General Ikachi stood tall, hands folded behind his back, as he gazed out over the bridge of the KNS Yamatora. The Kusari Destroyer was unleashing a hailstorm of turret fire into a convoy of Samura transports, tearing them apart piece by piece. Ikachi's Lieutenant, Torosai, approached from the general's left and kowtowed in respect before presenting his report.
"General Ikachi-San, the convoy has been completely destroyed, no survivors - all jettisoned escape pods have been taken out by our fighter wing."
Ikachi smiled as his eyes flashed an unearthly shade of purple, blue, and white, "Good... good..." Ikachi paused momentarily, as if listening to a nonexistant voice, "My masters are pleased, with each kill the kusari wilde grow in strength. Set course back to the Arch lieutenant."
Torosai nodded and kowtowed again as he stepped away from the general.
Ikachi gazed back out at the destruction the Yamatora had sowed among the convoy as the ship came about and it's cruise engines powered up. "Soon humanity will see the full power of our fleets, nothing will stop us from reclaiming our space..."
Suddenly, the craft shook violently, the humming of the cruise engines went silent before they had a chance to fully charge. Explosions echoed through the halls of the ship, and sparks rained from the command consoles on the bridge.
Ikachi slammed the railing in front of him with his fist and shouted at the bridge crew, infuriated, What was that!"
Torosai, having regained his footing after being knocked to the floor from the blast, turned back to the general, "Cruise engines are disabled! Multiple unknown contacts on sensors, we're under attack!"
Ikachi growled under his breat, "Bring us about, fire all turrets!"
As the Yamatora banked around to face it's assailant, the bridge crew gasped at the sight looming before them. A massive ship, several times larger than the Yamatora with more than twice the firepower, was bearing down on them. Fighters and bombers swarmed from the vessel, bombarding the Kusari craft with torpedoes and antimatter cannons.
---
Aki stood in front of her command seat on the bridge of the Bastet, arms crossed and smiling to herself as the combined might of the Carrier's cannons and it's numerous fighter wings disintegrated the Kusari warship.
"Admiral, incoming transmission from the Yamatora, putting it the holodisplay." chimed officer Morris at the communications control station.
The Holovid lit up with a distinct green glow, portraying a three dimensional image of the captain of the Yamatora - General Ikachi. His eyes were shining bright in his rage.
"Who is this?! You will pay for this transgression!" The general screamed blindly at his communications screen.
Aki stepped forward into view, "General Ikachi, I am Admiral Kimura of the Carrier Bastet. You have been found to be under the possession of an alien influence, and as such a threat to humanity. Before I destroy your ship and you along with it, use that blasted telepathy of yours to relay a message to the mindshare for me... I will hunt you all down, and you will burn. Enjoy your stay in hell, general."
Aki motioned to Morris to cut the transmission. "Fire the mortars, blast that infernal thing back to the abyss it came from."
The weapons officer nodded, "Aye-Aye Ma'am, firing mortars."
The Carrier shook slightly as it's twin mortars fired off in a volley, sending two balls of bright, blue destruction into the Destroyer. Aki could almost hear the General's defiant scream in her mind as the ship crumbled to dust, leaving nothing but a few charred bits of metal remaining.
Aki sat down in her chair and leaned back, resting her chin on her hand. "Scan for lifeforms."
The weapons officer turned to her, "Nothing on scanners but debris, ma'am."
Aki sighed slightly, "Charge the jump drive, set coordinates for stuttgart."
Aki entered the Bastet's briefing room from the bridge, several of her command crew were gathered and all snapped to attention to salute when they saw her.
"At ease, give me the report." Aki said as she hastily sat down at the end of the holotable.
Mathews, her XO, spoke first, "Admiral, the target is stationed on the far side of this nebula," He pointed to a rusty orange nebula on the holographic presentation of the system, "Our K'vosh scanner has given us full details on the RMS Messerschmidt; it's been modified heavily with nomad technology, including a full array of cruiser-grade nomad energy turrets. It appears the shield is still down, they're swapping out the original Cruiser's shield generators for nomad shield generators. If we strike now, we should be able to take the Messerschmidt out without trouble, but there's no telling how long it is before that shield is active."
