VICTORY!

<snip>
Hundreds of miles above, A swirling blue hole appeared in space just
behind the Amnesty International ship, and the Blue Dwarf sailed
through.
<end snip>
"You have GOT to be kidding me!" Jay exclaimed as the Nelson Mandela
came into view on the Blue Dwarfs forward screen. "We save the
universe by winning a war against murderous killing machines only to
be murdered by a bunch of trigger-happy hippies?!"
He turned to Rufus, "Open a channel!"
Rufus did so and Jay turned to face the screen.
"This is Jay Chrysler of the JMC vessel Blue Dwarf. Stop bombarding
the Mollopod's and get a job you smelly hippies!"
Geldof appeared on the screen with a scowl on his face. "What do you
intend to do about it?" he replied
Jay's eyes narrowed and he clenched his fists, he loved a
challenge. "I'm gonna kick your no-good, tree-hugging, protest-
organising ass……"
He wheeled round quickly on his heels to face the rest of the drive
room. "HIT THEM WITH EVERYTHING WE'VE GOT!!!"
Operating on a skeleton crew, the Blue Dwarf's turrets had to be
operated from the tactical console in the drive room, currently
manned by Rufus, with Efof on the helm, operating the forward
cannons that had been fitted during the ships refit at the outbreak
of the Krylon war.
For a mining ship, the Blue Dwarf was surprisingly heavily armed.
The upgrades it had been given throughout the years to assist in
it's mission made the Blue Dwarf a world away from it's long-lost
sister ship and right now every single one of the Blue Dwarfs
external weapons was targeting, and unleashing hell on the AMS
Nelson Mandela's engines.
The Dwarf took a few hit's in return, but it's position to the aft
of the Amnesty International ship served to protect it's engines and
the majority of the Nelson Mandela's shots fired from their minimal
rear facing weapons bounced harmlessly of the mining ships armoured
hull plating.
A final shot from Efof sailed happily into the Nelson Mandela's main
plasma exhaust vent, before detonating, igniting the plasma and
causing a chain reaction which destroyed the ships rear end, sending
it's remains tumbling to the ground where it crashed harmlessly in a
large square in the centre of the Mollopod capital.
"Let's get our bodies and go home…." Said Jay.
*** Two weeks later. ***
Where:- Space Corp Command Headquarters. New York City Earth.
Jay stood before a panel of Space Corp admirals. He'd been ordered
to wear his dress uniform. He had no idea why he was here, he'd
assumed it was his official de-briefing with regard to the loss of
the Dauntless – which technically, following the Captains death he
was the commanding officer of and then the Enlightenments success.
The Enlightenment had already been assigned a new captain, and crew.
All of them deceased officers, just what the ship was designed for –
and sent on a new mission. The thing with holo-ships was that they
didn't require extensive refitting and restocking following missions
and could be redeployed in a matter of hours. All that was required
was an upload of fresh crew data and their holographic templates.
Jay didn't care about that. All he wanted was to get back to his old
job as Chief of Navigation on the Blue Dwarf. His acting captaincy
was over – thankfully – and he go back to living with Katrina,
drinking with Phil and winding up Doctor Keto, just as soon as the
Blue Dwarf's refit was complete and it was redeployed.
The admiral directly in front of Jay spoke. "Commander, we have read
your reports and those of those serving under you during the Krylon
war"
Jay said nothing, and waited for the admiral to continue. It didn't
take long before she did. "I must say Commander, I'm impressed. Your
service record prior to the war is even better – save for a little
blip a few years ago, I'm sure you don't need reminding of that."
"No Ma'am" Jay replied "I er…wasn't myself when I…destroyed the
earth in an alternate timeline.."
"Quite" Admiral Hayes continued. "You're a good officer Jay, your
colleagues respect you, and you have time and again shown your
willingness to put yourself on the line to protect them."
"Thank you Ma'am." Jay was REALLY confused now.
"Let me get to the point" Hayes continued "We feel that you're long
overdue for a promotion. In fact it's a belief that seems to be
shared by the crew, we had an email from Lt. Efof Yu'wankah
recommending that very thing…the space corp need good captain's Mr
Chrysler. We'd like to offer you the permanent position of Captain,
we have a fair few ships – including the Blue Dwarf, that are in
need of a commanding officer following the war, if you accept the
promotion you'll be assigned a ship to command."
"Wait…." Jay said "Surely there are more suitable people than me?
Phil Febuggure for example? He's been the Dwarf's XO for the past
few years!"
"Between you and me, while we have every confidence in Commander
FeBuggure's ability to command, his frequent abductions by these…"
she checked a page from Phil's log "…archivers would make him a
rather unreliable captain."
"I just don't know if…."
"Commander, we have every confidence in you."
"Why does the Dwarf need a captain? What about Calvert?"
"Calvert isn't fit to command a bus stop in his present condition…we
need a decision Mr Chrysler.."
Jay thought for a moment. Was he ready to command? Sure he'd done so
in the past, but to be the Captain, the head honcho…the one with
whom the buck stops. Jay wasn't sure, but they sure seemed eager to
have him do it..
Jay wasn't a commander, he was a pilot, a squad leader, a department
manager, many things but not a commander.
But he also wasn't someone to run away from things.
He swallowed hard. "Admiral. I accept….on one condition."
"Which is?"
"You give me the Dwarf…."
<bosh, Krylon plot official over – back aboard the Dwarf we go, and
with a new captain to boot. (it's alright, Onion and I discussed
this I'm not just whacking my character in command willy-nilly!) In
the interim between missions, hows about you have you characters
relax, spend some time on earth, or chilling aboard the docked Blue
Dwarf, dealing with their feelings about everything that's happened
since we were last aboard and stuff!>