1.14 Endgame Part 7

The next room is even worse than the previous one. It appears we stumbled into the factory in which the Machines are created and several of them are already complete and ready for battle.

Narszara leaps into battle as I grab Sky and James and fly for the door on the other side of the room. I don’t even dare waste time looking at what Mia and Darrac are doing.

A Machine drops down in front of us and I fire off all eleven of my remaining missiles at it, exploding the darn thing. I don’t slow down as I fly through the wreckage. My armour can handle it and the cos-mat costume should protect Sky and James.

I smash head first through the door. I let go of Sky and James as I into the floor. From the sounds in the previous room, I think as I get to my feet, it sounds like Narszara is keeping our enemies in there busy. I hope Mia or Darrac don’t get hurt.

“Are you okay Sentinel?” asks James.

                                                                 

“I’m fine, just used up all my missiles, but fine,” I reply with a dismissive wave of my hand, “At least this room is empty.”

“The next room should be the command room where the Machinist is operating out of if memory serves,” says Darrac as he lands behind us, “My captain is providing support for your Norgardian.”

“Okay,” I say, “Let’s take down the Machinist.”

I really wonder how Darrac knows what a Norgardian is, but now is most definitely not the time to bring that up.

I let Darrac open the door again as out of our group, he is the best at operating Sektain technology even if I do feel I’m pretty good at it myself.

“Done,” declares Darrac as the door goes wide open.

We walk into the also empty room. This one is clearly the command room or bridge as we would call it on Earth. There are a multitude of computers and other such devices including a large holo-table in the middle of the room.

“So where is the Machinist?” asks James.

“I don’t know,” admits Darrac as he stops and looks around, “I assumed he would be operating out of the command centre. It is the only logical choice to set up his headquarters, but it would appear otherwise.”

“That’s for sure,” says Sky, “Any ideas on where else he come be?”

“No,” replies Darrac, “We’ll have to scour the entire ship.”

“Let’s call the other teams and see if they found the Machinist?” I suggest and do so, “Sentinel here. Has anyone found the Machinist? My team is currently in the command centre or bridge and nobody has been here.”

But all I get is static. It would seem that our communications are being jammed. Better call in with Janelle and Alex.

And again all I get is static. We are definitely being jammed.

“Hey guys-” I start when several beings flash into existence around us.

Each of these beings is made of a pinkish grey material and consists of sleek armour plates with red energy in the gaps that form a humanoid shape. Where the abdomen would be, these creatures have a glowing orb of red energy.

What are these things? I think as they open fire.

Bolts of pink plasma fly from their sleek guns. James and Sky both go down while Darrac staggers and drops to his knee, panting. I take a couple of hits, one to the back of my right shoulder and the other to my chest.

I grunt in pain as I actually feel the shots through the armour and collapse on the ground. I check my armour status and see that the enemy has actually done some serious damage to the Sentinel armour. In fact, the armour integrity around the shoulder has been damaged.

Without moving my head, I look towards Darrac. The Neriarr topples over as he takes several more bolts of plasma. If a couple of those did major damage to the Sentinel armour, I can only imagine how much pain Darrac is in. Darn it, I’m not even sure if he survived.

How will I explain to Mia if he doesn’t? How will I live with myself if a member of my team dies on my watch?

But first I have to make sure these things do down.

There are nine of these creatures and they head to the rest of us, three for each of us Leaguers now Darrac is down. James is still down while Sky is stirring. One of the creatures takes aim at her with its gun.

Time for action, I decide as I activate my rocket pack, aiming for the enemy taking aim at Sky.

I fly through the air and tackle the creature, sending both of us tumbling with myself being the one landing on top. I punch it in the face twice, but whatever it is made of holds up against even the enhanced strength that Sentinel armour grants me.

Not looking good at all, I think as I spot the other eight creatures aiming at me. Things are made even worse when the one below me punches me in the face. It doesn’t do much against the Sentinel armour however and I grab the creature as I get to my feet.

As the other creatures open fire, I use their compatriot as ‘human’ shield.

1.14 Endgame Part 6

Our four aerial vehicles come to a halt over site of the sunken Sektain warship.

“Okay,” I say to my team as we wait in the cargo bay of the Dusty Corsair, “Let’s drop.”

Of course we have to wait for the ramp to lower, but once that is done, we all leap out of the spaceship.

