Slowly the ship came to a full stop, and I felt the gravity plates of the station hook us in place. I sighed, it had taken a quick detour to drop a second Crabbit on the second ship as a transponder confirming the wreck was claimed, and I felt a bit anxious about pushing the delivery so far. That and the battle.

"Alright, let's get these supplies unpacked." I offered, honestly I felt a little jittery ever since the battle, and as I rose up I could feel my hands were a bit shaky.

"Alright, I'll stay up here and keep an eye on things." Sin called out, her feet were up on her console, and she was eating a snack while watching something on her Tab…

I shrugged.

Honestly, while I'd have appreciated the help, there wasn't a whole lot she could help with.

Fine, at least someone would be up on the bridge in case something happened.

Now to deal with this station.

I slid down the ladder to the dining room, and then slid all the way down to the cargo hold right after.

"Hammond." I called out to the man that was already waiting in the hangar, and he turned and nodded towards me.

I walked over and then flicked my Tab. A moment later the door started to open.

"You alright?"

"Wha-? I'm fine!" I confirmed waving my hands a bit to assure him.

"Hmm."

"What?"

"You're a little jittery."

"It's just… The battle."

"Hmm. You might have stronger than normal adrenaline." I took a second to understand what he meant as he spoke but then shook my head.

"It's just post battle anxiety. I'm not used to this."

"Hmm. Maybe. You sure doing this was the right call?"

I blinked at his words and looked at my hands. I don't think it was that weird to still be a bit shaky a while after a battle, but… Did I have like, super adrenaline?

"What do you mean?"

"Not much money in this. Delivery. Claiming the hulls is more important."

"I said I would do this… It's important. The pirate ships aren't going anywhere."

"Maybe." He said and suddenly I had doubts, but before I could think on them, I was interrupted.

"You are late! You went completely off course!" A man's shrieking voice cut through and I blinked as someone…

Stepped onto my ship.

I was shocked for a moment. You just don't do that. Stepping onto someone's ship without permission was a big no no.

I wasn't even listening instead just staring down at this guy that was yapping about something or another.

Then before I could even think of what to say, Hammond was there, a meaty palm snatching up the man's entire neck from behind and instantly wheeling him around and then off the ship nearly throwing him.

He squealed as he went tumbling, and I noticed the station security was suddenly primed, but none of them truly raised their blasters.

There was a moment of quiet as everyone took in what had happened.

"H-How dare you! Arrest them!" The little man screamed but none of the security made a single step forward.

"If… You ever step foot on my ship without permission again." I started, my voice surprising me at how low it was. "You won't be thrown off the ship. You'll be thrown out the airlock." I said, realizing a bit darkly, that I meant it too.

What kind of arrogant little man barges into someone's home making demands?

It was insane. What was with people today!? First crazy pirates that killed themselves, and now this?

The man was rising up smashing his hands down his front as if clearing dust.

"I said-"

"That is quite enough!" The voice boomed out, as another man obviously another station administrator stalked up.

"Sir! Thi-"

"Silence. Captain. I apologize for this disturbance, it seems my unloading officer got ahead of himself." The older man glared and the other weasel cowered a bit.

"It's alright." I decided to say, and then I glared. "We were late because of the pirates that attacked us." I said looking at the other man.

"Y-You went off course! It's no wonder you ran into pirates!"

"There shouldn't be pirates in the asteroid field at all." The older man cut off. "Thank you for managing to get the supplies here. Things have been getting tight. We'll unload with your permission."

"Yes." I said, and relaxed as the unloaders got to work. Soon the large shipping containers were pulled off, and floated across the station's hangar.

"May I speak to you Captain?" The older man called out, and I realized he was actually doing what he was supposed to.

"You may come aboard." I confirmed, and he nodded, stepping from the hangar onto the Phantom Stars ramp and then walking over.

"I wanted to thank you. I've been sending reports about these attacks, but… Something is going on." He replied quieter. "There has been an investigation by the Securitate but nothing confirmed yet."

