Chapter Sixteen

System B-1356, Pirate Base

Lights flickered on the edge of barren system as Equestrian warships dropped from jump and back into normal space. Three, four, six, ten; they formed into a wedge, the first ship in the lead, and began to slowly make their way towards the asteroid where the pirate base lay hidden. Elsewhere in the system, two other battlegroups of comparable strength also appeared, moving on a trajectory that would bring them together with the base in the middle. The pirates would be struck from three sides at once; hopefully, before they knew what had hit them.

On the bridge of the lead ship, Aestera's Legacy flagship of the Orlanes home fleet, Mardoban stood with his arms crossed, staring out the front viewports in anticipation, though the asteroid was still too far away for the naked eye to make out. Gilgam stood at his side, and around them the bridge crew busied themselves at their stations, preparing for battle. A few moments after they appeared in the system, a holo of Kallistrae flickered into existence by the viewport, joined almost immediately by another, this one of Naudar. The old duke was tapping his fingers on the handle of his cane in anticipation.

"Well," Naudar said, "here we are. No sign of the pirates yet on this end, Mardoban, but I'll take your word that they're there. Advancing now."

"No sign of the enemy yet here, either," said Kallistrae, who had command of the Tantos forces since Mardoban had joined up with his own battlegroup from Orlanes. "We are advancing towards the base."

"Hmmm." Mardoban stroked his chin thoughtfully. "I don't like this. Could they know we're coming, and have a trap waiting? I wouldn't put it past the Commander. Keep your eyes peeled, all of you. I don't trust this."

"Neither do I," Naudar said. "I don't doubt that between the three of us we're a match for anything in their arsenal, but I don't intend to give the Commander the chance to even the odds either."

"Just be cautious," Mardoban repeated. "We want to end this today."

The three battlegroups approached slowly, cautiously, and Mardoban could feel the tension building as the faint speck that was the pirate asteroid grew larger in his viewport. Still no sign of activity from the enemy, but the regent knew in his bones that the pirates were there, waiting. There was no possibility of this ending in anything less than a battle, not with those assassins and their Commander in play. His hands tightened into fists. Anticipation at having a chance for justice at last warned with his instinct that things weren't as they seemed.

The asteroid grew larger; now, with magnification, Mardoban could make out its shape and the smaller asteroids that hung in its orbit. Per the scanner's report, some of those had cannon hidden on them. The duke smiled calmly. He had plans in mind for those.

As if conjured by his thought, light suddenly flashed on the surface of one of the smaller asteroids. "Cannons firing!" one of the bridge officers called. "Prepare for impact!"

The Legacy shuddered as the blast impacted, but the ship's shields held. Mardoban smiled. "Now, while they're recharging," he ordered. "Let's give them a taste of some of ours, shall we?"

"EMP missiles, fire!" a lieutenant shouted; from the Legacy and the two warships that flanked her, projectiles shot in a silvery wash of light. A moment later, they impacted on the smaller asteroids and exploded, shrouding them in crackling electricity. Most warships were shielded against such attacks, as the Tantan ships had demonstrated during the last encounter with the pirates; fighters were too maneuverable to be reliably targeted, but stationary weapons emplacements couldn't be moved, and it was difficult – not impossible, but difficult – to fit them with the proper protections. If they were lucky, the pirates' cannon would be of that type. If not… Mardoban turned to the lieutenant.

"Report," he said. "Are those cannon out of commission?"

"Sensors indicate cannon are… down, my lord!" the lieutenant responded; across the bridge, the other crewmembers raised their fists and shouted triumphantly.

"What about on your end?" the duke asked, turning to Naudar and Kallistrae. "Did the cannon give you any trouble?"

"No, Regent," Kallistrae said. "Cannon are disabled."

"On our front as well," Naudar said. "But let's not get ahead of ourselves; we took out only one of their defenses. This is far from over."

"My lord!" another officer shouted suddenly, "we have multiple drive signatures from the pirate base. Enemy fighters inbound!"

"And here they are," Mardoban muttered. "I want our own fighters scrambled, now! We don't want any of them to get through!"

"Scrambling fighters, my lord!" the officer called; a moment later, smaller ships were pouring from the hangars of the Legacy and the other warships, meeting the enemy advance just before it reached them. The space outside of the viewport was filled with flashing lights and shapes moving too fast for the naked eye to follow, a chaotic dance of destruction.