Aki nodded and stared at the system map, thinking to herself. After a pause, she turned to Mathews, "Is our cloaking device working yet?"
Mathews shook his head, "We're still having trouble with the power network, we can cloak for a few seconds, but after that it shorts out and takes hours to repair."
Aki stood up, "Use the jump drive to get us inside that nebula, their scanners shouldnt be able to breach it if they're still using the standard equipment Rheinland installed on that ship. Activate the cloak just as we exit the nebula, with any luck it will last long enough to get us into firing range. Find any weak points you can on that Cruiser, she's going to be tough to take down even without her shields." Aki moved for the bridge door.
---
Kommandant Rheinhardt leaned back in his command chair aboard the RMS Messerschmidt, looking over a datapad detailing the progress of the nomad shield's installation. He looked up at the chief engineer standing nervously before him, "Why is it taking this long, the shield should have been functional days ago!"
The engineer stuttered in response, "Sir, our systems werent designed to interface with nomad technology, our power core can hardly handle the new turrets, the shield is putting too much strain on the ship's systems..."
Rheinhardt sighed as he picked up the plasma pistol from the armrest of his chair and fired a shot into the engineer's chest. "Get me a new engineer, and get that damn shield operational!"
He tossed the datapad across the bridge, shattering it against the wall, "Why are humans so damned useless..."
Rheinhardt stood as one of the sensor consoles on the bridge flashed red, he pointed at the screen and glared at his control officer, "What was that?"
The officer rushed to the sensor panel and tapped a few buttons, bringing up short range scanners, "Mein-Kommandant, a glitch perhaps? Nothing is showing on scanners, but there was something towards the nebula a moment ago..."
Rheinhardt growled under his breath and turned towards the helmsman, "Bring us about, fire all cannons into that nebula, whatever it is I want it destroyed!"
The Messerschmidt groaned as it made the turn, lightning up with blue flashes as the organic nomad turrets attached to it's hull fired bursts into the field. Each shot dissipated in a small explosion as it reacted with the volatile gas pockets inside the nebula, but there were no solid hits, no ship or object to fire at.
"Nothing's there sir..." the control officer proclaimed in feigned surprise.
The sensor console began to flash red again, indicating another unknown contact. The con officer rushed back to his station, "Kommandant, behind us! Multiple unknown contacts!"
The massive Cruiser shook violently as hostile fire began to rain down on it's hull. Rheinhardt slammed his fist on the armrest in anger, "Bring us around, open fire!"
The Cruiser slowly began to make it's turn, but it was not built for manuverability, nor a rear assault. Only a few turret arcs could fire at the attackers, and despite it's somewhat larger size, the Bastet was faster and more manuverable.
A massive explosion jarred the ship, and it's turn halted almost instantly, leaving the Messerschmidt drifting sideways towards the nebula. The control officer turned to Rheinhardt, "Sir, our engine... the entire rear of the ship has been destroyed!"
---
Mathews sat next to Aki in the first officer's chair on the bridge of the Bastet watching the destruction alongside her. "I guess the weak point in our database records was spot on, I've never seen a ship torn in half like that..."
Aki smiled and glanced sideways at him, "Rheinland had more infected craft in the war than any other House, we lost a lot of pilots to these cruisers until we discovered that defect... the engine compartment is weakly armored and not well defended, Rheinland craft are built for a frontal assault, not flanking manuevers."
A bright, supernova-esque flash caused the bridge crew to turn their eyes away from the viewport as the reactor of the Messerschmidt exploded, unleashing a shockwave that pushed the rest of the Cruiser into the nebula.
Aki directed her attention at the con officer in front of her, "Recall all squadrons, fire the mortars into that nebula, the chain reaction should destroy the rest of the craft."
"Aye-Aye Ma'am" the Con officer chimed as he turned back to his console, "All fighters return to dock, mission accomplished." He touched a button on the console and the Bastet's twin mortars fired off into the nebula, igniting a blaze that engulfed the Rheinland Cruiser completely. The burn only lasted a few short seconds, but when it subsided all that was left of the Messerschmidt were bits and pieces of debris.
