With Zante now behind them, and the fleet currently heading back to Veroia, Nia went off in search of the infamous Celina Sioufas.
Despite willingly allowing herself to be taken to the Sector Security Agency, Nia and Yuri had decided to let her have free roam of the ship... though restricted certain areas.
Heading up the hallway, Nia came upon the room that Celina had been temporarily given during her stay. Having searched the rest of the ship, this was the last place she could possibly be.
She was inquisitive, and curious sure, but she had never been much of a social person. As the door slid open, Nia spied the Merciless Night Queen laying atop the only bed in the room.
"Well my dear." She said as she sat up. "An interesting crew you're running with these days."
Taking a seat in the chair opposite Celina, Nia shrugged, examining her fingernails. "They're a good lot... not too bad once you get to know 'em."
"I'm sure." Celina responded, chin in her hand, eyes boring into Nia's as they stared at each other.
"Stop that!"
"Stop what?"
"I know what you're doing woman!" Nia said, eyes narrowed. "It's not like that!"
"Mm-hmm."
Nia huffed in annoyance, before leaning forward, hoping to leave the conversation behind.
"So... Skantzoura huh?" She asked lazily, noticing a hangnail on one of her fingers. "Nice place for a little holiday. Wanted a change of scenery?"
Celina's body shook, and her chest jumped as the laughter escaped from her lips, opening her eyes as she turned to look at Nia.
"Oh Nia, your mouth really is still just as annoying and vulgar as ever. You haven't changed a bit, have you?"
Not bothering to look up, she examined the hangnail a bit, before bitting at it. "Course not. Why'd ya think I hang round with this lot. They don't mind me."
She didn't need to look up to know Celina was smiling, but she did anyway. "I'm sure they like you very much."
"So... meeting anyone interesting there. A new boyfriend perhaps?"
"Ask no questions and I'll tell you no lies."
"I think we've known each other long enough... don't you?" She prodded.
"Nia my dear, I wouldn't even tell you if someone was about to ring that pretty little neck of yours." She answered.
Noticing that the conversation had gone off topic, Nia tried steering it back on track, but failed miserably.
"You won't get any answer out of me Nia... so don't ask." Celina told her.
"Pretty please." She asked, trying her best at a puppy dog look.
It didn't work. Celina held firm.
And as the conversation continued, Nia stared at Celina Sioufas, someone she hadn't seen hide nor hair of in years.
Just what was the batty old witch planning.
As the group entered the SSA Headquarters, they were immediately spotted by Silas Ioannou.
"What a surprise! I didn't think you'd actually manage to bring Celina Sioufas herself right here to Veroia!"
"Couldn't quite convince her to come into the Security Agency yet though, so she's hidin' out on the ship." Nia explained.
"But what do you suppose she wants on Skantzoura?" Dellis asked.
"Who knows? We asked her a million times, but she wouldn't cough up her reasons. But I'm thinkin' maybe -"
"It has something to do with Old Kreios, who was thrown in there a year ago, right?" Pappas interrupted Nia.
"Exactly. Anyway, knowing her, she's gonna have a trick or two up her sleeve."
"Hm..."
"Commander, we have no idea what Celina is plotting. Don't you think we should rethink this whole thing?"
"Don't worry. I'll go with her, make sure she doesn't try anything funny." Nia answered instead, as if she was expecting this. "Hey, I know! I could be her underling. Even though the idea of it kinda ticks me off..."
"Nia, you want to go into the prison with Celina?"
"Yup. I'm gonna make her keep up her end of the bargain." She explained.
"But..." Yuri began, thinking of something to say. "You can't do that! It's a prison planet! Anything could happen to you there!"
"Yuri's right. And Skantzoura isn't your average prison planet either. Even though it's a part of the judiciary system, it's completely cut off from the outside world. We get very little information about what actually goes on inside." Delis added.
"But if I don't see to it that Celina keeps her promise, you aren't gonna be able to take down Old Kreios, right?" Nia asked the three men. "And then that means we won't be able to get to Mytilene and find out more about those Epitaphs."
"But..."
At this point, Yuri knew it was hopeless to argue, but he couldn't stop himself.
"Look, you're not gonna get anywhere if ya let little things like this set you back, are ya?" Nia told him, ignoring the others. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I know what I'm doing!"
"It was a risky plan to begin with. Now that we've come this far, I don't see any alternative to doing as Celina is suggesting. Ensign Pappas, how long will the paperwork take to get them incarcerated?"
"There's no shortage of criminal charges we can bring Celina up on, so we should be able to get the papers together right away."
"All right then. Pappas, you serve as the escort and take Celina and Nia to Skantzoura. And then I want you to stay there on Skantzoura and give me a report every twenty-four hours on the dot."
"Yes sir. I'll take these two in my ship, but what will the rest of you do?" Pappas asked. "You can't really come with us all the way to Skantzoura."
"I'm still a little freaked out about all this, so we'll go with you as far as we can." Yuri replied.
"Okay, fine. Well, we'll ship out as soon as you're ready then. Nia, you and Celina move to my ship."
"Gotcha."
As the bridge crew shuffled quickly to their positions, the rest of the operators completed their last minute checks. On his console, messages began appearing from each of the department heads, acknowledging that they were ready.
Over the fleet comm, Ogar and Selenia were chatting away, about what, Yuri wasn't sure. He hadn't been paying attention at all.
After wandering onto the bridge, he had turned to check in with Nia, but stopped.
She wasn't there...
He wasn't sure what to do.
Now though, he couldn't stop staring at Nia's empty chair.
He had always had the comfort of knowing that if he looked over, she would be there, ready to answer any question he had.
He didn't notice the others looking at him worriedly. He had always been focused, always ready for anything.
It was weird seeing him like this.
Hearing the clearing of someone's throat, he looked up, noticing the entire bridge crew staring at him.
The messages had stopped coming in.
Ogar and Selenia had stopped talking.
He didn't blush. He didn't stutter...
He stood up, eyes narrowed.
"Let's fly!"
As Yuri's fleet followed the Sector Security Agency ship of Ensign Pappas, Yuri couldn't help but grip his chair's armrests tighter. Since Nia had announced her decision to accompany Celina onto Skantzoura, he had had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.
This whole thing didn't sit well with him... and he didn't know why.
In the distance, he thought he could see a purple glow, which, as it turned out, he really wasn't dreaming.
The purple glow that he'd seen, had turned out to be like one big cloud, dotted with black and red.
"What's that?" Torlo asked.
"It's the Oort Interception System. It's a defence system that seals off the prison planet from the rest of the world." Pappas explained over an open channel communication.
"So this is the system your boyfriend designed Rhea?" Yuri asked the woman.
"That's right. It's a perpetually operating combination of observation and auto-attack systems." She said with a far-off stare, her voice coming in over the comm from her position in the fire control room. "If anybody tries to get through without permission, they'll be annihilated in only seconds."
Ian smiled. "Very impressive. They aren't taking any chances, are they?"
"Anyway, this is as far as you can go. I'll take it from here." Pappas told him.
He knew this moment was coming, though he still couldn't get over the nagging feeling in the back of his mind.
"Ensign Pappas, please take care of Nia." He asked.
Nia had given him everything, stood by him through thick and thin. Now though, when the Epitaph was at the forefront of his mind, Nia had willingly volunteered to walk into the lion's den for him.
He had promised before that he would repay her one day. Now though, he promised that he would give her everything that she had given him.
Whatever it took.
"Oh, I wouldn't let anything happen to such a lovely young lady. And besides, I get the distinct impression that she can take care of herself just fine." Pappas finished.
"There they go." Torlo said.
"I don't know. I still don't like this." He admitted aloud.
"Well, it's done now. There's no sense in second guessing. And Ensign Pappas is going to give us periodic reports too."
"Yeah..." Yuri said, letting his final word trail off.
Whatever it takes!
Meanwhile... on the prison planet Skantzoura...
Having finally docked with the spaceport, Ensign Pappas and his security team escorted the two women towards the orbital elevators.
After a short ride, the doors swished open, and the hallway beyond, illuminated by purple lights, welcomed them...
So did a chilling laugh.
"Welcome to Skantzoura! I'm the Prison Warden here."
"I'm Ensign Belen Pappas of the Sector Security Agency, Anti-Pirate Division." He announced, shaking the man's hand. "I'm here to escort these two prisoners."
The warden was dressed in the standard brown and tan security uniform of all prison staff. The uniform was stretched tightly around a pale bulging body, on the cusp of going blue.