I take the opportunity to look around. The other teams are doing the same though some of us are falling faster than others such as Britannia and Sam, who have both used their flight to reach the ocean even faster than the others.

Me? I’m willing to just use gravity.

I plunge into the ocean, but Narszara’s magic charm is working perfectly. While I know I’m surrounded by water, I’m more than capable of acting if I wasn’t to the point I can even use my rocket pack and lasers down here.

Excellent. Just another advantage we have over the Machine and the other creations of the Machinist.

“There,” I tell the others over the comms, pointing at the wrecked ship below.

As the other teams go their own routes, I take my own team down to the hole I spotted in the side. As expected the ship is flooded with several remains of the crew floating about as I do my best to try and ignore them.

“There is an intact airlock ahead,” says Darrac as he takes the lead.

“Can you open it up?” I ask him.

“Easily,” replies Darrac, “I grew up around technology like this. I believe the correct expression is that this is a slice of cake.”

Within a couple of seconds, we enter the air lock and the water drains around us.

“Do want to break the airlock so the ship is flooded?” inquires Sky as the water finishes draining around us.

“No,” I reply, “If we flood the whole thing, we could easily kill the Machinist and wreck salvageable technology within. And Sektain technology, even if it is a few decades out of data, is very valuable on Earth. Plus we can communicate verbally if we need to such as if our communicators get jammed.”

I step into the next room and freeze at what awaits us. The Machine. And not just one, but three of the big guy.

We all leap into action. Mia draws her pistols and begins to unleash rapid fire on the one on the right as Darrac flies at it. Sky and I both move around the sides to attack the one on the left while Narszara charges the one in the middle.

I’ll use my telekinesis to pop any missiles they unleash, says James.

I send a mental agreement at him as I activate the rocket pack as the Machine I targeted fire off its missiles at me. It also its lasers, both those are aimed at Sky, not me. I fly through the explosion results from the exploding missiles as they are telekinetically taken out and grab the disc ball head.

I grunt as I yank it out and the Machine drops to its knee. Aiming at the gap in which the head was connected to, I fire a missile of my own at it. I’m caught in the explosion, but the Sentinel armour weathers it with ease. The Machine on the other hand has taken a beating as most of its upper chest is destroyed and the left arm is blown off.

Unfortunately its right arm is still working fine, a fact I find out as the Machine grabs me and slams me into floor. I roll out of the way of a energy blade and fire my lasers at the now exposed shoulder joint of the remaining arm.

I hit and the arm twitches before falling limp at the side. But the Machine is still active and I have to finish it even if it is incapable of fighting anymore. Never turn your back on an enemy after all.

Sky is already on that one so I turn to see how the other members of our team are doing, ready to provide assistance if necessary. But it doesn’t look like the others need it as Narszara has crushed her own foe and is helping Darrac and Mia finish off the Machine on the right.

I hear metal tearing behind me and I look over my shoulder to see the remains of the Machine being ripped apart. It has to be the work of James.

“Three Machines?” inquires Sky.

“I didn’t expect it either,” I reply, “Did it feel a little too easy? The others ones were much tougher and harder to defeat.”

“I believe that experience and use of teamwork allowed us to overcome them Verigar,” says Narszara, “The previous times we were not prepared and were caught off guard. This time the battle was fought on our terms, not theirs.”

“Makes senses,” I agree, “Let’s press onto the next room.”

1.14 Endgame Part 5

“Hello everyone,” I say to the assembled groups in the main room of the base a couple hours later, “As you know, I have finally found the location of the person responsible for almost every major incident that has plagued our country since Vistorix showed up in early July.”

We got all of the new Leaguers in costume in addition to the combat ready Albion Defenders. Britannia, Warden, Dreadnought, Green Knight, Robyn Hood, Multitude, Spectre, Eternal, Controller and Werebeast. Only Merlin, Powerbeam and Restorer aren’t here.

In the corner we got Darrac and Mia, who Darrac brought along. The two space pirates, excuses me, space privateers both look ready for the up coming fight.

A total of twenty one superheroes and two space pirates against whatever the Machine’s creator has to bring against us.

If they weren’t responsible for the deaths of several people, directly or otherwise, I might feel sorry for them.

I let my announcement settle in before I continue. I’m sure they already know that as I doubt they would be here otherwise, but it still has an impact amongst the gathered people.

