The Second Book of the Alienbutt Saga. The Rise of Mr Fluffy. Part 49.

Alienbutt shrugged and reached over to grab his boots from behind his seat where he had thrown them. The red boots were now looking very battered, and were missing more buckles than they had left. Looking around he saw an equally battered black kilt. Placing the boots on the empty co-pilot’s chair he walked back and grabbed the kilt. In the weeks since he had left Stoney, he had taken to sitting around in the shuttle’s cabin in just his pants and vest. Quickly he inserted his butt plugs and then put the kilt on. Returning to his chair he pulled on the boots. The ship’s autopilot was following the course towards the space station. Finally he fastened his belt and placed his two handguns into the holsters. Fully dressed, he sat back down in the pilot’s chair and took over control of the ship.

Crugack was the head of the station’s small security force. His life was easy, as the station never usually had more than two or three trading vessels in at a time. His three-man team spent most of the time sitting around, but when Glarfel had picked up an unknown ship heading towards the station it caused a rush of activity in their office. Glarfel had been so excited that the ship was from an Imperial Navy but had managed to remain professional-sounding as she informed the ship of where to land. Crugack had been ordered to meet their visitor with a security detail. He would have a chance to show off his team to this obvious military officer, and maybe he would be the answer to their prayers.
When he was younger he had dreamed of joining the military, but there was little call for soldiers unless he wanted to travel to the far systems and enlist in their endless wars, and that just sounded far too dangerous.
He stood in the hangar as the disappointingly small craft flew through the atmosphere shield and slowly moved to the bay indicated by the green flashing lights on the floor. Crugack inspected the craft. It had obvious weaponry attached, with a forward gun turret and what looked like some sort of torpedo tubes below. The ship hovered over the bay and landing gear unfurled as it touched down.

Advancing with his three-man team, he was in position and waiting when the door to the craft opened and steps slid down. Puffing out his chest and pulling his shoulders back, he assumed his often practised military pose, throwing a quick look to his left and indicating with a nod of his head that the others should follow his lead. Their response was half-hearted and only achieved making them look slightly less slouched and crumpled. His was a race that had no history of military might and everything they knew of it had been learnt from visiting off world traders. Looking back to the ship he saw their visitor begin to walk down the steps and his chest deflated as he was unable to avoid the disappointed reaction to what he saw.
As first impressions went, Alienbutt had just failed on all but one level. From the battered red boots, the strange strips of leather that made up his skirt, to the food-stained vest, he failed to impress. The belt with the two holstered handguns was the only thing that made this person look like he was a soldier. Finally getting past the strange outfit, Crugack took note of the metallic arm and the skeletal metal hand. Just maybe, he thought, this was a soldier.
As the newcomer reached the bottom of the stairs, Crugack stepped forward and saluted. “Welcome to Kalphella Station. Commander Alienbutt, is it?” Crugack said, wanting to ensure he was talking to the right person. He still did not want to think this strange large-arsed stranger could be a commander in an imperial navy.
Alienbutt grinned. “Nice to have a friendly welcome.”
He looked at the waiting security team. They were human-looking but had large barrel chests and long oval hairless heads. None of them carried a visible weapon but all wore a matching red uniform.
“So are you the station security team that was to meet me?” he asked.
“I am Chief Crugack, head of the station security, and this is my team,” Crugack said with a slight edge to his voice.
Alienbutt looked past the chief at the rest of the team that were all looking at him, apart from the short one on the end, who seemed to have his eyes focused on the end of his nose.

To be continued.
All images are mine.