Innocence Lost ... a tale of Ancient Kingdoms
Come, sit awhile and be with me as I tell you how this world came to be… and how we lost the best gig of our life.
It all started almost as a mistake - we outfitted an intergalactic ship and went looking for ‘treasure’…
Nay, do not believe the tall tales you hear about us, we were not ‘pirates’… well, not in the true sense of the word, mate… what we were was ‘privateers’, duly appointed by Her Majesty, the Queen of Andromeda… she did give us the right to board any ship that was not flying her flag, and [ehm] ‘confiscate their cargo’.
Nay, we didn’t ‘steal’ anything, mate, and gave Her Majesty her fair share too… well, after deducting our expenses, y’know, the bills and other costs for our outfit - heck, we all have to eat, and those guns don’t come cheap, even if they are back-lot knockoffs from the Pleiades… anywhere, where was I…
Yes, it was our final ambush for the season when this fat merchant fleet had the audacity to shoot back !
Well, we can’t have that now, can we… so we started this all out fight - never mind boarding and capturing… No siree-bob, we went at it like the mongrels we were and no one, I mean no one, wanted to let the bastards get away with firing at us !!
Well, cut a long story short, the bastards shot a big hole right through our main engines, and left us stranded there, just like any other space junk, just floating away… Couldn’t believe it… they left us, just... floating ...
With the engines down we had very little power, so no guns, no shields, and just barely basic survival facilities. Oh boy, that was not a fun three days, just drifting, drifting, at the mercy of whatever solar winds may pass by …
But, as luck would have it we got sucked in by this temporary wormhole [the sucker just opened up out of nowhere, and just slurped us up like we was ice-cream] and out we came at the very edge of the Milky Way…
Yea, yea, I know, that’s the last place you want to end up… a backward, tail-end nowhere...no Federation, no refueling stations, no amenities of any sort… so - no way to fix our ship.
Anyway, what could we do… we still had our side thrusters, and could maneuver a little, so we aimed for this little ball of a planet and just managed to splash down next to some coast… well, at least we were alive, for the moment, anyway.
We made landfall, and what do you know, there were these little people there - no, not pygmies you idiot, just short, stocky men, all looking at us like we were gods, or something…
Well, we didn’t plan it… no, we certainly didn’t, but hey, they kept bowing down, kissing the floor, bringing us all sorts of food and gems and gold… and in the end they even brought in their women, as an offering like, y’know…
Well, it would have been rude for us to refuse, now, wouldn’t it… it wasn’t like we planned it that way... it just, like, happened.
Oh, the many years we had, just marching around, pointing and taking whatever we wanted… We were happy, I tell you, like no other space-hand ever had it so good … and those people, well, they just liked to make us happy… they treated us like gods…
Oh, good times, good times…
And then you lot had to show up, didn’t you… you ‘marshals’… You had to spoil it for us all, didn’t you… and for what ? It’s not like they’re members of the Federation...not like they have a treaty with the Overlord, or something… they’re just little, short people-like beings … [and not too smart, if you know what I mean - heck even I wouldn’t have fallen for our ‘god’ act !]
So now what you’re gonna do, hey ? Take us back to Andromeda ? For what ? We didn’t break any stellar laws… and the Queen would vouch for us …we’re her peeps, like, we’re close…
What ! What ! The Queen was deposed ?!... and her Cabinet too … ?! Oh, come on… how were we supposed to know that ?! Illegal practice, you say… ? No, that can’t be true…
Really mate, what harm did we do to the locals ? Just showed them a little love… Exploitation ? Who, us …!?
Hey, stop pushing us...let go of me… I demand respect… You don’t know who you’re messing with, mate !
We’re gods, I tell you, gods ! Unhand me, you, you, Pleiaden !!
