C58 Learning it the hard way
Learning it the hard way.
Two weeks later, Weldor System.
“ Better ? “ Anthony uttered at Ina who was leaning against him on the bed.
“ Much better, Master. “ She moaned teasingly in response, leaning closer for a kiss.
Ina had been upset that Anthony had been occupied so much lately, and had kept him in bed this morning. Just so she could cuddle with him for a while. A comfort Anthony only then realized how he had missed it.
Luckily Ina was patient, and she would seize an opportunity when it presented itself. Just like she used to back when it was just those two on the Hope.
Anthony was sitting a lot in his office lately. Programming some new AI, looking over ship designs, or watch that darn transport vessel on it’s second run. And Ina decided today that it was not like he had to spend all his time just watching it. Hope could alert him whenever there was something that needed his attention after all.
“ You know, If I end up being to busy, you can always just say a word. And not go out of your way to tie me down, Vixen. “ Anthony teased. Ina had handcuffed him to the bed earlier, which left him initially unable to escape her longing for affection.
“ No. Ina make sure, Master not escape. Ina need lots of attention. “Ina insisted, having improved quite a bit with her vocabulary in the last few month.
“ Oh ? “ He uttered, reaching down to squeeze her bare rear with his right hand, while his left reached to roam over her stomach.
“ Well, a happy Mother make’s a happy and healthy baby. So, I guess I need to spoil you a little, hm ? “ He uttered as he leaned closer to kiss her, a kiss that was not permitted to last long.
“ Ina, I am sorry, but I need Anthony right now. “ Hope interrupted the two, and Anthony quickly understood that it could only be about the Vulture, and not the transports as he suspected initially.
The new transports were still under construction and would need another day or two. Eden had agreed to help them with the new design. Even borrowed the Wishkeeper to them, which now orbited in Cordan. Building one of the first two new transports, while the second one was being constructed by Hope in Weldor.
“ What’s up Hope ? “ Anthony asked as he leaned back, watching Ina frown as they were being interrupted. Which prompted him then to reach his hand up, to gently stroke her over her right cheek.
“ I got two frigates incoming on the Vulture, followed by a small transport vessel with what looks like boarding pods. “ Hope reported.
“ Boarding pods ? “ Anthony asked, looking with surprise towards a nearby screen being raised.
It was showing the image Hope took via the Pride’s Fall’s telescope, showing a small ship with what looked like vector engines. It was carrying two cargo containers, and they looked like they were heavily reinforced. Each having two expandable legs whom seemed to carry large electro magnets.
“ Are they actually meaning to try a Boarding operation ? “ Anthony asked in disbelieve, and then considered his own words.
Credits, todays money. One credit split into 100 units. And with 100 units, someone could live comfortable for a month on Rendar station. Longer even on some planet as things were cheaper there. But once you started looking at equipment, ships and repairs for them, that is where things started to get expensive.
20 shot of Railgun ammo went for a credit, same for a round of 10 missiles. And light ship repairs could easily reach between 10 to 20 credits. More if you actually needed to repair or replace modules. The vulture had close to 500 credits worth of rare minerals loaded. And the ships themselves would go for quite some money, especially the Pride’s fall.
So, these pirates. It seemed like they wanted the Vulture’s load for money, and with that, pay out the crew, and add another combat frigate to their own ranks. Least, that was what sounded most logical to Anthony right now.
“ It would appear to be the case. The two frigates seem to be heavy Gunship variants, and they will reach the Vulture and Pride’s fall in about an hour. “ Hope responded.
“ So, likely brawlers then ? “ Anthony guessed.
“ Yes. That would seem to be the case. But they both appear to be laser based. I am guessing they want to close in and disable turrets and engines. Likely to move on the Vulture next where they’ll repeat the process. “ Hope analyzed.
“ Effective. But I guess they are using capacitors then to run their armament over a longer duration. Once those run out, they will be down to just a few turrets at most. “ Anthony uttered, understanding that Laser weapons seem to have fallen out of fashion for Terran’s. But the trade of ammo, for higher energy consumption was one some pirates seemed to prefer.
“ Get Kira and her team for the drone shuttle control. We are going to make it look like the crew is abandoning the Pride’s fall. And while she drifts, the Vulture accelerates towards the phase lane entry point. “ Anthony instructed.
“ Surprise attack from behind to disable engines ? “ Hope summarized.
“ Exactly, let them think the Pride’s fall is an easy catch, abandoned so that they only need to board her. While the transport plays bait, trying to escape. It hopefully creates a situation were they misjudge and chase after the transport. “ Anthony assumed.
