Chapter 578: Prisoners
"And you must be the Dragon Princess, Sophia?" Blake said after he was finished with Blue Thunder who was trembling together with Plee. His sudden focus on Sophia made her turned pale with fear and it clearly shown on black scales.
Blake and Ford were both surprised by the colouration as the timid dragon seemed to shrink into herself as she replied in a very small voice, "Y- yes"
"Who he?" Plee whispered behind Blue Thunder. "He feel... scary!"
"Erm..." Blue Thunder leaned his head down and whispered back. "He's the big boss of the boss!"
"Biggest boss?" Plee whispered back in awe. "Is that why all follow he words?"
Blue Thunder bobbed his head. "Yes! He the one making cheese fries... burgers... all come true!"
"Really?" Plee's eyes glowed as she stared at Blake speaking with Sophia.
Finally, Blake ended his conversation with the black dragon who let out a breath of relief as he turned his attention back to Blue Thunder and the god girl, Plee. "Plee, I heard that you have the ability to control this ship, is that true?"
Plee nodded her head, "I think I can control this ship somehow..."
"Good, now, I know Captain Nimo has given you a choice to either join the naval academy or be let off the ship," Blake said as he eyed Plee and for a moment, he wondered if his child next time would grow up like her if he had a daughter.
"I stay in ship!" Plee replied quickly. "I... like here!"
"That means you will be going to the naval academy!" Blake nodded before informing her. "You only have so much time to learn the basics..."
"If you do not make the mark, you will be removed from this ship!" Blake sternly said. "I- We do not have much time to cuddle you! And you as a divine being, I am sure you will be able to learn things very fast!"
"Plee learn fast! Plee wants burgers and... followers! Followers of the Faith!" Plee declared. "Plee stay on ship!"
Blake stared at the determined look on her face before he gave a nod and exited the bay. "Behave and I shall allow your burger rations to be continued!"
"Thankee!" Plee hopped joyfully when she heard his promise.
Ford caught up with Blake and asked, "You sure about letting this loose cannon... loose on board this ship?"
"If she can finished basic training in the naval academy before we depart," Blake replied as he paused in his steps to look at Ford. "Why not?"
"Seriously?" Ford frowned. "As much as I liked having a godly being in our ranks... but isn't her mental age too low for this kind of work?"
"Have you seen the placement of the shots made by her?" Blake asked as he resumed walking. "All nine 14" shells landed more or less within a meter of each other."
"I saw the video taken from the eye in the sky," Blake said, referring to the recon plane circling around the area of operations. "They had analyzed the video and calculated that all nine 14" shell landed within a second of each other and less than a meter apart."
"If she can do that without any training," Blake halted in his steps again and gestured towards the bay. "What can she do with proper training?"
"So you want to make her into some kind of super AI computer for this ship?" Ford frowned. "But what if she turns against us? With her ability and the firepower of this ship... she could literally level cities with just a thought!"
"That is why the dungeon core is currently covered with enough thermite to melt a hole through this ship!" Blake answered coldly. "And if she fails or could not grow to our required standards, the dungeon core gets off the ship."
"But we need the dungeon core to provide mana power to the arcane systems of this ship..." Ford replied. "Removing the core means we will need to rely on mana stones which is kind of like removing a nuclear reactor and replacing it with a coal burning reactor!"
Blake shook his head as he answered, "As you have said, she will not do any good if she just remains onboard. Everyone works, there are no freeloaders in the UN! If she can't grow up, she gets off the ship!"
"Then she has to grow up pretty fast..." Ford sighed as they continued their way back to the bridge. "There isn't much time..."
"Yes," Blake replied coldly. "Returning to Hope station, plus refitting, resupply and taking new crew and troops would take the most one month..."
"I have waited patiently enough already," Blake said. "It's time to go find my wife!"
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The Isles, Island of Sando, UN Prisoner Holding Area, Interrogation Cell 9
Intelligence Officer Tavor was enjoying himself as he sat with both feet propped on the wood table while leaning back on his chair and chewing on a sandwich of fried fish. With his free hand, he flipped the file on his lap while ignoring the looks of anger and fear cast his way by the orange suited prisoner cuffed to the chair in the middle of the cell.
"So, you are telling me you have no idea at all of what Megan's end game is?" Tavor asked in between mouthfuls of his sandwich. "And here I thought you were her most trusted companion!"
"The Sea God spat upon your souls!" Akron growled as he struggled futilely against his restraints. "Release me at once! I am a Fleet Master of the Isles! This is not the Un An but the islands of the Isles!"
"Well, I guess not so trusted after all," Tavor smiled as he dusted his hands after finished his meal. He closed the file in his lap and took his feet off the table and stood up. He picked up a black cloth hood and a piece of cloth off the table and stood next to Akron whose eyes turned to fear at the sight of the hood in his hands. "Oh, before I go, there is something you might be very interested to know!"
