The rest of the trip to the mining site was uneventful. Both ships hadn’t taken any permanent damage, thankfully, so no more ship related complications arose. However, paranoia hung around us like a sheet over our heads. If pirates in this sector attacked even without the promise of cargo, then the way back would be even riskier. I’d be asking for a bonus payment, for sure. Having one ship for protection was not enough for this expedition. I hated dogfights. I’d rather have boots on the ground, fighting up close and personal.
Having Noah on the turret was a good decision. If we lacked the firepower that Noah brought out, we’d be fucked there for sure. I’d never been able to use that turret because I never had another crew member for my ship, and I tended to avoid dogfights whenever I could. It was too easy to get outnumbered and blasted out of the sky. In the void, there’s no cover, just firepower and skills.
We eventually reached our destination, a main sequence star system. We left the tunnel, and the mining ship scanned the system to find our resource extraction sites. The ship would be mining asteroids from the rings of a gas giant. I had no clue how the process itself was done, so I was curious to see how asteroids were mined. Both ships started speeding towards the closest gas giant orbiting the orange behemoth.
The view was extraordinary. The dark blue gas giant was encircled by millions of icy gray asteroids that twinkled from the light of the distant star. The dense blue planet cast a shadow on the far side of the ring, making a portion of the ring to appear like it wasn’t even there. The background was completely dominated by winking lights from light-years away. Unfathomable nebulas, clumped clusters of stars, and patches of void decorated the scenery that surrounded us. It was as if a humongous paintbrush had splattered multicolored paint across the universe, flicking and slapping their brush. All of this combined with the planet’s icy rings made for a brilliant sight. A planet’s rings were definitely one of the most beautiful things to exist naturally.
Noah was staring out of the cockpit intently, of course. Our ships started decelerating as the ring of asteroids creeped closer and closer. Soon, the gas giant dominated the foreground, and the icy ring was a flat, massive plane of blue-gray. I was once again reminded of the sheer scale of space. Without FTL, it’d take weeks to travel the width of the ring, if not more. Eventually, the flat plane started changing into a chunky field of asteroids floating aimlessly. It was hard to tell from here, but most of the asteroids appeared to be even larger than the Breaker. A few more minutes passed, and now we were inside the ring, surrounded by gigantic oblong rocks.
The voice comms crackled. “Alright, Leviathan, we’re getting to work. Make sure to steer clear of any asteroids we mark, you don’t want to be nearby when we crack 'em open!”
“Got it, we’ll keep our distance.” I replied.
Noah and I watched as five fighter ships deployed from the underbelly of the mining ship. All six ships started to scan nearby asteroids to check for their contents. After a few minutes, they got a hit, and started gathering around an asteroid that was twice as large as the Breaker. As the behemoth slowly rotated, the mining ship launched charges at fissures in the asteroid. The charges sunk deep into the surface, and each one emitted a red flashing light. After three or four charges were set, all of the ships started backing up, away from the rigged asteroid. I also backed up, even though we were nowhere near it. Never hurts to be safe. A countdown timer was broadcasted through our main channel, and when it hit zero, the charges went off.
A shockwave ripped through the asteroid, splitting it cleanly into four or five large chunks. Smaller pieces flew out from the asteroid and past us, never to be seen again. The shockwave also passed through our ship, rattling everything inside. It sounded like a racing ship soaring past us at max speed. The asteroid’s chunks started to slowly drift away, revealing chunks of platinum, presumably. It definitely appeared to be a rare metal of some sort. The smaller mining ships swarmed the broken asteroid like a swarm of insects. They buzzed about, lasering platinum from the bigger chunks, or splitting the freed chunks into parts. An army of collection drones bobbed and weaved, passing between rocks, ships, and each other. They latched onto pieces of platinum and flew them into the Breaker’s gaping cargo scoop. The whole process was fluid and natural. It was obvious that Sa’Ruh’s crew was experienced in asteroid mining. To my eyes, at least. I didn’t know shit about mining.
“It’s pretty cool, isn’t it?” Noah said. “Mining actually looks really fun!”
I laughed. “Probably pays well, too. Maybe we might have to change our career paths.”
“Maybe Sa’Ruh is hiring. I’m sure they could use a new pilot or something.”
“It’s definitely a bold choice to discuss getting a new job in front of your current boss.”
Noah sputtered, then laughed. “Can I at least get my paycheck before you fire me?”
