Space E-war Reloaded

[The Kingpin]

The sudden jerk Khuurava felt as the ship's movement changed drew his attention. Standard procedure with ships this size was gradual acceleration. Something was wrong. A Diagnostics screen shimmered on his gauntlet, giving him a view of the surroundings, the Mercenary expecting that a Citadel fleet had just left Hyperspace, possibly explaining the sudden lurch in the ship's movements as it attempted to escape. What he found instead however, was horrifying. "ARRAK. BACK TO THE SHIP. NOW!" ordered the Khurakra through his comms as he rushed along the walls towards the entrance to the pod bay, where the Ezdelera was magnetically anchored. The ship was on a collision course with a meteorite. If they delayed, they'd be smashed to bits on the space debris...

[dinoman666]

Arrak, closer to the ship than Khuurava, was already inside by the time his fellow merc returned...

[Giratina93]

From one of the enterances to the pod bay,several space pirates came in, navigating through the gravity-less envirnment. As they spotted the intruders, They all tried to move toward the ship by moving along the walls and ceiling, not about to let them escape...

[The Kingpin]

"I don't have time for this" snarled Khuurava as he took aim at the approaching pirates, who were already being torn apart by the Ezdelera's cargo bay turrets, before firing a single grenade from his grenade launcher, the blast blowing them off their feet, some being launched towards the pod bay, shot to death in mid air and left to drift into space, while others were liquified by the blast, yet more being blown back into the depths of the chamber, as Khuurava leapt into the cargo bay of his ship, the door sealing itself as Khuurava disengaged the magnetic anchors remotely, the ship roaring to life as it veered away from the ship, moving perpendicular to the craft's direction, shields activating as he ascended to the cockpit and took control, the ship rocketing away from the pirate carrier...

[C S]

It was just then Ecliptor appeared out of the other end of his tunnel through the depths of the pirate ship. From outside the ruined pod bay, the space rock was visible, growing larger by the second. The unstoppable impact would shred the gigantic space ship in no time at all. Ecliptor took his rifle in hand and engaged his kinetic pulse pack, the panels on his back splitting and the device rising from it. It was time to test its functionality in the field.

White light gathered at its end and with a discharge, Ecliptor powered through the bay back to his own ship, entering the sidelong hatch and closing it behind him. The engine powered up, the landing gear retracted and the scout ship took off, peeling off to the side of the carrier just as it collided with the meteorite, explosions tearing along its body as its metal hide crumpled from the extreme forces...

[Giratina93]

With the ship's destruction, it was certain that there were no surviving pirates left, no one that could head back to base to tell of what had happened...

A few solar systems away, outside of Citadel space, an orage planet, looking almos tlike it were a desert planet, loomed a fair distance away from a nearby star. This was the planet Urtraghus. if one were to look closely at it, though, they would have noticed several gray spots along the planet... these were various facility areas, build to create weapons and research. Above the planet, was a mettalic space station, roughly a dozen miles wide, in the shape of a large sphere, with around a hundred vessels of various sizes surrounding it. This was the space station Euripedes, the very quarters of the Space Pirates. The ships in question were mostly carriers, but among them were other, larger ships containing much more firepower and durability. This was pirate controlled space, and anyone who entered it and failed to respond within a few milloseconds of being questioned was vaporized.

In the depths of the space station, was the main throne room of the Space Pirate Ruler. He was a beast most unlike those he ruled, a hulking repilian abomination, with silvery scales adorning his monstrous form. Sharp claws gripped the seat of his suitable-sized seat, and his three eyes scanned along the numerous moniters in the room. This was Helies, The one in charge of this organization. Before him was his most trusted pupil, Weri, The head Pirate Commander. Around him were moniters, each of them in contact with a major ship in the Space Pirate fleet...

And one of those moniters was now nothing more than a static's mess. The others were turned off with a flick of his finger, as he breathed deeply, trying to control his rising anger...

