A few hours earlier, the Bloodhound and the Retribution were on course to the detention facility. Princess Denae had an organized map of all designated council facilities in the quadrant and the dimension, for that matter. The Havokium had done their research before undertaking this current rebellion and were determined to bring the Council to its knees.

  The first step in the rebellion would be to attack the Council’s infrastructure. The taxes paid by the various galactic entities that undertook the sowing and reaping of non-initiated planets were the biggest influx of revenue for the Council. Denae planned to hit them where she could be sure they would feel it. If she could interrupt the flow of revenue, even for a short time, it would weaken the Council’s hold on the galaxy.

  There could not be two dungeons running concurrently; the strain on the Master System AI was too great. The reclusive race known as the Coeus were tasked with building and maintaining the dungeons for each event, and the resources required to do it were outside the intellectual grasp of most sentient biological races. The Coeus were not enslaved like many of the other stewards of the dungeon, yet they weren’t exactly willing participants. Their home system was a mystery; the quadrant had been quarantined and cut off from the rest of the galaxy. This was partly a request from the Coeus and partly a bargaining chip for the Universal Council.

  The Universal Council saw the Coeus as dangerous and too powerful to control, so instead, they decided they would keep them occupied. As far as anyone knew, the Coeus were immortal. They weren’t biological life forms, rather they were believed to be a remnant of the Furistian civilization. The Coeus had existed for millions of years and would continue to exist indefinitely, so it only made sense for the Council to make use of them.

  Being immortal meant their cumulative knowledge and skills were unmatched. They were efficient and consistent in their duties. However, they required stimulation, and the dungeons provided just enough to keep them occupied. The Coeus were not individual beings but operated as a collective mind. Nevertheless, they still had their limits like any other life form in the galaxy, biological or otherwise. Therefore, the Council agreed to quarantine their galaxy and wipe any records of their origins from all active databases under the stipulation that they would be architects for all future dungeons. The Coeus accepted, though somewhat reluctantly.

  The initial stage of Princess Denae’s plan was to eliminate strategic high-value targets that would weaken the Council economy. Refuel and maintenance stations, troop carriers, and power generation stations were all on the list. It wouldn’t be a quick death. Instead, it would be death by a thousand cuts. So why not start with this detention facility? Danae thought to herself as she prepped her ship and crew for combat. The detention facility was not initially a target and was of little import in the grand scheme of things, but it would provide a much-needed test for her crew.

  Princess Denae sat in her quarters as she prepared for the meeting with Tiffantrimore and the crew of the Bloodhound. She wasn’t thrilled at the idea of allying herself with the Bloodhound and Captain Dawes, but Havokium culture demanded honor be upheld, no matter the cost. Once an agreement was made, it was imperative that one uphold their part of the agreement. The opportunity to retrieve Captain Dawes and Havok Bringer armor could not easily be passed up. Denae knew the possibilities the armor and ship held. Couple that with the opportunity to have the wielder of one of the most powerful weapons in the galaxy as an ally, and it became an easy decision. Her plans for the future all hinged on Captain Dawes’s survival, though.

  The display in front of Denae blinked on, and she saw Tiffantrimore and SR-Jennings sitting at a table preparing for her arrival to the scheduled meeting.

  “Hello, Tiffantrimore, SR-Jennings. Are we ready to start?” she asked.

  “Hello, Princess Denae. Again, we thank you for your assistance. This would not be possible without you,” Tiff said with a nod of her head. “We have the bones of a plan, but I have to be honest with you, it will require heavy investment from the Retribution and your crew. Is that acceptable?”

  Denae steepled her hands in front of herself, preparing to speak. “This was expected, Tiffantrimore. While you are a capable guardian, and the Bloodhound continues to impress, a crew of two would not be able to best an Enforcer General. I have a strike team of five of my best warriors prepared to infiltrate the facility. Their primary mission will be to locate Captain Dawes and evacuate him to safety. If they encounter the Enforcer, they will, with luck, be able to overcome him. They range in Level from 54 to 60.”

