Blue

Silence. It had been almost five minutes since they had been shown the image and no one had said anything. The hologram flickering was the only sound.
“Who are they?” Blue’s words seemed to snap Lore and Char from their shared trance.
“That’s Crait. They’re the High Inquisitor of the Temporal Sciences guild.” Blue reacted accordingly and stared into Crait’s holographic eyes silently. “and if they’re coming, we’ve got to go. How long have we got?”
“Their authorisation codes came in an hour ago but they’re yet to be activated. So best guess is maybe four hours.”
Lore turned to Mauve. “Get your people ready to move. I’m sorry but none of you are safe now.” Mauve didn’t argue. They simply smiled excited for the next part of their adventure. Mauve turned to the crowd that had gathered around them, raised their arm, flicked their wrist with an accompanying whistle and everyone started towards their ships.
“Where are we going to go though?” Sky looked to their sibling.
“That’s why I wasn’t there to help you.” Blue held aloft their tablet. “I got new orders. I’ve programmed a flight pattern into the fleet. We’re to rendezvous at these co-ordinates in three days. Hopefully something will happen but hope’s all we need if the High Inquisitors on our tales.” Lore nodded. “Best get sparce then.” Blue smiled as they joined their family for a jog to The Vengeance.
“We better move too. I think we’re blocking a few of the other ships in.”
The central square hadn’t been clearer in years but the displaced smog was extremely revealing. The fleet had mobilised in record time, three hours forty, as the last stragglers emerged from the central well. The Destiny joined The Vengeance at the front of the pack as they prepared to break orbit. One problem was then followed by two others. The trio of ships formed a tight wedge with their flagship at the point. The royal blue and shining silver pierced the smog, maintaining their brilliance. The two smaller arrowhead ships darted from left to right, whilst the central ship remained almost motionless save its cannons which had all pivoted towards The Destiny.
“Looks like someone’s been promoted.” Char glared towards the ship then to Lore.
“That’s not regulation” Destiny added. “That appears to be a painted D52 Warship. We should proceed with caution.”
“Noted. Can we talk with them?” Lore opened communications with their fleet. “We’re going to try and keep them busy. Blue, I’m going to need you, The Sigyn and The Sif to help cover the rest of the fleets retreat.”
“Yes sir.” Mauve responded.
“Lore. It’s been a while.” Lore could virtually taste the confidence in Crait’s voice. “Like the new ship? Had to jump through a fair few loopholes to get one of these but well worth it. You’re looking at a one of a kind; the TD52 ‘Science Exploratory Vessel’.”
“It’s going to look better when it’s in my aft side view.” Lore tried to sound cocky but quickly realised that there was no good way to brag about retreating.
“How quaint. You think you’re leaving. Well, seems as Reid’s failed me I suppose I have to clean up. Pathetic woman she was. You know she fancied me. That’s two former Inquisitors I’ve attracted. Shame though, she was one of the better ones.”
“Oh piss off. Lore never loved you. They were just playing you. They may not have got all that they wanted but they got enough out of you.” Char yelled at the console.
“Really… Man after my own heart. At least you were at the time.” Crait tone only got smarmier. Lore’s head jolted to the side. “Hope you’re ready.”
With that, the fight began. At this point, some of the fleet had retreated and the rest were gearing up to join them. Destiny gracefully slid towards The Vengeance and the two began their synchronised dance around Crait’s ship. The two twirled and dove around the sedentary behemoth, returning shots at the weapons trying to destroy them. Meanwhile, The Sigyn and Sif had engaged Crait’s escort. Despite their advanced age, the ramshackle Valkyries kept the Arrowheads on their toes, matching their agility and armament. The whole time they had been circling Crait they had been scanning their vessel. This bore fruit as they began their fifth pass.
“We’ve got a weakness!” Destiny exclaimed.
“Where?” Lore began frantically looking around the bridge.
“The D52 was notorious for it’s maw. Intimidation is an excellent weapon and in this case, defence. If we can fire something into the ships mouth, we can cause a total shielding failure which should give them something a bit more important than us to worry about.”
“Fantastic!” Lore tapped frantically at their chair’s keyboard. “One good shot to the mouth should give us the break we need to retreat.”
“Roger that sir. I’ve got just the thing. Sky take the stick.” Mauve’s voice grew quiet as their sentence continued.
“What’s he up to?” Char started before looking at the ships schematics. “We’ve got to stop him.” The colour had drained from her face.
It was too late. As The Vengeance and Destiny convened at the front of Crait’s ship a torpedo launched. The device seemed to have a mind of its own as it veered from side to side as if deciding the best angle of impact before breaching the speed of sound in a split second, hurtling towards the ‘Exploratory vessel’. As it connected, there was a moment of silence followed by thunderous clap of hull on hull. Uncharacteristically, the lightning came second. Beams of blue fire streamed out of the ships mouth. The dragon had roared its last, being slain in one fell thrust.
“The Vengeance was one of my peoples most feared ships. When your army can’t die…” She paused. “Why not use the most powerful computer to guide your missiles?”
The reality of the situation hit Lore with a similar damning crash as they watched Crait’s ship succumb to gravity. With a look of pained determination, they dragged The Destiny down with them. A few frantic key strokes later and the remains of Crait’s ship lay caught in Destiny’s embrace. They gently placed the wreck outside of the city bounds before joining the others in retreat. Stunned silence ended the day as it began. Familiar Faces.