The third attack craft, currently on the other side of the two remaining freighters, immediately turns away from them and accelerates to what Wil assumes is its maximum sub-light speed.
“Hail the freighters.” He is looking at the tactical plot on a sub monitor of his station, watching the remaining pirate flee. The channel opens with a crackle.
“Thank you! Thank you so much—we thought you wouldn’t make it in time.”
“Are your ships intact?” The third freighter that had no longer been showing on the long-range scans is in fact just heavily damaged and adrift, no power readings. There’s a large hole in it’s side, likely where the reactor used to be. The crew is lucky the reactor scrammed versus exploded, Wil thinks. The other two freighters are in slightly better shape.
“We are, yes. The Lothal is on back up power, but her crew is alive. We can transfer them and their cargo to our ships. The Tarkin can be repaired on site.”
Wil nods to himself and brings the Ghost around and under the freighters, on a course to pursue the last pirate. “Good, we’ll be back. We’ve got one left to engage.”
Over the speaker, the voice is clearly smiling. “Good. Destroy them. Those krebnacks deserve no less.” The channel closes.
Wil smiles. “I like that guy. Zee you still have eyes on that ship? Bennie, see if you can keep tabs on his comms.”
“I’ll try, he picked up a good lead,” Zephyr replies from her station.
“Just don’t lose him, they must have a mothership or base somewhere nearby. I don’t think that little cutter can go FTL.”
Max looks up from his station. “Confirmed. I was able to scan the other two before I destroyed them. They were not FTL-capable vessels, nor is the remaining ship.”
Wil pushes the sub-light throttle all the way forward. “Let’s go hunting, then.”
Only a few minutes later, the sensors pick up several asteroids—presumably part of this system’s asteroid belt, which Wil knows is nearby. He slides the throttle back, letting the small ship leave them behind.
“Keep an eye on them, let’s wait until they get to their base. Maxim, Zee, go get dressed.”
As both ex-Peacekeepers stand up and leave the bridge, heading for the small armory that sits behind the bridge between the port and starboard airlocks, Wil brings the Ghost about and accelerates away from the pirates. “Bennie, engage full stealth systems. Let’s let them think we’re heading back to protect those freighters.”
The Ghost is now for all intents and purposes invisible. Not cloaked—that technology on the scale of a starship is still next to impossible—but the pirates most definitely can’t see them.
“They’re slowing down,” Bennie reports. He has added Zephyr’s station’s capabilities to his, so as to monitor the long-range scanners. The main screen zooms in on a particularly lumpy-looking asteroid, roughly a kilometer wide and two long. There are a few habitat modules and other pieces of equipment visible on its surface, as well as a large bay door leading down inside the asteroid. The small attack craft has vanished down that rabbit hole. There are also several visible weapons emplacements on the surface, to protect the bay doors. “It looks like they don’t close that bay door all the time,” Bennie says. “So as long as their guns don’t pick us up and shred us, we can fly right down their throat.”
Wil shudders. “Dude, that’s a really weird and off-putting mixed metaphor.” He slides the throttle forward a bit, to the max speed that the stealth system can keep them hidden, and brings the Ghost back around on her original heading.
“What? I’m trying to work in more humanisms.” The small being shrugs.
“That’s not… never mind.” Wil turns back to face the screen. It takes a lengthy temple rubbing to remove, humanisms from his mind, until finally he reduces the Ghosts speed sliding past the sentry gun emplacements and into the entrance to the launch bay that has been carved into the asteroid.
“Bennie, find me an airlock or something.” Wil stands up. “Gabe—to the bridge.” The computer picks up that this was directed at Gabe, and routes the request to engineering.
Less than two minutes later, Gabe enters. “Take the controls,” Wil says, “and dock us where Bennie says. I’m going to change. You’re in command.”
“Why is he in charge?” Bennie groans, as Wil heads off the bridge to join Zephyr and Maxim.
“Because he has never accidentally crashed the ship into anything.”
“That was one time,” Bennie says, almost under his breath. Gabe turns to look at Bennie, then takes his seat.
In the armory between the port and starboard airlocks, Wil sheds his basic flight suit for a more form-fitting armored suit. He looks at himself in the mirror Maybe more sparring with Max and Zee, he thinks, putting a hand on his stomach. Or less grum. Overall not bad for thirty-six though. He turns once to look himself over, then notices Zephyr watching him. Blushing, he adds armor plates to the hard points on his torso and limbs. Once connected, each piece signals the suit computer that they’re active. Then he grabs the long brown coat that he had specially made a few years ago—it hangs just like a trench coat, but can absorb several direct hits from energy weapons and will even stiffen on contact with projectiles. Once done with that, Wil grabs two blasters and adds them to hip holsters built into his armor, and then grabs two armored gauntlets. One has a space where his wrist comms integrates into the material. Turning his palms over, small circles on each begin to glow.
Over the intercom, Gabe announces, “We are in position. We have attached to a service airlock. It’s on our port side. Bennie is attempting to hack the computer so that they do not see our connection. The docking tube is extended.”
Wil finishes attaching a few last shield emitters and other pieces of equipment to his armor and trench coat, then activates the helmet that retracts into his armor when not in use. His armor isn’t as advanced or as powerful as the Peacekeeper combat armor Zephyr and Maxim wear, even outdated as those suits are, but it’s served him well so far, and the lighter, modular design allows him to upgrade and replace pieces as needed. It’s the same armor he wore, always under his long brown duster, when he rescued his two friends from the Partherians after they had been set up by the Peacekeepers and captured, all that time ago.