Gragger showed his beak as he examined the data they had received from Poison Tooth.
"That's the fattest catch we've seen in a year," he said. His dark-green tentacles flared with excitement, obvious even in the dark of Iron Fang's stateroom.
Rosi leaned provocatively in front of him to see the image herself, her dark-purple eyes scanning the blurry images and estimated statistics.
"It's armed," she observed. "Guess the Feddies finally developed another neuron."
Gragger chuckled and ran his hand down her back and sweeping off the curve of her butt. "They had to eventually. I'm not sure if those bigger guns are real but I'd be more surprised if the other ones aren't. Unfortunately, Poison Tooth wasn't able to get a good scan of her as she passed by. Those damn M-particles again. Guess they've started putting them on their freighters now."
"Not like it'll affect us." Rosi stood up and swept one of her tentacles back with her hand. "We never relied any of that fancy tech they did."
"And it's paying off huge now." He stood too, brushing her cheek with two of his fingers as he passed. "I'll send a message to the brat and get the snowball rolling. Our people have been itching for a big score. We can't afford to let this pass."
"I know. So we're leaving after this one right? It's almost time, you know."
He waved his hand. "Yeah yeah, whatever you say. Just make sure she's taken care of in the meantime."
Rosi watched her inkling lover vanish around the corner as he headed for the bridge. Inside her, mild resentment churned in her gut, but she knew some of it was just her own anxiety for what was coming. Putting it aside, she departed the room herself, turning the opposite direction Gragger had gone and heading deeper into Iron Fang's habitation block, transitioning to the other of her two rotating wheel sections providing a full standard gravity. It was one of the best features of the converted ore hauler and the main reason it served as the flagship for their rough and ready fleet.
She passed a security checkpoint, annoyed but not surprised to see it unmanned. Their band of rogues really was past its prime. The war offered a chance at rebirth and the deal they'd worked out was lucrative, but discipline was still lax and Gragger no longer seemed interested in enforcing it. Unfortunately, too many of her own Black Serpents had departed since their marriage with the Flint Feathers, leaving her almost entirely alone.
Rosi arrived at the door to her quarters. Inside it was dark except for the red glow of the emergency lights. She took a left to a more crudely constructed door, one that had not been part of the ship's original layout, and blinked as she stepped through it into the bright light on the other side.
"Rosi?"
Another octoling sat amidst a mixed assortment of plush cushions, hands cupped around the curve of her enlarged midsection. Her eyes and tentacles were the green of lush forests and still had their youthful sparkle in spite of what she'd been through. She was barely twenty-five while Rosi was nearly forty, still in her prime but the days of her youth were definitely behind her now.
Rosi knelt amidst the cloud of cushions near the younger takenam and gently placed a hand on her belly, feeling its smooth surface beneath the thin fabric of her dress. "How are you feeling, Livia?"
Livia sighed. "Cramped, hungry, cranky, the usual. Can't believe one egg is making me this big."
Rosi could hear the trepidation in her voice and could imagine some of the things going on in her head. She was worried about her health and safety, but especially that of the child she now carried but had never asked for. Still, she was better than she had been the first few months as the newest member of Gragger's harem and the only one capable of producing a child. Not that she'd been a terribly willing member and a piece of Rosi regretted her part in that.
There was a small squeak and Rosi turned to stare at the young inkling standing in the doorway to the small kitchen, holding a tray of food.
"Chella, don't just stand there like an idiot, get over here. Didn't you hear she's hungry?"
Like a whipped beast, the inkling timidly approached the cushion pile and knelt to offer the tray to Livia.
Chella's presence on the ship was serendipity. They'd picked her up a few months ago when they'd raided a ship that turned out to be filled with nothing but refugees bound for Elysium. Refugees were worthless as hostages since they belonged to nobody who could pay a ransom and usually didn't have anything worth taking. Not wanting to waste unnecessary time, Rosi agreed to let the ship go if they gave her a young girl as a hostage. She wanted someone who could look after Livia. Chella had been their choice.
