Planet Moor Ch. 02

"I want to face the people aboard this ship. So we go to the bridge and have the Captain arrange an introduction in the training hall, it is the largest open area on the ship. I need to have them with me as a whole." Perry said.

As Perry topped the landing, he stopped. Perry waited till the Captain noticed him and said, "Welcome to the bridge, Commander. This is now your ship, you're welcome here anytime. You need no one's permission to enter here again."

The whole bridge crew agreed by clapping their hands, I was introduce to each one, starting with the First Officer Lanac Grerut, a young man of some years, he had been aboard for three hundred years. Chief Engineer Poe Lancher, Science and Medical Officer C'lie Utt, and Communication's Officer Alica Platt, all of them seem to know their positions well. For now he would have to trust them, as he would soon learn he would trust them with his life.

Perry asks the Captain, "Can we organize an introduction to the full crew and others aboard the ship in the training room. Is that area large enough to hold everyone aboard a one time, or will I have to make two speeches?"

"No, I think the training area will hold everyone in rank and file. That way we can account for each person. I will have them in uniform and at attention in two hours." He said, "Alica, make the announcement that there will be a mandatory assembly in two hours at thirteen hundred hours in full dress uniform and rank and file formation."

"Yes Sir" Alica said and turned to her mic and made the ship wide announcement.

"The bridge crew will listen over the comm." Perry said, "They need to be here, you Captain, I would like you at my side."

"Yes Sir" he said.

"Captain, I will need new quarters large enough to handle me and several women. I don't want your quarters, they belong to you. If you have a place in mind that needs to have work done to it to bring it up to par, then I can wait till it is ready, in the quarters I have now. If you do have a place in mind I would like to see it after the introduction to the crew. For now we will use the room I have, the women will keep their rooms till my quarters are ready then they will also move in with me. For now I will need to go prepare for the meeting, to see if I can find something among my outfits that will make me look like a commander. I will be dressed for battle as will the ladies." Perry said.

Perry returned to his room, Lorie and Areka joined him. Perry pulled what he had out of his pack. A pair of heavy canvas khakis, a matching heavy canvas jacket, black leather studded vest, several ammo belts for shotgun shells, and a leather cap that he had made back on earth. The pants and jacket were tight fitting and the vest was large enough to fit over the jacket. Perry found some pieces of heavy leather in the pack, they were large enough to make forearm bands, and they went from my wrist to mid-lower arm. Perry cut some schact strips from a table to help shape the armbands. He riveted the schact to the ends of the leather to fit around the arm. From end to end he riveted four bars of quarter inch thick schact to the end cuffs that held the gauntlets in place, these gauntlets were about eight inches long. Perry added a pair of leather gloves with schact bars riveted to the back of them to match the leather of the gauntlet. To the leather vest he riveted schact bars vertically on each side of the chest and full length on the back. Perry attached leather and schact bars to the front, back and sides of the thighs of the pants along with a schact skirt just wide enough and long enough, front and behind to protect the tools and ass. Little did he know that this look would identify him forever, if he was to go into battle leading the forces, this uniform was his fear factor against the opposing forces. Of course there would be some modifications made to it over time, but the basic look remained the same.

The ladies had all their stuff with them as well. As each of them pulled stuff from their packs I watched, taking notice of what they each had. Both had black leather biker jackets that were almost identical, but not quite. This was good. Both were wearing blue jeans, they were a little loose fitting for my taste, they both had a set of leather bike chaps with them and were wearing black leather medium heeled boots. Lorie is white with black hair and a nice healthy tan. Areka is a light skinned black woman with African and Mexican descent, her hair is long, straight and raven black. Perry started with Lorie, he touched the jeans to make them fit tighter, showing her shape. She was wearing a button-up blouse that was also loose fitting, Perry touched it and made it form fitting. Perry touched her hair and turned it to a nature white-blonde color allover. She and Areka were in good shape from the training we all had been doing. Perry had her put on the chaps and the leather jacket. He touched them forming them to her body. He cut more of the table and put schact metal plating on the front and sides of her thighs attached to the chaps, He added plates to the calves of the chaps. Perry stripped the back of the jacket with one inch wide; quarter inch thick bars the full length of the jacket. To the front with the jacket zipped shut, he form three of the same bars over her chest and add shorter bars to the abdomen, make six strips of schact down the front. They both got this armor added to their leathers. The upper arms of their jackets got four bars each cut to length and they got the same style gauntlets he had. Each of our boots had quarter inch schact plates installed in the soles to prevent stepping on something sharp. This was our battle dress and for now our formal dress. Eventually, the whole military uniform would be fashioned after this look.

