G-Pol Ch. 12

This kept up even as she was showering before returning to the bridge deck for their exit from transit space. She was actually feeling proud of herself for the fact she hadn't been punished at all in the last half hour as she was sitting down in her pilot's chair. Natasha was in the copilot's seat and Bona was at the sensory station as they emerged from Transit. Each of course was now in her body armor, just in case.

The moment they were in real space, Natasha had the sensor suite on full power and scanning every square meter of space as far around them as their maximum range allowed. Vixi activated the force shield at the same moment and they turned toward the station's position to make their way in. Vixi knew Karl and Lisa would have the pirate's stealth system enabled, so they wouldn't see the shuttle emerge unless and until the Czarina was attacked.

Making sure they were ready for anything, Karl was actually standing in his power armor in the shuttle's airlock when they emerged from transit under stealth. Since their own sensors were so inferior to Czarina's, they were set on passive and tuned to pick up Czarina's much more powerful emanations. They would then relay what they received back to Czarina via encrypted and compressed pulse laser com to be sure their signals couldn't be intercepted.

As it had turned out too, several of the ex slaves knew enough to operate the two gunnery positions in the belly and spine. This meant they were fully as combat capable as this ship was capable of being. It was nothing compared to Czarina, even though they had her outgunned, physically speaking. The shuttle might have the greater firepower, but she didn't have the Czarina's capabilities giving her the greater accuracy and rate of fire. All in all, Czarina was the far superior combat platform. And of course, the pirates didn't have a clue.

Lisa maintained their distance as Czarina headed in faster than was usual in this section of space. This only made sense too, as she would supposedly be trying to avoid any further contact with pirates after the attack on her arrival in system and her encounter in the asteroid belt. Doing anything else would be suspicious. They wanted to catch the pirates flat footed for a change, and hopefully this would do it.

Karl made his way out onto the shuttle's hull to be in launch position if the pirates made an appearance. He expected them to come in hot and fast in a full attack in hopes of destroying Czarina, but just in case, they were also prepared for a capture attempt. Another of the unexpected upgrades Czarina carried were military grade secure airlocks neatly disguised as standard models. These could be locked from inside to prevent the kinds of maneuvers Karl liked to use to capture pirate vessels, which maneuvers were in turn stolen from the pirate's themselves. That had been an exceptionally pleasant surprise and they were going to take full advantage of it.

In addition, Czarina's sensors would easily be able to pick up the magnetic field distortions created by magnetic grapnels making it easy to determine exactly where any hitchhikers were on the hull. This would allow Karl and Natasha to take care of them using their power armor and stealth. To that end, Karl had equipped his foam guns with a formulation that would work as well in the vacuum of space as it did inside a ship. This formulation too would prevent the pirates from using the usual release agent to free themselves once caught.

As he'd expected, the attack came within minutes of their arrival in the form of a single heavy medium range missile. These were antiship weapons and if Czarina's weaponry hadn't been up to dealing with it, they'd have been in trouble! As it was though, the missile was lanced by a pair of particle beam blasts that vaporized it instantly. Lisa was already maneuvering toward the beginning of the missile's vapor trail. Unfortunately for the pirate, Karl's sensors were sensitive enough to pick up the ship's disruption of the missile's exhaust trail as it passed through, so he was ready to jump them the moment they were within range.

Czarina accelerated hard to gain speed on the pirate as the pirate fired a pair of missiles this time. That was a tactical mistake, as was staying on the same course. That made it easy to see where they were going to be for the next few seconds. Natasha's return fire shooting down the missiles almost as soon as they were launched, forced them to shut down their stealth system and activate their force shield, which also eliminated their anonymity. It also made them a clear target.

Lisa was relaying their position and sensory data as she made her approach. So Natasha knew exactly when and where to aim to both avoid a friendly fire incident and set them up to easily intercept the other vessel. They all saw exactly how outmatched they were immediately. That thing was a Naval Grade patrol ship! Only the fact of its several non-naval modifications made it clear this was actually a pirate. That and the fact that it was firing on them without warning and without identifying itself.

