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Rimma Redux: The Pirates Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
It's commonly understood among the populace of the Rimma Trade Route that there are several groups of people you don't cross. You don't mess with the Givins of Yag'duhl, you'll never outrun their record keeping. To say the merchants of Abregado Rae are "litigious" is an understatement. The Tapani Noble houses have slaughtered each other and won't hesitate to do it to outsiders.The guildhalls of Wroona have gone to war over unbalanced checkbooks, and above all, you never, ever, ever provoke the ire or even draw the attention of the Duopoly of Thyferra.
One band of pirates it seemed never learned this lesson, and they will not live to regret it. The mission is simple: infiltrate the base on the fourth moon of Jinar in the Wroona System, eliminate the Pirate leadership and anyone else you come across, collect a copy of their records and blow the base to hell, all with extreme prejudice and the compliments of the Duopoly.
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Commandant Alleria Tagge looked out from her perch atop the Ellivar's command deck in to the stream of stars set against the black night of space. Looking, peering, straining, she watched for some of those stars to go dark, only to reappear once again in an instant, as if something unseen was tracing over them. And there it was, Lucira Major if she wasn't mistaken, blotted out by a dark outline only to appear once again in the blink of an eye.
The strained, heavy breaths of the pilot of the Kessara came through, the audio scratched and static, being pumped through the speakers of the command deck.
"Four minutes out..." He breathed, adding words to his labored and anxious breaths.
"Understood Lieutenant," Alleria said in to her headset and moved to reorient her straight backed, military frame, to the other side of the bridge where in comparison to the tranquil sight of wounds of light against black velvet, a fiery eruption of blue and red hail fire awaited her. The Wroonan fleet was doing well but it had been intentionally holding back to draw the pirates in, letting them smell blood, leaving them overconfident, exposed and unsuspecting. "all gunners at the ready, turn the bow on the lead pirate vessel and charge the main cannon, stand by turbo laser batteries and slave the rest of the fleet's targeting solutions to our computers." She said rapidly, commandingly, even with her slightly gravely and sultry accent, her well trained and incredibly efficient and organized command crew jumping to attention at her orders.
Having traveled on thrusters and inertia on minimal power in an effort to further disguise their approach, the roar of the full might of the Ellivar's power generators made an audible sound though the bridge lights remained dimmed other than the luminous displays of the bridge consoles.
"Sensor echoes confirm a hit, we've been spotted." Her executive officer said in his crisp, accented but very urgent voice.
"Open fire." Alleria responded less than a second later and felt a palpable charge, real or imagined, build in the ship as the main cannon started to quickly build its power, discharging its massive projectile at speeds almost too quickly for the eye to see. What was seen though was the large explosion on the mid-ship of the lead pirate vessel, its hull punctured and torn by the lancing shot of the Ellivar's main battery. A flurry of laser bolts, moving at the same speed and intervals in parallel directions followed the Thyferran flagship's dramatic flanking of the pirate fleet, opening fire on the now listing hull of the lead pirate ship and its escorts.
"Direct hit on the lead vessel, she's losing control and near crippled but still capable of firing." Her executive officer said in urgency.
Alleria's eyes narrowed. The Ellivar's main gun had all but torn the ship in half, sundering its central supports and leaving the remaining bow and stern fighting to go the same direction as the few remaining supports clung like ropes joining two rafts in a storm. Apparently the pirate ships had the capability to fight back, flailing as it was, when they were crippled. "Understood, launch the fighters and tell gunners on all crews and ships to fire at will, keep firing until the hulls of those ships are cindering husks in space." The response was immediate and Thyferran fighters whizzed past the command deck on either side, followed by unrepentant and unrestrained firing of blue laser volleys, seeking out whatever target they could.
"Blackflight, we've engaged the enemy, keep low to the moon, hopefully they won't be able to detect you but we've made a habit of underestimating how resilient these pirates are. Don't take chances on approach, get in and set the bomb, eliminate anything and everything in your path, and if possible, find out what you can about where and how these pirates got all of this high end equipment without us noticing." She said in the same rapid, commanding tone she had used with her staff. "Godspeed." She added in a more sympathetic voice.
With that, the unassuming, slick Duopoly insertion vehicle continued on course though Alleria could not see it now. The team on board was set a difficult task but it was not one that she or her crew could assist with any more. They had created their opening by taking care of the pirate fleet, it was up to the ground team to do the rest, and by the way the pirates fought, the anxieties of the fleet and its commander would be placed on the pirates in the heavens before them, not however many the team on the shuttle was facing.
(@Andrewza @TAC )
