Chapter 5: Ch 5 Trapped Again
"And that's not all, sir," the officer continued, eyes scanning rapidly over data feeds. "Our long-range detection systems are picking up more than eight ships scattered across this system. They appear to be pirate vessels—at least, that's what their energy signatures suggest..."
He paused. His concern deepened into something closer to confusion.
"But... when did pirates start using tech like this? A gravity well projector? That's military-grade—top-tier stuff."
He didn't finish the thought, but I already knew where it was going.
"That kind of tech," I said quietly, "isn't something pirates should have."
Admiral Ranger turned sharply, his jaw clenched.
"Pirates? With this kind of capability?" he said aloud, almost to himself. Then his gaze locked with mine—steady, serious.
And in that moment, I saw it. He wasn't speaking to me as a respected Archduke of the Empire anymore—not even as a peer. He was looking at me as his superior. In essence, he was relinquishing command, having assessed the situation and made the decision on his own. The command was mine now, whether it had been officially passed or not.
I nodded at him in understanding of his intent and said, my voice lowered slightly:
"This isn't a coincidence, Admiral. A gravity well strong enough to bypass our countermeasures and rip us from hyperspace? And now 'pirates' just happen to be here, in a dead system no one cares about?"
If you're wondering what gravity wells are and how they work—though most of you have probably guessed from the name—let me explain. A gravity well creates an artificial gravitational field in a region of space to forcibly pull ships out of FTL (faster-than-light) travel, essentially yanking them out of hyperspace. Once active, it also prevents ships from re-entering FTL until the well is either destroyed or deactivated.