Thanks to everyone who reviewed. For anyone who cares, Chapter 1 is now edited and re-formatted.
Sorry for the short chapter, but I thought this was the best place to end it.
August 21, 2184
Varren-class personal transport Fading Glory
0200 hours
Pierce's ship was rather comfortable. It was nothing like the comparatively massive frigates and cruisers Sin had found himself on during his career, but those ships were mainly just weapons, consoles, and power cores. The shipboard quarters left a lot to be desired.
The Fade sported four goodly-sized cabins, each consisting of a bed and hygiene room. Surprisingly enough, each room was customized to accommodate the wide range of species that could be found sailing through space. The rooms were large enough to accommodate krogan or elcor, equipped with vocal sensors to be convenient for hanar, and still managed to retain the general aura and sense of a pre-space age shower.
Sin rather liked his new home. Annoying bunkmates snoring incessantly through the night would no longer be annoying, because the room was entirely soundproof. Good thing too, because on the off-chance Pierce snored and the fact that Karoleis probably talked in his sleep, there was enough sound potential to keep him awake for the entire venture.
Pierce, being the krogan battlemaster he was, had made sure each room was outfitted with weapons racks and equipment bins. Between them all, there was enough room for his relatively sparse collection of gear. The Locust and Mantis looked somewhat lonely, situated high on the racks.
Currently, however, Sin was neither in his hygiene suite nor in his bedroom. Instead, he was on the cockpit with his companions, staring intently at the glowing galaxy map that hovered in mid-air.
"We were intended to meet up with your contact at Gotha, correct?" Pierce's deep rumble shook the bridge.
Karoleis stared perplexedly at the screen. The gently revolving globe displayed the hazy, browning form of the dwarf planet in detail. Looking closely, Mike could even see the individual spots as heat flickered through its atmosphere.
"Hmm-problematic, Lete-very-emphatic, Gotha-is-meeting-place, plans-change, probability-bad, complications, not-good." Karoleis tapped a finger against his thigh. "Ambush-by-geth? High-probability, geth-controlled-"
A high-pitched shrike cut through the air and the proximity lights began flashing. Pierce slammed a massive hand on a wall switch, which cut the alarm off immediately. Karoleis was already in the copilot seat, dexterous fingers flying over the control interface.
An image popped up on the overhead screen. A small personal transport, not unlike the Fading Glory, dove and spun desperately, blue laser beams and red missile trails flashing past it. Another ship pursued. It was smooth, sleek, with graceful lines and curves that reminded Mike of Terran sharks. Weapon mounts bristled from the hull, vomiting the deadly blasts of light and metal that sought to destroy its target.
Karoleis sat bolt upright.
"Vessel-signature-clear, Honor's-Folly, Lete's-ship!-under-attack-by-geth!-must-have-run-into-patrol-vessel-and-attempted-to-evade. Must-ask-her-how-she-managed-"
Pierce snorted. "You will not have your chance if we do not go to her aid." He lumbered over to the pilot seat and slid in without trouble. The ship rumbled, and the vectors indicating distance from the battling ships began to decrease
The krogan glanced over his shoulder, and Mike detected a glint of anticipation in those beady eyes.
"What is the human expression? Hold on tight."
Space was vast, and the void that enclosed it even more so, but the flickers of light that flashed as the three ships began their duel slashed through the darkness with flamboyant bursts of energy.
Fading Glory dove in on the geth ship at an almost vertical angle, catching the vessel's top side. Though not a military ship of any class, Pierce's extensive fortunes had upgraded and re-fitted the previously innocent transport, turning it into a heavily-armed, heavily-shielded, and extremely fast attack vessel.
The fruits of his labor showed as the elongated posts assumed by many to be maneuvering fins rotated and swung up, splitting apart to reveal the cylindrical shapes of laser cannons.
Red blasts exit the cannons, and as Glory swoops out of its dive and vectors away, the rapid hammers of high-intensity light beams smash against the geth ship. Shields and kinetic barriers absorb the damage, however, and the mechanical shark remains unharmed.
Glory sweeps around, and this time, five small cones detach from aft storage areas and ignite, trailing blue sparks as they rush forward. Five more follow, launched in a calculated staggering pattern. The krogan's ship follows the path of its missiles, zooming in on the geth ship's port side.
Defense lasers slash out at the missiles, but preprogrammed defensive maneuvers and extra fuel tanks allow the projectiles to dance, avoiding narrowly the bolts of light to slam into their target, vanishing in brief bursts of flame.
The kinetic barriers hold, but the shields fail, and now Glory fires its laser cannons, a steady, unremitting stream of power that slams with reckless abandon against its target. Barriers fall, and finally, the energy bypasses all defensive measures to gouge holes in the gleaming, unmarred hull.
Now, the geth ship fires. A coruscating beam lances out and briefly joins its target to it for a moment, before the quarian ship's aft detonates spectacularly, stopping the ship dead in space.
Another beam lances out, this one aimed at Glory, but the ship jinks and twirls, evading the beam and returning sporadic fire. More damage is scored on the geth ship, but damage is largely superficial.
Still, the predator moves forward, until it is perpendicular to the stricken quarian vessel. The prow slams into the side, but does not penetrate through. Instead, boarding tubes are extended, joining the ships.
Silence reigned on the Glory's bridge.
"Well," Mike said, finally. "That isn't good."