Raider's Claw and Raider's Blade suit their names; the twin fighter/salvage craft have hook-shaped wings that could be either claws or blades. Captain Gama commands the the Claw, with Kelsy in support and, surprisingly, Kaori as passenger. Blade has a crew of two, Ripley and Addy Jack.
Gama: *comms* "E78 to C34. What's your status? Over."
Addy Jack: *comms* "This is C34. We are in formation with you. Over."
Gama: *comms* "Good. Our mission is to follow up on a tip that a bounty is hanging around in a nearby space sector. Kaori is here as out guide since she knows the space."
Kaori Jo shifts in her acceleration chair, wondering how she managed to get into this but curious enough to compensate. "Well - not really. The cultures, to some extent - the planetology, ditto - the space, not so much."
Kelsy snickers. "Seee. I told you I would be a better guide than Kaori."
Kaori nods. "Off the ground, certainly!"
Addy Jack: *comms* "Mission parameters understood Commander. We'll follow your lead."
Gama: *comms* "Good. We will be approaching the space sector in 60 seconds. Ships prepare to go to yellow alert. "
Addy Jack: *comms* "We're ready."
Gama: *comms* "We don't know much about this target, but whoever they are, I don't want any surprises. Understood?
The bounty hunters emerge from a stargate in close proximity to a moderately-sized asteroid.
Kwan-Jieun Kahn, alone in a fighter craft in low orbit around the asteroid, quickly rotates around and fires her weapons.
Kelsy: skipper I see something!
Raider's Claw shakes as Kahn's guns score a hit, luckily not a serious one.
Addy Jack: We have fighter contact and it is firing on you. What are your orders, Commander?
Gama: *comms* "Return fire, but don't destroy it. I want that ship taken alive. Kaori Can you identify that ship?
Kaori leans forward to get a better view but also opens her mind to catch potentially familiar thought patterns. "It could be Kahn's."
Gama: *comms* "It's Khan. Take evasive action. She's dangerous, but I still want her alive.
Addy Jack: We are hit. She did some very serious damage to us and I lost Ripley. I need to abandon ship. Can I transfer to your ship?
Gama: *comms* "Roger that, I'm swinging by to pick you up. Rest in peace, Ripley. Khan will pay for this.
Kaori stretches her mind and succeeds -- she picks up a strong emotion of anger that definitely belongs to Kahn. There are words: "Weapons malfunction - not now -!" She repeats the words for Gama's benefit. "That's Kahn's thought," she adds. "Definitely her. She's in trouble, too."
Kaori catches her breath as Razor's Blade careens uncontrolled across the viewport and explodes.
Gama: Kaori please open the hatch for Addy Jack
Kaori gets up and cycles the airlock, then opens the hatch. Addy comes through and unseals her helmet.
Kelsy: welcome aboard Addy. lost your ship?? That lil so and so."
Addy: That pirate just blew my ship out of space. Good thing I wasn't on board.
Kwan-Jieun Kahn so much enjoys seeing that ship blow up. She takes off running to the nearby asteroid and begins sending out a call for help to her crew. The signal's not strong enough for them to get it - but someone else is nearby...
Kaori frowns as she reseats herself and continues to stretch her thoughts. "There's someone else out there - not the same vector or texture as Kahn, vaguely familiar but very unclear."
Gama: Kaori what did you see?
Kaori feels Kahn's trace moving towards the asteroid. She peers out in the trace's direction and points. "There -"
Kelsy: Frack she's getting away Gama. We need to catch her or this bounty ain't going anywhere.
Kahn has the distress signal on repeat as she tries to hide around the asteroid
Gama: Calm yourself, my friends. She's not gonna get far. Kelsy, lock weapons and prepare to fire on my orders. This is where the game ends. Kill wanna mine? And I'll kill one of yours. She's in the asteroids. Move in and. Fire at will.
With the asteroid between her and Kahn, Kaori loses her mental trace. She turns her attention to the other half-familiar mind she's noted.
Kelsy: Hey boss, I'm picking up a really big ship on the view screen.
Addy Jack: I see it too, Commander. It's a warship of some sort. And it's heavily armed.
Gama: Kaori. Can you identify that big ship?
Kaori Jo (Kaori Takeda) frowns. "Afraid not. It's a big ship but not many minds aboard - it may be crewed mostly by droids."
Gama: Forget about the fighter for the for this moment. Let's have a closer look and see if we can identify any markings. That doesn't look too good to me.
As she swings around the asteroid's dark side, Kahn opens a loose directional beam to the large ship. "Request assistance. Can anyone hear me? I have valuable info on the mystery ship. Anyone there I can trade it to for assistance"
As Razor's Claw comes into view, Capt Kahn tries firing her weapons space but only click click, no bang. Accelerating, she darts behind the warship, matching speeds and hovering just meters outside of its hull.
