Who Hunts the Hunters?

[Gir Quee]

Tercel-class Heavy Cruiser White Gauntlet, in orbit via Hast

Gir strode through the octagonal hallways of the warship, enjoying the subdued pulses of blue light from the nearby organoform circuitry. It was perhap a bit silly to enjoy it as a spectacle, but he couldn't help but feel some satisfaction at not only seeing some of the Lab's latest technology being put into use, but also in seeing the company finally produce a warship that more well armed than a frigate. In retrospect, it seemed surprising to him that they hadn't built such a starship before, but he quickly remembered that most of his company's clients didn't have the resources of large galactic governments. They didn't need to project power, but merely blunt it when it come to them. He came to a stop in front of a pair of turadium blast doors, prompting him to insert his code cylinder into the data socket. A few seconds passed before the doors slowly whined open to reveal the heavy cruiser's CIC-style bridge.

"I was beginning to wonder if you got lost."

Gir looked at the man and slowly shook his head, "I've looked over the schematics enough times that I dream about them."

Captain Lars flashed a knowing smile, "But it's not quite the same thing as actually experiencing it."

"How has the shakedown gone so far?"

"I've only taken her to Gessbrilbak and back, but everything appears to be in working order," said the brown-haired man, leading him to a holo-projector, "but I imagine we'll discover a few minor kinks on the way."

"How did the ship perform with the preliminary combat systems tests?"

"Shields...well...you've seen the mon calamari shields before," started Lars, "they performed well and reliability. Haven't had any major issues with weapons firing."

"Are you implying that you've had some minor issues?"

"Nothing that our people and the droids couldn't fix with a little work. Most of it was servo calibration on the lighter weapons, particularly the Trudo turrets, but I think we've got that ironed out."

"So we've got everything figured out? No issues that I need to be aware of before we jump?"

"We don't have a full marine complement," confided Lars, "nor did the Hast defense forces have any extra units that they wanted to attach to us, but I was able to get them to supply us with a few extra droids that they had confiscated in joint operations with us, mostly H-1ME mech droids, but also a squad of old V2-series."

Gir frowned, "Aren't those a bit old?"

Lars nodded, "They are, but they are in like-new condition. I'm not sure where the arms smugglers found that cache. As a precaution though, I'm keeping them deactivated until we need them..."

 

[Gir Quee]

"So what is the strength of our troops then, excluding the droids?"

Lars considerd that question carefully, "We have enough marines to make up a full battalion, but in reality, they're not organized as such. Some of them have empty company slots that scheduled to be filled with troops still in training. We'll be mostly filled once the next cycle is complete."

Gir nodded in understanding. Had construction proceeded as originally planned, they would have a full troop complement. But construction of the White Gauntlet had taken longer than estimates. Rather than having the troops wait for the ship's completion, the Directorate had shifted the earliest slotted marine platoons to other ships and installations. They took the group apart piecemeal, and they'll put it back together in the same way...but troops really shouldn't be a large concern if our information is correct.

"What of the rest of the fleet?"

"The Atropos is just about to launch off from Ibtasim," said Lars, "otherwise, we're all present and accounted for."

"She's already up sir," corrected a duros officer, "just pulling into orbit now."

Lars shook his head, "Behind the times I guess. I take it you are wanting to move out as soon as possible?"

"Yes," said Gir, turning his attention to a holo-projector which displayed several navigational charts, "we don't know how long they'll linger there. The tracking device will only last so long before they discover it, or it loses power. But I do not want to cut corners. We are taking established jump routes?"

"Yes, though I made a slight alteration right before the Dansk system, I figured that you would to briefly revert to real space to make sure that everyone is prepared for the battle before the actual attack."

"That sound wise," said Gir, "Estimated time of arrival?"

"Double-checked it like you asked, still clocks out to about two and a half hours, just like you estimated."

The duros communication's officer cleared his throat, "Atropos has entered its position within the fleet formation sirs."

The mention of the name brought back memories of the Battle of Dulvoyinn. The MCC35 Danios-class Corvette had served him well back there, and he knew that with Captain Cimrab at the controls again, that they had another experienced ship and its crew that he could count on in the upcoming battle. The other ships of the squadron, a Freedom-class Escort Frigate and two Circinus-class Bulk Corvettes, had green crews with the exception of the embarked fighter squadrons. A lot of untried men to lead into combat, but this may be an ideal trial by combat... Gir suddenly realized that Lars was staring at him intently.

