The skies be full of

[Todd_McCloud]

Aboard Inured, personal space battleship of Todd Leyuski, orbiting the unnamed planet ST-401

“Commodore Erasi!”

A sleek vixen with long black hair turned away from the control bridge. Her piercing gaze was as sharp as her uniform of black with red and white inserts. “Yes, Nerv Silansu?”

The young fox walked up to his superior. “Kral Commodore Leyuski is requesting transmission! We have pinpointed his signal coordinates to be 802, 13, 921. Shall we accept the transmission?”

“Yes, of course. Set him up on the main screen!”

The vixen clicked her shiny boots across the metallic floor of the bridge as she walked to a central position near the railing. She bowed appropriately in front of the main bridge window, her head focused on the ground and the crew underneath her, analyzing various scanners and reports of the ship’s condition. The window suddenly flickered, and glowed opaque. Finally, Leyuski’s image appeared larger than life, staring directly down at her.

“Rise, Commodore.”

She stood and clicked her heels together, moving her right gloved hand in a fist as she caught it with the left in a common Vekaiyun military greeting. “Yes, my liege?”

“Skirmishes caused by Packilvanian aggression have caused unfortunate consequences to rain down upon the realm, and it is clear that such actions will continue without significant resistance, resistance which we cannot supply. Therefore, I order your crew to commence the construction of Neo Soldiers.”

The young vixen flashed a puzzled look. “I am not sure if our ship can handle such a task, Kral Commodore! It will be an arduous undertaking to re-start processes which have remained dormant for… nearly a decade!”

“That is not my concern, young Commodore. You were chosen to keep the ship in working order, and your orders have not changed since I promoted you after the incompetence of the last Commodore. Don’t disappoint me… again, Commodore Erasi. Commence the construction of phase one, then await further orders.”

She watched as the screen flickered, then returned to a view of deep space, populated by a distant planet and a dim star. As she stood, she furrowed her brow in anger. Obviously, putting her in her place was something she abhorred with deep hatred. She brushed her shoulders off and fixed her skirt as she flashed a glance at the working men and women below her. “Start phase one! Fire the backup generators and double your efforts! If so much as one section lacks steadfastness, I’ll jettison them out into deep space and they can float back to Vekaiyu! So help me God!”

She glanced below the bridge once more, then stormed out of the command room.

[Todd_McCloud]

Sitting in her personal quarters, Commodore Erasi viewed herself in her own mirror. She stared at herself, concentrating, completely immersed in her own being. “You know you are a more capable commodore than Leyuski. A thousand times over. That was his reason for isolating you on this raft in deep space - he couldn’t handle your presence, far too strong for him to handle. And now he has delegated you to that of a pawn. A pawn!” She pounded her desk, staring at her face full of anger, her eyes shining with determination.

“But what you don’t know, Kral Commodore, can’t hurt you. Or perhaps it can.” She flipped a switch on her mirror, which quickly turned to a television screen, showing a large factory assembling various vulpine robotic driods fashioned in the near-perfect likeness of Leyuski. Thousands had to be already constructed, with thousands more being fastened together with metallic bodies, skin of a binding polymer with a short synthetic layer of fur, hair, and each weilding the same staff Leyuski had been known to use in battle from time to time. All under the watchful eyes of various machines and vulpine workers. “Your plans for an end to sentient fighting will be your own demise. Never give a fiery vixen power over your toys!”

She smirked, impressed with herself. She gazed out at the scene in front of her with more concentration. None of the robots were to be ‘turned on’ without Todd Leyuski’s permission, but that didn’t matter. After all, they were still on her ship, technically built by her, not him, and under her control. “I love them all,” she said with a smile.

She switched a comlink on. “Nerv Silansu - what were Leyuski’s orders for quantity of these robots?”

There was a long pause. “One quarter of a million, mi’lady.”

“Double it.”

“We can’t, mi’lady. Those are orders direct from Kral Commodore Leyuski himself. He believes that number is adequate enough to convince nations to use only robotic troops and no longer use sentient creatures for war. An increase in that number might be taken as a direct threat!”

“Double it before I change it to one million. Remember, Nerv, this is my ship. We were placed out here for a reason, and I believe it is to display an increase in vulpine dominance!”

“But Kral Commdore Leyuski said he wanted nothing of that - he wanted an end to sentient fighting and give this technology to other nations.”

“Leyuski is a hard man to follow. What he says is not always what he means. Why do you think he’s fighting Packilvania anyway?”

“But… mi’lady…”

“Do as I say or I’ll be sure to drop you off at the nearest star, Nerv!”

“Yes, mi’lady…”

[Todd_McCloud]

“Milady!”

Commodore Erasi flicked her head to the side, her hair flowing from the movement. She sighed when she noticed it was her dictating officer, Nerv Silansu, but still acknowledged his presence with a respectable pose. “Yes, what is it now, Nerv?”

“The Neo Soldiers… something’s happening with them!” He pointed to the main screen in front and inputted a few key codes.

Suddenly, as the screen flickered, she noticed a new type of Neo Soldier being processed from deep within the confines of the construction central command. “What is… is it a she?” she asked. She sat down in her chair and rested a hand to her head, completely confused. Instead of robotic soldiers made in the image of Leyuski, they had been made into a female fox figure, shorter than he was, and completely different. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know, Commodore Erasi!” Nerv quickly replied. “It’s been like this ever since model #286,003 was made! It’s as if the DNA link on Leyuski has fallen into the wrong hands, completely changing the form of Leyuski to… this!”

She raised an eyebrow, her fingers covering a frown. “Everything’s changed?”

“Skeletal structure, skin color, gender, even eye color and voice. We’re dealing with a completely new DNA structure here! The machine has even picked up on different attire - some sort of Vekaiyun outfit unidentified.”

“How interesting,” she replied. “Switch Leyuski’s comlink on.”

“But milady, he said never to do that unless we inform him of contact first!”

“I am running this ship, Nerv! You will follow orders!” She watched as he inputted a series of codes, then seemed to erase those codes an input a new batch in. “What are you doing?”

“Leyuski’s changed his position, milady! I’m going to try coordinates around Eldura!”

Finally, the screen blipped on, showing a new figure in front of them.

“Her,” she replied. “She’s who the machines are building now… but why? She has the Kral Commodore insignia on her dress… does this mean Leyuski was killed?”

“It would seem that way, milady.”

“The NERVE!” she shouted as she pounded her desk. “This nobody was made Kral Commodore and not ME? That’s it! Set a course for home - inform the other ships in the sector that we are landing back home! There can be no more delays - I’ve sat peacefully in this cold waste zone for too long, dammit! But patience is a virtue - now I have the five hundred thousand robotic soldiers, each with the fighting prowess of Leyuski and… whoever that girl is.” She looked up at the screen. “I will find out everything about you, and make sure you pay for not allowing me the chance to kill Leyuski, my destiny! Set a course for home! Do it now! Now!”

“Yes, milady…”