Livia's smile broadened and she gently rubbed the inkling's head with genuine affection. "Don't worry, Rosi, Chella's been taking good care of me. She made a whole two trips to the larder today."
Chella hated venturing outside their suite. Her tattered clothes marked the times she'd been harassed by members of the crew trying to have a good time with her, despite Rosi's orders she be left alone. It was another sign that discipline was lapsing, and that meant her control was slipping too, and she really didn't like that.
"We're running low on food," Chella said timidly. "Even the cook says we need to resupply soon."
"Don't worry about that," Rosi said, more for Livia's benefit than the inkling's. "We've got another target coming up. A few days and we should have that larder filled up long enough for us to get to a port somewhere."
Chella didn't respond or show any emotion to that. Her survival depended on successful raids as much as theirs did, but being a victim of such a raid herself obviously gave her mixed feelings on the issue.
Rosi normally wouldn't care about the feelings of someone who was little more than a slave aboard their ship, but she was directly looking after the mother of her family's only child, so the inkling's state of mind and happiness mattered as far as that went. And as sad as it was to think about, she trusted Chella more than many of her subordinates at the moment.
Livia asked, "what happens then?"
Rosi considered. She wanted to get Livia off the ship and into a more permanent home in which they could raise their child. She certainly didn't want either of them in a place where she felt her control was slipping over a bunch of bloodthirsty, undisciplined, thugs. It wasn't the same as things had been before, and she felt like a fool for not noticing it years ago, but she was where she was and she needed to deal. Unfortunately, she couldn't rely on Gragger for that anymore. He was starting to become as lackadaisical as the rest and might not realize his own grip on the group getting looser. He didn't feel like the person she'd first given herself to.
"Then I'm going to find a way to get you both off this ship and somewhere safer where you can take care of the egg. Whether Gragger decides to make something of himself, I don't know."
The expressions on the other two soured. Obviously, they wouldn't have had a high opinion of him to begin with, and she was well aware neither of them fully trusted her either. She was ultimately the one responsible for both of them being there.
That's fine though. We have the baby on the way and a continuation of the legacy. If I have to start from scratch to give the kid something to build on, that's fine too.
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There was no flash of energy or any other eye-catching display when Audacity exited the current into the space around the Knossos Asteroid Field. The ship drifted slightly before her main engines ignited and she began accelerating to cruising speed.
Rauld held on to the nearby hand bar as the ship accelerated. It was the first time he'd felt anything like gravity in almost four days. Around him, the rest of his flight were doing the same, waiting for the all clear to go back into the hangar and board their Balls for their first patrol since they'd entered the current.
He was still thinking about his last conversation with Hypori, about the culture of their respective units. It was obvious she had a good relationship with her comrades, and while Rauld might be able to accept his subordinates not being terribly close to him, the fact that they only seemed to tolerate each other was not encouraging.
Other than Mouse and how she tried to get along with everyone, nobody else seemed to make any attempt at trying to become closer, to be more of a unit. It wasn't the fear of getting close to someone you might end up losing, they just didn't seem to care about each other.
"Why do we have to go out first?" Biter complained. "We're usually last in line, why not this time?"
"We weren't last in line for seeing the mobile suits," Rauld reminded him. "And I volunteered us because if we are going to be in a fight anyway, I'd rather be out here already instead of trying to rush out of the hangar with everyone else."
"I second that," Tank said. She was staring at the same view screen Rauld had been, watching the gentle tumbling of the asteroids in the distance.
Biter grumbled but said nothing.
"At least it's only pirates we're facing," Mouse spoke up, trying again to brighten the mood. "They won't be nearly as tough as the Collective."
Mouse's words didn't have much of an effect. The pirates weren't what was bothering them, it was the rest of the mission. There was a chance they would end up having to brave the asteroid field in order to find and destroy a secret Octarian base. Of course, even with their search area narrowed down, the chance of finding it was still pretty low, all the while they would be putting their craft in an environment they weren't sure they would survive.
Tank said, "I just want to see our mobile suits in action, see if we can do it as well as the Octarians."
