The Master of Space and Time

"We're losing power across all systems! We can't defend any longer!"

"Shields dropping! Left starboard is taking major hits!"

"Captain, what do we do!?"

Sitting atop the command chair was a woman clad in immaculate military garb reminiscent of a navy admiral's uniform. She had gilded epaulettes decorating her shoulders and an elaborately embroidered cape on her right.

Captain Katakira Hoshiko stood and took a single step forward.

Clack!

The bridge fell silent.

She thrust her arm forward, fingers splayed and palm toward the transparent steel which formed the vessel's windows and the stars beyond.

Whoosh!

Her shoulder cape billowed in the invisible wind.

An explosion rocked the ship, but Katakira Hoshiko remained unmoving.

"All power to the Eirsweit Cannon! Watch this, you shitty invaders! I'll snuff out all the lights in the heavens!"

"All power to the Eirsweit Cannon!" The order echoed throughout the bridge.

"We have ten million enemy vessels approaching from portside, Captain! The cannon won't be able to rotate fast enough!"

Hoshiko grit her teeth. It didn't matter. Now was the time to let it all out.

"Ignore them! We'll drill a hole straight through their formation and charge in at warp speed! Now, fire on my mark!"

The gunners trembled in anticipation for their commander's orders. Even her mere words gave them an incredible rush of dopamine.

"NOW!"

That lone word echoed loudly throughout the entire bridge. Her order wasn't directed to anyone in particular.

It was for the whole of humanity to hear.

At once, the Eirsweit Cannon fired, producing a beam that was brighter than the light of ten billion suns. It pierced straight through the darkness of space and into the enemy fleet, reducing them to nothing but mere atoms.

It was humanity's last hope condensed into a single blast.

And it wasn't enough.

"Fires are starting in sectors A-0 all the way to AF-12!"

"Fires detected in sectors B-6 to Y-54!"

Katakira Hoshiko clenched her fists tightly. She couldn't let humanity's last bastion fall here.

A holographic screen appeared in front of the bridge, depicting a large, sapient refrigerator.

"Greetings, Captain Katakira Hoshiko. I am KitchenCruiser Max, Supreme Commander of the Freezing Fleet. Your vessel has sustained irreparable damage. This is your last chance to surrender and become a part of my harem."

There was no need for words.

Captain Katakira Hoshiko thrust her hand toward the screen and raised one finger in the air.

"...How disappointing. Unleash the Penguins."

The screen disappeared, and Hoshiko's gaze turned to her crew.

"Prepare to fire the warp drive and the Eirsweit Cannon simultaneously."

Her lead engineer's mouth was forced agape at the audacity of her suggestion.

"W-W-What!? B-But that would doom us all! The spatio-temporal juniormentary secondary-universal electrophanamogenetical particles would rend us asunder!"

"Shut the fuck up with your 10 morbillion braincell bullshit. Just because you watched Morbius 20: Revenge of the Sussy Amogus doesn't mean you know shit about how war works."

"T-This isn't about war, ma'am! We—"

"I SAID PREPARE TO FUCKING FIRE IT. THAT'S AN ORDER!"

Captain Katakira Hoshiko's first lieutenant stepped next to her.

"...This is certainly bold."

Hoshiko nodded. "I will go where no human has gone before."

She raised her hand in the air.

"FIRE!"

The world around the spaceship exploded.

"Time and space, come meet your motherfuckin' master."