Chapter 42

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I hid a yawn behind my hand. I was normally in bed by now, but I was staying up a bit later since we were approaching the area that the pirates were supposedly in. The display screens pointed out several scanners that were well-hidden on a few asteroids. Someone was almost certainly using them to track us.

I never truly appreciated how much faster Starsong is than other ships... Our current speed was something that the average trading ship would use. The slower speed let us pretend to be a normal trading vessel as we waited to see if the bandits would attempt to ambush us.

If they did, Starsong had already given his go-ahead to take out their weapons, engines, and shields. They would be forced to limp back to one of the ports in this star system. The near-death experience and the unachievable price of repairs should firmly destroy their career as pirates.

I used my own Guide to scroll through the technical details of our own scanners. "Huh, no wonder they managed to overpower those two Enforcement ships. I wonder where they got that electron cannon..."

The Weapons Officer responded, "That particular ship is noted as being stolen, although they are not aware of its location. We will have to see if we can minimize the damage we do to the ship. The pirate crew will bail and get picked up by another one of their ships since they won't be able to take it into port."

We were able to detect the various spaceships hiding behind a couple of the larger asteroids, but the average ship would have been oblivious to the danger until it was much too late. An electron cannon was usually able to incapacitate another ship's shields in just a few strikes since it disrupted the force field.

'Am I correct in assuming that it will have little effect on your shields?'

"Starship shields use a different energy configuration and pattern to generate the shield. That weapon will be useless against us since it targets a specific energy wavelength that is not present in our shields."

I smirked slightly before sighing. I said, "We all know that they don't stand a chance at even penetrating our shields, but since they don't know that, I somehow doubt that they are going to just ignore us."

The Shields Officer never looked away from his console as he waited patiently for the inevitable ambush. "Their scanners won't tell them much since they won't be able to manage anything more than a surface scan on the Starship. Our armor, shield generators, and weapons aren't really that obvious, so they will probably assume that we are an easy target."

The Weapons Officer commented, "Considering it is seven against one, they would likely have the upper hand against most ships, especially since they managed to capture both of those Enforcement ships. Not to mention that we are clearly some sort of cargo hauler."

We were all aware of those details, but we were still waiting to see exactly what kind of plan they had up their sleeves. They were probably aware that traders were being warned away from this area. We had received an official warning from the docking station before leaving port.

I turned my attention to my Guide and, simply out of curiosity, used its unique permissions to allow me to see what the Weapons Officer's console screen was showing. It was rather interesting. He had split his screens into sections so all of the available weapons were at the bottom while each enemy ship had its own square above.

He had preprogrammed attack and targeting sequences for each ship that he could activate with the mere tap of his screen. I could see that he would be using various smaller weapons to take out their shields and weapons while reducing their engines to a barely functioning capacity. He had chosen crippling attacks that would leave them alive unless something went seriously wrong on their end.

Seven taps were all that were needed for him to completely render the seven ships as harmless.

"They are starting to move."

I looked up towards the main displays to see the red dots on the maps leave their hiding spots. 'So much for them using the Enforcement ships to try and lull us into a false sense of security...'

"Too many people likely know about the missing Enforcement ships. There is no point in them trying to get close using the guise of law enforcement. Outnumbered as we are, the typical ambush scenario would normally be sufficient."

'Except for one tiny detail...'

"Yes. They do not yet realize that they are dealing with a Starship, nor are they aware of exactly what that means. We will let them land a few shots on our shields to declare their intentions."

'Seven attacking ships and it is too minor of a detail to even warrant alerting the main crew...'

"Those who have set their Guides to inform them of minor incidents will get alerts."

"Ship number 3 has almost powered up the electron cannon." The Weapons Officer was keeping us informed, although we could easily see the displays on the walls showing it.

Purple lines showed the current aim of the ship's weapon – which was directed straight at us. They hadn't powered up that cannon previously since the energy signature would have been detected by most scanners. Other purple lines appeared as the other ships focused their weapons on us.

One of the main displays showed views from the cameras on the Starship's hull. The ship with the cannon was distant, but visible even without the camera zooming in.

"They're firing," said the Weapons Officer.

On the other displays, small boxes of writing appeared beside each ship noting the weapons they were using and how much damage they might be able to do, as well as the status of that ship's shields, weapons, engines, and more.

The lines on the screen flashed, indicating that weapons were being fired. I could actually see it on the live feed a split second before our normally-invisible shields flared into a more visible life.

The shield generators barely even registered their strikes.

The Weapons Officer tapped his screen, causing Starsong's weapons to fire for the very first time in a real confrontation. This was very similar to – yet very different from – the small practice sessions we had done in areas with no observers.

Numerous weapons fired simultaneously, and the attacking ships didn't have time to realize that something wasn't right. Within seconds, all seven ships were without shields, and all of their weapons were incapacitated. Their engines were working, but at minimum capacity – and they wouldn't be able to go too fast with no shields in case of an asteroid strike.

Our scanners revealed that the Weapons Officer had gone easy on the Enforcement ships and the other stolen cannon ship. He had targeted things that were easy to replace, but those specialty parts would be impossible for a band of pirates to get their hands on in this area. When the proper owners recovered those ships, they would have a fairly easy job with repairs while encountering minimal expense.

Our assailants swiftly changed their minds and were already starting to change their course as they veered away from us as best they could. Their weapons were useless, and with them no longer being a threat, the Weapons Officer let them make their rather slow escape. Instead, he activated one of our weaker weapons, targeting each of the scanners on the asteroids, preventing other troublemakers from making use of them.

The Navigations Officer tapped her screen a few times, causing us to pick up speed slightly. We didn't change our course or slow down, proving to them that even with seven ships, they weren't worthy enough for us to take heed of them. It would have been quite an insult to them, to be treated as if they were barely a trivial annoyance.

We smoothly brushed past them as two of the ships scrambled out of our way. The pirates were left behind to regroup and try to figure out exactly what had just occurred. I wished them luck with that one.

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