"Of course we can," Biter snapped. "As if those octo-slags would be better than us at anything."
Mouse scowled and turned her head away. "Mobile suit pilots aren't that special. People need to stop making a fuss about them."
"I don't mind 'em," Biter shrugged. "Seen 'em around a couple of times. Don't really act like officers much."
"Exactly. Lieutenant Sealer was right about them being privileged. Officers are supposed to set an example."
Biter scoffed. "Whatever."
Rauld sighed, "Well, I guess we'll find out one way or the other soon. Right now, let's just focus on getting through this patrol. There's a chance the attack will come near the end of it."
They all looked at him, even Sunni lifted her gaze at that.
"What makes you think so?" Tank asked.
Rauld smiled sardonically. "A fight right at the end of seven hours of patrol? I think our luck is bad enough for that to work out."
"Wow, someone's actually learning how life works," Sunni remarked.
Rauld blinked in surprise. Was that banter? From Sunni?
The acceleration ceased and the lights changed from amber to green. PA speakers declared that the acceleration period was over and that Dogger Flight was to launch right away.
They donned their helmets and Rauld led the way into the airlock. As they prepared for a long shift he thought back to Sunni's response – rather, that she'd responded at all, and wondered if he had finally managed to reach someone, if even just a little.
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"Combat patrol in place, Sir," Lt. Songwren announced.
"Thank you, Lieutenant."
Varmos gazed out at the vast field of tumbling space rocks, dense yet vast enough that it took days to circumvent safely to reach the other side where they could rejoin the current. It had been more than ten years since he had last been here. He remembered lurking for weeks at a time waiting for pirates to emerge then pouncing on them from where they'd least expected it. He didn't have weeks this time, but he wouldn't need it.
Lt. Hurler turned around in her navigator station and looked at him. "Sir, may I respectfully ask a question?"
Varmos smirked. "You respectfully may, Lieutenant."
There were a few chuckles among the rest of the bridge crew. That was good, it would lower the tension.
Flushing slightly, Hurler asked, "why are we going to remain at action stations for so long after our emergence, Sir? We don't know when the pirates are going to attack, do we?"
"Actually, Lieutenant, we do, because of simple mathematics and navigational realities."
He gestured to her console. "The asteroid field is roughly spherical in shape and the current's mouths generally stay in the same place relative to each other, so a freighter captain can go in any direction he likes to get to the other side. But close to the current mouths is where the pirates know we'll be."
Hurler looked at her navigation console, studying the maps and charts, and nodded. "I see, Sir, but couldn't they just leave a couple of ships here to spot for them and then send one back once the freighter has settled on a course?"
"They could indeed, and once upon a time that's exactly what they did, until freighter captains figured out that they could evade the pirate raid simply by changing course after a while and doing that several times to take advantage of the communication delay among the pirates, if they managed to get back in contact at all."
"That would make them predictable, wouldn't it?" Songwren asked. "Couldn't they just spread out? It doesn't take much to intimidate an unarmed freighter."
"True, but there are a few problems with that too. For one, the less force you use to intimidate a freighter, the more a freighter might be willing to try and run or buy time – time for a friendly warship to show up. On top of that, we're not the only threat they have to worry about, they have to worry about competition from other pirate groups. That and spreading out means trusting other pirate commanders, something very hard to do for their ilk and few groups have managed it in the past."
He stared out at view port again, watching the view shift as Audacity slowly turned to port along a route that would take her to their search area.
"They're out there, watching us right now, deciding if we're worth the risk to take out. Soon they'll notice the pods we have flying escort and then they'll make their decision of whether whatever such a well defended freighter would be carrying is worth it or if they'll continue to cower and wait for easier prey." He grinned. "But given how slim the pickings have been since this war started, even if they have been having an easy time of it, I'm not sure they can afford to miss us."
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"And there it is," Gragger said, pointing at the new contacts. "Knew this whale 'ad to be 'idin' somthin'."
Orest wished he had paid closer attention in his Inklish classes when he'd gone to school. He was having a hard time understanding the pirate leader with his less than formal language. He'd gotten somewhat used to it, at least enough that he could get the gist of what he was saying but he often missed some of the details.