"From what we managed to put together, the pirates probably have a connection here." I told him bluntly, and I couldn't help but side eye the other man that was seemingly glaring at everything going on.

"It's not him, despite his attitude, which I apologize for. Yes. I believe I do have someone on the station that was in contact with them. Unfortunately whoever they are, evidence, or even suspicion has been… Hard to find."

"Well once I'm unloaded I'll be reaching the pirate ships and going through them. I might find the communications they've been using."

"If you do, please of course send it to the Securitate… But a private message to me would be greatly appreciated. As I said, something about this whole situation has been wrong. It took too long for the Securitate to even accept that pirates were an issue."

"I'll do that." I confirmed, it wasn't really going out of my way.

He pulled out his Tab and a moment later flicked it at me to give me his comm code. With that the older man nodded to me, and turned to walk off the Phantom Star.

"Don't take it too personally, Captain. Some folk are like that." Hammond suddenly spoke once we were alone.

"What?"

"The boarder. Sometimes men are like that, they forget that they're little station authority doesn't go far. Some of them are dirt humpers like me. Think the rules of the world are the same."

"I've never seen anything like it. No one from UNK-L would do that."

"Heh. Not everyone thinks the same way."

I just nodded as my mind was more focused on what the nicer guy had said. They had reported this and the Securitate hadn't responded?

That was… Concerning.

—--

With the supplies unloaded, I undocked, sending the confirmation message to Conner that the delivery was complete. I headed back out into space to find the wrecks.

"You in a rush?" Sin asked, as she noticed me really gunning the engines to try and get back to the ships.

"I'm worried about the Crabbits I left on the ships. I want to get this ship moving if I can and get back to the destroyed hull." I admitted, and she snorted, in response, but I didn't get any further questions from her about it.

And as we got closer to the wreck I relaxed as I picked up the message about the claimed wreckage.

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As I slipped in close enough even Crabbit would be able to see me, I could a little chirp on the comm, and all the girls were perked up a little.

I accepted the message.

"I did it!" She chirped happily, her voice coming in through the comm system.

"You did, I'm very proud of you." I told her as I slowed down, coming up alongside the ship. Honestly this would probably be worth keeping, sending it back to UNK-L with another Crabbit prize crew.

Considering the pirates had basically killed themselves with over G maneuvers the internals should be good.

I wanted to shudder at what it would look like inside. It also made me want to double or triple the amount of gravity panels on the Phantom Star.

Or try and make better ones, while the Phantom wasn't currently limited by the inertial dampening of the gravity panels, the engines just weren't that good. It would always be a good idea to make sure the inertial dampening was better than the engines.

I shook it off.

"Either way, let's dock up and see what we got." I muttered, as I spun the ship around so the starboard airlock was lined up, and slowly maneuvered in until we locked to the ship.

Then I looked at Sin who looked very happy at just keeping her feet up.

"Come help Sin. You can help."

"I'm not a techy-"

"You can spot things about pirate ships that I wouldn't. So you're coming." I bulldozed over her, and she sighed after a minute and rose up.

Good.

Hammond was already at the air lock and cycling it, but he looked at me as I approached.

"You might not want to come over." He said bluntly, and I hesitated.

"I know. But I need to see if we get anything out of it, or if we need to just scrap it or worse… Besides, I've seen the inside of a ship after the inertial dampeners fail."

He looked me over for a while and nodded, then looked at Sin.

"Oh no, I've been told I need to come help." She said fakely, and I scoffed.

"Yes, so you come too. Put on your forefield."

"Did the ship lose atmosphere?" She asked curiously, and I shook my head.

"In some places… But unless you want to breathe in people?" I asked her, flicking on my own forcefield and she scrunched up her nose.

Then we stepped across. Right away I wanted to cringe. The airlock on the pirates side was… Not well maintained. I examined it for a second…

"Crabbits go get the forcefields and set them up around our airlock just in case this blows." I told them, and I knew they'd get the job done.

