Ship's log - we have made contact with the survivors of Emerald Coasts with the intention of offering our assistance. However, after some disturbing new revelations about what really occurred during the evacuation of 2550, we have been engaged by what appears to be a Covenant ship...

"Status, Mister D'Coolette..."

The Ensign jerked with a start as the Captain marched from the briefing room, followed closely by Robotnik and Rabbot, the officers swiftly taking their stations. Sally crossed her legs as she entered her seat, one elbow resting on the arm of her chair as she leaned forward, chin in hand.

"C... Covenant ship emerged from Slipspace, Ma'am..." the coyote stammered, hands tapping at his console as Rabbot took her seat beside him, "it is... approaching the colony, Ma'am!"

"Onscreen," Sally commanded. D'Coolette did as instructed, the holographic viewscreen before the Bridge windows becoming opaque. Stars twinkled merrily in the blackness of space, the image magnified... and shortly enough, the blood-red hulk of a bulbous alien vessel came into view on the display.

One-million kilometres Ma'am," Bunnie said, "and approaching fast."

"Damn..." Sally mused quietly, staring intently at the display, "that's a cruiser..."

"Not military colours however," Snively replied, "an independent pirate vessel, I'd wager. Plenty of Covenant navy went rogue after the war."

"Well there's no waste in being cautious," Sally sat straight in her chair, "bring us to Yellow Alert," the Captain ordered, voice sounding across the Bridge, "raise shields. Charge Magnetic Accelerators and ready missile pods. Communications? Hail them."

The Bridge crew hustled to carry out their Captain's commands, the Bridge sounding with the Yellow Alert siren. "Captain?" The Communications officer signalled from her station to Sally's right, "hailing frequencies open."

Before Sally could acknowledge, a horrendous string of screeches and squawks cascades through the Bridge communications system, every human and mobian on the Bridge wincing and covering their ears. "Engaging Transcomm systems!" the Communications officer cried, eyes screwing shut against the barrage, "sorry Ma'am!"

Sally clasped her triangular ears flat at the onslaught as the Lieutenant frantically patted away at her console, until at last the screeching ceased and the alien language began to be tanslated.

"-presence here will not be tolerated! Move your ship human, or we will move it for you!"

"This is Captain Sally Acorn of the GUNSC Knothole!" Sally spoke up before the alien could continue its rant, standing from her chair and clasping her hands behind her back, "we are here on the behalf of the colonists at Emerald Coasts station. What is your business here?"

There was a pause, the vibrant hull of the opposing ship glinting on the main viewscreen. "Humans!" the clipped tones of an artificial voice sounded through the comms, translated through the Knothole's systems, "you have no business here, Earthers! This world and its plunder are outside of your space!"

Sally glanced to Snively, who nodded. "Pirates," the bald human confirmed. "Kig-Yar, by the sounds of it."

"To whom am I speaking?" Sally returned her attention to the screen, the opposing ship appearing a lot bigger now.

"I am Shipmaster Du'Khat!" the voice responded.

"Shipmaster Du'Khat..." Sally continued, beginning to pace before the viewscreen, "you may not be aware, but we are here as part of the GUNSC's Reclamation Initiative. Our mission is to seek out and secure GUNSC worlds that were lost during the war. The Covenant War. You might have heard of it? It was pretty nasty, trillions of our people, humans and mobians, were slaughtered. I believe that gives us something of a right to be here."

"Yes... I remember well! My crew and I were personally responsible for many of those deaths! Until your people destroyed our fleets..." the alien replied, the ship's translation systems simulating vicious pleasure, "it would bring me great joy to add your blood to my hand!"

Sally pursed her lips, ceasing her pacing as she stood before the screen. "I'm sure you would," she said carefully, glaring into the image of the other ship, "It was a bad war. We aren't looking for another one. However, while your ship presents a threat to this system, it is the duty of my ship to defend the lives of the people on that world."

"You will NOT stand between me and my plunder, Captain!" The voice hissed with simulated anger, "there are many in this galaxy who will pay well for slaves!"

"There are thousands of people on that colony, you can't possibly transport that many... slaves," Sally replied, hoping she could reason with the aliens, perhaps at least buy some time.

"Very true Captain!" the voice mocked, "as I told your precious colony, I suppose I will have to kill those I leave behind!"

The alien cackled hideously, raising the fur on Sally's back. The mobian set her jaw and glowered into the screen, as though her gaze alone could remove the ship from the system. "I will signal for reinforcements," the Captain warned.

"Do as you please, human! Our work here will be long over by the time your fleet arrives!"

Before Sally could respond the communications line bleeped, indicating the opposing Captain had ceased transmission. "He's gone, Ma'am..." the Communications officer reported.

"Thank you Lieutenant," Sally replied, taking her seat back in the command chair. She ran a hand over her peach muzzle, heart rate suddenly increasing. "lieutenant-Commander Rabbot!" she spoke up, "what can you tell me about that vessel?"