Bona immediately contacted Colonel Giovani directly via the laser com codes they'd been given. Giovani himself answered. We see you Czarina and we're already on our way. After your warning and heads up, we've been expecting something like this and we've been waiting for it. Hephaestus out."

Czarina's sensor relay back to his suit told Karl Hephaestus' signal hadn't come directly, it had been relayed from the station. He suspected they were under stealth as well to conceal their position, probably patrolling the area in search of pirates. Since Natasha had reported their arrival point and destination directly to Giovani, he knew there was no way the pirates would've been able to anticipate them. That was why the pirate had attacked from the distance they had.

He wondered how many of them were patrolling the area as well. With a significant bounty on their heads, there could easily be more than one, and he expected there to be several. He was glad Giovani had been thinking the same way they had. That might even the odds considerably.

Keeping that in mind, he relayed his own position to Hephaestus as well, making his intentions clear and letting them know where they were to further avoid friendly fire problems. What he got in return made him smile. He was acknowledged by a pair of APG Shrikes, four of which were apparently part of Hephaestus' normal compliment. He'd have probably known that if he'd taken the time to check Hephaestus out after they met Giovanni. He'd seen it and simply dismissed it as the G-Pol transport. He hadn't paid adequate attention to the fact that G-Pol was also Luna's primary military organization and not just a law enforcement entity.

Looking back now, he knew Hephaestus was a Souchou class dropship, obviously upgraded with transit drive. If it was a full military version, it would have this patrol craft heavily outgunned, even with its modifications. He wondered what troop resources it carried and immediately inquired directly of Giovanni himself. The information relayed to him via that fighter had also included the ship's position and they were in an ideal location to aid him in what he now had in mind, the capture of that pirate intact. Even as he was thinking this, he was relaying the thought to Giovani Natasha and Lisa.

Giovani's response took a couple of moments to come back, but it was everything he could've hoped. "Roger Lieutenant Steiner, your operational plan is authorized. A full G-Pol Marine company is being made available to you as we speak. They will rendezvous on your position in two minutes time. Stand by."

According to the new plan, Natasha continued her seeming flight toward the station, Lisa and Karl's shuttle continued to advance on the pirate and they were joined on schedule by the company of Marines who took positions on their hull for the ride to the pirate. Once they'd secured themselves, Karl ordered Lisa to accelerate hard in the effort to get close enough to the pirate for them to transfer across to their hull.

Taking full advantage of its speed and firepower advantages, the pirate closed rapidly on Czarina firing another pair of missiles as it closed. Unfortunately for them, they hadn't paid attention to Czarina's apparent capabilities and must've been shocked when her particle beams actually destroyed the missiles as they were leaving their launch tubes. If it weren't for the standard arming delay for the missile warheads, the ship would've been seriously damaged by the blasts so close. As it was, the missile tubes were destroyed and probably several crew injured or killed when the missiles' fuel was detonated by the particle beam blasts so close to the ship's hull and the launch tubes.

Natasha wasn't happy. They were seriously outgunned and Czarina carried minimal armor. If not for her heavier than normal force shields, she would be in pretty rough shape right now from the spray of laser fire from the pirates point defense batteries, which were quicker than the ship's main guns. The only thing saving them was Vixi's rather surprising natural or perhaps instinctive piloting skills. So when the sensors told her the pirate was opening his missile tubes in another attempt to annihilate them quickly, Natasha set the targeting system to automatically shoot down the missiles as soon as they emerged. She was blessing her parents and their lifelong friends as soon as she saw the pirate literally blown off course by the blasts as the missiles were detonated on launch. Not only did it disrupt the pirate's plans, it definitely interrupted their fire as well.

Lisa was cheering over the com and Karl was laughing as he and his Marines launched to intercept the pirate. Those blasts had pushed the modified patrol vessel off course slightly, and in an advantageous direction for this assault. It also apparently stunned the crew, as their fire dropped off noticeably and their accuracy became for the moment abysmal, which indicated the gunners were firing reflexively, potentially in panic. Those blasts had been inside their force shields, which was why they'd been so effective, but those force shields were also still active and would provide an ideal barrier to prevent what Karl had in mind.

