Gabatrix: The Pirates of Palora

Chapter 2: When the Ship Needs English

It was approaching 0630 on the ship. The interior passageway of the centripetal ring had more foot traffic than usual as crew members were finishing up their duty rotations. Breakfast had nearly arrived.

A tall man walked down the passageway. He had short gray hair and a pale complexion. He wore the typical red and blue camouflage marine pants and a light green shirt. On his side belt was his holstered magnum. The shirt did nothing to block the visual view of his bulked-up mass of raw muscle. He walked with a purpose that quickly had crewmembers step to the side the moment they gazed upon him.

Stone was not the man to be in front of when he walked. His demeanor, how he looked at others, and the sheer intensity with which he carried himself were designed to inspire fear and respect. He wouldn't even glance at the other crew, almost as if they were mere blades of grass ready to stomp past with his hardened magnetic boots.

"Master Sergeant," A wondering crewman greeted him as he moved to the wall to let him pass.

"Hmph...," Stone grunted back as he walked past him.

The CMC continued his walk forward as a couple of other crew members walked past him. Something caught his eye as Stone could see a pair of crew members standing by one of the closed doors of the nearby crew quarters.

Two of the crew were human, one being a man and the other a woman. Stone recognized the man as Petty Officer Ramirez, the nephew of Captain Ramirez. He had short black hair and facial features reminiscent of a man born in Central America of former Earth. The blond woman Stone recognized was Petty Officer Marcelle, a very close friend of Ramirez.

The third person was what made Stone come to a halt. The small Itrean was his close, silent partner, Ioren. The Itrean woman was an unusual mix of being half Yutilian and half Aksren. She was an anthro reptilian, having the longer rounded nose of a Yutilian while carrying a large assortment of red and green feathers on her head, arms, and long feathery tail. Her Aksren side consisted of the familiar smooth bronze scale skin and nose head crest. She wore a green and red skintight uniform that covered much of the red and green color patterns on her skin. She carried a small, holstered pistol on her hip.

In her four-fingered clawed hands was an open tilon. The metal rods were split apart with a digital screen and keypad illuminated for her other hand to interact with. The moment that Ioren's reptilian eyes glanced at Stone, her feathers rose and lowered.

Something was wrong....

"What the fuck is this?" Stone firmly reacted as he looked at the door to Ramirez's quarters. Both Ramirez and Marcelle seemed distressed and for all good reason. The master sergeant approached the entrance as Ramirez and Marcelle stepped aside.

Written on Ramirez's closed door was one word in bold letters:

"FASCIST...."

"It happened again, Master Sergeant," Ramirez said, his accent giving the hint of a person born on Palora.

"Explain," Stone ordered.

"I was away on my watch," Ramirez explained. "I was coming back, and then I saw this on my door."

Stone's single augmented eye changed to different spectrums as the man began to analyze the door. The lettering was colored in red paint.

"No fingerprints on the door," Stone remarked. The man's grip tightened as he looked at Ioren. "You're doing a security report?"

"Yes," Ioren's tablet said. The silent Itrean began to type as her tilon translated the words out loud in a female voice. "The second incident recorded in two weeks. I was about to investigate the scene further."