He leaned closer to the display. What they saw was murky, even as close as they were. If there were any doubts the ship had a minovsky reactor before, they were gone now. They only reason they had been able to pick up the small craft at all was because they were spread out away from the ship and actively scanning.
"Those have to be the new armed pods the Federation is using," he said. "If they were fighters they would be in a patrol pattern, not just sitting around the ship."
Gragger licked his lips, and act that made Orest shiver with disgust. "Easy pickin's 'en. You can take care of the whale?"
Orest looked back at the screen and frowned. "If those large guns are real then it is very well armed for a freighter. I have been wanting to test against a more difficult target. It shouldn't be a problem if you attack with us."
Gragger laughed wickedly. "No trouble. Those big guns won't be much against all our pods."
Gragger seemed to love playing the role of the cartoon villain. His behaviour was just too over the top for him to imagine otherwise. He much preferred dealing with Rosi, even if she did seem more dangerous, she at least behaved more sanely and civilized.
"Pods alone won't be enough to take that out," Orest argued. "If it is as well armed as it looks then it's probably armoured too, and will have at least a handful of point defence guns."
"I know what I'm doing, brat," Gragger snarled. "I'll be sendin' the 'ole fleet in, and you better do yur part." Orest half expected the pirate leader to punctuate his statement with an 'argh'.
"We will do what we have to," Orest replied calmly. "But don't complain to me if your being overeager results in casualties."
Gragger glared at him but Orest paid him no heed. The pirate was nasty and genuinely ruthless but he was too much the person playing the part of a pirate whereas his wife was clearly the brains behind the operation and had been the one to work out this arrangement in the first place. Made him wonder why she left it to Gragger to deal with him during combat operations. Maybe it was some kind of prenuptual agreement.
"We're going," Orest said, and he turned to the door where his kaaslan stood on either side, assault carbines in each hand and glaring at any pirate that so much as looked at him. They hated these moments aboard the pirate ship, a time when it was difficult for them to guarantee his safety, however necessary it was. They were glad to be leaving.
Black Heart was an old repair and depot ship originally intended for mining fleets. Now it served as Gragger's combat command ship. Orest floated to the docking port and descended the tube into the cockpit of his craft.
As soon as the airlock was sealed behind them, he undocked. Not like the pirates ever followed procedures either and he wanted away from them as soon as possible.
The lights on the console winked on and the machine hummed back to life. Chastity and Faith adopted their stations and Orest harnessed himself into the pilot's seat. This would be the most difficult test for their new weapon yet, and one it would have to pass to have even a hope of gaining the respect he wanted from High Command.
He placed his helmet on and activated his comm. "Raider-Two, are you ready?"
"Ready, Sir."
"Very well. Here's what we're facing…"
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"Contact!", Lieutenant Tyrian reported from the sensor station. "Bogeys coming in at one-two-zero by minus thirty."
"Almost behind us," Varmos mused out loud, feeling relieved that after more than two hours of waiting, the pirates had finally decided to show themselves.
"Alright, set ship to Condition One. Helm, point us directly away from them and increase our speed a little. Void wing on hot standby. Tactical, are you ready?"
"Ready, Sir."
"Good. Don't go active until I give the word. Make sure nobody moves the turrets around either. Let's make them think we're bluffing."
Finally, he looked aver at Songwren standing by at the communication station. "Now, Lieutenant, show us those skills you learned at the drama academy."
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"Unknown craft, identify yourself."
The voice that came through Black Heart's bridge speakers was clearly trying to sound authoritative but came off too shaky. It was typical, but Gragger never tired of hearing the fear and helplessness in his victim's voices. It was a reminder that he was in control, that he ruled over their fates.
"Wanna make any declaration's cap?" His communications officer asked. He was as amused by the voice from the helpless ship as him.
"No," he said. "Give no reply. It'll get into their heads more. I think this lot's got just enough arrogance for it to drive 'em crazy before we get into range."
