Solar Knight: Star Dust -book 2-

Chapter 13: Avarian Pirates *

Aboard this fine vessel I call the "S.S. Phoenix Strider" nestles a crew of around one to two thousand strong! It's a huge, massive ship that is chocked to the brim with weapons, artillery, security measures, technology, and supply cargo to last us for eons to come. I, as their captain, make sure that everything is in tip top condition and stocked.

I am, a black owl variant of Avarian. Our type are professionals in strategy and space combat. I would board a fighter myself. However, after being shot in my leg by a marauder years ago, I must stay aboard this war ship of mine.

We Avarians come in several types. We have flamingo, rooster, blue jay, ostrich, crow, and so on. We be of bird folk. Regardless of type or species, we still fly together and count on one another, especially in these hard and difficult times.

As I sat down with my morning brew, peering around my cabin, I recline back in my chair. Everything was going according to plan. I know for a fact that earth is in it's infancy of space travel and combat, so there is no way of retaliation. It's climate is easily manipulated by either the moon or sun. If I had stopped the moon somehow, someway however, it would be more damage than profit.

My radio came on, and a crew mate spoke.

"A message for ya, Captain Qrow sir! " he said.

"Excellent, its probably their queen. Patch her through! " I told him.

"Aye aye.... " he said, cutting off.

I turned around to the mega screen on the wall. Of course I acted cocky, drinking my bird brew with a smirk. The screen flickered on, showing the king, instead of the queen, i always figured that their queen in particular had a higher standing than the queen, oddly enough, but either way, it's still jarring to say the least.

"Captain Ludwig Von Qrow? " he said.

"Yes yer highness? " I said snarkily.

"Our answer is no, we will not roll belly up, letting you take what is ours! We need our fuel to power our machines and cities, we need our stones for the economy, and there is no way we're giving up that easily! " the king said sternly.

"Then aaaaah freeze to death then I suppose.... I'm patient and lenient. If ya change yer mind later, I'd still lift the barrier. " I said taking a sip.

"Oh, so you think we're defenseless?" he said smugly.

"Yes, for a fact I know ye are. Ye haven't any cannons that can reach us, ye haven't any ships that can fly towards us, and ye haven't any form of technology to counter us at all. Ye be sitting ducks! "

The duck guards in the hallway looked at me funny.

"Er, sorry lads. Carry on.... " I said quickly turning back to the screen hastily.

"If you assume we are defenseless, then that will be your downfall! My knights and guardians will stop you quickly and bring you to justice! " he said.

I spewed out my coffee laughing. What a joke! His little entourage is gonna stop me? Me, a captain of a couple thousand strong versus a hand full of earthen land lubbers that haven't any technology?!

"I, king Endymion, the once prince of the kingdomof earth, say we'll fight back with everything we have! " he said.

"Pffft whatever, fire yer useless cannons, missiles, and what have ya. It won't reach us or the barrier we put up!" I said chuckling.

My radio crackled to life as a panicked crewman spoke.

"Captain! We have something on our radar! " he said.

"What is it? Spit it out! "

"Several a blips are heading straight for us!" He said in a panicked manner.

"It's just a puny attempt at intimidation. It's probably just missiles.... "

"Well the thing is sir, these are definitely ships! "

"Planes.... "

"No sir, ships! They're getting past the atmosphere and are nearing the barrier!" He shouted.

"What.... " I said with shock.

I turned to the king smirking at me.

"What's wrong? You look a tad frazzled. Maybe you're thrown off at the thought of someoneactuallystandingup to you? Do not underestimate us, it will be your downfall!" he said triumphantly.

"They still have to fight several thousand strong! They won't get far! " I said, cutting off her signal and picking up the radio, tuning it to the ships main intercom.

"THIS IS NOT A DRILL, ALL FLYERS TO THE HANGAR BAY!! CREW PREPARE FOR BATTLE!! " I shouted.

Another crewman came through.

"Sir? Is everything alright?? " he said.

"No! We're going to battle! Remember, if your ship is shot and is on fire, eject immediately. We must keep our race alive! " I told him.

"I'll spread that information now! What of the hot pink flamingo squadron and the cock brigade? " he asked.

"What of them?? " I asked back.

"Do you wanna send them out too? "

"No, I wanna save the best for the worst case scenario! Send out the murder of crows, have the Hawkeye snipers on standby, and turn on the shields! There's no telling what they have up their sleeves now, all precautions must be taken! "

"Sir captain sir! " he said, cutting off.

I rubbed my temples and stood up, looking out the window at earth. What are they planning? Are they insane?! Whatever the case, these earthlings are extremely unpredictable it seems. But their tech is so primitive! How could they possible have fighters?? What'd they do, time travel into the future?! Even that sounds insane just thinking about it! Nay, they just think they can fight us.... Well, we'll bring them the fight they want!