Far Reach System – Phoenix Hawk Cockpit

“Another wave of hostile contacts is approaching our position. They are coming in from… umm… 160, -045. Eta thirty seconds!” Niki called out behind him as he sent the Phoenix Hawk into a sideways drift. He was peppering the pirate fleet in front of him with blasts of plasma, trying to buy some time for the rest of the INP fleet to arrive. 

It wasn’t going well.

They arrived in the Far Reach System a few hours ago, which had a supermassive star at its centre. The amount of gravity the star created made the hyperdrive points exponentially farther out than the other systems they had visited so far, so much so that even his probes could only cover about a tenth of the system at their maximum range.

Katrina had ordered the fleet to split into two groups, one with the Dawn Chorus and the other with the Phoenix Hawk. They would both start combing the system for contacts, both fleets heading to either side of the probes’ furthest data points and making their way to the centre. It would take most ships nearly an hour to cross that amount of space. 

This worked out well for the first two ‘zones’ he had created, with minimal contacts in either one. That wasn’t surprising, as the system itself was uninhabited due to the star’s radiation. Only miners came to this system with any frequency because of the easy access to rare minerals in the asteroid belts and a tidal-locked gas giant close to the star. The extreme heat of the star causes the interior of the planet to churn, forcing some of the exotic materials in the interior to be ejected into the clouds above. 

Not that the novelty of gas giant mining was on John’s mind at that moment. He was more concerned with the pirate fleet that landed on top of them when they were investigating a yellow contact that turned out to be an empty pirate base. 

The only saving grace was that they were landing on his half of the fleet in small numbers, like they were coming here from the edge of the system and were unaware that the INP forces were there waiting for them.

Unlike his first battle, where most of the ships were pieced together hack jobs that were barely space worthy, these all appeared to be decommissioned military vessels, several generations old, but still deadly.  He had twelve frigates and two destroyers, along with a mix of forty fighters and corvettes, all fairly new with battle-tested crews. Forty-one if he included Tanya, actually, but that didn’t matter right then.

At first, it was the smaller ships that landed on them, and the INP quickly overwhelmed the pirates. As more of the pirate ships arrived at the base, they managed to put up a defence long enough for the next wave of larger pirate ships to arrive. Now they were fighting on even numerical footing, and this next wave would give them the advantage.

Not to mention the INP fighters were quickly burning through their missiles, which would significantly decrease their firepower. 

“ETA for INP reinforcements?” He asked as he aimed his MAG towards a pirate destroyer. “All fighters stand clear of the pirate destroyer, MAG firing in three.” He said, not waiting for Niki to reply. He triggered the MAG, and the hundred-pound ball of metal shot out of the front of his ship at insane speeds. It cored the vessel, causing it to list and smash into a nearby pirate frigate, disabling both vessels.

“Four minutes. Sir, recommend we use the bubble interdictor.” Niki said behind him. 

He wasn’t sure why she wanted to do that, but he trusted her judgment. While he had been using spells and practising gunnery, she had been trying to learn how to use all these other systems on his ship. If she recommended it, there must be a reason.

“Bubble up then, Niki.” He said, returning his attention to the ships in front of him. Two of the INP frigates were now drifting, both ships spewing fire from cracks in their hulls. Five of the fighters were down, including two of his. He punched the throttle again, sending the Phoenix Hawk in the general direction of the broken fighters, hoping to provide them with cover or even recover them if he had the chance. 

Another explosion blossomed, signalling the death of another fighter pilot, though he wasn’t sure which side it was on. He let fly with a full salvo of his plasma weaponry at a pair of frigates, defeating their shields and scorching their armour.  Tanya came in from above him, launching two of her torpedoes at each of them, the now unshielded vessels cracking under the twin explosions from the antimatter warheads. 

He didn’t have time to congratulate her as a large blue bubble expanded from the Phoenix Hawk, the interdictor activating. He wasn’t sure exactly how it worked, but it prevented ships from travelling at lightspeed, and would also draw any nearby ship travelling at lightspeed* into it, forcing them out of the high-speed travel abruptly. 

Oh, that means they will be disoriented when they hit my bubble, not moving. I got it!

He swapped the ammo in his MAG to the buckshot version. Instead of a hundred-pound ball, it was a hundred one-pound balls. He angled his ship towards where the incoming ships were coming from. At the same time, Niki activated the tractor beam, pulling several of the wrecked fighters into the hangar with one hand, while her other hand was attempting to jam out nearby fighters. He didn’t see any of that, as he was focused on the incoming ships about to land right on top of the Phoenix Hawk. 

The entire ship shook as several missiles crashed against the ship’s shields, the anti-missile system unable to defeat that volley. He stayed on target, letting his ship shrug off the damage as he lined up his shot.

“All ships, stand clear of my frontal arc, firing MAG Scattershot in 3,” He said, not sure if anyone was paying attention to him. Right now, the comms were confusing as hell, as all the ships on the field were using the same channel. He really needed to ask why that was a thing.

A dozen new ships landed directly in front of him, and he opened up with the MAG. The light-weight balls blew out the front of the cannon at their insane velocities and smashed into the new pirate vessels. The vessels, whose shields were not fully powered up, were quickly turned to Swiss cheese, with nothing but the armour plates slowing down the high-velocity pellets fired at point-blank range. John didn’t wait for a battle damage assessment before he unleashed a full salvo at the remaining ships, plasma and torpedoes flying towards the stalled out vessels. 

