It took a week and a half for Lucky to work her magic on the remaining torpedoes. Apparently she did not have the parts to make them radio communicate with the Vagabond, so they were instead equipped with internal timers. It was less than ideal, but it would have to do. The whole timer thing did mean that Zack would have to re-draw his diversionary plans. This also wasn't that big of a deal, but it should have been fine.
Fuggla had followed through on her promise of lewd imagery. His messenger had automatically opened the first few, and Zack had looked them against his will. He could not restrain his laughter. Having Asperiter on board for so long meant that Zack could figure out when he was upset. Asperiter looked like a hostage in those images. Asperiter had also come up to him and asked him to reconsider the overall situation. Zack could not quantify his indifference.
Regardless, Fuggla's antics were for another time. The main issue for now was getting the hell out of the system they were in. He had been working with Lucky on a variety of potential timer schemes. Because he could not launch them as their design intended, he basically had to chuck them out of the cargo hold and let orbital mechanics do the rest. A timer would expire, and then the torpedoes would activate. They would hurl themselves at the cruisers, and hopefully give a false impression as to where the Vagabond actually was. Then, the cruisers would hopefully leave their positions, and the Vagabond could get out of there, take a lot of detours to ensure they weren't being followed, and eventually return to Lucre Station.
It took a lot of math, but he and Lucky were eventually able to pick a point at which to launch the torpedoes from the ship. It was the next day, and Zack had himself, Asperiter, and Killal ready to suit up, first thing in the morning. The three of them went down to the cargo hold and opened it up.
"Is this going to work, Wolfe? I mean, if it doesn't work, we are screwed," Killal said.
"This one thinks this is a bad idea as well," Asperiter said.
"I think it will work," Zack said, feigning a confidence that was not there.
"This one thinks you should reconsider," Asperiter said.
"Think of it this way: if all goes to shit, you get to die in Fuggla's arms," Zack said.
Killal started laughing, but Asperiter was silent for a moment.
"This one does not find that joke funny," Asperiter said.
"Really? Why not?" Zack asked sarcastically.
"This one thinks you need to get her back," Asperiter said.
"Why is that?" Zack asked.
"This one thinks Eroshka and Fuggla are going to kill each other," Asperiter said.
"Sounds like a win-win to me," Zack said.
"Watch it. Fuggla's nuts, but she's my friend," Killal said.
"What do you expect me to do about her?" Zack asked.
"No idea! I generally just sit back and watch the fireworks," Killal said.
"Why would you expect me to do anything different?" Zack said.
"Cause she likes you," Killal said.
"Alright, enough of this. Drop point is coming. Get the torpedoes in position," Zack said.
It didn't take long for the three of them to get the torpedoes in position. Zack looked at the timer on his omni-tool. Three… two… one… deploy. The torpedoes launched into space. Zack called up Lucky on the omni-tool.
"Lucky? You there?" Zack asked.
"I'm here Wolfe," Lucky responded.
"How do the torpedoes look?" Zack asked.
"They are ready to go and the coordinates look good. All we have to do is wait," Lucky said.
"Great! Good work Lucky," Zack said.
"See you back in the CIC, Wolfe," Lucky responded.
Killal was already closing the cargo hold door, and Asperiter was already heading to the airlock back to the ship.
"So, about this plan of yours," Killal said.
"We will see how it goes in a few hours," Zack said.
"This one will be in his chambers with Eroshka," Asperiter said.
"I really don't appreciate this naysaying," Zack said.
"Just get us out of here," Killal said.
Zack de-suited, and headed up to the CIC. Thankfully, Fuggla was not present, but Sleeze and Lucky were both there. Lucky looked occupied looking at the sensors, so Zack let her be. He walked up to Sleeze in the pilot's seat.
"Ready for the flight of your life?" Zack asked, only half joking.
"I'm as ready as I'm going to get, Wolfe," Sleeze responded.
"We don't know how the Kett will respond to our provocation, so we will have to adapt on the fly," Zack said.
"I know, I know. How long until the grand event?" Sleeze asked.
Zack looked at one of the displays. Just under half an hour.
"Not long. You stay ready, I got to go get staff for the CIC," Zack said. Sleeze nodded.
Asperiter was occupied, as he said he would be, but Killal was available for the guns. Lucky and Sleeze were all prepared to go. The only thing left was the show.
Zack walked back up to the CIC. Everyone was at their stations. There was less than five minutes until the torpedoes activated. His heart started to speed up. He took a look at one his arms, and saw sweat beading on it. His body was freaking out, no matter how hard he tried to play it cool. Battle fever was coming, or in his case, retreat fever.
"Torpedoes activated," Lucky said.
