Snippet #2032302

The area between Mars and Jupiter was a mix of man-made debris and a couple of million asteroids interspersed with industrial traffic. It was common to see no other ships but the particular convoy one was assigned to; today was different. Five fast ships seemed to come out of no where and met the two large Monroe class super freighters, vessels that were over a kilometre long and could carry 500,000 tons of cargo. One of the small ships flew past the two freighters and disappeared ahead of the group.

Alta-corp vessels, this is Tartarus group one of my people is going to scout ahead but we'll remain to watch those big flanks of yours.

Freighter Summerwind to lead escort, roger that. we want to express our gratitude for what you guys are doing. Our internal security turned the assignment down, so we're lucky to have you.

The freighter group was hauling Duillium ore to Mars from asteroid mining facilities on Circe 2344, a 2.3km rock manned by the Altamus Corporation; a dangerous expedition that was plagued by pirates wanting to turn any cargo into black-market profits. The entire journey was one hundred and seventy three million kilometres, the bulk of that distance was covered by a capital sized ship escort. However in the last two hundred thousand kilometres most capital ships broke contact to provide security for the operation back at the asteroid leaving the lumbering freighters to be protected by smaller, more manoeuvrable vessels; this was the time when those looking for a score would attack. When several companies began loosing cargo and ships to increasingly bolder pirates, a common practice was to hire outside security firms if the threat was great enough. Hauling almost a million tons of Duillium, an ore employed for the fabrication of everything from augmenting hull plating to internal circuitry, the cargo was worth trillions on the open market. Instead of the out-dated corvettes that comprised most of the Altamus security fleet, five Savannah class gunships made the last leg leg of the journey , there to make the pirates jobs that much harder.

Ronin do you think they know how much Alta-Corp is paying us?

Miranda Peters, call sign 'Ronin' smiled as her comm crackled to life, since her squadron were veterans when it came to escort duty they kept radio chatter pretty casual sometimes having entire conversations over the air. "Likely not Sabre, no one wanted the job but if shit goes down, it will be soon."

Yea cause Duillium is poison to carry, pirate magnets - but our girls can chew up any pirate crate like a paper condom at a whore house. Cronos said. Ronin smiled at the man's poor analogy but it was apt, the gunships they flew were armed with eight 26.4 mm assault cannons and a 1000 kg anti-ship missile; more than a match for any pirate harassment vessel.

Why don't you guys focus on flying and not talking bullshit? another voice came in loud through the channel shutting up the chatter. Summerwind this is Tartarus Group Lead, call sign Dervish. We're hoping for a easy go, we'll see you get there safe.

The voice of Cronos came through Miranda's speakers. Why is boss man so uptight, I wish he wouldn’t make promises like that. She smiled. "That's his job, ours is to clear the path. How many runs is this now fifteen, twenty? We got this. Sabre isn't this your last with us?"

A soft voice clicked through the general comm. Yes I forgot to tell everyone Larissa is throwing a party for the baby so when we get to Rust City you guys are coming to drink and the wife can see the company her husband keeps.

Sabre does she know you're a filthy mercenary? Cronos said, making everyone laugh.

Mercs get paid to kill we’re paid to maintain safety; a little nobler I think. Just for that no beer for -

Can we bring people because Amy would love to jaw-jack about baby shit. Dervish interrupted. You know Ronin ain’t gonna be talking girl shop that’s for sure. When you gonna get fella and settle down? He laughed.

Miranda frowned. She hated babies, she found them the worst STD. "A hot day on Neptune, dad."

I hear they are working on terraforming tech now, maybe it will be beach weather soon enough. Sabre said. They might terraform Neptune but no man can terraform Ronin's heart.

She was greeted with three different voices laughing at her expense, the assholes. "Funny stuff there, you're a poetic motherf-"

How copy, Tartarus Group How copy? Where the fuck are you guys!?

Miranda was assaulted by the familiar voice of Mustang, screaming on the comm. "This is Ronin, we copy what-"

I've had jammed comms for the last six thousand clicks, I got two big contacts on my screen on intercept course, no IFF.

Mustang this is Dervish, could be another security detail running silent; what's your ETA?

Miranda waited for the woman to answer but only static greeted her. "Mustang do you copy?" no response was voiced.

Ronin get on my six, Sabre, Cronos cover the fat ladies - expect the worst.

