched the scanner and tried to form his men into a defensive formation, but they crumbled under each attack.

Turning on his com, he said, "All hands! Use the ship! You know her, they don't."

Sensor showed his men retreating to the foundry deck. A squad of pirates was hard on their trail, several of his men went down and then the ten pirates just disappeared. "What the hell happened?" he asked.

"I don't know uncle, but they all died at once, if I did not know..." The bridge doors explode before he could continue, and they look up as dozens of pirates flood onto the deck and then the blast door slammed shut.

Jenny 'Belladonna' Blackhand watched her men work their way to the bridge when her com unit chimed for attention. Turning it on, she heard Regina's voice, "Bring me more men, and kill them all."

Bell lifted her wrist to her mouth, and asked, "Kiss, what's wrong?"

"They killed all my men!"

Shocked by the report, she missed the rest as she checked her data pad and saw all of Regina's assault squad off line, and said, "Take them alive, you may have ten of the slaves to train, but I still get first pick. I am sending 'Widow' and 'Adder' to you."

"Thank you Bella, but I want my revenge."

Shaking her head, she issued her orders to her daughter, "Skull wants the crew alive. I promise you this, the next ship we capture. You can kill as many of them as you want with your kiss. However, for now, we need them. Do you understand me?"

"Yes mother, send my sisters to me. I will put them to work."

Smiling as her daughter decided to follow her orders; she activated a different frequency and issued her orders. "Widow, Adder, get your men down to your sister and help her take the foundry deck."

Widow's sultry voice came back to her and said, "Yes, mother, I was listening, and I am on my way now."

"As was I mother, we are coming up behind them. Sister, I am sorry for your loss, but they are only men."

Bella shook her head at her daughters banter and walked to the bridge blast doors, and snapped out, "Open them. Now!"

Jeffery ran up to the doors and pulled out a large squeeze tube and started applying the explosives to the door, he's concentrating hard trying not to drop any or break the fibers in the explosives.

Bella stood there watching her men and tapped her foot as she stared at the bridge doors. "Jefferson, get those explosives set, we need to get on that bridge. Regina's squad just got wiped out."

Jeff doesn't even look up from what he was doing, he just continued squeezing the explosive paste out in a long rectangle, and replied, "Yes mistress, laying the last part of the charge now."

Bella watched her slave work on the door, and smiled as he laid the last of the charge. "Good my pet, hurry and get back here," she said.

Pulling the detonator out of his small box, he pressed it into the explosive, and ran back to the group, where he knelt by his mistress and felt her hand on his head. Pulling out the detonator, he looked up and waited for the command as he offered the detonator.

Bella reached down and caressed her slave's face, and said, "Go ahead my pet, you earned it, blow the door."

Jeff grinned and looked at the door, and whispered, "Boom." The doors shattered inward as the explosives detonated against the double doors. The doors staggered and dropped to the ship's deck.

Looking at her men, she said, "Go my pets, capture them all alive for Skull."

Twelve battle hardened men, wearing Alderian battle-armor, rushed onto the bridge and start clubbing the crew to the ground.

Bella followed, her blue gown trailing behind her as her heels click on the deck. Stepping in to the bridge, she saw her slaves have the men down on their knees, and she smiled.

Down on the foundry deck, Jonas Wilder led his men and women back into the foundry. "Come on let's go! Beth, get up in the crane. When they come through the door, dump the bucket."

"You got it J.W." Beth Wilder ran for the ladder and climbed the three stories to the operation center for the crane. Climbing into the seat, she checked the temp of the bucket and its contents. Activating her boom mic she said, "These bastards are about to become the richest pirates on the ship." Swinging the crane so it's over the door, she adjusted the temperature of the bucket up another hundred degrees and the melted gold started bubbling.

Regina 'Mistress Kiss' Blackhand followed her squad of heavily armed slaves down the corridor. "Go! Catch them my pets; we need them alive, so use your stun weapons." Passing the unconscious workers on the floor, she snapped her fingers at a handsome young man lying there. "Tag him now."

Victor rushed forward and pulled a silver band out of his pouch and snapped it around the man's throat. "Tagged mistress," he said as he tagged the rest of the men and woman with common bands.

"Very good my pet..." Screams echoed from ahead, and she checked her data pad and screams. Turning on her com she said, "Bring me more men, and kill them all."

"Regina, what's wrong?

Regina stared at the data pad and said, "They killed all my men. They wiped them out, I will kill them all."

"Take them alive, you may have ten of the slaves to train, but I still get first pick. I am sending Widow and Adder to you."

Looking at her wrist in surprise as her mother's orders came across the tiny speaker, she said, "Thank you Bella, but I want my revenge."

"Skull wants the crew alive. I promise you this, the next ship we capture. You can kill as many of them as you want with your kiss. However, for now, we need them. Do you understand me?"

Regina grinned at the possible carnage she can cause and replied, "Yes mother, send my sisters to me. I will put them to work." "Widow, Adder, get your men down to your sister and help her take the foundry deck."

She listened to her two sisters as they follow their mother's orders. Turning off her com, she waited for her sisters to arrive, to help take the foundry as her reserve squad arrives.

Beth Wilder watched her husband lead their crew further back into the ship; her fifteen-year-old son was with him. Movement caught her eye and she looked down as ten men move down the passageway made of stacked sheets of metal plates. Two of the men look up, and activate jump jets and jump towards the top of the stacks and that's when Beth moved the bucket all the way over the passageway and released ten tons of molten hot gold. The first to die were the two in the air, and then the gold splashed down into the channel landing in front of the door. She pulled the pour towards her and the rest flowed over the pirates. They started to run in horror, but it was too late, as the last of metal splashed ten feet out into the open foundry deck. "Die you bastards."