"Old CCR-Class cruiser, Ma'am..." Bunnie replied, tapping away at her screen, "looks modified. Times-two forward plasma torpedo launchers, multiple energy projectors across the hull. Shield rating high." The rabbit-mobian turned in her seat to regard the Captain. "Seems like a pretty even match for us, Captain."

"Captain!" Ensign D'Coolette's voice cracked, eyes becoming wide with terror as he scanned his console, "The cruiser, she is maintaining her course directly toward us! Speed increasing!"

"Bring us to Red Alert. Battle Stations, people." Sally swiftly tapped at her computer as the ship's sirens wailed, signalling that the Knothole was at high alert, "All hands, now hear this. We are engaging hostile vessel. Repeat, we are about to enter battle. Man Action Stations." The Captain ran a hand across her face. "It is our duty to stand and defend Emerald Coasts at this time, until we can secure her safety. I trust you will all carry out your orders. Stand by. And good luck."

Sally disengaged ship-wide comms and sat straight in her chair, looking to find the rogue ship bearing down on the viewscreen. Already, a pair of blue lights glowed in the vessel's prow, miniature twin suns ready to bring ruin to the Knothole and her crew.

"Status on the Accelerators?" Sally called.

"Both Magnetic Accelerator Cannons fully charged and ready to fire!" Bunnie responded, offering a hungry look to the image of her target, "missile pods primed. Just say the word, Ma'am!"

"Stand by," Sally replied, hands gripping the arms of her chair.

The minutes ticked by, the enemy vessel coming closer with every moment.

"One-hundred thousand kilometres, Ma'am..." Bunnie said carefully, "and closing..."

"Prepare to fire, Commander..." Sally licked her lips, understanding that her next order would send her and her crew right back into the violence and destruction of the last war.

"Captain!" Ensign D'Coolette's voice squeaked as he piped up, almost jumping from his seat, "the... vessel! She is retreating!"

Sally's breath caught in her throat as, sure as day, the bulbous red ship began to turn away. The glowing blue bulbs of energy at the ship's prow began to fizzle out, the ship heading on a new course that would take it away from the Knothole.

"Well where the Hell they goin'?" Bunnie said, almost sounding disappointed. As if in answer, the Lieutenant stationed at Communications spoke up.

"Captain, they're hailing us!"

Sally leaned forward in her chair, hardly daring to believe their luck, "answer them, Lieutenant."

"Yes Ma'am."

The computers pinged as communications were re-established, the unnerving sound of alien laughter cackling across the channel. "You have steel, Captain..." the alien Shipmaster hissed, "very well. I will give you time. You have... three hours to leave this system with as many of your people as you can carry. But I will NOT be denied my prize again! If you are still here when I return... your ship and all aboard will be blasted into atoms!"

The line cut once again, and Sally watched as the vessel retreated.

"They're entering Slipspace, Ma'am..." Bunnie reported.

"Understood..." Sally replied, leaning back in her chair, "stand down, maintain Yellow alert..." The Bridge crew released a collective sigh of relief as the ship stood down, the threat of deadly space combat over for now.

Sally cast a gaze over her Bridge crew, many human and mobian faces looking to her for guidance. "Well done, people..." Sally's tone betrayed nothing but confidence, the experienced officer understanding what her crew needed to hear, "looks like we scared them off for now." The chipmunk tapped at her console, reopening ship-wide communications. "Now hear this... hostile vessel has disengaged temporarily. They have given us three hours to prepare for their return, upon which they will fire on us. Maintain your posts, people... we're not out of the woods yet. Acorn out." The Captain rested an elbow on the arm of her chair and wiped a hand down her muzzle. "Three hours..." she muttered, glancing to her First Officer, "doesn't give us much time..."

Robotnik sniffed, hooked nose tweaking as he wore his usual disdainful expression. "Unfortunately," the man said, almost sounding bored, "the Universe rarely sees fit to bow to our convenience..."

Sally fought the urge to roll her eyes, instead considering their next move. "We should warn the colony," she decided, "at least inform them of the situation." Sally's ears twitched and she frowned as she considered the alien's words. "Although... I get the feeling they may already be familiar with that ship..."

...

Sally had once again retreated into the briefing room with her two senior officers to discuss the situation, the ship now maintaining a higher orbit in the event the pirate vessel would return. However, now the Captain and her Commanders were all stood, as the centre of the room was now occupied by the full-scale hologram of Nathan Lantree, the head of the colony below having 'joined' the command crew for the discussion.

"That's what we're looking at, mister Lantree..." Sally said, pacing before the hologram with her hands clasped just above her short tail, "less than three hours before they return. Assuming the translation was accurate."

"And assuming they keep their word," Commander Robotnik added, receiving a smirk from Bunnie. "They're back..." Lantree's mildly luminescent image muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose as he seemingly turned away to look into the briefing room wall, "of course they're back..."

