Drake's 7

[Norris]

This is a series of episodes I wrote for the same site where I wrote those Sonic X stories I posted up here a while ago. These episodes, however, are set in the Mallaverse I introduced in my BOH fic Star Quack, although they're set before the events of that story.

I'll add new episodes onto this thread whenever I can, so enjoy!

Drake's 7

Part 1: Visitors

The Mallaverse was as vast as it was infinite, but even the size of the entire Mallaverse seem small compared to the size of the Heron Federation, or so Ard Drake thought. The Federation was brutal on even the most minor of offences, and just to increase its own propaganda, even a parking violation could be put forward alongside such fabricated charges as child molestation or murder. He had been arrested for jaywalking, but that charge had been obscured amid the invented accusations of rape put forward by the unseen Minister of Justice.

Drake had not made any attempts to resist during the trial on Ea-Rth, particularly as the dock was flanked by two guards with laser rifles set to "kill". Drake had remembered the trial of his older brother, Ris Drake, executed when attempting to flee the courts. Ris had got out easy, but now Drake wished he had done likewise. Drake had been sentenced to life imprisonment at the infamous penal colony on the planet Vultar, where the inmates toiled day and night mining out precious metals with the most primitive of tools. Their undernourished state meant that only a handful ever lived past the first five years, and those who did survive would be quietly executed by the Federation troops on the planet. The very thought of such a fate made Drake feel his cream-coloured feathers blanch in terror.

And now, Drake was aboard the prison vessel Crassus, chained up along with the other inmates as the vessel continued it's above-light speed journey to Vultar. The prisoner quarters were appalling. 700 people of all species kept in claustrophobic conditions, with their arms and other appendages clamped tightly by rusty shackles. Right now, Drake was ignoring such conditions by talking to another wrongly-convicted furson nearby, a gaunt-faced goose by the name of Cha Gander.

"You see, Drake" Gander was explaining in his sombre voice. "These shackles could easily come away, but we simply cannot do anything more than that. We have only our bare wings to fight with, but the guards beyond those doors have rifles that can kill a furson at ten paces,"

"You sound like some actor," Drake remarked sardonically, trying the test for himself. The shackles came away almost too easily for Drake's liking, but at least he was freer than he was a few moments ago.

"I was an actor, once," Gander remarked bitterly. "I was a member of the Royal Drakespearean Company back on Ea-Rth, but I ended up in a fight with another one of the troupe. I was branded a threat to society and sent off to Vultar," He winched angrily. "What would the immortal bard say if he saw the times we live in now?"

Drake ordered Gander to be quiet. Drake had now moved towards the door leading to the bridge, and he could hear some activity going on behind it. The captain was barking orders frantically to the rest of the crew, and an alarm could be heard blaring very faintly beyond the reinforced doors.

The Crassus was about to have company...

To be continued...

[Norris]

Drake's 7

Part 2: Ghost Ship

No sooner had Drake taken his ear away from the door that it swished open, revealing two large, menacing-looking Herons in the uniform of Federation guards. Each was armed with a laser rifle, which they held firmly in their meaty wings. Their eyes gazed around the hold, until one of them sighted Drake.

"He'll do," remarked the one. "Go and find another one for the captain, Lan," Before Drake could respond, he was being dragged along the corridors of the Crassus, the crystalline tip of the laser rifle prodding him sharply in the back, as he was escorted up to the bridge. Behind him came Gander, whom the other guard had chosen in a hasty decision.

They eventually arrived on the claustrophobic bridge, where the captain, another heron, had his back to the group as he surveyed something outside the ship. At his sides were the pilot and co-pilot - pigeons, Drake noticed - who were tending to the array of monitors in front of them. The heron captain spun around, his scarlet epaulettes hanging loosely from his shoulders, as he gazed at the two prisoners.

"Are these two the best you could do, sergeant?" he sneered, eyeing them with disgust.