I’m able to continue when another couple of people join our group. A man in a black cloak obscures his body from sight and only his glowing white eyes can be seen while other is man in bulky gold and red power armour.

Shade and Spartan. Two acquaintances I made a while back.

Huh, never thought I would ever think that way. Sure Granddad spoke about old acquaintances he made over years as a superhero, but it is another thing for me to be doing it myself.

“I hope you don’t mind us helping out,” says Spartan, “We both have some unfinished business with the guy you’re going after.”

“Every hand helps,” I reply.

Strange how we’re talking about this when the first time we met was when Spartan was trying to collect the bounty on my head for the person we’re now working together to go after.

But that was before the Machine attacked his flying aircraft carrier and we fought together against it. And it isn’t healthy to hold grudges. Best to let bygones be bygones.

“The Machine’s creator, now codenamed Machinist, is operating out of a sunken Sektain warship about twenty miles off the coast of the Isle of Wight,” I continue from where I left off earlier before the new arrivals showed up, “Now if you’re wondering how we’re going to get down here since only a few of us can breathe underwater, we got a couple of things for that. First is a small breather that you put to your mouth and it also acts a communicator. The second is a magical charm that Narszara has come up with allows us to breath underwater. They’ll also keep you dry and unaffected by the water. We got thirty of them so there is enough for everybody here to have one each. If you do lose the charm, it has a residue effect so if you do lose it during battle, the effect won’t wear off until a few hours later.”

I, Mary and Narszara hand out the charms and breathers. While everybody takes a charm, those of us in power armour don’t take a breather. All of us already have an equivalent built into our armour.

“So here is the plan,” I say, “We’ll split into four groups, roughly six in each. The first group will be Shade, Spartan, Spectre, Controller and Werebeast with Britannia in charge. Warden will lead the second group, consisting of herself, Dreadnought, Green Knight, Eternal, Multitude and Robyn Hood. The next group will contain Lantern, Bolt, Night Beast, Multiform, Storm Knight, Gateway and Accelerate. The last group will be lead by myself and will consist of Narszara, Darrac, Mia, Commando and Vision. Is that clear?”

I get a series of agreements and we begin to split up into our groups.

I think I did pretty well in choosing the groups. Each one is led by an experienced leader and has good variation of abilities in each of them. In addition, they are split up between the two superhero teams we have on hand.

“Okay for transportation,” I say once we’re in our groups, “Teams One and Two will go in the two pairs of Albion Defender jets we got on hand. Team Three will take the Star Guardian while Team Four will be going in the Dusty Corsair.”

I wonder who will pilot the Star Guardian without me there. I suspect Janelle might fly herself, but Sam or Vance might end up in the cockpit.

“Hey Janelle,” I whisper into my communicator, “Were you the one to let Shade and Spartan in?”

“Yes, I assumed you wouldn’t mind the extra backup,” replies the AI.

“I don’t,” I tell her, “But I would like a heads up next time.”

“Understood,” says Janelle, “By the way, I don’t think I’ll be able to hack the ship’s computers. You’ll need internal access for that.”

“Good to know,” I reply, “I’ll need the prototype then for quick hacking then.”

“I believe so,” says Janelle and I end the call.

“I’ll be right back,” I tell the others in my group, “Just need to grab something from my lab for this mission.”

I dart off to my lab and quickly find the gray box containing what progress I have made so far in creating an AI. The box is about the size of a computer mouse, but barely a centimetre thick.

While the AI isn’t sentient like Janelle yet, it will be far better at hacking the ship’s systems then I would be.

“Ready,” I say as I return to the others as they wait around the bottom of the Dusty Corsair.

1.7 Bounty Hunters Part 4

Sam twists the Machine’s arm and I can hear the metal tearing and twisting. He grabs the Machine’s arm with his other hand and uses them both to yank off the Machine’s arm.

As Sam tosses it aside, the Machine punches Sam into the air with his other fist. I would have tried to help, but at this point, I have pretty much had it.

Not that the Machine gets a break either.

Darrac flies over the Machine again, this time with a trail of over twenty micro-missiles following him. Most of them slam into the Machine before it can react with only three going over the Machine’s head.

The Machine staggers backwards following the explosion, the armour and lasers on its chest a useless mess.