"Target destroyed, Admiral, where should we set course for next?" The con officer said, looking back at her.
"Take us back to base for resupply, it's been a long day." Aki stood and headed back to her quarters. Another nomad dead, a million more to go...
The blast door to the engineering section swished open as Aki walked through, going from a short and thin hallway to a massive room dominated by the Carrier's reactor core. Various ramshackle power cables made of a purple, crystalline material laced through and around the core, linking up to a large device at the side of the room constructed of purple crystal and a gold-like metal. Aki approached the chief engineer, Major Damien Brown, who was busy attempting to string new wires between the reactor and the alien device.
Damien saw her approach and snapped to attention with a salute, "Ten-Hut! Admiral on Deck!" he shouted, as the rest of the engineering crew followed suit.
"At ease Major, how are the repairs on the hyperdrive coming along?" Aki said, examining his work.
"Could be better, the synthesized power cables we've been using seem to burn out after a few jumps, gotta replace 'em at least once a day. We need to find some material capable of handling the power load."
Aki sighed, "What about the cloak?"
Damien shook his head, "Pretty much the same story, ma'am. The ship's power supply isnt enough to keep the cloak running for more than a few seconds... we can handle the hyperdrive if we get stronger material for the cables, or a new uplink system, but we need an entirely new power core for the cloak to work."
"Wish we could find a K'vosh reactor, the only thing i know of that could handle the power load is a nomad power cell, and I will not bring one of those things onto this ship... are the weapon capacitors still functioning?"
"Perfectly, we've had no problems with the new weapon modifications outside of having to watch the power drain a little more closely than we did before. Shields are the same story, the K'vosh tech takes a little jury-riggin to get working, but power supply withstanding it seems to work well with our own systems."
Aki nodded and turned back towards the blast door, heading to the supply depot airlock, "Keep working on it Major, I'll see what I can do about power handling materials, perhaps the Zoners have something better."
---
[Bastet Systems Report]
Modified Systems List:
-Daam K'vosh Jump Drive- The jump drive, salvaged from a K'vosh vessel found wrecked on an unknown planet in the Chester system, is capable of temporarily opening stable jump holes between two locations. Jump holes may be opened as far as 5,000 Parsecs apart (16,300 Lightyears) with ample power supply. The jump drive used by the Bastet allows the Carrier to move between distant systems instantaneously, and the target jump location is accurate down to three meters. Due to low quality materials being available for the power cables which connect the Jump Drive to the Bastet's main reactor core, the jump drive's connections must be repaired after every 4 uses.
-Daam K'vosh Cloaking Device- The cloaking device used by the Bastet is directly tied to her shield generators. By projecting an EM field, the cloaking device is capable of bending both light and higher forms of energy around the vessel, preventing it's detection by both visual means and by sensors. This device functions in a near-identical manner to nomad cloaking devices, though it is not an organic tool like most nomad technology. Due to the high power demands of the Cloak, it can only be kept active for 10-15 seconds at a time on the supply of the Bastet's reactor core.
-Enhanced Shield Capacitors- Through the use of several force-shield emitters obtained from artifact smugglers and re-activated by the key, the Bastet's shield strength and recharge rates are vastly improved from their original specifications. These emitters were originally designed by the K'vosh for small scale use, and as such are not on par with true K'vosh shield generators, but they are still a step above human technology available at this time.
-Enhanced Weapon Capacitors- Similar to the Force-Shield Emitters, the Bastet also carries numerous K'vosh power capacitors, attached directly to each weapon system on the vessel. These Capacitors allow for more energy storage than standard Order weapon capacitors, and thus are capable of providing more power-per-shot to the Carrier's turrets and heavy guns. The most notable side effect other than increased weapon potency is the strange appearance of the projectiles fired by the Bastet's turrets which, due to their altered power structure, no longer appear as standard Order equipment.
Aki stared blankly out the window of one of the Bastet's vacant crew lounges. The occasional arc of lightning would jump through the dark matter cloud surrounding the ship and it's supply depot, but beyond that there was nothing but black as far as the eye could see.
