103: Benighted and Bedevilled – Four
Threadbare as the station was, its docking bay also doubled as a meeting point for those wishing to conduct their business. A row of private rooms along one side of the space were where this sort of activity could be conducted, and it was into one of these rooms that Kaizoku and Augury stepped after bidding farewell to the rest of the crew.
As bare and brightly lit as almost everything else on the station, the room had a banged up, bargain basement table and a collection of battered conference room chairs. Several of the walls had hastily scrubbed scorch marks, distinctive of blaster fire, while the flooring had faded, multicoloured stains that could have only been left behind by pools of blood.
As Bathory had said, a charming place.
"Queen Kaizoku of the Pelekys, I presume?"
The greeting came from a human woman, seated at the head of the table like she was about to conduct a business meeting, an appearance that was only accentuated by the blazer and tie she wore over her spacesuit. Though her eyes were as dark as Bathory's, her skin was much lighter, her hair vibrantly, unnaturally orange and cut in a severe bob.
To her left stood a rosy-pink skinned deupazing, her hair not quite as vibrantly orange as her companion's, with horns jutting out from her forehead and swooping back dramatically over her skull, heterochromatic with one eye of red and the other of green. She wore a sleeveless jacket over her own spacesuit, hands resting casually on the two sidearms holstered at her hips.
"And you must be Captain Naginata of the Salsica." Kaizoku said in return.
Captain Naginata nodded, motioning to her companion as she introduced, "Officer Katar."
"Madame Augury," Kaizoku said with a wave at her own crew member, "Captain Sharp said you were in dire need of assistance."
"To put it mildly," Naginata huffed, rising from her seat, "She spoke of you highly, but I'm desperate enough to take anyone's help at this point. The bulk of my crew has been captured."
Frowning, Kaizoku asked, "And how did that unfortunate event come to pass?"
Letting out a dark laugh, Katar said, "We're mainly smugglers, and we had one humdinger of a job come through - transporting weapons to Meleten space. The Thalatte have been making a real concerted effort to take over their territory as of late, so the Empire's willing to pay top dollar for any and all aid. It shoulda been an easy mission, just grab the crates and go, but a Thalatte ship dropped outta subspace right on top of the pickup point and snatched up everyone there. The only reason the Captain and me didn't get taken along with the others was because we were in the ship dealing with the paperwork with our contact, and the stealth on our ship's pretty skookum."
"If the Thalatte grabbed them, then it's most likely that they'll be transported to one of their processing hubs in order to be… conscripted into service." Kaizoku said, a dark hate colouring her voice.
"That's why we need to act fast," Naginata said, pulling a data pad from her blazer and sliding it down the table to Kaizoku, "All of my crew are outfitted with trackers - a safety measure in our line of work - and we're still getting pings from them along the edges of Meleten space."
Augury picked up the data pad, and after a quick scan of the information on it, she said, "My guess is the Thalatte are filling their hold before they return to a processing hub."
"Then as Naginata said, we haven't much time," Kaizoku said as she leaned over to get a look at the information on display, "From what I know of Thalatte ships, that one should have a sizeable hold, but at the rate this ship is going, they'll have it filled soon enough."
Nodding, Naginata said, "We've extrapolated their coordinates, so we know where they're going to be heading, but we don't have the firepower to take them down on our own. That will be where you and yours would come in."
"We just want our crew back, so we're happy to leave that vessel to you to take as a prize." Katar added.
"We are amenable to those terms," Kaizoku said as Augury slid the data pad back, "The rest of my crew is arranging supplies, so we should be fit to leave within the hour."
"Good, we should be done around the same time," Naginata said with a sigh of relief, "This isn't exactly they type of place I'd normally stop at, but it was the closest to-"
A distant, low roar sounded unexpectedly then, setting the four of them on edge in an instant.
"Was that an explosion?" Katar said, eyes darting as one of her hands gripped the butt of one of her guns.
Over Kaizoku's face-mounted device, the Hand's voice called, "Just a heads up, we had a Thalatte agent tailing us, and when we confronted them, they bit down on their kill switch."
Sharing a pointed look with Naginata, Kaizoku said, "I had a feeling that explosion was connected to you somehow. Are you both alright?"
"A bit singed, and on an inadvertent space walk. I'm going to assume the station's going to go on lockdown, so we'll need the other personnel ramp opened, if you'd be so kind." Bathory replied, after which the Program responded, "I await your return."
"We acquired what we needed from our contact, so we'll be heading back to the ship. Grim, how fare you and the Knight?" Kaizoku asked.
When several seconds passed and she got nothing in return, she repeated, "Grim? Knight? Respond."
Naginata motioned that they should leave, when the Knight's voice came over the comms, "We had an encounter with a Thalatte agent. They're dead now."
