A Titanic Ransom

[Alric Kuhn]

The two Sons of Titan returned the nod, then all hell broke loose.

Alric stayed in place, hiding behind the corner of the wall. The Two Sons simply stood, and the Tetan could have sworn that their skull masks shifted into smiles. New powerclips were slapped into their blasters and the two men almost swaggered into the hangar bay.

He heard shouts at first, commands, then only blaster fire.

If anything could be said about the Sons of Titan it was the fact that above all else they were professionals. Some would dub them as killers, some would dub them as murderers, and still others would dub them as Guardians. To Alric, they were simply soldiers. They were the men that he could rely on, that he could count on to get the job done.

The Sons of Titan were in large part the reason that things were now going so well for Titan Industries.

Without them many of the worlds run by Titan would not be running as well as they did. One should never underestimate what a private army could do.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

When the Sons were augmented by the droids that were being built, when Alric had his full private military force, that was when things would truly swing in favor of Titan. Expansion was important to him, and as soon as he had his army he would begin to expand out into the outer rim.

He knew that with certainty.

A blast shook the floor, the sound of men screaming and the resounding echo of blaster fire shredding through the air. Alric flinched slightly as he heard the sound of a body dropping after a single blaster round. He peaked around the corner and saw a man wearing a Titan Industries Security Uniform smoldering just out of the Hangar Bays exit.

So much had been compromised.

Simon exited the hangar bay, there were scorch marks all over his armor and the wrist-mounted slug thrower on his arm was smoking. He saw Alric then motioned for him to come.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

“We were met with some resistance sir, but it seems that these pirates weren't expecting proper soldiers.”

More than a dozen corpses were strewn throughout the hangar, though not one of them looked like they had put up a fight at all. In the center of the room sat Alrics Lambda Class Shuttle, nearby was a large black scorch mark. Alric eyed it, then looked over to Lan. The Chiss shrugged slightly, as if there was no excuse to be had.

Alric didn't bother asking about it.

“Alright.” He said heading towards his ship. “Simon, lower those doors, Lan get in the cockpit and open a line of communication to the bridge.”

His orders were followed immediately. Simon rushed over towards the door controls, activating the rayshield over the hangar bay that would allow the Lambda shuttle to leave without sucking all the oxygen out of the room. Lan rushed aboard the ship before Alric, heading towards the cockpit.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

Simon came aboard only seconds after Alric went inside, Lan already having situated himself in the cockpit of the ship. Alric motioned for Simon to take up position behind the acceleration couch.

The center of the Lambda resembled what might have been a cantina lounge. It was a large acceleration couch at the center of which sat a holo-projector. The couch was comfortable, made of some sort of leather and was designed to be sat In for long periods of time. Everything within the Shuttle was luxurious and expensive as one would expect from the head of Titan Industries.

“Sir. It seems their captain is aboard.”

Alric smiled at that, so he would get to negotiate with the man that had orchestrated all of this.

Oddly enough Alric respected him. This plan had been nearly foolproof. They had the Wyyrlok for all intense and purposes, they had more than half the crew, and they very nearly had the Plans for the Maladi. If it were not for his Sons, they would also have Alric.

“Put him through.” Alric said as he felt the Lambda lift off the hangar floor.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

The Blue haze of a holo-image shimmered I front of Alric as he sat himself down on the acceleration couch.

The man that appeared in front of him was a Nautolan. He wore a garb that Alric would call distinctively piratey, his face was a mask of anger and success, and his big black eyes focused entirely on Alric Kuhn. A smug smile appeared on the mans face, as though he was ready to claim victory.

“So you're the man that owned this ship.”

“I am.” Alric said returning a confident smile. “And still do.”

“I believe you're mistaken. I have the bridge, I have the ship, I have everything.”

The Titan grinned. “Not everything. You don't have half the command codes nor do you have the technical knowledge of how to repair the damage you've done, but I do.”

The Captain scowled at him. He knew that Alric was right. The CEO of Titan guessed that much of the bridge crew had been killed in the taking of the Wyyrloks Command Center. It was unlikely that the Captain would have allowed himself to be take alive, even less likely that the Pirates would have kept him alive after taking the bridge.

“I propose a simple deal.” Alric said as he noted the Lambda leaving the Hangar Bay. Almost immediately a tractor beam lock fell on the ship, though did not activate. “You let me go, and I'll transmit those details to you.”

 

[Alric Kuhn]

“Why would you do such a thing?”

The Lambda class Shuttle shot forward. It moved faster than should have been possible for a vessel of this size. Its tri-wings seemed to bend as it shot forward, tractor beams still locked. Alric watched the display, a single bead of sweat running down the back of his neck.

“I am a business man. The loss of a single ship is nothing compared to the loss of my life.” That was actually true, though he didn't intend to lose the Wyyrlok to this fool. “I simply want to live. You can have the ship.”

The Pirate looked considering, his smug face having drawn into an expression of thought. To be perfectly truthful, Alric didn't expect the creature to be all too intelligent. Though his plan had worked out quite well, he suspected it was due to Titans incompetence rather than his own genius.

“You have a deal.”

The Tractor beam lock faded away, and Alric nodded. He leaned over and keyed in a few commands into his console.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

The shuttle moved forward, slowly gliding out of range of the fleet, slowly gliding out of range of their tractor beams. Alric felt himself untense as the Lambda moved completely away from the Wyyrloks Tractor beams, smiling slightly as he motioned for Simon to step out of the view of the camera and tell Lan to spool up the hyperdrive.

“Here.” Alric hit a small 'send' button on his console.

The pirate on the holo-display grinned slightly as a pang was emitted on the bridges computers. It was a grin that slowly went away however as something else began to happen. The Data-burst that Alric had sent of course had not been the command codes for the Wyyrlok, instead it had been a simple signal to activate the ships self destruct.

“WHAT DID YOU DO!?”

The alien screamed at the top of his lungs.

“I won.” Alric said with a simple smile.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

A sudden jolt would strike the Lambda.

The move into hyperspace combined with the massive explosion of the Wyyrlok seemed to shake the shuttle more than it ordinarily would have. For a second Alric thought that his ship would be destroyed with the rest, only calming himself when Lan signaled that everything was okay.

The Titan smiled slightly, leaning back into the acceleration couch.

From his jacket pocket he pulled the small datadisc that contained the plans for The Maladi-Class Strike Frigate. He smiled slightly as he inspected it. The loss of one ship today meant the building of an entire Armada of this ship, it meant a new generation of vessel, it meant...it meant something greater.

Alric knew that he had won today.

That Titan had won today.