She glanced sideways slightly as the entryway door to the lounge swished open, her XO Mathews approached with a salute and took a seat next to her. "Reflecting, Admiral?"
Aki nodded, "Today's report shows that there are no more resources left on this station, we're going to have to move on soon... and I cant recall any other abandoned supply depots to leech from. When we leave here, we're on our own power until we can find new basing..."
Mathews sighed, "A ship of this size isnt meant to run on it's own for so long, we need support craft, supply points... why cant we just go back to the Zoners?"
She raised an eyebrow at him, "We're a wanted vessel by nearly every organization in Sirius, and by the Order more than the rest... despite previous dealings with the Zoners, we cant trust that there wont be Order personnel on their freeports, or that they wont impound our ship and turn us in. Zoners are only trustworthy as long they stand to make a profit by helping you... and that isnt our case. If anything, they make a profit by not helping us, we have nothing to offer them."
"Where to then, Admiral? There must be someone we can trust..." Mathews paused for a moment, "...on second thought, there really isnt, but we do need a base station, and we need one soon, before we run out of something important... like air or food."
Aki pondered the situation for a minute, trying to bring to mind all of her contacts across Sirius throughout the years she had served with The Order... and before. "Well, we have two options... we can go back to the Blood Dragons, probably our best bet since we've dealt with them often in the past and I know several of the Dragon Daichos well... or we can try for Gallia."
Mathews donned a puzzled look, "Gallia, Ma'am? We dont know anything about that place, and it's a long trip to that corner of Sirius, I'm not even sure our supplies would last..."
Aki sighed, "We know a bit about the council, they're struggling against the Gallia government, they control a good portion of Gallic space, and they seem welcoming enough to members of Sirius. They have resources, weapons, and power... we would just have to find something of value to trade in exchange for it."
"Even if we do manage to make some kind of allegiance with the Council, we still have one problem... getting there. Like I said, our supplies probably wont last the trip, especially with no new cabling to repair the jump drive."
Aki pushed her seat back as she stood, with Mathews following suit, "Then we make for the Dragons first, set course and keep us clear of any tradelanes or jump gates, with the jump drive inoperable we wont be able to escape an attack, I dont want this ship being detected."
Mathews saluted, "Aye-Aye, Admiral" he turned and left for the bridge, while Aki made her way back to her quarters.
<... Location: Somewhere in Sigma 13, 0900 Hours ...>
Aki snapped awake as the ship shook suddenly with the distinct sound of a torpedo hitting her shields. She rushed out of her quarters and onto the bridge, out of uniform, "What the hell is going on, Mathews?"
Mathews didnt turn to look at her, he was sitting in the XO seat staring intently out the bridge viewport at the attackers, "Wilde, Admiral, they came out of the nebula, we didnt detect them until just before that torpedo hit..." Mathews turned his attention to the Control Officer, "...Con, launch fighters!"
The control officer nodded with an aye-aye as he directed fighter squadrons one and two to launch and intercept the attackers. On the opposite side of the bridge, the tactical officer chimed in, "Commander, they're too fast for our primary turrets, shields are at seventy percent and falling fast, number of contacts has increased to six... four fighters and two bombers... wait..." he turned back to his screen and tapped a button, "New contact incoming sir, rheinland gunship, organic weaponry detected!"
Aki rushed to her seat at the center of the bridge, "Tac, ignore the fighters and bombers, focus pulse cannons and turrets on that gunship. Con, how many squadrons are out?"
"Two, Admiral, squadron 3 is prepping and will launch in thirty seconds."
"Direct all fighters to engage the Wilde Bombers, forget their fighters, they arent a threat right now." Aki stared out the viewport as the Bastet came about, unleashing a barrage of pulse blasts and turret fire into the gunboat as it appeared from the nebula. The ship's shields went down after two salvos, and Aki gave the signal to the tactical officer, "Tac, fire the mortars!"
The Bastet shook from the force of it's own guns as it's twin mortars bore down on the rheinland warship. The first mortar tore through the front of the ship, severing two of it's turrets and it's forward gun, while the second hit the engine compartment of the craft, causing it to explode in a flash.