Then Sam zooms back down and grabs the Machine’s remaining arm with both hands. He gives it a good pull, yanking out and tossing it aside like he did with the other. Sam reaches down and rips away the remaining chest armour from the Machine.

Sensing it isn’t going to beat to Sam, the Machine uses its flight abilities to zoom along the deck and off the carrier.

Sam appears to be about to pursue, but takes one look at me and lands next to me. He puts a hand out for me and I grasp it with my left as my right arm is disabled.

“You’re in bad shape,” notes Sam.

“He had me on the ropes several times,” I say, “Without Spartan or Darrac, I would have been killed before you got here.”

“What were you doing here before the Machine came?” asks Sam with a glance at Spartan, who has landed not too far away.

I give Spartan a look and we lock eyes before I reply, “Nothing important.”

Darrac lands on the ground next to us. He’ is also pretty banged up.

“We should leave,” says Darrac matter of factly.

“I agree,” I reply, “Lantern, you need to carry me. The Machine took out my rocket pack early on.”

“Okay,” says Sam as he hooks his arms underneath my armpits.

***

I let Vance fly while I make some repairs to the armour in the Star Guardian. The ship doesn’t have the full resources of the lab back at base, but I can get the right arm of the Sentinel armour working again.

Mia got off at Sydney in Australia, her home city. We left her in the hands of the local heroes and authorities. Darrac took the Dust Corsair back to space while we headed home.

“What do you think will be waiting for us back home?” Sam asks me as we near the British Isles.

“Mary wanted to borrow Narszara for a mission and it’s pretty late so our parents might be worried.”

“Not mine,” says Sam, “Mum never married.”

“My mum knows, but my dad and sis don’t,” I say, “I’m going to be spending tomorrow getting the 

Sentinel armour back in working order.”

“I’m sure somebody will have an explanation for us to fall back on,” says Sam confidently, “Did you use your money to buy the stuff from Mia?”

I shake my head, “No. I used the Sentinel’s account. Using Daniel Griffin’s account would have been too traceable and just plain stupid.”

By the time we land, I have gotten both of the armour’s lasers working again in addition to the left arm’s sonics. The sonics of the right arm have been almost utterly destroyed and need to be rebuilt from scratch.

This means it’s going to be a while before Narszara’s suit is built.

I wonder what Narszara is doing now?

“Narszara,” I call her my comm.

“Yes milord?” comes the swift reply.

“How did your day go?” I ask her, “Because the Sentinel armour needs some serious repairs. We’re going to have to delay starting on your new armour.”

“I have aided the Defenders in repulsing an attempt by the Baglio Syndicate to gain a foothold in this nation,” replies Narszara, “What is the damage to the Sentinel armour?”

“Right sonic and rocket pack completely destroyed,” I answer, “The lasers and left sonic will need more serious repairs to be bought back to fully functioning. The helmet and HUD need fixing and entire outer armour needs replacing. The right arm also needs more extensive repairs as well.”

“Sounds like our upcoming days will be busy,” replies Narszara, “What happened?”

“The trip went well,” I reply, trying to make it sound like nothing major happened, “Then we got involved in fight between two groups of Sektain separatists. Next we made friends with some space pirates and I bought a good haul of Sektain equipment. I’m quite please with that. We went home with our new space pirate friends and investigated a couple of signals. An oil platform and Spartan’s aero-carrier.Spartan and his bounty hunters tried to capture me and my space pirate ally. It went poorly for them. Then the Machine showed up and beat up a few times. Darrac saved me a few times. Than Lantern showed up and save me and totally defeated the Machine again. We headed back home for proper after that.”

I pause for a moment.

“How was your mission?”

1.7 Bounty Hunters Part 1

“We’re receiving another distress signal,” reports Janelle.

“Now what?” demands Sam.

“We’re got an oil platform malfunctioning,” says Janelle.

“Let’s go!” says Sam and he flies out of the ship.

I’m about to shout at him when Janelle starts speaking again.

“I just picked up another unusual signal not too far away,” says the AI, “It might what’s responsible for what’s happening to the oil platform.”

“Should we split up?” asks Vance.

I start to reply, but then we receive a call from the Dust Corsair.

“What’s going on?” asks Mia, “Lantern just flew out of your ship.”

“We’ve got two things to investigate,” I tell her, “A distress signal and an unknown signal. Lantern is already en route to the distress signal.”