He wasn't sure if the blue was from lack of oxygen, or the lighting.
"Welcome, Welcome! And look what we have here!" The warden's eyes darted about, before landing on the two women... and lit up. "Two lovely young ladies..."
Nia felt like she was about to vomit.
She'd met some lecherous people in her time, but this man topped the cake; he was downright disgusting.
Hey, my face is up here buddy! She thought
With a quick glance to her left, Nia noticed a scowl on Celina's face... the only indication that she was thinking the same thing.
"Mmm-mmm. Such beauties... and two of them! Mm, female prisoners..."
The silence in the room seemed to stretch on forever as the Warden seemed to think aloud.
Nia, Celina and Pappas shared a look between each other, and from then on, she certainly wasn't going to complain about the SSA Ensigns's advances ever again.
He was practically an angel in comparison.
"Uh, Warden?" Pappas asked uneasily.
"Don't you just love those words, female prisoners?' Such a nice ring... huh?"
Seeming to notice that his rambling had attracted the wrong sort of attention, the warden shook himself out of it. "Oh, ahem! Never mind. So I hear you'll be staying a week or so yourself, will you?"
"That's right. We have to take every precaution we can with an infamous pirate like this one."
"Yes, yes. Absolutely. I understand completely." He replied. "I'll have a room readied for you right away. I do hope you enjoy your stay..."
Then, Ensign Pappas watched as the two women were led down the hall to their cells, now escorted by the Skantzoura guards.
Nia glanced back out of the corner of her eye at Pappas, who had a serious look on his face. As she went to turn back around, she spied the Prison Warden at the end of the hall, a creepy smile on his face.
She shivered.
As they entered the tavern on Veroia, Yuri wasn't paying attention, and got the shock of his life when he felt a slap against his left shoulder.
"Hey Yuri. Check it out my man!" Torlo said quickly, grabbing Yuri's sleeve.
Looking over to where the other teen was pointing, he could see the man they had worked in the mines with: Loukas Barberis.
Stringing his way through the crowd, Yuri approached the big man. "Hey Loukas!"
Turning his head to find the sound of the voice, he spotted Yuri almost immediately.
"Huh? Hey, it's you boys! What are you doin' here?"
"That's what we were just gonna ask you. You got a day off from the mine or somethin'?" Torlo asked.
"Not just a day. I don't think I'm gonna be working there for a while actually." He replied, taking a sip from his mug of beer.
"How come? The mine didn't run out, did it?"
"Naw, that's not it. They had to cut back on production to keep prices stable." He explained.
"Why is that?"
Ever the knowledgeable one, Ian found himself at the centre of attention, pushing up his glasses... and clearing his throat.
"Kalymnos is a resource nation. It's economy is based on exporting its rich mineral resources to the Interplanetary Union of Elgava. If they produce too much, the export prices fall, and they can't have that happen."
Nodding at the on-point explanation, Barberis continued, wiping away droplets of beer with a burp. "Yup, that about sums it up. I'm used to this kind of job instability, but this time I think it's really gonna be a long one. It's got me worried, quite frankly."
"Wow, that's too bad." Yuri said sympathetically.
As if a lightbulb had just turned on in his head, Yuri continued. "Hey, why don't you come work on my ship then Loukas?"
"On your ship? You mean, you'd hire me on?"
"Why not? You said you used to be a spacefarer, right?" Yuri asked rhetorically. "I won't push you if you think you've gotten too rusty though."
Barberis sat there in thought, letting his mind mull over Yuri's offer. Then, a sly smile split his lips, finally catching up with Yuri's words.
"Too rusty? Are you kiddin' me?" He asked. "I was damn good in my day, and I remember it all like it was yesterday! I'll do it! And thanks for askin'."
Yuri smiled. "Great! Welcome aboard!"
After shaking the man's hand, they gathered round the bar, getting to know their new crewmember...
Yuri more conservative then usual.
Head bowed, back against the wall, Nia sat on the cold floor, eyes closed.
She was getting sick of the smell, and the silence.
She stretched, arms shooting above her head.
"It's been three days already. How long are we gonna keep hangin' around like this?"
Leaning by the door, arms crossed, Celina looked up. "What, are you bored my dear?"
Even though they'd known each other a long time, the two had never really gotten on.
Now though, having to spend days in each other's company, was beginning to grate on their nerves.
"Nah. I figure we oughta have enough of a handle on their routine by now."
"Heh heh. I see your point. What do you say we take a little walk then?" Celina asked.
"Where to?"
"The Control Building. If Old Kreios is here, that's where I think he'd be." She answered.
Turning to face the cell's door, Celina pulled out a hair from her head, spitting on it, before inserting it into the lock panel.
A few seconds later...
BANG!
"Voila. It's open." She said with a small wave of her hand.
"Not too shabby! A nitro string huh? I see you're still up to your old tricks." Nia complimented, standing up, and following the Merciless Night Queen out of the cell.
And into the deserted hallway beyond...
"Still no word from Ensign Pappas?"
"It looks that way. The Security Agency still hasn't tried to contact us. I've been trying to get in touch with them for days now." Kira replied to Yuri's question.
Hoping to vent some anger and frustration at the new situation that they found themselves in, it was working... sort of.
They travelled up and down the sector, ambushing and chasing down all pirates stupid enough to challenge them.
"Grus! It's been three whole days already! Something's got to be wrong! Ensign Pappas was supposed to make a report every twenty-four hours!"
"Yuri..."
"Yelling at Kira isn't going to help anything. I know you're worried about Nia, but please try to calm down and stop with all the yelling."
The last few days had put them all on edge, and Yuri's attitude was starting to annoy them.
"I am calm! And I'm not yelling!" He replied.
"You are yelling! You're the Captain, so you'd better start acting like one, you hear?" Tatiana threatened, waving a fist at him.
Yuri gulped.
"Oh boy."
"You think a lot of Nia, don't you Yuri? I think I'm a little jealous of her."
Rhea's statement came from nowhere, as they had decided to stop off at Thira for some shore leave.
"Huh? No, it's not like that..." Yuri stammered, cheeks burning slightly.
"Whenever my boyfriend was working on his research, he never even seemed to give me the slightest thought. Damn him! Where could that boy be?!"
Rhea's reply seemed to trail off, and she found herself in a sudden rage as her mind turned to her lost boyfriend.
Taking the chance to slip away from her, Yuri made his way to the bar.
Yikes. Rhea can be pretty... intense.
On the way, he almost ran into Gadina, who had been sitting with Ogar, Poplo and Selenia at another table.
Seeing Yuri, she had excused herself, joining him while he waited for the bartender.
"Yuri, I know you're freaked out about Nia, but try to not spaz out too much, okay? Just remember, the great Celina Sioufas is with her. That ain't no small thing. Nia's gonna be just fine."
"Do you really think so?" Yuri asked, still not too sure.
"I can't count how many people got sent to Grus by that Celina after they tried to mess with her. She's bad-ass I tell ya! They don't call her the Merciless Night Queen for nothing you know!"
Gadina's confidence still didn't do anything to lift his spirits, and he replied glumly. "I sure hope you're right."
"I hope Celina is okay too. I mean, I know she's a really great pirate and all that, but what can she do if she's trapped inside a prison?" Ratai interrupted, appearing from their right with Ian Fenevich in tow.
They seemed to get along really well.
"Don't worry. Really great pirates are just as resourceful on land as they are in space. I think."
"I think? What kind of reassurance is I think?"
Some time later, and several dozen dead Kreios fleets that followed, they finally received some news.
"Yuri, I'm getting a communication from Commander Ioannou."
"Really?! Patch me through to him right away!" Yuri said in excitement.
"Captain Yuri, this is Silas Ioannou of the Sector Security Agency."
"Commander Ioannou! Have you heard from Ensign Pappas?! Is Nia all right?!" His questions came out quickly... leaving no time for the Commander to respond.
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I'm afraid Pappas hasn't reported in once."
"Not even once?! How can this be?! But you told him every twenty-four hours!"
Face grim, Silas Ioannou replied to Yuri's question. He wasn't sure either. "I know. We're applying for a permit to investigate from the Justice Bureau now."
"How long is that going to take?!"
"I don't know, but we're trying to get them to hurry. Anyway, I wanted to let you know the situation as it stands. I'll give you another update as soon I can."
"Hey! Wait a minute! Huh?"
The connection was cut off and Yuri found himself glancing over at his sister.
"He's gone."