Karl's plan though had accounted for that. The moment he and his team were in place, the Hephaestus opened fire with her main guns along with all its point defense lasers within that arc of fire, as did Lisa's shuttle, Czarina and the four shrikes. The pirate's force shields lit up like a major fireworks display and in less than five seconds had collapsed. As Karl saw Lisa's autocannon hits cratering the pirate's hull, he ordered the ceasefire and he and his Marines swarmed the ship still under stealth.

Knowing that at this range the stealth systems would be only marginally effective against a military grade sensor suite, the Marines came in hard and fast, firing on every weapons position they could see with everything they had. Missile wracks were emptied and the pirate lit up again with the flashes of explosions centering on a dozen points. In moments, the pirate's combat capabilities were reduced to zero. This was aided by the Shrikes' assistance in targeting the ship's two main gun turrets and disabling them with medium range missile shots that blew both into scrap metal.

Seven of Karl's Marine compliment were disabled, but only one killed. The rest attached themselves to the pirate's hull in rapid succession. The pirates would know their only chance was to escape into transit space if their T-drive had survived which was pretty likely. Unfortunately for them though, a patrol ship's T-drive field was expansive enough to accommodate much larger hull protrusions which meant that even if they did manage to enter transit, they wouldn't escape, they would take their attackers with them. This also meant they would still have to fight these power armored Marines as they cut their way inside if needs be. Karl wondered what they would decide to do. Surrender was the most rational and intelligent option at this point, but pirates weren't necessarily noted for either their rationality or their intelligence.

One of the Marines tried the nearest airlock and found it unlocked. Others reported that two of the other three were locked. Karl guessed that the crew were in disarray and disagreed on the best course of action. With two of the airlocks now open, their outer doors couldn't be locked from inside until they were closed again. Remembering the trap set up on the shuttle, Karl warned the Men checking out the airlocks to look out for foam guns. He wasn't the least bit surprised when both men reported finding the locks secured in almost exactly the same way as the lock Karl had defeated on the shuttle. The foam guns were quickly and easily disposed of with laser shots that melted them into slag without incident. Four power armored men piled into each lock, their weapons and cutting implements at the ready.

The first team in reported only an empty corridor. The second reported a half dozen surrenders. The pirates had been waiting already disarmed and unarmored with hands on heads when the team came in. The surrenders also reported that there were organized and heavily armed and armored groups ready to fight to the death in other sections of the ship, especially the armory and galley. They weren't sure about the bridge. Karl was just happy they hadn't entered transit space yet, and hoped the system was damaged so that wasn't an option for these guys. He wasn't about to take the chance either, so he ordered his men inside as quickly as they could to take the bridge and engineering sections, with priority on engineering. From there they could shut the system down so it couldn't be activated from the bridge.

The first team to reach the engineering section relieved that worry immediately by reporting the transit drive had been crippled by apparent sabotage. They also reported a pair of dead men, one of which had been beaten to death very recently, as his body was still leaking blood. The other had been shot in the back. There was no way to tell who had done what, as both men were wearing what looked like typical engineer's gear and neither was armed or now possessed anything that could've served as a weapon. Karl therefore wasn't surprised when the team taking the bridge reported it abandoned, its weapons and survival equipment lockers emptied.

Karl relayed all this to Giovanni who in turn reassured him that Czarina was undamaged and her crew safe. That eased Karls biggest worry after seeing what they'd been up against. If any of this ship's main guns had hit Czarina, the effects could've been fatal for everyone aboard, even if they'd been in their power armor, which he knew wouldn't have been the case. Natasha and Bona of course, had maintained military discipline so as not to distract him in his own hazardous situation.

As Karl had expected as things developed, the galley and armory were now fortified camps with pirates prepared to do whatever it took to avoid capture. None of them even acknowledged any attempt to communicate or negotiate with them. If any of his men showed themselves at all, they were fired upon, and the pirates were showing remarkable fire discipline.