“I’ll take the Dust Corsair and help him out,” says Mia.

“I’ll go out on my own and check out the other signal.”

“Take Darrac with you and Bolt and the Star Guardian can help with the distress signal,” says Mia, “The second signal might turn out to be nothing, but we know the first one is actually something.”

“True,” I muse, “Okay let’s do it.”

“Good,” says Mia and she cuts the signal.

“Janelle, you and Vance check out the distress signal,” I say as I get up and walk towards the open exit, “Darrac and I will check out the second signal.”

I jump out of the ship and activate the rocket pack. I’ve got 93% fuel left. Enough to last for at least two hours.

I turn to see Darrac exit his ship, a helmet now covering his face. He flies towards me using his wings.

“Follow me,” I tell him as the Dust Corsair and the Star Guardian begin to follow Sam.

I do a loop in the air and zoom off in the direction of the second signal. Darrac is barely keeping up.

Barely.

Still if he can keep up with the latest version of the Sentinel suit, I can see why granddad and the other old Leaguers had trouble in the Invasion and I haven’t even seen him in combat.

“Whoa,” I say as the source of the signal comes into view.

A flying aircraft carrier. You have a fair few flying around these days, some private and some government. Personally I dislike them as they’re too easy to be damaged or taken out of action. As granddad said, one seems to fall out of the sky every other Thursday.

I land on the topside of the carrier. Several men and woman in work clothes are running about. Several people in power armour are coming topside from the carrier’s below decks.

“Are we welcome?” asks Darrac as he lands next to me.

“Don’t count on it,” I say back to him as the people in their work clothes scurry out of sight. 

Fourteen, maybe fifteen people in power armour are coming towards us.

This power armour is different to the Sentinel armour or the Bulk armour. Whereas the Sentinel armour fits around the wearer and is self-reliant for extended use, these suits also fit around the wearer, but are bulky and have a semi-external power source on the back. I also doubt the suits are as hi-tech and well-built as the Sentinel and Bulk armours are.

The armours are black with the armour plating being grey while the helmets have a wide purple faceplate.

Then I spot their leader. He’s also wearing the same type of armour as the others, but is gold and red. His face plate is black and a crimson cloak is attached to his back.

An American bounty hunter called Spartan who owns his own private army. Makes his fortune by hunting down supervillains for assorted folk.

And I have a large bounty on my head and Spartan has been known to take down heroes or neutrals when he can get away with it.

It is only as Spartan starts speaking that I realise that they’re all holding guns, large sleek rifles of some kind, and they are aimed at Darrac and I.

“So what do we have here,” says Spartan in a deep baritone voice as he strides towards us.

“Sentinel and associate,” I reply, glancing at Darrac.

“You shouldn’t be out here,” says Spartan, his emotions concealed by his armour, “We’re out in international waters and you got a massive bounty on your head. And we’re the ones who are going to collect it.”

Normally I might have tried talking my way out or negotiating with him, but Spartan and his people don’t seem to be willing to be reasonable with such a prize at stake. And I don’t know if Darrac will avoid a fight if I ask him to.

Spartan laughs and waves a hand at his power armoured warriors.

“We out number you eight to one,” says Spartan loudly, “I don’t care how good your armour is, you’re just a kid going up against the pros. And your pal won’t stand a chance either.”

There’s his first mistake. I’m actually much more skilled than Spartan if I do say so myself and you never treat a Sektain soldier as if they're anything other than a deadly threat.

“So grand and mighty Sentinel,” sniggers Spartan in a snide tone, “What’s it going to be?”

“Non-lethal force,” I tell Darrac.

1.6 Pirates and Knights Part 7

“So what happened next?” asks Sam eagerly.

“The three of us escaped to Domino,” says Mia, “We managed to... acquire the Dust Corsair from some unmissed scum. I have been captain since then with Darrac as my first mate and Borin as my engineer.”

“So how come you haven’t gone home?” asks Sam.

Mia is silent for several seconds before sighing.

“I have become adapted to galactic society,” answers Mia, “I’ve done things that are normal out here, but I have no idea how they would fit in back on Earth. And I’m not the person that my family once knew. I would be too embarrassed and ashamed of myself if I returned home to my family.”

“I would say I understand, but I don’t,” says Sam, “I do understand the concept and theory, but I’ve never been unlucky enough to have experienced what is necessary to understand.”

