Voragian Space Privateers, Part II

by 

Nightstory

Copyright (c) 2009

All rights reserved,

Special permission granted to Triond Publishing.

Virgin Valkyrie, Webolt Space, stealth mode.

Voragian Star Time: 00:200:4617:01:46 Lokarian Central System Time.

“Captain Vortigen on the Deck”, the young Raptor Commander called out.

“At Ease.  What do do have for me, Chart Major?”  Captain Vortigen commanded.

“Well, Captain, Sir, there is a communique from a crippled Garian Ship, calling itself the Flat Rock.  Says it and its fleet are under attack.  I do not show that ship in my registry.  Could be a ruse by the Bengrians.”  Chart Major Arthur Mors stated.  He continued,  ”The message is Sir, somewhat cryptic.  It reads, ‘Meet me at Harry Asteroid’s Saloon, Vor, I’m calling in the poker winnings.  Will meet in …’,  that is when the transmission becomes momentarily garbled and interrupted by battle sounds, ‘ …unless these uninvited party crashers, in their brand, new Longships show up  there, first.  Signed Jira.”

“That all?” asked the Captain.  CM Mors just nodded.  

Vortigen looked away and smiled.  

He became, momentarily, lost in an old memory, then the grim reality entered his brain.  The thought quickly faded as the hue of a battle hardened Fleet Commander painted his face replaced the happy memory with the reality of the call of command in the present.

“Sir?” asked the Chart Major, with a look of concern on his face.

Captain Vortigen, looking at CM Mors, snapped out his orders, “Change Heading to Animor.  Raise the Colors, Spark up the guns.  Alpha-Dex Fleet to Escort Cocoon and Families to rendezvous.  Grand Fleet on The Virgin Valkyrie.  Battle Stations. Prepare for battle.” 

“Are we attacking the Garian ships, Sir?”  The Chart Major queried.

“No, we are going to rescue their Fleet.  Consider them friendly and we never let our friends down.  This, at least, will have the Bengra looking in our direction.  Maybe it will draw any attention away from the Mongoose, while she finds and escorts the Star Beauty.  This also could be an opportunity to form an alliance with both, the Garians and the Levenian Pirates.  We could use their ships.  Taking out a group of Bengrian Longships,  gets us paid and might even buy us the time, we need to strengthen up.  At least, it couldn’t hurt our cause.  Extra Rations for those that don’t get killed.”  The Captain explained.

Meanwhile, the Mongoose has just entered the vast AD-47 Brudart System.

Traveling at full speed and out of stealth mode, The Mongoose relies on an old smuggler trick.   She is space surfing, through an uncharted Solar Pipe Tide, to keep her engines from being detected.  The only problem, the ship is blind in the pipe and when it comes out, at the end of the tide, there is no way of knowing, where they will be or who is waiting there.

“What was the last ping Coordinates of the Star Beauty?” Cremelyn asked the signals hybot.  

“Forty Forty one Freebar sector.”  the bot mechanically sounded.

Just then, an announcement from Engineering calls up to Captain Cremelyn.  ”Pipe opening, ebb space in five.”

“Any Wyrmes? Go Silent, Change to Battery, spark the Guns.  Prepare to cloak.” Commanded Cremelyn.

Engineers and the ship, itself, call out in a sybiotic voice, “None Detected. Slider to port, soft and high.  Space Crest on Starboard.”

The Mongoose eases into the normal space, silent and undetected.  

Suddenly, battle warnings flashed, as all coordinates automatically are adjusting the ships charts.  

The ship, with its well seasoned crew, remained quiet.  

A Raptor Commander, named Kelvar Sogey, rapidly approached the Command Con.  Quietly, he speaks to Captain Cremelyn, “Captain, Ma’am, Enemy Detectors are focused on that ship there.  No signs of detection on us.  Course?”

Hoping, she would be lucky on her first try, Cremelyn gives the command, “Skirt behind that asteroid line, let’s see what we have, could be the Star Beauty.”

“No, ma’am.  Too small, looks like a Vuxfor Cruiser.” Kelvar said.

“Out here?  Who would be that foolish?  Does it have escorts?”  Cremelyn asked.

No, Ma’am.  Its fighting alone.  It appears to have engaged battle with a Startail and a PC-Transport.”  Kelvar said, in amazement.

“And its still, fight-worthy?  Who is flying that thing?”

“Yes, Ma’am.  Unknown at this time.  Coming in now.  It appears to be… you are not going to believe this, Captain.”

“What?” she asked.

“It is an Avrivion Training Cruiser, an old Vuxfor Class II type.  Manifest says it is being crewed by Avrivion Warrior Cadets.  The Cadet leader is one Jen Kniye.   Cadets taking on a Bengra Third Fleeter?”

“What? Damn. Detectors?”

No others detected.  Only those two and the Vuxfor?”

Cremelyn barked new orders,  ”Charge Engines, Attack Dive Taflin One. Looterbots to salvage pods, Shields to port only.  Stealth off in five.  Let’s take them out, before they can give a shout back,  and after the attack, I want to talk with the ‘Captain’ of that Vuxfor.”  

The Mongoose lit up her engines and Sheltered by a large asteroid, powered, unseen, to the only blind side of a PCT, its space wake.    The approach was rough and the crew of the Mongoose was tossed around, but they made it in and rode just below the Planet Conqueror Transport’s space wake.  The positioning gave the Mongoose two very good advantages.  First, the Transport’s Hurlean Guns couldn’t be turned easily to the wake, a very bad engineering decision by the Bengrian fleet Designers, and, secondly, the transport’s massive size would block out the powerful sensors of the Bengrian Startail Frigate.    

The Vuxfor’s guns suddenly went silent.  The Frigate, sensing an easy kill now, now foolishly and obsessively focused on the Vuxfor Cruiser.  This was the perfect opportunity for the Mongoose.  She slipped under the Transport, release two Comet Buster mines to the belly of the transport.  

She quickly surface, broadside to the Frigate, just as the Transport detected the unwanted visitor.  The PCT set off her battle alarms, briefly, before she was blown into silence.  The Mongoose raised her twenty four very powerful Voragian Particle Guns, as the panicked crew of the Frigate realized, too late, that they were in grave peril.    

Cremelyn gave the order to fire and moments later, the frigate was dead and silent.  She sent out looterbots to salvage what they could find.  It was a perfect ambush, a rarity on a Bengra Third Fleeter.   In two days of cruising the Mongoose had passed ships from both the Seventh and now, the Third Fleet of the Bengra Empire.  The Bengra were operating both the Third and the Seventh Fleets here.  That was not what Cremelyn wanted to know.  They were the most elite and the best trained of the Bengra Empire.  She did not want to tangle with either one or both of those fleets.  Too late, now, she had just killed one of their Frigates.  If it had sent out any com, … oh well, she thought, what’s a higher price on my head.  This battle was over before the Bengrian’s knew they were under attack. They might not be so lucky the next time.  Now she focused on the Vuxfor Cruiser.

An angry Holo-comunication, using silhouette mode,  came over the Mongoose’s command com port.  It was, what appeared to be, the Captain of the Vuxfor Cruiser, “Who are you, that takes our battle from us?”

“Who are we?  We are the ones that just saved your butts.”  Yelled Cremelyn, “Who is the Drekian Sot-Brained Genius that decided to take on a Star Tail and a PCT without escort and way out here?  Show yourself!”

“I am Cadet Commander Jen Kniye of the Graduating Class of 7834.  We are Avrivion Warriors.  Now answer, Friend or Foe?”  She demanded.

“Neither, I am your Mother!”