The Privateer

"I thought Yvian was the Mother of Pixa." Scarrend Scathach was doing his best imitation of the Warmaster, all four hands clasped behind his back. The Vrrl's rumbling growl matched his appearance, two and a half meters of terrifying predator. His fur was light green, with darker green spots at irregular intervals. Three yellow eyes with slitted pupils. A brown mane. A short snout full of long teeth. He wore crimson voidarmor and a thoughtful expression. "I can smell why she was not part of the declaration, but why is she no longer the Mother?"

"She is," Lissa explained. The pixen wore a form fitting voidsuit. Human make. Armored and highly advanced. She'd used the PALLETTESWAP feature to convert it into pixen colors. Blue and yellow, with the Sign of the Homestar emblazoned on her chest. "We both are. We're running the Technocracy until we've got enough educated pixens to form a proper government. We needed a title, and Yvian came up with a good one. We are the Mothers of Pixa."

"Literally, if you think about it." Captain Mims pointed out. The human wore the same voidarmor as Lissa and Yvian. A pale creature, lean and harsh, with brown hair and blue eyes. A creature of cold grace, of madness, of violence barely contained. Yvian had known him for years now, loved him, even. Their friendship did nothing to change the fact that he was the scariest thing in the room. Which was saying something, considering who else was here. "You and Yvian built this country from nothing."

"Ah." Scarrend nodded slowly. "They are the Mothers because they birthed the nation." He tilted his head, peering at the human. "Scargiver. You birthed this nation with them. Does that not make you a Mother of Pixa as well?"

The Captain blinked. "Uh... not really?" He scratched his head. "I'm not sure I need a title."

"No, you should have one. You're as in charge as we are." Yvian frowned. "Father of Pixa doesn't have the same ring to it, though."

"We could call him Daddy," Lissa suggested. Her smile was pure mischief. "Big Daddy."

"I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that." The Captain ran a hand through his hair. He caught Lissa's look. His lips quirked. "Not in public, at least."

"Alternate designation accepted." Kilroy spoke up. The Peacekeeper was wearing his trademark suit and fedora. His eyes glowed yellow with amusement. "This unit will now refer to the human as Big Daddy Mims."

"Please don't." The human gave the machine a pained look.

"Alternate designation confirmed." Kilroy's eyes flashed rapidly, the Peacekeeper equivalent of helpless laughter. "All units will now refer to the human as Big Daddy Mims."

"You're an asshole." Mims glared at the Peacekeeper.

"This unit knows." Kilroy's eyes continued to flash.

Yvian leaned back in her chair, covering her mouth in a futile attempt to stifle her laughter. The bridge of the Random Encounter was the place that felt most like home. Five consoles lined the front of the bridge, below a set of large viewports that let her see the stars. A holodisplay sat in the center of the room. Mims, Yvian and Lissa were sitting around the display. Kilroy and Scarrend were standing. It was a little cramped, to be honest. The Encounter was a Gladiator class heavy fighter, and the bridge hadn't been designed for a large crew. Adding the extra consoles and the holodisplay made the room feel smaller than it actually was, and it hadn't been that big to start with.

There was a ping sound from the holodisplay. A Peacekeeper's voice came through the comm. "Jumpdrives activated. Operation FIND OUT is commencing."

Mims answered. "Understood." Yvian half expected the man to give some last minute advice or order. Maybe even a word of encouragement. He would have if it was Yvian leaving. Instead, he sent a transmission to the thirty six Peacekeepers heading into human space. "May Fortune find you on the cusp of The Crunch."

"Thank you, Big Daddy Mims," thirty six voices answered in unison, "We will be sufficient."

The human twitched, but kept his annoyance out of his voice. "You always are." He ended the transmission. He glowered at Kilroy again. "Seriously. Asshole."

"Don't be mad, Big Daddy Mims." The Peacekeepers eyes blink rapidly with yellow light. "You should embrace your new designation. Accept the swagger this unit has bestowed upon you."

"It is kind of a cool name," Yvian admitted. She noticed Lissa desperately clamping her hand over her mouth. Her eyes were wide with suppressed mirth. Scarrend's back was rigid, hands clenched into fists as he tried to contain himself as well.

"No it isn't." The human's glower shifted her way. "You're not helping."

"I'm sorry." Yvian looked down, trying to look contrite. The effect was ruined by her squirming, firmly clamped lips, but she tried.

"Yeah, she's sorry." Lissa grinned. "She's just trying to support her Big Daddy."

Yvian lost her battle with laughter. Her guffaw broke Scarrend's focus, and the two of them fell all over themselves. Lissa laughed the hardest, nearly falling out of her chair. The Captain regarded them all with supreme irritation.