Zack looked at the sensors. Two of the torpedoes were duds, but the rest were flying towards the kett cruisers. The Kett detected this, and their power output started to spike. They were charging towards where the torpedoes came from, exactly as planned.
"Sleeze! Can you get us outside of the star's gravity well?" Zack asked.
"Yes! A gap is opening up!" Sleeze said.
"Power up and let's get out of here!" Zack said.
"Powering up," Lucky answered.
The Vagabond's power output began to spike. No hiding anymore! The cruisers continued to head towards the source of the torpedoes, but sent several fighters towards the Vagabond. They knew something was up, and they were checking it out. Sleeze turned on the engines. The Vagabond began to hurtle towards the outer edge of the system. The cruisers would never catch them, but the fighters might.
"Lucky! Any idea if those fighters will get close enough to engage?" Zack asked.
"They will," Lucky answered.
"Killal, charge up the guns," Zack said, and Killal complied.
Zack turned back towards the sensors. Sleeze would need about 3 hours to get the Vagabond out of the system's gravity well, and the Kett fighters would catch them in about 2 hours. There were about 9 Kett fighters; apparently the cruisers did not sent all their fighters. Regardless, when the fighters caught them, they would be in trouble.
"I'm gonna shoot them!" Killa said.
"Are you going to hit them?" Zack asked.
"Just, let me shoot them!" Killal said.
"Fire away," Zack said.
Killal started to fire away, salvo after salvo. The good thing about the fighters being in pursuit is that their path was fairly predictable. Killal was out of range, but actually hit two of them. Then the fighters turned around, and went back to the cruisers. The cruisers were going in for the long chase, but they would be gone by then. The Vagabond jumped out of the system, and for today, they were free.
After some maneuvers to ensure they weren't being followed, they returned to Lucre Station. Much to Zack's surprise, a lot of the junior officers wanted to salvage what was left of the first cruiser. After a lot of debate, Zack approved a few shuttles to look into it. This was mostly to shut them up, and a lot of the other captain's were angsty about the reduced Kett supply lines. Regardless, Zack was just happy to be out of that situation.
After about a week, there was an odd request: a news interview. Keri wanted to come to Lucre station to chat. What did she want? She was usually some dumb reporter, asking asinine questions. Zack had no impulse to punch her; only some idiot in the Milky Way would do that. Still, he was curious. What did that asari want here? He decided to approve her request. It wasn't long before she reached Lucre station on one of the transports.
"Guildmaster Wolfe! How are you today?" Keri said with a cheerful enthusiasm.
"Been better. What can I do for you?" Zack responded.
"I just have a few questions I would like to ask you. I also would like to really get to the root of the story. I want all the nasty details. Are you ready?" Keri asked.
"Fire away, Keri," Zack said. Keri began to change her facial expression.
"You and your organization were banished from the Nexus. Why did you build another station?" Keri said.
"My organization is a privateer fleet. I had to have somewhere to dock my ships," Zack said.
"Why not simply disband the organization?" Keri asked.
"Because both myself and my crews were designated criminals, and we have to get credits from somewhere. Returning to the Nexus wasn't an option," Zack said.
"Later, you and your fellow captains destroyed the Nexus Navy. May I ask why?" Keri said.
"Those were my ships! Tann took them illegally, and his criminalization of my and my organization meant I couldn't really pursue the matter through the courts. Tann is a grifter. That's all there is to know about the Nexus Navy," Zack said.
"Your attack made the Nexus almost defenseless," Keri answered.
"The Nexus was never well defended, and that is ultimately Tann's fault. If he wants to build his own ships, I'm not going to stop him," Zack said.
"Are you comfortable with leaving your former friends and colleagues at risk?" Keri asked.
"Tann made it so I don't really have a say in the matter. He told us to go, and we left. I don't know what he expects after that," Zack said.
"Are you aware of the Second Nexus uprising?" Keri asked.
"Yes, though I haven't seen or spoken to anyone associated with them," Zack said.
"Tann says they need to surrender peacefully and rejoin the Initiative proper. What is your take?" Keri said.
"They are not really my business, and I don't want them to be my business," Zack said. I have a mission there, but I haven't done it yet, so… Zack didn't say.
"Tann has said that you are working with them," Keri said.
"I am not aware of any of the Guild captains working with them, and most of them are generally avoiding the Nexus," Zack said.
"Tann also says that you are pirating Nexus shipping," Keri said.
"For the love of all that's holy, I am not and have never pirated Nexus shipping. Tell Tann to get some new talking points. I have no interest in pirating Nexus shipping," Zack said.
"Tann has also threatened to sanction the colonies who continue to trade with your organization," Keri said.
