Episode 126, Apprentice
14 Nov 2024Ryuko Ntsikana
Aucharnie Orbital Station
HIP 90621 System
_____________________________
The Cutter proved more useful than Ryuko had expected. After topping up the carrier’s bunker with Tritium ore, he flew it over to the next system, where Captain Akio had put Meredith and Ceri to work restocking the carrier’s food stores. With his new ship, Ryuko could complete one run in the time it took them to manage nearly four.
Meredith, Ashlyn, and Ceri met Ryuko and Tara in the Commander’s lounge. Through the reinforced glass, they could see the soft blue glow of the orbital station’s entry bay, contrasted against the flaring thrusters of ships entering and departing. Monitors lined the walls, tracking the status of the docked ships.
“I’ve seen drunken pirates move with better coordination,” Ryuko commented, nodding at the monitor showing automated loaders struggling to fill his Cutter’s cavernous 728-ton cargo hold.
Ashlyn tilted her head thoughtfully, in a way that reminded him of both Tara and Aby. “Are you still a pirate?”
Ryuko’s eyebrows raised. It was a question he’d been asking himself.
“Ashlyn!” Meredith chided. “Apologize—that’s not polite.”
Ryuko waved off the remark, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. “It’s alright. She didn’t say anything I haven’t thought myself.”
Tara’s gaze softened as she looked at Ashlyn, mirroring the young girl’s head tilt. “A pirate isn’t always one who only takes. To be successful, you have to give more than you take.”
Ryuko glanced at Ceri, who was staring out past the glass as though seeing something far beyond the station. She carried her own history, and her own burdens, and those things took time to heal. He didn’t need to ask her what was wrong. Turning his attention back to Ashlyn, his smirk turned into a grin.
“You know,” he said, his grin widening, “I have an idea, and it might answer both of our questions. You’re used to working on a single ship. With your dad’s permission, how’d you like to see what it takes to run a capital ship?”
Ashlyn’s eyes lit up, glancing at her father. Meredith sighed, the look on his face caught somewhere between pride and reluctance. “I suppose you could learn a thing or two from this crew. It’s not all rations and passenger runs,” he added with a touch of irony, his gaze shifting to Ryuko. “But I expect you to keep her out of trouble.”
“Trouble? It’s just numbers, reports, and admin duties,” Ryuko replied with mock innocence. “Nothing a clever kid like her can’t handle.”
Tara leaned forward, meeting Ashlyn’s gaze with a steady look. “It’s more than commands and status monitors. It’s knowing what every number means and why it matters. The work itself is calm, but…” her voice softened, “the decisions can change the lives of everyone on board.”
Ashlyn looked from her father to Tara and then to Ryuko, a determined expression settling on her face. “I think I’d like to try,” she said quietly. Then, glancing at her father once more, she added, “I won’t get in the way. Promise.”
Meredith chuckled, ruffling her hair. “Guess you’ve already figured out a lot more than most. Just remember what I taught you.”
“I will,” Ashlyn said with a nod, her resolve clear.
Ryuko leaned back, folding his arms with a satisfied smile. “Welcome to the crew, Ashlyn. Let’s see if we can help you decide what kind of ‘pirate’ you want to be.”
Imperial Cutter
HIP 90621 System
_____________________________
The return trip to the carrier passed uneventfully for Meredith and his crew, but Ryuko’s heavily laden Cutter drew the attention of a few of the station’s more dubious locals as it exited the agricultural hub. A transmission raced ahead of the Cutter before it initiated its jump, reaching a recipient waiting in normal space a couple of light seconds from the station. In response, their systems activated, and they began their approach.
“We’ve got company,” Tara announced as a blip appeared on the scanner behind them, the large Cutter accelerating to luminary velocities.
“A lone wolf,” Ryuko replied, glancing down at his display with a smirk. Opting to avoid the hassle of an interdiction tether, he eased back on the throttle, slowing the Cutter to normal space speed. “Time to test our engineering. Dropping out of supercruise. Weapons and shields fully charged.”
As they decelerated, Tara transmitted the situation to their carrier, stationed in orbit on the moon’s far side.
Stars settled into fixed points as the ship dropped to normal space, Ryuko pulling the thrusters into full reverse as the Cutter’s weapon ports opened with a hum.
Tara shook her head, half-amused. “After millennia of evolution, you’d think the dumb ones would be weeded out. But here we are.”
Ryuko shrugged. “They figure a fat whale’s easy prey. There was an ancient captain named Ahab who thought the same.”
A Fer-de-Lance heavy combat ship appeared directly in front of them, and Ryuko engaged the Cutter’s kill-warrant scanner.
“Almost a million-credit bounty on this one,” Tara noted, her vision zooming in on the combat ship as it turned, weapons ports open and primed.
Ryuko centered the target in his heads-up display, finger resting on the trigger. Even with confirmation that the ship was wanted, he had to wait. The moment they fired first, the ship’s automated distress system would trigger, summoning system security.
The Fer-de-Lance struck first: a large plasma bolt slammed into their frontal shields, making them ripple as pulses of laser fire and multi-cannon rounds followed.
“Shields holding,” Tara reported as Ryuko returned fire, twin plasma bolts slamming back into the Fer-de-Lance with twice the force. Four turreted beam lasers opened up next, carving through their attacker’s shields alongside an overcharged burst laser that added its own scorching barrage.
The Fer-de-Lance boosted hard, trying to escape the Cutter’s nose as Tara watched it flash overhead. “Turrets have it in their sights,” she said as the beams tracked the ship, continuing to chew through its defenses.
Ryuko hummed to himself, turning the heavy vessel to follow, watching the combat ship spin and boost back toward them. “No other ships on scanners?”
“Just this one,” Tara replied as the Cutter shook with another impact, the Fer-de-Lance flashing overhead once more as the turrets poured steady energy into its rapidly weakening shields.
“I see what you mean about the dumb ones,” Ryuko said with a grin, bringing the Cutter around, once more lining up his weapons as the adversary swung in a high-g turn.
This time, the massive burst laser tore into the target’s shield generator while twin plasma balls overloaded the shield entirely.
“Our shields are solid, theirs are down,” Tara confirmed, tracking as the Fer-de-Lance boosted overhead again, its hull now pitted and scorched under fire.
“Let’s shake them up a little,” Ryuko said, toggling his targeting panel to focus on the Fer-de-Lance’s jump drive.
“Four new contacts,” Tara noted, zooming in on distant thrusters that flared as they drew closer. “Looks like the locals have arrived.”
A voice hailed them over the comms, crisp and authoritative. “Imperial Cutter, this is security services. We have your target in sight.”