"They have given us that long to remove whatever civilians we can from the planet... and then they will return. When they do they will attempt to destroy us, and a large portion of your people. Whoever they can't transport themselves to be sold as slaves. That is their ultimatum."

Lantree chuckled dryly, his image turning to regard Sally with accusing eyes, "so that's it, huh? Just gonna pack up and leave again, huh GUN? You know I was there when your boys abandoned us last time. I remember the terror, and the panic, and the fear, that people felt thinking that at any moment an alien fleet could slip into orbit and wipe us all out... knowing that there was nobody who would help us." The man grimaced, all but baring his teeth in his anger, "luckily that never came. Covenant never came to our system. Guess we'd be better off thanking them, huh?"

Sally ceased her pacing and locked eyes with Lantree. "We aren't abandoning you, Mister Lantree. While that ship poses a threat to this planet, my ship will remain to protect your people. We will interfere with your affairs no more than that." The chipmunk cocked her head and stepped lightly toward the human's image. "But mister Lantree... I don't believe this is the first time you have encountered these pirates, is it?"

Lantree's mouth slanted into a wry smirk. "No, Captain. It isn't. Those aliens showed up in-system a couple 'days ago. Entered orbit, hailed us, started spoutin' a bunch o' crap about how they're gonna enslave us and kill anybody who resists." The human grinned. "Well I guess we caught 'em with their pants down. Guess they weren't expecting a salvo from a bunch o' heavy-duty mass drivers." Bunnie raised an impressed eyebrow at the man's words. "We drove them off, thought that'd be the end of it... but then lo and behold, as soon as the GUNSC turn up to save us, they come back! Funny, ain't it?"

Sally's fur bristled at the accusation, but allowed the sudden irritation to pass. This man and his people had been effectively left for dead by the GUNSC during the war. He had every right to be angry. "Mister Lantree, our presence here is entirely due to rogue transmissions beamed from your colony," Sally replied coolly, "if we detected it, then there's no telling who else could have." Sally approached the human's image, extending her hands pleadingly, "Mister Lantree... the GUNSC may have abandoned your people before, but this is a new age. We're here to help. We won't leave you again."

The human's hostile manner appeared to lessen, the man chewing his lip and seemingly staring into the deck tiles as he considered. The faint blue glow from the hologram illuminated the dull grey of the briefing room. "Begging your pardon Captain... but I don't trust you." The human straightened his back and set his jaw, appearing to have made a decision. "We can take care of ourselves, Captain. We don't need you here, and we don't want you here. I hope you understand." The human turned away, reaching out to cut the transmission on his end. "Lantree out."

With that, the hologram flickered and vanished.

"Well," Snively said with a heavy exhale of breath, "I suppose that solves that."

Bunnie turned and glared at the man. "That don't solve anythin', Commander! Captain..." the rabbit-mobian stepped toward Sally and shook her head, long ears flopping with the motion, "we can't just leave them here! Not with that tub prowlin' around out there!"

"You heard what Lantree had to say, Lieutenant-Commander..." Snively replied with a shrug, "our presence here is undesired. As per GUNSC protocol, we are obligated to allow them their independence." The human leaned back on the table and folded his arms. "Plus, it seems they do have some defensive capability at least."

"Those mass drivers?" Bunnie scoffed, "Steerbeast-dung! I'll bet a years' worth o' Admiral Archer whiskey that those pirates weren' expectin' a fight, and didn't even have their shields up!" Bunnie hissed and massaged her shoulder as she again became agitated. "In short, Ma'am, the colonists got lucky!"

Sally nodded, turning and striding toward the briefing room door as she spoke. "The cruiser must have retreated for repairs... now they're back, and they are aware of the colony's defences."

"Lantree an' his people are a great big bullseye painted on the planet's surface," Bunnie added as she and Robotnik followed their Captain back onto the Bridge, "an' they don't even know it!"

"What do you propose we do, Captain?" Snively ignored the Lieutenant-Commander and focused his attention on Sally, hands smartly placed behind his back.

Sally took her seat as her officers stood, crossing her legs and rubbing a hand across her chin in thought. "Mister Lantree has made his position very clear," the mobian replied, "GUNSC assets are not welcome in this system. By our own laws, we have to leave them to their own devices." Bunnie's mouth flapped open in protest, before Sally raised a hand to silence her. "However..." the Captain continued, "I will not allow that ship out there to threaten those people further. We will remain in-system and deal with the present situation. After that..." Sally let her words hang in the atmosphere for a moment, before releasing a heavy sigh, "after that they're on their own." Sally regarded her officers carefully. "Is that understood?" Bunnie appeared on the verge of protesting, but set her jaw and nodded. "Yes Ma'am."

Robotnik offered a single bow of the head in response, apparently no more concerned than if they were discussing what to eat for dinner. "Yes, Captain."