Perry walked into the training area; he made his way to the platform on the far wall. Lorie and Areka were staying with me. Perry had one of his walking sticks in his right hand, the other one was attached to the pack on his back as Perry pushed through the crowd of men and women. Some of them were seasoned crew members but most were new here like the three of them. As Perry climbed the stairs to the deck, He watched the reaction, some of the new people knew that he had come aboard with them and the main crew knew that Perry was a newbie. They didn't know what to think about what Perry was up to.

The Captain stepped up and ordered them to form up and come to attention. They obeyed and it grew quiet.

"Now, I and the bridge crew had already submitted to our new Commander. He wants to talk to you about doing the same thing." Captain Prichard said, "I will turn things over to him. This is Commander Perry Crager, appointed so by me. He controls more power than any or maybe all the Torpid together. Within hours of coming out of the chamber, he has freed this ship and taken the Torpid captive. He has asked for this meeting to get your response to one question. I will let him ask it Commander."

Perry stepped up to the mic. He looked out over the lines of men and women that he was about to ask them to join him in a war against beings most of them have never seen or encountered. "As the Captain said, I am Perry Crager, until three days ago; I was nobody like you were. Today, we are something new, I know I am and these two Ladies feel the same way. We were nothing, now I am something I could never have dreamed of. I have powers that were dormant in me. The conversion has brought them to the surface; I freed you from the master that enslaved you. I will tell you, I have the power to do the same thing, but I will not now or ever enslave another human. I want to lead free men, if we are not free, we are not men. I need an army to back me, the more I free the bigger the army. Those who join me will not want. The people who don't join the army will serve in other ways. We will start a civilization like we have never seen. I am told there are many trillions on the planets we are headed for. I am also told that Earth is not the only planet they are kidnaping humans from. We will be there soon; I am going to take the air space around the planets first. We need to control the space around the planets, we don't want them running. I will then start with the outer planet and work my way in.

Now, I need your decision. Do I have a start of my military here on this ship? If you don't want to remain in the military, we will find a position for you. I can't return you to Earth with the powers you have, at this time you would use those powers for no good. I know I would. Even if just one of us returned to Earth, we would be unstoppable; they would not have any way to defeat us. So in or out you are still here, you are one of us, we will survive out here. If you want to serve in other ways then military leave the room." Perry said.

No one moved they were looking around, after about five minutes Perry stepped back to the mic. "Great, Thank you. We will continue to train. We will need to be ready for anything. The Officer's on this ship know what they are doing. Some of them have been here for centuries, listen to them they were where you are now once. They fought on the ground and in the air and space. They know the tricks, the in's and outs of these masters. Captain Prichard and his crew will help out the newbies; there will be no more kidnapping runs anymore. So the ones we free will be the only back-up we have. We have to take ships fast, I have to kill the Torpid aboard each ship we attack as soon as I can. The one I took captive here says I am the most powerful being he has ever seen. He has been around since they started this. He was one of the first to take control of humans and he was one of the most powerful. If this is true, we have no worries. I freed this ship in minutes, if it remains this simple, we will have all planets freed soon. I have nothing else for now. Remember treat each other well, right now we are all we have for family. Train well and sleep well. Thank you." Perry said. He stood there as they saluted and marched off.

"Do you really think this is going to be that easy?" Areka ask.