"Whaddya think happened to them?" Torlo asked.
"I don't know, but it's starting to look like we'd better come up with our own plan."
Turning to face the silver-haired, bespectacled boy, Yuri spoke. "Do you have any ideas?"
"Yes I do. Let's talk in the tavern."
"There aren't going to be any pirates running around this planet anytime soon. I don't care how tough they might be. That's how scared they are of the Sector Security Agency." The bartender told him, placing the last of the order on the bar. "That's right! You can relax here. There's nothing to worry about. That is, unless you're running from the law yourself..."
Paying the man, Yuri, Torlo and Ogar took their drinks back to the group.
"There are too many things going on with Skantzoura that just don't add up, wouldn't you agree?" Ian asked, once they had claimed a table for themselves.
"Like what?"
"Well first of all, the fact that even though their leader, Kreios himself, is presently incarcerated, the Kreios Pirates continue to flourish." He began, pushing his drink aside. "And then Celina Sioufas volunteers herself to be thrown in there. There's something very strange going on, if you ask me."
"True, but without more solid proof..."
"I know. But even the Security Agency knows that something is fishy. That's why they went along with Celina's suggestion without questioning it." Ian explained. "What we need is some kind of solid evidence that something strange is going on."
"You sound like you have a plan."
"I do, and it's simple. All we have to do is ask a Kreios Pirate." Ian said to the group, as if it was the most simple thing in the world.
"Huh? And how are we supposed to do that?" Yuri asked in confusion.
"We grab one of them and make him talk, of course. All we have to do is get into a melee battle, and once we're on board the enemy ship, we capture someone."
"Wow, that's a great plan Ian! Looks like those glasses of yours aren't just for show!"
"What do my glasses have to do with anything?" Ian asked, eyes narrowed.
The conversation then turned to the tense relationship between Celina Sioufas and Old Kreios... to which Ian jumped in.
"From what I've heard, a power struggle isn't the only reason Celina Sioufas wants to crush the Kreios Pirates."
"What's goin' on with her then?"
"Apparently, Celina and Old Kreios know each other from way back when." He told Torlo. "Something that happened between them a long time ago is fuelling the feud they're having with each other now."
"Huh. What do ya suppose happened between the two of 'em?"
"Beats me."
As Yuri and co ploughed through yet another Kreios fleet, the FLAKRUNNER, JUSTICE and MISUNDERSTOOD, continued past Dodecanese.
After the next two pirate fleets were done with, they were ambushed by another, more powerful one. As Yuri stared out at the five ship fleet, Tatiana called out the ship classes: two Ilithyia cruisers, two Themis destroyers, and a Eudora cruiser.
This was it. He thought.
Shouting orders to the crew, Yuri's fleet dashed forward, and he watched as Ogar and Selenia focused on two of the ships, leaving the FLAKRUNNER to contend with the three cruisers.
With three ships to content with, and the Eudora's awesome missile volleys, the Borodino battleship was getting hit hard... but it seemed to shrug these off, like it was barely a nuisance.
"Begin procedures for alternating fire." He ordered. "Gunnery control, use dispersion pattern C-gamma minus... Fire."
As they continued trading fire, Yuri pushed the FLAKRUNNER recklessly onwards, tanking the shots as a ship exploded to his right.
"Gunnery crew get ready to bombard the enemy quadrant... lock target on enemy Ilithyia-class cruiser!"
The guns spewed out flashes of red laserfire, which impacted against the closest ship.
"Enemy Unit 2 eliminated..."
Kira's announcement was met with relief from the Captain, who spied Ogar advancing, just as Selenia was finishing up on the left.
Tanking the oncoming shots, the FLAKRUNNER surged forth, before dodging the next barrage from the enemy Eudora.
With three ships advancing, the lead ship panicked, allowing Yuri to slip through, making a beeline for the flagship.
Trying to pull away, the Eudora had no time, as Yuri's ship was already upon it... securing the docking tube for a melee battle.
Joining the security team and boarding party, Yuri pulled out his plasmic blade, and they whipped into action.
Gadina and Torlo were already letting their fists fly. Weaving its way through the enemy ranks, HELP was a one woman wrecking machine.
Nothing could stop her.
And soon...
"Did we do it?! Did we capture a Kreios Pirate?" Yuri asked, eyeing the dead bodies.
"Yup." Torlo said. 'And this one is apparently one of the bigwigs! C'mon you!"
Behind him, Torlo's security team led in a tall man, dressed in, what he assumed, was a Kreios Pirates uniform. Steel grey with white lining, yellow ascot, and a crimson cape... tall collar framing the bottom of his face.
"Hmph. I must be losin' my style. I can't believe I let a bunch of little brats like you get a hold of me!" He groaned. "I'm warning you right now, nobody's gonna get ol' Terzi here to talk!"
Glaring at the man who was currently shaking his head, Yuri pulled his plasmic blade from his hip in silence.
"Huh?" He laughed. "What's that supposed to be, some kind of threat?"
"I promise you. It's not a threat." Red eyes burning. "The life of somebody I care about is on the line. And that's why you're going to tell me, right here and now, everything you know about Skantzoura. Do you understand?"
"Don't make me laugh! Do you really think a child's threat is -"
Moments later, and he began screaming in pain.
"Aagh! No! What, are you crazy?!"
"I already told you. The life of someone I care about is on the line. Now... For your other arm!"
The Captain's screams continued, and he shouted between the two handlers. "You're nuts! Somebody lock this kid up!"
"I'm going to keep cutting you until you start talking. I just hope you have the chance to tell me what I want to know before you bleed to death."
"W-wait! Wait!" He said breathlessly. "I'll talk! I'll talk! Just stop already!"
Lowering his sword, but not putting it away, Yuri watched as the man spilled the beans, not realizing the look he was receiving from his friend.
Torlo had been there when Yuri had cut down Balik, he'd seen the intensity in his eyes.
This though, was on another level all together. It was as if he was channelling some evil being that had taken hold of his body. Torlo couldn't believe that this was the same person he knew.
Then again, now that he thought about it...
When it came to Nia, Yuri always acted different. He just wasn't sure if it was a good thing...
Or a bad one.
"So your saying that orders to the Kreios Pirates are coming from inside Skantzoura?" Ian asked their captive.
"Th-That's right... as far as Captain Kreios is concerned, Skantzoura is like a safe little vacation getaway for him." He explained, eyeing Yuri. "And we get plenty of money flowing in too, from all the people we nab and send over there. That's why we always have enough G to do whatever we want."
"Human trafficking is your source of capital?"
"What happens to the people who get sent there?" Yuri asked.
"Grus, I don't know all the details kid!" He replied heatedly. "But, they say that when there's a bunch of them stored up, they get sent to some other dominion, or something like that."
"So are you tellin' us Skantzoura is Kreios's stinkin' base of operations?!" Torlo asked.
"Grus. We've gotta get Nia and the others out of there, fast!"
"I agree." Ian said with a nod. "Let's take Terzi to the Security Agency. With him as our proof, they'll have to move on this immediately."
Eyeing Terzi, Yuri turned to Torlo, nodding for him to take the pirate back to the ship.
His fist clenched.
Damn!
Commander Silas Ioannou let out a very deep breath, eyeing the group across from him.
He couldn't believe what he had just heard.
"Hm. So Old Kreios has been holding the entire prison planet of Skantzoura in the palm of his hand, has he?"
"We heard it straight from Terzi, that Kreios Boss we handed over to you, so I don't think there's any doubt about it." Yuri replied.
Following the conversation, and obviously even more worried about the situation than before, Vlasis Delis spoke. "Commander, we have got to storm Skantzoura right away. Not only for Pappas and the women's sake, but Prisoner X might have been sent there as well."
"I guess this is no time to be waiting on a permit from the Justice Bureau. We'll have to take matters into our own hands." He began, stroking his chin. "Assemble Division 3, Division 9 and the Strike Team. We ship out as soon as they're ready!"
"Yes sir!" Delis said, rushing off to follow his superior's orders.
"Yuri, let me tell you how to deal with enemy fighters. There are armoured carriers stationed at Skantzoura, so you'll definitely need to know how to deal with them." He told the young Captain. "If you want, you could have this hangar module built, so you'll have the ability to carry fighters yourself. Or you can get anti-air weapons equipped at a remodelling shop, so you'll be able to use the anti-air guns from any ship."
Holding out his hand, Ioannou handed over two blueprints: one for a Hangar MK 1, and the other for a Maintenance Room MK 1.