Addy Jack: I'm picking up radio signals, commander. It might be coming from the fighter. It looks like they're trying to make a trade with that big ship.
Gama: Kaori please identify any markings you can read as soon as we move closer to that big ship.
The ship looms larger in the front viewport. Gama maneuvers Razor's Claw so that they can see its starboard side. Kaori: "CSC Hatae."
Gama: "What does it mean?"
Kaori: Cyhnon Space Corps. Now that is strange. All Federation ships should be wearing the new Empire logo by now. Oh -"
Kelsy: "Frak!! I knew this didn't look so good. I picked the wrong day to fly."
Kaori reaches out to that other mind again. It is indeed familiar. "Maybe - maybe - we're about to find out where Admiral Merc's been. And if she's still flying Federation colours, there may be some profit in that information for you."
Gama: "Thanks Kaori. Calm yourself Kelsy. If Admiral Merc is on that ship...she maybe on our side.
Kaori looks again at the Federation logo. "Whatever side that is," she mutters.
Kelsy: "Good point Kaori. I say we turn on the afterburners and holiness out of here."
Gama: "We're not going anywhere yet. That fighter just took out one of my ships and I want revenge or a bounty, whichever comes first. We're gonna circle around and try to find that fighter and then we could try to make contact with the big ship commander."
Addy Jack: "I'm still picking up signals from that little fighter. It's still around here somewhere. Maybe it's hiding underneath this ship."
Kaori: "Whoever is aboard, odds are that they oppose reunification. The new Empire will pay for whatever information you can bring back."
Gama: "Kaori, that is a very good point. Keep your recorder on. You're one of the best spies that I've met. Any information you can save up would be very helpful. And don't worry, you will get your share of the bounty."
Kelsy: "Hey, how come we've gotta split our bounty with her?"
Capt Kahn sends out another request for help on an open channel. She continues to use the nearby warship and its tender for cover, flying as close to them as she can.
Addy Jack: "Commander, I'm picking up a distress signal. It sounds like the other ship is in trouble. This might be a good chance to get her."
Gama: "Triangulate that signal. I wanna move in on her. She's a slippery lthing. Kaori, I want you to make contact with the Admiral if she is on that ship."
Razor Claw's comm crackles.
Alice Illios: *comm* Who needs help and what kind?
Gama: *comm* Alice! We've found the elusive Captain Kahn but she's too slippery.
Alice: *comm* ... should i bring my Boat?
Kaori raises an eyebrow as she catches another burst. "Kahn thought her own people would have answered by now," she says. "She's getting desperate. And Admiral Verne - if that is her in command of the other ship - isn't answering to Cyhnon anymore."
Gama: "Kaori I agree. *comm* Alice, we will be grateful if you could help us catch her. There's a bounty, we can split it."
Kelsy: "If she would just stand in one spot, I could get a lock. What's up with that that slippery little bug?"
Gama: "I can't hold her steady. She keeps moving around. Just fire at will."
Addy: "I've lost radar fix. She must be hiding near that huge ship."
Alice: *comm* Um - OK! HLSS004 Is calculating a Firing solution.
Gama: *comm* Whatever you do, don't fire on us. We already lost one ship.
Alice: *comm* Firing solution calculated. STAY BEHIND or Beside me.
Gama: *comm* Getting behind you
A series of short well-targetted bursts comes from Alice's gunports. They manage to miss the large ship but seem to intersect Kahn's fighter.
Kelsy: "Now that's what I call some fancy shooting."
Addy: "Commander, it looks like Alice made a direct hit, but I can't detect any debris."
"Don't hit the Hatae!" Kaori gasps. "I'm making a big assumption about it. Maybe they just haven't had time to repaint."
Gama: "Good point Kaori. Addy you keep scanning."
Kaori: "Kahn's mind is still close. And furious."
Kelsy: "Frak! You mean to tell me that that little ****** is still alive?"
Gama: "Kelsy, we DO want her alive."
Kelsy: "Oh well excuuuuse me."
"The bounty's higher if she's alive," Kaori reminds her. "You do like money?"
Addy: "Commander, I gotta fix on her. There she is, dead ahead."
The comm crackles again but this time the voice is neither Alice's nor Kahn's. *comm* Kahn you are now cleared to enter the main bay.
Gama: *comm* Alice did you hear that?
*comm* Setting up to warp out of here.
Kaori knows the voice. "Mercedes Verne," she sighs. "Definitely."
Gama: *comm* Alice hold your fire or you'll start a civil war. Merc's taking Kahn aboard.
