by R. E. Graham
If there was one group of pirates hiding on Destiny, then there are probably more. The question is, do we have time to waste here or is it wiser to move on?
Tribune Aries entered the bridge as the door slid shut behind him. He carried multiple cups of kava and gave one to each of them.
“Anything new?” he asked as he walked to the front of the group and placed his hands behind his back.
“Nothing worth mentioning, sir,” Sergeant Tammi said before she took a sip of the hot liquid. She nodded once to the Tribune for her thanks, but he didn’t give a return gesture.
“Inquisitor, this is your investigation. We will stay in orbit above Destiny as long as you see fit. We are in no hurry to move on,” Aries said.
Cyrus shook his head. “I know that the Colonel is dirty. But we could spend weeks here getting answers out of him and his people only to discover that none of the criminals here were part of the attack. No, we need to manage our resources more wisely.” He stood up from his chair and stretched his aching back.
The Inquisitor motioned with his hand for the Tribune to join him as he picked up his kava and walked to the center of the bridge. Aries followed behind, and the other intelligence officers began picking up the datapads and files scattered across their table.
“I believe that it would be a strong move to go for the head of the serpent rather than diddle around with records and datapads,” the Inquisitor said before he took a sip of his drink.
“And where would that be, sir?”
"Based on the Prefect and his explicit instruction to steer away from the Rubies, it would make sense to see if the Onyx know anything. Given our resources, we could strike them at the heart of their organization based in the Republic and really shake up this tree."
Aries nodded but clearly was analyzing something internally. He always was thinking. Rarely did he express his true thoughts. Cycles in the Republic's armed forces meant that an officer had to learn to navigate both the battlefield and politics. While the Inquisitor was not a political minion, he still could be tainted by the tentacles of the dark monster, nonetheless.
"What would we hope to accomplish by attacking the Onyx without strong evidence?"
Cyrus was sort of surprised by the question. “Well, regardless of the incident with the Senator, piracy is becoming more and more rampant. By attacking one of the Five Skulls we send a clear message to all criminals in this prefecture that the Republic is not tolerating their criminal activities any longer.”
After another moment passed, Aries appeared satisfied with the answer. "Then where to sir?"
"Set a course for Noire. The man we are looking for is a pirate that goes by the name, "Otto the Weary." He will be a big help in aiming us in the proper direction."
Chapter 20
Cycle: 434 Month: 2 Rotation: 18
Corre Republic Space
Prefecture: Siimon
Planet: Destiny
Location: Largo, Townhall
It had been hours since the tense meeting with the mercenaries. Nightfall had entirely set in, but the town wasn't enjoying an evening with family and friends, no, they had business to tend to. Within the town hall at the North end of Largo, nearly every citizen had congregated together for Mikhail to break the news.
Rumors had already spread like wildfire through the town that Mayor Tipso and his son had already left. Now they needed to decide who would lead them and what they were going to do about the mercenaries demanding a more substantial cut.
The pirate captain entered the inner room which was more like an auditorium than anything else. It had been used for numerous school plays over the cycles, but that felt like a lifetime ago. Many townspeople were still standing and talking to those around them. Some were scared, some wanted to run, others were angry. Mikhail knew he needed to not only give them hope but help them see his plan.
Leesa was speaking with one of their neighbors but noticed her husband enter the room. She smiled at him, and he felt a slight tug on his heart before he smiled back.
I can’t let this spiral out of control…
He stepped up to the podium at the center of the stage and tapped the microphone, but nothing came out of the speakers. With the noise of the room so loud and the microphone accidentally left muted, he decided to step out from behind the old wooden podium and just speak loudly.
“Thank you all for coming here tonight,” the Captain said with a serious face.
Everyone in the townhall finally noticed the man at the front of the stage and found their way to their seats. It became so quiet in the room that you could hear a wubpug flatulate.
“I wanted to have us all together, so we could address two serious issues for our town.”
A man called out from the back of the room with a thick accent. “Aye, yeah that bastard Tipso already cut and run!”
That got a chuckle out of some of the attendants while the majority began to murmur unhappily again.
Mikhail held up his hands, and the room quieted down. "That is one of the issues…let's go ahead and address that first. Yes, the rumors are true. Mayor Tipso and his son have abandoned us." He watched the eyes of the faces he could make out and he saw how bothered the people seemed to be.
While the Mayor was by no means essential for the town to function, the actual act of leaving them behind stung more than anything else he could have done. Leading up to this evening Mikhail had spent some time thinking about the heated conversations that set them on the path of being raiders and how the Mayor had pushed very hard for the town to remain as one. Now without him, Largo was in danger of fracturing and becoming a free-for-all again.
“So, where does this leave us?” Jona Hisp, the town butcher, asked from the third row.
“Well, the way I see it we have two options. The first is that we can allow ourselves to slip back into where we were when the recession hit.”
No one seemed interested in going back to such chaotic and turbulent times.
