Here's Chapter 2 ^_^



















                                                                             
Bridget Rhyson, in an interview  after the last Centauran
attack, commenting on their mission on Miaka.


Chapter 2
HyperDrive

Miaka, center of the Milky Way Galaxy, 
June 22, Earth time, 8:18 AM

Inside the Dreadnought Destroyer Grand Destroyer, The
leader of the Kvoyak Fleet, Grand Admiral Roberter Peers,
a blue skinned Miakan with abnormally large ears and
nose, awaited the arrival of a small shuttle that would
take him to Miaka for two things, one, to await the
President's orders, and two to see how the giant
HyperDrive, a Dreadnought Avenger, with enough firepower
to wipe out an entire convoy, was doing. His Captain,
Mashty Zlockly, a Miakan also, watched the various ships
pass the Bridge on assorted missions.

	Peers was the type of man that if you didn't say the
right thing to him, he'd explode. He was almost never at
peace, with himself, or with others. His captain was his
only friend, except for General Scg Rieekann on the
planet far below. Peers' attitude made people shy away
from him, but he couldn't understand why. Another reason
people kept their distance was because Peers was quick on
the trigger of his small blaster which he kept by his
waist on his uniform. He had a long chin, with a dimple
in his chin, his beard stubble was always noticeable
because he would shave the night before, and it would
grow right back before the day started.
	"Has there been any word from Rieekann?," Peers
asked a commander.
	"No, sir," the commander replied. Peers shook his
head.
	"He's going to be late again," he said. The
commander went about his business.

	"Sir," one commander said, looking up from his post
on a computer, "your shuttle has arrived." Peers glanced
up at the commander, and nodded. He rose from his chair.
	"Thank you," he said, not realy meaning it.
"Captain, let's go," Peers turned to see Zlockly, who was
staring out the window in space.
	"Captain," Peers insisted, snapping Zlockly from his
trance, "it's time to go."
	"Sorry, sir," Zlockly replied, shifting positions,
and straightening out his uniform. The both of them
walked out the door. The commander at the computer
glanced out the hallway. Looking to make sure that Peers
wouldn't be returning anytime soon, he took out a pair of
headphones, and put them on, while pressing 'play' on his
monitor. He then sat back, and relaxed, letting the music
drift him to sleep. The rest of the commanders went
elsewhere to leave the commander undisturbed.

	The shuttle descended, hastily, but not enough to
make someone worried. The female commander who was in
charge of the docking area, watched the shuttle level off
with the ground, and land. 

	"General Scg Rieekann to the shuttle hangar bay, Scg
Rieekann to the shuttle hangar bay." Rieekann rushed in
and shut off the loudspeaker. 
	"I was in the other room," he explained, clearly
annoyed, "now what is it?"
The girl pointed, smiling. Rieekann's mouth dropped,
realizing that the emblem on the shuttle was of the high
command, and that he had a meeting with Peers.
	"Son of a...," he gasped, rushing out the door,
leaving it wide open. On his way over he tripped many
times trying to tie his shoe laces. He hoped Peers
wouldn't chew him out for forgetting their scheduled
meeting. He tore across the shuttle hangar bay, and
arrived at Peers' shuttle out of breath, and extremely
tired. The shuttle door opened up, and a ramp extended.
Rieekann's heart thumped. He hoped that Peers wouldn't
take anything out on him for being late.
	
	"Mr. Peers, we are almost finished with the
HyperDive," Rieekann said, throwing a distasteful eye on
Zlockly. Zlockly acted as if he hadn't even seen it.
	 "Good, Mr. Rieekann, I am looking forward to seeing
the project in person," Peers replied.
	"In person?," asked Rieekann.
	"That's right."
	"But when?"
	"Now." Peers stared hard into Rieekann's eyes.
Rieekann glanced at Zlockly, who was beaming. Rieekann
took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and nodded.
	"The HyperDrive will be completed by three day's
time."
	"Then it's Kraakatorass beware," smiled Peers,
clenching his fist. Rieekann shivered in his boots.
	"But sir," said Zlockly. Peers looked at him.
	"What is it?" Zlockly picked his next sentance
carefully.
	"Won't Earth protest?," Zlockly asked, remaining
quiet for most of the discussion.
	"That's all they'll do, protest. Even if we invade
Wareham, that's all they'll do. Earth's in a depression
right now, from the wars, so they can't do very much."
	"But why not invade Earth first?," Rieekann asked.
	"Earth is a powerful planet, especially when it
comes down to defenses." Peers stroked his beard stubble,
and realized that he hadn't shaved in three days.
	"But won't they come to the rescue of Kraakatorass?"
	"They won't dare, because if they do, we'll send
half of our ships to Earth to attack. Either way, we get
a planet." Peers was becoming more and more excited.