"Pursue one of these tactics, or both. It's up to you to decide. There's a fighter design company on the planet Thira. You can get fighter blueprints there if you need them. As soon as you're ready, report back here to me."
Nodding as he walked out of the room, he stared down at the blueprints in his hand.
He wasn't sure what to do.
Yuri wrestled with his confusion for almost an hour, before his impatience got the better of him... he needed advice.
Without Nia by his side, Yuri went to the only people he trusted to give him an answer, just like Nia would. Ogar and Selenia were two captains who would definitely know what to do. Ogar was a Veteran of the Central Elgavan Forces, and with fifty years of experience under his belt, Yuri would've been hard pressed to find anyone that could match his skill.
Selenia had pretty much grown up in a worn torn, dictatorship-like regime. She had seen the ugly side, had managed to understand the inner workings and the tricks that criminals and pirates would use to their advantage.
He was glad to have them along... he really was.
"Ah Yuri, there you are! We were just talking about you." Ogar said with a smile, sipping lightly on his shot.
"All good things I hope." Yuri said, taking a seat. "We haven't spoken much since we left Elgava... It's been a little busy."
Waving away Yuri's words, Ogar replied. "Gen was always the sociable one. I much prefer seeing things from a distance. It helps me think better that way."
"And I grew up in a sector which they suppressed everything, I'm just quiet by nature. Though alcohol seems to bring out a worse side to me."
"Doesn't it always?" Yuri stated, earning a round of laughter from the two. "I actually wanted your advice on something. I'd usually go to Nia with these sorts of things but..."
He trailed off, leaving his sentence hanging in the air. Yes, they understood full well.
"Ask away." Selenia told him with a smile.
"Well... it's like this..." He explained the situation to the two, the no word from Ensign Pappas, as well as their newfound information on the Kreios Pirates.
"And you want our opinion on which to go with. Fighters, or anti-air weaponry?"
"Right! If I go with anti-air weaponry, I have to sacrifice a gun slot or two, which means we'll lose firepower." He started, holding up his right hand. "And as of right now, choosing fighters would just be too costly."
"Well... first things first, anti-air guns only take up small weapon slots, that's because the bigger guns aren't as precise, or fast enough to pick off the fighters smaller ships." Ogar explained. "So you won't be sacrificing that much firepower, though you'll still notice the difference."
"Right." Selenia added, turning away from her fellow Captain. "And while fighters may be much more expensive in terms of room and maintenance and such, some multirole crafts can actually deal damage to enemy ships too. That makes them more valuable."
"So we either go with the cheaper option: the Anti-Air guns. Which means we won't be spending too much money, though we won't be able to use those guns in direct ship-to-ship combat." Yuri summarized. "Or we go with the more expensive option: using fighters."
Selenia nodded as the young Captain explained things. "They both have their good points and bad points, so it's really up to you in what to choose."
Yuri nodded as he stared at his drink, knowing that he didn't have much time.
Nia didn't have much time.
With their conversation over, Ogar and Selenia left Yuri to his thoughts, leaving the table and heading to the bar for another drink.
"Yuri..."
Kira's voice pulled him from his thoughts, looking up to see two empty seats where his two captains previously were.
"Yeah?"
"Oh, nothing." Kira said quickly, realizing that he wasn't really listening.
"Sorry Kira, but I've got a lot on my mind. Could you give me a little space right now?"
"Oh! Okay, no problem."
She was surprised. He'd never asked her for some space before.
"Come on Kira. Never mind about Yuri right now." Tatiana said, tugging gently on the other girl's arm. "He's all worried about his precious Nia, that's all."
Following her friend, she looked back, wondering if what Tatiana had said was true. Was Yuri really worried about Nia that much? Did he like her as more than a friend?
She wasn't sure. But in that moment, she found a thought popping up to the front of her mind.
If the roles were reversed, and I had disappeared, would he be worried about me just as much?
Giving himself some time to think on the advice he had received from both Ogar and Selenia, Yuri had finally made a decision.
Despite the obvious benefits that fighters would bring compared to their anti-air gun counterparts... it was just too expensive for Yuri's tastes.
For now anyway...
At the moment, the cheaper option was what he was going with. Choosing the fighters, would mean spending money on a new ship, sacrificing space for hangars, spending more money on fighters, and finding people to pilot them.
More than that, they didn't have much time to wait for all that to happen, the SSA was preparing two divisions to invade Skantzoura...
Whether they were ready or not.
Because he had received the Hangar and Maintenance room modules, he had decided to travel to Thira, and purchase the three available blueprints from the Fighter Design Company.
The Krechet was a multirole fighter, designed for both anti-ship and anti-air combat in mind. While it boasted the best flight time of the three, its other stats were well rounded... making it more of a jack of all trades than anything.
The second: the Berkut, was a striker. With its main role being ambushing ships, giving it the best anti-Ship stats of the three. Despite this it did have some AA ability, which was a weakness, meaning it would get beaten in a fighter-to-fighter battle.
An interceptor, and a good fighter-to-fighter craft, the Grif, had the best speed durability and AA abilities of the three.
To build the Krechet, Berkut and Grif it would cost 100G, 115G, and 120G respectively. That meant, that on top of all the money spent on everything else, even more would have to be spent on the fighters themselves.
As of right now, it just wasn't worth it.
Business on Thira concluded, Yuri's fleet made their way back to Veroia, where they made their way to the Sector Security Agency building.
After announcing themselves, Yuri and company were led to the war room, where Silas Ioannou spotted their arrival. "Are you ready to ship out?"
"We're ready!" Yuri said with conviction.
"Good. We ship out for Skantzoura then!" Ioannou informed them.
"Meet us in the spaceport in an hour, the last of our ships are arriving now!"
Exiting the room, they headed for the tavern to wait things out...
Yuri wished they'd hurry the Grus up!
Approaching the beginning of the Skantzoura starlane, Yuri's three ship fleet found themselves accompanied by almost fifty SSA ships, flanking them on either side.
He smiled. Hopefully this would do the trick.
Spotting the purple hue in the distance, Yuri turned to speak with the commander over the comm.
"Commander, the Oort Interception System!"
"We're just going to have to break our way through it!" Ioannou replied. "All ships, launch decoys! Release them all!"
Without ever slowing down, Yuri's fleet watched as the SSA ships released what appeared to be unmanned fighter decoy ships. They blasted ahead, leading the charge through the storm.
Then, the battle really began.
Even with the decoys, the advancing fleet was being hit hard. There was little wonder why the Oort Interception System had such a good reputation.
"Grus!" Yuri cried out through gritted teeth.
"Starboard stern hit, assessing damage!" Kira called out.
"Don't let up speed! We're going to push through!" He ordered.
The next several minutes were tense, as the FLAKRUNNER, JUSTICE and MISUNDERSTOOD all shook with uncontrollable fury.
"Whew! Looks like we made it somehow." Torlo exclaimed with relief.
Yuri turned to his sister. "Kira, what's our damage?"
"Only slight, but some of the Security Agency ships have been badly damaged." She responded.
"That's no good."
"Huh? Yuri, large ships have left the Skantzoura port. They're headed this way!"
"They must be those armoured carriers. Get ready for anti-ship tactics!"
The enemy launched their fighters straight away, and soon, their three ships were being swarmed by the small craft.
In the time it had taken the fighters to cross the distance, they had managed to rid themselves of the two escort ships.
Sending an order to activate their new anti-air guns, Yuri watched as their weaponry did its job, and soon, they were free to move again.
As they advanced, they began launching more attacks against the two Ilithyia-class cruisers. Even though the smaller guns that had been replaced produced far less firepower than their larger variants...
He noticed the difference immediately.
That didn't phase them though, and soon, the two cruisers were gone also... leaving just the carrier.
Before they could do anything, they were forced to tank an oncoming barrage, before following up with one of their own.
And as the enemy Daphne-class carrier exploded in the distance, the communication channel crackled to life.
"Yuri, are you all right?"
"We're fine Commander. What about you?"
"We took care of all the armoured carriers. Now we storm Skantzoura!" He said with a fierce voice.
"Right!"
Following the SSA ships ahead, Yuri watched with fascination as they crawled closer to their target.
Aboard Silas Ioannou's flagship, the Commander in question was listening to his Strike Team Leader. "Entering drop range in fifteen seconds."
"Very good. Strike team, release all landing craft once you enter drop range. We need to take control of that orbital elevator!"
"Roger!"