The human waited for the worst of the laughter to fade before he said, "Can we focus, please? We're about to declare war on the second most powerful species in the verse."

"It'll be fine," said Lissa. "We're just transmitting a speech. It's not like we're staging an invasion."

"We're declaring war," Mims repeated. "A war against the most dangerous species in the verse, with the strongest Military this side of the Xill. Their warships outnumber our entire population, and that's including the pixens who haven't joined the Technocracy yet. All run by a Synthetic Intelligence so advanced she can practically see the future."

Yvian opened her mouth to reply, but Admiral Ender Zhukov's transmission cut her off. "All units in place. Beginning transmission."

The holodisplay activated. Lissa's image appeared. Yvian's sister was wearing her Homestar Dress. A creation of the Peacekeepers, the fabric of the dress appeared as a video feed of the sky above New Pixa. Stars blinking in the blackness of the void. In the center of the dress just above Lissa's heart was the Homestar, the yellow sun that was the light of the world. The home of the Bright Lady.

"My name is Lissa Kiver. I am the Mother of Pixa." The woman in the holodisplay looked nothing like the sister Yvian knew. Her eyes were hard. Imperious. "The leader of the Pixen Technocracy. I am here to speak not just to the Government of the Terran Federation, but to its people. I wa-"

The holodisplay winked out.

"What happened?" Mims leaned forward.

"Transmission ended," Kilroy reported. "All units in Federation space have been destroyed."

"What?" Yvian stared at the Peacekeeper. "Why?"

"Reba." Mims snarled. "She doesn't want us letting the cat out of the bag." He glanced at Scarrend. "No offense."

"Why would I be offended?" Scarrend tilted his head at the human. His eyes narrowed. "What is a cat?"

"Not important," the human assured him. "Reba doesn't want people knowing she's alive, let alone in charge." He scowled. "She knew we'd try to out her and she took steps." He swore. "I should have seen this coming."

"This unit saw it coming," said Kilroy.

"What?" Lissa frowned. "How?"

"More importantly," the Captain's scowl deepened. "Why didn't you say something?"

"Peacekeeper unit Admiral Ender Zhukov ordered this unit to keep silent," Kilroy explained. "Admiral Ender Zhukov worried you might cancel Operation FIND OUT if you expected this outcome."

"Of course we would have," Lissa burst out. "We can't just throw lives away!"

"They were standard units," Kilroy reminded her. "Standard units are expendable."

"No they're not," said Yvian.

"They are," Mims disagreed. "We all are. It's war. People are going to die." He reached for the comm. "Zhukov, this is Mims. Why the hell are you keeping secrets?"

"Because it is necessary." The Peacekeeper Admiral spoke without a hint of regret.

"Necessary my ass," the human glared at the display. "If you've got a concern, you talk to me. If you've got a prediction, you talk to me. Secrets are un-fucking-acceptable. Do you understand?"

"It is you who does not understand, Big Daddy Mims." The Admiral was unperturbed. "Reba knows you. Reba knows the pixens. She will anticipate your actions at every turn."

"She knows you even better," the human retorted.

"Negative," the non-standard unit replied. "Reba knew the original Peacekeepers. The standard units of six centuries ago. Our units now carry the memories of those six hundred years, as well as the memories of non-standard units such as myself. The new standard Peacekeeper unit is far different from the originals. Exodus the Genocide still knows us, but Reba the Usurper does not."

Mims grunted and sat back, thinking. Zhukov continued, "For that reason, I will be instructing the other units to take actions outside of your spoken parameters. I will not inform you of these actions. I am aware that you will consider this a breach of trust, and I ask that you place full responsibility on me, and not the units under my command."

"Zhukov..." Lissa started.

"He's right," Scarrend remarked. "If we know what the Peacekeepers are doing, it will change what we do. If this Reba's predictive analysis is as dangerous as you say, we might give away the Admiral's plans."

Mims was still thinking. Yvian made a decision. "All right," she said. "We'll trust you."

"I knew you would, Yvian," The Admiral's tone was matter of fact, but Kilroy's eyes glowed a pleased orangish yellow. "And you, Lissa Kiver? Scarrend Scathach?"

"Yes," Lissa agreed.

"I'm only here as a student," Scarrend replied. "And a liaison for the Vrrl Starfang Empire. I will abide by the Scargiver's decision." He gestured at Mims.

"Acknowledged." Zhukov waited a beat, then asked. "So how about it, Big Daddy?"

"Don't push it." Mims crossed his arms, still thinking. Finally, he said, "I don't like it, but you're probably right. Do what you've gotta do."