“Good for you,” snorts Mia, “So are we going to New Valletta or what?”

“If we use a warp drive, it should only take a few hours in warp space and several hours using sub-lights,” I say.

“How do you know if we got a warp drive?” demands Mia.

“You don’t have a jump drive and there isn’t a gate in this system,” I reply.

“But what about a hyper drive?” insists Mia.

“I need to keep some secrets,” I say in a patronising voice.

“Let’s get going,” says Mia before cutting the connection.

I turn to face Sam. He looks at me expectantly.

“We got really good scanners,” I tell him in a quiet voice.

***

“This is the haul,” says Mia proudly as we and Lantern stand in the cargo bay of the Dust Corsair.

The cargo hauler is easily worn out and the mix match repairs even more telling once you’re inside. The contrast in the quality of the ship and the quality of its cargo is almost shocking.

The crates of Sektain equipment are a mixture of curved cuboids and cubes of a smooth and shiny greenish-purplish-grey metal allow. There are twenty total. Even if the crates were empty, they would still be worth a lot thanks to how well made they are.

Mia is just over our age, roughly a year older than me. She has a distinct pirate feel to her. Her brown hair is tied back while her eye colour is hard to tell thanks to fact she has had them augmented or enhanced. Mia has an athletic body with even more enhancements or augmentations to it.

I’m also fairly certain that  she is some type of cyborg.

Her clothes are made from a black material that’s very similar to cos-mat while her vambraces and boots are made from made from Sektain metal. Which means they almost definitely have hidden abilities to them. Mia has a red belt of flowing silk and a steely grey armour that covers her shoulders, upper chest and back. On her head is leather hat like that one from Pirates of the Caribbean.

“So how much would you take for all this?” I ask her.

“How much how is it worth?” she replies.

I have my HUD bring it all up. It takes a minute, but I get a figure.

“Roughly seventy thousand pounds,” I tell her, “Give or take a few thousand.”

“So how much are you willing to pay?” Mia asks.

I think about it for a moment. I could name a sum about the same value, but Mia seems to be looking for a profit. And she’s been nice enough to deserve it from me.

“Eighty thousand,” I answer.

Mia pauses for a few minutes before speaking.

“I guess that’s a good deal,” admits Mia, “And you did save our lives and haven’t asked for any reward.”

“So you’ll take it?”

“Sure.”

“I’ve transferred the amount into her bank account,” says Janelle over my armour’s comms.

“The money should be in your account,” I say to Mia.

Mia opens up a holographic display from her left arm. After a moment of looking through it, she looks pleased.

“This all yours,” grins Mia as she waves a hand at the crates.

“So what are you planning to do now?” I ask her as Sam moves to pick up some of the crates with both his hands and his telekinesis.

“I got a bunch of tech and money to upgrade the Dust Corsair with from your money and the salvage rights from the battle,” muses Mia, “But that’ll take time.”

“Thinking of going home during that time?” I inquire.

“Probably,” says Mia, “Darrac and Borin can be trusted to look after the ship. Plus I’ll keep in contact with them.”

She pauses and looks at the doorway.

“Say,” says Mia, “Have you meet Darrac yet?”

I follow her graze and freezes.

I guess I should have realised it, but it still came as a shocked to find out that Darrac is one of the Sektain’s modified humans.

Darrac is tall and slim, but has a look of lethality to him. His black hair is slick and pointed upwards and back. Two black leather wings stick out of his back while long spikes come out of his forearms. His eyes look like those of a cat and I can see fangs sticking out of this mouth. The somewhat bulging muscles don’t help him look nonthreatening either.

He’s wearing the same black clothes that Mia is wearing with the grey metal armour on top. The only bare spots are his head and arms.

“So you’re the heir of the great Sentinel,” says Darrac.

He cocks his head at me.

“You’re pretty impressive.”

Mia laughs.

“So,” says Mia with a silly grin on her face, “Mind if we tag along on the trip home?”

1.6 Pirates and Knights Part 6

It doesn’t literally hit me, but the Sektain destroyer is almost upon us.

“Can it see us?” I ask Janelle.

“Can what see us?” demands the girl.

Darn, I forget to close the connection.

“The destroyer,” I tell her before muting my responses to her.