"Enemy fighters here, too," Kallistrae said. "We've met them with our own; we've got more, but it looks like theirs have been modified to move faster and do more damage; I've never seen anything quite like these readings before!"

"I'm seeing the same," said Naudar. "That's got to be an unstable combination; those fighters could easily overheat and destroy themselves, drawing that kind of power. As much a danger to themselves as they are to us!"

"Somehow I doubt the Commander much cares if he risks the lives of his own men so long as he gets to kill us," Mardoban said. "And I also doubt he told them he was sticking them in flying death traps. He's using them, though what his goal is I'm still not sure." He turned to the nearby lieutenant. "Any sign of their other ships yet?"

"No… wait," the officer said slowly. "I'm seeing several of the modified transports hanging back from the battle and not advancing yet – and none of the big ones. I wonder what they're waiting for?"

"The fighters are stalling us," Mardoban muttered. "Trying to keep us away from the base while they prepare something else? But what?"

"Wait a minute, my lord," Gilgam said suddenly. "The larger ships – they have the cloaking devices, right? Well, doesn't that mean they could be anywhere right now? What if all the rest… it's not stalling…"

"It's misdirection," Mardoban muttered. "Lord…"

The duke's voice trailed off suddenly as the Legacy was rocked by a sudden blast. Mardoban fell back, only for Gilgam to catch and stabilize him; he saw the crew knocked back and forth in their seats; the lights flickered overhead and then resumed their usual, steady course. "What in the Evil One's name was that?" Mardoban demanded. "What hit us?"

"Torpedo, sir!" the lieutenant called. "It came from…" the young woman paled and swallowed. "It came from one of the larger pirate ships, my lord. When they fired, it must have dropped their cloak. They're… they're right on top of us."

"Evasive action, now!" Mardoban shouted, steadying himself against a console as the ship shifted suddenly; not fast enough. The Legacy shuddered as more torpedoes impacted on her shields, and warning sirens sounded through the bridge. The duke fell to his knees and grabbed a hold of the corner of the console for support. "What's the situation, dammit?" he demanded.

"Three of the pirates' custom warships have come out of cloak right above our formation, my lord!" an officer called. "Two of them are targeting the rest of the battlegroup, keeping them away from us; they've launched more fighters. The third is directly above the Legacy and is pummeling us with everything they have. Data indicates it's the same one from the Tantos system. Shields are holding, for now."

"Well, return fire, then!" Mardoban snapped, his demeanor frayed almost to the breaking point. "Get them before they get us and try to get further out of their range!"

"We're firing back, sir!" the young lieutenant said. "But their shields are still holding; it's a custom model the computer doesn't recognize, so Lord only knows how long it'll hold."

"The Commander must have found a way to disable our tracker without alerting the guilds," Mardoban muttered. "That's how he was able to move his ship around without giving it away. And now he's got us exactly where he wants us."

"You guessed so well, Regent," a mechanical voice said; Mardoban went cold as he recognized it. "Now all that remains is to wipe your ship, and you, from the stars once and for all – as I did to your Queen fifteen years ago."

"Commander," the duke said as calmly as he could, fighting down the urge to rise to the bait. The man wanted Mardoban to lose control and let himself be blinded by anger, and he didn't intend to give him the satisfaction. "You have to know you can't win this. Even if you kill me, you're facing the combined forces of three duchies with a handful of custom ships and some captured freighters. There's only one way this battle ends."

"Perhaps," the Commander said. "But frankly, Regent, your life is a suitable prize so far as I'm concerned. I told you once before that I want to bring chaos and fear to your Kingdom. You're the closest thing to a ruler it currently has; I think killing you would satisfy that goal. Once you're dead, I can retreat and rebuild elsewhere. And it's only a matter of time. You were a fool to come here, Mardoban. This is my territory, and this time, it was my trap. Not yours."

"How has this Kingdom wronged you?" Mardoban demanded. "Why do you hate us so much?"

The Commander's tinny voice gave a laugh. "You assume too much. I don't hate the Dozen Stars; I merely stand to profit from its fall. And those of my men who survive this battle shall profit as well – I've promised them that much."

"Profit?" Mardoban asked. "How?"

"Fishing for information, are we?" the Commander asked. "I think not. I'm afraid I tire of our little chat. It's time for you to die. Goodbye, Regent." The commline gave a short burst of static and went dead.

"Nasty brute," Gilgam muttered.