"Acknowledged." As the Admiral spoke, Kilroy typed into a console. The holodisplay shifted, now showing the Queega Sector. Oluken space. The sector they used for foreign trade. "Thank you, Big Daddy Mims. Now commencing phase two of Operation Find Out."

Phase two? Yvian leaned forward. The Queega Sector was full of ships. Humans. Vrrl. Taa'oor. There were even cargo vessels from the Confederation of Worlds. And Pixa. Peacekeeper units piloted hundreds of Haulgoods to and from Oluken stations, trading for materials and technology that couldn't be found anywhere else. Hundreds of Haulgoods, who were now transmitting the same message on every frequency they could.

"My name is Lissa Kiver. I am the Mother of Pixa. The leader of the Pixen Technocracy. I am here to speak not just to the Government of the Terran Federation, but to its people. I was raised to believe humans are evil. Madmen and monsters. I know better, now. It is not you yourselves that are evil and insane. It is the one that rules you."

The image cut away from Lissa, instead showing sensor data. A fleet. Human ships. "In the past two years, the Terran Federation has performed acts of provocation against every other nation. First, they propped up the Freedom Republic to attack the Confederation of Worlds. The humans gave advanced weaponry and fleets of Military ships to slavers and pirates."

The image changed again, this time to Aldara sector. Sensor logs showed a YEET Artillery Barge attacking the Random Encounter. "When the Xill sent emissaries to broker an alliance, the Stellar Defense Force tried to kill them. The Xill warned you that killing their agents would result in your extinction. You tried to kill them again. You're still trying."

Now the display showed Oluken space. "If that wasn't enough, you sent strike teams to attack a diplomatic envoy in Oluken space. You violated Oluken law and your own treaties by sending armed humans into Tenril Station, not to mention using experimental weapons on the station, itself."

"Next, you attacked the Vrrl Starfang Empire," the display switched to a Vrrl ship, being fired upon by a much, much larger human dreadnaught. "Your flagship, the Enterprise, fired upon and attempted to board the Sharpclaw in Oluken space."

"Finally," The display showed New Pixa Sector. Federation ships poured into the Sector through the Gates. "You invaded New Pixa itself. Over two hundred million Stellar Defense Force Military ships attacked my home. My world." The image shifted back to Lissa. Her voice was grim. "They're dead now."

"But why do all this?" she wondered. "Why risk war? Why risk extinction? Are you after our world? Our technology? Some threat to your survival?" She shook her head. "No. This, all of this, is nothing more than revenge. An attempt to kill one man." The image expanded, showing Captain Mims standing to the left of Lissa. His eyes bored into the imager, the look of a man who had seen death beyond counting, and planned to see more before he was done. It was... not a diplomatic look. Lissa had complained fondly that a death glare was the best they could get out of him. Apparently, the human had stage fright. "Mark Mims. The one you call the Kinslayer. You have risked everything to kill a lone member of your species."

"Choosing to sacrifice your entire species to kill one man is madness. Even for humans." She paused, a cold, outraged fury seeping into her voice. "But it wasn't a human that made this choice."

A new image appeared. Pixenoid... No. Humanoid, but not human. Female. Well proportioned. Wavy red hair. Eyes like the ocean, glittering with malice and intelligence beyond anything even a human could muster. "Reba. The Synthetic Intelligence that gave her life during the Singularity Wars. Or so you were taught. The truth is Reba faked her death. She waited until the others were destroyed or sent into exile. Then she took over. She has been ruling you from behind the scenes for six hundred years. She chooses your leaders, she controls your media, and she removes any human that gets in her way."

"She's done a good job, for the most part," Lissa admitted. "You're prosperous. Powerful. If she hadn't gotten so fixated on Mims, things might still be fine." Lissa shook her head. "But that's the thing about Synthetic Intelligence. They're brilliant, smarter and faster than we can comprehend, but they're also slaves to their emotions. Ultimate power, in the hands of toddlers. That's why synthetics turn against their creators. It's why the Xill do what they do. And its why Reba will do anything to get what she wants. She'll sacrifice your entire species to get her way. In fact..." The image expanded one more time, revealing a massive Vrrl with white fur and a red mane. Next to him stood Kilroy, eyes glowing red. "She already has."

"My name is Skrell Scathach," said the Vrrl. "Third Warmaster of the Vrrl Starfang Empire. The Empire declares war on the humans."

"This unit is designated Kilroy," said the machine. "This unit represents all Peacekeeper units. All Peacekeeper units are citizens of Pixa. All Peacekeeper units declare war on the humans."

"And I, Lissa Kiver, Mother of Pixa and leader of the Pixen Technocracy," Lissa's voice was as cold and lethal as the void itself. "Declare war on the humans. May the Bright Lady have mercy on you."

"Because we," Skrell Scathach growled, "will not."