"I can only hope, but no, this is not going to be easy, these creatures are going to fight to the death. I am not going to die; I am not going to let others die for me either. If I have to board a ship alone to get to the torpid aboard, I will. I am learning more and more about my powers every minute. I have more capabilities than I ever thought of. Once we get into the system we are headed for you will see things you thought impossible." Perry said.

"How soon will that be Captain?" Lorie asks.

"We should be dropping out of hyperspace within the hour. Once we are insight of the outer planet, they will start guiding us in. I will have to find an excuse to dock with the first battlecarrier." Captain Prichard said, "It can't be medical, we have a better infirmary than they do. We could fake damage and need help with repairs before we can land. Once we take that first battlecarrier, we will put you on a smaller ship, one that can go from battlecarrier to battlecarrier without problems."

"That would work better than trying to explain why this ship is doing it. But how will you explain not coming to the surface?" Perry asks.

"Easy, the repairs to the drive will take some days, unless they want us landing with a leaking hyper-space drive core. That should hold them till you get to the planet." The Captain said.

"How many torpid on the planet?" Perry asks.

"There is one for every ten cities; there are one hundred cities on the planet. So ten on this, planet, the others vary. There are two hundred battlecarriers out there, getting to them will be harder once they figure out what is happening." Captain Prichard said.

"I have been testing my powers, I don't think I will have to board the ship, just get close to it. My reach is quite extensive and I can just kill them, instead of trying to capture them, just to spend the time and effort to kill them anyway. We all know they are guilty and they wouldn't show us any mercy." Perry said.

"Perry, that is not right. You can just kill them, they have rights." Lorie said.

"Rights, they give up their rights when they took ours. Anything or anyone who takes the rights of others gives up their own rights when they are caught. We are now the law here. I say that they should die quickly and on the spot I find them. I show no mercy to anyone who tries to take my rights away." Perry said.

"He is right; they have not shown the humans any mercy. Why should we go easy on them? I say kill them where they stand." Areka said.

"I agree" Captain Prichard said.

The ship shuttered slightly, "We just dropped out of hyper-space, and we will be in range of the first battlecarrier soon. I think we need to go to the bridge." The Captain said as he turned and headed toward the bridge. We had to climb four decks to the bridge. The viewers showed four battlecarriers in front of us.

"Captain, they are hailing us; they want to know where the master is." Communication's Officer, Alica Platt said.

"Tell them it is where it always is." He said.

She turned and looked at him, "Sir, really, that will not cut it; they are going to know something is up."

"Buy me five minutes; I am going to try it from here." Perry said.

Perry pushed out his power; it spread to each of the battlecarriers. He found four torpid; before they could act he killed them. Perry pushed his power wider out around him. Perry found two more battlecarriers within range. He killed torpid aboard them. Perry pulled back, the power came rushing in, he dropped to my knees; He caught the chair beside him and crawled up into it.

"Perry, are you ok?" Lorie asks. "Yea, I just pulled the power back to fast. The power stream hit me harder than I was ready for, but I killed six of them. There are two battlecarriers behind us. Broadcast a stand down, their masters are gone. They are to join us in the battle to free the sixteen planet of the Hersha system. "Give me an open channel, please Alica." Perry asks.

"You have an open channel, Sir" Alica said.

"This is Perry Crager; the personal of this ship the "Eluchenn" has given me the position and rank of Commander. I am the one who killed the masters on your ship. I intend to kill all of them, stand with us. These planets are your homes, let's make them free. You have witnessed my power, I killed the torpid aboard your ship before you or even they knew it. I am just a man like you, the conversion made my powers come out. I knew I had something but I could not work it like I do now. From here, I killed six torpid aboard six different ships at the same time. So I ask again join us, let's remove these masters of ours, they are nothing but lazy slobs who use us as slaves and war toys. I await your answer, for yes move your ship in with ours. For no, you may take your ship and leave." Perry said into space.

We waited and watched as the ships move into position around us.

First Mate, Lanac Grerut said, "Sirs, there are ten more battlecarriers moving in from three sides. There are more enroute; they will be here within an hour."

"Thanks, I will meet them." Perry said.