With the gunship taken care of, Aki turned her attention back to the smaller craft, "Tac, bring the turrets around and focus on the bombers, Con have squadron 3 engage the fighters."
After a short, but fierce battle, the Bastet was left alone, surrounded by the debris of the assailants. Aki sighed in relief, "Damage report?"
"We lost one fighter, the pilot managed to eject and has been retrieved by his squadron, all pilots are returning to deck now. Pulse 2 and Turrets six, seven, and nine were damaged, shouldnt take too long to repair... other than that we're fine, Admiral."
Aki nodded and stood, walking back towards her quarters to change into uniform, "Let's get back on course for Chugoku."
The hulking shadow of Kyoto base slowly loomed into view as the Bastet cut through the thick clouds and rocks of the Chugoku system. Within seconds, numerous Blood Dragon fighters, along with a cruiser and two gunboat escorts, appeared from the far side of the asteroid city, thrusters on full burn as they plowed towards the unknown contact.
After a flicker of static, the voice of Kyoto's communications operator echoed across the bridge of the Bastet, "Attention unidentified vessel, you are entering restricted Blood Dragon space, cut your engines and prepare for scans immediately or we will open fire."
"Lovely welcoming commitee they have here..." Mathews whispered.
Aki signalled to the con to cut engines and open a return communications channel, "Kyoto, this is Admiral Aki Kimura, commanding the Carrier Bastet. We seek a meeting with Blood Dragon leaders, I was told that Daicho Taiga had already arranged our clearance..."
There was a brief pause, then the Kyoto operator replied, "Affirmative, your vessel has been cleared to Moor, please note that airlock access is denied at this point in time, your diplomatic envoy will need to travel to Kyoto via shuttle."
Aki motioned to cut the transmission, "They're jumpy, but I guess I should have expected as much, bringing a warship to their home... hopefully this goes better than my past diplomatic attempts have."
She sighed and turned towards the turbolift at the back of the bridge, "Mathews, you're in command, whatever happens keep the weapons powered down, I dont want any incidents while we're here." She motioned to Lieutenant Morris, the con officer, to follow her, "Morris, you're with me, bring your datapad."
"Aye-Aye Ma'am, meet you in dock one." Sarah said as she turned back to her station to retrieve her portable data computer.
---
Aki pulled her Sehkmet bomber into the Kyoto docking bay, setting it down with a thud. The cockpit lifted as she and the Lieutenant climbed out, setting foot on relatively solid ground... the gravity on an asteroid city was different than it was on a starship.
The two were greeted by Daicho Taiga and a security entourage. The Daicho approached, signalling to his guards to hold back as he smiled and bowed just enough to show mutual respect, but making sure that Aki bowed a little lower. "Aki, it's been months, I thought you were done with us, come back to take more fuel?" He cracked a grin.
Aki smiled slightly, but with a nervous air, he was right afterall. "Actually... yes, and believe me when I say I dont like asking for favors. I think this time we can make a fair exchange, though."
"I look forward to hearing what you have to offer, Aki, but you have to convince the rest of the Dragon leaders... that wont be an easy task. Come, they're waiting in the meeting hall." Taiga beckoned her to follow and set off, his guard falling in behind Aki and Sarah as they trailed.
The Bastet drifted quietly through the dense nebulas of northern Okinawa as it made it's way towards the Sendai Research Complex. Several pilots of the Farmer's Alliance had been on Aki's tail ever since she re-entered Kusari space, and it was not easy losing them... they knew their home well.
The Tactical Officer's voice broke the silence, "Admiral, three ships inbound, scans show them as a Farmer's Alliance Bomber squadron, their weapons are hot!"
Aki started barking orders across the bridge, "Raise shields, power turrets, all ahead flank, we've got to be close to Sendai by now, open a channel to the FA ships!"
The screen flickered on, showing one of the alliance pilots, who promptly began throwing taunts and insults her way. She responded in kind, "You're bold to chase us here, farmer. It would seem the Alliance has become no less arrogant with the death of that cheauvenistic pig, Barak."