A brief silence descended on the trio, before Sally shifted in her seat and returned to business. "Very well. Now, I want that cruiser dealt with. What are our tactical options?"

Bunnie smirked, happy that the subject had entered her wheelhouse. "Old Covie cruiser, Captain. Big ol' space tank. Back in the day those tubs could take on ours three to one, no contest."

"Yes, the Captain is aware of the power disparity between wartime human and Covenant ships..." Snively said condescendingly, earning himself a look of venom from his fellow Commander. Sally silenced him with a gesture, and signalled Bunnie to continue.

"These days..." the rabbit-mobian went on, "we got a lot more toys to play with. Magnetic Accelerator Cannon, missiles, nukes... plus energy shielding and plasma projectors. Not to mention superior drive systems. That gives us an edge." as she spoke, Bunnie had swivelled a nearby console round to bear on Sally and Robotnik, bringing a display of the Knothole up on the screen and signalling the appropriate sections in the sleek, daggerlike ship. "But..." the rabbit's face dropped, her positive demeanour slipping a little, "she's a mighty big 'un, Captain. That cruiser still has us in tonnage, an' she's packin' some real nasty teeth. Plus any other modifications these ya-hoo's might've made themselves." Bunnie stared into the display for a moment, chewing it over before looking back to her Captain. "Tell the truth ma'am, may as well juggle the Emeralds and sing Hail Soleanna in a straight fight."

Snively rolled his eyes. "English please, Commander..."

Sally answered before Bunnie could snap at the human. "We're evenly matched," she explained, "we can't run the risk of direct engagement. Especially with civilians to protect." Sally breathed heavily and clasped her fingers. "We need more options." The Chipmunk looked past her command officers to the navigation station. "Ensign D'Coolette? Have long-range scans detected any sign of friendly ships within range?"

The Ensign jerked as though he'd been shot at, ears swivelling and eyes wide as he turned to answer his Captain. "N... negative, Ma'am! C... closest available ship is eleven hours away!"

Bunnie grimaced. "We ain't gettin' backup in the time we have left, Ma'am. This is gonna be over before anybody else arrives, one way or another."

Sally licked her lips, pushing down the frustration building in her chest at their predicament. One ship, against another, both evenly matched and with twenty-thousand innocent lives at stake.

"What about the moon?" Sally tapped at her console and brought up a map of the system, decreasing the magnification to show the planet itself and the small moon in orbit, "we position ourselves in close orbit. Hide in its shadow, and then attack the cruiser when she slips in to engage the planet."

It was Snively's turn to interject. "That might work had we not a population to defend," the human said pointedly, "in the time it takes us to emerge from our position and fire on the enemy vessel, they could easily begin orbital bombardment. We need to have their attention immediately if we wish to preserve the lives of those civilians."

"Chaos..." Sally hissed, her composure slipping as she realised he was right.

"What about the colony?" Bunnie suggested, "their mass drivers, the extra firepower... maybe we could convince Lantree to-"

Sally raised a hand and locked her eyes on Rabbot, utterly silencing the Lieutenant-Commander. "Absolutely not," the Captain replied sternly, "I am not leading a hostile vessel toward a civilian colony. That is out of the question."

Bunnie's ears drooped and she nodded respectfully. "O' course, Ma'am. Jus' considering the option."

Sally released a hiss of frustration. "So we can't engage them directly, and we can't engage them indirectly, because the risk is too great." Sally chewed at a claw and glanced to Snively. "This... 'leg-stretching' is turning into a great damn cramp."

"C... Capitan?"

Sally's ear perked, and she joined Bunnie and Snively as they looked to find Ensign D'Coolette, fiddling nervously with his insignia, having just spoke up from his console.

Sally cocked her head and raised an eyebrow. "Something to report, Ensign?"

The junior officer looked like a petrified actor frozen before a crowd, eyes wide and face lines with worry, though he continued nonetheless. "I... I am begging your pardon Ma'am, but... but I 'ave calculated a flight path and... and..." the coyote licked hi slips and took a moment to calm himself, releasing a lungful of oxygen, "pardon me Captain, but I 'ave an idea..."

Sally exchanged a look of surprise with her command officers, before leaning forward to appraise the Ensign. "Very well, D'Coolette... let's hear it."

...

"Hey, how ya doin' there hun?"

D'Coolette's head snapped up from his console, the Ensign shooting a sheepish glance to Bunnie as she caught his attention. The man had been muttering beneath hs breath, his anxiety clearly getting the better of him at this moment. "I... I am sorry, Ma'am..." the Ensign stammered breathlessly, "I... I am just..."

"Hey! Antoine?" Bunnie interjected, nudging his arm and flashing a buck-toothed grin, "relax, okay?"

"Is everything in order, Ensign?" Captain Acorn spoke from her command chair, Antoine's eyes fearfully looking to meet hers as he was addressed.

"Captain..." the young man replied, "I... I..."

