{"id":1159,"date":"2015-12-14T07:30:28","date_gmt":"2015-12-14T13:30:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ajscifistories.com\/?p=1159"},"modified":"2015-12-16T07:19:43","modified_gmt":"2015-12-16T13:19:43","slug":"the-cimalian-princess-clone-part-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ajscifistories.com\/?p=1159","title":{"rendered":"The Cimalian Princess: Clone – Part 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Cimalian Princess: Clone<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

by AJ Marks<\/span><\/p>\n

Part 3<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Randy sat down in the command chair on the bridge of the Akagi, waiting for the final report. All ships were reporting ready to go, and now he waited for final permission from HQ.\u00a0 It took a bit longer than he had expected to transfer all the supplies, but it all managed to work out.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdmiral White on the line for you admiral,\u201d Hans said to Randy.<\/p>\n

Randy acknowledged the statement and flipped his screen over to see his father\u2019s face. \u201cThe task force is ready to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGood, head on out, report in every twelve hours,\u201d Jack ordered.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnderstood,\u201d Randy replied to the order.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne more thing, if possible try to avoid military conflict,\u201d Jack said to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll keep that in mind,\u201d Randy replied. He knew the severity of the situation and how even the loss of one battle-cruiser could change the balance of power right now.\u00a0 He had no intention of getting into a fight at the moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re mother says be safe, as does your sister,\u201d Jack said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTell them I\u2019ll be back as soon as I can,\u201d Randy replied, he had no intention of dying at the moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll wait for your progress reports,\u201d Jack said. \u201cAll supplies are loaded?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fleet is stocked and fueled,\u201d Randy replied.<\/p>\n

They said their good-byes and ended the communications as he turned to look at the rest of the bridge crew. Kim stood off to the side double checking the Akagi\u2019s systems.\u00a0 The Akagi had two new bridge crew members, a new second in command, Aaron Gilgamesh and Toni Burns, who would be taking over the weapons systems.\u00a0 Toni appeared about the same age as Yvette, but had fiery red hair and green eyes matching her attitude.<\/p>\n

Despite the fact Toni had no combat experience he had a trained crew. Most of them had been around for the defense of the Alliance.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll ships report ready,\u201d Hans said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTell all ships to head to the first point,\u201d Randy said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes sir,\u201d Hans replied, relaying the order.<\/p>\n

Randy heard the ship\u2019s engines powering up for the first jump. They would be making small jumps to prevent a long cool down of the engines in case they ran into trouble.\u00a0 He hoped the mission would be boring.<\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

Meia made her way towards the flight deck. She wanted to check out her fighter to make sure it was able to perform at peak condition.\u00a0 The last thing she wanted was a fighter with a problem in the middle of combat.\u00a0 The maintenance crew did a good job, but she wanted to make sure.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything to your liking little one?\u2019 Ben asked, as Meia looked over her fighter.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, looks good,\u201d Meia said, checking inside at the engine. The newer fighter looked similar to the older version but had a lot of improvements. Several Vengeance fighters had been recovered at the battle and the engineers quickly incorporated new improvements.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, what\u2019s your thoughts about this mission?\u201d Ben asked, leaning on the fighter wing and looking at her.<\/p>\n

She gave it a bit of thought before finally replying. \u201cIt all depends on if we actually find the Cimalian Empire or not.\u00a0 If we do then we can possibly do something about the situation at last.\u00a0 If not then they might be leading us on some sort of chase.\u00a0 Either way we\u2019ll know for sure in a few days.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I guess you\u2019re right,\u201d Ben stated. \u201cHow\u2019s the admiral handling all of this?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRandy, he\u2019d doing fine,\u201d Meia replied quickly and saw a knowing look on Ben\u2019s face.<\/p>\n

\u201cYep, had no doubt about his leadership ability, he\u2019d done good so far, flexible and quick thinker, but how is he doing,\u201d Ben asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, a bit nervous about what might happen,\u201d Meia said, she really had not had much time to talk to him since he left Pacifica during supper.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood, good,\u201d Ben said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you bugging her again,\u201d Meia heard another female voice say, and looked over to see the familiar blonde hair as Jean came walking over to give Ben a bump with her hip.<\/p>\n

\u201cMe, never,\u201d Ben replied. Meia watched the familiar interaction between the two of them.\u00a0 Jean had no problems with giving Ben a hard time, and he seemed to always take it in stride.<\/p>\n

\u201cSure, never, yet I see you talking to her all the time,\u201d Jean said, giving Meia a wink.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m crushed you\u2019d think that,\u201d Ben replied, placing a hand over his heart. \u201cI wanted to make sure she found everything in tip top shape with her fighter.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou spend more time tinkering with that fighter than any of the others,\u201d Jean said. \u201cI think you\u2019ve got a fixation with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNah, its only because she actually looks at her fighter before taking off,\u201d Ben replied back to her.<\/p>\n

Meia watched as Jean remained quiet for several seconds before saying anything but could not help but feel she missed something, some interaction between the two. She smiled at Jean and Ben and waited for a few seconds as Ben ran a hand through his close cut hair, his back to her before turning around and facing her.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I need to go check on John\u2019s fighter next,\u201d Ben said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll be right over there to help you out,\u201d Jean said.<\/p>\n

They watched as Ben walked off towards one of the other fighters, grabbing some tools and looking over a report before JEam turned towards Meia.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know why he focuses on you?\u201d Jean asked, confusing Meia.<\/p>\n

