Tsalloh sat comfortably in his captain's chair. To those who didn't know him, they'd think that he was carefree right now. He was very much the opposite.

The command crew of the pirate ship Relentless Tide kept themselves busy and focused. They had enough experience with their captain that they knew not to be caught lacking, especially with the mood he was in.

Tsalloh gently stroked one of his cephalic lobes, deep in thought of the event of the past month. This time of year he liked to have his crew trawling around the Senex sector, there was always usually a good haul to be made.

But fool that he was he picked up the comm when a long-time contact called him up. Pomst had a new scheme and boy this wasn't like the simple smash and grabs he'd brought Tsalloh in on before.

When he found out the conman had been a governor for a while and had yet to strip the place, he knew something was up. So he let Pomst talk, what a mistake that was, and talk the conman did.

It took three hours of his yapping, a break so Pomst could back himself up with evidence and then another hour of negotiation before he agreed to the governor's hair-brained scheme.

Swindler though he might have been, Pomst had never 'actively' tried to screw him or his crew over. Still, Tsalloh knew his type and was sure Pomst would have no problem throwing him to the wolves. So naturally, the pirate captain had decided to have his own exit strategy.

He'd already been itching to step away. The plan of getting the Militia out of the capital had almost worked. He said almost because for some reason the commander and one company had stayed in the capital. With a deadline closing in, Pomst had called him to lend his help in 'removing' them.

That hadn't been the end of it as his last communication with the conman ended with the news of brewing riots. Tsalloh's gut told him to back out, he was blessed with the wisdom to not let his ambition get the better of his survival instinct.

But Tsalloh again, unfortunately, let Pomst talk him into continuing as planned. So now he had a third of his crew planetside playing dress up as cops.

Tsalloh let out an audible grumble causing the crewmates closer to him to flinch and hurriedly get about working.

Regardless of the circumstances that got him here or the reservations he had along the way, he was committed. So here he was, captaining the Relentless Tide, floating in the shadow of a moon in the Tion system, waiting.

Their target was a Mon-Calamari freighter and according to Pomst's sources, the ship should be coming through any time now.

Tsalloh shot a glance behind him at the only non-pirate among them. Apparently, he was half the reason Pomst knew this was going down. He was a Volpai, a lanky build with four arms and eyes, only with this particular specimen two of those arms were cybernetic and three of the eyes too. Not to mention enough computer parts grafted around his head to run a small city.

He was a slicer by the name of Sovereign Teeko, and Tsalloh couldn't wait to get him off his ship. But unfortunately, the half-man half-computer was necessary for this step in the plan.

"Spike in Cronau radiation, something just entered the system." One of the crew members spoke.

"Scanners." Tsalloh didn't need to say anything else before the crew was quickly back to work.

He waited anxious seconds, his doubt building slowly.

"Magnetic signature reading as the Ocean's Bloom."

Tsalloh let out an internal sigh as he rolled his neck. Confirmation that the damn ship existed still didn't ease his nerves much. He let out a snort ready to get this over with.

"Helm pull us out slowly and get into their wake." His orders were followed by a flurry of movement. He glared back at Teeko. "And you make sure they don't detect us until it's too late."

The Volpai let out a quick laugh. "Ha, please this is the sovereign you're talking about. They won't know until it's too late."

As the Relentless Tide moved through the vacuum of space, Tsalloh was left with his thoughts about this mission.

Apparently, the ship was transporting something for a prominent Mon calamari company. Pomst had yet to tell him exactly what that cargo was, much to his chagrin. He figured it was Pomst's way of stopping him from cutting him out of the deal.

He watched as they approached the unaware freighter, and smirked a little about the shock the crew was about to get. Being a Selkath, one would think being of that aquatic species would mean he felt some sort of camaraderie with Mon-cala. This wasn't the case with Tsalloh, he was an equal-opportunity pirate.

Now that they were close enough, Tsalloh started issuing orders. "Shields, get ready for a fight, it might look like a regular transport but I'm reliably informed it's a dragon in bantha clothing."

He glared back at Teeko. "You know your task, so just get it done."

The slicer rolled one of his pairs of eyes. "As long as I have the time… you can't rush perfection."

Tsalloh snorted. If the slicer weren't so important he'd already be out the airlock. "You'll get your time, we're no greenhorns."

"Weapons, your primary target is their comm array. After that, nothing too good apparently we're to play the part of amateurs." He sucked in a breath to address the whole crew. "Listen up, this isn't our usual smash and grab, much as that irks me. Our main goal is to wound and scare them, and I've been told that requires us to be a bit more 'delicate'. Still, by the time this is over I want that ship thrashed."