"So Borie's rashness and inexperience has caused his death... Is that what I am to tell the other captains?" The massive lizard snapped, his fangs bared at his commander, who shrugged without an inch of fear.

"Of course. While it was his own stupidity and the failure of the crew to deal with one robot, as we clearly saw, we need to ensure that the rest of the pirate crews don't befall their fate..."

"Hmph. Borie was a fool, an idiot to run off by himself to try and please me... He enters into unknown space and gets killed... Preventing the other captains from dying like that is of top priority. Make sure that all the crews are competent enough to handle any possible borders." Helies grunted, his voice loud and commanding...

[The Kingpin]

As the Ezdelera left the area, sensors pinpointed the movement of something uncharacteristic of debris, a closer look bringing into view a ship Khuurava had never seen before. It was small that in most cases, it would be almost negligible. But with the retreat from the doomed pirate ship, it's relatively close range meant sensors were able to pick it up. "Looks like we found our saboteur" said Khuurava thoughtfully. He had dealt with pirate carriers before. That ship couldn't possibly be one of theirs...

[dinoman666]

"Some sort of scout ship," Arrak mused. "A one-person craft, definitely. I don't recognize the model, though. Maybe it's Geth?"

[C S]

The Seeker had not moved from the entry port, controlling the scout ship remotely while dealing with other tasks at the same time. Ecliptor analyzed the information he retrieved to determine how to exploit it in the best way possible. Hailing frequencies, locations of key vessels in the galaxy among other things. He would not have a need to deal another blow against them. Not any time soon. Though if he were to have another encounter with these pirates, Ecliptor knew their vessels from the inside out. Hull entrances, system configurations and key structural weaknesses were all at his command. A single robot had become the bane of an entire fleet...

When he was finished sorting the wealth of data pillaged from the doomed carrier, he gave his craft controls full priority, gauges entailing speed, energy supply and other necessities for piloting appearing in his field of view at various positions. Pulse based sensors mapping the space around the craft revealed another ship nearby, less than a kilometer. With the larger target of interest now little more than mangled metal husks drifting in the blackness of space, the Seeker changed course to match that of the Ezdelera then increased speed, rapidly gaining on it. This was not a new discovery; for Ecliptor had come across this ship's trail before...

[The Kingpin]

"I doubt it. Geth aren't that good. At least, I don't think they are. We managed to take out one with Grievous and his droids. A handful of men. That carrier was carrying between 450 and 500 pirates. No way a lone Geth pulled that off" responded Khuurava as he looked at the controls, eyes narrowing as the scout ship changed course. "It appears we're going to find out soon enough" he grunted, the ship's weapons shifting their focus to the scout ship, just in case it proved hostile...

[dinoman666]

Arrak stayed silent, letting Khuurava handle the incoming ship. He knew his spacecraft like the back of his hand, so he knew what he was doing...

[C S]

Be it part of a greater, unorthodox strategy or an act of suicidal disregard, the scout ship powered on without fail in spite of the weapons trained on it, the smaller craft easily catching up with the Ezdelera. It was positioned over the craft, adjusting its velocity with inhuman accuracy to not only maintain an exact speed, but make an approach and eventual anchoring, the landing struts clamping onto the Ezdelera and keeping it in place. Its main thruster kept firing, not to impede the Khuraka's craft, though it was far from an act of consideration by the Seeker occupant...

[The Kingpin]

"Identify yourself" came Khuurava's voice on a universal frequency...

[C S]

There was no reply from the scout ship, most of its systems inactive save for the thruster offsetting the added mass to Khuurava's cruiser. The transport would be a adequate distraction, as Ecliptor had already departed the ship, stealth systems active. He prowled across the ship's hull, invisible to its on board defenses as he went in search of an entry way...