At Ioannou's words, he watched as each ship's armoured bay wings folded downwards, opening up like an egg, revealing a drop pod landing craft in each.
With the push of a button, the first wave began, breaching the upper atmosphere.
"Yuri, we're sending out an advance landing team to get control of the orbital elevator. Prepare to invade the port! And use paralysis weapons only." He informed the teen. "We don't want any of the regular staff harmed."
"Got it. Ready to invade the spaceport!"
The three ships blasted towards the nearest spaceport, which, so far as they could see, was deserted. After the docking procedures had been completed, Yuri found himself leading his security team through the spaceport corridors.
Alongside either wall, spread throughout, was the SSA strike team, the leader currently conversing with Commander Silas Ioannou and Ensign Vlasis Delis.
"Good to see you made it Yuri!" Delis said with a smile.
"We're just waiting on the last of our men to disembark. Why don't you go on ahead, we'll meet you down there."
With a nod, the group found themselves on the surface of Skantzoura, a desert-like planet, with three buildings jutting skywards.
Approaching the first, Yuri found himself examining the building as Ian spoke. "So this looks like the prison, huh? It looks like this part is where they keep the female prisoners."
"This has gotta be where they're holdin' Nia and Celina." Torlo said.
"Let's go find them then!"
Blasting open the door, everything was still and deathly quiet inside the west building. Following the hallway, they took the elevator to the second floor, where they encountered a group of guards.
"Intruders! Halt! Stop right there!"
"Uh oh."
Despite outnumbering them, the guards put up a good fight, just not good enough.
"Let's go, before they wake up!"
"Yeah, come on!"
After taking the elevator to the third floor, the group spread out, checking empty cell after empty cell... one who's door lock had been destroyed.
"Grus! I don't see Nia or Celina anywhere!" Torlo said to them.
"But they've got to be here! Did you look everywhere?" Yuri asked, slightly panicked.
"We checked every single room. They must not be in this building."
"Nia, where are you?!" He muttered to himself.
"Yuri..."
"No, it's okay. I know Nia's too tough to let anything happen to her. But I know she's here somewhere, and we're going to find her!" He told them, leading the group out of the empty building, and towards the East Prison building.
"So this is the dudes' prison, huh? Man, it stinks in here! And bad!" Torlo said, trying desperately to wave a way the smell with his hand.
He didn't blame him though.
"Yeah, I know. But deal with it Torlo. They might be holding Ensign Pappas here. Let's go find him!"
The first floor was clear of anyone, but on the second floor, they were ambushed by another group of guards, who poured into the hallway from the cells on either side.
"There they are! The intruders!" One shouted.
"Oh, Grus!"
Blocking their path, Yuri and co fought through them, albeit, having a tougher time then the last.
"Hey, Yuri. There's some kind of strange room over here." Ian called out.
Studying the door panel, Yuri turned to the others. "It's not locked. Let's go check it out."
The door hissed open, revealing a research facility, illuminated in a soft blue light. Inside, a man with messy black hair and a stubbled face turned around, standing upright, staring off into the distance with an absent expression on his face. "Huh?"
"Leo?! I can't believe it! It's Leo!" Rhea said, voice hitching as she spoke.
"Oh, hey Rhea. Long time no see!"
The others winced.
"Long time no see?! What's the matter with you?! I've been worried sick about you, and that's all you can say?!" She said, stalking forwards.
"Wait, so this is the boyfriend you've been looking for all this time Rhea?"
"What's he doin' here?"
"That's what I want to know! What are you doing here Leo?!" She asked, hands on her hips.
"A man came to my house and told me he'd give me whatever I needed to carry out my interception system research." He explained.
"And you just followed him blindly?! Don't you know where you are?" She asked, voice high pitched in surprise and anger.
"Hm... I never really thought about it, to tell you the truth. But just like he promised, this is a pretty wonderful place to do research. I've got all the latest equipment, I can use as many materials as I want, and nobody seems to mind."
"You big geek! You just disappeared on me! Don't you have any idea how worried I was?! You could've at least tried to call me! Why didn't you tell me where you were going?" She yelled at him.
"Huh? Oh... I get it. You're mad because I left without telling you, right?" He asked, dumbly.
"Well duh! I've been going out of my mind just trying to think what might have -"
Knowing that if he didn't do anything to head off the rant before it began, or they'd be here forever... Yuri cut in.
"Whoa Rhea! Calm down, okay? We've found him, and that's what's important. Let's just take him with us and everything will be fine."
Taking deep breaths, she began to calm down. "Okay... You're right. Come on Leo! We're leaving right this instant!"
Grabbing him by the arm, Rhea dragged her boyfriend out of the room, and down the hallway... flanked by guards.
"Hey, wait just a minute here! Stop pulling!" He said, trying desperately to free himself from her grip.
Yuri laughed...
He'd never met a couple as different as those two.
On the forth floor, they were ambushed by another group of guards, which they quickly cut down.
"Yuri, Belen Pappas is in this room." Kira called out.
"Ensign Pappas! We'll get you out of there!" Yuri shouted, cutting down the door with his blade.
Pappas groaned. "They put me through the wringer."
"Are you all right?"
"Yeah. They were pretty rough on me though." He replied.
"So the Kreios Pirates really were controlling this place huh?" Tatiana asked.
"Yeah, and Warden Glaucus was in on the deal too. Look where it landed me!"
"But where are Nia and Celina?"
"I don't know. But I think those pirates saw through our plan. I sure hope those two are all right."
"Nia... we've got to find them!" Yuri said.
The Administrative building of Skantzoura, stuck out of the sand like a sore thumb, and as they approached, Pappas spoke.
"The Warden and his crew are holed up in here in the control building somewhere. We have to be careful."
"I know. All right. We're going in!" Yuri announced.
After the Strike Team broke the door down, Yuri and Gadina led the charge into the building, Torlo, HELP and the rest of the group following closely behind.
"Huh? What the Grus?" Torlo said quickly.
"There isn't anybody here."
Yuri stared around as room after room went by, not a soul in sight. The standby room was deserted, but the observation room was full of computers and screens, set up to monitor the prisoners.
"There's nobody here." Tatiana said, running a hand along one of the screens.
"It's odd, but there isn't a soul around. I doubt they just ran away."
"Hold on. Let's look for a map of the building." Ian said, using one of the few monitors and then looking back up. "Look at this. There's a hidden passage behind the warden's office. Perhaps there's a switch to open it somewhere on the warden's desk."
"So the Warden is probably hiding out in there."
"That would be my guess. And Kreios may be in there too."
Some time later, they managed to find the warden's office, and after they had searched the room of any occupants, Ian began examining the desk.
"I found it. Here's the switch to the hidden passage." He said excitedly.
Behind the warden's desk, a wall panel slid back to reveal a passageway lit in red.
"Wow, you were right!"
"It sure is dark in there..." Torlo shivered.
"Come on, let's just go in! Nia and Celina might be in there too." Yuri said, hand on his blade handle as he stepped forward.
"All right, but I don't like this one bit! No siree..." Torlo told him, adjusting his bandolier.
The passage seemed to go on forever, around two right turns, and a left. As they continued, Tatiana squinted, spotting something in the distance.
"Yuri, look! There's somebody sitting there!" She said pointing with her right hand, and placing her left on his right shoulder.
"Is it Nia?"
"I don't know, but -" She began, before watching Yuri rush forward. "Yuri, wait!"
Without thinking, he continued forward, not bothering to wait for the others. "Nia! Nia! Is that you?!"
Exiting into the room, Yuri came face to face with a corpse in a chair. The clothes were torn, and parts of the rotting flesh still clung to the remains of the body.
It scared the Grus out of him.
"Aaagh!"
Kira's high pitched scream quickly followed, and Torlo stopped just before running into Yuri's back. "Oh-what the Grus?!"
"That's what's left of Old Kreios."
"Huh?"
At the sound of the voice, Yuri's head turned to his left, and he caught sight of someone stepping forward from the shadows...
Someone he had thought he'd never see again.
She looked fine, from what he could see. Her silver hair hung around her shoulders, and her hands sat at her waist.
Their eyes locks across the room, and he held himself back from rushing up to hug her...
He hadn't been so relieved to see anyone in his life.
"He was locked up in here and left to starve to death. Nasty, isn't it?" She said casually.
Stepping out from beside her was Celina, who's serious face showed just a hint of amusement at Yuri's reaction.
Oh these two are just too much.
"That's a pretty pathetic way for a pirate to die, if you ask me."
