>>5177350The flight to your target location doesn't take very long. It's quite close to Thekia station, to the point of being visible in the night sky from there.
When you get there, it's exactly what Gron claimed it was. A hot cloud of gas peppered with gigantic lightning strikes that stretch out so far you've actually got enough time to watch them travel.
Your radar is picking up all kinds of interference here, but your subspace sensors immediately pick up several energy signatures within the cloud, mostly clustered in one small area. That must be the graveyard.
<span class="mu-i">"Captain, i am not detecting a carrier-class subspace signature. If the ship is there, it must be in an unpowered state."</span>
"Gron said it only moved on occasion. A carrier ship must be huge, right? They're just pirates, so maybe they can't afford the fuel to keep it running."
<span class="mu-i">"It is likely that they will have reserved fuel to move it as necessary."</span>
"Mmm. We'll deal with that when we get to it. For now, we need to figure out what we're doing next. Is the commlink set up?"
<span class="mu-i">"Affirmative, Captain. Kyla has supplied Captain Gron and his crew with the blueprints, and he confirmed their installation shortly before launch."</span>
"Alright. Try the laser first, if the gas is too thick then we can switch to microwave."
You grin as one of your pulsed laser cannons comes to life and aims directly at Gron's ship, visible as a speck in the near distance.
After a short pause, one of Gron's lasers does the same. You can see it lighting up faintly from your cockpit as it's beam washes over your ship.
Your comms channel crackles as the signal clears up.
["Captain Rockefeller? Do you hear me, captain?"]
["Aye, i hear you Captain Kordunn. Looks like the optical linkage is working fine at this distance. Go ahead and speak freely, i promise you nobody's listening in."]
["Fascinating. I never would have thought to use laser weaponry as a communications device."]
["More importantly... We're not picking up the carrier's signature. I assume it's the same on your end?"]
["Yes. Nothing on our scanners either. We'll have to head in and risk contact if we want to find anyone."]
["Woah, woah, woah. I didn't say we had <span class="mu-i">nothing</span> on the scanners. Just not the carrier. I have seven distinct signatures clustered at these co-ordinates.]
You press a few buttons and transfer the data to Gron's terminal. It takes a moment over the relatively slow optical link.
["I... I see. You must have an exceptional sensor package on that ship."]
["Grey-made, baby."] You rap your knuckles against the sheet metal wall next to your pilot seat.
["Of course. In that case, we surely have the element of surprise. Shall we take advantage of it?"
>Sure. Let's find someone who's a little too far away from the others and "have a chat" with them>Nah, there's no need to go that far against some punk pirates. Not with the two of us, anyways. Let's go in guns blazing.>Write-in? 