Tevun-Krus #100

46 - And Not a Leg to Stand On - @johnnedwill - PiratePunk

And Not a Leg to Stand On

By johnnedwill 

The servo-droid put down the six flasks of macmac on the table between us and hovered, waiting for someone to pay it. Three-Eye Maron fumbled for his credit stick, then stuck it into the 'droid's interface slot. Satisfied that his credit was good, the 'droid flew away, leaving us to continue our conversation. I popped the seal on a flask and waited for the corrosive fumes to dissipate before taking a long swallow of the foul - but very intoxicating - alien brew. When my throat had recovered, I turned to Bugface.

"So - what was your best haul?"

Bugface took a deep breath in through its spiracles.

"This one was five systems out along the Scorpio Main, off on one of the branches. The collective didn't want to attract too much attention from the Conflab Bluenoses, but we needed the bits. After all, even a pirate has to pay the bills. Word came down the line that there was a fine prize coming down the Main. A fat ship, with a good cargo. So, we stoked up the reactor, ran out the malware suite and went a-hunting

"It wasn't long before we found our quarry. The intelligencer had earned xyr pay that cycle. There it was - a Mammon-class merchant, manoeuvring slow as xe recharged xyr power cells for the next burst. We put our vessel in the shadow of a giant emitter and waited for that merchant to roll into our range.

"The merchant chose to run, rather than let us board xem, but that was xyr mistake. We pursued xem on full photon drive, then gave xem a burst with our disruptor field. That knocked out all xyr systems, and we prepared to board. The combat drones went in first, then we organics went in next to mop up. The battle was hard. That merchant didn't want to give up xyr cargo easy. We lost many drones, and not a few of my hive sibs went down. But, in the end, we had that ship.

"The CEO didn't want to give up the codes to the cargo bolds, but our queen soon persuaded xem. Xe took us down to the cargo decks and opened them up to us."

Bugface stopped to wet its mandibles with a slug of macmac. Three-Eye Maron, impatient as always, couldn't wait to hear the end of Bugface's tale.

"So - what did you find?"

Bugface buzzed in annoyance.

"We found our treasure. Treasure that any pirate hive would desire. Cargo holds full of medical supplies. On that day, we filled our own holds with prostheses and organs a-plenty."

Larva Lamox sniggered into his flask, drops of macmac spilling out and eating their way into the plastic of the table.

"What good is that for a pirate? What about radioactives or dark matter?"

Bugface reached down with one of its manipulatory appendages and tapped an ambulatory limb. It gave a metallic ring.

"Well, it's lasted me a long time!"