Buccaneers of the Blade

[LeftEar JoNs 0]

03.08.09

USS Excalibur NCC-2004 C

Buccaneers of the Blade Pre Log

“Steal a ship he says. That’s one big fragging ship.”

 

“Watch your language, and keep your tone down. But, yeah, it is one big fragging ship.”

 

Two female Caitians sat at a small table in a café overlooking the outer docking ports, sipping on coffee and tea and blending in for the most part with the civilians and Starfleet officers that frequented the cafes and stores located on the main promenade deck of the star base. Their shared visual interest was currently directed at one of the big starships moored at one of the docking port berths, visible outside the huge picture window that ran the length and width of the main deck of the station.

 

The eldest felinoid was in her early thirties and sported rich brown fur and a dark brown mane that was cut in a severe high and tight military cut. Her angled features and athletic and muscular build evoked images of the Earth panther, and her intelligent eyes were a deep emerald green that looked right through you. She was of average height for a female Cait, about five foot five inches or so.

 

The younger Caitian had lighter green eyes that glinted with enthusiasm, resembled an Earth lion with her gold toned fur and a golden copper colored mane that was short and spiky, but not nearly as short as the elder felines. She had turned sixteen just four months ago, and was at the prime age to be recruited onto a pirate crew. The leonine Cait was very eager to serve, and so her older cousin had made sure that if the youngster was going to enter the sanctioned privateer life, she was going to do so under her tutelage.

 

Unlike her adult Cait companion, the younger feline had not yet filled out into her full adult weight and was all gawky with knees, elbows, and big wide paws and would go more towards the compact and athletic side anyway once she had her final growth spurt. And, she had already had a height spurt and would not grow beyond five foot three inches.

 

But, if an observer were to look closely enough, there were subtle characteristics that showed the two female cats were indeed related – a mannerism here, a tonal inflection there.

 

Both of the feline females wore the type of civilian work clothing that was usually favored by crews serving on cargo haulers or freighters: short black jackets, turtleneck (the elder one wore a dark gold colored one that contrasted nicely with the brown fur, while the younger one wore a crimson red colored one that also contrasted nicely with her golden fur) sweaters that had a maritime stitch and seam to them, dark charcoal gray cargo trousers ending below their knees to accommodate their feline shaped hind legs, no boots. And, there were various hidden daggers and civilian cricket phasers hidden on their respective persons that they had managed to smuggle on board the station past the security check points.

 

They also wore brightly colored red sashes of Caitian design wrapped about their waists, but this was a negligible fashion trend and again, no one in the café really paid them any mind; the last several years had seen a fashion trend among some of the more hell bent or adventurous cargo crews out on the frontier trade runs of ‘pirating up’ their uniforms with waist sashes or do rags on the head in an effort to tap into some sort of romantic nonsense attached to the pirate way of life.

 

In reality, the fashion trend had just made it easier for the genuine articles to blend in on the interior star bases.

 

“So, Corizons plan is to move on that ship?” The golden furred Caitian took a sip of her tea and glanced out at the big warship in question.

 

The brown furred feline smirked and then took a sip of her coffee. “That’s Captain Corizon to you, and yep, that is the plan. He’s working the inside angle. I’m tying up the loose ends. As a junior mate, you’ll be on standby in case the security grunts need some extra backup during the initial stages of the takeover.”

 

The younger feline went into a borderline sulk, but her excitement also came out. “Oh come on, M’Vess – I can handle it! Just send me out with the other Security guys if it comes down to that!”

 

“We’ve been through this already. No. And what did I tell you about using my name? Out here in the black, because of the nature of our missions, we use code names.”

 

The youngster huffed out a sound of indignation through her delicate cat shaped nose. “Fine, Left Ear. Why can’t I go in with any of the first assault boarding teams?”