The Captain bowed her head, ice-blue eyes boring into his. "Ensign D'Coolette, if you feel you need to vacate your duties... the time is now. You will not have the chance when we engage the enemy." Sally leaned forward, her gaze unwavering, "and I expect all of my active officers to perform their duty."

Antoine's breath caught in his throat, the fear almost overwhelming... before he breathed deep, pushing the fear down, and swallowed his nerves a final time. "I... am fine, Captain..." the young man replied steadily, "I will carry out my duty..."

The Captain nodded, and said no more. The Ensign swivelled back to his own station and wiped his hands across his uniform pants.

"See?" Bunnie said cheerfully, "you can do it, 'Twan! Besides, this was your idea..." the rabbit mobian offered the coyote a wink, "who better to steer us through it?"

Antoine blushed and attempted to compose himself, adjusting his seat as his console blinked softly before him. "I will do my best, Lieutenant-Commander..."

Bunnie smirked, and returned to her own duties. Meanwhile, atop the command chair, Sally surveyed the Bridge as her crew made ready. It was now three hours since the alien vessel had offered their ultimatum. The Knothole's time was up, and the cruiser would be back any minute.

"He should be here by now..." Sally mumbled, one hand rubbing her chin as she stared thoughtfully into the main viewscreen.

"Perhaps he was bluffing?" Snively offered, the Commander similarly poised and ready for imminent contact with the rogue vessel, "perhaps they are unwilling to engage with a brand new GUNSC ship. They'd know our armament if they scanned us."

sally released a silent chuckle. "We should be so lucky..." the chipmunk replied

"Quite frankly I'm amazed they haven't tried to attack sooner," the Commander said, "catch us off-guard. Kig-Yar rogues and all..."

Sally offered a non-committal shrug. "Let's hope they don't bring any friends..." she said quietly, "Kig-Yar pirates usually operate alone, but I'd rather not bite off more than we can chew."

Snively nodded imperceptibly. "We'll find out in due time, I suppose..." the man said, as seemingly unconcerned as ever.

The two officers fell silent, watching, waiting for any sign of the enemy. Minutes dragged by, the silence unbroken save for the hum of the ship and the bleeps and pings of the computers. It almost seemed like the Shipmaster really did have no intention of returning to the system after all.

Sally swallowed, clearing her dry throat. "Mister Rabbot..." she said, words carrying easily across the Bridge, "what do your scans say?"

"Not a thing, Ma'am..." the Lieutenant-Commander replied, "quiet as a grave out there."

Sally and Snively exchanged a puzzled glance. "You may be right, Commander..." the mobian said, "maybe they were bluffing..."

"Contact, contact!" Bunnie's raised voice cut across the Bridge and squashed the sudden hope that had flared in Sally's chest, "vessel slipping in, three-hundred thousand kilometres! Approaching fast!" Bunnie's eyes widened as she checked her systems. "Chaos, they're in a real hurry Captain!"

"Shields up! Signal Red Alert!" Sally replied, the ship's sirens blaring at her command, "Ready Accelerators! Communications... hail them!"

Her Bridge crew acknowledged their Captain's orders, and once again the computers pinged as communications were established with the hostile vessel.

"Captain!" The synthetic voice of the alien commander's translated speech played from the comms system, "do not attempt to negotiate terms! My mercy does not allow for-"

"Save your anger, Shipmaster..." Sally cut the alien off mid-speech, "we were just leaving. Our mission here is over."

"Oh, so the human meat-carcass sees sense after all!" the alien released another string of cackling, Sally wincing at the noise, "very good... now remove your worthless vessel from my sight, before-"

"Turns out," Sally interrupted again, "there was something far more valuable on that planet than a few potential slaves... technology, ancient technology. Forerunner. The colonists were guarding it, but they handed it over to us without too much of a fight." The Captain shifted in her chair and glared into the image of the red ship onscreen, as though she were speaking directly to its commander. "It's very old. And very valuable... GUNSC will pay us well for it. So if you'll allow us, we'll be taking our leave very shortly."

Silence met her from the other ship, and Sally prayed to Chaos her bluff would pay off.

"You lie." Shipmaster Du'Khat hissed through her computers.

Sally's muzzle tweaked. "Goodbye, Shipmaster. Helm? Prepare to bring us about and depart the system."

With that Sally promptly cut the line between the Knothole and the other ship, turning her attention to her helm officer. "Mister D'Coolette, Execute full about on my command. Mister Rabbot, weapons status?"

"Both Accelerators fully charged, Ma'am. Ready to go."

Sally tapped her inter-ship communications. "Engineering, this is the Captain. I'm gonna need everything you can give us, Commander Rotor."

"Aye, Captain! We'll get it done!"

"Captain?" The Communications Lieutenant spoke up again, "they're hailing us."

"It appears we've piqued their interest," Snively said airily, betraying no emotion other than mild curiosity.

