The UWS Cyprus grew from a tiny grey smudge on his forward screens to an enormous monster, with a flight deck that might not fit the Sapper… but only because it was wide, not tall. With the deck itself hundreds of meters long, even as he approached Kyle could see masses of individual fighters all prepped and ready to launch… all this in a friendly star system, with a naval base a couple of light-hours away.

  If it were genuinely at risk? It would undoubtedly be far busier.

  He was so used to sorting through old junk and debris he barely recognized what he was looking at until he was right on it… the Spark-class interceptor. Designed to operate in tandem with a pack of smaller drones, each of which could be made to look like the primary fighter at any given moment by reshaping its outer hull and changing its EM signature..

  One pilot would control a pack of about a dozen drones, with firepower, speed, and reflexes that should, in theory, allow that one man to take out dozens from any other faction. And from the very few times it had been seen in action and anyone managed to pass out the recordings…

  That was most likely true. The United Worlds were the masters of carrier operations… and the Cyprus contained enough firepower to conquer most star systems.

  ~Shuttle designation ‘Huxley’, this is Cyprus control. Relinquish docking control at this time.~

  He took in a slow, deep, breath… and flipped the switch. Almost immediately, the shuttle started to veer away from the middle… aiming towards an already cleared-out patch of deck closer to the stern of the vessel. He could see one of the Sparks taking off, undoubtedly heading out on patrol, as he approached… and see his uncle’s shuttle already there.

  It was unmistakable. A short, fat, assault shuttle. Heavily armed. Covered with spikes. It lost half of the damn things every time it entered a planet’s atmosphere, creating a cloud of flashy molten sparks on each descent, and every time, uncle Steve would just weld more on there.

  He sighed, as the shuttle gently settled down on the deck… and felt gravity start pulling him down, towards the bottom of the carrier… as clamps suddenly attached, securing it in place.

  ~A tunnel is currently expanding and will mate with your airlock in about thirty seconds. Once the light is green, you may depart when ready. The Admiral is expecting you, mister Huxley.~

  Once more unto the breach? No… this would be a first. He’d set foot in plenty of United Worlds facilities. But this? Would be his first time on one of their warships.

  Hopefully not the last.

  ***

  After spending so much time on patchwork independent stations, and his own roughly built starship… the United Worlds vessel made for a dramatic change. Not just bigger… but clean. Perfect. Elegant.

  The walls were smooth, rounded, and painted dark blue, the lights were recessed behind armored composite… and just the corridor they were inside was longer than the Sapper.

  There had been an armored marine waiting at the dock; a 2-meter tall monster of powered armor that was really more vehicle than armor suit… but just a couple of armed men in blue skinsuits had escorted him from there… to the conference room where his uncle waited.

  As Kyle entered the room, it went quiet.

  His uncle; old, bald, scarred, wearing a blood red overcoat studded with rib bones and skulls mounted to the shoulders, looked every bit as ridiculous as expected… and across the table from him, Admiral Thorn was… extremely different.

  Simple, dark blue uniform skinsuit, and skin that was almost exactly the same shade. Admiral rank badges on the shoulders and chest. Thick grey hair… and a pair of cybernetic eyes that glowed faintly green as they scanned him.

  And of course, the man was enormous. And not tall; more bulbous. At a guess, he was probably an augment built to survive some sort of cold low-atmosphere world, or the vacuum of space, or both.

  The amount of hate that filled the room was palpable. Both men would likely be glad for any excuse to kill the other… and Kyle was here, caught in the middle.

  He settled down into the chair at one end of the table.. And looked at the two of them. “Thank you for meeting us, Admiral. Did my uncle explain why we’re here?”

  The man turned to focus on Kyle, and shrugged. There was none of the usual jiggle one expected from obesity… either his flesh was built different, or it was all muscle, despite appearances. “No. He said it was your discovery, and it was urgent. And that you had a collection of Alliance personnel and slaves you’d rescued that needed to be handled. Thank you, by the way. You’ll be rewarded for each slave freed, and each Alliance officer handed over.”

  Kyle nodded. “Well then. Lets start with a simple question. Are you aware there are spacegoing biological creatures that have been kept secret by the Empire, capable of traveling at faster-than-light speeds, as well as spitting plasma hot enough to slag a heavily armored frigate in seconds, and covered with incredibly heat-resistant scales that appear to be the origin of the Empire’s ablative armor tech?”

  Thorn stared at him for a moment…his emotions almost impossible to read with the cybernetic eyes. “...We were aware of some, but not all of that. The faster-than-light portion is both new, and distressing. I assume you have proof?”

  Kyle set a small metal chip on the table. “Video recordings of the incidents, in which the creatures I called ‘Krakens’ made FTL jumps multiple times, as well as what we believe to be one of their eggs, and a sample of an unknown type of plant life they cultivate in their nests. I can also get you a ‘Dragon’ egg if you’d like it.”

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  The admiral glanced at the Butcher for a moment, who simply nodded, before turning back to Kyle. “This…. Explains quite a bit. Does this FTL travel involve darkspace at all?”

  “Negative. One of them entered FTL directly from a planet’s surface, and we wounded another inside the area around a planet entering darkspace was impossible, it jumped, missed… and hit the planet so hard it just about shook it apart. I believe the creature’s ‘tentacles’ are somehow connected to its ability to travel, and by shredding half of them we threw off its aim.”

  Thorn leaned back in his chair, focusing on the ceiling. “...Does the Empire know you are aware of this, or that you have the samples?”

  “The Empire knows that I am aware of the Dragons, but not of the Kraken, and thinks I have no samples. They’ve actually contracted the Skulls to help protect civilians from Dragons and keep things secret inside a certain region… that isn’t the one I got these samples from.”