"N-Nia! Celina!"
Nia laughed, and he found it very relaxing. "What, were ya worried about me or somethin'? We heard ya yellin' all up and down the passage. I can't believe you're here!"
"Nia... I'm so glad you're alive and all right! I'm really, really, really glad!'"
"Aw, don't make that face kid. We were just locked up for a little bit. There's no harm done." She said.
"So you gals were here the whole time?" Torlo asked, the first of anyone to speak, not daring to interrupt the reunion.
"Yup. We broke out of our cell and found the hidden door. But then that damn Warden found us and locked us in." Nia said, brushing a lock of hair out of her face.
"So I guess this means the Warden really was working with the Kreios Pirates." Ian added.
"Not exactly." Celina replied. 'You see, Warden Glaucus is Kreios now."
"Huh? What do you mean by that?"
"When Kreios got thrown in jail here, the Warden killed him and secretly took over." Nia explained. "He was givin' the pirate underlings funds and orders from right here in the prison."
"So that's it huh?" Pappas asked. 'With the leader having such a safe, cozy setup for himself here, it's no wonder we could never put a dent in their operations. Come on Yuri. We have to report this to Commander Ioannou right away."
"According to the last communication we got, the Commander is launching an attack on the west building!"
"Got it! Let's go!"
As the group all turned to head back the way they came, Nia and Yuri brought up the rear, the latter not being able to take his gaze off the older woman...
Afraid that she would disappear again.
Approaching the west building, they spotted Vlasis Delis and Silas Ioannou, the latter, who was commanding the incursion team.
"Commander Ioannou!"
At the call of his name, the older man turned, spotting Pappas and Yuri's group approaching. "Ensign Pappas! You're all right!
"It's good to see you're okay Pappas. I was worried about you."
"Well, here's the story..."
After a quick explanation, Ioannou found himself rubbing a hand over his weary face.
"Fascinating. So Warden Glaucus was passing himself off as Kreios eh?"
"Have you found him?" Pappas asked.
"No. According to some of the people we captured, he escaped when we were breaking through the Oort Interception System." Delis answered.
"And I'm afraid we haven't found Prisoner X yet either."
"Hm..."
"If Glaucus escaped, I'm going to go after him." Celina interrupted, stepping forward to join the conversation.
"Do you know where he could've gone?"
"There's a starlane just past here that leads to Kreios's Base, the Spider Web." She explained. "I'm sure he's following that route."
"Wait. We still have details to take care of here. Glaucus can wait until -"
"If I wait, I may never catch him." Celina said, cutting the Commander off. "Besides, I've already kept up my part of the bargain. I have no desire to cooperate with the Security Agency any longer."
The conversation stopped, as an explosion could be heard in the distance.
"It looks like my ship has come for me, so if you'll excuse me..."
She raced off as the LYKOURGOS dropped from the sky, emerging from the smoke.
"Wait! We'll go with you!"
That seemed to stop Celina, as she turned back to watch Yuri.
"Unless we wipe out the Kreios Pirates, we won't be able to get to Mytilene. So we're coming with you!"
She stared at him for a second in silence, before letting out a quick laugh. 'Do as you please. In any case, I'm taking off now."
With this, Celina Sioufas turned and disappeared into the LYKOURGOS that had arrived to take her away.
"Commander, my ship is still here, isn't it?" Pappas asked. "I want to go with Yuri. Besides, Prisoner X might have been taken to the Spider Web too. You never know."
Prisoner X? He thought. Who the Grus is Prisoner X?
"Good idea. Yuri, are you sure you want to do this?"
"I'm positive. All right guys, let's ship out!"
Heading towards the ship, he felt a hand on his arm... and a voice.
Nia's voice. "Yuri..."
"Huh? What is it?"
"You really went through a lot of trouble for me, didn't ya kiddo? I just wanted to say thanks." She told him.
Of course he'd go through all that trouble for her. She had given him everything.
And he'd made a promise to repay that.
"You don't have to thank me. How could I not have come looking for you?" He asked in confusion.
This made her laugh. "I still want to thank you. I appreciate it Yuri."
She leaned down to kiss his cheek, smiling warmly as she stood up.
"Uh... yeah... don't mention it." He stammered, blushing. "W-we have to get ready to ship out now, so I'll be on the bridge."
He walked off, head down... leaving Nia standing in the corridor.
She watched, laughing softly to herself. "After all, what gal wouldn't be touched by a guy who goes all out for her? Even if he is just a kid..."
Departing Skantzoura, they followed the starlane down past the prison planet, Pappas's ship falling quickly into formation.
"Yuri, I'm picking up the LYKOURGOS on my radar. Do you see it?"
"Kira?" Yuri asked.
"I'm just getting it now. I'll put it up on the monitor." Kira told them.
In the distance, they could barely see the LYKOURGOS, a spec compared to the asteroid beside it.
Kira frowned. "Yuri, I'm getting an inflation reading from that asteroid next to the LYKOURGOS."
"An inflation reading?" He asked. 'Does that mean it's man-made?"
"Yes. It's my mobile base, the Cocoon." Celina added.
"Celina!"
"Huh. A flying base? That's pretty clever." The surprise showed on his face, and in his voice. "No wonder we could never find it! But why would you let us in on your secret now? Don't forget. I'm still part of the Security Agency."
Celina smiled slyly. "I'm not worried about that. I won't have it much longer anyway."
"Are you going to abandon it?"
"No. I'm going to crash it into the pirate base."
"Crash it?! Your mobile base?!" Pappas asked in surprise.
"You got it. Their entire fleet is hidden in the Spider Web asteroid belt." She explained. "If I crash my base into it..."
"It would do some major damage to their fighting power, wouldn't it?" The SSA Ensign finished.
"You got that right. Now then. I'm heading for the Spider Web."
"Wait!"
"She's gone... it all makes sense now, why she was so sure she could wipe out the Kreios Pirates alone."
"It does, doesn't it?" Yuri responded. "I say we should let her give it a try."
"I agree."
Not long later, they found the LYKOURGOS and the Cocoon waiting up ahead. "So that's the Spider Web huh?"
"It's odd though." Ian added, watching the monitor. "As close as we are, they haven't tried to intercept us."
"The Spider Web is a dense asteroid belt. Radar won't work here, so it's the perfect place to hide." She answered. "But, unfortunately for them, it's also the perfect place to make a surprise attack."
"Okay, I get it now."
"Now It's time to get this show started." She announced.
From the bridge inside the LYKOURGOS, Celina watched the Cocoon speed up, hand on her chin. Off to one side, Nikitas monitored the readings of the mobile base.
"Engine output, critical point in fifteen seconds. Remote control functioning smoothly." He announced.
She giggled to herself in delight. "I can't wait to see this!"
The Cocoon continued forward, hurtling towards the now barely visible pirates hideout.
"Reaching the Spider Web periphery in three seconds... two... one..."
The closer the Cocoon got, the faster it seemed to go, until it connected with the first of the docking ports. Several small explosions rippled across several asteroids, before a big white light split the darkness.
"You did it Captain! It's a direct hit!"
She smiled. "Hah... Heh heh heh... Ha ha ha! Ah ha ha! AH HA HA HA HA HA!"
Watching the scene before her made the laugh continue. It was beautiful... to her anyway.
"Wow..."
"I can see now why they call her the Merciless Night Queen. Yikes."
The alarm went off, before Yuri shot a questioning look towards his sister.
"Several large ships are approaching from the Spider Web zone!" She answered.
"Survivors huh? What kind of ships are they?"
"It's an armoured carrier! They're Skantzoura ships!"
"So that means the Warden -"
Interrupting his sentence, the face of Ensign Pappas appeared on the monitor. "Did you see the enemy ahead?"
"Those are the Prison Warden's ships, huh?"
"Yeah. I want him captured alive. There's something I need to ask."
"Okay, we'll do our best!" Yuri said, cutting off the monitor feed. "All hands, battle stations! And watch out for enemy fighters!"
As the two fleets advanced towards one another, a group of fighters burst forth from the hangar.
Screaming into place around Yuri's fleet, they replied by activating their AA guns. During the distraction, Glaucus tried taking advantage, battering them with laserfire.
Deactivating their AA guns, Yuri ordered an attack on one of the ships.
"Gunnery crew get ready to bombard the enemy quadrant... lock target on enemy IIlithyia-class cruiser... and fire!"
The enemy cruiser creaked and groaned under the weight of the FLAKRUNNER's guns, before exploding like a pimple.
