Homestar Saga

Chapter 64: Hostage

Maniacal laughter echoed through the ship.

"You're too late, Space Captain!" Lord Evil pointed down at the hero, a manic grin pasted across his features. The human was dressed in a tuxedo, accented by a purple cape with a collar that stood half a meter past his shoulders, framing his bald head. He was tall, fit, and full of menace. No matter how many times Yvian saw him, Lord Evil's dastardly visage shot fear up and down her spine. "My Super Death Beam is almost charged! Lady Blue has no choice but to marry me, or else see her world burn!"

"No!" Lady Blue wailed in protest. The pixen woman wore a silver bikini that left very little to the imagination. The Diadem of Cerulean was woven into the mass of violet curls that was her hair. She was being held by Thug and Mook, Lord Evil's most trusted enforcers.

"You're wrong, Lord Evil," the greatest hero the verse had ever known declared. Space Captain, Captain of Space, stood tall. As always, the Champion of Justice wore his trademark red and gold void suit. Light gleamed off his helmet as he raised his trusty blaster in the air. "It is never too late! Not so long as I have justice in my heart, and my trusty blaster in my hand!"

"It's never too late for Space Captain," Yvian told Skygem. The Skygem was a ship made entirely of crystal. She, Yvian had decided it was a she, was a living ship, fully sapient even if she didn't think in quite the same way as Yvian. At a hundred twenty meters in length Skygem was roughly the same size as the Random Encounter. Yvian had rescued her from the Crystal Mother four months ago, in a sector heavily infested with the Vore. The Crystal Mother had generated a field that rendered the Vore inert, but to do so it had drained most of the energy out of Yvian's new friend. Yvian hadn't seen much of the Skygem since they dropped her off in the Captain's hidden base, but she'd been taking the time to connect with her after training the past few weeks.

Skygem gave a pulse of pleased emotion. Yvian didn't think the ship could understand and appreciate the Space Captain broadcast the way she did, but Skygem seemed to enjoy the company and responded to Yvian's emotional state. Yvian had learned they could share basic feelings as long as she was near one of the control crystals, though her consciousness would fully merge with the ship if she actually touched one. Full immersion in the crystal ship was an intense experience, and made it impossible to properly enjoy her favorite show, but this way they could watch it together. Sort of.

"We'll see about that, you dratted do-gooder!" The dastardly Lord Evil raised a gloved fist. "Minions! Attack!"

A dozen burly krog jump out from behind the rocks. It was an ambush. Space Captain fired his trusty blaster, then rolled behind a rock to engage the human's mighty minions.

"Yvian!" Lissa's voice cracked through the comm. "Get to the bridge! Now!"

Yvian paused the holovid and jumped up. Normally she'd object to anyone interrupting her precious Space Captain, but the panic in Lissa's voice meant it was an emergency, and anyone who got huffy about emergencies didn't last long in the void. Yvian responded with a quick "On my way." She placed a hand on Skygem's door and said, "Sorry sweetie, looks like we'll have to finish this one later." Skygem pulsed a feeling that reminded Yvian of waving goodbye and the door opened.

Yvian felt her body gearing up. Was it the pirates? Had the Freedom Republic found them? If so, they were in deep shit. The Captain's hidden base was the only refuge they had, and the Recompense was still under repairs. Without a stealth ship or a place to hide Yvian and company would have to fight an endless stream of pirates and vengeful humans. They'd last a while, but not forever. Assuming, of course, that they had time to run or fight and the pirates weren't about to riddle them all with holes.