"Yes," Mardoban said slowly. "Lieutenant, can you trace his connection? What ship was he calling from?"

"The lead one," the lieutenant said after a moment. "The one currently shelling us into oblivion."

"And our shields?"

"Currently at forty percent," the lieutenant said, and then she swallowed. "And falling."

Mardoban nodded. "And do we have any EMP bombs left?"

"Just three," the lieutenant said slowly, understanding dawning on her features.

"They out-power us ship to ship," Mardoban said. "A warship of that size is probably shielded against EMP bursts, but if we detonate all three of our warheads at them at once, it may be strong enough to knock out their shields and weapons for a short moment."

Gilgam nodded. "And then we can blast them to hell when the enemy's still trying to figure out what happened."

"Lieutenant," Mardoban said, "fire all three of the EMP bombs straight at the pirate ship. If its shields go down, channel all of our power into our guns and blast them with all we've got. It may be our only chance."

"Yes, sir," the lieutenant said; her fingers flew across her console, and then she nodded. "EMP bombs armed."

"Our shields down to thirty percent!" another officer called; Mardoban looked at Gilgam, then back to the lieutenant, and nodded.

"Fire," he said.

On the nearest display, the duke watched as the missiles shot from the Legacy and arced towards the pirate ship, his breath held tightly. A moment later, they impacted; the display representing the enemy ship seemed to shimmer – and then the corona of light that represented its shields vanished. The plan had worked.

"All batteries, fire, now!" he shouted. "Before she recovers!"

Suddenly, the enemy ship shuddered in space, rocked back by a powerful barrage of energy blasts and torpedoes. The lieutenant looked over at Mardoban, confused. "That wasn't us, sir," she said.

"Actually, it was me," a familiar voice said, and Naudar's holo shimmered back into existence, the duke himself looking extremely self-satisfied. "Did the Commander really think that a handful of modified freighters and a swarm of fighters would be enough to hold back the Sakran fleet for long? Apparently, he wasted his strongest weapons on you, Mardoban. His mistake."

"Yes, indeed," the regent said, sighing; never had he been so glad to hear Naudar's voice. "What's the condition of the pirate ship?"

"Damaged, but operational," the lieutenant said.

"Let's remedy that, shall we?" Mardoban asked. "On my mark – fire!"

"Fire!" Naudar shouted at the same instant. From both the Legacy and the Sakran flagship beams of energy lanced; the pirate vessel, fighting two foes instead of one, stumbled in space, venting atmosphere and fire from scars along its flanks. Barrage after barrage struck it, not giving it the chance to retaliate. Mardoban smiled coolly.

"You are a fool," the Commander's voice suddenly said over the comm. "You have no idea what is about to be brought to bear against you. Your Kingdom is doomed, Regent, and I regret only that I'll not be there to see it-"

"I," Mardoban said, "am getting very sick of that man. I think one more volley should do it. Fire"

Another barrage of light lanced through the pirate vessel before it burst apart, an explosion of fire and twisted metal that hung in space like a new star, and then faded.

/

With the destruction of the Commander's flagship, the battle turned against the pirate fleet. The remaining two custom ships were caught between the Legacy and Naudar and the rest of the battlegroup and were swiftly pummeled into oblivion; once they were destroyed, some of the captured transports fought on, but several more surrendered. Before long, the battle on Mardoban's front was over, and the Duke soon received word from Kallistrae that she, like Naudar, had success with little difficulty.

Something, however, was gnawing at the back of Mardoban's mind as he disembarked from one of the Legacy's shuttles where it had docked in the pirate base's main hangar and marched out into the asteroid; something that rubbed him wrong about this entire operation. Looking around at the efficient, militaristic design of the base and remembering the obvious quality and power of the custom warships, he found himself frowning.

"It was too easy," he muttered.

"What was that, sir?" Gilgam asked from beside him.

"Look at the scale of this operation," the regent said. "Whoever put this together had resources and access to advanced technology; they were able to put together a military body a match for any in the Dozen Stars. They should have fought harder."

Gilgam raised his eyebrow. "Pardon me, sir, but they nearly killed us. Seems like they fought pretty hard to me."

Mardoban shook his head, still unable to articulate the feeling of wrongness that this whole situation had left him with. Scowling, he turned to where another shuttle had just landed and saw Naudar descending from it, his cane tapping on the metal ramp, with a young man the regent vaguely recognized as one of Pakorus's schoolmates from the Academy following behind.