"Well hopefully they'll hold off on immediately blowing us out of the vacuum," Sally replied, leaning back in her chair and steeling herself. "Let's not leave them ringing. Mister Rabbot?"

The Lieutenant-Commander's ears twitched, and a dreadful blanket of silence seemed to descend upon the bridge as it became clear what the Captain's next order would be. "Ma'am?"

Sally leaned forward, staring at the blood-red ship on the screen. Her heart beat twice before she uttered a single word.

"Fire."

...

The Magnetic Accelerator Cannon had been the primary ship-to-ship armament of GUNSC vessels for over two centuries, having evolved from much smaller railgun weapons mounted on older vessels. The weapon used a huge metal slug as its ammunition, fired along a barrel of concentric magnetic rings that accelerated the projectile to ludicrous speeds. Older ships were essentially giant guns in space, built entirely around this primary weapon.

Modern MACs were smaller, taking up less of a ship's bulk... but with the advent of new technologies after the Covenant War, they were no less deadly. Or accurate.

The Knothole shook as her number-one MAC fired, a flash of light briefly existing in the vacuum of space. The projectile closed the vast distance between both ships in seconds, an unbelievable amount of firepower concentrated into a tiny surface area as it slammed into the cruiser's shields.

The second round from number-two MAC hit moments later, both hits packing enough force to offset the cruiser's course and sending her into a light spin.

A chorus of cheers sounded on the Knothole's Bridge, the sight of the listing vessel enough to rouse the crew's spirits.

"Maintain discipline!" Sally cried out, her crew swiftly returning to their duties, "Mister D'Coolette bring us about, full thrusters! All shield power to aft!"

The Knothole spun in space, her massive rear-mounted primary engines glowing white-hot as she swiftly turned to point her prow at the nearby moon. The silver orb grew larger as the ship accelerated, her engines doing their best to put distance between her and the enemy vessel.

"Captain!" Bunnie called from her station, hands pattering at her console, "enemy ship has fired! Torpedoes away!"

"Reverse angle!" Sally responded, rocking in her seat as the Knothole vibrated. The main viewscreen flickered and switched to display the view from the ship's rear. The gleaming blue and green orb of Emerald Coasts hung far away, stars twinkling behind... as a pair of vicious red micro-suns streaked after the Knothole.

"One thousand kilometres!" Bunnie cried, "impact imminent!"

"Full power aft shields!" Sally jabbed the ship-wide comms. "All hands! Brace for impact!"

Seconds later the ship rocked violently as the pair of plasma torpedoes crashed into her rear, the crew almost flung from their seats. Warning alarms sounded as the Knothole suffered from the blast, emergency lighting bathing the Bridge in red as the primary lights went dark.

"STATUS!" Sally cried, righting herself in her command chair as the tremors settled throughout the ship.

"Shields at thirteen percent!" Bunnie responded, "structure's holding, but we're gonna be suckin' vacuum if we take another hit like that, Ma'am!"

"All decks report no casualties Captain," Robotnik reported, a single bead of sweat running down his bald head, "damage control teams at the ready."

Sally thumbed her comms system. "Engineering! I need whatever power to the engines you can give me!"

"We'll get it done Captain, even if I have to get out an' push!"

Sally cut the line to the Chief Engineer and sat straight, her heart pounding in her chest. If the Knothole had been unshielded, that blow would have taken them out of the fight.

"C... Captain!" Ensign D'Coolette called from the helm, "we... we're coming up on the moon now!"

"Bring us into extreme low orbit!" Sally ordered, gripping the arms of the command chair, "all hands, prepare for slingshot manoeuvre!"

The Ensign nodded rapidly, hands shaking as he plotted the course he'd cooked up himself. The young officer wished he hadn't opened his mouth - the manoeuvre would certainly kill them all, and he was responsible.

"You can do it, Ensign..." Antoine's ear twitched at Bunnie's words, the Lieutenant-Commander staring intently into his face.

"D... do it to it?" the Ensign half-giggled, his nerves threatening to spiral out of control.

"That's right!" Bunnie replied, "do it to it, 'Twan."

The Ensign nodded and patted at his instruments. "Descending now, Captain!"

"Ma'am!" Bunnie called from her station, "another round of enemy torpedoes away!"

"Get us down there, Ensign!" Sally cried, sat rigid in her chair, "now!"

The silver moon orbiting Emerald Coasts was now closer than ever, taking up more and more of the viewscreen as the ship tilted onto her side and approached. With no atmosphere to slow her down, the Knothole maintained incredible speeds meant to drive her across star systems, the silver landscape below whizzing beneath the starboard-side hull.

"Ten kilometres, Ma'am..." D'Coolette reported, "nine..."

"Close as you can, Ensign." Sally replied calmly, maintaining her composure. The viewscreen had fallen dark again as the ship passed into the moon's night side, her hull effectively brushing the surface below. She was now so close to the moon, the gravity-manipulating technology of her main drives brought up plumes of dust, a silver-grey sheet running for hundreds of kilometres across the body's surface.

