Homestar Saga

Chapter 63: War Games

"No way," said Yvian. She refused to admit defeat. Losing to Mims was one thing, but Lissa? "Best five out of eight."

"Give it up, Sis," her nemesis told her. "You're not going to beat me."

"We'll see about that." Yvian fired up the simulator again. Two fleets appeared on sensors. One for Yvian. One for the nemesis. Captain Mims had been using the simulator to teach them ship to ship combat for a year, but she hadn't realized just how sophisticated the thing was until he upped the ante to fleet combat. The simulated ships were capable of everything a real ship could do, and the controls were the same.

Yvian had been feeling pretty good about the new training. She'd gone up against simulated versions of the Klaath, the Confed, and the Vrrl, and she'd done pretty well. When Mims took the field himself, she'd lost, of course she had. Mims was the best pilot she'd ever seen, with over thirty years of combat experience. Losing to him was like losing an arm wrestling contest to a krog. Nothing to be ashamed of.

But Lissa? Lissa? That was a loss she could not abide.

"No we won't," the Captain cut in. "You've been at this for five hours, and we still have to work in hand to hand, swords, and quickdraw training."

Lissa sighed. "Does anyone else feel like they could use a vacation?"

"You had a vacation," said Mims. "We took a whole day off after we got the Recompense docked."

"That's not a vacation, Mark," Lissa told him. "That's just needing to sleep after being awake for fifty six hours."

"I can beat her," Yvian insisted. "I know I can."

"Maybe," said the Captain, "but not today. You're getting frustrated and your performance is starting to suffer. It's time to switch modes."

"I want tomorrow off," said Lissa. "No," she changed her mind. "I want three days off."

"Two," the Captain haggled, "and we still finish out the day."

"Done," Lissa accepted.

"I still want to train," said Yvian.

"That's on you," said Mims. "Do whatever you want."

"It won't help." Their wrist comms chirped. "Yvian's tactics are straightforward and very basic. She won't improve until she learns to think ahead and force her opponents to react."

"What The Crunch?" Yvian stared down at her wrist console. It wasn't a comm request. Someone was speaking directly through the thing. No. Not someone. She knew that voice.

"Exodus," said the Captain. "How are you doing that?"

Exodus the Genocide, the most hated and feared figure in the history of humans, snorted. "I'm the most advanced synthetic intelligence your species ever encountered. Did you really think I couldn't hack a wrist console?"

"How could you even access them?" asked Lissa. "The whole station's shielded from..." Her eyes widened. "The Node. You're in the Nexus."

"The Nexus network is based off of quantum entanglement," the Genocide elaborated. "Scan shielding is useless when you have a Node inside. Or several, in your case." All of the capital ships they'd captured were either docked or near their hidden station. All of them had Nodes. "If you want privacy, you'll have to either disable them all or remove your wrist consoles." He paused. "In the meantime, I'd advise caution. I am not the only one who is listening."

"I appreciate the advice," said the Captain, "but I'm guessing that's not why you're talking to us."

"Oh?" Exodus sounded amused. "Can't an employer take an interest in the welfare of his minions?" Mims frowned. The SI chuckled. "You're right, of course. I do have better things to do than correct Yvian's tactics. Come to the bridge of the Recompense. I have something to show you."