“No,” replies Janelle, “It will once I charge the weapons however. Not even our cloaking can hide that.”

“Do it,” I tell her as I grip the controls.

I can hear the girl curse in a mixture of alien languages, only a few I can understand. I should update our translators when we get back to Earth.

I look at the controls. The plasma cannons are ready, but the fusion lance is still charging. The destroyer has changed course once it detected us.

I fire the plasma cannons.

They’re better than nothing and much better than what most people have. Most people doesn’t include Sektain warships however as the Sektain were the ones to make plasma weaponry widespread in the first place.

The destroyer fires its emergency thrusters to avoid my shots. It is only partially successful as two bolts of plasma miss and streak off harmlessly into space.

The other two slam into the destroyer and its shield flickers and fails.

The fusion lance finally charges and I fire it. It zooms at the hapless vessel, the destroyer unable to dodge and is without its shields.

The fusion lance punches through the Sektain warship and unleashes a series of explosion throughout the ship. The forward third of it even breaks away from the ship and the engines flicker and died.

“That was some impressive firepower,” says the girl over the comm approvingly before her tone becomes extremely worried, “You’re not going to turn that on me are you?”

“Why on Earth would I do that?” I demand as I unmute myself.

“Because I’m a criminal and you’re a lawman,” replies the girl, “That’s how most folk do things out here.”

“Well you did say you haven’t done anything majorly wrong and you stayed out of trouble with the Knights and Sangor, which are people whose opinions I care about out here,” I reply, “So what were you doing out there in the first place?”

The girl hesitates for a moment before replying.

“If you mean why I’m a pirate, that is too long a story,” she finally says.

“Just tell why they were fighting and why you sent the distress signal,” I say.

“Well,” replies the girl, “Me and my crew stole a bunch of gear from the Talrak Ravagers, the ones with the assault ships, and tried to sell them to the Yarnel Interstellar Empire, the guys with the battleship. Except the Yarnels decided they didn’t want to pay so I sent the distress signal. Then the Talraks showed up after having followed me here and wanted their stuff back. So they fought while I try to sneak away. I guess you showed up at some point between then and now. So now I got several crates of stolen equipment and no buyers.”

“What kind of equipment?” I inquire.

“Five boxes of Sektain energy shield generator, a couple of crates containing plasma grenades, five of small arms and eight boxes of power cells,” answers the girl, “Interested?”

“Only if you’re willing to accept the pound sterling,” I reply, “Sektain tech isn’t easy to come by back on Earth and I’m always interested in acquiring more in a moral manner.”

“Does anyone else around here use the pound sterling?” asks the girl.

“The Knights and probably the Sangor,” I tell her, “ At the very least they will convert into something they will use. Do you want to sort out the deal back at Epsilon Eridani?”

“Is that a good idea?” asks the girl, the worry clear in her voice.

“You haven’t broken their laws and I think I might be able to get the Knights to licence you as a one of their privateers,” I reply, “The Knights will probably even let you salvage some the wreckage out here.”

“I could make a good profit on even a small amount of what is floating out here,” laughs the girl.

“Doing business now Sentinel,” grins Sam from behind me, “You don’t even know our new friend’s name.”

I almost jump. I had forgotten that he had entered the cockpit. But he has a good point.

“Before we got anywhere,” I say to the girl, “Could I get your name since you have mine?”

“Mia Robinson,” answers the girl, “So how are we going to New Valletta?”

“I would use my ship’s jump drive,” I reply, “But I’m guessing you don’t have one.”

“You got a working jump drive!”exclaims Mia in shock, “Do you have any idea how rare those are?”

“I do,” I say somewhat proudly.

It is true after all and jump drives are quite rare.

“So how did you become a space pirate?” Sam asks her, “You seem like one of the people from Earth not space. They’re either alien or Maltese”

Mia is silent for a moment before reply.

“I was on a education trip to Europa roughly a year back,” says Mia in a world weary voice, “At the time, I was helping out carrying cargo crates when the ship I was on left before I could get off. They were pirates and couldn’t just go back to a civilised spot of the galaxy to do me off. Fortunately, they were kind to me and took me as one of their own. The captain’s first mate was the father of my own first mate and pitied me. So I spent several months as part of the crew as Urck’s protégée. Then the Antol Raiders attacked us and the ship was finally cornered. Only me, Darrac and Borin escaped.”