"My youngest, Galen," Naudar said, gesturing at the boy. "I thought it was time he got some actual experience in war, since he'll likely have to lead fleets in his own right one day."

Mardoban frowned at the thought of bringing a teenager into battle but said nothing. "Are your other children well?" he asked.

"They are," Naudar said. "I left Darius in charge in my absence. And Pakorus?"

"Doing well," Mardoban said. Naudar nodded and looked around.

"Quite the operation they had here," he said. "Impressive, for a backwater crew like this. I wonder where they got the finances for it?"

"That's what we hope to find out," Mardoban said. "Whatever we find, I'll share with you and Tantos, as you both helped take the pirate operation down."

Galen ast Sakran snorted at that, clearly of the opinion that he and his father had done more than merely 'help', but Naudar put a restraining hand on his shoulder. "Steady son," he said. "The regent is merely being polite." He smiled, but his eyes were still cool and appraising; Mardoban couldn't help but wonder what schemes were taking form in the mind behind them.

"Your Graces!" a voice called, and both dukes turned to see Kallistrae hurrying towards them. "We've completed our sweep of the base, and we've found some… irregularities."

"What do you mean?" Mardoban asked, frowning.

"So far as we can tell, the base is completely deserted," the knight said. "And the armory is empty. It looks as though the pirates put their entire force into their fleet."

"Strange," Mardoban said. "You'd think they'd leave at least someone behind to run the base, and guard it. Was the Commander that confident in his armada? No, he seemed like he knew there was a good chance he wouldn't win. So, what was his game?"

"We'll question the pirates who surrendered to us," Naudar said. "Perhaps they know something – or can give us some clues in what they don't know. I recommend you do the same, Orlanes."

"Yes," Mardoban said, nodding. "Kallistrae, were you able to get into their system?"

Kallistrae nodded. "Yes, but it's encrypted," she said. "It'll take time to crack it. Duke Hiram has connections in the Information and Technology Guild who may be able to help."

"Do it," Mardoban said, though inwardly he was troubled by Hiram's reliance on the guilds. A matter for another time. "Did you find anything else?"

"Nothing of interest," Kallistrae said. "We'll send you a full rundown when we have it."

"Well, then," Mardoban said, "it looks like we've done all we can for now. I'll leave a force here to occupy the base in case any pirates we missed try to return and make my report to the council." He turned to Naudar. "A pleasure working with you, Sakran."

Naudar nodded. "An honor, Orlanes." He turned to walk back to his shuttle and gestured for Galen to follow, then looked back over his shoulder at Mardoban. "When you call the council to session, I have something I intend to present to them as well. I think you'll find it interesting." Before Mardoban could reply the Duke of Sakran and his son were climbing back up the ramp into their shuttle, and it closed behind them.

"What," Gilgam said quietly, "was that about?"

Mardoban only frowned silently.

/

From where his last warship was cloaked at the edge of the system that had once served as his base, the Commander sat back in his chair and looked over his shoulder at Two. "Well?" he asked. "Did you find my death scene convincing?"

"Personally, I thought it was somewhat overdone," she said. "Do you think that the regent fell for it, though? That seems the more relevant question."

"I routed my signal through the lead ship," the Commander said. "The regent's instruments would have told him I was speaking to him from there. Our soldiers who surrendered to him will corroborate my story; with the flagship's destruction, there are none living who don't believe I was on board. Perhaps he'll suspect the truth, but all available evidence will point to my death. I don't intend to give him time to learn otherwise."

"Bold words for a man who has lost most of his fleet," Two said; the Commander felt a sharp spike of anger rise in him at her words, but he held it in check. From her, at least, he would endure the truth – telling it when no others dared was, after all, part of her job.

"The fleet was not lost," the Commander said. "It was sacrificed. The fleet was an accessory, never more than that. The true strength of our operation lies in ourselves, our technology, and our resources – and none of them are exhausted. Our mission isn't over. The tactic of piracy had merely played itself to its inevitable conclusion – it was not our goal."

Two's blank mask inclined in acknowledgment. "What, then, is our next move?" she asked.

"I will contact our backer and explain the situation," the Commander said. "We'll receive our next orders then. But for now, let the regent think he won. He'll learn otherwise soon."

"Yes, sir!" Two snapped to a salute, then turned and left the bridge, leaving the Commander staring out into the darkness of space, an intensity behind the mask that concealed his expression that would show to any who might observe him that this was far from a beaten man.