"Signal the fleet to jump," said Gir, "let's begin our voyage."

 

[Gir Quee]

Captain Lars didn't bother to vocally relay the order. Instead, he merely nodded at the appropriate officers, who then turned the commands into actions. He felt a brief shift under his feet as the vessel accelerated into hyperspace. His eyes wandered across the consoles of the amphitheater-like room as he reviewed the room's layout. His eyes settled on an empty station next to the captain's own. Is that the executive officer's or the flag officer's? He then remembered that the executive officer's was in the back-up bridge. If the main bridge was destroyed, the XO could take control of the ship within seconds and direct the back-up command team. That's a sobering thought...Gir walked over to settle into the flag officer's console.

The bio-computer booted up with little delay. Within seconds, Gir found himself in the familiar starship operating system used by Lucerne Lab's starships, though he noticed a few changes related to the unique nature of the Calor series bio-computers. He navigated through the screens and entered in various passcodes as necessarily until he was reviewing the intelligence about their target. An image at the head of the digital document portrayed a gaunt-looking munn in dark ornate robes and a tanned man wearing loose-fitting blue trousers, a white shirt, and a green utility vest. Kun and Tawe's...they almost look legitimate. Almost...it would almost be hard to imagine that they are a fence and shipjacker from this photo. Normally such criminals wouldn't warrant the attention of such a large Directorate force, but Tawe's had apparently managed to make off with an actual warship, only known as the Echo, according to the messages that they had intercepted. If we only knew where Tawe's was operating from, we might have a better idea of what we're up against...Gir knew that more likely than not, they would be dealing with a corvette or a frigate, yet he could discount the possibility that they were up against a larger starship. Gir delved into the files, attempting to find links to various military groups and the member's of Tawe's crew while cross-checking them with reports and rumors of missing starships. His closest lead so far was an aging Battle Horn-class bulk cruiser last seen over Florn. Yet Gir doubted that such an acquisition would bring the attention that the Echo had so far gathered across the criminal underground. He continued his searches even as the helmsman announced that they were arriving at the edges of the Drongar System.

 

[Gir Quee]

"Looks like we have a cluster of ships in the area," said Lars.

Gir switched screens to pull up the passive long-range sensor scans. His lips twitched before curling downwards as he began to interept the sensor data. They were too far out for visual sensors to be of much use, but the DERs and FSTs suggested that there were four ships present. Three were roughly frigate sized but the other one that was likely the size of the White Gauntlet. That has to be the Echo. But we don't know anything about the other ships besides size...and size doesn't necessarily tell us their abilities or even their affiliations. Jumping in blindly was hardly ideal, though at the same time, the longer they lingered as they attempted to gather more information, the more likely the Echo and the shipjackers were likely to escape.

He pulled up the local system chart and compared the map to the coordinates of the unknown vessels. They're not in any gravity well...which means that either of us will be able to disengage pretty quickly...but that's probably something they planned with whoever they're trying to sell the craft to. He briefly stroked his chin.

"Communications," said Gir, "inform the other vessels of the fleet that we are about to jump to the target's locations. If they are hostiles that we can take down, we will tractor them to keep them from jumping into hyperspace. If they are too much for us, we will jump out to the secondary rendezvous location before retreating back to Hast."

"Do you want to keep the birds in?" asked Lars.

He blinked, "Yes, comm's, inform the carrier corvettes that they should keep their starfighters docked until we have positive identification. Synchronize jump at two minutes from now."

"To action stations," said Lars, before turning to his side to face Gir, "have you decided what we are going to do with the Echo?"

"Try to capture her," replied Gir, "and possibly return her to her rightful owners."

"Only possibly?"

"Well, I'm not going to return her to a criminal syndicate or another unfriendly power."

"Fair enough."

 

[Gir Quee]

He felt a brief vibration through his feet as the White Gauntlet surged into hyperspace once more. He felt anxiety tug at his mind, which almost immediately triggered his coping mechanism of distraction. Gir pulled up the schematics of the Tercel-class to review its characteristics. The Lab's designers had envisioned the warship as something of a bludgerball linebacker, pushing through the front lines of enemy forces through a combination of heavy frontal shielding and armor combined with a quartet of the massive autocannons. This lead to a tradeoff in both the side's offense and defense, which meant that Gir would have to be careful in exposing the White Gauntlet's flanks to the Echo, if that ship turned out to be as powerful as its size suggested. Normally that could be offset somewhat by working in conjunction with other friendly starships to cover its flanks. Yet he doubted that his escort frigate, the Battle Dog, would be able to survive concentrated fire from a cruiser. And he doubted that the corvettes would either, though he was willing to bet that the Atropos would fare better than the frigate. If I can't rely on them, I'll have to rely on pure positioning...That was another thought that he did not relish.