 

“Because, Kansas - and you know, I still can’t figure out why you chose the name of some gods forsaken dust bowl of an Earth territory in the hind end of nowhere for a name - you are still a junior midshipman in training for security and shuttle pilot. I’m the Ex Oh, and you go on the full rotational roster when I say that you’re ready, and not before.”

 

“Don’t be insulting the call sign now! And this is coming from the woman who chose Left Ear because she’s missing half of her left ear – how obvious is that?! Besides, there was no way I was choosing Claw or Fang or some dumbass cat name like that. You told me to choose a code name. Fine. I went with Kansas because according to my research on the wireless net, it had a lot in common with our culture. Kansas means ‘People of the South Wind’ and originated with the Kaw, a Human tribe once native to that area of the human’s home planet. We come from a tribe, and we’re from the southern continent on Cait, and it can get windy there – remember when we used to go hover boarding and catch the updrafts?”

 

A smile broke through Left Ear’s no nonsense exterior, exposing her sharp fangs and setting her eyes to dancing with past memories of when things were a little better. “I remember.” She reached a powerful paw across the table to give Kansas a playful swat on the nose.

 

The younger feline reciprocated, and playfully batted the paw away, and for a quick moment both of the Caits basically looked like large overgrown housecats with the swatting actions. A couple of the Human patrons within the coffee house noticed and snickered to themselves at the actions, but no one dared to say a word, not if they wanted to continue through their day without some bruises and cuts. As a general rule, the Caitians that served on the cargo vessels or merchant marine ships or mercenary family clan ships flying about the galaxy were not to be trifled with.

 

And, there was also the chance of running into a cutthroat pirate among that lot, and these two Caitians were most certainly of the piratical variety of Caitians, under the command of one Ah-Windu Corizon.

 

Corizon was captain to a crew of buccaneers that were rapidly making a big name for themselves throughout the quadrants. And, Corizon and his merry band of cutthroats were going to steal a ship. A big ass ship. An Akira class warship to be exact, currently docked here at the shipyards while taking on new crew and supplies in preparation for deployment on a new patrol mission.

 

But, things were not going to go according to plan - for the captain and command staff of the Excalibur that is. Those officers had no idea about the upcoming storm that was about to overtake them in the form of the Buccaneers of the Blade. At least, that was the name circulating on the Starfleet newsfeed that had stuck with the infamous pirate leader and his gang.

 

Movement through the garden that the café overlooked caught M’Vess’s keen eyes and brought her out of her inner thoughts. Their target was moving across the main walkway of the outer garden complex.

 

“Let’s move. I’ll handle the bill for the coffee. You get to tracking that officer and I’ll catch up.”

 

Excited, but mindful of the fact that her tracking assignment was very important, Kansas made her way out of the café and into the outer garden area that was the centerpiece of the promenade. She ignored but was mindful of the trees, flower arrangements, passersby, and general distractions in the area as she lagged behind her quarry. The young kitten acted just like any other tourist or off duty officer or civilian merchant officer on layover at the station and meandered through the garden, but all the while she was focused on her target. Soon, the elder Left Ear caught up with her young cousin and the two women continued tracking the operations officer as he made his way across the main station hub where the far control station was located.

 

The man wore the typical Starfleet black trousers and black matching uniform tunic with gray shoulders and gold turtleneck shirt underneath. The golden hue of the shirt indicated he served within the operations department. Specifically, he was the shift lead and carried the rank of junior el tee. He was in his late twenties, fair skin, tall, average build, muscular, and wore his blond hair in a traditional military crew cut. No family, parents were residents of the New Mars colony, sister served in Fleet medical. The Kitten was a damn good researcher and an even better hacker, and had found both the necessary (and unnecessary) information about the man on the so called encrypted wireless network that the star base employed for internal communications traffic.

 

Soon, the lieutenant and his clandestine followers arrived at the access junction leading to the control deck that Left Ear had scouted out as a likely spot to spring her portion of the pre-takeover operations.