"You said take any prisoner, sir," the one guard answered. "We weren't told to find anything specific,"

"That'll do," the captain snapped, and turned to his prisoners. "I require you two to perform a little task for me. If you accept, I'll see that the authorities on Vultar treat you well, but if you refuse to co-operate, then I shall have Sergeant Arl here execute you here and now. Do you understand?"

For a time, both prisoners were silent, until Drake found the courage to speak up.

"What is it you want us to do?" he asked tersely.

"I thought as much," the captain grinned sickly. "A spacecraft has just come alongside us. She won't respond to radio contact, and she refuses to allow any vessel near it. We shall send you across in one of our automated pods, and we want you to board her, and find out what they want," He paused for a moment. "Oh, and if you do not return within the hour, I shall execute all of your fellow prisoners aboard this ship,"

Gander felt uneasy, but Drake agreed to the terms, and within a few moments, they were gliding across in an automatically-controlled space pod. The spaceship could be seen more clearly now, and was perhaps best described as a metal candle with a glowing, green sphere at one end. The ship bore no markings, but there were several menacing weapons placed about the hull that gave her a deadly appearance.

A pair of doors leading into an airlock slid open, allowing the pod to enter. Drake and Gander stepped out into an empty corridor. The atmosphere was tense. All the lights and heating systems of the vessel appeared to be functioning, but of a crew there was no sign. No matter how many times Drake and Gander called out, the only response they received was the eerie reverberations of their own echoes.

"Do enter, gentlemen," a deep voice suddenly boomed out of nowhere, and what seemed to be part of the wall suddenly slid open, guided by some unknown force.

What lay beyond that door froze Drake and Gander in sheer fright.

To be continued...

[Norris]

Drake's 7

Part 3: Escape!

The first thing that Drake and Gander saw was a vast control room, with chairs for seven people placed on a high platform at one end. There were no windows, and the opposite wall seemed to be dominated by a gigantic, crystal sphere that glowed softly, changing from red to yellow to green to blue at different intervals. It was from this sphere that the voice came. As it spoke, a bright, white light pulsed from the sphere in time with the speech.

"Greetings, gentlemen," the voice spoke. Its voice had a refined English accent to it. "Welcome aboard Space Transit Unit 1. I am your shipboard computer, the M.M.E."

"M.M.E.?" Gander cocked an eyebrow at the machine.

"Matter Manipulation Equipment," M.M.E. verified. "Pronounced as "me" for convenience and time,"

"And...where is the crew?" Drake asked, stepping forward.

"All were killed whilst exploring the surface of the planet Nestos. Their last orders were to find a new crew from the nearest star system. All previous attempts at boarding by outside influences had failed as the auto-repair systems were still in operation, and thus forbade any organic lifeforms from entering the ship,"

Drake had heard of Nestos. It was a jungle world a few lightyears away, rumoured to be inhabited by prehistoric monsters that attacked any off-world craft. Whoever had last flown this ship must have been desperate to evade the Federation.

"Drake!" Gander's ecstatic voice interrupted Drake's thoughts. "Do you realise what this means?!" We can use this ship to escape! Use it to attack the Federation!"

"You forget, Gander," Drake replied darkly. "The heron captain of our prison ship has promised to exterminate the rest of his captives. I wouldn't feel comfortable having that on my conscience,"

"Then, for Goose's sake, bring them aboard! Say the crew want to examine them or something!"

Drake let out a long, despairing sigh, and turned to face M.M.E.

"M.M.E., does this vessel have teleport capabilities?"

"Confirmed," boomed the computer. "However, the life support systems can only sustain a maximum of seven. Any number exceeding that would have a serious effect upon the air and food cycles of the on-board systems,"

"Well, Gander and I are two, so use your teleport to bring up five other captives from the prison vessel, based on strengths and knowledges in the fields of engineering, logic, fitness, medicine and weaponry,"

"Confirmed," the computer repeated. "Follow the green lines to the teleport," So saying, the white lights that lay to the sides of the corridor glowed a gentle green, leading the way for Gander and Drake.

The new crew was about to arrive...

To be continued...