\u201cUm, not really,\u201d she replied, waiting to see if Jean would tell her something.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t say anything to him, and you didn\u2019t hear it from me, but you remind him of his oldest daughter,\u201d Jean said. \u201cShe loved ships, and to explore the universe.\u00a0 She and his other daughter served on board an exploration ship, and disaster struck on their third deployment.\u00a0 The ship went out and never returned.\u00a0 I did some checking and it was to explore near Cimalius.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meia understood the unspoken result. The ship had probably been destroyed by the empire\u2019s military.\u00a0 She heard rumors of Alliance ships scouting their positions, but the explorer ships makes more sense now that she had more information.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, I remind him of his daughters even though the empire probably killed them,\u201d Meia said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, he does have a son who they had not gotten along with due to the fact Ben was in the military. Last I heard he enlisted after the invasion, trying to make things up with his dad, even training to be a mechanic,\u201d Jean said.<\/p>\n

Meia was quiet for a few seconds before finally asking the question. \u201cDoes he know what happened to his daughters?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, he probably does, but he also is very practical, and he likes you,\u201d Jean said, giving Meia a smile.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen I\u2019ll try not to disappoint,\u201d Meia said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI should probably go over and help him out again before he messes something up,\u201d Jean said with a slight giggle.<\/p>\n

Meia watched her walk over to the fighter where Ben was working leaving her alone with her thoughts. There had been so much death and destruction already, could they live in peace at all?\u00a0 Looking over the fighter once more she left and headed back to the rec room.<\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

Meia made her way into the rec room and found herself an empty chair. Many of the pilots relaxed I there before the fleet would take off on missions.\u00a0 Now it was full as the hyperspace flight would take another several hours, not including two more jumps.\u00a0 They would only be on alert when the ship was about to come out of hyperspace.\u00a0 The squadrons were rotated and this time her squad would be off.<\/p>\n

She grabbed some water on her way over to the chair and sat down next to another pilot of her squadron, Victor Geros. She had a strange relationship with him.\u00a0 The first day they met he tried to attack her.\u00a0 She learned later it was because he lost his twin sister, Pam, in an attack on a scout ship before they knew war had broken out.<\/p>\n

Now, Victor had become very interested in talking with her. He wanted to learn as much as possible about the empire and their history.\u00a0 She knew he talked with other survivors as well from the invasion fleet, and had been a big help with intelligence for the Alliance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, this mission should prove interesting, especially if we find out where they went,\u201d Victor said to her.<\/p>\n

Meia nodded her head in agreement. She did not say she half wished they found nothing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope we find them this time, I might finally be able to get back at those bastards who are responsible for Pam\u2019s death,\u201d Victor said, his voice full of hatred.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt won\u2019t be easy, that\u2019s for sure,\u201d Meia said. \u201cIf they have the same defenses the planet will be a fortress.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, but we\u2019ll know where they are at last, they won\u2019t be able to hide from us,\u201d Victor said.<\/p>\n

Meia thought Victor seemed almost too eager to fight the empire for his own revenge. She understood that anger, something she went through only six months ago when the invasion was about to start.\u00a0 She felt she would finally have revenge on the Alliance for her mother\u2019s death, only to learn what she thought she knew was wrong.<\/p>\n

\u201cPerhaps, but with that knowledge we might also be able to incite a revolt against the Emperor, or something else,\u201d Meia finally said, thinking about it. \u201cSuch actions might help out the lower classes even more than a war.\u00a0 The only ones who lose in fighting are the lower classes of the empire as they are the minions heading off to die for the glory of the empire.\u201d<\/p>\n

She watched as Victor seemed to think about that for several seconds. He seemed to contemplate something she said.\u00a0 She hoped he took her advice on the empire and take their time in any conflict against them.\u00a0 She also knew the Alliance had the harder role in the war, defense.\u00a0 It was always easier to attack than defend.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou must also remember that the Emperor will use any fact and twist it to support his lies and the people are more likely to believe him than us,\u201d Meia told him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t imagine a government so repressive that it will do so much to retain power, I mean I\u2019ve heard of such things in our ancient past, but now, it seems too outrageous. It boggles my mind,\u201d Victor said back to her.<\/p>\n

The technology of the Alliance is very different than the empire,\u201d Meia said, knowing it for a fact. There were many things for everyday use which she had to learn.\u00a0 \u201cYou take for granted so many things that don\u2019t exist in private in the empire.\u201d<\/p>\n

She watched as he thought about that for a few seconds. She really hoped he understood what type of enemy the empire was.\u00a0 The emperor would do anything to win, he would follow no rules.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt always sounds terrible,\u201d Victor said, looking down at his communicator. \u201cWell, I\u2019m needed in the hangar, you need anything from there?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNope, just came from there,\u201d Meia replied.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen I\u2019ll catch you later,\u201d he said, standing and heading out.<\/p>\n

Meia watched him walk out of the room before taking the moment to look out the window. She knew what type of enemy they would be facing, and hoped the people in charge to the threat seriously.\u00a0 Randy seemed to, as did his father, but beyond them she had no idea.\u00a0 Many seemed to want the threat to disappear and not deal with it.<\/p>\n

She knew the only real way to deal with the empire was to confront them, and know where they were. The only way to defeat the empire was to take out the emperor.\u00a0 That thought scared her for some reason.<\/p>\n

She focused her attention back on the upcoming mission and decided to hope they found nothing.<\/p>\n

End part 3<\/p>\n

Continued in part 4<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Cimalian Princess: Clone by AJ Marks Part 3 Randy sat down in the command chair on the bridge of the Akagi, waiting for the final report. All ships were reporting ready to go, and now he waited for final permission from HQ.\u00a0 It took a bit longer than he had expected to transfer all […]
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