“Or…” Mikhail paused for dramatic effect. “…we can band together and become even stronger.”
“Do you know what really happened to Cavan?” a woman Mikhail couldn’t see from somewhere on his left asked.
“I do.” The Captain again looked over to Leesa then noticed Rhonda had been sitting behind her.
Probably best not to scare them with all of the facts just yet.
He turned his attention back to the crowd. “Cavan was probably hit because of having pirates operating out of the town.”
That got everyone all riled up as the words sunk in.
Again, Mikhail held his hands up and spoke loudly. “My concern though is not with Cavan but with all of us here.”
“What about the mercenaries? I thought they were covering for us,” Mrs. Stev asked loudly.
Hern leaned up against a wooden pillar on the edge of the group and shook his head.
“From what I have heard, it was not the Razors’ but may have actually been an inquisitor.”
You would have thought that Mikhail insulted the room in the worst way imaginable as most began shouting and losing control. The noise was so loud that the Captain was concerned for a moment that there would be a riot.
He overheard a number of conversations start as people freaked out.
“Is the inquisitor still on Destiny?”
“Are we next?”
“What are we gonna do?!”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” he shouted angrily.
The crowd quieted down enough to hear him clearly. “Yes, it is awful that Lenny bailed on us. Yes, we would never have chosen our way of life if we had an alternative. But right now, we need to come together. We are a family with many backgrounds, but all have a common point of connection.”
Leesa was impressed as she listened to her husband get control of the townspeople so effectively. She looked around at the faces of those closest to her and saw that they really were intrigued by Mikhail’s speech.
"Do what you have to, but
my family, my crew, and I are not leaving you. We are in this together, and I will do everything in my power to provide for all of us."
Jax rocked in his chair nervously as he was still stuck on the part about an inquisitor being on Destiny. Poli leaned in and whispered into his ear, “Are you okay?”
He wasn't expecting to be spoken to, and he jumped a little before he caught himself. Coming to his senses, he looked to his assistant tech and nodded.
“We have another matter that is connected to this first one.” Mikhail waited to continue as the room got quieter. “It seems that the Razors have decided that their cut needs to be much larger.”
“How much larger, Cap?” Patrix called out from the right side of the room. His tone wasn’t challenging, more inquisitive.
“A lot more Chief. More than is right or proper.”
He looked over and saw his wife shuffle in her seat. Her face now looked concerned like everyone else around her, but Mikhail could bet that it was more than he would have to leave again than anything else.
“Captain Geeson told me that he will be returning in a week to make another collection on our last run.”
“That’s absurd!”
“We already give them so much…”
“They are taking advantage of us!”
“I get your frustration,” Mikhail said as he walked to the right side of the stage. “But we will overcome this, just like how we have endured all the other burdens.”
Rhonda admired the way the Captain seemed to expertly influence the crowd. She looked ahead of her at the back of Leesa’s head and felt a bit of jealousy in her that she had turned down Mikhail when they were younger for a different man.
“We are going to need more rations and supplies if we are going to make it through the upcoming winter months. This is why my crew and I are going to head for Marie to make another run.”
Many of the crew members in the crowd sat up straighter as this was all news to them. Hern grinned while Riko sighed.
While he was happy at first to help the crew on their runs once they acquired the Goblin WarMech, now every mission left him feeling more and more guilty for having to hurt other people. He hadn’t mentioned it to anyone else, but when he found out that he was the one who killed the boy on the Senator’s ship it hit him extremely hard.
“What are we going to do about the mercs long-term? Another run just helps us today but doesn’t solve the problem,” Jona said boldly.
Mikhail agreed. "Due to the attack on Cavan, I don't think it is wise to be stiffnecked at the moment since we don't have all of the facts. However, I will be setting up a meeting with Colonel Felix when I return, and we will hammer all of this out."
“What happens if he wants even more?” Teddy Harman asked from the front row. His permanently stained clothes showed how hard he worked in life. Mikhail had known him since his family moved to Largo and knew that he was a good man. Too good in fact. He couldn’t cut it as a raider and became a member of the ground crew after his first mission.
“Then we will have to discuss that if it happens. But right now, we all need to work together and bring Largo closer, not further apart. As I said, I will do everything I can to make our home safe and secure. You have my word.”
Most of the townspeople, while still apprehensive about what could come in the future, were appreciative of the Captain and his sincerity.
Someone started to chant “Mik, Mik, Mik…” and before you knew it, a bunch of others joined in.
Leesa grinned happily at her husband as he somberly looked out at his town and nodded.