"Tell Tann to go for it. I don't know what he's going to do on the Nexus without the colonies, but he can do any of the lousy ideas that he wants," Zack said.
"You don't mind the idea of the loss of Nexus trade?" Keri asked.
"It doesn't involve me, so either way it doesn't impact me or my organization. Nexus trade is Tann's problem," Zack said.
"That seems self-centered, Captain Wolfe," Keri said.
"I've got other things to worry about now. I can't concern myself with Tann's antics," Zack said.
"But don't you care about the Nexus?" Keri said.
"It doesn't matter if I care or not. The situation on the Nexus is out of my control," Zack said.
"If you don't care about the Nexus, why did you shoot down that Kett cruiser?" Keri asked.
Zack blinked for a second. Was this another criticism, or something else?
"An opportunity presented itself, and I took it," Zack said.
"That was the first and only Kett cruiser shot down since the beginning of the Initiative's mission," Keri said.
"What do you mean?"
"You have access to the best military fleet in Heleus, or at least the best fleet that isn't Kett," Keri said.
"I have an organization. Fleet is a bit of an overstatement," Zack said. Keeping all the captains on the same page was difficult. The only leverage he had over them was Lucre Station.
"Tann is willing to pardon you if you turn over your fleet to the Nexus Navy and shoot down the rest of the Kett cruisers,"
What. The. Fuck.
"Hang on now. Tann stole two Guild ships – not my ships, Guild ships – and I had to destroy one to get the other one back. Then he exiled my organization, branded me as a criminal, and sent me off," Zack said.
"Tann has the right to seize private property under Initiative policy," Keri said.
"Good for him! He can go use it somewhere else. I'm not working for Tann again. He's a pain in the behind, and he doesn't know what he is doing," Zack said.
"But don't you care about the Nexus?" Keri said.
"You remind me of the Ryders. It's not a matter of caring. It's a matter of the situation. I am not welcome on the Nexus, and I am not willing to give up everything I have to change that," Zack said.
"The Ryders said they would vouch for you in your trial for the destruction and theft of the previous Nexus Navy," Keri said cheerfully.
"I'm honored by their offer, but I think that will be unnecessary," Zack said.
"You are willing to plead guilty to treason on the Nexus?" Keri asked.
"What? No. I'm not going back to Tann. I don't care if the place is burning up. Tann wanted me gone and I'm gone. I've already given him everything he wanted when he left the Nexus. Him moving the goalposts is his problem. I am no longer under his Initiative," Zack said.
"Why are you no longer part of the Initiative?" Keri asked.
"Because Tann said so when he kicked me and my organization out of the Nexus," Zack said.
"Captain Wolfe, I think you are letting your personal grudge against Tann cloud your judgement," Keri said.
"He attempted to ruin the Guild. My captains, crews, and I need the Guild. There isn't much personal about it," Zack said.
"The Nexus needs you, Captain Wolfe!" Keri said.
"Get off of my station, damn you!" Zack said.
Keri briefly protested, but then left. Good riddance, Zack thought. It seems she was looking for a hatchet piece after all, and she got it.
The next day, another message came in. A message from the Ryders. What did they want this time? Zack walked out of the Captain's cabin, and into the conference room.
"Hello Captain Wolfe! Uh, how've you been?" Sara asked sheepishly.
"What do you two want now?" Zack asked.
"Look, I know we've had disagreements, but we've got bigger fish to fry," Scott said.
"My fish are frying nicely. It seems to me like you've got bigger fish to fry," Zack said.
"We all know Tann is an idiot, but Tann isn't the Initiative, and the Initiative isn't Tann," Sara said.
"I cannot associate with the Nexus while Tann is calling the shots," Zack said.
"We need you to keep your Guild out of the colonies," Scott said.
"No," Zack said.
"Why not?" Sara asked.
"My Guild is not entirely self-supplied. If I stopped trading with the colonies, I would be unable to support my station," Zack said. This was true; Lucre station didn't have the ability to produce nearly as much as the Nexus did.
"Tann is fighting with the colonies, and some of the colonies are threatening to remove themselves from the Initiative entirely," Scott said.
"That sound's like a Tann problem," Zack said.
"It's an Initiative problem. We need the colonies on the same page," Scott said.
"Tann isn't able to keep the Nexus on the same page. Why would he be able to keep the colonies on the same page?" Zack asked.
"This isn't all about Tann," Sara said.
"What's it about then? Tann is losing control of the Nexus. Tann is losing control of the colonies. Tann kicked me off the Nexus and tried to steal my ships. It sounds like you have a Tann problem first and foremost," Zack said.
"What are saying?" Sara said.
"I think you two already know what you have to do," Zack said, and closed the stream.