 

The felines green eyes had taken on that cold and feral no nonsense look that she got whenever she was carrying out her duties or had a target in her sights. If Kansas hadn’t grown up around her, she would have been disturbed by the look, and as it stood she was mildly disconcerted by it. Left Ear kept telling her that the longer she served with an organized pirate crew, the easier it would be for her to get her own ‘command look’, but Kansas still wasn’t completely convinced. She loved her older cousin, but the woman could be a real bitch sometimes so she had always figured that the ‘look’ just came easily to her.

 

The male Lieutenant had stopped at the edge of the central garden area to speak with a fellow officer heading in the opposite direction, so both of the Caitians maintained a standby foot patrol pattern. In other words, they were both waiting for him to start moving again and hiding behind a large potted plant and bushes; soon, the conversation was over and the blond haired male continued on his way to his duty station.

 

“Okay Kansas, count to five and then shoot off that scrambler device. Watch this area, and maintain a static patrol. No one enters the access corridor; if anyone asks, say our company was brought in to do some independent contractual observations of the Jeffries tubes and access tunnels.”

 

Like the cat that she was, Left Ear slinked out from behind the shrubbery, moving effortlessly on her two hind legs as if she were gliding across the decking rather then walking.

 

“Right. Go get ‘im Lefty.” Kansas whispered to the elder Caitians back. She counted down to five and then carried out her assigned instructions.

 

The young golden furred Cait slipped her right paw into her right jacket pocket and depressed the slender scrambler device that resembled a data storage device or computer spike located within the folds of the jacket; the device sent out a short range burst of telemetry static that would temporarily take out all of the security cameras within the area, including the access corridor camera where Left Ear was now heading in pursuit of the officer. She could tell that they had all been taken out when the status light on the camera attached to the far bulkhead support blinked green and then went to flat line red.

 

Kansas then moved her arm, bringing her paw up to her muzzle and spoke quietly into the electronic communications band strapped across her wrist. “You are good. Repeat, you are clear for some happy hunting, Elder Guardian.”

 

Left Ear didn’t respond to Kansas’s encrypted wireless line audio report as it filtered through her own wrist communicator, but the Lieutenant a few steps ahead of her had picked up on the tail end of the strange communication, and stopped in his tracks to turn around and give her a curious stare.

 

“Lieutenant Zimm. Good morning.”

 

He was confused, and his frown deepened. “Have we met … “

 

The brown furred panther cat just flew into action, slamming into and getting the heavier human male up against the bulkhead. He tried to struggle, but she clapped a paw under his groin and any scuffling action on his part was stopped real quick.

 

“Here’s the deal. I talk, you listen, you agree. If you don’t cooperate with me, I squeeze the jewels and my claws pop out to do some puncturing.”

 

Zimm went completely pale, his eyes flew wide, and he started to frantically nod his head. Yeah, it was probably a good bet that Left Ear had his full and undivided attention.

 

“Good boy. There may be some excitement later on with regard to one of the ships currently in station mooring – the Excalibur. When it all goes down, you might get some unusual communications traffic to the control tower. You and any one serving on your communications shift won’t react right away or raise any sort of alarm. We need a delay. You got me?”

 

“I can’t do … what do you mean … “

 

Left Ear kept her claws sheathed but did give the jewels a slight squeeze; Zimm gasped at the exerted pressure and shut up.

 

“If you frag this up, I will put an assassination contract out on you. I know individuals who would be highly interested in a job of this nature. Caitian mercenary clan assassins to be exact and you know they can be very good at what they do. And if they can’t find you, they’ll just go for the next available family target. Maybe Mom and Dad, and I’m sure Caryn would probably get a visit as well. So, be a good boy Mister Conrad and do what I ask … “

 

A purred voice drifted up from the entry way to the access corridor where Kansas was standing a diligent watch. “Wow, I never knew you could be so subtle Cousin. I’d do what she says Mister Zimm unless you want to have an involuntary sex change operation within the next few seconds. The area is still clear, but we need to move soon.” The young Caitian spoke over her shoulder without taking her keen eyes off of the outer area, and could not quite mask the rush of excitement that she felt from coming out in her voice.

