The Station
'Show me that again', said Blitz. The androids' lights flickered, as it wordlessly communicated with the other bots. The screen showed static, then showed a picture of black on black. After a few seconds, though, a light appeared, and it soon became apparent that the screen was showing a picture of a sunrise, normal in any system. The sun rose majestically over the rocky landscape, illuminating a large jump gate and a moon. Then the moon moved.
'Amazing', murmured Blitz. 'To think that it is possible to construct such a massive battle station. It must have required-' His lips moved in wordless calculation- 'At least 7 OSY docks, plus regular shipyards. I'd expect at least 500,000 credits worth of metal and components.' A flashing light on the control screen took his attentions. He stared meaningfully at the service android. 'Huh?'
'Incoming Battle Report' It intoned. The statistics flashed up on the screen of his console.
Blitz leaned closer. 'Amazing. Heavy Cruisers's have no effect.' He rubbed his eyes. 'What have Guinness been up to?'
General chaos filled the room as Trunk stepped in. Immediately the room was quiet. Trunk had that effect on people.
'I want scanner report now.' His voice was thick, like the man himself. A clerk detached himself from the mob and hurried towards him. Trunk removed the paper from the clerks' hand. His massive face creased as his brain was occupied with the strain of reading. 'Not good,' he announced. 'Very not good.'
In the corner of Blitzes screen, a box became white. Blitz clicked on it. It was a message from Trunk. Blitz found he always had to think slow when dealing with Trunk. He had a way of surviving on one thought a day.
“Hello Blitz. Not good news. Big Guinness fleet coming to base. Not good. Base mine here. Not good. Base good. You like. Yes. No. Big fleet. You announce on board. You know what to do. Bye.”
'Do we have a live feed on that astro? The one with the station on it.' The androids lights whirred.
'Yes. I Will Show You.'
Up on the screen the image of the rocky planet appeared again. But there was no Moon. The camera, borne on a scout ship zoomed around the planet at the touch of a joystick. Blitz gasped. The Space station was leaving the planet, slowly. But also there was another huge fleet, one that Blitz recognised as being the Guinness blob. 'So Trunk was right. This is a war.'
Story sent by Satyrical for the AE Stories event