A notification tab on his console announced that the White Gauntlet had reverted to real space. Noise erupted across the CIC as new information flooded through the computers. Gir flipped through the screens to pull up the tactical screens to identify the quartet of vessels. Blacked out transponders...but one Assassin-class Corvette, a pair of Kossaks, and...is that a Chelandion? Gir blinked. That must be why they were being so secretive about it in the communiques...Lars cleared his throat loudly.

"Engage?"

"Engage," confirmed Gir, flipping through another screen, "we don't their identities for certain yet, but what legitimate organization uses blacked out transponders?"

 

[Gir Quee]

Captain Lars nodded in understanding before beginning to coordinate the actions of his crew. Gir thought that he could feel rhythmic vibrations through his feet as the ship's autocannons began to sound off. It's almost tempting to pull up the gunnery crew's EPR footage just to see what they're seeing now...perhaps I will look it up after the battle...if we're lucky enough. The blonde man turned his attention to leading the fleet. Several of his officers had taken their initiatives. He could see the group's wing of Typhoons had launched and had even destroyed a small shuttle. Their opponents responded by launching a motley array of aging Z-95s and Cloakshape fighters backed by a handful of Dunelizard fighters. Gir quickly watched several of their initial maneuvers before concluding that the criminal starfighters and their pilots were not likely to be significant threats to the operation.

He turned his attention to the engagement between the capital ships. His operating console informed him that the Gauntlet was attempting to tractor all four of the enemy vessels present, which prevented their startled opponents from immediately fleeing. Yet Gir's stomach began to twist as he realized that the volume of fire from the opposing vessels was greater than his own. The Atropos in particular seemed to be drawing a lot of fire, being the primary target of one of the Kossak frigates.

"We may have bitten off more than we can chew," said Gir, redirecting several batteries of the Gauntlet to focus fire on the Atropo's assailant.

"Perhaps," said Lars, "but that Chelandion isn't as effective as it should be. It operating far below what it should be."

"Not enough crew? Or an inexperienced crew?"

"But I know that in a slugging match between the two of us, we're going to win..."

 

[Gir Quee]

Gir nodded. But this isn't a slugging match purely between the two heavy weights. He stood up and walked over to one of the bridge's holo-tanks which displayed the ongoing battle. Holographic fighters flitted around the warships as the slugging fest began to heat up. Gir saw that his nimble Freedom-class Frigate, the Ranger, slip behind the second Kossak-class frigate. From this position, the Directorate warship began to rake its enemy's stern with emerald turbolaser fire and and expanding clouds of scattershot from its mass-driver cannons. Well-executed maneuver and almost surgically precise attacks...Gir made a note that he would have to interview the Ranger's captain after the engagement for a possible promotion to command the Gauntlet's sister ship. Gir heard a brief jolt of excited chattering break out from the weapons's stations, which caused him to look at the holographic Chelandion as it plowed through a continual hail of fire from the Gauntlet's autocannons. Yet he didn't see any significant damage on the massive vessel. He looked up at them again. But clearly they did something...The blonde man turned his attention to Lars.

"What did your weapon's crew just accomplish?"

"We've been firing ion rounds," explained Lars, "and sensors just reported a power surge across the Chelandion's starboard side which has knocked down power to their weapons on that half of the ship."

"Admiral Quee," said a mon calamari sitting at the ship's communication's station, "the Atropos just took a direct hit to its port side. They're reporting a localized failure of their point defense weapons. Captain Cimrab is requesting supporting fire to help keep the Dunelizards off his ship."

Gir flipped a switch on his headset as he surveyed the positions of the vessels present, "Captain Hrogah, take your ship to cover and shield the Atropos's port side..."

 

[Gir Quee]

"Aye sir."

