>>6063269“Is this the dauntless Commander Liu I know, running from a battle so fast? Over.” You opt for a half-sarcastic, half-sincere tone, hoping that it will cut the deepest. Your voice must carry the day here, there is simply no time to establish a video feed.
“Are you deaf as well? It's a capital ship, to cry out loud. I'm much happier alive than dead, Thornton. Over.” A reminder that her miserable life lasts only as long as you choose to keep the smuggling operations covered up would fit nicely here, but you would rather use the carrot than the stick, give her something to fight for. Such as you... Liu's warm finger sliding down the cool skin of your back, tracing the outline of each disc before finally digging deep into the tailbone...
You unwittingly lets out a gasp before returning to reality. No, that was just a gust of wind from the overhead vent. You will do her one better than sex. “Don't bullshit me, Liu. You know full well that each battle could be your last. Why deny yourself a good fight? Over.”
“I pity girls like you who will never get the enjoy the finer things in life. No I simply love living too much. Over and out.” Her flagship Razoredge completes the turn and starts burning away from the system's edge.
“Ma'am, incoming transmission from the Armitage. Patching through now.” Jean-Pierre sounds significantly less annoyed than you have guessed, “Let her go, Commander Thornton. She'll be back soon enough, once she meets my insurance policy. Over.”
Great, he has a secretive streak as well, why does everyone you meet has to be shady? “What do you mean, insurance policy? Surely you don't happen to have an asset in the Terret fleets? Over.”
“You'll find out soon enough. Go ahead and jump. I won't be far behind. Just have to make sure he shows up. Good luck. Over.” You don't like this, but unlikely he'll leave you in the lurch with his handler still aboard your ship. Probably snoring in some nook right now, that fool cat.
“Good luck to you too. Over and out.” The Invincible continues its precisely controlled bursts to aim its bow towards Melia, heedless of all that happened around it. Is Okwonko truly committed to your cause, or does he realise that he can't run anyhow?
“Alignment complete. Warp drive powered up. Starting countdown.” Moynihan crosses himself. “5. 4. 3. 2. 1.” The jump is over before it began. In the far distance, the blue supergiant Melia burns bright.
The Yushi quickly makes contact. “Took you long enough. We are transmitting everything that our sensors have picked up. But where are the destroyers and the Armitage? Over.”
“Liu and her dogs ran. Jean-Pierre is trying to wrangle them. He'll catch up to us later. Over.” Your own significantly more powerful radar, lidar, and thermal arrays quickly turn towards the direction highlighted by Yushi's sensor feed.
“1 capital. 1 heavy cruiser. 5 destroyers. Lord protects us."