"Enemy Unit 2 eliminated..." Kira answered.
Yuri smiled, turning his attention back towards the enemy fighters. He reactivated the AA's, and the remaining fighters quickly fell.
Charging forward, it wasn't long before another Ilithyia cruiser was destroyed... and another wave of fighters appeared.
Being attacked from both sides, Yuri continued focusing fire on the fighters, before the MISUNDERSTOOD seemed to stop dead in its tracks.
"Selenia! Do you read me? What's wrong?"
"That last attack seemed to short circuit our propulsion systems." She announced. "I'm afraid we won't be of any more use in this battle. Sorry Yuri."
Yuri grit his teeth.
The next few minutes were tense, as the FLAKRUNNER and JUSTICE contended with the two Eudora cruisers. With the Daphne seemingly out of fighters, it hung back slightly, hoping to protect itself from attack.
It didn't.
In the distance, Yuri spotted Pappas's ship rocketing towards Glaucus like a missile, who desperately tried to run.
In the meantime, the two Eudoras missile volleys were only delaying their inevitable destruction, before they were taken care of.
In the distance, Yuri could only guess as to whether Pappas had caught the Warden yet or not.
As if he could sense Yuri's thoughts, the communication system activated, and Pappas's familiar voice came through.
"Do you read me Yuri?" Pappas asked. We've apprehended the Skantzoura Prison Warden, Dardanos Glaucus."
"That's great news! Now everything is settled." Yuri said, glad that the situation was over.
"I'm hoping it will be anyway."
Noticing the tone in the Ensigns's voice, and the look in his eyes, Yuri prodded him further. "Why? Is there something else?"
"Oh, uh... I'll let you know after we question Glaucus." Pappas offered. "I'll take him back to the Security Agency. Drop by there when you have some time. We want to thank you too."
"Roger."
"I guess we'll be going now." Celina added.
"Celina..."
"I'll leave you with one piece of advice. It's not just pirates we've been dealing with kid. Beware of the ones who work behind the scenes."
"What? Who -"
"Is Nia there?" Celina asked.
"Yup. I'm right here." The person in question answered, stepping up beside Yuri on the captain's dais.
"That's a good kid you found there. He's going to be a great spacefarer one day." Celina told her. "You'd better make sure you live a good long life, so you can raise that kid up right."
Nia laughed. "I plan on living a lot longer than you, lady!"
Celina laughed in turn, before cutting off the feed, Yuri missing the look that the two women secretly shared.
They watched as Pappas's ship turned, blasting off in one direction, with Celina's LYKOURGOS doing the same in the opposite.
"She's gone."
"Yeah."
Professor Gavriil Minas's voice spoke through the comm. "Now, at last, we can finally go to Mytilene!"
"I guess you're right. It's about time." Yuri answered. "On to Mytilene then! Start the engines! Prepare for departure!"
Despite the events of the past few days, and how exhausted everyone was, they decided to push on to Mytilene. Professor Minas had been walking up and down the ship, not able to contain his excitement... and the others found it infectious.
"Such a quiet planet." Kira said to herself as they arrived at Mytilene.
"It's uninhabited you know." The Professor told them. "I imagine we're the only people to pay a visit to this planet in at least ten years."
Torlo frowned. "The Cosmic Trade Authority's here though. That's pretty weird."
The empty spaceport, and the planet below, gave off an eerie feeling, and Yuri felt like he was being watched...
He shivered.
"Here they are! These are the ruins where the Epitaph used to be!" Minas exclaimed, pointing out of the window of the skycar they had borrowed.
Yuri glanced outside, Nia behind the controls as they flew closer. Setting the skycar down on the old worn down stones, as the others stepped out.
"Well, let's not just stand around here! Let's go in!" The Professor said, practically bouncing up and down.
Yuri and Nia shared a look, and a smile, as the latter shut off the engine.
The sky burned a golden colour, shining down upon the desert sand, the ruins jutting skyward.
Hurried along by Gavriil Minas, the group went through the small door, and descended the stairs to an underground chamber. Despite being so far underground, the air was fresh and pure.
The brown marble-like floor and walls were decorated in gold-like patterns. Ten square columns lined either side of the room, forming a sort of walkway towards the back.
The group split up, and Yuri found himself working with Ian to examine the floor. Blowing away the accumulated sand revealed a floor with a strange lustre.
"It's extremely hard. My laser knife just bounces right off it."
"What in the galaxy is it made out of?" Yuri asked.
"I don't know. I've never seen anything like it. It's like a cross between stone and metal.
Intricate symbols were carved in various places on the walls. Appearing to be the writings of some sort of unknown language.
"I wonder what these symbols are for." Yuri asked himself.
"Hm... there appears to be some sort of logic and meaning to their arrangement. I would say it was a writing system." Minas said, cocking his head, as he narrowed his eyes. "And considering the number of strokes used to form each symbol, it's a very primitive system at that. I'll copy down as much of it as I can."
As he watched the professor copy down the symbols, he turned away, hearing the man mumbling to himself.
After walking around the chamber for a time, examining all corners, a voice called out to him. "Yuri, come take a look at this depression over here."
"Uh, okay."
Climbing to the top of the hill, he spotted Gavriil Minas, face beaming. As he came to a stop by the old man, he followed to where he was pointing.
There was a depression there, about four inches square, that seemed to have been carved out by hand.
"What do you make of it?"
"Make of it?" Yuri asked, confused.
"Come on now. Think boy." He almost shouted. "You had an Epitaph, didn't you?"
The dawning of comprehension lit up his eyes. "Oh yeah! You're right. It's just about the size of an Epitaph. Maybe it's for an Epitaph to fit in or something!"
"A-ha! Just as I thought."
"But what are those broken pipe-like things around the depression?" He asked.
"I can't say that I know. Hm... this material is very hard. I'll just scrape off a little sample to be examined."
Yuri reached over, helping Minas... which wasn't easy at all.
"Well, it looks like we have just about all the samples we need." Packing them away into specialized boxes he'd brought along.
"Have you figured anything out?"
"Patience, my boy, patience! These things take time. But what we have confirmed is a case of an Epitaph being located near a dead gate." He said, standing up. "That is some priceless information indeed! Now what we need to do is take our samples to the Ludoviko Tani Observatory and have them examined there."
"The Ludoviko Tani Observatory?"
"It's the largest research facility in the Small Magellanic Cloud. It's located on the planet Tineo, the capital of Nova Nacio." He explained, slapping the dust off his trousers. "One of my former students is there in fact."
"Nova Nacio huh?" Yuri said to himself, looking around at his friends.
Finally! He thought. They'd finally made it.
The journey back to Veroia was a long one. Despite being dealt a crushing blow, the Kreios Pirates were relentless in their pursuit of revenge.
Upon reaching Veroia, Yuri called for some shore leave, before leaving the bridge to get some much needed sleep. When he had woken up, nearly twenty-four hours later, he felt more tired than anything. After meeting his friend's for breakfast, the group headed off towards, what was becoming a very familiar building.
The Sector Security Agency building.
Passing through the outer checkpoint with the drop of a name. As they walked into Strategy Room, they could see Vlasis Delis, sitting alone. Approaching the SSA Ensign, Yuri looked around, noticing the two missing men.
"Huh? Where's Ensign Pappas and Commander Ioannou?"
"They've both been called to an inquiry."
"Are they being taken to task for the way they took matters into their own hands?" Ian asked.
"Yeah, I guess that's about the size of it. But, anyway, the Commander wanted me to give these to you. They're a kind of thank-you gift for all you've done."
Delis turned, grabbing the three things off the table beside him. With a "here" the man handed Yuri the gifts.
Laying in his outstretched hand, were blueprints for a Volos-class cruiser, a Selene-class destroyer, and 5,000G.
"By the way, have they gotten around to questioning Warden Glaucus yet?" He asked.
"Yeah, and we all know about his human trafficking operation now. Apparently, the people the pirates were kidnapping, and some of the prisoners too, were being delivered to a man named Cadmus." Delis explained, an angry look crossing his face. "The story matches up with the Skantzoura ship navigation records too, so there's no question about it."
"Cadmus?"
"I've heard of him. If I recall, he's the Feudal Lord of the Dominion of Spetses, isn't he?" Ian asked, holding up a finger in sudden remembrance.
"That's right. Cadmus was paying them a lot of money for those captives, and they were using the funds to build up their strength."
"So is this Cadmus guy being investigated?"
"No, I'm afraid we can't do that." Delis admitted.