Seconds later, Gir watched the bulbous hull of the Horizon Star slide in next to the MCS-built ship. Being half the size of the Atropos, the bulk corvette couldn't actually physically shield a lot of the MCC-25, but its point defense batteries began to light up. Streams of quad blaster fire began to dart out from its hull, swatting away the criminal starfighters as they attempted to make their attack runs on the Atropos. But the fire from the corvette paled in comparison to that being dealt out and received by the Chelandion and the White Gauntlet. Gir's eyes rested on the holographic visages of those ships, watching the intense fire from one of the Gauntlet's light quads vaporize a Cloakshape. Shrapnel and debris from the craft blossomed across space, with even some of those remnants being consumed by the warships's fire.

He watched a brief fireball blossom across the starboard side of the Chelandion. Turbolaser and mass driver cannon from the Gauntlet briefly smashed into the hull of the vessel itself, rending hull plates apart and igniting the ship's internal atmosphere. Lars seemed to notice it do, immediately barking to his men to shift fire to the warship's port side. As the weapon's fire faded away from that side, Gir could better inspect the damage wrought to the Hutt-affiliated vessel. Won't be cheap to fix that...but all things considered, it could be far worse...

"New contacts reverting hyperspace," announced the sensor's operator, "appears to be a Carrack-class Cruiser and a trio of escort shuttles."

"Transponders?"

"None sir."

Perhaps the Chandelion's potential buyer. Another possibility tugged at his mind. Or they could be the enemy's reinforcements...I suppose even the buyers will probably want a prize that like...which means that we could be outgunned. Gir returned to his station to pull up the incoming telemetry data on the Carrack. To his surprise, it appeared that the new warship was intentionally holding its distance from the battle, which suggested to Gir that it was indeed a third party buyer. Gir looked up at Captain Lars.

"Let's maneuver the Gauntlet and bring her alongside the Chandelion's starboard bow."

"And board her?"

"It's tempting, I'll admit, but I'm not sure if that's feasible with new potential hostiles. No, we'll start torpedoing her from the side and use our new position to turn our front guns on the third frigate."

"Understood."

 

[Gir Quee]

The Gauntlet's hull slid forward as turbolaser and ion cannon fire licked at its shields. Gir watched the holo-tank carefully, expecting for one of the frigates or the carrack to dart in and try to attack his vessel's stern. The criminal frigate preoccupied with the Atropos and the Ranger appeared to focus more of its fire on the Tercel-class Cruiser's stern, yet it did not seem to be interested in pressing the attack, which made Gir somewhat anxious. Is there something going on that we don't know about? As those thoughts crossed his mind, the Gauntlet's port general purpose launchers began to unload concussion missiles at the Chelandion's key structural points. Without its shields or point defenses to protect it at those junctions, the ship began to crumble and deform. At such close range, Gir could feel the impacts reverberate through the Tercel's deck plating. If we had an actual bridge viewport here, we would probably be blinded by the light without phototrophic viewports. Glancing at the holo-tank, Gir could see the majority of the Gauntlet's weapons were now pouring out on the second frigate. Its bow shields began to flare up with pockets of bright red and yellow light where the autocannon rounds impacted. They can't last long against us like that...

"We have escape pods jetting off of the Chelandion," reported the mon calamari communication's officer.

"Instruct all ships to try and recover the pods with their occupants alive," said Gir, "with prisoners, we might be able to gather more information on this group."

"Reaching for that lucky draw?" quipped Captain Lars, "I can't imagine that they'd risk one of their higher-ups in an operation like this."

"Probably not," admitted Gir, "but sometimes even the foot soldiers know things, sometimes which they don't realize the importance of."

"I suppose so," said the other man, "it would be a catch if we could snag Kun or Tawe here."

 

[Gir Quee]

"They're breaking away," observed Lars, "at least they have some intelligence among them."

Gir's eyes swept across the holo-tank. The frigate had been attacking the Atropos and Horizon Star was accelerating away from the battlefield, along with many of its allied starfighters. Yet the retreat did not appear to be universal, with the frigate that they were going to head to head with moving in to trade broadsides with the Gauntlet. While the Gauntlet wasn't particularly strong on its sides, it still had more weapons on its flank than the frigate. But they're still at it...He frowned. They must know that they can't survive like this, especially with their fighter support gone...Lars seemed to notice that as well.

"Reinforce our starboard shields with energy from the port shields."

