Homestar Saga

Chapter 57: A Force For Good

"We don't have to kill them."

Captain Mims looked up from his monitor. The distress call they'd followed were still sounding over the comms, becoming more and more desperate as the pirate band closed in. "Of course we do. That's the whole reason we're here."

"You know who I mean," Yvian chided. "The Tegarns. We can let them go."

"I thought we tabled this discussion," said Mims. Yvian kept looking at him. He stared back, but she couldn't read his expression with the helmet on. He sighed. "Fine. The Tegarns committed piracy. If they'd just panicked and ran off the with the Meat Missile, I could let it go. But they stole the other two ships, and they're on their way to a shipyard to sell them. That's not something I can let slide."

"They're innocent civilians," said Yvian.

"They were innocent civilians," Mims corrected. "Now they're pirates."

"They have kids."

"A lot of pirates do."

They listened for a moment as the source fo the distress call transmitted again. "This is the Pleasure Cruise, requesting immediate assistance. We're under attack. Please, anybody. There are eight hundred souls aboard. Please, you can't let them take us. Somebody, please..."

"We should say something to him," Lissa suggested. "He sounds like he's about to cry."

"He'll be fine for a few minutes," said Mims. "You finish the scan?"

"IFF's confirmed," Lissa told him. "These are the ones we're after."

"Good," he turned to Yvian. "Any support out there?"

"No other pirates in the area," Yvian told him. "No Militia either." They were silent for a moment, then she asked, "Don't you have enough kids on your conscience?"

Mims froze. A second later he turned and gave her what she assumed was a very annoyed look. "Are you... trying to manipulate me?"

"No!" the denial was instinctive, but half a second later she realized that was exactly what she was trying to do. "Maybe." She looked down at her console. "Yes."

"Well don't," Mims lost his casual tone for a moment. He crossed his arms and looked away. "You're not good at it." He sounded offended and... hurt. "And you know perfectly well we weren't going to hurt the children."

"No," she allowed. "We were just going to murder their parents in front of them." Guilt warred with frustration. She wanted to apologize to Mims, but she was worried it would cost her the argument. "Come on, Mims. You know what happens to orphans in the Confed."

"We can make arrangements," said the human. "I've done it before."

Guilt won out. "I know," said Yvian. "And I'm sorry for... what I said. It's just... I don't want to hurt those people. They're just regular people, Mims. They're poor and they're scared and... and...." Crunch take it, her eyes were watering. She took a breath. "I know we're killers. I know that. But we kill bad guys. Pirates and monsters. We don't have to... We can be a force for good."

"If anyone can hear me," the scared Captain of the Pleasure Cruise begged. "We need help. Please..."

Mims considered. A few seconds later he nodded. "Alright."

"Alright?" Hope blossomed in Yvian's chest.

"Alright," he repeated. "We're still taking our ships back once we finish here, but we won't kill them."

She gave him a brilliant smile that he wouldn't be able to see. "You're a good Captain," she told him. "And I'm really sorry about the children thing."

"Shut up," Mims told her. "You owe me ten thousands credits."