Jim couldn't remember the last time he had been affected by hyperspace shakes. Maybe a little bit, after his first time. He looked at his hands, they were steady. He had taken to space pretty well. It was nice to get off a mudball – there was freedom in having a ship, more than a vulture – and he couldn't bear to go anywhere without that thing for a long time. And the Hyperion was his ship.
Mobility was possibility. Raynor had shown Matt a thing or two. And Horner had learned that Raynor's tactics, while unorthodox, worked. And they were all about mobility. It's how their little pirate militia survived so long. Raynor wasn't selling him short, Horner was a talented commander, and their talents had truly had a chance to shine while working together. Couldn't have gotten this far without him.
But it's why they worked as a team, trusting each other to do what they knew they did best. Matt had stuck with him through thick and thin, he couldn't ask for a better friend, or ally.
It seemed like such a long time since New Gettysburg, yet he had to remind himself it had actually only been maybe seven years. Maybe eight. Things like that changed a man. Marked him. Some scars didn't go on the outside where everyone could see them.
"Nova brought us a couple of positions. They're been moving slowly – they probably don't want anyone poaching the Hyperion either. We've marked their most likely course. We can ambush them en-route, or wait until they ground the old girl."
"I don't like waiting long enough for anyone to get where they're going. Let's try to catch them before they do."
"Yes, sir."
The mission brief was resolved quickly and efficiently. Just a matter of prepping a few wings of wraiths for scouting, and preparing for a rapid assault. Pirates wouldn't be used to dealing with that kind of efficiency. Only thing folks really concerned themselves without here were other pirates, and the Zerg. And with the Zerg, all you could do was run.
The fact that the pirates probably hadn't managed to crack the security in order to use the Hyperion's weapons against them, was their strongest card. If Raynor had to guess, they were just towing the thing, which Nova seemed to confirm, but Raynor wanted to see in person before committing to the assault.
Raynor paused a moment in the lull, and glanced over at Matt.
"How do I look, Matt?" he rubbed a hand over his jaw for emphasis.
"They won't know what hit them, sir."
"That's what I like to hear. Let's get our fighters prepped, Matt."