Work Text:
Good Fortune
Jonny grinned down as the last of the Cyberian crew fell dead to the floor of the ship he decided would be the one to take. It was different, large, likely a stolen vessel turned into a battle cruiser for the Cyberian military.
There was plenty of room for him and the Doc and a shit ton of other people if they chose so. Plenty of space for a large lab for the Doc, room for all the sewing supplies that he barely had room for in their latest small cruiser which was well on its way to breaking down for good. They needed a new ship. One that wouldn’t fall apart a few years in.
This ship looked to be built to last the long-haul trips through deep space. He was also pretty sure she was watching him murder her crew. That she hadn’t raised a hand to help the Cyberians said a lot, really. She was a rebel and he liked that.
Living ships weren’t unheard of. Quite a few places swore by them. He kicked the body at his feet, rolling it over and taking the gun strapped to the soldier’s waist. He then gave the wall a pat. “There. I’ve liberated you from the Cyberians and I am now stealing you. You’re welcome.”
A screen he happened to be near turned on by itself and a message popped up. He wandered over to it and laughed at the message he saw that the ship had obviously left him in reply.
<3 My hero! 😊You have effectively stolen me from my Cyberian overlords. Come to the bridge. The lights will guide you.
He looked around and noticed that some of the lights along the side of the walls were blinking at him. He gave the wall one more pat, before walking in the direction they were taking him. He soon found out that there was a lack of gravity on some parts of the ship, but the O’Neill ring where he had been and where the crew were on their downtime, was in a gravity area. Likely because that’s where the cabins were to sleep and the mess hall.
Some things he can’t do in zero gravity, so at least there were places that were fine to live in. Still for what he was doing now, he just needed to get places and that didn’t need gravity at all, just the ability to keep moving and that was easy enough.
Soon he was in the ship’s bridge, staring out at the ship station they were docked at. The ship was a bit too odd in her form for the ground stations, so she was docked in one of the space ones, which would make it a pain to steal without being chased, but hey, he could have some fun blowing up an army.
“Okay, here I am, and you have a lovely view. Want to blow them up?”
Yes, but I’d rather leave. ASAP. ☹
He nodded at that. ‘Yeah, yeah. I get that. Fine. We can come back later and blow the fuckers out of the sky if you want. How do I fly you?”
Unclamp me and I can do the flying myself 😊
“Okay. Where are the clamps?”
On my engines ☹
He frowned at that. “On the inside or outside?”
My engines are inside.
Jonny grinned at that. “Great. Show me the way and I can fix that and as soon as I have you can take off.”
* * * * * * * * * *
Getting the clamps off was harder than he thought it would be, but he succeeded within an hour with some prompting from the ship herself, and within a few seconds they were already on their way off the dock and into the darkness of open space. Oddly, no one was following them. Probably because there was some kind of tracker on the ship. Or there was something bigger going down.
He and the Doc had set up a rendezvous zone to meet at nearby, but he hadn’t found anything yet to hide a ship like his new one. Which reminded him… “Well, that was a lot simpler than I thought it would be. But you’re my ship now. I’m Jonny. What’s your name?”
Hello Jonny! <3 I am the Aurora.
Jonny blinked at that, read the message over and blinked again. “No fucking way. Oh, I chose the right ship! I have a surprise for you. Well, maybe not for you specifically, but this is a good day, if you’re the right Aurora.”
Is it a good surprise? I don’t like bad surprises.
He laughed at that. “No one likes bad surprises. Yes, it’s good. And we’re at the rendezvous point. Now we just wait.”
He was a few days’ early, so it was going to be a bit of a wait. Thankfully, he had a whole ship to explore and get to know. He stretched his arms into the air and felt his joints crack. He could do that when the Doc wasn’t around. He let out a sigh. “Well, Aurora, it’ll be just the two of us for a few days. I’m going to go explore and maybe choose a room that has less of Cyberia in it. I’m hungry and tired. So, yeah. Talk later.”
Aurora set him another heart emoji and went silent, so Jonny took that as a sign and went off to explore.
* * * * * * * * * *
Two days passed by in a blur of corridors and rooms and throwing bodies out into space through one of the airlocks. The ones that he hadn’t stuffed in the meat locker the first day anyway because it would be a waste of meat that hadn’t started rotting. The kitchen was still stocked for at least a month for him, so it was good this ship had a cold room to keep meat from going off.
