(see #21: Treasure for backstory)
Kelis Alcibides, aka Trucker Kelly 93, awoke 40 light years farther than she'd ever been. The Cteres system. Word is a creature had been running amok smashing trade ships, harassing stations, and just generally being a dick to any and all who came across it. Just enough damage to be a nuisance, not enough to warrant any response from Olympia. Besides sending one rogue trucker with a heavy conscience doing the most ridiculous form of community service ever handed down by the courts: fly to Tiryns, subject yourself to the local ruler, and perform 10 acts of service to be dictated by said ruler.
Guess that's what you get when your step-mom's the judge and they can't pin you for murder.
She had already gained a reputation as a rather successful exterminator. Her ship, the Iolian, was outfitted with, shall we say, non-traditional tech. While most ships had advanced to laser weaponry, energy shields, and massive explosives, Kelis preferred to just...punch things. With her ship. Every inch of the Iolian was constructed of an impenetrable metal usually only given to the Olympus Core, which her dear step-mother had gifted her, very much on accident. The legalese was airtight though, meaning no matter how hard they tried to take him away from her, they'd never be able to.
The Iolian looked as monstrous these days as some of the beasts they had already sent her after. Call it what you like, but Kelis liked to take trophies of her kills. The skull and shimmering cloak of the Nemoan stretched out over the top of the hull, adding an unnecessary layer of armor against energy weapons. Mostly she just kept it for the shimmer. It looked cool. And that skull! Raaaaaah! Very effective.
There was an FTL jammer grafted near the bridge, gifted from a notorious pirate ship, The Hind, for the orchestration of a very convincing and daring escape. A sonic emitter meant to pierce the densest nebula and one projectile cannon filled with needles meant to pierce even the thickest armor told of her battle with an army of bird-like drones that had fled in their defeat to some other hopefully uninhabited galaxy. A series of graspers and an extendable energy net usually only found on industrial asteroid harvesters covered the bottom of the ship and allowed for the classic "punch and squeeze" maneuver that had rendered many an enemy completely useless as very few could do anything about a sudden increase in hull pressure equivalent to being in the middle of a thousand suns.
In any event, one troublesome creature on the edge of the edge of a boundary system...wouldn't be an issue. Besides, reports were that this thing liked to ram ships. Kelis figured they might even get along. Shared interests and all that.
Booting up her systems, Kelis started to hear the comm chatter she loved so much to hear. Not too many out there, but enough to maybe get a lead on where this thing was hiding.
"Kelly Nine Three hollerin at the black, holler back."
The comms go dead.
No one replies. Not even a hint of chatter bounces back.
Not good.
Suddenly, the all too easy to recognize stick-up-the-butt voice of a government official rings through.
"Kelly Nine Three this is Cteres Command. Please hold."
"Kelly in. Holding."
...
...
Kelis takes a deep breath, exhales loudly, and starts to poke her own head at the place where she can already feel the headache beginning.
"Kelly Nine Three please confirm your business and destination."
"Kelly in. I'm on task from Tiryn to deal with your beastie issue. The one ramming things? Just point me at it and I'll be on my way with its corpse in tow."
...
"Kelly Nine Three..." the voice has completely lost its traditional even keel, "...are you sure about that?"
"Kelly in, yeah, sure, why? I thought this thing was just a minor inconvenience?"
"Kelly Nine Three, pushing you an update. Watch your comms."
Reports start pouring in of a...beast. Like, a BEAST. Like, big as a small moon, wrecking entire cities BEAST. With HORNS (cool). Had this thing grown? What the hell happened on the ride over?
"Kelly in. Yep, that's the one. Point me at it." Trying to maintain her cool, and failing to hide her excitement.
"Uh....sure. We'll prep the notice of your death for Tiryns. Coordinates incoming."
Live feeds have it sleeping on a planet. The shift in gravity has caused the entire populace to flee. The tidal waves from the liquid methane ocean appear to be lapping at its...feet? And it seems to be quite relaxing.
Perfect time to sneak up on it. It has no idea what it's in for.
Time for the biggest punch and squeeze ever attempted.
Kelis cracks open the engines, and roars towards her target.