With a sharp yank of Akron's hair, he jammed a piece of cloth into his mouth as Akron's mouth open to shout but ended up muffled. The black hood was quickly slipped over Akron's head and with practised hands, he deftly tied drawstrings tight but enough to allow some air in. Akron screamed muffled and his struggles increased.
Tavor's smile grew wider and he leaned next to Akron's ear and whispered gently like a lover. "Your beloved Isles is no more... It is now part of the UN! Your title as a Fleet Master... is nothing here!"
With that said, he straightened himself and picked up his files before leaving Akron screaming inside the cell. Tavor gave a nod to the waiting guard who locked the cell door behind him and he headed off to the next area where he has more people to question.
His long black trench coat attire and appearance had frightened many of the inmates on the island holding them. At first, no one knew who he was, but now, the inmates hearing the echoing boots shivered in fear and they prayed that the scary black coated hooman would not appear before them.
Tavor ignored the fearful looks cast to him by the prisoners as he whistled a cheerful tune. He headed straight to the holding area for the members of the Cartel and the guards there saluted him, their eyes betraying fear at his appearance.
Once into the holding area for the Cartel, which looked very different from the previous lock up area he came from. Here, the Cartel was given tents and they were lined up neatly in rows while being ringed in by a wooden fence and guarded by watchtowers.
The earlier lock up area was more like a jail with buildings built out of wood and steel as the island was used to be a temporary holding area. Inside the Cartel holding area, his appearance has attracted a group of short beings over. When Tavor had first laid his eyes on the Cartel, his first impression was that they were dwarves that came out of the 2D movies he has seen.
Like the elves, they had long pointy ears while their bodies appeared to be squashed flat down until they came up to his belly. Genetic manipulation over the years has made humans taller, faster, stronger, and even in some cases, smarter. And all military personnel has to undergo some genetic modification to their systems. Marathon Implants for the combat troops which increases their stamina and strength, Anti Gravity Implants for Fleet to counter efforts of space sickness, muscle and bone atrophy and many others.
For Intelligence officers like Tavor, Langauge Implants were the norm, which allowed him to learn and speak languages easily. Higher security cleared Intel and Flag Officers even had kill switch implants, enabling them to kill themselves without leaking any secrets.
Tavor stopped at a gate which was used for visitors and patiently for the group of short legged beings who themselves called Dwarvans and not dwarves to come up to the gate.
"Greetings," A fierce looking dwarvan with a shaggy beard that looked like it needed a really good comb grunted out. "What you want this time?"
"Your outposts are all in ruins," Tavor replied with a cheerful smile as he replied in the trade tongue of the Old World. "And the few remaining airships had surrendered quite quickly..."
"So?" The once Grand Lord of the Cartel replied unhappily. "We have surrendered already!"
"But you did promise to compensate for losing and the release of your men," Tavor replied. "But none of you are capable to pay the fee..."
The dwarvan turned red under his beard as he looked away. "Erm..."
"Nevermind, since you lot can't pay..." Tavor rubbed his hands together happily. "We just get you to work your debt off!"
"You scoundrels shall never get us to make steamworks for you!" The dwarvan growled while as the rest called out their agreements. "By the mountains! You can kill us all but we will never make steamworks for you!"
Tavor was stunned for a moment before he burst out laughing, which surprised the dwarvans. "Hahahaha! What are you thinking?"
"No one wants you to make what you call this... Steamworks?" Tavor shook his head helplessly. "We are not even thinking of that! Your level of technology pales in comparison to ours! Why do we want your stuff?"
"Now see here!" The dwarvans seemed even more riffed up. "We shed blood and sweat to make our steamworks and you here look down our us?"
"Hahahaha!" Tavor laughed again. "You do know how you got defeated, right? If your steamworks is as powerful as you claimed... We wouldn't be speaking here between this gate..."
Tavor's words shut the dwarvans up as they looked at each other sheepishly. The Grand Lord finally let out a deep sigh and asked, "So what you want?"
"How good are you guys in... digging and mining?" Tavor asked with a smile.
"Digging? Mining? Rock and Stone!" The dwarvan cried out. "By the mountains! We are born to dig and mine!"
"Good!" Tavor's smile widened as he looked down at his file. "Since you lot can't pay for your freedom... You will work to pay your freedom off!"
-----
"Grand Lord!" A dusty looking dwarvan asked. "Do we really have to work for this... Un An?"
"We can't buy our freedom out!" Grand Lord Hammerfall snapped. "We have not enough gold!"
"Do you think it is true the rest of our outposts has fallen?" Another dwarvan asked. "It could be lies..."
"We will know if it is a lie soon enough!" Lord Copperstone replied for the Grand Lord. "I am only worried about the resupply fleet that is coming!"
"By the Mountains! There is nothing we can do for that fleet!" Grand Lord Hammerfall replied with a sigh. "We are trapped here..."
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
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