 

Left Ear ignored Kansas and kept looking at Zimm. His blue eyes showed her that she had him right where she wanted him – cowed. She hissed, baring her fangs at the man. “Go. Now!”

 

She gave him a general shove in the right direction and Zimm took off half running down the corridor, giving a frantic, scared and confused glance back at the bad ass feline that had just accosted him. Kansas sidled up to Left Ear and both of the felines watched as he bolted around a bend in the corridor and out of site.

 

“We still clear Kitten?” The older Cait watched a distant point in the corridor, not looking at her younger counterpart

 

The younger cat consulted the meter countdown inset in her wrist comm before replying to the query. “Aye. Cameras have another two minutes before the feedback loop dissipates and they boot back on line. We probably have about five minutes before security sends someone down to check to, it’s such a small glitch.”

 

“Good. The engineering geeks did good with the tech Intel. Let’s head back to the café and wait for the next phase of the plan to be kicked off. But first … “

 

A brown paw quickly shot out to grab at the collar of Kansas’s black uniform jacket, and Left Ear gave her a little shake to emphasize what she was about to say, as if her lashing tail and flattened ears were not an indication of her displeasure with her younger charge.

 

“Kitten, don’t you ever speak out of turn on an operation again. Joking banter has its place, and that is not during a sanctioned away team mission. And, now that Human knows that we are related in some way. Since I scared the sh*t out of him he will probably do nothing about it and our fur tone and coloring is common anyway, but an enterprising individual might be able to track us down using our general descriptions and that familial connection. You found information on Zimm, so what makes you oblivious to the fact that someone wouldn’t be able to find information on us? If you want to serve with this crew, you need to get your head in the game!”

 

The kid’s own ears had gone flat as well, but from being unsure rather then anger at the dressing down, and her tail had dropped with a depressed thump to the floor. “L-left Ear …. I, uh, I really meant no harm …”

 

“Enough! We’ll discuss this later. Go, head back to the café and grab us another table!”

 

Left Ear maneuvered the shorter Caitian around and gave her a firm swat to the seat of her trousers with a free paw to get her moving back towards the entry way of the access corridor. The golden furred Cait yelped at the sting the sharp paw contact elicited and then quickly scampered off on all fours out into the general garden area and the paths that led to various stores and cafes that ringed the outer exterior of the garden.

 

The panther Cait got her temper back under control by degrees and had cooled down by the time she reached the café. The smell of different varieties of coffee wafting across the recycled air was enticing as well, and also served to temper her mood. She found her Guardian Child at a procured table, and the leonine feline gave her Elder Guardian a self deprecating and lopsided smile as the older panther approached the table. Left Ear gave Kansas a much gentler pat on the head, ruffling her short mane in the process in silent answer to the Kittens unspoken apology.

 

“I ordered our usual.”

 

The brown furred Caitian reached into an inside jacket pocket and withdrew a blue credit chip, part of the haul that was sill leftover from when the crew had raided a supply depot on the outer rim, and tossed it over to her young cousin who easily caught it out of the air.

 

“Go grab us some bagels too. I think we are both due with a small meal before the fireworks start.”

 

Left Ear JoNs sat down heavily in the opposite seat located across the table from Kansas as the younger feline got up from her own seat and walked over to the counter section to call the order in. Her duties as Corizon’s Exec as well as her familial duties in keeping her young kitten charge safe were very much on her mind. Her gaze went inevitably went to the large picture window overlooking the scenery of the ship yard and docking ports, and to the sleek and powerful prize that Ah-Windu Corizon was determined to nab.

 

JoNs muttered under her breath. “Seeking bounty by the sword …. Those damn green blood sponsors of ours had better pay us handsomely for this little ship jacking jaunt … “