Some of the tension bled out of the room, but not the alertness as Kaizoku replied, "Bathory and the Hand had a run in with one of their own. I believe it's time for us to depart. Head back to the ship when you are able, but call if you require assistance."
"We'll dispose of the body and be on our way." Grim said before the line went dead.
Letting out a disbelieving little laugh, Naginata said, "Well that's an interesting turn of events. Guess the Thalatte were as on to us as we were to them."
"That bodes ill for the state of our mission. We should make all haste." Kaizoku agreed, and the four of them went for the exit.
Only the door was blown open before they could get there, blaster fire raining into the room.
The four of them quickly dove behind the table, bringing it down to act as a shield in front of them, and a moment later they all leaned out of cover enough to return fire. The table they were using for defence shuddered under the attacks it was protecting them against, but it held firm. From the scorch marks on its bottom, this wasn't the first time it had been used like this.
And it probably wouldn't be the last.
"They're coming in pretty hot, so we're going to have to exit the same way." Naginata called out over the chaos as she ducked down to avoid the shots whizzing by overhead.
Kaizoku's mechanical eye rotated in its socket as she stared through the table for a few seconds, after which she said, "I can clear us an escape path. Be prepared to flee."
Once the others nodded that they were good to go on her signal, Kaizoku briefly touched something on her face-mounted device before she stood, her transformed arm cannon pointed straight at the door.
Her shields visibly flared as she focused all their power on protecting her front, and then again when they came under fire from the half dozen Thalatte agents who were crowding in through the door. But her shields only had to withstand this onslaught for less than a second before a powerful blast tore out of Kaizoku's arm cannon, vaporizing everyone who had been standing in that door.
Her arm cannon reverting back into an appendage and falling limp to her side, Kaizoku grimaced as she barked, "Make haste. I won't be able to do that again for some time."
The others didn't need to be told twice, Katar and Augury rushing up to the door to take point, Kaizoku drawing a sidearm from her coat as she followed up behind them, with Naginata bringing up the rear.
Outside, the docking bay was organized chaos. The staff, once sleepwalking through their shift, were ordering travellers back to their ships, and residents to head back to their homes. A team of damage control personnel were already rushing towards the meeting room where the four of them had their unexpected fire fight.
"Are any of you injured?" One of them, a deep green deupazing called out as they neared.
"We're all good." Naginata replied, a charming smile lighting up her face as she stepped up to the advancing squad, drawing attention away from how Kaizoku's arm was dangling at her side.
Giving Naginata a sharp nod, the deupazing motioned towards where the ship access to the docking bay was, saying, "Then you'd better all return to your ships. We're locking down the bay to make sure there's no structural damage."
"We will, thank you so much for all your hard work here!" Naginata was sugary sweet as she ushered the others away, and the green deupazing looked away, a flustered smile on their face.
"Smooth." Augury whispered as they went, and Naginata huffed out a laugh at that.
"Saves us being interrogated, especially with our clock ticking." She said, pointing off in the direction her ship was docked, "Hopefully there's no more surprises. I'm going to do a quick scan of my ship, then I'll send you the coordinates of where that Thalatte vessel should be hitting next."
"A wise precaution," Kaizoku said with a nod, "We'll radio when we're on our way."
They split up after that, rushing to their respective ships, all of them alert for any other unexpected guests.
"Program, we just had an encounter with the Thalatte ourselves. Scan the ship to make sure there are no other surprises in store for us." Kaizoku said over the comms.
"The Hand is already on it," was the Program's immediate response, "I've tapped into the station's security feed. I'm not getting readings on any thalatte in the docking bay. Your cannon seems to have taken care of all who were present here."
"Then we should make haste in the event there are others on the station." Augury said, "My visions shared nothing of their presence."
"Given that the Thalatte have nothing to do with our mission, that's not unexpected." Kaizoku said as the personnel ramp of the Pelekys swung down before them.
Grim and the Knight made it back to the ship minutes later, and so did all the assorted supplies they'd ordered. After sparing only enough time to scan them for anything untoward, the Pelekys pulled away from the station, slipping into subspace the moment they were clear.
"Well, this thing should be back to a full charge by the time we reach our destination," Bathory said as she scanned Kaizoku's arm with her face-mounted device, "I can't imagine this is very comfortable for you."
"It's more akin to numbness than pain, and I've certainly been subjected to worse." Kaizoku told her as Bathory gently lowered her arm to settle it against the armrest of her throne, though her voice was tight with strain, "But on to more important matters - we've a rescue to stage."
On the main view screen, the schematics for a Thalatte ship popped into view. As blocky and sharp edged as most Thalatte ships were, this one had an especially boxy main body.