They drew in closer. The light fog from the minovsky particles faded and the shape of their prey resolved. It looked like two Columbus-class freighters had been welded together at the ventral hull. He could see her guns too. They were big but not nearly as big as the guns on any of the federation cruisers and only two of them were pointed aft.
"Unidentified craft, this is the Federation merchant cruiser, Ashen Sky. Break off or we will be forced to open fire on you in self defence!" The voice sounded even more desperate and frantic than before.
"What the heck is a merchant cruiser?" Someone asked, mockingly.
"They're about to be dead," Gragger replied with a wide grin. "They're definitely trying to bluff us. If this were a trap they'd try to look even more helpless. Besides, we'd have to have been in range of those big guns of theirs by now. Not sure those are even real at this point."
"Dummies?"
"They sure are." Gragger cackled. "Alright, enough playing. Let 'em loose and lets create enough of a distraction for the brat to sever the head."
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Orest watched as the pirates began to split up, trying to surround the ship on all sides. Foolish since it meant they would be strong on no particular flank and while the ship would have to divide its fire, if the weapons it had were real then it would still have enough to keep them at bay.
"Those are a lot of guns," Chastity remarked from the copilot's station. She was looking at the blisters of point defence guns mounted throughout the ship save for directly aft. They still didn't have a good look at the forward part of the ship and the big guns had yet to move so it was hard to judge how well armed this "merchant cruiser" really was, but if she had a real CSF crew, then she couldn't be taken lightly.
"Missile launch!" Chastity shouted.
Four large missiles flew from the ship's stern, though Orest couldn't see the launchers they'd come from, and spread wide, not seemingly going for any particular target. It wasn't until the last minute he realized what they really were.
Orest banked sharply to starboard and accelerated, hoping his wingmate would be able to keep with him.
The missiles exploded into large clouds of dense smoke crackling with charged particles. Orest had guessed right. But what would the point of a smokescreen? The ship was too slow and too big to escape. Unless…
The change in direction caused them to fall behind the pirates but allowed them to see around the smoke, and Orest's insides turned to ice as a slow but steady stream of more armed pods and mobile suits emerged from the cargo bays. No, not cargo bays, hangars. This wasn't a merchant cruiser, this was a carrier!
"Those are our suits!" Faith exclaimed as the five Zakus emerged.
"No," Orest said, dread filling his voice. "They aren't painted like ours. And look, they have the Federation emblem!"
There wasn't time to warn the pirates of what was coming. They were already charging through the smoke, emerging on the other side and firing at the ship. The ship, having apparently emptied its hangars, began to bank to starboard, its guns swivelling in the direction of the oncoming horde, while the mobile suits and combat pods came in above and below.
The leading pirate pods popped like cherries under the mobile suit's guns. One of the unknown mobile suit types simply swatted one of them aside with its shield as it concentrated on two different targets, firing from its head and handheld machine gun simultaneously.
The pods came in next. Anything the mobile suits missed, they attacked. The pirates, already shocked and disoriented, were easy prey for the Federation pods. Weapons, ordinarily designed to take down mobile suits, were devastating when they hit the retrofitted machines.
"We should retreat!" Faith insisted. "This is too much."
"No," Orest said firmly. "We wanted to test this weapon against a more dangerous target so that's what we're going to do. Those mobile suits won't be able to catch us."
He keyed the comms. "Raider-Two, lets get set up for our run. We'll hit the ship's bridge from above. If the layout is similar to the Columbus it will be easy to spot. It's turning in our direction anyway."
"Yes, Sir!"
Orest banked towards the carrier, and began charging the weapon. "Chastity, you take the shot. As soon as you do I'll bank away and take us on a long loop back to base."
"Understood."
This wasn't the most ideal form of attack, but they had little choice. They would only get one run on this ship and if they failed to do sufficient damage, they could be in for some real trouble. Besides, he'd always wanted to test his weapon against an actual warship. It was time to prove just what the mobile armour could do.
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Sahna had felt anxious about going back into her first real battle in over two months; that anxiety was all but gone now. This hardly counted as a battle; it was a slaughter.