A small cheer rang out from those around the room before Tsallohs glare got them back to work. He sat in his chair watching their approach. '

Time to make some fish squirm.' he thought gleefully.

—

The first indication the crew of the Ocean's Bloom got that things were about to go wrong was the streak of red plasma that passed in front of the viewport. The next was the violent shaking of the ship and the warning lights telling them that the ship had been hit.

The captain was no fool and was quick to get the crew working, this wasn't his first run-in with pirates and it sure as hell wouldn't be his last.

"Get our shields up on full. Scanners I want to know what's shooting at us." Receiving a flurry of responses the captain turned to his helmsman. "Bring our Engines up to full speed."

His helmsman nodded back. Though the Oceans bloom may have looked like an older generation freighter, he and a few others knew the ship was packing some truly special equipment.

The Oceans Bloom was the perfect ship for the valuables of the galaxy. It looked shoddy enough that good pirates didn't bother with it, but she had the right stuff to shrug off anyone who did.

The ship seemed to lurch forward as the engines kicked in, causing the crew to stumble until the ship's systems compensated for their new speed.

"Scans are scrambled but it looks to be a modified Gwori freighter." The captain tapped his chin. That wasn't good. Most Gowri craft could keep pace with them.

"I just got off the horn with this system control. Their response team is on the other side of the system." To his left, a comm officer spoke.

The captain scowled; running it was then. Judging from how shields were holding and how often he could see streaks of red pass them by. He was dealing with amateurs, jumped up amateurs with some nasty tech, but amateurs nonetheless.

"Tell them we're making for hyperspace. Navigation, I want a hyperspace solution ready as soon as possible." he turned to the weapon station with a grin forming on his face. "Weapons, give them hell."

The man on weapons nodded back and soon got to work. The captain knew the twin-barreled turbolasers would be a surprise to the pirates.

—

Tsalloh had to admit he was having fun playing with the freighter. He could certainly concede that its captain knew what he was doing.

They had been trading turbolaser fire for nearly a few minutes now, while the freighter did everything it could to shake them off.

"They're approaching the hyperspace egress, they'll arrive in sixty seconds."

Tsalloh nodded at the update. "Intensify fire, knock out their comms."

The crew got to work and he watched as their shots got faster and more accurate. Stopping them from calling backup was more important than pretending to be newbies.

"Their shields are down." One of the gunners called out as a red bolt of plasma caught the hull of their target.

"Thirty seconds to egress." The gunners didn't need to be ordered to know they had to move quickly. Tsalloh watched with a growing smirk as the communication array was torn asunder, while a few more turbolaser bolts caught other areas of the ship.

He glanced behind him. The slicer had a visor over his eyes, and judging by the twitches he was making he was still at work.

"Ten seconds." He turned back to the viewport and watched as the Oceans Bloom continued to be pounded. Moments later, the ship seemed to make one final engine burn and in a flash of speed, it disappeared entirely.

The crew was silent. The mission was never to board the ship like they usually did, but it still didn't sit right. Behind him, Tsalloh heard a sigh of relief. He looked behind him to Teeko with an expectant look.

"Don't worry, I got it."

—

The command deck of the ocean bloom was awash with cheers. They'd just escaped pirates so there was good reason to be happy.

The captain let them cheer for a moment longer before he shouted for order. "Eyes on screens, we're not out of the woods yet. I want a damage report."

"Deck two and five were hit and our communication array was shredded." The captain cupped his chin. None of that news was good, they wouldn't be calling for help anytime soon but they could still make it to their destination.

"Alright get our engineers ready, as soon as we get out of hyperspace I want-" His orders came to a stop when an alarm went off.

"Oh dear… that's not good." He turned to see the alarm going off on the one monitor a captain never wanted to see. "Captain the hyperdrive may have sustained damage."

You could hear a pin drop on the command deck, it was so quiet. Damage to the hyperdrive in real space was never good, damage to the hyperdrive while in hyperspace was terrible. Things like that gave even grizzled spacers nightmares.

"What exactly is wrong with it?" There were a hundred and one things that could go wrong with a hyperdrive. Determining exactly what would help him know exactly how fucked they were.

"I don't know sir, I've got warnings all over. Judging by the fact we haven't exploded it might not be that bad… but with how things are reading out… I just don't know."

The captain slowly digested those words. The situation had gone from bad to worse, and he needed to come up with something fast.

"Can we fix it?"