"Captain Naginata of the Salsica is tracking this ship, as it's made off with the majority of her crew," Kaizoku explained to the others, all of them gathered in the bridge, "It's a Thalatte raiding vessel, specially designed to store prisoners. Conscripts from other races are what make up the bulk of the Thalatte navy's combat force, and thanks to their constant push to expand their territory, they're always on the hunt for new recruits. The crew of the Salsica happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, and thus they were taken."
"So that's not something we're going to be able to attack head on, otherwise we risk killing the people we're here to save." Was the Hand's assessment as she sat at one of the gunner stations, arms crossed as she took in the layout of the ship, "See the way they've built it? They've got the engines cuddled up nice and close to where the prisoners are going to be kept, so unless we're surgeon precise, any attempt to disable their engines is just going to blow back into the hold. Weapons and shield generators too. It'll be a mess if we do this ship to ship."
"Which is why we will be using the Storlayacas." Kaizoku told them.
Bathory made an impressed noise in the back of her throat. "They'll definitely be more surgical than a drive by. The crew and the prisoners are kept separate on these types of ships, see that part where it slightly narrows in the middle? That's the only access point between the two sections directly. That whole prison block is meant to be dropped out of the ship, so this vessel is basically built like a doughnut. If we can either make them, or force them to drop that prison block, we won't have to worry about disabling the Thalatte ship."
"With my upgrades, I should be able to force my way through whatever security measures they have on their systems and bend them to my will." The Program said, a hint of malice returning to its voice.
"I had hoped as much," Kaizoku said, rising from her throne, "That ship is yet hours away, so we would do well to prepare ourselves for the fight ahead. With so many lives in the balance, we can consider this a practice run for our inevitable showdown with the Omega, and how we will fare knowing how much is at stake."
Completely monotone, Bathory stated, "Oh that thought's going to make having a nap very easy, thank you so much."
Kaizoku couldn't help the chuckle that escaped her at that.
Within the main server room aboard the Pelekys, normally a dimly lit space, it now had lights and beeps going off in a way that was very obviously not good. The Program's avatar was flashing from screen to screen, a frustrated noise ricocheting throughout the room as it went.
It didn't stop when the door to the server room slid open, the Knight immediately coming to attention when she saw the state of the interior.
"I don't have time for your games," the Program barked before the Knight could do anything, "The Thalatte managed to slip a virus through the station's docking protocols. Either help me or leave."
The Knight paused for a moment, staring intently as the avatar bounced throughout the devices in the room, before she said, "What do you need?"
For several tense minutes, the Program ordered the Knight around the room, plugging in cables here, switching out motherboards there, until finally the frantic strobing and shrilling died away, and the Program's avatar settled onto the centre console within the room.
"I appreciate your assistance," it said tersely after a moment, "You saved me at least a half hour."
Frowning slightly, the Knight asked, "Why didn't you call for help?"
The way the Program's avatar flickered, it almost gave the impression that, if it had them, it would have rolled its eyes. "Because it looked a lot worse than it actually was. As I said, I would have manage it, but not as quickly. I can't swap out hardware on my own, after all. The virus itself was designed to shut down our systems, throw us out of subspace and broadcast our location on every frequency we have access to, but I isolated it before it could affect anything on the ship. Killing it was an awkward process that ate up my time. I didn't want to disturb the others while they were resting before the rescue."
"Thoughtful." The Knight accused.
"Practical." The Program countered, "With the looming threat of the Omega, I can't afford to lose any of you to something as insignificant as some would-be conquerors."
Her expression unreadable, the Knight let out a whisper of a laugh before saying, "Good to know."
And with that, she turned around and left.
In the restored quiet of the server room, the Program scoffed. "She'd best not complain if she finds herself tired before the rescue."
Bathory was lying in her bed, the Hand sprawled on top of her, the both of them heaving for breath in a way that made it quite clear that they hadn't been getting any rest either.
Reaching backwards behind herself, the Hand tugged up the blanket that had pooled around her waist, nuzzling her face into Bathory's neck while the woman below her carded a hand through her mane.
"How much longer do we have until we arrive?" Bathory asked, though when the Hand snickered against her she clarified, "To the rendezvous point."
Turning slightly as she reached out to grab the data pad on the nightstand, the Hand checked it before saying, "Just a bit over four hours, so if you actually do want a nap, now's the time."
Bathory made a noncommittal noise as the Hand tucked herself back against her, jaw tensing as she continued to run her hand through the Hand's mane.
After a moment, quiet and fragile, Bathory said, "I love you."
The Hand went still at that, before she pushed herself up enough to look Bathory in the eye as she demanded, "Say that again."
A wry grin escaping with a breath of a laugh, Bathory repeated, "I love you."
The Hand's answering smile was a slow and steady thing as she replied, "I love you too."
"Oh yeah?" Bathory challenged, her eyes growing dark as she regarded her lover, "Show me."