Merlin flew over to Valos’ heavy frigate as his fighter escort easily polished off the drones that were chasing him. He swooped over to the frigate’s armored belly, and slowed as he came closer.
And when he reached a certain distance, portions of the armor slid aside and folded into each other. As they retracted, a shallow docking collar just beneath the surface was revealed.
He eased his fighter into position just under the collar, and slowly slid up into it so that he was partially nestled in the frigate itself. Magnetic locks kept the fighter in exactly the right place as huge rubberized seals inflated between them and formed a seal.
There was a long HISS as the fighter’s cockpit pressurized to the frigate’s internal atmosphere.
A mix of smells filled
What would you do if you had a drone fleet of your own? Would you terrorize people or protect your loved ones? Would you use them to profit somehow?
The doors to the bridge snapped open as Merlin walked through. He whistled in awe at the simplicity and efficiency of the bridge’s layout. It was the first time he had ever been on a bridge like this, and he was absolutely delighted to the core. Valos stood in the middle along a catwalk, while his officers and their terminals surrounded him. And all along the walls around them were multiple large MFDs which displayed all manner of information. Some were filled with live feeds of the battle, while others were covered in readouts and data outputs. Valos spotted Merlin, and waved him over to his side. “Ah, there he is! Man of the hour! Come on over.” A huge grin filled Merlin’s face as he stood next to the Templar. “I guess
The Admiral led her handful of frigates back towards the base at a nearly breakneck speed. Pirate fighters nipped at their heels and tapped at their armor with cannonfire, but only just scraped against the surface. The panicked crewmembers on them were certainly thankful for the frigate’s thicker armor, but were still scared shitless from the constant barrage of fire. The drumming on the hull kept everyone inside on edge. In contrast, the pirate frigates followed them lazily - Valos was clearly enjoying toying with the Federation. He was never impressed with them in the first place. They often counted too heavily on overwhelming firepower rather than effective tactics. He and his officers couldn’t help but laugh as the Admiral fled before them. “Why don’t we just pol
Valos and Merlin watched the screens around them with absolute joy. The Admiral and her set of toys were so easily defeated, to the point that every Federation pilot ended up running from the fight. “I bet some of your pilots are a bit disappointed,” Merlin mused. “They were probably lookin’ to have a big ole’ fight with the Feds.” “Hah! Yeah, I bet that too. They’ll prolly gripe a bit, and maybe even get into a few fistfights back at the flagship. But they’ll forget all about it once we divvy up all the loot.” “Templar!” said an officer. “Sensors are picking up increased power signals from within the asteroid. Incredibly faint, but they’re clearly powering stuff back on.” Valos’ eyes went wide in shock. A mere hour had passed - that wasn’t nearly enough time to fix
The remaining pirate frigates hurriedly positioned themselves all around the asteroid and covered literally every angle all around. Once they were in position, each and every one of them extended a large metallic sphere from underneath their bellies. The spheres glowed a dull orange as streams of luminous energy shot out towards all the other spheres on the frigates. This resulted in a barely-glowing lattice that surrounded the asteroid on all sides. But as the seconds ticked by, the energy lattice glowed brighter, and the signal they produced strengthened bit by bit. The Admiral watched as a slew of data scrolled through the screens on her bridge. Though she didn’t have any visual confirmation, she could easily tell what the pirates were up to just outside.
The last of the four Federation frigates cleared the hangar and joined the others in advancing on the fighter swarm. Their own fighters had done their best to quell the pirates, but were slowly losing. Drones were meant to be a supporting force, not a main attack force. The fleet desperately needed frigate support on their side as well. On the bridge of her ship, the Admiral watched as the battle unfolded before her. Drones harassed the pirates while her fighters polished them off. Their discipline and skill were certainly an advantage over the more reckless and chaotic pirates. “All ships,” she ordered. “Sync up to the asteroid’s false transport signature. If they’re successful with their port, we need to jump in with them!” Though she was appraised of the fig
The galaxy spun back into place as everyone ported into unfamiliar space. Every fighter slowed as the pilots shook off their dizziness and disorientation. Both fleets had ended up near a mostly ocean planet. Many large domed cities littered its surface and multiple stations floated in its orbit. No-one had seen it before, and couldn’t identify it at all. On the bridge, the Admiral took initiative and ordered all her drones and fighters to move back to her position. Not knowing where they were, she intended to turtle up and keep her remaining forces tight. She spoke, but her voice was somewhat distant, as though she was waking up from a dream. “Recall all units to our position,” she ordered. “And report on field status.”
It was only a few hours later that the Admiral, her brother, Eva, and Miko found themselves on the aquatic planet they had accidentally ported to. The Admiral was originally going to bring her chiefs of security and engineering, but Eva and Miko convinced her otherwise. “Don’t bring the redshirt,” Eva had argued. “If anything happens, I’m more than capable enough. If I can’t handle it, no way he could.” Miko echoed the same sentiments about the engineering chief. Although the Commander didn’t like the idea of putting the two of them in the same room with any enemy of the Federation, the Admiral thought differently. The two of them helped turn the tide of the fight for her. If not for either of them, they would have been in significantly different circumstances. Their
After they had completed their official surrender, Retholis and his retinue escorted the four to their new lodgings. Of course, they had also made preparations for the rest of the thousands of people on Tartarus Base to come down and live planet-side as well. Where they were all to be relocated during their temporary “visit” was in a large compound that sat along the edge of the dome. It certainly wasn’t anything fancy, especially when compared to the splendor of the buildings closest to the center, but it wasn’t anything to sneeze at either. Since they were up on the edge, they had a perfect view out into the vast ocean. And far out in the distance were a number of other domes, each in multiple different directions. The compound itself was relatively cosy, with a number of apartment buildings littered all over.