Gir silently approved the move. The Gauntlet's port side was mostly covered by the deteriorating hull of the Chelandion. Without fighters that could zip in between the two cruisers, that side was not likely to take any enemy fire. With shielding reinforced on the starboard side, any slugging match was further weighted in their favor. Their sensor operators are going to have catch that as well...He turned his eyes to the frigate being engaged by the Ranger. A cursory glance showed that the directorate frigate chewed past the ship's shields to have demolished the engine block. They're not likely capable of retreating in that sort of condition...

"It looks like they've had enough," said Lars.

 

[Gir Quee]

"But that Carrack and its escorts are still hanging around," noted Gir, "doesn't that strike you as odd?"

"The shipjackers displayed some disorganization since the Chelandion went down," said the brown-haired man, "perhaps the Carrack is trying to figure out the situation, perhaps they think or know that reinforcements are on the way?"

Gir tapped few buttons into holo-tank's control console, which brought up feed from his own computer, "The carrack has been actively scanning both us and the Chelandion...but mostly us."

"We're an unknown to them, and this class of starship is probably unknown to them," reasoned Lars, "that doesn't seem too unusual to me..."

Gir frowned, "Perhaps."

He caught a noticeable movement of light on the holo-tank, which drew his eyes to the frigate currently engaged in a broadside duel with the Gauntlet. Trying to pull away...and sacrificing firepower output to try and break through our tractor beam projectors...if they had some sort of missile weapon, they might actually be interrupt our lock...Gir watched as a mixed squadron of Typhoon's swept in across the frigate's hull, unleashing emerald bursts of laser fire and the occasional proton torpedo. One of the warheads appeared to penetrate through a temporary weak spot in the vessel's shield, causing a brief flash of light. He blinked. That just took out a localized shield projector...The man watched as the Gauntlet's gunnery crews took advantage of the shield gap, blasting away into the hull itself. Metal melted and retreated into the depths of the ship's frame before caving in further. Escape pods began to jet out from areas nearest the blast before they spring forth from other areas of the ship. Yet the Gauntlet's guns continued to chew through the vessel's hull until it was bisected. Explosions blossomed across the hull halves, enveloping its shattered remains in flashes of light before leaving behind blackened specks and twisted metal framework.

 

[Gir Quee]

Gir watched as the retreating frigate jumped into hyperspace along with the remaining criminal starfighters. That left the Ranger's opponent as the sole immediate threat to the group. The man watched as the Gauntlet swung around past the crippled Chelandion's stern to head towards the bow of the last remaining frigate. Streams of autocannon fire had barely begun to impact the vessel's shields before the frigate signaled its surrender. And divided they fall...

"Looks like we have the prisoners that you wanted," said Lars.

"Maybe," considered Gir, "if their captain is still alive, perhaps we can get more insight into this group."

"New contacts coming out of hyperspace," shouted the sensor operator.

The blonde man immediately turned his attention to the holo map to see clusters of vessels surging into realspace around the immediate area of the Carrack-class Light Cruiser. He could see flights of cobbled together uglies and worn Z-95s buzz around ancient Hutt dreadnaughts and patched together Corellian warships. A motley array...but one that it is too formidable for us. His felt his pulse quicken and his stomach contort as a wedge-shaped starship appeared at the rear of the enemy formation. While he couldn't recognize the exact model of star destroyer, it seemed likely capable of taking on the Gauntlet with a fair chance of winning. He cleared his throat.

"Communications, signal the fleet to break contact and jump to the rendezvous point."

 

[Gir Quee]

Lars hesitated as their eyes met. A scowl flitted across his face before he began to enact Gir's decision. He knows as well as I do...and we both probably feel the same way. Shaking his head, Gir ambled over to his console and sat on its bolted down chair. The blonde man analyzed the position of his ships, as well as those of the newly arrived vessels, as he mulled over his options. A decisive action enacted now is better than any plan I'll be able to make now...

He signaled the smaller warships to accelerate as a group. Gir watched as the Ranger jetted away from its crippled foe, joining the carrier corvettes in a dash away from the coming damage. He tapped his foot several times. It's almost tempting to do the same with the Gauntlet, but perhaps we can partially salvage the mission with its presence. Gir issued several commands to the ship's helmsman and the gunnery crews. Every available gun that he had, whether a diminutive defensive blaster or a massive cannon, began to chew away at the Hutt warship's hull. This fire was soon joined by synchronized concussion missile barrages which leapt out of the Gauntlet's hull before diverging to hit various key points across the Chelandion's superstructure. Gouts of flame, clouds of shrapnel, and charred beams of metal burst out from the Hutt ship's hull. I might not be able to capture the Chelandion now, but I can deny it to them...