Their mobile suits were shredding the pirates and their motley collection of craft to pieces. Audacity's dorsal particle cannons all fired on one ship trying to break away, melting through the hull in three different spots, igniting magazines and chemical storage to reduce the ship to metal splinters.
Even the Ball squadron was getting into it, duelling with the pirate's pods and other craft and coming out on top.
Sahna exchanged her empty magazine for a fresh one and looked for her next target. A trio of pirate pods swooped in towards her, firing unguided rockets from racks mounted on their sides as they fired the machine guns mounted on the top. It was easy to see how these had influenced the CSF's Balls, but these retrofits were a joke by comparison.
Sahna casually slid out of the way of the rockets and fired a single round which shredded one of the pods before the other two arched away, running towards the asteroid field. Sahna contemptuously shot them both, barely moving her machine, then she searched for her next targets.
"Heads up!" Rancher called. "Two bandits, closing in on the carrier. Team Blue, intercept, now!"
Sahna looked at her view screen and saw the two craft she was referring to. They resembled strange creatures with gaping maws, insect-like eyes, and mantis-like claws. Something like that would only have been made by pirates, but there was nothing funny about their speed. Sahna had never seen anything short of a missile or torpedo move so fast!
The GMs of Team Blue broke off their attack and headed back towards the carrier.
"Press them in," Marie called. "Keep them busy and don't let any of them escape."
The Zaku's all moved together and more aggressively. One pirate pod tried to be aggressive right back, charging right at Dirk and nearly landing a hit with their rockets. Dirk replied by driving an armoured fist through the pod's cockpit.
Other pirates were less courageous, as one began broadcasting over open comms.
"No! Please, I surrender. Mercy!"
Against protocol, Callie replied to the grovelling pirate. "Sorry, we're not serving mercy today. Afraid all we have on the menu is death and destruction." Callie had also broadcasted over open comms, her voice as chilling and terrifying as it had been sweet and lyrical.
Callie proved her point by slicing the pirate's pod in half with her heat hawk then diving headlong into the densest group of pirates.
Marie cursed. "Dammit, Callie. Come on, Reds."
Marie charged after her cousin and the rest of them followed. Sahna switched to a one-handed grip on her gun and picked up her heat hawk in her left hand. Time to go all out.
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"The enemy mobile suits are coming back!"
Orest looked at his screens, seeing half of the enemy mobile suits rushing to put themselves between him and the carrier. It would be close but they were too late to stop him.
"Weapon ready!" Chastity announced.
The carrier's point defence fired, several twin streams of tracers rising to meet them. Orest moved as little as possible to avoid the incoming fire and try to keep them on target. The mobile suits were closing in but he was closer.
"Firing!" Chastity fired the main weapon, and a blast of charged particles rushed out of their craft in an angry red stream of crackling energy right for the carrier's bridge section.
Orest quickly banked away, pushing the throttle control level all the way forward. "Time to get out of here."
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Varmos gaped and brought his arms up in a hopeless bid to defend himself against the blast hurtling towards them. A shadow passed in front of the bridge view port and through a small gap between his fingers he saw one of Rancher's mobile suits extending its shield as it passed by, intercepting the shot, but not stopping it.
The shield broke under the blast and the mobile suit was hurled aside like a crumpled toy and what remained of the blast slammed into the port-side turret superstructure.
The ship shook and the whole bridge was rattled. A chunk of metal speared through the bridge wall and sliced through Songwren's arm at the shoulder. The Lieutenant screamed and the severed limb smacked against the side of Varmos' helmet.
"Secondary Bridge, takeover." Varmos unfastened his restraints and hurried to her, already reaching for a suit patch in the utility belt of his vac suit.
"To your posts," he yelled. "This fight isn't over yet." He knew that, as captain, he probably shouldn't be the one tending to her, but he didn't retract the order, he couldn't. He couldn't bare a new nightmare of sitting in his command chair while another of his bridge crew died.