The look from the engineer wasn't good. "In hyperspace, no way. We don't have the gear for it and even then it's risky. If we came out of hyperspace we'd have to let it cool down first and if we can't fix it we'll be stuck in wild space with no comms…" He trailed off.

"So we have to risk it." The captain finished the sentence.

Again the command deck was engulfed in silence as the news set in.

"Alright… Alright, we'll have to risk it. Navigation, what are our options?"

"The end of this hyperlane splits in two. One route is to Pakunni." The captain shook his head. That pirate-infested cesspool was definitely not on the table, especially with their cargo. "The other is to a planet called Gbu, but the star charts say there's no viable spaceport and the planet is well outside of standard habitability."

Neither of those options was ideal for them. "Anything else."

The man's eyes combed through the map again before he spotted it. "Ah yes there is, we'd have to make a small adjustment but we can do it." Tapping on the screen the man brought up the star chart on the planet. "It's a fairly small colony world but it does have a spaceport. Let me see… yes, the planet is called Eulea."

The captain stared at the map for a long while. He had to agree that the planet was off the beaten path, but it would suit their need just fine.

"Alright then. Make the adjustments for Eulea." The crew let out a collective sigh at having a plan in place.

"In the meantime get to work, I don't want anything else going wrong." The captain shouted. He stared out of the viewport as the crew around him moved frantically. Despite his stoic demeanour, he sent a silent prayer for himself and the crew.

—

Sarah heard it before she saw it. The situation at the medical tent had gotten increasingly busy.

Even outside of the tent, there was a group of militiamen who were arguing with two knights preventing them from entering. She couldn't make out what they were saying but it seemed to be getting heated.

One of the Knights turned his head and saw her approach. The knight immediately stood straight and beckoned his partner to do the same. The argument paused as the militiamen turned in the direction they were looking.

"What is going on here?"

The knight closest to her didn't waste any time before responding. "Elder Lyons ma'am, most of the militia personnel started to gather here. Scribe Rice requested we remove them and prevent them from entering."

"We need to be in there, with comms reestablished we need-" Before the man could raise his voice he was cut off by Sarah.

"Enough." Her exclamation silenced the group. "I'm well aware of the situation and I intend to speak to your commander. However, this is a medical facility, not a briefing room. I'm sure you can understand that crowding the place is not wise."

The militiamen didn't speak any further, sufficiently cowed by her words. "You are welcome to wait outside if you do so peacefully. I'm sure someone will join you to keep you apprised of the situation."

After exchanging glances between themselves, they nodded and stepped away from the entrance. Turning to the knights, they both sent her a respectful nod and stepped aside so that she could enter.

Things inside the tent were no better. A group of militiamen was gathered around one of the beds meanwhile a scribe was in a shouting match with some of them trying to usher them out.

Unlike the knights outside, the scribe didn't see her approach. Seeing the people he was arguing with glance past him, Scribe Rice turned around with a face like thunder ready to start a new shouting match. Only for his expression to change rapidly once he saw that he was scowling at his Elder.

"E-Elder Lyons, I'm sorry I…" He trailed off realising there was little he could do to salvage the situation.

"It's alright, Scribe. Tell me what's happening." Sarah spoke, brushing over the scribe's embarrassment.

"I-Uh… right. After Paladin Hardin left to inform you, a few militiamen came to check on their commander. After a few minutes one ran off, at the time I thought nothing of it but apparently, he went to fetch the rest of them." He gestured to the crowd.

"Well at the very least they've all got a good sense of duty about them," Sarah commented. "Go about your business scribe. I'll see if I can't free up the room."

"Thank you, Elder Lyons."

Sarah moved to the group, managing to make out some of what was being said.

"-Dispersed all over the countryside. I can begin to recall everyone but as I said gathering a force capable of what's needed could take weeks."

Whatever they were discussing wasn't good but it would have to wait. Sarah had many virtues but patience wasn't one of them.

Pushing her way past some of the group she came to the foot of the bed and the eyes of everyone present fell on her. "While I'm sure whatever this discussion is about is important. The medical facility on my base is not the place for it." She put as much authority into her voice as she could. "I ask that you make your way out before you are removed. Besides, I think it's time you and I talked"

Her gaze swept across the surprised militiamen before settling on the gaunt-looking woman sitting up in the bed.

Their gaze met and for a second they saw in each other kindred spirits. Two women in positions of power who've had to fight tooth and nail against what the world has thrown at them.

It was only a split second but Sarah felt her respect rise for the bedridden commander.