"They're coming in us fast," said Lars, settling into his own console.

Gir flipped through several screens, "Only the starfighters have a chance of reaching us at their current pace. Let's mine them."

Lars nodded before giving the word, even as Gir watched the first of the Directorate warships escape into hyperspace.

 

[Gir Quee]

Among the ship's three engine nacelles, armored plates slowly slid open to reveal the gaping launch tube of a Harpoon-class Missile Launcher. Seconds later, a cylindrical shaped object flew out of the one pods before tumbling into the space behind the Directorate warship. The other general purpose launchers followed suit, leaving a small cloud of Cometburst space mines behind in the Gauntlet's wake. Gir watched the weapons drift towards the opposing starships with measured curiosity. They've had to have seen that...so what will they do? His head turned briefly away from the monitor to hear the news that the Chelandion had taken enough damage that they considered it beyond repair. He turned his attention back to the monitor to see that the enemy starfighters had opted to peel away off from their original direct intercept course, thereby avoiding the mines. Instead, they appeared to be coming around in a wide loops that eventually would see them come towards either flank of the Gauntlet. Lar's briefly leaned over to glance at his console.

"They're not reckless like the others."

"No, but that gives us some more time before they attack. We should make the most use of that. Were we able to recover any of the escape pods?"

"About half a dozen."

Gir glanced at the estimated intercept time on his console, "I suppose we could maybe recover another half dozen if we push our luck."

But would it really be worth it? Gir had become increasing interested in intelligence operations since retiring from the Republic in order to make the most use of his limited assets. From the theories that he had studied, he had come to the assumption that there were broadly useful levels of information that could be gained by the capture of various personnel. With those captured so far, assuming that they had only taken common crewmen prisoner, he would be able to find out the basics of an organization, such as their overall structure, their stated mission, methods of operation, and some facets of daily life within their ranks. The next step up would be to capture and interrogate people that had specialized knowledge from their position, either leadership or technical, but the very nature of their jobs made these people much more rare than the commonplace footsoldiers or grunts of the operation. Taking another six escape pods would not likely give him high enough odds of finding one of those people without unnecessarily risking his ship and crew to more harm. Lars looked at him for a second before Gir ruefully shook his head.

"But those aren't good enough odds for the potential risk," said the blonde man, "we'll keep our shields up and our weapons primed to receive them."

 

[Gir Quee]

He glanced at the console screen for a brief second. Two minutes...at least we'll have plenty of time to prepare. Across the Gauntlet's hull, light quad turbolasers and mass driver cannon turrets began to rotate to face the incoming group of fighters. Aside from the quartet of autocannons near the front of the ship, the Gauntlet used many smaller guns in order to maximize fire arcs and area fire saturation, making it exceptionally suited towards throwing up large walls of flak to deter massed enemy attacks by starfighters and small capital warships. While the incoming fighters weren't present in the large numbers or tight formations that the Tercel-class was designed to counter, Gir would be willing to bet that their massed fire would be able to break off any attack that would present a serious threat to the vessel. As the chrono passed the minute mark, the cruiser's weapons began to thunder, spraying the formation with bursts of cannister shells and constant streams of light turbolaser fire. The starfighters began to react even before the shots entered their presence, haphazardly diving, climbing, and banking away from the incoming fire. Some successfully evaded their mass fire as their formations dispersed, but others, in trying to avoid one weapon, ran straight into the shots of another one of the Gauntlet's weapons. Under the cruiser's constant rain of fire, the enemy pilots knew that they could not simply maintain the rough distance necessary for their own safety. Some of the jetted away out of the Gauntlet's weapon range, while a handful of more daring pilots opted to get closer to the Directorate vessel.