The pilot was no less gentle with his words, "You havent lost any of it yourself, rebel scum!"
Aki turned to the tactical officer, "Fire all turrets, send them back to the pit they came from!"
The Bastet shook in a rage as it's cannons opened fire, but the small and agile Kusari Bombers were too quick for them. Few shots came into contact with the enemy, and those few that did caused little to no damage.
"Admiral, they're just too fast, we cant hit them..." The tac officer grumbled in frustration.
Aki sighed, the Bastet was meant to take on gunships, cruisers, and battleships... it wasnt a match for smaller craft on it's own firepower. "Launch squadrons one and two, have them intercept the bombers and harass them, maybe it will ease up the hostile fire on us."
She gazed out the bridge viewport as eight Nephthys-Class fighters shot out of the launch tubes on the front of the Carrier. They quickly banked right, coming about to attack the bombers pursuing their mothership, though like the Bastet, the Order fighters were slow compared to even Bombers built in Kusari, and were unable to do much damage to the assailants.
The tactical officer spoke again, "Ma'am, the fighters are keeping some of the fire off of us but they arent going to be able to take out those bombers alone."
Aki slammed a fist down on her command chair's armrest, "How close are we to Sendai?"
"I'm not sure admiral, this nebula is playing havoc on our sensors," He braced himself as another supernova hit the ship, causing it to jar violently, "it should be within five kilometers now."
"Fire thrusters, get as much speed as you can, and tell our fighters to hold them off until we can close distance with Sendai." Aki was losing patience with the alliance attackers, her ship had already been damaged and had multiple systems disabled before the attack, the Bastet wasnt as able to defend itself as it normally would be.
"Admiral, Sendai is coming into view!" shouted the control officer as a massive shadow appeared in front of them, becoming clear as the carrier approached.
"Take us to the far side, open a comm link to the station," Aki paused for a moment until the holographic interface brought the face of the ops officer of the station into view, "Sendai, this is the Carrier Bastet, we're being pursued by three Farmer's Alliance Bombers and are taking heavy damage, requesting fighter assistance!"
"Roger that, Admiral Kimura, we're sending three fighter wings to escort you in"
Aki smiled gratefully for the assistance of the Dragons, within seconds there were twelve Katana-Class fighters screaming towards them at full speed. They unleashed a flurry of laser fire at the Bastet's pursuers, and unlike the Order Nephthys-Type fighters, these were able to keep up with the alliance bomber manuevers rather easily.
The Bastet pulled sharply to the right as it came to the far side of Sendai, bringing the bridge around to view the alliance bombers bearing down on it. Aki stepped forward out of her command chair, staring intently at the bombers as they closed distance, "Tac, ready mortars."
"Mortars, admiral? We cant even hit them with our primaries, how are the slower mortars going to make any difference?"
Aki glared at him with a look that could burn the hair off a Gaian Swampcat, "Do it!"
The Tactical Officer quickly turned back to his station, "Mortars armed, Admiral!"
Aki's voice went cold as she gave the command, "Fire."
Two bright blue balls of light erupted from the turrets in front of the Bridge viewport, flying towards the Bomber formation. The two bombers on the outside of the wedge broke away from the attack, but the middle pilot was not as quick. One of the mortar projectiles ripped through his craft, exploding in a miniature supernova.
One after the other, two new ships appeared on scanners, an outcast destroyer run by the Consortium, and a Blood Dragon Gunship. After a brief introduction they engaged the alliance bombers, who were now outnumbered nearly a dozen to one.
The two remaining bombers made a run for it, one was torn apart by the Dragon Gunship but the other managed to activate it's cruise engines and dropped off scanners. The ops officer onboard Sendai came back onto the communications screen, "Carrier Bastet, you're cleared for mooring, shut down primary systems and repair teams will be dispatched to patch you up."
Aki looked to the helm, "You heard her, get us moored, we've got a lot of damage that needs tending."
<... Location: Sendai Research Facility, Okinawa System, 2145 Hours ...>
Aki sat at the desk in her quarters going over repair reports, the Bastet had been in dock at Sendai for almost twenty four hours now, and the Dragon repair teams had worked surprisingly fast. If there was one thing about Kusari individuals, it was that they valued skill, discipline, and quality of work.
