“Ranger,” came the muffled voice over the ships speakers. “You now have ten seconds to comply.”

Mam Marrella heard two clicks from the seat behind her…the sounds signaling that her passenger was secured in his seat.

“Alright,” she replied to the voice over the speakers. “You may proceed.”

“What!?” Exclaimed Prince Plenn Te.

Quickly, she muted the speakers.

“Just trust me,” she said, turning to look back at him. “I know what I’m doing. Now be quiet.”

“Sorry,” she said, turning the speakers back on. “These royals have no clue what it’s like out here for beings like you and me. Say, just so I have some peace of mind, I’d like to see whom I’m dealing with.”

“My identity is not for you to know,” came the voice.

“Then at least reveal your ship. I’ve heard tales about haunted patches of deep space. At least show me that I’m not gonna spend eternity stuck in this speck of the universe.”

There was a long silence, before a distance outside of the craft’s window, a faded red craft appeared.

Cloaking technology, Mam thought to herself.

As her eyes quickly glanced over the ship, she could tell it was several generations old. She couldn’t make out any modifications or affiliation markings, and the main cockpit windows were heavily tinted.

“Any chance you could show me inside?” she asked.

“This is as much as you will see,” claimed the voice. “Anymore stalling, and force shall be administered.”

“Okay-okay,” she sighed. “I assume you have a linkage porter on that thing? Mine’s on the bottom of this tug. Just dive on underneath me and get ready to port."

As she watched out the window, the craft dived down, and proximity sensors indicated the ship was closing in on the porter area. At this moment, she switched off the communication speakers.

“Hold your position,” came the voice from the opposite ship.

“15 feet to docking,” came the ship’s voice.

Upon hearing this, Mam flipped the cover off a switch.

“10 feet to docking.”

“Get ready,” she said, glancing back at the prince.

“5 feet to docking.”

2.3 seconds later, her finger had flipped the switch, and stars streaked past the front port window. The craft vibrated heavily, causing the pony’s massive chest to wobble like gelatin.

“Little something I added in,” she noted. “I’m sure whatever that tin can of his is packing, he’s just getting his bearings by-“

Suddenly, the ship jerked violently as an explosion was heard behind them.

“Warning, critical hit,” noted the computer.

Turning to a monitor, Mam Marella could see a dot closing in on them fast.

“Oh, so you wanna play rough?” she smirked.

The prince was not prepared for what happened next.

As he watched, the streaking stars became normal, but then they whizzed upwards, and he found his robes billowing up into his face, as his pilot made a loop!

As the craft leveled out, a red streak zoomed past and a moment later, the stars streaked again and they were gaining on the ship.

“Eat this, Snurchuff!” cried Mam, as her thumbs pressed into the controls.

Blasts of energy began pulverizing the enemy craft’s rear engines. One of them blew out, before the craft suddenly disappeared!

This caused Mam to flick the switch, and the craft glided to an abrupt halt, causing her and her passenger to be jolted around uncomfortably.

“Can we please stop with the starting-and-stopping?” gulped the prince.

“Hush up,” said Mam, checking her systems.

“Warning,” came the computer’s voice. “Ships power at 30 percent.”

“Oh, great," muttered Mam, "that attack ruptured several fuel cell channels. We’re just lucky it wasn’t a direct hit.”

“Can’t you do that fast-thingy and get us out of here?”

“Not with my power where it is. We don’t know how long this fella is gonna be chasing us. Just gonna have to think smarter.”

“Attention, Ranger,” came the attacker’s voice through the speaker system again. “I grow tired of your antics.”

“Oh, really?” Mam responded, switching communications back on. “Most think I’m the life of the party!”

“I have succeeded in hampering your fuel reserves. I am prepared to extract your cargo, even if it means your death. There will be no second chances.”

Upon hearing this, Mam began checking her guidance information on another screen.

There’s nowhere to hide out here, she thought. Where’s the nearest planet?

And there it was: Planet 321-REI. The computer indicated it was barren, but perhaps there might be something on the surface that could help them.

“I grow weary of your silence,” came the voice over the speaker.

“And I’m done listening,” she said, as she throttled the engines, and the craft took off.

“Are you crazy?” asked the prince. “We don’t know where he is!”

It was just then that another explosion jostled the ship.

“He’s behind us,” she said, rolling her eyes.

“Yeah, and he’s gonna destroy your ship!”

“He’s just trying to slow us down,” Mam replied, as the ship shifted to the right. “He’s after you. No way he’d take the risk and blow us to pieces. We just gotta outthink him and hope he’ll make a mistake.”

