Title of Marque
19 Feb 2024Vodan
Two missiles flew from Sho’s FDL, but the target cut them down before they got close. Jamming his thumb repeatedly on the launch button, he let the rest of the hard-points launch their payload. One missile from his salvo got by the Cutters defence.“Great, you’re awesome. Stay on the Cutter Sho, keep hitting it with Jump Disrupters till the guys have disabled the escort. We got this”
Her voice sounded younger than his own little sister, and she sounded like she was directing a stage show from the Destinies Jester carrier, not a battel. But she was the captain now, and Sho wasn’t about to give the first mate a reason to lay down the law on her behalf.
“Ay Captain. Be advised, the target is covered with turrets and countermeasures. If this takes much longer, I’ll need back-up, or I’ll run out of missiles and the slave barge will get away”
“You got your orders, Sho. Your team knows the mission, so believe in them and yourself, ok? Keep that Cutter in system. Hundreds of people are relying on us”
Weaving between the red beams scything space between him and the Cutter, Sho watched the battle between his wing-mates and the enemy escorts. They had been watching these traders for weeks, and this was the perfect opportunity to capture one of their pilots and a nav-computer. Finding out where the Spiders got their slaves would seriously curtail the influx to Zemina Torval space.
“Thats engines down. I’m going to work on his weapons next. What’s taking you, Domino?”
That was Rhino. He’d pit his Python against a Vulture and had come out on top already.
“Just lining it up“ answered Domino before a bright flash indicated she was happy with her shot.
She was only flying a Courier, be she was a dead-eye with the Railguns. Shame it took her so long to knock down shields.
“The target is preparing to jump” warned Sho’s Covas
“Ah shit!” He’d got tied up listening to his team and forgot to watch the disruption timer. “Oh no you don’t scumbag, you’re staying here”
This time he didn’t bother conserving ammo; instead he staggered firing each pod. The only chance he had of a shot getting past the Cutters turrets, was volume of projectiles. It worked. Two explosions on the Cutters hull let him know it wasn’t going anywhere.
“Rhino, get on that Diamondback, its getting out of jammer range” Warned Domino
The ship had been bothering Rhino while he shut down the Vulture, but in the confusion it had broken off and made a run for it.
“Shit, I swear it was on my ass like, five seconds ago”
Sho watched the Python turn. It seemed ponderous compared to the Diamondback. The fleeing ship's engines brightened as the pilot triggered the boosters again, putting even more distance between himself and Rhino. The Python spat green plasma that slowly caught up to the fleeing target, but at that range, nothing made contact.
“Fuck, it’s too far Dom, I can’t catch it . It’s going to get away and call for back-up” Called Rhino.
“Like hell it is” interrupted the captain’s young voice. “Domino, get on it. Rhino, take over keeping Dom’s target out the fight. OK, let’s do this!”
“Ay captain”
“Ay captain”
Sho launched another salvo as he reeled from second hand embarrassment. The old captain would be spinning in his grave if he was listening to coms. His daughter or not, the pirates of Destinies Jester had a grand legacy spanning back four generations. The latest Jade was .. .. not what the crew excepted.
Dominos Courier went past at break-neck speed, and another bright flash let everyone know Domino had fired her Railguns. They fired again, risking serious overheat on the small ship, and Sho’s scope showed a heat sink leaving the Courier. It was risky, but they had to keep that Diamondback in jamming range, and stop it from jumping.
“That’s another one stopped and disarmed. How you doing Dom?” asked Rhino after finishing off the hard-points of the ship Domino had to leave behind.
“It’s going nowhere. Take out the coms on you target, then start on the slave barge. I’ll be with you real soon” said Domino with well-earned confidence.
“I knew you guys could do it. OK, stay focused, it’s almost done” said Captain Red Jade, her voice packed with positive affirmation and youthful enthusiasm. “Capture team stand by. Looks like you’ll be good to go soon”
“Ay captain, we’re on the beacon ready to drop. Nothing in the black and still on schedule. Awaiting the all clear”
That was Manta, commander of the boarding team. He was going on board the Cutter once it was disabled to make sure the slaves were safely rescued. The captain hadn’t wanted to risk hatch breaker, and collector limpets on the slaves, so Manta had to do it the hard way. It didn’t matter to him, he liked doing it the hard way.
Plasma hitting the Cutter ahead of Sho put his attention back on his target. Rhinos Python was behind him, and each shot made his cockpit glow green as it passed close over the canopy.
“Fuck sake Rhino. Adjust your attack angel; I can feel the damn heat off your shots”
“Just keep landing those disruptors. I’ll have the engines down before you get too hot under the collar”
Not long after Rhino had done most the work on the Cutter's engines, rail shots finished what was left.
“Ok boys, just the weapons and communi.. Oh”
Escape pods left the Cutter, and the turrets on the large ship's hull went quiet, interrupting Dominoes flow.
“Well that makes it easy” said Rhino “You take the weapons, I’ll go to work on the communications array. Sho, you get those pods. Can’t risk their beacons being detected by Zemina patrols”
“Yep, I’m on it. Captain, it should be safe to send in the capture crew. We’ll be done in a few minutes” said Sho
“I knew you guys were the right team for the job. Well done everyone, thank you for your hard work” Said captain Red Jade with white-star like brightness. “Capture team, wait for the all clear from the strike team, and save those slaves”
“Ay captain” answered Manta’s deep, gruff voice.
After flying around gathering escape pods, Sho went on patrol as the capture team forced the escort crew to eject, and cleared out the Cutter. In less than forty-five minutes, all the slavers had been captured, securely locked in their own escape pods, and the nav-computers were salvaged for the Cutter and Diamondback.
As soon as the last slave pod was loaded on to one of the Destinies Jesters Type 10 cargo ships, everyone made a few random jumps before taking an indirect rout back to Destinies Jester, warmed by a job well done.
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In the cargo hold of the type 10, a hair thin wire wormed its way up from a slave-pod. Bending like a snake about to strike, it peered around the dark room, unerringly pausing in its observations on each camera that had a lens on its mother-pod. It sunk back into the gap between a button and the keypads case, and then the pod quietly and slowly hissed as the pressure equalized.
The pods hood opened and a slender gloved hand raised a gun from inside that shot an invisible beam at the two cameras that had a view of the pod. Wasting no time, Belladonna pushed herself out of the pod and let her long black boots magnetically grip the deck. She activated her night vision goggles and looked for an internal communications panel.
Taking care to look for cameras, she crossed the small distance in the dark, and pushed an e-breach into the interface. The seconds felt like minutes as the E-breach did its work. She had to concentrate on her breathing to keep her heart beat down, and her hands steady as she linked the Type 10s communications to her pod's stealthy transponder.
As the connection wheel turned on the little display screen, the cargo bay’s light came on. She could hear doors opening across the bay, and the sound of hands gripping cargo racks soon followed. Someone was pulling themselves towards the malfunctioning cameras. Belladonna’s long fingers hovered over the e-breach, and then pinching it, she took it from the interface as soon as the display read “Connected’
She closed the hood of her pod as the investigator came around racks. Gripping the inner handle, she waited with bated breath for it to be forced open, and a gun to be pushed into her face. Instead, through the opaque frosted glass, Bell watched an indistinct, vaguely man shaped blob fiddle with the camera.
Slowly and quietly, Bell blew out the breath she had been holding. It was a bold plan, but it looked like it was going to work.