And in this case, they were perhaps lucky that the Pirates chased after them to try and disable the ships. Had they come from the front, they would probably be much harder to deal with. Worse, they would be more likely inclined to destroy Anthony’s ships, considering how long and expensive orbital maneuvers were around a star.
“ Then your planning to leave the Pride on passive ? “ Hope asked.
“ No, I will take control of her. I’ll wait and see what happens. If they Ignore the Pride, she’ll help fire down the second ship. And if they attack her nevertheless, well. We are not going to leave any survivors then. “ Anthony decided, leaning towards Ina to give her a kiss on the forehead.
“ Sorry Vixen, I try and make this quick, ok ? “ He uttered to her, watching her nod as she simply leaned back against his chest.
“ Let’s hope they got one of those virtual units, I think the girls would love the increased accessibility. “ Anthony remarked, and then closed his eyes to enter the Pride through his plane.
“ Hopefully, it would permit us a greater scope of control. Shall I undock the shuttles ? “ Hope responded in his mind.
“ Not yet. How long until their laser weapons get into an optimal range ? “ Anthony asked.
“ Based on educated guesswork, 15 minutes. They just need a clear view of drive systems, steering thrusters and turrets to be effective. And I believe in 15 minutes they should have clear enough visuals to try their first few shots. Longer if they want to reduce damage to the Pride and the Vulture. “ Hope reported.
“ Good, have the Vulture accelerate for now and report on their reaction. “ Anthony instructed. Then he tried to open a communications channel to the approaching ships.
“ This is Sovereign, of the TCS Pride’s fall. Is there any particular reason why you gentlemen are in such a hurry to catch up to us ? “ Anthony send via coms as the other side seemed to accept the call. Though they did remain silent for a few moments, before someone finally bothered to respond.
“ Matey, we just be in a hurry to get ta da jump point. But if ya care to slow down a bit, we could be havin a chat for a lil. Share where ya be gettin them goods. Ya know, between friends. “ The other side responded.
“ Bad way of contradicting themselves. Looks like they care more about your supposed hunting grounds, so they can go and plunder themselves. “ Hope remarked, to which Anthony silently nodded.
“ Yes, which means they may try and capture prospective crew as well to get that information. They are unable to scan for life-signs as long as we are moving right ? “ Anthony thought.
“ Unless they manage to maintain same speed and distance to us for a bit. No, they wont be able to. “ Hope responded in his mind.
“ Good, prepare to undock the shuttles. Keep the weapons hidden till the last moment. “ Anthony instructed in his mind.
“ I am sorry to say, but that is my business. And it would be bad business if I told everyone where I am getting my goods. “ Anthony responded then Via coms.
“ Eh, Shame dat be.” The other responded, and then cut off coms.
“ How many jumps till Rendar ? “ Anthony asked then.
“ Four. “ Hope responded.
“ Which means they have been stalking us, and laying in wait here. “ Anthony realized. If a bit to late as the next moment, the Vulture suddenly was being struck by explosions.
“ The heck ? “ Anthony uttered, not sure yet what just conspired.
“ Missile mines. They just disabled the Vultures drive. “ Hope reported, only to feel the need to correct herself, as the Vulture suddenly was gripped by a strong explosion that tore her apart.
“ They may have miscalculated. The reactor just went critical. “ She reported then.
“ Great, that is 500 credits down the drain. Plus the two thousand that I still owe Ludwig. “ Anthony grunted after briefly checking. The Vulture was gone, for good. Which was something he had begun to understand with the 02. As, after reaching a certain threshold of structural loss, it’s representation on his plane was gone as well.
“ Now I am pissed. Kira ? You girls ready yet ? “ He requested, clearly upset.
“ Yep, just waiting for you. “ She responded.
“ Good, undock and break to slow down. Pretend your fleeing, and open fire the moment you see their thrusters. “ Anthony ordered. Then he waited a moment, for them to undock before engaging the Pride’s own break thrusters, unwilling to find out if there are any mines left.
“ Hope, open fire on them, aim for their break thrusters. “ He ordered then, only to hear the turrets being raised to open fire at the two brawler ships.
Most of the initial shots seemed to miss though, in part because Anthony made the mistake to turn about just as Hope opened fire, which threw her aim off entirely.
“ Anthony, remember to give the turrets time to fire, the more you move, the less you hit. “ Kira warned him.
“ Yeah, first timer, I think we need some kind of simulation for this. “ Anthony uttered defensively.
And then he watched how the Pride’s alert lights came on when the first of the Brawler’s drifted past the Pride. Turning around quickly then to pepper the Pride’s Fall with laser-fire that begun to cut into the hull, and just barely miss the primary drive.