It was then that 321-REI appeared out the right side of the main window. The coloration didn’t seem natural, but that was the least of their worries as Mam increased speed and the planet grew in size as they approached.

“What if he doesn’t make a mistake?” asked the prince.

“Then I’ll just have to improvise,” she replied, throttling the ship through some clouds.

As they cleared away, Mam saw the terrain below them, littered with criss-crossing canyons.

“Hold on!” she cried out, as the craft dove down, and striated patterns blurred past the windows.

An explosion behind them was all she needed to know that her pursuer had taken the bait.

“Do you know where you’re going?” called out Plenn.

“No idea,” she replied, looping around a corner. “I’ve never been here before.”

“Then how do you know what you’re doing?”

“I’m making this up as I go,” she replied, as an explosion up ahead dislodged a boulder that she just barely missed.

“Pull up, pull up!” cried out the prince.

“That’s what he wants!” she cried out. “I fly up, he’ll have a clear shot at us. It’s safer to take our chances down here!”

“Safer!?” Cried out Plenn, as the craft dipped under one formation and looped down another corridor of rock.

As she took another turn, an idea formed in Mam’s head. Just as it did, a light began blinking on the console in front of her.

Almost out of fuel, she thought. If I’m gonna pull this off, it has to be now.

Going through another canyon, she saw a tunnel leading off a ways, and dove in.

Soon, the sides of the tunnel lit up with blaster fire, a sign that her pursuer had followed her in.

Let there be an exit, let there be an exit, she thought to herself.

As if in answer, a spec of light began to grow up ahead. Mam then pushed the speed on the ship, knowing it might mean the end of their fuel supply.

In seconds, the ship shot through, and Mam spun it into a 180, blasting away at the rocky opening. Moments later, she watched as the nose of the pursuing ship began to emerge, before the rocky outcropping fully crumbled, crushing the ship.

“Yeah!” she cried out, causing her chest to wobble. “Gotcha, sucka!”

The victory was short-lived as one last blaster bolt shot out of an exposed cannon, and pierced through the cockpit window, missing Mam and her passenger, but striking a rear panel. Moments later, alarms sounded and smoke filled the ship.

“Oh great,” she said, as the craft began to plummet and she strapped herself in, the straps pushing deep into her chest. “This is gonna be a hard landing, your highness. Brace for impact!”

The two passengers were jerked violently as the craft slammed into the ground! The impact caused the underside to come apart in places, and a section of the craft’s wall tore away in a shower of wiring and sparks! Back behind the prince, the smoke had increased as he struggled out of his seat.

“Ungh,” murmured Mam, struggling to get out of her seat.

“Let me help you,” cried out Plenn, as he struggled to get to her.

“I can, handle this,” she said, as the smoke got thicker. “Get to the extinguisher and put that out.”

Plenn did as instructed. Moments later, the smoke became less thick, and Mam Marella finally succeeded in unstrapping herself from her seat.

“Did you get him?” asked Plenn.

“Pretty sure I did,” she replied, struggling out of her seat, and stumbling over to manually open the ship’s door to let the smoke out.

“Then what was with that last blaster bolt?”

“Who knows? Maybe him, a rock hitting the controls. We’ll never know.”

“So, where do we go now?” asked Plenn, looking out the door at the towering canyon walls above, and the pathways leading off to who-knew-where.

“Do you always ask so many questions?”

“Hey, I’ve never been in a ship where I was being fired on. This is all new to me.”

“Lucky for you, rookie,” she said, returning to her seat, and pressing some buttons. “Looks like in regards to where we’re going, as I suspected, it’s nowhere in particular at the moment. That last shot did a number on the controls, and whatever fuel we had left has leaked out.”

“So we’re stuck here?”

“For now,” she said, hitting a button that began to blink. “Guild Force craft are tied into a central mainframe. They’ll receive this distress signal and come for us.”

“How long will that take?”

“Hard to say. If it’s a light business day, maybe a few hours. If they’re experiencing a heavy load or a number of staff have called off, could be longer.”

“How long?”

“As long as it takes-look, it’s not like we’re all sitting around waiting for rich brats like you that need to be escorted to a nigriv ceremony!”

“I was just asking a question. You don’t need to raise your voice at me.”

“Whatever,” she said, brushing past him and going to the back, checking the shower unit water supply. “Blast. Should have filled this up while on your planet. Looks like we’ll be rationing what little is left of the water until we’re rescued.”

Even in the shadow of the canyons, the heat on 321-REI was incredibly hot inside the ship.

Plenn had recommended they scout around for civilization or signs of life, but Mam wasn’t willing to risk them getting lost or possibly devoured by who knew what lurked in the canyons.