Moving to cover Dervish, Miranda primed her guns; eight chains of ammunition loaded into the Kaffe Assault Cannons as the weapon system cycled to 'ready' status. Dervish was flying beneath her in what they called a 'leap-frog' formation the two other gunships crossed each other's paths tipping their wings before taking flanking positions on the freighters. "Don't be cute you two, keep your eyes open." She said over the comm. Her screen flickered and two red contacts appeared, she saw one almost immediately heading for the two freighters, it was much bigger than the common pirate vessel; a multi-gun frigate half the length of the freighter and armoured for tangles with capital ships. Her guns would be like a soft rain to the plate armour and with a total of only four missiles between the squadron, they would have to make tough shots directed at critical areas protected by guns designed to prevent that very thing.

Tartarus Group, this will be a big fight, they want those ships and won't fire if there was a chance to damage the cargo. Use that; cover each other one of you take a shot with a missile, then switch roles. Be lucky, Dervish out.

The plan Dervish had was noble. For two ships that size, normal procedure would be several squadrons of missile cruisers and fighters not four ships that double as bunks and laundry storage. Sabre took the first shot, it went wide and hit solidly at the thickest part of the hull doing nothing but superficial damage. He banked sharply and made a run on the command tower, full burst with all eight barrels. Cronos fired, hitting part of a reactor manifold that began venting fuel.

On me Ronin, let's finish her off. Take point.

Miranda flew evasively making the frigate work to try and hit her. Dervish flew under the wounded ship then suddenly popped up along her port side and fired his missile, hitting two metres to left of Cronos' shot. A soundless, blinding explosion turned the back half of the frigate into a mangled bird's nest of protosteel and bulkheads. She blinked to clear the white halo that blurred her peripheral vision and saw what remained of Sabre's vessel listing with the rest of debris. Two streaks came across her bow, 205 mm rounds fired from the other frigate. "You guys get on my ass we're taking the fight to this other bastard."

Roger that. Dervish said.

Guys I wa- all -p in th-t -plosion. -lectrical sys- -ot. -ocking on freighter. lo-ing -ower. -onos out.

What the fuck? Didn't copy Cronos, say again.

She frowned. "Dervish, I think he said his electrical system is fried from that reactor explosion and he's docking with a freighter." With only one missile left, it was now her primary job to fuck that ship's day all up. "Same as before, you cover me now. I'm going to shit in those pirate's porridge."

Copy that Ronin

With the roles reversed, Dervish did all he could to distract the guns from Ronin's approach. Flying more reckless and taking chances he normally would not have but this shot was the game changer. It was not about a successful mission, some gold star that would go next to his name in some corporate file it was about principle; these fucks took Sabre so damn the consequences. Two shots hit in rapid succession like hammer blows. The first spun his ship, causing it to flip end over end and making the man loose conscience for a millisecond at the increase of g-forces on his brain. The final shot from one of the 50 mm auto-cannons sent fragments into his ammunition magazine and split his ship like a lip in a bar fight; killing Dervish instantly and sending his ship careening into the gunner's bridge of the frigate. Ronin watched in horror as the scene developed but with the gunner's bridge gone the main guns would remain silent and only the fore and aft batteries of auto-cannons would cause her trouble. She lined her shot up at the main bridge and got a malfunction klaxon when she pulled the release. "Shit!" Miranda said, opting to simply pepper the bridge with her guns with little effect. The woman was out of ideas but then her long range sensors picked up a Federation signature. "Federation Vessel, this is Altamus Cooperation escort detail 973 requesting assistance. Moving to your location, possible hostile contact." Likely if she took off towards the Federation ship the Frigate would not follow, after all they simply wanted cargo. So to protect the freighters she really had to poke the bear.

Miranda typed in a code to deactivate the guidance and automatic release system to her missile, She set ordnance detonation from 'impact' to 'proximity', flew over the frigate and manually let her missile go allowing it to float in the path of the larger ship like a mine, it exploding when the bastard got within eight metres of it. Ronin sold her aggression making another pass with her guns as the mine blew up taking out the frigate's sensor array. At least the pirates would be blind past five hundred metres. She throttled up, sending her reactor to the red-line and hustled for the Federation ship; bad guy in tow. Ronin hoped they were a combat vessel and not some science ship full of nerds.