The Second brawler lost one of its two break thrusters. But that did only delay it’s maneuver by a little as it turned around to face the Pride. Using it’s primary drives to break it’s speed. Though it was luckily unable to fire at the Pride with the other Brawler blocking its line of fire.
“ Crap. “ Anthony hissed, realizing his mistake as he completely exposed himself to one of them, only now to understand how powerful a brawlers drive systems were.
But, distracted with the Pride, the brawler in the rear did not notice how Kira and her team got behind it to destroy it’s Thrusters. Which soon caused a light explosion that rippled through the ships rear, likely to have effected the fuel lines.
“ Fucking bastards. “ Anthony cussed, trying to turn the Pride around to expose it’s other side to the laser fire, and save what was left of the upper armor plating. Just then to realize that the brawler had destroyed a few of it’s maneuvering thrusters.
The only saving grace Anthony had at this moment, was that the other ship captain realized that the shuttles were actually attack ships. And he was now using his break thrusters to slow down enough so that the shuttles would dart past it, opening fire on them instead of the Pride.
But that was a mistake, as Anthony, severely pissed now, used his ability to repair the Pride, allowing him to turn the ship to face the brawler.
“ Hope, destroy their thrusters. Kira, take your squad and kill that transport. “ Anthony ordered, as the use of his ability now required them to assure, none of the enemy would get to speak of this.
“ Understood. “ Came from both Hope and Kira, just for one of the other Siren in her team to cuss as her shuttle was hit, if not hard enough to destroy it.
And now that Anthony held the ship still enough, Hope was able to destroy the break thrusters, and two of it’s laser armaments, which made the enemy crew aware of the fact that Anthony was trying to disable them as well.
But their reaction was calmer, and more calculated. They utilize their maneuvering thrusters effectively. Trying to dodge the incoming fire, allowing their heavy frontal armor to be struck while they returned fire against the Pride.
“ Dammit. “ Anthony hissed, realizing now how dangerous these brawler types were. If this had been a rail-gun type, he’d be shot to pieces by now. And if it had not been for his ability, he’d be long dead already.
“ Whats the status of the other brawler ? “ Anthony demanded, frantically looking for a means to end this quickly, as his current target was determined to make this a bad day for him.
“ Generator is down, but they got some power left, likely from their capacitor. “ Hope reported.
“ Shit. Kira, how close are you to their Transport ? “ Anthony requested, and then purposely exposed the back of the Pride to the other ship, letting it hit him as he planned to play possum.
“ About to engage. “ She responded.
“ Good. Make sure it does not reach. Disable it, and then pretend to try and make a run for it. “ Anthony ordered, and then shut the Pride’s reactor off. Pretending to have been served a critical hit to it’s systems, and hoping they ignore the fact that the Pride had been miraculously repaired just a bit ago.
He was hoping that with the boarding vessel disabled, the brawler itself would try and dock to the Pride. He could steal their ship then, and use it to disarm the other.
But for now he had to clench his teeth and wait, hearing an explosion in the back of the ship as the brawler kept firing still, only ceasing after a few more moments of the Pride’s inactivity.
“ Come on, take the bait. “ Anthony grunted, standing up with the Sovereign unit. Just to watch through the bridges window how the enemy ship kept its distance.
“ Transport down for the count. It’s reactor just blew up. “ Kira then reported.
“ Good, head for a nearby planet and assume an orbit around it. “ Anthony ordered.
“ Received. “ Kira responded, falling into that old habit of Eden’s trained Military response.
“ Come on, you lost your boarders. Your not going to let this price slip away now, are you ? “ He uttered towards the ship in the distance, as though it could hear him.
It felt like minutes before the ship finally seemed to move, using it’s maneuvering thrusters to slowly close the distance. Then their weapons would light up again, if only to destroy the Pride’s turrets. Seemingly removing the option that this was a trap meant to lure them closer and disable them in turn.
“ Hope, they should be aware by now that there is no life sign on the ship, right ? “ Anthony asked.
“ Save for Sovereign, the Siren’s crafted skin should mask you as living crew for them. “ Hope corrected.
“ That works too. “ Anthony responded, ordering the security androids to approach the docking port to set up a defensive perimeter, if only to play the part for now.
“ Hope, I will take their ship the moment they dock. Once I do, delay and filter their communication towards the other ship. Fabricate a situation that makes the other vessel believe they have to come and assist the first.
Like, make it seem the other vessels crew is needed to flank us. Like, they are unable to advance because of heavy defensive positions. “ Anthony instructed, hoping the other vessel could be lured in as well.
It would take a bit of time, given that it was down to maneuvering thrusters, but since the speed difference was not that much, they should be able to catch up within the hour.