"That a worry?" Hammond's rumbled question showed he was actually worried.

"Maybe." I admitted as I backed away from it. "Enough that I don't want to risk it." I told Hammond and he nodded.

Then the internal airlock cycled, and the pirate ship opened up to us. There was a rumbling noise as the metal seemed to groan at the pressure change, but it held… For now.

Stepping across it was clear. No dripping blood, or mulched bodies, but that wouldn't last forever.

"Sin, can you get to the bridge? Hammond, check around for any equipment that might be worth taking. I'm heading to the engine room."

"You got it boss." Sin called as she walked off, and Hammond gave me a nod before following after.

I headed the other way, and before I made it a few steps a cry came over and a flying Crabbit squealed her tires across the floor of the ship and raced right up to me.

"Kaaaaat!"

"Hey, there you are."

"Hehe! I'm the fastest!" She told me as I bent down to pick her up. And the shoulder Crabbit I had huffed.

"Only because you are the only one to race the track!"

"Pirate ship Flying Prak, race course fastest run holder! Me!" She shouted and the shoulder Crabbit huffed even more grumpily.

"Is that what you've been doing, racing around?"

"Yes yes! Circle ship fun track!" She confirmed for me, and I relaxed, it seems she had discovered a good way to keep herself occupied.

"Good job." I told her, and she sent a look at the other Crabbit, utterly smug.

"I could be the fastest too!" She argued, but she was still clutching to my back and didn't race off.

"Hehe! But I'm the fastest!"

"Okay you two, I'm sure we'll have plenty of races to find out who the fastest is another time." I told them, and then continued forward. The engine room should be… Around here? I popped open a door and then closed it.

Yep, that wasn't it.

I shuddered, best not to focus too much on what it looked like when a person got turned into salsa.

The pirates had done this to themselves, the bastards.

I moved on, and after a few more tries realized the engine room wasn't in the right place at all. Instead of just guessing, I started looking at the walls and following the power conduits, leading to a central room?

I popped open the door and instantly felt what little oxygen was left on the ship flowing past me for a few moments, but…

It eventually stabilized. Revealing the engine room.

Which was weird. It was in the center of the ship meaning the Iris Drive wasn't close to power the engines, practically standard for any ship, and the more I looked the weirder it all was.

Something about this was really really wrong.

A few smaller Iris Drives dotted the room, powering the ship, although they had been disconnected and some were even floating around. Looks like all the locks meant to secure them had broken under the heavy G's which was…

Very weird. Was that why the ship had tried for a final collision, it was unable to do anything else?

But where was the main Drive?

Why was the engine room in the middle of the ship? Why this design at all? This was a choice, not just random ship building.

I walked around the room and noticed a few things. There was no emergency gel in any holes, so why was the room lacking any oxygen?

It's like they had purposefully pumped out all the air for some reason?

As I circled the room, I grabbed a few of the Iris Drives, the small ones were handed to the crabbit, but there was a Light Drive as well…

Where was the main drive?

I looked around the room again, and… Conduits. Where did the conduits lea-

*Captain?*

I shook off my focus, listening to the song and clicked my Tab

*Yeah Sin?*

*I got something, they tried to wipe their navigation system, but I think I managed to find where they were hunkering down. We might have an extra bonus.*

I couldn't help it and pumped my fist. *Excellent, get that data to Navigation let's see what she can find out, and keep searching. Anything on their comm logs? Were they contacting the station?*

*Let me see what I can find.*

*Alright, contact me when you find out more.* I hung up and looked around the engine room for a while, there was definitely something about this place…

I shook it off, and headed out, the room was mostly empty, and it was a bit wrecked. Besides, I really wanted to see if I could look at those Emergency Evasion Systems.

I wouldn't use them if the Inertial Dampeners couldn't handle it, but that could be a neat trick if they could!

But as I moved to do that, I stopped myself and refocused.

Right. Get the ship moving first.