The entry door to her quarters beeped, and after Aki's reply it swished open, allowing Commander Mathews into the room. He approached with a salute and stood across from her, "Bad news, Admiral..."
Aki lifted an eyebrow as she looked up at him, "Why is it never good news with this crew?"
Mathews let out a nervous chuckle before continuing, "It would seem the Dragon leadership is having a change of mind... the men leading Nova Power Generation do not believe it is a wise choice to help us, and have given an order to bar us from Dragon bases... they may even try to lock down our ship and turn us in for reward, we need to depart as soon as possible."
Aki sighed as she stood up, "Instruct all crew back to the ship, launch immediately." Mathews nodded and saluted again as he left the room, with Aki trailing him to the hallway and heading for the bridge.
---
Minutes later, the entire crew was back onboard and ready for departure. Aki stood at the center of the bridge, "Helm, release mooring clamps and move us away from Sendai."
A flicker of static echoed across the bridge as the operations officer in the Sendai control tower appeared on the holoscreen, "Attention Carrier Bastet, you are not cleared for departure, re-engage mooring clamps immediately."
Aki stepped forward, "Sendai, news travels fast here... we're not going to risk being turned in by the Dragons. Thanks for the repairs, but we must be leaving now."
The ops officer's tone turned aggressive, "We cant allow that, Admiral. If you do not return to dock and surrender your ship immediately, you will be fired upon."
Aki gave the signal to Lieutenant Morris to cut the transmission, "Con, is the jump drive functional again?"
The control officer nodded, "Yes, Admiral, and we managed to get reinforced cabling from Sendai, we're good for at least ten Jumps."
As Aki turned back to the helm, the tactical officer shouted, "Admiral, Sendai has launched fighters and charged weapons!"
"All ahead flank, pull right and divert power to the rear shields. Charge the jump drive, I want to know the second we can make a jump out of here!" She stepped backwards and sat down in her chair, the Bastet shook slightly as the Dragon ships opened fire, but their weapons were not equipped to take on larger craft, and the Carrier's shields were left unharmed.
"Admiral, Jump drive is charged and ready for activation, where to?" Chimed Morris.
Aki turned to her, "We've only one refuge left in Sirius, let's hope the welcoming committee is better than this one. Set coordinates for the Orkney system, engage jump drive when ready."
Seconds later, the Dragon fighters pursuing the Bastet were left firing at nothing. In a bright flash, the Carrier vanished, leaving nothing behind but a slight ripple and tear in the fabric of space, which quickly faded as the Nebula filled in the gap.
Aki stared intently out the bridge viewport from her command chair as the Bastet slowly pulled in to moor with Barrier Gate Station. The ship was almost out of fuel and food, and while she didnt like having to resort to dealing with freelancers, it was the only station they could reach before being dead in the water.
Mathews looked over at her, "Shame negotiations didnt go better with the Council, I dont like having to resort to resupplying at places like this..."
Aki nodded, "All the Council wanted was another ship to add to their civil war, that isnt what we're out here for. I dont like this any more than you do, but we're running on empty right now. Do we have anything in the cargo bay we can trade off for supplies?"
Mathews picked up his datapad from the armrest of his chair and scrolled through the ship's cargo manifest, "We've got a few boxes of Tobacco and Wine that the Council gifted to us... there's two crates of personal firearms we could part with, we already have more than enough for our security personnel. There's also about half at on of scrap metal we've pulled in from our attackers, our maintenance crew have pulled everything of value out of those ships to repair our own."
Aki sighed, they might be able to get by on that much trade, but it wouldnt get them far. She turned to the tactical officer, "Tac, keep all weapons hot and shields up while we're here, I dont want any surprise attacks on the ship." She turned back to Mathews, "Get a security detail together, we're going stationside to barter for some supplies"
---
Aki gazed across the plaza at the center of the station, squinting her eyes to see through the thick haze of smoke that filled the room. Mathews glanced at her with a disgusted look on his face, "Smells like booze and vomit..."