	Rieekann led Peers to an elevator.
	"What isn't finished aboard the ship," Zlockly
asked. Rieekann thought.
	"I think it was that there was a problem with the
main computer's speakers being too loud, and that the
shield generators weren't reacting to laser shots." Peers
frowned.
	"And it's going to take three days for that?"
Rieekann gave a weak nod. Peers shook his head. Zlockly
looked at Peers.
	"At least it's ahead of schedule." Peers smiled at
that one. For months, the ship had come out of Peers' own
paycheck, and he struggled with what few friends he had
to get the ship underway. The top secret project was
known to few, but those that knew were kept under
surveilance.
	"Right there, Zlockly," commented Rieekann, with a
fowl look. Zlockly sneered at him. The elevator stopped,
six miles below the surface of Miaka.
	"Here we are," said Rieekann. They all stepped out.
They walked down the dimly lit hallway to a retnal scan
Identification passageway.
	"Name," said the computer.
	"Peers, Roberter," replied Peers. 
	"Look into the lens," the computer. Peers did, and a
small laser scanned his left eye.
	"Identity confirmed. Good day, sir." The doors
opened and Peers, Zlockly, and Rieekann walked through.

	Charred metal could be smelled everywhere.
	"We added more armour to the ship," explained
Rieekann, as Peers wrinkled his nose at the smell.
	"Smells like super- titanium- alloy," he said.
	"It is," said Rieekann,impressed, walking up to
another door, and running his scan card through the lock.
The door opened up to the factory.

	Two giant Dreadnought Avengers had been created, one
was a prototype, just to make sure the ship wouldn't fall
apart on contact with a laser shot or worse. The final
preperations were being made to launch in less than a
week. Peers smiled.
	"I like it. You did a good job, Rieekann." Rieekann
bowed.
	"Thank you, sir," he said, "but it's not finished."
	"I wish to go aboard," he said," and see my
quarters."
	"Everything you asked for is in there, sir,"
Rieekann counted on his fingers. "Jaccuzzi, spa, personal
toilet, tanner, autoshaver...." Zlockly snickered at the
autoshaver part, for Peers would never use it.
	"Good, Rieekann," Peers said. "So for me, it's a
floating hotel."
	"Well, good comparison," he said. Zlockly looked at
Rieekann.
	"What about my quarters?" Rieekann sighed.
	"Spa, bathroom, and double extra large bed, as you
requested." Rieekann rolled his eyes. Peers looked out
over the railing.
	"Three years building, three years worth of pay
toward it, finally completed. It's a work of art."
Rieekann was beaming, for not only had he created the
designs and plans for the battlewagon, he was getting
praised for it.
	"One question though," he said, pointing at the
large shaft in the nose," does that actually fire?"
Rieekann rolled his eyes.
	"Never saw so much trouble in my life. We've been
trying to get it working for almost three months. We
can't get the barrel to flush with the gun itself.
	"It probably saps too much power anyways," Peers
rationalized," take us aboard."

	The entrance to the ship was huge.
	"We expect not only one man fighters to repair here,
but we have a special location for your private shuttle
too," lectured Rieekann.
	"Where is the private shuttle?"
	"Next to your quarters. If in the event this ship is
disabled, the shuttle and that isolated bay operates on
it's own reactor. The shuttle bears no arms, but has
quad- armour, and a much more powerful Hyperdrive than a
normal shuttle." Zlockly was awed by the hangar.
	"How many Shadows can fit in here." Rieekann looked
at him, and sighed.
	"What difference does it make?" Peers rubbed his
beard stubble.
	"I'd be interested in hearing that too," he said.
Rieekann immediately became open.
	"Oh, I'd say about three thousand Shadows." Peers
smiled. "Currently a Dreadnought Destroyer can only hold
thirty. This ship is mostly open area for ship storage.
The Yamato is to go with it on invasion missions." Peers
nodded. He looked at Rieekann and Zlockly.
	"Let's see my quarters, shall we?"

	The spa was hand polished, the bathroom freshly
painted. Peers smiled as he sat on his bed.
	"Very nice," said Zlockly.
	"Nice?," gasped Peers, "it's a paradise!" Rieekann
smiled.
	"And what about my room?," asked Zlockly. Rieekann
showed him a room that had all the features as the first
room, but no jaccuzzi.
	"Very nice," said Zlockly. "I like it."
	"Let us see the Bridge, after all that's where we'll
be spending most of our time." Rieekann nodded. Zlockly
took one more quick glance around the room before
shutting the lights off and closing the door behind him.