Some thousand kilometres behind her, hidden by the curvature, a flash of blue-white light lit up the dark landscape as twin suns impacted the moon.

"Detonation confirmed, Ma'am!" Bunnie enthusiastically reported, "plasma torpedoes impacted the surface!"

"Ensign, full about! Execute full reversal, main engines to full on my mark!"

Thrusters fired along the Knothole's outer hull, the ship's prow lowering as her stern rose. Her forward momentum carried her on her course, as the ship slowly cartwheeled end over end, to find herself pointing back in the direction she had came.

"Main engines!" Sally cried, "fire!"

The huge rear-mounted engines of the Knothole bloomed with white-hot light, rapidly slowing her momentum. Aboard the Bridge, the deck shook as though an earthquake were coursing through her hull, the crew gripping tight to their seats as massive forces assaulted the ship. Were it not for the advanced technology that constructed her, the Knothole would have been torn apart. An older ship simply couldn't have performed the act and survived.

Gradually however, the ship was slowed, until she stilled and began to cautiously creep back on her previous course. Her speed increased, until she was cruising once again.

Sally wiped sweat from her brow, half-amazed they were still in one piece. "Con... gratulations, Mister D'Coolette..." the Captain breathed heavily, exhausted from the pressure of the orbital manoeuvre, "Mister Rabbot... shield strength?"

"forty-three percent... and climbing, Captain..." Bunnie replied, similarly adjusting herself after the burn.

"Maintain them as best you can. Charge Magnetic Accelerators and arm missile pods... and prime energy projectors."

"Captain..." Snively gasped, the human red-faced and bathed in sweat, "firing the lasers will rob us of shield strength..."

"I am aware, Commander..." Sally snapped, in no mood to be contradicted, "but we need to make this count..."

"Ma'am! Enemy ship coming into view now!"

Sure enough, exactly as Bunnie reported, the glint of blood-red carapace shone above the moon, as the alien vessel coasted over the body's curvature and slid through the dust kicked up from the Knothole's pass.

The vessel's prow began to flicker with light, readying another salvo of torpedoes.

Too late. They had not expected the Knothole to be facing them down, and she had the element of surprise.

"Fire accelerators! Empty missile pods A through B and ready energy projectors!"

Once again the Knothole's prow blazed with short-lived fire, hyper-velocity slugs flashing across space and slamming into the opposing ship. The shields flickered and died, the punishment too soon after their previous battering... exposing the hull to the dozens of missiles that had trailed behind the slugs. Explosions rippled across the bulbous hull of the vessel, breaking apart internal systems and sending the ship into a steep list.

"Captain..." Bunnie reported, as the entire crew watched the enemy vessel burn in space, "energy projectors ready to fire, at your word..."

Sally gripped the arms of her chair, the enemy vessel before her now baring its port hull. A big, fat, perfect target ripe for the picking.

"Hold fire..." she ordered, "Communications... hail them."

Her crew hesitated a moment before carrying out their duties, clearly not anticipating the order. Once again the computers trilled as communications were opened with the beaten ship.

"This is Captain Acorn of the Knothole..." her tone betrayed nothing but sheer, indomitable confidence, the voice of a leader who knew she was victorious, "hailing Shipmaster Du'Khat."

It was some moments before she received her response. Before too long, a vicious snarl signalled the alien commander's reply. "Foul meat-carcass! Human filth! If you intend to gloat then grant me the honour of-"

"One, wrong species." Sally cut the raging Shipmaster off, tired of the alien's ranting and on the verge of simply ordering the ship destroyed, "two, I believe we have made ourselves very clear. You will leave this system immediately. Fail to comply, and we will continue fire. And by the looks of your vessel, Shipmaster, you're not in the position to take any more damage. In fact, I'd wager you'll be out of action for quite some time. And if you return to this system, I guarantee you'll have more than just one little ship to deal with. You will not return to this system again. I hope I've made myself understood."

The alien commander did not respond. Sally's only reply was a hiss of static, and the blip of the computers signalling he had cut contact.

"Captain..." Bunnie spoke up, "the vessel... is disengaging, Ma'am. She's real beat-up, but her Slipspace drives are still functioning."

"Thank you, Mister Rabbot." Sally relaxed into her seat, watching as the opposing vessel trailed flame and debris, clearly in no shape to continue resisting.

"Are you sure it was a good idea to let them just leave?" Commander Robotnik said pointedly, glaring at Sally as though she were out of her mind, "you understand that they could just come back, don't you?"

Sally hummed. "They won't be back..." she said confidently, "let them run off and tell their friends about the single Earth ship that pasted one of their tanks. I'll bet you they steer very clear of this system from now on." Sally shifted in her chair and looked about her bridge. Every individual aboard had done her proud today.

"Stand down from Red Alert..." Sally commanded, "hail the colony. Main viewscreen."