They had to know they had no chance at all, they were completely surrounded within this ship after all. But Karl suspected they expected rescue, probably from another ship or ships still in the area. He relayed this suspicion to Giovani and Natasha, both of whom agreed with him completely. That being the case, all three ships moved together toward the station where several G-Pol patrol vessels very similar to the pirate's design were now stationed. Hephaestus took the pirate in tow until a tug could be brought out to take up that duty.

That didn't take long either. The several independent tugs working this area would jump at the chance for a military contract like this since it would pay so well, and that payment would be guaranteed. Karl was pleased to see the Nympho pull into position. She was the only relatively well-armed tug out here and her Captain was a friend of his. He and Lisa had spent more than one evening drinking with her and her crew at the Center Club and knew they could rely on her.

Karl hailed the Nympho on a private channel. "Hey Tanzy, thanks for the lift! I owe you and your guys a drink when we get the chance."

Tanzy's raucous hoarse laugh greeted his words over the com. "You kidding me Karl? If you're responsible for this, drinks're on me this time! Giovani pays damn good! So how you doing old man? You managed to lay that gorgeous lil lez bit yet?"

Karl had to laugh too. "Nah, I literally found my soulmate and so did Lisa! Mine's the Czarina's captain, name of Natasha and Lisa's got herself a gorgeous ex model named Vixi! Go figure, right? We're all with G-Pol now and we're the ones chasing the guy that blew up the Center Club too."

There was a stunned silence over the com for nearly a minute, then Tanzy laughed. "You don't go in by halves do you! Sounds like its party time then! It's not every day two of your friends get so lucky. Guess it'll have to be Flannagan's since Center's gone. Owners're talkin bout reopening, but who knows how long that'll be. I'm gonna miss watchin the gals through that floor!"

"Yeah, that was fun." Karl sighed nostalgically, "Maybe the new setup will be even better. We can hope. After all, those guys are all still pretty much the same perverts that opened the place in the first place. Anyway, I've gotta go and keep these guys from lazing off and missing another pirate attack. Then we've gotta bust the ones we've still got onboard. Catch up with you back on the station, kay?"

"You got it honey." Tanzy acknowledged, "Till then!"

Karl turned to his second, the Marine company commander. "Anyone injured so far other than the ones we had to leave out there?" when he got the hoped for negative response, his next question was, "How about other ways to dig out our little friends? Any places we can cut through conveniently? How many are we dealing with in each location?"

The Marine Captain's faceplate was transparent so Karl could see his grin. "Well, we've captured a total of ten so far, we found six dead and two wounded by the missile tube blasts; that leaves eighteen in the galley and thirteen in the armory. There were two hammocks in Engineering along with a couple of sets of restraints welded to a bulkhead. I'm guessing those two dead down there were part of the original crew the pirates kept on hand to run this bucket. Looks like they're the ones who sabotaged the T-drive. That's probably why they're dead. I guess its better'n being used as hostages though. Pirates're known for torturing hostages as a negotiating tactic."

Karl nodded, a grim scowl on his face. "Yeah, I know. Mallory's kind of people. What about cutting in? I'd say shut down gravity before we do too. That'll temporarily disorient some of them and give us a few extra seconds and a maneuverability advantage. If you have vacuum foam grenades..."

The Captain smiled knowingly. "We've got a half dozen good places to get into the galley and kitchen, and three to get into the armory, including one in the ceiling. And yeah, each man has one of each. We like to let them lead the way in mixed pairs. That makes things harder for the bad guys. Those suckers don't have a chance. Standard fast assault pattern?"

Karl smiled now. "You got it Captain. Initiate full short range jamming immediately and put half the men back out on the hull to watch for pirate rescuers. Full stealth and continual laser com contact between all troops. Set up trans-hull relays to maintain communications with the guys outside. Any sightings of stealthed vessels are to be reported to Czarina and Hephaestus via laser com immediately. Anybody with missile reloads is to transfer them to those going out on the hull. We might need that firepower." He was very satisfied to see the Captain relaying his orders as quickly as he gave them and men immediately beginning to move to their assigned positions. This was a very efficient unit! He didn't expect any less on Giovani's ship though.