Gir's eyes settled on one daring pilot flying a classic Z-95 with red and white striping zip around streams of turbolaser fire as he approached the Gauntlet at breakneck speeds. The man from Hast stroked his chin. It's certainly harder for the big guns to track small craft at point-blank range...but does the pilot have enough time to react to the attacks if they are on mark? As if to punctuate his thought, one of the mass driver cannon's ball shot exploded near the fighter's port wing, perforating that wing and knocking the fighter off course. The hapless fighter flew straight into a stream of light turbolaser fire that had been gradually sweeping to intercept the craft. The craft's shields failed in a spectacular show of red and orange light before they allowed turbolaser fire to rip the craft's wings off and slice the fuselage in two. The remains of the Z-95 tumbled across space in a sea of weapons fire. Gir had expected the pilot to eject, yet he could not see any sign of an extravehicular pilot. He narrowed his eyes. Maybe he died from the blast or is trapped in the wreckage...but I'm getting to narrowly focused now. I can think of one slain enemy, or I can think about how to keep several thousand of my own alive. Gir typed in a few commands into his console that brought up the tactical map.

 

[Gir Quee]

From the map, Gir could see most of the criminal starfighters had withdrawn to pace the Gauntlet just outside of its weapons range, while the larger vessels of the criminal armada, headed by the first carrack cruised in a large group towards the stricken kossak frigate and the deteriorating wreckage of the Chelandion. He glanced at their locations, estimated their seed,and came up with a rough calculation for when the group would pass through the destroyed ships. Several minutes...maybe three to four? He pulled up a few tabs on his console, showing the Gauntlet's estimated time of arrival at the jump point. A little over two minutes. We can escape before they even get to the wreckage and the survivors. Gir considered several more thoughts as he watched the timer continue to count down.

"Helm, hold off on jumping until you hear from me," declared Gir.

Lars blinked and turned to face him, "You want to see the fireworks from our mines?"

"That actually hadn't occurred to me," said Gir, "no...I guess I'm curious about how they are going to act towards the survivors on that frigate."

"To see if they're actually part of the same group? Even if they aren't members of the same group, that's no guarantee that they won't extend a helping hand if they're established business partners..."

"Business partners in the underworld? Could be pretty ruthless...especially if the deal goes sour...which we might have done for them just now..."

 

[Gir Quee]

Gir watched the EPR footage as the Carrack floated over the wrecked frigate towards the Chelandion. While Gir had expected to see either some friendly or hostile actions from the ship towards the survivors, the warship showed no interest in either of the ships's wreckage. Instead, it merely coasted forward before its laser cannons began to attack the nearby mines. Brief flashes of light rippled across the black ocean as the warship systematically destroyed the small minefield. Few of the Gauntlet's weapons were in range to do any actual damage to the Carrack, but one floated just past a freenpnale of the Chandelion's wreckage to detonate on the on the Carrack's ventral bow. Gir doubted that it had done significant overall damage, but from that location, he managed that the ship's bridge crew was probably distraught and disoriented. The other warships of the criminal armada slipped forward to join the Carrack, but they also appeared to be disinterested in the wreckage and the survivors, preferring to coast forwards the Directorate warship. Even at this range, Gir could see that the wedge-shaped prow of the star destroyer was pointed directly at the Gauntlet's stern. So we're their priority? Gir shook his head. We need more information about them.....but I think that this is likely all the new intelligence I'll be able to get before they enter firing range. He caught the eye of the ship's helmsman.

"Jump us out."

"Aye sir."

Gir felt a biref tug at his body before the Gauntlet vanihed into hyperspace, leaving behind the wreckage of their foes and the mysterious criminal armada. He glanced at his chrono. I should get some C-tea, grab a snack, and take a brief break before we rejoin the rest of the squadron at the rendezvous point. Gir stood up and lifted his shoulders up in a stretch. Lars slowly looked up from his console screen.

"Lieutenant Tabe just sent up a sitrep about one of the prisoners. He doesn't appear to be an actual member of the crew, but something like an outside observer attached to monitor the frigate's actual crew."

That piqued Gir's interest. Perhaps I'll hold off on that break...

 

[Gir Quee]

"Has he said anything of interest yet?"

The captain blinked, "I hadn't asked, though imagine that he if did, Tabe would have said something."

Gir nodded, "I'm going to have a good firsthand look at this observer. You have the bridge."

"I'll be certain to let the ship sink then," said Lars with a wry grin.

"As long as you are cost effective about the sinking, I do not care," stated the blonde man blankly.