I have to do whatever it takes to take care of them. They’re depending on me…
Chapter 21
Cycle: 434 Month: 2 Rotation: 19
Corre Republic Space
Prefecture: Siimon
Planet: Destiny
Location: Aboard the Only Hope
Mikhail and his crew had just broken out of the orbit of Destiny and were heading for Marie. While it was still considered a close from the distance of their own planet, it was in the Colonial prefecture, so they had to watch out for random government patrols. Each world was ruled by its own senate and governor. Then each world was part of a prefecture which was in turn governed by a prefect that oversaw the big picture of that chunk of the Republic's realm. Above the prefects were the civil senate and the Prefect Major. Some prefectures were more laid back than others, and Colonial was known for being more aggressive.
Before the Loaner Crash and before becoming a fugitive of the national law, Mikhail had traversed many of the nearby worlds. Now as a pirate he knew of many different weak locations that could be hit without a great deal of risk to his crew. There always was the possibility that a site could undergo changes since he visited it as a cargo transporter, but he had found that many of the inner worlds such as Destiny, Marie or even Eden did receive enough income or government assistance to really change.
He could think of one town in particular that he had once visited on Inferno as a young boy with his father that was entirely the same twenty cycles later when he visited again. It was almost like it had been frozen in time how much it was the same.
Their next destination was a small town on Marie called Hyssop. It was an agricultural town that he heard also began storing medical supplies for the capital. It would make an excellent target for a hit-and-run raid.
Joker spoke up from his controls as he set the Only Hope on auto-pilot. “Cap, when we arrive at Marie it should be early morning for them.”
“Understood,” Mikhail said with his gruff voice.
He was thinking over the town hall meeting back home. So many of his friends were worried about what could happen next to the town. He certainly tried to exhibit strength and confidence, but inside he wasn't very sure about what was the best strategy going forward. This seemed like a good a plan as any, so he went all in with it. Thankfully, nearly everyone bought it.
Nina looked over at the Captain and saw that he looked like he was deep in thought. “Captain?”
Mikhail shook himself from his thoughts. “Yes, Nina?”
The woman smiled reassuringly. “I thought your speech the other night was good for the town. Even though the Mayor left us, you have stepped up to lead. I think it suits you.”
“Well, thank you. We have some very big issues to tackle in the coming weeks, but I know we can do it together.”
"Those blasted mercs have no reason to take advantage of us like they are," Hern snarled from his station.
Mikhail knew he wasn't angry with him, but at the situation, so he didn't make him check his tone.
"Unfortunately, we don't have enough information about what happened between the Colonel and this Inquisitor. Either way, they aren't going to be extorting us next time."
“We should have killed them then and there,” the ship’s gunner said grumpily.
“It wasn’t a good opportunity. They came prepared with the Sierra.”
“Yeah well, we got our own mech!”
“We do. But I’m not going to authorize a mech battle breaking out in our own homes.”
Nina watched the two men go back and forth. She tried to focus on her station, but the argument got more heated.
“Cap, next time I’m going to take the shot to kill ‘em if I get to.”
Mikhail stood up to his full height which sort of startled the gunner. “You will not so much as look at Captain Geeson the wrong way without my permission. Is that clear?”
An air of awkwardness quickly settled on the bridge as Nina and Joker wished they were anywhere else.
“Yessir…” Hern reluctantly said as he looked away.
Mikhail still fuming from the angry encounter decided that he would go and check on the rest of his crew. He exited the bridge and Nina looked over at the gunner.
“Are you trying to instigate him?” she asked.
“No. I just want us to have what’s ours is all,” Hern said grouchily.
“
You know he is doing the best he can with what is thrown at us. There sure isn’t anyone else stepping up to lead.”
Hern kinda puffed out his chest. “Well, I…I could.”
“Sure,” Nina said as if his answer was the embodiment of stupidity.
Mikhail made his way down to Jax’s work station. The overrider was in the middle of dabbling with some new invention of his. Parts from multiple electronic devices were scattered about the area. The Captain leaned down to inspect a servant bot, or really what remained of it. Jax had removed something from inside the disabled machine as its chest plate had been taken off and several wires hung loosely out of its protective shell.
He looked up to see his crewman hard at work with his back to the Captain.
“Whatcha doin’?” Mikhail asked with a sudden hand placed on Jax’s scrawny shoulder.
The sudden physical touch combined with the Captain so close to him caused him to jump and drop his hand tool.
“Oh, hi Captain. I’m workin’ on somethin’ to disable electronic locks. Should work up to a level four locking mechanism.”
“That’ll come in handy. Hey, I wanted to talk with you about things and see how you’re holding up.”
Jax slid his chair away from his station and looked up at the Captain. Seeing the motion, Mikhail took a step back to give him clearance.
“Truthfully, I’m still a bit nervous of when we stopped on Noire that someone noticed me.”
“What? Nah, we would have seen an assassin or somethin’ by now.”
The overrider did not look amused by the joke as his Captain grinned. “Ha, ha. But seriously, Onyx isn’t a group of people you want to mess over.”
"You still did," the pirate captain said plainly.
“Yeah, and every day since we have taken on this lovely profession, I feel like I am looking over my shoulder.”