  “I don’t think that will be necessary,” Tiff responded. “We agree that we will need the assistance of your strike team, but their primary mission will not be retrieving Captain Dawes…that will be my responsibility,” Tiff said.

  Danae tilted her head in confusion. “Please explain.”

  Tiff called a display showing the detention center, “We need the Retribution primarily to provide a distraction of sorts.” Tiff followed the virtual representation of the Retribution with her finger, “Your drop ship will approach the station here under a cloak. I assume your drop ship has the same cloaking ability as the Retribution?”

  Danae, now fully engaged, leaned forward as she responded, “Yes, yes, it does.”

  “Good. You and your team will need to approach the facility suited up inside the transport. The transport ship will need to be powered down completely, other than the cloaking ability, so life support systems will not be active. After you and your team enter the docking bay, you will uncloak your ship and release the strike team. Hopefully, that will draw the attention of the guards and, if we are lucky, the Enforcer. Once he is away from the part of the facility containing the holding cells, I will infiltrate and lead Captain Dawes out to our waiting drop ship. We can EVAC on the Retribution and rendezvous back with the Bloodhound at a pre-disclosed location,” Tiff explained. “The Bloodhound will swing around and provide defensive support as soon as I am in the facility, but once I give the word, Elvis will jump away and await our rendezvous.”

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Tiff looked at Danae, “Any questions so far?”

  Danae sat back in her chair, stiffened her back, and tugged at her uniform top. “No, it sounds like any other high-risk asset extraction. These are not ideal circumstances, so we will need to create our own opportunities for success.”

  Tiff nodded in agreement and continued, “Once I make contact with Captain Dawes I will accompany him to find and destroy the suppression field generator. Once the suppression field is down, we will deal with the Enforcer. That is where your strike team earns their pay.”

  Denae leaned back in her chair and exhaled a long, concerned breath. “I will be assisting with the operation as well. I am Level 63, and my Electro Savant class will be needed. As I stated earlier, Tiffantrimore, we don’t abandon our allies, and I lead from the front. I will not put my crew at risk if I am not willing to risk myself.”

  “I understand and appreciate the risk you are taking, both for yourself and your crew, Princess Denae. Your presence on the facility will be greatly appreciated,” Tiff said with a respectful nod.

  A few hours later, the Bloodhound was within one light day of the detention facility when Elvis spoke up, “Unknown vessel located, port side 500 kilometers out. Should I kill?”

  Tiff stood up from the captain’s chair and held up a hand, “Wait, Elvis. What do the initial scans show?”

  “Vessel has power, but no life signs. Vessel is rabbit class cruiser,” Elvis replied.

  CJ walked up beside Tiff. “What the hell is a rabbit class cruiser, and why do aliens know what rabbits are?”

  “Anyone that travels through a pod warp station is implanted with a neural decoder that allows you to understand any language. If there isn’t a word that translates fully, the decoder will use the most relevant term. In this case, the term is rabbit,” Tiff said.

  CJ tilted his head, “I traveled through one of those warp stations?”

  Tiff looked at him confused, “CJ, how do you think you came to be on the Bloodhound? While you did not receive the full complement of physical and neural upgrades that Captain Dawes did, you did receive basic upgrades to allow you to function in a mostly alien environment.”

  CJ shrugged, “Huh, I guess that makes sense. I didn’t stop to consider that I could read and understand everything I’ve encountered so far. I still gotta ask, though, why rabbit?”

  Tiff smiled wryly. “Because it jumps a lot. That could be useful. Elvis, can we tow that ship? Is the Bloodhound capable?”

  Elvis grunted excitedly, “Elvis make it work. Stand by for visual.”

  CJ looked at Tiff and sighed. “What exactly does he mean by that?”

  “I’m not sure, but we can probably salvage some parts off that ship. The Bloodhound is painfully lacking in some key areas. To my knowledge, we have no cloaking ability, and our warp cooldown is agonizingly slow. If he can manage to bring that ship into tow, we can strip it for parts,” Tiff said.