----------------------------------------
The rest of the mining went by without any excitement. We moved on to a new asteroid and we repeated the mining process. The only significant thing that happened was a stray chunk of asteroid blowing right past us, giving us a scare. We took a day’s break and relocated to another section of the ring, but otherwise the mining procedures went by without any other incidents. Sah’Ruh was very happy with the results. Apparently this ring was rich in platinum, and it’d bring a huge profit to his company. Good for him.
At the end of the second day in this system, Sa’Ruh made an announcement.
“Alright, our cargo bay is completely full. Good haul, everyone, we’d be pleasing HQ with this. We’ll be heading back first thing tomorrow. Stay on your toes, any pirates we come across will be drooling over us. Platinum’s worth a lot, we’ve got tens of millions worth of credits on board. We don’t want to lose it.”
Noah and I exchanged looks.
“Y’know, maybe being a miner isn’t so bad. You think they’re hiring?” I asked, jokingly.
Noah laughed. “Just ask them for a bonus. They definitely have money to spare.”
“Oh, that was already going to happen.”
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We both grinned like maniacs. Moments later, my radar beeped.
“Fuck! There’s several ship signatures, they just dropped on top of us! Noah, get ready!”
Noah and I scrambled to our seats. I sent Sa’Ruh a message.
“Ship signatures are here, I think it’s the pirates from before. And they’ve got more friends. Too many to fight.”
Sa’Ruh’s panicked response came back a few seconds later. “I see them. We gotta run. I don’t think they’ll let us go if we just give them the cargo, since we kicked their ass last time. Let’s run as soon as we get an opening.”
“Got it. Use the asteroids as cover. Maybe set up some charges, turn them into mines. This is going to be rough.”
I turned towards Noah, and cut the comms. “We’re fucked. If it comes to it, we’re going to have to ditch the Breaker. I’d hate to do it, but they’re the pirates’ target.
Noah looked at me in shock. “Really? Do we really have to do that?”
“Yeah, four ships had us on the ropes last time. Now, they have eight. We don’t stand a chance. Sa’Ruh should’ve hired more fucking mercs. God, I can’t believe I thought this job would be easy.”
“Saka, they’re coming. Let’s focus on not dying.” Noah snapped me back to reality.
“Right, got it. Noah, we’re going to use the asteroids as cover. Take shots when you have a good sightline, but don’t shoot too many, or they’ll single out where we are.”
Noah grunted, and focused his attention to the screen in front of him. I cracked my knuckles and prepared to not die.
The Breaker managed to set charges on several asteroids before the pirates got into firing distance. Hopefully they’d have the skills to utilize them. I planned to create distance away from them in the confusion of the battle, and sneak into the tunnel. The mining ship was fucked if I stayed or not. Its cargo hull was full, that thing was not going to be moving very fast.
A shockwave shook our ship. An asteroid had been detonated. I saw one of the ship signatures disappear. Holy shit, they’d managed to take out a pirate ship with mining equipment. However, the good news was quickly soured. Three ships had peeled off and began looking for us. The asteroids between us messed with their scanning, so they had to get closer to search for us. My ship was currently behind a large asteroid, waiting for a good moment to strike. If I tried to jump into FTL now, I’d be like a fish out of water. The charge time was too fast and I’d be blown to bits. I had to create an opening, or get rid of the ships closest to us.
One of the ships got close to the asteroid we were hiding behind. They were slightly separated from the other ships looking for us, giving us a huge opportunity.
“Alright Noah, as soon as we get that ship in our sights, we’re shooting it with everything we’ve got. If we manage to pop it before it can do anything, we might be able to win against the other two.”
“Got it, Saka. Just tell me when to shoot. I’ll land my shots.”
“Three… Two… One… FIRE!”
I let loose a barrage of beams, kinetic projectiles, and plasma missiles. I shot the beams and kinetics until they overheated, and let loose an entire rack of missiles. At the same time, Noah laid out shot after shot after shot, somehow managing to land every single one. The pirate ship was caught off guard, and the shields melted at an alarming speed. Then, the plasma missiles and Noah’s shots savagely ripped into its hull. The pirate ship spun out from the sheer force of the attack, and blew up in a spectacular purplish black firework.
“It worked! Alright Noah, reload and cool down. The other ships are coming in hot!”
“Got it!” Noah swiveled the turret towards the incoming ships. He didn’t shoot any potshots so he could let the turret cool down, and I reloaded the missile racks and the kinetic cannons.