Songwren clamped her beak shut but Varmos could still her hear screaming behind it. Her face was blue, her eyes dilated and filling with tears. Globules of blood floating in the air near her splashed against his helmet but he ignored it, focused on making sure her left arm was sealed. The suit's automatic tourniquet system would stop rapid decompression but wouldn't save her if he didn't act quickly.
Using the patch, he placed it over the stump that was left of her arm and sealed it. Songwren shut her eyes from the pain but otherwise didn't react. She was tough and she would survive.
With her taken care of now he had to deal with his compromised bridge. He had one bridge officer down and several of the consoles were out of action. He hoped Stoker would be able to handle things from there.
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Audacity had been wounded, but she was far from out. The second craft moving in behind the first was forced to break off its attack to avoid accurate fire from Rancher's mobile suits. Meanwhile, the starboard wing turret had seen what happened to its sister and swivelled to engage.
The other attack craft had banked away but the gunners anticipated, and fired both barrels, one after the other.
The first shot barely missed, slipping between the engine pods, but the second shot hit the hull dead on and penetrated the reactor shielding. The craft evaporated inside a bright fireball, sending the engine pods hurtling away, leaving only the first craft able to escape.
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Rauld watched with a mix of awe and morbid fascination as the Zakus hurtled into the midst of the remaining pirates and ripped them apart. Pirates at a distance were gunned down mercilessly while any pirate dumb enough to try and get close was either slashed, kicked, or punched. There was no escape.
Rauld found Mouse already hanging back while the rest of the squadron pushed forward, keeping the pirates somewhat contained so that they could only run towards the asteroid field, taking shots when they could. He gripped her Ball with his grasper claw to open a private channel between them.
"You okay?" He asked.
"Yes," she replied softly. "I'm just… not having as good a time as everyone else, I guess."
Rauld nodded to himself. "Yeah, I guess."
He watched the blood bath continue. What few pirates remained were fleeing towards the asteroid field but they were being hunted down and killed one after the other, no mercy offered.
"I don't know how people can be like this," Mouse whispered. "Killing so freely like that, like they're enjoying it. It's just wrong. Even our people are getting into it."
Unlike Mouse, Rauld did understand. Unlike every other fight they'd been in, this was one battle that hadn't felt hopeless, where you were just trying to survive and save who you could. In this battle, they were the hunters instead of the hunted, and the frustration of all those previous battles and everything else back to the start of the war, all the fear, hopelessness, and anger, had found an outlet in the pirate's destruction. But maybe someone like Mouse, who didn't have a spiteful cell her body, couldn't understand something like that.
"This is Audacity to all units," a voice broke over Rauld's comm. "No more pirate forces detected. Conduct a search for any remaining survivors and assist damaged friendlies back to the ship. Dogger Flight, return to the hangar."
Rauld sighed in relief. It was over.
"Alright, Dogger Flight, you heard 'em. Let's get back. They probably want us refuelled for reserve."
"Does that mean another eight hours on top of the two hours we already did?" Biter asked.
"I don't know, probably not. Let's just head back and do whatever we need to. We need fuel and ammo anyway."
And honestly, Rauld felt he needed a break. The battle had lasted minutes but it had felt like a short eternity.
Despite Mouse's feelings, Rauld felt like they'd done a good thing today. There must have been hundreds of pirates among all the ships they'd destroyed and it didn't look like any of them had gotten away. Pirates were everyone's enemy and he felt like wiping out so many in a single stroke, with himself taking out three, wasn't a bad day's work, and a nice taste of the glory he would be bringing the Millihelm family name. It wouldn't make him a war hero just yet, but it was a start.
Author's Notes:
Our crew gets back into the fight and we introduce some new characters and bring back a few we haven't seen since the first few chapters.
So we get to see the project Orest mentioned earlier on: a mobile armour. If you weren't able to figure it out from my descriptions, it's the MA-04X Zakrello, first seen in the original Mobile Suit Gundam. Although somewhat in an earlier stage of development it's still quite a threat.
I hope you liked this chapter. Be sure to stay tuned for the next one because things are only going to ramp up from here.