When the smoke cleared, four frigates, two destroyers and a handful of corvettes were all disabled or outright destroyed. John released a breath he didn’t realise he was holding, then turned the Phoenix Hawk back to the battle. They still had a lot of pirates to take down, but INP reinforcements would be there shortly, which should end this battle quickly.

“Good work, Niki. I am so proud of you. You saved a lot of lives today.” He said, aiming for a couple of fighters who were chasing Tanya. 

“Thank you, Master,” Niki said quietly behind him. A tear formed at the corner of her eye, happy that her da- that John was proud of her.

Dawn Chorus – Hanger

“Despite her inexperience, Niki Hanson has proven her mettle in this battle, proving she has both sound tactical judgement and excellent situational awareness. She is credited with rescuing several of our fellow pilots while under fire and providing her captain with a plan on the fly to divide and conquer the enemy reinforcements before further casualties could occur. 

For her bravery, I, acting as Lady Eligan and Heir to the Western Region of the Kestrel Empire, award Niki Hanson with the Bronze Cross. I hope you continue to do your Captain and your Empire proud, Miss Hanson.” Katrina announced to the crowd of INP soldiers who were crowded together in the hangar.

John clapped his hands along with the rest of the crew, the thunderous applause echoing throughout the large hangar. For her part, Niki appeared super embarrassed, not believing she deserved such praise. After John and then Katrina had reviewed the battle data from her station, both of them knew she had actually accomplished something special.

Most of the INP personnel were present, with Katrina handing out awards to various members for their actions over the last few days. The commanders of the ships would receive decorations at a later date from either the admiral in Parrax or directly from Katrina’s father. This event was just for the crew themselves. 

Niki was the last one to receive an award, both because she wasn’t part of the INP and because it was the most prestigious medal being awarded tonight. Lieutenant Commander Eligan was not allowed to give out such an award, but Lady Eligan could. In fact, it was the highest award she could provide, with only the Silver and Gold crosses being considered higher honours that nobles of her father’s level could award deserving people. Royalty had further awards they could offer, but that had no bearing at this ceremony.

Tanya stood beside him, having received a silver pin in the shape of a sword for taking down three enemy frigates and four fighters in the battle. John had only seen the two frigates that he had knocked the shields down on, but apparently, she had been using her torpedoes to good effect during that fight. 

“She looks so nervous, you should go give her a hug,” Tanya said beside him.

“Yeah? That would probably make her even more embarrassed.”

“So? Go to her. I bet you ten credits she jumps into your arms.” 

“You are trouble, you know that?” He replied, then walked out to the front of the crowd where Katrina and Niki were. 

John did lose ten credits, as the moment Niki saw him, she broke free of Katrina and jumped up into his arms. 

“Da- Captain!” She said, almost slipping Dad in by accident again. She tried to say something else, but it was muffled when she jammed her face into his chest. He just held her, petting he hair and told her again how proud he was of her. 

This world is so weird that even slaves can be awarded high honours for notable achievements. Maybe the system isn’t as broken as I thought.

Spoiler is just my AN explaining the steps I went through for the next scene and how I tamed it down to what it is now. Read at your own risk.

Spoiler

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Parrax 3 Station – Unknown Cargo Bay

Chris tried to break free of her restraints for the hundredth time that day. The electro-shackles gave her yet another huge shock, causing her muscles to spasm and go slack, preventing her from breaking the device.

“You okay, Chris?” Serena asked, for the hundredth time that day, just as concerned now as she was the first time she had tested the restraints.

“I…Am…FINE!” She growled, trying to sit upright again.

Timur and Camila’s thugs had tossed her in here yesterday, the two gang leaders saying she was now collateral on Greg’s debt. With the race being cancelled due to the ongoing evacuation drills, they were claiming he needed to pay up immediately, or else they would sell her as payment. They insinuated they had several interested buyers who enjoyed breaking strong-willed dwarves, and asked her to keep that haughty attitude when the auction began in a few days.

Later that day, they brought Serena in, the Dark Elf beaten bloody. Camila kissed the poor woman on the lips, biting her lip and drawing blood. She told her that if Greg couldn’t come up with the money by the end of the week, she would become the next plaything in her Sapphic Harem. 

“Don’t worry, girl, you will learn to love the pain.” Camila cackled, then the pair of them left the room.

She didn’t want to think about that. She didn’t want to be in this room by the time they returned. She was determined to break these shackles and escape.

“You don’t look fine. Take a break and let your body recover. That much electricity is going to cause permanent damage if you keep at it.” Serena told her. 

Chris looked over at her wounded friend and cursed again. How could she stay still if they were going to sell her and torture her friend? “I am fine. Now, I am going to try again, and again, and either I break free or become a vegetable. Either option is preferable to what they have planned for me.” She wrenched at her shackles again, screaming in anger against the pain.

Anger was going to be the key to her escape. Somehow, she knew it was the only thing that would save them.

* – A/N I am having a hard time not saying warp speed every time I write lightspeed. I guess I have Star Trek embedded in my bones or something.

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