They both exchanged a bemused and knowing glance before Gir departed from the bridge. Gir strolled the ship's corridors, almost oblivious to his surroundings as he contemplated the prisoner's position. Gir had heard of the concept of outside observers being attached to ships with privateers sponsored by governments. Gir thought that in itself, that was unusual position. The observer's ultimate loyalty on its conventional face was to whoever directly employed him, but his daily life, and perhaps the people that protected him in times of danger, was the crew he was assigned to watch. Yet an observer was expected to not overlook reporting the crew's misdeed's and failings. That sort of job requires a certain quality of being able to balance loyalty to your employer while balancing it with the practicality of living with a whole another set of potentially divided loyalties. It seemed to Gir that such a position would really appealed to two sorts of people: the watchdog-oriented idealist and the master manipulator. Yet he knew two archetypes could hardly encompass every possibility of what that observer might be like. Gir descended through a turbolift and passed through several more security checkpoints before he neared the Gauntlet's brig. Lieutenant Tabe, an auburn-haired man wearing a suit of blue-gray battle armor, met him in front of the blast doors.

"The captain just commed me saying that you were coming down," said the marine, "I don't have much to tell you yet. We just hit him with a dose of Skirtopanol."

"Who's interrogating him?"

"Vries."

"Has he started yet?"

 

[Gir Quee]

"He want to give it several more minutes to settle in the subject's system," said Tabe, "I tend to trust his judgement in this action, he's the best one in the brigade. I hope you will join me in supporting his efforts."

Gir slowly nodded in understanding. Tabe intently eyed Gir for a brief second before turning around to unlock the blast doors, as if to send Gir a warning. Despite the difference in terms of our ranks, Tabe seems protective of his people and work...but perhaps that's a good sign. It's good to function on principles rather than kowtow to the various whims of different personalities. The blonde man followed Tabe into the section of the brig where nearly a dozen Directorate Marines manned various stations and guarded shackled prisoners awaiting processing. Gir glanced at their armor markings briefly, immediately picking out various markings that indicated rank and unit association. From what Gir could see, most of the marines present were members of the military police element that operated the brig: only a handful of personnel belonged to Tabe's intelligence-gathering unit. The auburn-haired man led him into the cell block until they neared the end of the tunnel. A door opened up for them which at first appeared to be another holding cell. But as they entered it, Gir realized that it was actually a control room for the brig. Several flatscreen monitors, computers, and chairs lined one half of the room, while a series of holo-projectors took up the other half of the room. Gir found that arrangement curious at first until Tabe flipped a button on his comlink. The holo-projectors whirled to life and recreated one of the prisoner's cells at real life scale. Gir thought at first that it was merely a still holo of one of the rooms until the f igure in the bed stirred. This is live-action...

"I don't feel that I can actually take you in the room sir," explained Tabe, "but we can watch everything happen in as much detail as if we were actually there."

Gir looked at the cell's surroundings, noting the very basic lavatory and bed. But his eyes were captivated by the prisoner herself, who appeared to be a graceful looking brunette wearing baggy cargo pants and grease stained loose fitting tunic. She rose up from the bed and crossed her arms. She? Didn't Lars say it was a he? A second figure appeared at the far end of the room, which Gir immediately guessed was Vries, given that he was encased in Directorate battle armor.

"Your comrades must be jealous," said the interrogator, leaning up against one of the cell blocks, "most of them are sharing cells."

 

[Gir Quee]

The woman tilted her chin towards her chest as she looked into his eyes.

"They're used to me getting special treatment," said the woman,"but even they wouldn't be jealous of that shot. What was in that?"

"A preventative cocktail," replied interrogator, "you will, after all, be spending some time with us now."

"I wouldn't be so sure."

"Oh? What makes you say that?"

She smiled, "A professional doesn't reveal trade secrets."

"You picked a good skin...at least you would have with most of my comrades," said Vries, "but you made the assumption that I was a human. I'm not, though when I do for human females, I go for blondes."

The prisoner's brunette hair and flawless skin morphed into gray-green scales. Her face was clearly now reptilian. A changeling. Well...that is interesting...Gir began to stroke his chin.

"Tell me about yourself."

"I'm distraught that you people destroyed my cabin."

"I enjoy a witty banter as much as the next guy," said the marine, "but only after I know who I'm talking to. You told the inprocessing personnel that you were an observer on the Kol'task. Is that correct?"

She hesitated.

"Yes."

"What is your name?"

The changeling seemed somewhat dazed for a brief second, as if trying to comprehend something, "I go by Tops these days."

"Does the crew of the Kol'task call you Tops?"

"They do."

"What about your employer?"

She hesitated briefly, "No."

"What do you they call you?"

"Seventeen."

"Just a number?"

She nodded.

"Who are your employers?"