  The ship in question appeared on the bridge display about 5 minutes later. There were no exterior lights, and it seemed to be floating harmlessly through space. It was about a quarter of the size of the Bloodhound, but it looked much more advanced. If the Bloodhound was a 15-passenger cargo van, this thing was a Porsche 911.

  “That’s weird…right?” CJ asked, squinting at the display.

  “It does seem a little odd,” Tiff replied.

  “Elvis, you are sure there are no life signs on board that ship?” CJ asked.

  “Elvis sure there are no advanced AI aboard the ship either, but SR-Jennings doesn’t ask about AI because he is a racist piece of shit.”

  “Hey, what the hell? I’m not racist! I didn’t think about AI being on board,” CJ replied, incredulous at the accusation.

  “You didn’t know because you are piece of shit!” Elvis chirped.

  Tiff sighed and shook her head. “Okay, you two, that’s enough. Let’s just get that ship attached and in tow.”

  As the Bloodhound approached, music started playing through the ship PA:

  Straddle the line in discord and rhyme

  I’m on the hunt I’m after you

  Mouth is alive, with juices like wine

  And I’m hungry like the wolf

  It was Hungry Like the Wolf by Duran Duran.

  “Elvis, what the fuck are you doing?!” CJ shouted as the Bloodhound looked to be on a collision course with the mystery ship.

  “Elvis hungry! Hungry like Wolf, haaaaa haaaa ha!” Elvis laughed maniacally.

  “Strap in!” Tiff shouted as she ran back to her chair and activated her safety harness. “He is gonna ram it!”

  Just as the front of the Bloodhound approached the mystery ship, the forward portion of the ship opened up. As the mystery ship began to enter, the opening on the Bloodhound slammed closed, tearing the mystery ship to pieces. This process repeated several times until the mystery ship was completely gone.

  “Uhh, Elvis? Did you just fucking eat that other ship?!” CJ asked. trying to understand what he just witnessed.

  “YES! It is dead, and I devoured its lifeless corpse. Elvis is warrior, Elvis is predator, ELVIS IS AWESOME!”

  The music still played over the ship’s speakers as Tiff and CJ sat slack-jawed in their seats, staring at the display that now showed empty space.

  CJ spoke without even looking in Tiff’s direction, “Soooo, is this normal? Do lots of ships do this sort of thing?”

  “I… I’ve never seen anything like that. Ships don’t do that. I don’t know what just happened,” Tiff replied. “Elvis, we needed that ship for parts. Why did you destroy it?”

  “Elvis will be able to allocate relevant parts of ship and upgrade Bloodhound. Do not be concerned, XO Tiff,” Elvis replied.

  “Wait...you can build your own upgrades by consuming other vessels?” Tiff asked.

  “Yes, Elvis is awesome,” Elvis replied. “Mystery ship is being broken down and upgrades will begin within hours. Elvis will update you on available upgrades before proceeding with install.”

  “O...Okay, just keep me posted, I guess,” Tiff replied.

  The Retribution had been following at a safe distance when the event occurred. Princess Denae was beside herself when she contacted Tiff. “Tiffantrimore, did the Bloodhound just…eat that other ship?”

  “Umm, I believe so, Princess Denae. We weren’t aware of that particular capability of the Bloodhound, but apparently, Elvis can repurpose technology from other ships to upgrade the Bloodhound. That is what you just witnessed,” Tiff replied.

  “Interesting, to say the least. That ship of yours has the ability to become one of the most advanced vessels in the universe. This is…it’s just astounding,” Denae responded. “We should be at the detention facility in approximately 90 minutes. We will be going on radio silence until then. Hail us if something urgent comes up. Good luck, Bloodhound.”

  “Elvis. Is. Warrior!” Elvis said one last time to drive home his defeat and consumption of the defenseless mystery ship.

  “I gotta give it to you, Elvis; you never cease to surprise us,” CJ chuckled as the Bloodhound continued its journey to the detention facility and, hopefully, to Captain Dawes's rescue.