Dozens of blue and yellow fighter class ships approached the Appalachia from the planet Sortis that had the initials AGI in yellow letters painted on the side.


    Upon seeing this, Rodriguez rushed out of his seat, and into the next room. He climbed up the latter right in the middle of the room, and sat back into a chair. He was sitting inside a glass dome that had controls and triggers for the turret that was located at the top of the ship, and he rotated it around to fire at the incoming fighters.


    “Hendricks, what the exact estimate?” Captain Starforged was strangely calm under the current circumstances, and Rebecca didn’t notice a hint of panic among the rest of the crew.


    Hendricks looked at a screen in the cockpit and counted the number of pings he was receiving from the external sensors. “At least three dozen Captain. We’ll need some time before we can jump, but I should be able to outmaneuver them long enough to survive.”


    “Good, Hendricks. You’ll get a chance to show your worth. Evasive maneuvers.” Captain Starforged said.


    Hendricks responded by giving him the finger. “Up yours Captain.”


    Captain Starforged then pushed a button on the center console of the ship’s controls, and what looked like a record player popped out. “ANDI, hand me record number 47 please.”


    “Very well, sir.” ANDI went to the back of the room by the door, and opened a cabinet that was built into the wall. ANDI pulled out an old record and handed it to Captain Starforged who placed it on the record player.


    As the record started spinning Captain Starforged walked by Rebecca. “We’ll finish this conversation later.”


    Captain Starforged walked out into the center room, causing Rebecca to raise an eyebrow. “What is he doing?”


    Morgan covered her face with her hand and turned away from the captain. “Even I find this embarrassing.”


    Suddenly, Rebecca could hear a song playing over the ship’s intercom system, and Captain Starforged began dancing to Viva Las Vegas by Elvis Presley. Captain Starforged was singing and dancing to the song in the middle of a space battle between the Appalachia and dozens of fighters.


    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    Pew, pew! Lasers were firing off from several directions, yet Captain Starforged didn’t seem to care. “What is he doing?”


    Morgan did even turn her head, but Hendricks responded instead. “Can’t you tell kid; he’s dancing like Elvis Presley.”


    “Like who? Is he supposed to be someone famous?”


    “Oh, come on kid, he’s the King of Rock!” Captain Starforged said in the middle of singing. “Only Hendricks and Rodriguez can do anything, so the rest of us oughta live it up.”


    “Did I walk onto a ship of crackpots without realizing it?”


    Morgan refused to look up at her captain. Watching him do this was embarrassing, but it didn’t surprise her. Captain Starforged was one of those people who always thought he was being funny, even when he wasn’t. “He does this all the time."


    Hendricks continued flying the ship with grace and skill. He expertly avoided enemy fire while still paying attention to what the others were doing. He found himself laughing while seeing Morgan in a rare state of embarrassment. "Yeah, and it''s the only thing that can get a reaction out of the Ice Queen here."


    "If we weren''t so close in age it''d be like watching your dad dance like back when he was in high school. He thinks he''s cool, but everyone just laughing at how ridiculous it is, and then they laugh at you because he’s your dad."


    "You hear that, Morgan says you dance like an old man Cap!" Hendricks words fell on deaf ears. "He''s in his own world right now."


    Morgan continued to cringe. "I''ve been tortured before, but this is much worse than getting your nails pulled out." Morgan groaned and curled up in a ball in her chair.


    While all of this was going on, Rodriguez was manning the turret, and counting the number of ships he destroyed.


    He fired several shots while counting them off. “Seven… eight… nine… How long do we got Hendricks?”


    Hendricks looked at another monitor before replying to Rodruguez. “Probably about 30 second. Just enough time for the Captain to finish his number.”


    Rodriguez laughed at Hendricks joke, and then shouted at Rebecca and Morgan. “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to the Captain’s eccentricities!”


    “I’m regretting sneaking aboard this ship.” Rebecca then slumped down in her chair, wondering if they would even make it out alive.


    Right as the song ended, Captain Starforged rushed back into the cockpit. “Wahoo, I am having the time of my life! Hendricks get us out of here!”


    “Roger that Captain!” Hendricks pushed the lever to activated the warp drive and the Appalachia jumped to the next system.


    Ones they were out of harm’s way, Morgan got up from her seat and breathed a sigh of relief. “Finally, the torment is over.”