The Biloxi Star Warrior - Chapter 1

The Biloxi Star Warrior, Chapter One

Saturn filled the sky, huge, powerful, silent.  So far from the sun, its colors were muted to tans and dark oranges.  The rings, flat discs in the eyes of telescopes on Earth, were kilometers wide bands of ice and dust, stretching from just above the cloud tops of the mighty planet out to the boundary line where Saturn's formidable gravity couldn't hold even the tiniest speck of dust against the solar wind. 

While no lens from from Earth could have detected them, hundreds of ships hung silently among the icy boulders and dust of the inner rings.  There were two main types, huge, triangular ships shaped like the maws of giant lizards and strange, squid like ships with dozens of tentacle like arms.  The jaw ships bore a single huge gun thrust out from what would have been the open mouth.  The squid like ships had a wide array weapons and devices at the end of their appendages.  Drifting silently around and over them were dozens of smaller ships, some obviously fuel tankers or command ships.  Others were strange spider webs of girders that served as some sort of repair and resupply station.   Flags from the countries of the world were liberally distributed on the sides of the ship; a tanker from China, a giant jaw ship from Brazil, the list went on an on.  For all that that the smaller ships were doing, there was an air of menace and waiting in the larger ships.  They all hung, massive, still, and watchful under the overshadowing bulk of Saturn.

A light flared on a control panel in the squid placed furthest out from the body of the fleet.  

"Thu One to base."  A woman's voice called over the radio silence.  "I've got a target,  correction I've got targets.  Multiple targets, all in profile."

"Confirmed.  Multiple targets, all in profile."  A passionless voice responded as all the smaller craft turned suddenly toward Saturn.  "How many targets?"

"Umm."  The view screen in Thu One was full of red dots that reflected on the gold tinted visor of the woman at the controls.  "A couple hundred at least.  Looks like this is it."

On the horizon, angular, black ships with rows of yellow lights appeared cruising just above the plane of the rings.

"Confirmed."  The passionless voice responded.   "We see them.  This is exactly the profile we were expecting.  All Zills to weapons full.  All Thus to weapons full."

The pilot of Thu One leaned forward and began flipping on weapons systems while nervous chatter trilled around the radio.

"Oh jeez.  This is it.  This is really happening."

"Yeah man.  Did you think we were out here for our health?"

"Stow that noise, Zill Three."  The passionless voice barked.  "Thu One."  He called.  "You're on point.  Confirm you are attack ready."

"Confirmed.  Thu One is attack ready."  The woman pilot announced.  "Hopefully, readier than I need to be."  She muttered to herself, glancing at a red button wired awkwardly onto the side of the otherwise streamline control panel.  "Just prove me wrong."  She whispered as the attack code came over the radio.  "Just prove me wrong."

<Italics>  Yeah, so that's me in Thu One, hanging in space about a zillion miles from home, about to launch an attack on alien invaders.  Seems a little cracked.  I'm a barista at Jive n Juice in Biloxi, Mississippi.  Nice little place right off the wharf.  I'm also the top woman fighter at The Grinder's Glory mixed martial arts gym.  Okay, so, I'm the only woman fighter at Grinder's but that makes me number one right?  I'm 3-0 in citywide competition, two by submission, Americana and a neck crank.

Yeah, I know, not relevant.  The real question is, what the hell am I doing strapped to a ten thousand tonne, squid ship orbiting Saturn.  Truth?  I'm not sure.  It did definitely start with voices though.  That was the beginning for sure...

Oh wait.  My name's Kim.  That's important.  I'm Kim Santiago.