Perry pushed the full force of his power out in all directions. Farther and farther it went, Perry' power met the battlecarriers and the torpid aboard. They were not ready for that, as his power moved through they died. Perry met and kills twenty-four in the first fifteen minutes of the battle. He searched for more battlecarriers, but found the first planet. He forced his power across the surface, torpid died like smashed bugs. Perry was engulfing the planet and keeping the air space around it clear of torpid. An hour later, we had control of one planet and sixty-five battlecarriers. Perry pulled back slowly, after he was back, Perry sat in the chair that he had collapsed by earlier.

"Captain Prichard, Sir, I need food and water. We have sixty-five battlecarriers and one planet. All in less than an hour, I will be good for more once I eat. I do not want to leave the bridge; I need to be here if more of their battlecarriers come to join us. we can start moving toward the next planet." I said.

"Alica, order a lot of food here immediately. Our Commander needs fuel for the rest of this fight, if you want to call it a fight. He is slaughtering them before they fire a shot." Prichard said.

"I am ordering a buffet cart to be brought to the bridge." Alica said.

Someone handed Perry a protein bar. He gladly took it and eats it. He was given a fresh bottle of water. This helped till the food would get here.

"Five new battlecarriers moving this way, they are still two hours out. Wait, there are ten more coming in from ninety degrees to port, and seven more from seventy-five degrees to starboard. They are trying to surround us." Lanac said.

"How far out are they?" Perry asks.

"It will take them about two hours to get here." He said.

"Thanks" Perry said.

Perry pushed his power out in all directions again, the force wave plowed past the ships he had already taken. Farther than he has ever pushed it plowed into the advancing ships. Instantly the torpid died, they just didn't know how to stop the power that hit them. None of them lived long enough to tell any others. Perry was eating off the cart that had been brought in. Perry swept the second planet, killing the torpid in each city. The Eluchenn was moving along the planets, along with all the battlecarriers. Perry was sweeping each planet within minutes of coming into range. Perry was still taking battlecarriers one after the other. We had only been out of hyper-space for five hours. With four planets and one hundred and fifty-three battlecarriers taken, I decided something should be done.

"We need to take the rest of the battlecarriers, so the torpid left can't get away. Send our battlecarriers to hold them till I get there. we will skip the planets for later; send battlecarriers to patrol the planets to stop any ships from leaving. We need to hold them here so I can kill them." Perry ordered.

Lanac said, "It is done, the battlecarriers are on route to cover the remaining planets and battlecarriers."

With his power spread out toward the planets as the Eluchenn moved from planet to planet sweeping each one as we went by slowly. Any battlecarriers the got in the way was cleansed too. Eleven hours after exiting hyper-space, the torpid were gone. Perry was exhausted to the point that they brought a gurney to the bridge to take him to his quarters. Before He left the bridge He made a speech to be heard throughout the Hersha system.

"I am Perry Crager. I have been made the Commander of the military forces of the Hersha system. I have wiped out your former masters, the torpid are no more here on any planet or ship. I will remain here till things have settled. Two days from now I will meet with the top military leaders along with the top civilian leaders. We will start the process of setting up a government for the system. So if you can maintain peace and a good quality of control I will not have to deploy the military to police each planet. Know this now, I will not tolerate crime, you take away someone's right for personal reasons such a murder, rape or the like. Such crimes get the death penalty to be carried out by the arresting officer on the spot. Lesser crimes will do time, third time offenders will get the death penalty. There will be no candy-ass lawyers trying to get you off. You mess with someone's rights; you lose your rights and your life. I think that will do for now. Glad to meet you, I will be around. Thank you." Perry closed.

As Perry was headed back to his quarters, Reka said, "Seriously, you will enforce those laws. The death penalty on the spot for a crime they commit."

"Yes, I will enforce it, I believe it will stop a lot of crime plus the prisons won't fill up as fast. If the USA would install these rules and enforce them the prisons would be empty. More criminals would think twice about what they do knowing that it would mean death when caught." Perry said.