Originally Posted by
Deltara
Near the Val-kyrie Border
15 June 2017
Two starships chased one another through the endless, starlit void of space. The smaller ship in the lead was the hunted, trying desperately to escape the hunters. It was a compact starship, over-powered and heavily armed for its size. Yet, in spite of its size and maneuverability, the compact ship could not evade its immense pursuer.
The hunter was a Val-kyrie Battlestar-class warship. A powerful capital ship; the Battlestar had side-mounted landing bays on either side of the main hull to launch and recover one-hundred and fifty Bladewing-class fighters. Twin plasma canons sprouted from the forward sloping ends of the landing bays, two canons were mounted in the canyon-like recesses under the angular bow, and a pair of secondary canons protruded from the bow’s sloping sides. Additionally, sixty laser batteries were strewn across the hull for anti-spacecraft fighter suppression along with four torpedo tubes fore and aft.
Zilth monitored the rear scanners, a worried expression plastered on her beautiful features. “They’re getting closer,” she warned her companion sitting in the pilot’s seat.
Plasma bolts started sizzling past the fleeing ship. Some came close enough to graze the shields. Blinding flashes from proximity blasts lit the cockpit, and the shockwaves caused the ship to pitch and yaw.
“Thank you, Zilth,” the pilot replied through clenched teeth. “I can see that. The hyperdrive has been overloaded by the hits to the shields. Damned shoddy bypass.”
“I warned you about that months ago,” Zilth chided.
“I didn’t expect to be running for my life from a Val-kyrie Battlestar, either,” the one-eyed man shot back.
The ship lurched from several more proximity explosions. The control yoke literally jumped out of the man’s hands when a direct hit impacted somewhere in the rear quarter. Several more plasma bolts struck in rapid succession, sending the ship into a tumble and killing the primary power grid. Acrid smoke from several fried power couplings drifted into the cockpit through the open hatch.
“Now we’re in for it,” Zilth groused.
“Stop worrying. I haven’t done anything to them lately. We’ve been leaving one another alone for months.”
“Well, you must have done something they don’t like. Woke up alive today, maybe,” Zilth replied without humor.
A tug pulled up in front of the stricken starship, attacked tow lines, and began dragging the ship toward the Val-kyrie warship, which had taken up position in front of both spacecraft. The tug angled in toward the portside landing bay, followed the core controller’s directions, and towed the disabled ship in for a less than gentle landing deep in the bay.
Zilth and her companion left the cockpit once their ship was down. They checked their side arms, and took up station several paces from the starboard airlock. The pair did not have long to wait.
A detachment of female warriors had been dispatched to the landing bay once the target had been disabled. They waited until the ship was safely down and then advanced on the starboard airlock. A squad moved in on the portside airlock just in case the crew tried to escape that way.
The detachment leader gave a curt nod and a warrior stepped forward, punched the airlock controls, and stepped back. They waited while the lock equalized the air pressures and cycled open. The female warriors, laser rifles at the ready, charged into the captured ship, quickly securing the immediate area. It didn’t take long to find the only two crewmembers on board.
Zilth looked more than a little nervous. Whatever was going on, she figured her one-eyed companion was in real trouble this time.
The leader of the Val-kyrie detachment looked the pair over with a penetrating stare. “So we finally caught up to you, bounty hunter.”
“Looks that way. I’m honored that the mighty Val-kyrie would send an entire Battlestar after me. What’s the occasion?” the bounty hunter replied conversationally.
“Retirement,” the Val-kyrie leader answered, voice dripping with disdain.
The bounty hunter shook his head ruefully. “I’m still in the prime of my life. I’m not ready to kick back on some backwater planet and reminisce about the past. Not yet, anyway.”
The smile plastered on the bounty hunter’s face gradually disappeared when it became apparent the Val-kyrie warriors were not buying the act. The female commander leveled her laser pistol, took careful aim, and fired. The hunter flinched involuntarily at the discharge, but was amazed at how painless the impact was. That was because he was not the target.
A stunned Zilth dropped to her knees before toppling face-first to the cold metal deck. The one-eyed hunter’s features cycled from shock to disbelief to venomous outrage.
“What was that for?” he demanded angrily. “She’s done nothing to you!”
“Like I said, bounty hunter, it’s your retirement,” the female leader answered.
The man tried to protest, but he never got a word out before the laser pistol fired again. Twice.
Lieutenant Cirik holstered her weapon and plucked a comlink from her belt. “Cirik to Commander Fontaine.”
On the bridge, Commander Fontaine tapped a control on the left arm of her command chair. “Go ahead,” she replied.
“Objective complete. Ship is cleared for the next phase,” Cirik reported.
“Understood,” Commander Fontaine answered, closing the channel at the touch of a button. Over her should, she issued orders to her First Officer. “Send in the repair teams. I want that ship up and running as soon as possible.”
“Aye, Commander,” the First Officer replied, and set about calling the teams waiting on standby.
Commander Fontaine turned to the communications officer. “Send a coded message to Anyssa telling her that we have secured the target and will deliver as soon as possible.” As the woman formed the message for transmission, Fontaine leaned back in her chair, crossed one shapely, muscled leg over the other, and reflected on the operation that was about to take place.
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And then there is experimenting in writing since high school. Never took a creative writing class, but I do read a lot. If you want help, try to find Orson Scott Card's book How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy. I found it extremely helpful. 
Well, I do admit to a Stargate kind of basis for the Guardian Command. And Babylon 5 influences for the layered plots. For this book, though, it's more a combination of a little bit of Firefox mixed with a hefty dose of Escape From New York. As for the bounty hunter, well, see if you can guess they three personalities I drew on to make him up. 