  Thorn turned back to Kyle, seemingly confused. “...And you just happened across them somewhere outside the area?”

  “The star cluster that the Skulls are now hired to observe passed by another, millions of years ago. I decided to check that other star cluster, and swept the cluster for anomalies. Most of what I found isn’t too important, or I might check out later. But one of the anomalous systems contained the Krakens and Dragons both.”

  Thorn nodded. “...Excellent work. This…. Well. What we’re going to want to do is try to reverse-engineer this Kraken, and develop tech based on it, before making it public, and demanding an accounting from the Empire. If they’ve been equipping ships with it, or making weapons, we’ll want to be ready to respond in kind before making a move.”

  He looked at the Butcher. “Even worse, this might not be the only exotic life-form they’ve hidden. And as dangerous as they are, its probable an unprepared expedition would just be crushed… so its quite possible any area that plenty of survey ships go missing might be pirates… or genuine monsters.”

  The Butcher leaned forward. “If this becomes public, then your people will expect a declaration of war. And the Empire will likely believe its inevitable, and may make pre-emptive strikes on Directorate, Republic, and Dub forces. I doubt, even with whatever tech they got from them, the Empire will fare well against every other nation in the galaxy coming down on them.”

  Thorn shrugged. “We’ll have all the allies we need to win, yes. But if we get the technology first, and have it ready to go, then we can also use it to cripple the Alliance, or even the Directorate, during the war, perhaps even keep the Empire from hurting us too badly. Or…. if it gives them enough of an advantage, we might side with the Empire.”

  His uncle practically growled out his response. “....They’ve been murdering people. Including your own citizens. To keep this secret. And have a covert, new, faster-than-light method that, for all we know, might have allowed them to colonize fucking Andromeda. And you want to take their side?”

  The admiral leaned forward. “If it means keeping our territory, crushing the Alliance and the Directorate? Yes. Secrets or not, the Empire and the United Worlds have quite a bit in common. Now. What do you want in exchange for this information, these samples, and coordinates for the system you got them from… and more importantly, keeping quiet about the lot?”

  Kyle sighed. “Money and tech-sharing. Give me… with the understanding that I’ll be passing it to the Skulls… access to any tech derived from it, and the research facilities where you examine it so I can make sure you’re actually sharing. And, say…. A hundred million to split among my crew.”

  “...What if I offer a billion, but no tech-sharing?”

  “No deal. If you’re going to be teching-up your ships to prepare for war, I want my ship, and my family’s ships, to remain competitive.”

  The admiral looked back and forth between the two men. Uncle steve looked… proud and angry at the same time. “....I’ll need to speak with the board. The kind of place we’ll be sending this stuff for R&D doesn’t allow civilians.”

  Kyle shrugged. “Well, if they want the first sample… and where to get more… then they need to allow at least one.”

  “...I’ll be back. The right people should already be available, just need to hash it out.”

  For all his bulk, the admiral definitely didn’t have any issues moving… casually sliding the seat back and practically jogging out of the room.

  Steve looked at him, shaking his head. “...Your mother will be a bit sad she missed this. You keep this kind of shit up I might actually retire someday.”

  Kyle studied him for a moment. “..How many times have you died in the line of fire?”

  “...Seven. You know, they actually grew my body without any of the scars, once. Wrang the med-tech’s scrawny neck for that one.”

  “...Do you have any idea how much of a pain in the ass it is to get a clone to grow with scars? You should go easier on them.”

  His uncle sighed. “How the hell am I supposed to scare people if I look like some little pretty-boy? Don’t get me wrong. Young, slim, dark hair… it works for getting the girls. I’m sure you do fine. But when you want to scare the piss out of somebody… or get some real women… you wanna look mean.”

  The door re-opened before Kyle could respond… and Admiral Thorn glowered at Kyle. “..The board has agreed, so long as you’ll load NDA software we upload regarding the location and contents of the research base, aside from what we agree to share.”

  Kyle nodded thoughtfully… but then shook his head. “No. My people can put together NDA software regarding the location, but not contents, and one of your techs can examine, but not interact with, it before I load it up. The whole point is to give me… and the Skulls… a leg up for the next war.”

  “My superiors are concerned about exactly that. There’s a chance we might be on opposite sides of the next war, and don’t want you passing anything to the opposition.”

  The Butcher leaned forward. “We’re talking two possible scenarios here, from what you’ve told me. And the Skulls are going to start preparing for both. Either you go all-in with the Empire against everyone else, or join everyone in going after the Empire. If its the latter? Knowing the why behind it, we’d be on your side, even if it means we’re fighting alongside the Alliance. We’d just help sabotage those fuckers. If its the former…. The heads would have to put it to a vote.”

  Thorn nodded. “And you…”

  “If I had my way, your little Cyprus here would find out why the Last Rites is one of the most feared ships in the galaxy. But. Six out of ten of our captains hate the Alliance more than anything, and if the money weren’t so good we wouldn’t be able to do the pirate protection details. Frankly, so long as we make sure the Alliance gets fucked, and you pay us well enough, you can probably count us in.”

  He sighed. “....Thats exactly what the board thinks would happen. They’re also willing to offer an additional deal, though I know how it went last time.”

  The Butcher chuckled. “This about the screaming again?”

  “Exactly. You always did that nonsense, but whatever the hell you did to upgrade it during the second galactic war, we still haven’t figured it out. It should be impossible, but it still works, and it annoys our researchers to no end.”

  “Glad to hear it. If you do ever figure out a way to block it, let us know… so we can work around that one, too.”