And so it was that they found themselves in the oven-like remains of the ship, the Prince sitting near Mam, as she brandished a large blaster, sitting on the door stoop, keeping an eye out for anything that might be a threat.

Hours passed, and what little was left of the water was soon gone.

“So, now what?” asked Plenn, seeing Mam frustrated.

“I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this,” she sighed. “But we’re going to have to use some of my…reserves.”

“You have more water? But you said-“

“It’s not water, just…I really don’t want to do this, but I’m going to need your help.”

“Of course,” he said, coming closer to her. “Anything to help!”

“Are you a prince, or a puppy dog?” she smirked. “Now bear in mind, this is strictly business, got it?”

“Sure, whatever you say.”

“Good. Now remember, I can report you.”

Plenn was trying to figure out what she meant, when the ranger pressed some buttons on her wrist communicator. Moments later, the clothing pattern covering her left breast seemed to melt away, exposing the milky-white surface, and a grey-colored nipple!

“Now, here’s what you’re going to do,” she said, watching his eyes just oogling her exposed area. “I’m going to need you to squeeze my nipple, and fill up that water supply unit.”

“Wh-y-wh-we’re gonna drink your…m-milk?” he asked.

“At this point, it’s the only thing we can drink on this hunk of junk,” she replied. “Now, I’m gonna need you to act like a big boy, and help me.”

Plenn ignored the dig at his maturity, and leaned down. He didn’t admit it to the ranger, but he could feel his ‘royal pillar,’ getting thicker beneath the ceremonial robes.

“Kind of…large,” he noted.

“Look, it’s not rocket science,” she said. “Just get a grip on it, squeeze, and pull. And be sure to aim.”

And with that, Plenn Te did as he was told. Moments later, a stream of white liquid shot from the end of the nipple, washing over the container. After some more tugs, he was able to properly direct the stream into the opening. Soon, the container was full, and he screwed the cap on.

“There we go,” he said, as he heard the ranger give off a rather breathless murmur. “Are you feeling well?”

“I’m just, very sensitive in that region,” she gasped, trying to calm her breathing. “Do you know how many fellas would pay big credits to do what you just did?”

“Are you going to charge me for-“

“No!” she sighed.

“Well, alright then,” he said, taking his robe, and wiping the tip of her slippery nipple.

“W-what are you doing?” she asked.

“You’re still a little wet. Just drying you off.”

“But that’s your ceremonial robe!”

“So? It’s not that big a deal.”

“But your father-“

“If my father is worried about breast milk on my robe it’s my fault, okay!?”

The directness of the line caused Mam’s eyes to open wide. This prince assuming responsibility for such a thing was something she definitely did not expect.

“Okay,” she said. “Can you, pass me the container?”

As her hands grasped the container, Mam took a sip and winced.

“Is it sour?” Plenn asked.

“No, I just don’t care for the taste of my own milk.”

“Even after all this time?”

“I don’t normally drink it. But in this case, it’s all we got.”

Plenn held out for as long as he could, but eventually, he reached for the container, and took a drink.

He’d only had milk on a few occasions, and also never at a lukewarm temperature like this.

He ended up taking a few more drinks, as the light in the sky began to fade.

Mam wasn’t sure how long she had been asleep, but the blinking, beeping light on the control panel woke her up.

Illuminating her horn, the green glow showed the Prince asleep next to her, his arms holding the container of milk tightly.

Suddenly, there were several bursts of white light from high above them, that bathed the ship and canyon area in a bright illumination.

Mam held her blaster tightly, but her grip softened as she saw three rangers in uniform wearing jetpacks, touching down in front of her and the prince.

“Ranger BE-113?” asked one.

“Yes,” she replied, standing at attention, holding the blaster in one hand, and saluting with the other.

“Is your assignment secure?”

“Prince Plenn Te is confirmed secure, and safe.”

“At ease, soldier. We can take it from here. You will relinquish responsibility of your cargo, and we will have another ranger complete the assignment.”

Though she dropped the salute, Mam still stood her ground.

“With all due respect ranger, I wish to see this mission through to the end.”

TO BE CONTINUED…

Author's Note

One of the first times I’ve written an action scene in fanfiction. I had to really keep myself from over-explaining a lot. The goal was to give enough information for the reader to understand what was going on, and use their imagination.

I’m sure those of you reading the story can probably figure out where some of the inspiration for this episode came from. There’s even a little nod to the film Bowfinger in here too.

If this episode seemed a little brief, don’t worry…the next one is going to be quite a bit longer.