Then the doors to the airlock clanged shut, cutting off their view except for Makoto who took to the single porthole.
"Motion trackers on," said Ranma to the voice-activation system. "Weapons power up. Fire at movement from target. Continue moving away from target at best possible manuevering."
The systems lit up with targetting information and the ship rotated a few degrees so that three of the four guns could be brought to bear - though only one was 100% for a particular direction.
Breep!
"Launch missiles 1-3," said Ranma.
Forms launched themselves across the void, unhurt by vaccuum or hard radiation from the bloated red sun.
Those forms began coming apart as emerald fire began slamming repeatedly into their carapaces, the bursts seeming to sizzle and dissolve their bodies in ways that laser fire couldn't.
Missiles launched as the ship continued to move away, speeding up considerably as it went.
Makoto watched. "Damn. What's this guy packing on this ship?"
The inner airlock door had already opened.
"I repeat my earlier comment about junk," said Minako. "I grew up on a mining asteroid. I know junk when I see it."
Makoto shielded her eyes instinctively, even though the suit's polarization would take care of the glare. "It's gone. The Ahkunaten just blew up."
"Wood?!" Minako poked at the wall paneling.
"No, it's just designed to look like that," said Ami. "I've seen this before. They do things like that in the Amaterasu system - giving rooms and corridors an 'old-fashioned' look."
"The firebox here though - that's Hub Standard," said Minako. "So are these suits except one of 'em looks like its at least two hundred years old."
"Eclectic," said Ami.
"If you're done criticizing the ship, we're away from the wreck. I'm going to have the system work out a course to the nearest habitation. That would be Sigma Delta I think. I can drop you off there."
"Sigma Delta?" Makoto made a face. "That's a mining outpost, isn't it?"
"I should say so," said Minako, making a face. "That's the main settlement in the system my family's at. What a pain in the aft cooling duct."
"If you'll follow the amber lights, it'll lead you to a section of rooms. I want to stop at a closer point to the star and do a manual check of the hull. That'll take awhile." "We can help," offered Ami. "You were rescuing us, after all. Thank you."
"Uhm. Yeah. It'd sure speed things up. Be down later. Leave your suits near the lock."
After ditching their bulky suits for now and awakening the other two members of their group, the five quickly followed the corridor to a large central room.
"Amaterasan decor gives way to Nubian," commented Ami.
"Kinda tacky," offered Usagi.
"Actually I kind of like it," said Minako, "dig these cushions!"
Hotaru looked about with her usual unblinking stare.
Makoto thunked the padding on the wall with one fist. "Hope this is fire retardant."
"So what do we do now?" Usagi asked, her eyes wide and staring at nothing in particular. "I can't go home. Luna will kill me. Or worse."
"She can't kill you, you're her sister," said Ami logically.
"You don't know big sister," insisted Usagi. "To my family, I'm the one who lost the ship. Luna is such a meanie."
"This is an awful big ship," noted Makoto. "Is he the only crew?"
"I wonder what this door marked 'Do Not Open' hides," said Minako, opening the door. "AHHHHH!"
Visions of skeletal bodies of previous guests dancing through their head, the others were ready for the worst. Or so they thought.
"When was the last time he cleaned in here?" asked Ami.
"The dust bunnies have been multiplying!" Minako observed.
"What about this?" asked Usagi, opening another door. "WAHHHHH!"
"Princess!" Hotaru moved forward in a blur, shoving the princess out of the way.
"Oh my! It's dirty underwear! He must have been shoving dirty clothes in that room for decades!" Ami looked on in horror as Hotaru's feet stuck out of the pile.
"Hotaru you saved me, but at what cost?" Usagi asked, striking a pose of horror.
"Actually, I am still functional," indicated a muffled voice from within the pile.
"There's the reason, it looks like his washing machine broke down. It's an ancient Corporation model. Once the warranty runs out, they're programmed to crash." Ami said. "I think I can bypass it and get it working again."
"Please hurry," said a muffled voice from within the pile of clothes.
The ship was a long armored shape done in dull green. It was the skull & crossbones decorating it that proclaimed their purpose, and the large tubes decorating the sides which further indicated that this was a dangerous vessel.
It was, in fact, the Tendo Fortress.
"Akane, there's a call for you. I think it's Tatewaki."
"Could you tell him I'm dead?"
Nabiki tsked, adjusting tight black spacearmor. "You know his company practically owns Cerebus Mining Company and that entire system. Why not tolerate him?"
"Because he gives me the serious creeps," answered Akane. "Isn't that good enough? We're pirates, he's a corporate type."
"Maybe he's just after your eyepatch," suggested Nabiki. "He doesn't go after any other pirates quite so enthusiastically."
"He isn't getting his hands on my eyepatch or any part of me," insisted Akane.
"Oh there you are." Kasumi came in, formal kimono in place. "We just intercepted an emergency transmission from a nearby system. Apparently a research vessel is in trouble."
"So?" Akane asked. "We're pirates, not a babysitting service."
"If they're in trouble, that makes them easier to plunder," said Nabiki with a grin. "Dust off your cutlass, sister. We're going after booty."
"You keep your hands off my booty too sister," grumbled Akane.
Soun Tendo sat back in his chair and pondered.
Twenty years ago he had signed on with the dread outlaw Happosai with another out-of-work adventurer. The dread Master had kept up with the stories of his great treasure, a hoard beyond measure, hidden away in a place only he knew of.
Alas, the Master had proven too close with his tongue and the two adventurers had parted company with their dread master one day. Mainly by sabotaging the engines of his shuttlepod and launching the little bugger onto a dead world known as Lillith on the star charts.
That had been the last he'd seen of Genma as well. Soun had taken the evil Master's ship and taken over the trade as well. It was lucrative. One good haul a year and they could live off the proceeds for the remainder of that year. He tried for two a year and saved the bulk of the booty for his retirement.
Now the name Saotome had come up again - this time a young boy piloting a ship named the Wild Stallion. Ah, the memories.
Soun grinned. If only Genma could have seen how high he had risen. Only a few more hauls and he'd have enough to buy his own world. One out on the fringe maybe, with a large tropical zone and minimal terraforming.
Ah well, there was plunder and pillage to commit. The Way To Heaven was already en route.
The guns and missiles and such were, as everything else was, salvaged from a number of sources. The guns also had outer casings to make them look like much more legal weaponry.
Which is to say that not all of the Wild Stallion's guns were exactly legal within the sort of things normally allowed to merchant ships that passed through various ports.
The Stiltek Gun was one of those. It drew a lot of power, fed into a set of four capacitors, and could fire four times before waiting a full minute for a recharge. The device was alien, from a civilization that had vanished hundreds of thousands of years ago, and sent little green fireballs that dissolved darn near anything that it touched.
After the four shots from the Stiltek Gun, Ranma rolled the ship ninety degrees with the computer set to automatically adjust and continue targetting anything approaching the ship. Now that he could bring more rapid fire things to bear - he hit the switch to do so.
Smaller guns began firing bursts of laser fire. Then the missiles exploded and Ranma pegged the acceleration.
Each of the missiles was a fragmentation device, sending pieces of metal at very high speeds through anything nearby. In normal space, inertia and the lack of atmosphere would keep those pieces of metal flying at close to that same speed and would cut anything nearby apart.
Ranma called down to the refugees, telling them that they were away and he'd inspect the hull later. Then he saw a readout on the side change.
It was:
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(Posted Wed, 19 May 2004 09:39)
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