"We just-" Directly at her side, Meandel began to speak only to be stopped by Salant.

"It's alright sergeant. She's right, we're their guests and crowding their medical tent isn't right. And we do need to talk."

Meandel hesitantly nodded and slowly he and the rest of the militiamen filtered out of the tent, leaving the two alone.

"I suppose we haven't been introduced yet. I am Salant Hesp, commander of the Eulea planetary militia… or well, former commander."

"Elder Sarah Lyons of the Brotherhood of Steel. It's a pleasure to finally meet you Commander Hesp."

"And you." Salant offered her own pleasantries. "But all things considered I would have hoped I could do it under better circumstances."

"Trust me, I feel the same." The two waited in silence for a moment before Sarah broke it.

"I was informed your communications device was working again. I didn't catch what you were talking about before, you care to share what that was."

Salant glanced at her commlink still in her hand. She figured there was no point in keeping secrets from the Brotherhood, especially now.

"Just my second officer. He was out north in the country organising a relief effort as well as anti-piracy operations when all of this shit went down." She rubbed her tired eyes. "I Just let him know what happened, then talked him down from a panic attack and then we finally started strategizing, but that's where the good news stops."

"Operations are well underway and most of the militia is spread across the countryside either guarding small villages or hunting pirates. And because Pomst ordered the network to be private, they're out of contact. I've sent him the password but its distribution will take time and even after that recalling and reorganising everyone would take even more time on top of that."

"All of which, in a way, is ok because according to your doctors, I'm not going to be out of this bed anytime soon." Salant let out an empty chuckle. "But the kicker is that apparently the pirate presence in the north is more than expected and they haven't all run off yet…" she trailed off.

"Which means when you abandon those villages the pirates will return." Sarah finished.

"Yeah, that's about it. Stuck between a rock and a hard place" Salant let her head hang, the defeat in her voice clear as day. "Words can't express how grateful I am for what you've done for me and my men, but it's in your best interest high tail it off this planet."

Sarah watched Salant as she spoke, no longer in the presence of her soldiers the commander let her exhaustion show. But even now, on the verge of defeat, she was thinking about the welfare of others. This only served to strengthen Sarah's resolve.

"What do you know about the Brotherhood?" Salant looked up to her as she continued. "I know Paladin Hardin spoke to you, but I want to know what you have to say."

Salant didn't speak for a minute, her mind organising her thoughts before she spoke. "I haven't seen much but from what Meandel tells me you're armed to the teeth." Sarah nodded. "And about what Hardin said, I don't know whether he's telling the truth or you're just a band of mercenaries or a clan of Mandalorians... I suppose it doesn't really matter. What I can tell is he's right about where you're from, a 'hellhole' I think he called it."

Sarah let out a small snort of amusement. "He's not wrong. To us, this planet is practically a haven of life. A picturesque paradise straight out of our dreams." She looked at Salant with serious eyes. "But low and behold what do we find, injustice and cruelty that we're all too familiar with."

"The Brotherhood's purpose was to pick up the pieces of the old world and forge ahead to a new one. But now… now we're here in this place, on this world with no way back. Everything we thought we knew turned on its head, leaving us without purpose."

"Some have said we should remain neutral and stay our course, but not me. The Brotherhood needs a purpose, we can do something therefore we must. But as Elder, I know I have a responsibility to my brothers and sister, to do what's best for them."

Sarah clenched her fists until they were white. "I readily admit I have struggled to find that balance between the two. So…" She stared Salant directly in the eye. "So I leave the decision to you. The Brotherhood is prepared to act, but only if you ask us to help."

Sarah didn't get a response immediately. Salant's head was bowed so her face was concealed. Finally, after nearly a minute of silence, Salant's body began to shake slightly.

The militia commander raised her head to reveal two small streams of tears coming down her face. Sarah didn't think any less of Salant, after all, she'd been through a similar whirlwind of events and had ended up much the same.

"P-Pl-Please." Salant choked on her first words. She took a long breath before speaking again, this time putting as much of her waning strength into it. "Please help us."

AN: I'm back hope you enjoyed this chapter. I sure enjoyed writing it. :)

I have news: The family emergency is mostly over now so that's good. However I have made the decision to change the upload schedule. Instead of every Monday, the schedule is now every other Monday and Friday. I'm not a fast writer and I'm still learning how all this works, hence the change in schedule.

Anyway, how do you like my first space battle, short as it may have been. This is Star Wars so I want to make sure I'm doing the space battle's justice, so let me know what you think.

Once again hope you enjoyed. :)