"PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT"
They were making excellent progress through the sea of stars; navigation was optimal, and the ship was running at maximum efficiency. The more mutinous members of their treacherous, lecherous crew had been purged via the usual dimensional gate, as good as a pleasant stroll off a wooden beam into Splugorthian-infested waters.
Expectedly, the proximity alert went off with a muted pinging, and the image of a Royal Jurai Cassia-class cruiser flipped onto the monitor. Washu glanced over at the seat beside her on the central command bridge of their pirate ship, the Souja and realized Kagato was still asleep. She gave him a shove, and he woke with a start.
"They're finally here. It's your turn today; I'm not wearing my good cloak. Besides, you need the practice," she said to him, as she casually entered in command sequences that would initialize the ship's multi-cannon array.
Glancing at her, he nodded, and stood up, moving toward the center of the room.
"Whenever you're ready," Washu called out from behind him.
He took a moment to take a deep breath, and mentally went over his lines. At the last moment, he realized something and dug into the pockets of his dark violet uniform. Finding his scouter (or as Washu liked to call it, his "eye-patch"), he quickly fitted it over his left eye.
"Ready."
Suddenly, the image of the bridge of the cruiser appeared, and the captain of the ship stood at its helm, dressed in a Juraian battle uniform with the extra poofy cotton-balls that signified his high rank. His crew was arrayed around him at their different command posts, controlling the various units of the organic ship from living wooden terminals.
"Greetings, gentlemen. Allow me to introduce my companion and myself. We are the dreaded space pirates Hakubi. I am Kagato and this is Washu." Kagato turned, bowing toward his master, the irrevocably brilliant Washu, who flashed her trademark smile, winked, and made a v-sign with her fingers. This sign, according to dimensional xenologists, was supposed to mean either peace or victory in some foreign devil's belief system. In truth, it meant something else entirely, but that explanation takes hours, if not days, and the infusion of many a so-called 'danishi.'
"W...What do you want?" The Juraian captain stuttered, and became increasingly flustered as he realized exactly whom he was dealing with. He started making some surreptitious signals to his crew, ordering them to ready the ship for battle.
"Ah, but you are terribly mistaken. It is not what we want...it is what you want." Kagato paused with calculated flair, taking a few measured, predatory steps, his heavy cloak swirling menacingly around him. The translucent blue scouter he wore over his left eye gleamed in the dramatic lighting as he turned his attention back toward the Juraian captain.
"For you see, though you may not have realized it, at this moment..." Kagato paused, trying to remember his line. Those last few steps threw his timing off, and he couldn't remember his carefully rehearsed banter. Mentally, he cursed Washu for putting that in the script...he was terrible at these things, coordinating movement and talk. If he had his way, next time he would just stand still, and let the dialogue speak for itself. "At...at this moment...uh...at...at this moment...All your base are belong to us!"
The ship's captain blinked at him in astonishment, and then nearly fell over in a hysterical fit of laughter. Laughing, he signaled to his officers, and suddenly the visual communication signal broke apart.
"Damn it all, I almost got it right this time!" Kagato fumed, turning to Washu. But before he could say anything further, she dismissed him with a motion of her hand.
"Don't worry. I'm way ahead of you," she said, bringing up the visual screen. A giant glowing shard of green energy enough to vaporize a small planetary system blasted relentlessly toward the Cassia-class cruiser that was slowly turning away from them...
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