[The Kingpin]

In response to the lack of an answer, Khuurava activated the ship's security systems, turrets unfolding from the ceilings in various locations across the ship, the Khurakra himself rising from the controls, his shotgun in hand, the silvery, double barrelled weapon charging as he interfaced his omnitool with the ship's sensors, wary of potential hull breaches or movement around the ship's exterior. There were only three ways into the ship aside from burning through the hull itself; the cargo bay and the two main airlocks to the ship, on either side of the ship just ahead of the wings...any attempt to access them would be detected by the ship's sensors. An idea occurred to the Khurakra, smirking as he entered a command into the ship's interface to open the airlocks, closing the interior doors and activating the decontamination protocols...

[C S]

Alas, the Khuraka's attempt at cunning was completely ignored...or overlooked. The Seeker was at the bottom hull, finding the ports where the craft's landing mechanisms would be housed. Accessing them was easy enough, the robot deploying his wrist blades and cutting through the plating's hinges then dodging the hull piece as it lifted from its holdings, the piece of metal shooting past Ecliptor's side to drift in space at several kilometers a second. From there, he slipped into the compartment, right at home in tight spaces and wasting no time in exploring the innards of this fine example of engineering...

[The Kingpin]

the moment the machine attempted to penetrate the hull, a warning went off informing Khuurava of it's location, a counter command being given, the landing gear driving its way outwards once Ecliptor had just entered the opening, the powerful, heavily reinforced hydraulics and anti-grav generators activating, one acting to push him away from the opening, the other sealing the opening itself, the anti-grav generators threatening to dislodge the machine from the ship entirely...

[C S]

The hum of active servos was cut off and replaced with a terrible thud in the lower regions of the craft. Had the robot been crushed and was now lodged in the landing mechanism? Hardly. Continuing the tradition of vandalizing any system component he came across, the hydraulic cables were long since severed by the Seeker as he went about his quest, magnetic clamps negating the anti gravity field that gripped at his metal body. The fluid squirted out of the cut hoses, floating off into the vacuum uselessly. Ecliptor crawled up the partially deployed column of the landing gear and pressed on, cutting through bundles of wires in his way as an explorer would slash apart the underbrush...

[Giratina93]

Weri bowed his head before the giant reptile. " It will be done, my lord." He replied, but as he turned to leave, Helies happened to reactivate the moniters... and this one one of the moniters that had been static'd out, aside from the one that belonged to the now destroyed ship, was back online. Apparently, a ship that had previously been out of range was now nearing base.

"Lord Helies, we are returning from the raid you requested. We had some... slight alterations to what happened."

The giant reptilian monster leaned toward this particular moniter, turning off all the others. " Yes? what happened, Rutivre?"

The Pirate Captain cleared his throat on the other line. "As we were returning to base, we ran across a ship that had what we think were humans onboard. We attacked them and pillaged them of what they had... and we have a hostage with us we can use for money. While we think she might be human, we are not entirely sure... there's something odd about this one."

The three eyes of the Goriot narrowed. "Is that so? Bring the hostage here at once. You have permission to land on the station."

Rutivre bowed as well. "Thank you, Lord. " And with that, the communucation ended.

The giant beast turned to the curious Weri. "Well? Go and tell the captains the new protocol standards at once!"

The Space Pirate Commander nodded, then left the room, leaving the hulking beast alone...

[The Kingpin]

Khuurava snarled angrily as he saw warnings flare up in a path across the ship, leakages, severed connections and various other things being crippled as the machine tore its way through the ship like some flesh eating insect. Taking a delicate decision, he had shafts and panels open up, maintenance shafts being revealed to the machine and entrance points opening for it into the main quarters of the ship. He would much rather prefer getting a few broken limbs or other injuries fighting it in person than risk his ship becoming totally crippled. The comm systems were in a heavily protected area of the ship, so in the worst case scenario, he could call for help from the nearest colony in Citadel space. But the comms were not infinite in range, and their position wasn't exactly close to any. If the ship's propulsion systems were to go out, they could well end up stranded there for hours, even IF they managed to contact Citadel race authorities...