She motioned to the security personnel to form a defensive wall around her and Mathews, and proceeded towards one of the shops. The guards kept a tight formation, both to conceal Aki from public view and to block any surprise shots that might be fired their way.
Aki approached the shopkeeper, who was decidedly of Bretonian origin. He smiled at her, revealing crooked and blackened teeth, with a breath almost as bad as the stench that filled the plaza. "Welcome to me shop, lass, what kin I do fer ya t'day?" He bellowed with a thick accent.
She tried to refrain from showing signs of displeasure at his general appearance and smell, "I need supplies for my ship, MOX and synth food."
The shopkeeper beamed, "Luck'ly fer ye I got just whats ye need! Ye payin in creds or trade?"
"Trade, we've got Tobacco, Wine, and a half ton of scrap metal." She almost gagged as she caught another whiff of his breath.
The man scratched his beard and thought to himself for a moment, "Not much eh? Fer that I could give ya a ton'f each, MOX 'n synth."
Mathews nudged her and whispered, "Admiral, that wont even get us two systems away..."
Aki sighed and looked back to the shopkeep, "I'll throw in one crate of military grade personal sidearms," She motioned at the laser carbines her guards were holding, "Just like these, if you triple the MOX. One ton of synth should hold us over, but we need more fuel."
The man grumbled a bit to himself while inspecting the weapons her guards were holding, "Oy... arright then, which port ye at? I'll 'ave the fuel pumped over."
Aki walked down the dank corridor back to the Bastet's mooring airlock with Mathews and her security detail in tow. It had taken half an hour to exchange supplies with the shopkeeper, but they now had three tons of MOX and enough food to last a month.
A bright flash lit the hall and one of her guards screamed in pain as he fell to the floor with a thud. The rest spun around, taking up defensive positions in the alcoves along the walls of the corridor, bringing weapons to bear on their attackers.
Aki stuck her back to the wall and pulled her pistol from it's holster, peeking out to see who was firing at them. Roughly a dozen men were at the end of the hallway, firing laser and plasma blasts at them. One of the men hold up his hand and called for a cease fire, "Kimura! This is Jardo Fayde, come along peacibly and I wont have to slaughter your men today, capiche?"
Mathews lifted an eyebrow at her, and Aki yelled back down the hallway, "Jardo Fayde? Am I supposed to know who that is?"
The man's voice turned cold, like she had insulted him, "Babe, I'm the best bounty hunter this side of Sirius, dont tell me ya never heard of the legendary Fayde!"
Aki sighed and chuckled at the same time, "Every bounty hunter think's he's hot stuff, Fayde, but in the end you all go out the same way, crying for mommy!"
She had dealt with bounty hunters before, attacking their ego and discounting their claim to fame was the quickest way to make them lose control. Surely enough, only seconds later Fayde roared in a rage and started taking potshots at the alcove Aki was hiding in. "Guess I'm gonna have to take you in dead, shame that... they would've payed triple for you alive. Probably just to hear you squeal while they torture you to death!"
Aki motioned to the guard taking cover across the hall from her, he nodded and pulled a concussion grenade from his vest, depressing the charge button and tossing it down the hall. The bounty hunters were so caught up in their shooting that they didnt notice the little metal ball rolling to their feet.
A bright flash lit the hallway as the grenade exploded, blinding and stunning the bounty hunters. Her guards moved out from cover and lit their weapons up, mowing down the attackers. Aki held her hand up, ordering a cease fire, as she approached Fayde. He was lying on his back, several shots taken to the legs, writhing in pain and blinking his eyes to try and wear off the flash of the grenade.
Aki put a foot on his chest and looked down at him, "Nobody hunts me, Fayde." She lifted her pistol and squeezed the trigger, sending a bolt of light through his skull.
Turning back towards the Bastet's airlock, she motioned at the guards to pick up their downed soldier, he was shot twice in the back but if they got him to the medical center quickly enough he might survive. She turned to Mathews, "Get up to the bridge, I want us out of this system five minutes ago."
He nodded with an aye-aye and took off at a breakneck run for the ship's Bridge.