Alice: *comm*...Fun times
Capt Kahn flies her fighter into Hetae's main bay and opens the hatch of her fighter as soon as atmosphere's cycled in.
Gama: "Kaori what do you make of this turn of developments??"
Kaori: "Merc's the person starting the civil war. She and Kahn are old enemies - and now she's lending Kahn aid. Neither of them liked the idea of reunification, and now they're together. Of course, being together doesn't necessarily mean being able to work together - but they have a common goal, now."
Gama: "Kaori If you're right, it sounds to me like you better get out of here and put this much space between us and that big bruiser as we can. *comms* Alice, what are you gonna do?"
Alice: *comms* Soooo - Two options - hang around to see what happens, or head back to Shylzan Port.
In Hetae's hangar bay, Kahn sends a coded message from her fighter up to Merc with the coordinates of her secret outpost. *comms* Maybe we can work something out
Mercedes Verne acknowledges, sets the coordinates and prepares to 'hit it' "Ready ..steady ...GO!"
"Don't go yet," Kaori says. "I may still be able to pick up - no. Verne's getting out." As she speaks, the warship vanishes.
Kelsy: "Gama I don't think you need to worry about that big ship. It's gone, just like that."
Kaori: "I hope you recorded that message Kahn just sent - Alice, it's worth putting a good codebreaking team on it."
Addy: "That ship is moving at warp speed, commander. There's no way we can catch her. And even if we did, we wouldn't be a match for her."
Kaori J stretches. "Gama, I'm sorry we couldn't make the big bounty this time," she says. "But the intelligence is worth enough to cover costs."
Alice: *comm* if your Craft can fold up you can land on the Hunting Tigress.
Gama: *comm* Thanks Alice. Unfortunately we're damaged and we can't fold up. We're gonna head back to base and thanks for your help." She looks at some gauges. "Um - we could use help getting back. Alice, can Tigress tether us?
Alice: *comms* Need a tow home? Sure. Did we lose people? You All ok? I have a med bay.
Gama: I think we're all OK. But we lost a crew member.
Kelsy: Kahn'll pay for that. Maybe with blood?
Carefully but deftly, Alice matches Tigress's vector and velocity with Razor's Claw, then delicately extrudes the connecting bridge. Gama seals it to Claw's entry hatch. Alice comes through. Arriving aboard Claw, Alice takes her helmet off shaking her hair loose "I need a Missile system."
Gama: "You did hit her. But it didn't do much damage. Our weapons didn't do much damage either. That's a tough little ship."
Kaori : "You did take her weapons out. Otherwise, we might have lost two ships instead of one."
Gama: "True Kaori."
Alice: "Soooo... Whose idea was it Not to level the fleeing ship?"
Gama: "The idea not to pursue? That was my idea. For one thing, if we couldn't take out a fighter, there's no way we can take out a battleship. It would be suicide."
Kaori: "And - not only did Hatae outgun us - until it took Kahn inboard, we couldn't be completely sure it was in rebellion against the new Empire instead of just slow to change its logo. Balance of probabilities, though - Mercedes Verne is in revolt."
Addy: "Your analysis of the situation kaori is most astute and logical."
Kaori: "Somehow I don't think too many people will be surprised. She hadn't even responded to the invitation to take the new imperial advisors' role - and honestly, after decades of enjoying command, could she be expected to?"
Kelsy: "I'm with Alice, I say. We blow the crap out of them. They killed one of ours. We kill two of theirs."
Alice: "Can someone explain how a Fighter shrugs off ACS weapons fire?"
Gama: "This must be reported to the Empress at once."
Kaori smiles slightly. "Allying yourself to the empire, Gama? Or just making sure your expenses are covered quickly?"
Alice returns down the bridge. A few moments later, the comm crackles again:
Alice: *comm* The Hunting Tigress Is towing 1 Loyalist Vessel home +4 souls from start of sortie Shyzhan city ATC request clearance.
Gama: *comm* Thanks Tigress.
Gama: "Take your seats everyone. Alice is ready to get under way, she's taking us in tow."
Gama: *comm* Alice, we are ready to get underway.
Kelsy: "All this space battle is making me hungry."
Gama: *comm* OK, tigress, you have control. We will match your course.
It's a quick but cautious journey back to Cyhnon orbit, and a much slower and even more cautious descent to the port of Shylzan. Finally, and barely moving, Alice jockeys the linked ships into dock. The engine rumbles to a stop, finally. Everyone breathes, frees themselves from their acceleration chairs, and debarks. Kelsy stops at the sushiya. Alice, Gama, Addy and Kaori head for the city centre shuttle and the palace.