"Why the Grus not?! With all you know?!" Yuri asked heatedly.
The man he was hearing about was starting to sound like Panfilov.
"Come on Yuri. You know better. You more than anybody oughta understand how it works with these Autonomous Dominions."
Yuri answered with silence.
"Anyway, you must've found out all kinds of other stuff. After all the cooperating we've been doing. I think it's only fair that you tell us everything you know." Nia said, mouth pressed into a thin line.
"Uh... That's all we found out so far." Delis said, scratching the back of his neck.
"You sure about that?" Nia asked, eyebrow raised.
The silence that came from Delis continued for a few seconds, before he changed the subject.
"So what are you going to do now? Have you decided? You know, we'd be glad to see good people like you settle down here in Kalymnos one day."
"Thanks, but I still have a lot of travelling I want to do." Yuri explained. "And we have to go to the Ludoviko Tani Observatory in Nova Nacio too."
"Nova Nacio? Let me warn you then. Nova Nacions can be cunning and tricky. You really shouldn't trust them. Take it from me."
"But -"
"Why don't you trust Nova Nacions?"
Delis let out a sigh, knowing that it would be a long explanation.
"I know it's not a good thing to make broad generalizations about a whole people like that, but... those planets they're living on were first discovered by Kalymnos. If we had access to all those resource-rich planets, our people wouldn't be living in the poverty that they are right now. The Interplanetary Union of Elgava was wrong to support the Nova Nacions' immigration!"
The silence stretched on as Delis huffed in anger. Looking around the table, noticing the looks of the others, he began to take a few calming breaths.
"I'm sorry. I got a little emotional there. Anyway, you just be careful. And come on back any time if you run into any problems."
Yuri smiled. Delis might have been a bit angry, but he was still a good man at heart. "We will. And thank you for everything, Ensign Delis."
"Mm, boy! Nothin' tastes better than the beer and freedom of the outside world!"
The second they had entered the tavern, the group had found a table, while Nia wandered over to the bar to place her order.
After it arrived, Nia dug in, needing no invitation. Finishing off her drink, she spoke.
"But this ain't the time for this, is it? We still got some loose ends to take care of. But before we do..." She stopped, lifting her mug in the air. "Hey bartender! I'll take one more over here!"
"Coming right up!" Was the answer.
Torlo turned to whisper to Yuri. "Sure doesn't look like she's in much of a hurry to me."
He choked on his drink, holding in a laugh. "That's our Nia. I'm just glad to have her back."
Taking in another mouthful of food, Leo turned.
"Here, do you want this?"
His mouth crammed with rapayan, Leo Folias handed Yuri a slightly dirty data chip.
"What's this?"
"It's a module blueprint I drew up while I was on Skantzoura. You know, just for fun. I haven't tested it out yet though." He said, staring down at his food. "I had a little bit of trouble with sizing it down, but it's not that bad, all in all."
He designed this all by himself? Yuri thought, staring down at the blueprint module for the Anti-Air control room MK 2. This guy could really be a genius!
"Mm! There's nothing like a little beer to wash down your rapayan with. Don't you think so Rhea?"
Rhea's annoyance shone through as she watched her boyfriend. "Leo, what do I always tell you? You've got to eat a more balanced diet. Try more vegetables every once in a while!"
"But I hate vegetables..." He whined.
Yuri watched the couple for a second, before heading off what might've been another argument.
"Leo, when you were on Skantzoura, did you ever hear anything from Glaucus? Anything at all you can remember might help."
"The Prison Warden?" He asked with a thoughtful look. "Hm, not really. I never really talked to him much."
"Oh. That's too bad..."
"Yuri, you can't depend on Leo to remember anything. If it's not something he's interested in, it doesn't even register with him." Rhea answered with a backwards glance at the man.
"That's not fair Rhea. I remember things about Skantzoura! Like about the security system on the special cell off the warden's office, or the code to the armoured carrier control room..."
"Hey! That's exactly the kind of information Yuri is looking for!" She exclaimed in annoyance.
As the couple bickered amongst themselves, Larissa had been following the conversation from beside Yuri.
"I always heard Kalymnos kept their pirate situation under control, so this is really disappointing to me." She started with a frown. "To think that an official, a man who's supposed to uphold the law and order, would commit such criminal acts!"
"The Sector Security Agency has been doin' everything they could, but with this kind of thing goin' on..." Torlo continued, finishing off his drink.
"I hear Commander Ioannou is going to use this as an investigation of the judicial system. I believe Kalymnos will become a much safer country soon."
"I hope you're right."
"Although..." Ian started, holding his chin in thought. "It's very odd."
"What is?"
"How the Sector Security Agency is acting. They seem to have more on their minds than just wiping out the Kreios Pirates. They keep mentioning looking for some other mysterious person, Prisoner X."
"Yeah, I noticed that too. I wonder what that's all about." Tatiana added.
"All we had to do was crush Glaucus and Kreios and let them handle the rest. Nothin' for us to get involved." Torlo said nonchalantly.
"It must be nice. Everything is always so cut and dry with you, isn't it?" Ian asked.
"Sometimes the best way to look at things is simply. Torlo's right. This is a time to act, not sit around and think."
With their business in Kalymnos concluded, Yuri and co decided to head off to the Void Gate for Nova Nacio.
Along the way, they fought with a few fleets of Kreios Pirates, taking care of them without a problem.
Some time later, and they stopped off at the Volos tavern, awaiting the minor repairs to their ships... not knowing what lay on the other side of the gate.
At the bar, Poplo, feet propped up, bottle of scotch beside him, was busy polishing what appeared to be a very unusual gun.
"Hey Poplo." Yuri said, approaching the man, and leaning up against the bar. "Watcha got there?"
"What, this? This is a maser blaster I got from Celina Sioufas in exchange for a little information. Heh."
"From Celina?"
Poplo smiled, letting out a little chuckle.
"Yup. While you were getting Terzi to talk, I was encouraging one of his men to do a little talking too. He told me the Kreios Pirates were sending the people they kidnapped for their human trafficking trade directly to the buyer." Poplo explained, spitting on his cleaning cloth. "None of them were ever sent to the Spider Web, the guy said. When I told all this to Celina, she was thrilled, saying how she felt completely free to wipe out the Spider Web."
Yuri watched and thought in silence, not sure whether Poplo and Celina hitting it off was a good thing...
Returning to the table, he took a seat across from the old Professor.
"I'm surprised you have a former student in Nova Nacio Professor Minas. I mean, from what I understand, the people of Kalymnos and Nova Nacio don't exactly get along very well, do they?"
Taking a sip, he turned to Yuri. "Well personally, I believe there should be no borders when it comes to the pursuit of knowledge. But in those days, when Aminda was attending the academy where I was teaching, there was a lot of thoughtless Kalymnians on campus. I suppose she did have rather a hard time. But now she's one of the leading authorities on astronomy in the Small Magellanic Cloud! Yes, if you ever need help in that field, Aminda is definitely the one to go to."
"I dunno. I'm not really good around those academic types with their books and their glasses." Torlo added. "They make me nervous! Except for you of course, Prof baby!"
Yuri almost laughed at the look on Minas's face.
"Well, you don't have to feel that way around Aminda Torlo. She's a bright young woman, and she's full of the spirit of adventure, just like us. I'm sure you'll like her just fine."
As they continued discussing Nova Nacio, Aminda, and the Ludoviko Tani Observatory, Larissa and Kira were walking past on their way back from the bathroom.
"I've been getting the distinct feeling that the health and sanitation on board the ship has gotten worse lately."
"Yes, I noticed that too. And now with all these difficult battles, the number of injured people has risen as well."
Mouth curled, eyebrows furrowed, Yuri thought about the point the two girls made. "Hm. In that case, I'll take a look around Nova Nacio after we've been to the observatory. Maybe I can find some new modules that will help."
Larissa smiled, eyes lighting up in delight. "Great idea! And not just medical, either. With more modules, like for accounting and food services. I think the liveability of this ship could really improve!"
After half a dozen battles, Yuri spotted the familiar blue hue of the Void Gate appear in the distance.
He had completely forgotten the trials and tribulations of the last week. From the pit of his stomach, he could feel that familiar excitement that seemed to accompany him on every journey into a new country.
Even with the smile on his face, he turned to his left, watching Kira working away at her console.
How would she take going through the Void Gate again? Would it be as bad as last time?
He wasn't sure, but made himself promise to keep a careful eye on her this time.