Meanwhile, it looked like the Breaker was holding its own. It had deployed all of its mining fighter ships, and was bobbing and weaving around asteroids. Asteroid fields were their home turf, so they were outmaneuvering the pirates. The fighter ships themselves didn’t have weapons, but they chipped away at the pirates using their mining lasers. With five of them concentrated on a single ship, they could definitely deal some damage. The Breaker was more resourceful than I’d thought. I was still ditching them once I shook off the pirate ships on my tail, though. Sorry.
The pirate ships in question were quickly approaching. I took cover behind another asteroid again, but they knew where we were. Damn. I started weaving in and out, between asteroids, while heading straight towards one of the ships. Putting my back to them was counterintuitive, all of my weapons were forward facing. Noah took shots in the brief moments that sightlines opened. I was too focused on piloting to get a lock on the pirate ship and to fire, and it seemed like the enemy was in the same predicament. The odds were slightly tipped in my favor, since Noah was able to slowly deplete their shields.
I heard a beep from my radar, and saw a ship signature somewhat behind me. Nevermind. The odds were definitely not in my favor, I was starting to get pincered. Not good. I tried my best to give the chasing ship the slip, while keeping the ship in front of me in my sights. It was impossible. The ship I was chasing slipped above the Leviathan, and made its way behind us. Now there were two ships behind me, and they were clinging to my tail. They were even starting to get shots off. They were all absorbed by my shield, of course, but it was steadily starting to deplete. If I couldn’t shake them off now, we were dead. I popped chaff and started to lead them back towards where the Breaker was. Our only bet was to get wrapped up in the chaos and look for the next best option.
The Breaker was in a pretty bad position. Its shields were halfway depleted, and they’d lost two fighter ships. Sa’Ruh opened the comm as soon as he saw us approaching, tailed by two pirates.
“Saka, hold them off for a bit. We need to recharge our shields!”
Before I could respond, the Breaker blasted off and gained distance from the battle. For some reason, the pirates let them go, and turned our attention towards us.
“Motherfuckers!” I chewed my lip in frustration. “Why are they focusing on us! The mining ship has all of the cargo!”
“I think they’re scared of our firepower,” said Noah. “They might be trying to take out the deadlier opponent first.”
“That’s stupid! Look” I pointed towards the Breaker. They’d managed to get several kilometers away, and were clearly charging their FTL. “They’re fucking ditching us and running away!”
Noah remained deadpan, still firing away on his turret. “Guess they beat us to it.”
The pirates seemed to have noticed, too, and they started rushing the mining ship, leaving us alone. However, the Breaker was too far away. I saw the shield pop, but the ship disappeared in a flash of light. I started charging my FTL too, but I doubted we’d make it in time. The pirate ships were heading back towards us, and the charge time wasn’t going to be fast enough.
I watched as our doom hurtled closer to us. Suddenly, three streaks of light stabbed into the battlefield.
They were ships I’ve only ever seen on the news. They had smooth lines, gentle curves, round noses, and soft looking fins, like those you’d find on an aquatic creature. The best way to describe the shape and texture of it was organic. But it wasn’t. It was a state-of-the-art military spacecraft. And only one galactic power used ships like these. It was the Haivu.
“Fucking Sa’Ruh! He said there wouldn't be any of those bug fuckers!” I yelled in frustration.
“Bug fuckers? What are those ships?” Noah asked.
“They’re the Haivu. They’re an insectoid race that control a decent chunk of the galaxy. The Galactic Union has had a lot of conflicts with them over the last couple decades, and it’s steadily building up towards war. Their ships are insane. We don’t stand a chance, we just have to run!”
The FTL launch kept charging at an excruciatingly slow rate. I needed to get a better one, this one was far too slow. Noah and I watched in horror as the sleek silver Haivu ships started tearing through the unprepared pirates. Their weapons were honestly terrifying. Caustic missiles melted through hulls. Heat lasers forced the pirate ships to overheat, cooking the crew alive. I watched as a swarm of drones latched onto a pirate’s fighter ship and detonated, leaving nothing but scraps behind. Our feeble weaponry was no match for their military grade weapons. My ship wasn’t even close to being top-of-the-line! Luckily, these pirates served as perfect bait for the Haivu. As I saw the last few pirate ships feebly attempting to fight back, barely making a dent in the Haivu ships’ shields, my FTL finished charging, and we jumped to the realm of light. I quickly set course to the tunnel leading out of the system. We’d catch up to Sa’Ruh soon enough, assuming we didn’t get caught by the Haivu first. I had a few words I wanted to share with him.