In the Dark Reaches, a narrow passage of space between the homeworld and the shattered remnants of the alien worlds that humanity had accidentally destroyed, bordered on all sides by an asteroid belt, the cruiser Charlemagne drifted. Boris stood on the bridge and watched as they approached their target. Maneuvering rockets guided the massive ship through the dense cluster of planetary fragments. The craft listed to port somewhat, and the main thrusters were offline, sputtering plasma into the ether. No lights were on, giving the cruiser the look of a dead ship, just as he wanted.
"Captain," the executive officer spoke, "we have detected the energy signature of the enemy."
"Show me."
A monitor flickered to life. In the dim blue glow of the image, Boris smiled. A small colony-- that's all it was. They had scavenged derelict spaceships to build a crude cluster of buildings on one of the larger asteroids. A number of protective spells had reinforced the basic structure, and there even appeared to be a magically created river flowing around the great rock.
"Cyphers," Boris commanded, "focus on bringing those shields down. Inform me once they are. Lieutenant Craft, have the gunners standing by, and make ready all battle mages for combat."
The cyphers, counter-magic specialists, cast their subtle divination magic to root out the source of the barriers, and any weaknesses with spells so minor in appearance, that any sensitive in the pirate colony would likely mistake them for backgorund magical fluctuations. Boris stretched his own perception out as thinly as he could. He always liked to see if he could detect anything from either the enemy or the cyphers, although his own perception wasn't so finely tuned.
In the belly of the ship, two dozen battle mages prepared their weapons. The great cannons, which focused the mages' own magical energy, were aimed at the colony. As the magnetic shields were primed, the mages whispered their prayers for the coming battle.
"Sir, seven targets approaching. They appear to be the pirate vessels we're looking for."
"Excellent." Boris permitted himself a small, satisfied smile. "Once they are at half our maximum firing range, activate the magnetic shields, give me full power, and then blow them out of the sky."
Weaving through the shattered asteroids, the pirates approached the apparently dead dreadnought. They had attacked several convoys from U that had attempted to bypass the asteroid field by traversing the Dark Reaches. As long as the pirates were content to prey on civilian or merchant vessels, the U took relatively little notice of them. Once they had set their sights on official U governing craft, they had as good as signed their own death warrants.
"Captain, the enemy vessels are approaching your desired firing range, however cyphers repor the shield is not yet down over the enemy colony," Lt. Craft reported.
"Very well, let's make them work for us. Have the navigators refocus their abilities to support my own spells."
Boris sat in his chair and sighed as his mind expanded beyond his human shell. At once the sights and sounds of the enemies ships entered his senses. The whisper of the engines through space, the excited pulse of the pirates as they thrilled in their hunt, the smell of ionized gases in the void around the enemy colony. And then he heard it, the first conscious thought of the nearest pirate.
"... back in time to see the missus before I-"
His thoughts were interrupted, stopping altogether as Boris' spell of domination, boosted at this range by the navigators, bent all his thoughts to follow the simple commands whispered by Boris.
Turn your craft around and fly directly into the colony shields.
Without a word, the pirate reversed his course and throttled to maximum speed, smashing himself against the protective barrier of his own home. The remaining pirates swore in fear and confusion until they, one at a time, did the same. The last two pirates realized the source of the danger came from the Charlemagne. They opened fire, but by then, the shields were already up-- they had been too concerned over their allies to notice. Their fire lasted only moments before they too found their thoughts turned against them, and they destroyed themselves in suicide runs against their own homes.
The cyphers suddenly felt the shield flicker and weaken. At once they reported their findings, and worked their subversive magic to crumble the field altogether. Boris ordered the battle mages to stand by for the firing order, wiping blood from his nose.
"We beseech you, sire," came a voice from the colony, "we are at your mercy. We surrender."
"Excellent," Boris responded, "lower all remaining defenses and we will spare your miserable lives."
With the line of communication cut, Boris turned to Craft.
"Once the defenses are completely down, order the battle mages to reduce their pathetic colony to atoms. I must retire to my quarters. Inform me once you have succeeded, understood?"
"Aye, sir."
In his private chamber, Boris could still feel the energy pulses of the firing cannons. Faintly, he could hear the pirates plaintive wailing from the bridge loudspeakers. The sound was cut short as the colony was either crippled or destroyed. The bombardment continued for a half hour, with little to no resistance from the pirates.
Instead, the captain turned his attention to the flashing light indicating a priority message had been received. He played the recording from U Prime Special Ops. Sighing, he tapped the intercom.
"Once we are rid of these pirate scum, set course to return home at maximum speed. It appears we may be reassigned."
I'm a joker, I'm a smoker, I'm a midnight toker, I get my lovin' from your mom.
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