Soon enough, the face of Nathan Lantree materialised upon the viewscreen. The human appeared shocked, his eyes filled with concern. "Captain!" the human said, "we were monitoring the battle from the surface... we saw your ship take those hits, do you need assistance?"

Sally glanced to Snively, who appeared mildly surprised at the other man's concern. "We appreciate the offer, Mister Lantree..." Sally replied, "but we're just fine. A little bruised, but we're still in one nice piece." Sally adjusted in her seat and offered the man a smile. "The enemy ship has disengaged. They won't be bothering you again."

"Captain, we..." Lantree paused, seemingly considering his words, "I didn't think you were going to make it. I didn't know that ship was so powerful..."

Sally nodded. "We believe their shields were down when your mass drivers drove them away. Fortunately, our ship is built strong." Sally's demeanour hardened a fraction. "I gave you my word we would defend this colony and we have. If you allow us... the GUNSC will continue to do so."

Lantree raised an eyebrow. "You trying to bribe me, Captain?"

"No, Mister Lantree..." Sally replied, "should you wish it, we will leave and the GUNSC will leave this colony alone. Our patrols will remain out-system... but your skies will be free of our ships. We're here to help, Mister Lantree. To protect. Not conquer."

The human onscreen appeared to consider for some moments... before he nodded his head and locked eyes with hers again. "We'll think about it, Captain Acorn. After today... we'll think about it. Until we make a decision... you are welcome in our orbit. We will grant you any assistance you require. It's the least we can do."

Sally nodded. "Thank you, Mister Lantree..." the chipmunk relaxed into her command chair, glad to hear the man's words, "we will remain as long as you need. If that will be all?"

Nathan Lantree offered Sally the first welcoming smile she had seen from the man. "That'll be all, Captain. See you in orbit."

With that, the leader of the Emerald Coasts colony cut his end of the line and the viewscreen flickered out, the planet itself shining bright in the Bridge windows.

Sally raised a hand and ran her fingers through her dark brown head fur, her ears drooping with fatigue from the battle. "Well, Commander..." she looked and offered a wry smile to Snively beside her, "I think we stretched our legs well enough, wouldn't you say?"

"Indeed, Captain..." the human replied wearily, leaning back in his chair, "though I'm afraid I fail to see the sense in allowing our foe to disengage."

Sally sighed and considered her words. "Galaxy's bigger than it used to be, Commander... if we go throwing our weight around, initiating... violence and destruction at the drop of a hat... it'll come back to bite us in the tail all over again. Besides. Word gets around. Soon enough every rogue slaver in the known galaxy will know... the GUNSC is back."

"Yes, Captain." Robotnik said, wearing his usual unamused expression.

Sally regarded the human for a moment longer, before leaning back in her seat and looking to the planet shining outside her Bridge windows. Hopefully, the people down there would be more accepting of the presence of her and her people... and an incident such as this could never happen again in this system. "Mister D'Coolette?"

The Ensign in question released a small yelp before answering. "Y.. yes Captain?"

"Exemplary work. A Hell of a way to start your career aboard this ship." The Captain smiled. "I'll see to it you're commended for your efforts today, D'Coolette. Without you, our victory today would not have been possible."

The coyote flapped his jaw, seemingly taken aback by the Captain's compliments. T... th... thank you Captain!"

Sally nodded. "Mister Rabbot?"

Bunnie cocked her head in response, grinning as she continued observing her station, "yes Ma'am?"

"Good shooting," Sally replied, clasping her fingers as she regarded her officers, "all of you. Outstanding work. I couldn't have asked for a finer performance today." Sally surveyed her Bridge crew, a collection of multicoloured faces beaming with freshly-boosted confidence after their successful engagement. The Captain settled back in her chair as the planet entered centre screen. "Helm? set a course for Emerald Coasts station, high orbit. I think we're going to discover they may be a little more open to GUNSC assistance after today..."

"I hope not every mission is as... headache inducing as this one," Snively grumbled, rubbing his forehead with a groan.

Sally clucked her tongue in response. "Can't be afraid to deal with whatever's out here, Commander... it's a big galaxy once again, after all."

With that, the sleek grey ship pointed her hull at the brilliant sphere of Emerald Coasts, the world it had fought to defend, and coasted through space to orbit her once again.

...

Ship's log, Captain Sally Acorn, Officer Commanding. The Knothole maintains her orbit around the colony of Emerald Coasts station. I have been personally invited down to the planet by Nathan Lantree, the leader of the colony, in re-establishing friendly relations between his world, and the GUNSC. It is my hope that we can create a bright future together, of peaceful co-operation. In the meantime, Emerald Coasts is a beautiful planet, untouched by the last war... mister Lantree has allowed members of the crew to visit while off-duty. I believe I will join them when my own duties permit. Perhaps Lieutenant-Commander Rabbot would be interested in sampling the local wine... until our next voyage.