I looked around the engine room… "What a mess." I mumbled. I could get her moving, but… Where was her main drive? Without that she wasn't making it to UNK-L.

I shook it off, and started walking around the room replacing Iris Drives and re-securing them. Getting the power flowing through the ship even if things were still going to barely run.

I just needed to get her mobile for now. We could limp her to the other ship, and that would be a lot safer.

Thankfully while the EES had knocked out systems by tearing them apart, most things on a ship were tough, and within twenty minutes I had the ships engines at least running.

I found Hammond and Sin on the bridge, Sin sitting at a console and tapping away, with Hammond looking over her shoulder.

"Everything good here?" I asked, and both of them nodded.

"Just going through what I can find on their systems. Some interesting stuff. Like the fact I was right." Sin offered, with a grin waving her tab back and forth.

"What were you right about, Sin?" I asked, nearly rolling my eyes at the woman's actions.

"The pirates had a direct connection to the mining station's scanner reports."

I frowned at that, so she was right, and the station was definitely part of it.

"Put everything you can find to prove that into a file. We'll deliver it to the Securitate, and the Station Manager. See if he can't find out who is helping the pirates."

"Sure, whatever."

"Hmm."

"What is it Hammond?"

"Best to deliver it just to the Securitate. The Manager could hide evidence."

I hesitated, but shook my head. "Maybe, but I don't think he's part of it. Alright, I got power to the ship. I'm going to have the Crabbits fly with us to the other pirate ship. You can stay here, or get back to the Phantom Star, but we're moving."

"Ugh…" Sin grimaced but shook it off. "I'll stay, just tell them not to mess with me." She whispered to me a bit quietly and I nodded.

"I'll make sure they know not to disturb you."

"Hmm." Hammond grabbed his weapons and was already moving back to the ship. He was easier.

I turned with him, heading back through the Flying Prak, what a terrible name, and back onto the Phantom Star. I really wanted to check out all those weird systems they installed, but I could do that later…

Right alongside repairing my baby. The Phantom Star still had a nasty gash in her hull thanks to the ramming maneuver.

I shook it off. There would be time for repairs soon.

Slipping through the ship I made it back up to the bridge, and flopped into my captain's chair. A few quick button presses and Phantom Star was no longer docked with the Flyfing Prak.

What the hell was a Prak anyways?

*Alright just follow me okay?* I commed over, and got a flurry of happy Crabbits as I engaged the engines and moved on.

Constantly checking to make sure the Crabbits were following me.

Well… This had gone well.

—--

"I'm afraid this is our claim." The man on the screen was chewing something as he spoke, a heavy accent, and the look of a smug bastard.

I glared through the comm, feeling my blood pressure spike at the audacity.

"That claim had a transponder, I took out that pirate ship and claimed it. You need to leave!"

He just continued chewing. Completely ignoring my anger.

"You'll find that I've already put in a claim to the Connorsday Securitate Control. This bit of scrap now belongs to me."

I wanted to strangle this man. We'd arrived back at the other pirate ship only to find the hull swarming with three smaller craft. They were scrappers. Basically the same thing that UNK-L did, but faster, and dirtier.

They were also assholes. From the moment I arrived, and tried to contact them, they'd acted like I was the one in the wrong here!

I took a breath. Whatever. It was one pirate ship, and I could lodge a complaint about this, not that it would likely do anything, but there was something I wasn't willing to let go.

"Where is the drone I left as my transponder?"

"Never saw it." He continued. "There was no Transponder here, because we were the first ones here to claim this hull."

"Listen you jerk! Where is my drone? Give her back to me, and I'll leave, I can leave your ass to the Securitate, but she's coming with me."

He chewed and then shrugged. "Never saw it."

He definitely had. No way Crabbit just wandered off, or got damaged.

I rose up, ignoring the guy as I walked to Sins station.

My fingers brought up the sensor system. The fact the other Crabbits couldn't connect to her told me a lot already.

But if this asshole thought I was going to leave one of my Crabbits?

She was coming with me. One way or another.

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