>>5834356You cannot retreat, not without learning Sparrow-2's secrets first. Neither can you hold out here for long, even with the Armitage for back-up. That leaves only one option. You hail the Armitage and soon are greeted by its commander's thin smile.
"Commander Jean-Pierre, the Bowyer-class destroyer is disabled. Can you keep the patrols busy while we sweep through it? It would take far too long for the Armitage to rendezvous with our current position in the inner system anyway. We will fall back with you later."
The corners of Jean-Pierre's lips fall ever so slightly as his mind processes the request. Just as quickly they return to their original position, "Understood. We will do what we can. Armitage over and out." Suddenly, his ship lights up like a shooting star on your thermals and starts burning towards the other gas giant in the system. Half an hour later, several new contacts follow his wake.
That was easier than you thought. Now onto the salvage. First, drones are dispatched from your ship to rescue any escaped crewmen. Even if they are Liberation Front agents, firing on helpless lifepods still tastes like rotten nutrimoss. Then, a platoon of crack marines fly out on an armored shuttle to secure Sparrow-2. A second trip brings some particularly brave engineers over to help dismantle all that is actually bolted down. In the meantime, repair teams are sent back to the engines and up to Turret-1 to patch up whatever they can. You have a feeling you will need to squeeze all the speed and firepower out of the Skyline to escape this system. After assigning everyone to their work, you wander down to the small hangar to give the turncoats a warm welcome.
As it turns out, these are not Liberation Front, they are the original officers of the Banshee, as the destroyer's called, before a mutiny almost sent them out the airlock. Apparently Martha Rockcliffe, the ringleader, thought keeping them hostage instead would deter other Directorate vessels from firing. She must have forgotten to tell you this before her Indian charge. During the confusion of battle, these prisoners managed to break out and sabotage the engine, giving your guns a chance to lock on and destroy the vessel. Despite your marines' confirmation of their accounts, Silas insists on keeping them separately in the holding cells, "just to be safe." Their leader, a gruffy lieutenant in his mid-40s, reluctantly relents, unwilling to risk unfavorable remarks in the after action report.
In the end, your men are unable to capture any LibFront agents from the wreck. The fanatics have made sure to depressurise the whole ship from stern to bow first. Thankfully, they overlooked the nav-computer's backup drive, which are now being decrypted by your best techies. Some supplies and other odds and ends were also brought back, before several judiciously placed fusion charges turn the Banshee into so much spacedust. That ought to let the Armitage know you have completed your job.