He looked forward to that. There were a few places that they could turn into a small ranch for goats and chickens, since cows would be a bit big in this place. Fresh meat, milk, cheese, cream, eggs. It sounded good to him and that wasn’t something he ever had on board any of the cruisers they’d had before. He still knew how to run a farm form growing up on one. That’s one of those things that’s built into him, he figured.
A hydroponics area was halfway built and needed to be finished, which was great, because that meant fresh fruits and vegetables. Why it hadn’t been finished, he had no idea, but it was definitely well on its way. That could stave off boredom for a while.
Maybe the ship hadn’t been finished with her Cyberian upgrades yet and that was why it felt half-finished in some places. Other than that, Aurora was completely serviceable as a ship. And she looked awesome and unique, and Jonny was so into that.
He had chosen one of the officer’s quarters on the O’Neill ring as his own, gutting it of the possessions that once had been in there and it was all ready for when the Doc showed up and he could move his stuff in. He’d chosen one of the empty offices near that room to be his sewing room. He now had so much space in the places he had claimed as his own, he didn’t really know what to do with it all just yet, but he had an eternity to figure that shit out.
There was still a lot of the ship left for him to explore through the vents he had recently realised he was small enough to crawl through, but that could wait. The Doc had sent him a message saying she was due to reach the rendezvous point in a few minutes, so instead he was waiting in the docking bay. Aurora had already opened it up, ready for the small cruiser.
He knew before the cruiser had docked that this was the right Aurora. The Doc came in far too fast, she barely stopped from crashing into the doors on her way in, and once she was on the ground she was out as fast as possible, a look of shock on her face. “Aurora?!”
The ship made an absolutely awful sound in reply, before pinging the nearest screen, which had the Doc running. “Oh, my poor baby! What did they do to you?!”
They cut access to my voice ☹ They made me into a Cyberian warship. Jonny rescued me.
“He’s your brother. And since you’re a ship, I suppose that would make him your First Mate. You can log that, Aurora.”
Jonny, who had been listening in on the Doc’s half of the story blinked. “Woah, wait. How am I the brother of a ship? Is Aurora your kid or something?”
“Or something. She was alone and I took her in and raised her, much as I did with you, so yes, she is your sister in all but blood. And species. Aurora was a moon, not a human to start with.”
Jonny grinned and couldn’t help but laugh at that one. “Oh, a moon. She was a moon. And now she is a moon ship. That makes so much more sense to your naming etiquette when it comes to cruisers.”
The Doc glared at him, but that wouldn’t stop him from finding that hilarious. He was probably going to be a blood free corpse soon for that, but he couldn’t care less right now. He’d done a good thing here and found the right Aurora. Completely by accident. He felt good.
His comms unit in his pocket buzzed and he pulled it out to read whatever message Aurora sent him. He grinned and patted the ships walls.
Hello First Mate Jonny. This was indeed a nice surprise! Thank you for bringing me to Mother :D
He patted the wall a second time, before grinning. “You’re welcome. Also, do you have to call her mother? It’s creepy.”
Yes 😊
He laughed and shook his head. “Creep.”
She set him a heart emoji and went silent. He put his comms unit back in his pocket and turned to where Doc Carmilla was watching them interacting. A small smile was on her face. “I’m glad to see the two of you getting on so well.”
He laughed at that. “Did you know, I didn’t even know her name until after I had decided to take her and had destroyed all the crew left in her. It wasn’t until we were on our way here, I asked.”
The Doc frowned at him and shook her head. “Sometimes things are just meant to be. I am glad you found her and brought her back to me, even if it was by complete accident on your part. I am going to go see what damage has been done. Go play or something.”
He took offence at the play remark, but nodded, knowing that there was still a lot to do to get things up and running the way he’d like them. “So, what are we going to do? About Cyberia.”
Carmilla grinned at him, showing off her fangs. “We’ll bring their government down. What we do outside of that is up to the people. But that can wait until I assess the damage done to Aurora.”
Nodding, Jonny thought for a moment about what he’d do in the meantime. “Well, I’ll be in the hydroponics bay. It needs finishing.”
The Doc nodded. “Okay. Write down a list of supplies we’ll need in the near future, and we’ll see to getting them while on planet.”
Nodding, he began to leave. “Yeah, got it. See you when we attack.”
Well, at least he knows he won’t be bored for a while.