Chapter Twenty-Four - Meet the Freebootas

They started as pacifists.

An entire colony, abandoning Earth to look for their fortunes in the stars, or at least, in the asteroid belt, because that was as far as they made it.

The Convent, like all the religious fanatics to make it out into space, were particularly practical. They believed in technology, they didn't have any major superstitions that would keep them down, and they were relatively open to trade and discussion with others.

Their faith was, for the most part, based on the druidaic. A love for nature which turned into a desperate need to escape Earth.

The irony wasn't lost on them.

And so they settled in the belt. Devout pacifists, working together to form a peaceful little community that wanted to mind its own business, convert the occasional person tired of the grind, and whose primary faith revolved around a set of simple tenants.

The first was the simplest and most potent: No man shall bear arms against another man.

That didn't work out so well for them, not when their new home was close to the burgeoning centre for piracy that was Ceres. A whole colony of people that were unable or unwilling to fight back? That was like putting a hobbled rabbit in a pen with starving wolves.

And so the Convent almost died.

Almost.

The rule was 'no man shall bear arms.'

That said nothing about an angry self-proclaimed witch with a stolen assault rifle and her twenty pissed off girlfriends.

The Convent's home had turned into a safe space for pirates to come and rest. They'd steal what they wanted, bully the locals, and generally treat them all like shit. They got used to treating the station like a second home. They let their guard down.

In the space of a week, the Convent turned into a space no pirate wanted to visit. Not when every previous pirate had their flensed corpses draped across the station like garlands on a tree.

From there, the Convent grew to be some of the most fearsome bounty hunters, pirates, and freebootas in the system.

That was what the Held Together was dealing with. The third generation of people who'd become the most vicious sort of pirate, not because they wanted to, not because of greed, but out of plain necessity.

The crew and passengers argued in circles for the full three hours before the pirate ships were right on top of them.

Ivil kept to herself in that time, just watching the tensions rise while contributing nothing to prevent it or push that rise. Instead, she enjoyed watching the reactions of everyone. Aurora had gone on the defensive, and seemed increasingly waspish. Twenty-Six grew more and more despondent, and Missy was growing more casual to the idea of tossing Aurora to the wolves.

That high tension might have been why everyone jumped as the coms panel beeped to tell them of an incoming message.

The captain walked over and stared. "It's a tight-beam, from the lead ship. IFF displays as the Amelia Earhart."

"Are you going to answer?" Missy asked.

The captain hesitated. "Clear the room," she said

"I'd rather not," Ivil replied.

It had the captain's hackles rising, but it also put her in the unenviable situation of having to negotiate with a crowd. Ivil suspected that if it came to it, the captain would sell Aurora to keep her ship and crew in one piece. It was a lot harder to sell someone to pirates when they were in the room.

The captain adjusted the little camera linked to the com's panel, sat down, then accepted the call. The screen filled with fuzz for just a moment before the call connected properly.

The person on the other end immediately gave Ivil pause.

She was a woman, maybe a few years older than Ivil herself. Long blonde hair tied neatly so as to be out of her face, and wearing a white-and-gold jumpsuit with armoured shoulders. The front of it was slipped down, revealing... a lot more than was strictly necessary to reveal. Not that Ivil minded, in the moment.

"Oh good, you answered," she said. Her voice was husky, a faint purr at once alluring and menacing. She'd spoken four words and already Ivil had the impression of a cat that liked to play with its meal.

The captain swallowed. "I'm the captain of the Held Together," she replied. "I don't imagine this is all a misunderstanding and you're just saying hello as you slip by?"

The pirate chuckled. "I'm afraid not, captain. I'm Convent Captain Rouge Herring, and you're my delicious little prey. This is a courtesy call. Don't try to run. It'll just mean that we have to blow your engines and that'll make everyone's life more complicated. So here's what you're going to do. You're going to fully shut down your engines, and you're going to slave your manoeuvring thrusters to my ship."

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"What are you planning on doing?" the captain asked.

"Sweetie, I'm going to do whatever I want. And so are you. What I want, that is." She leaned forwards, almost spilling out of her jumpsuit, but soon enough Ivil was focused on her smile. "You do what I say, and you might come out of this in one piece, okay?"

The line went dead.

The captain leaned back into her seat. She didn't move.

Missy did in her stead. "Fuck!" she shouted before punching the side of a consol on the other side of the bridge. The bridge was otherwise quiet while the screen crackled and popped.

Missy looked around, then stomped out of the bridge.

"Should we..." Donny started.

"You have that old gun of yours, still?" the Captain asked.

"Yeah," he said.

"Might be a good time to find it."

He nodded, then left as well.

Twenty-Six hesitated, then with a sigh, she moved over to the console that Missy had punched, opened the panel on its side up with a twist, and started to look at the wires within. Ivil wasn't sure what the value of fixing that now would be, but she didn't tell Twenty-Six not to bother. If it kept her busy, then it was for the best.

"We're going to fight," the captain said.

"I didn't bring any weapons," Ivil replied. "But I'll help where I can."

"As will I," Sonic added.

The captain nodded, and soon Hawke was sent to scrounge up what weapons he could. Twenty-Six continued to tinker quietly in the corner. She was breathing hard, on the verge of tears.

Ivil started to approach her, but was stopped by Sonic. "Ma'am," Sonic muttered. She was keeping the conversation between them, manipulating the sound so that only the two of them would be able to hear.

"Yes?" Ivil muttered.

"What do you plan on doing?"

Ivil considered it for a moment. "I was planning on waiting to see. That pirate was... attractive." Sonic made a sound that might very well have been a sigh. "But she's also a pirate. I'm not too keen on their ilk. On the other hand, this ship is... not ideal. I wouldn't mind seeing where all of this leads, but if the time comes where the... potentials are actually threatened, then I'll step in."

"You could take them out now," Sonic pointed out.

"Easily. But I don't want to. Not yet," Ivil said. Sonic nodded slowly, then stepped back, allowing Ivil to move past. "If it comes to it, though, could you keep an eye on everyone? It would be a shame for them to die."

"Of course," Sonic replied.

Ivil walked over to Twenty-Six, then she gingerly reached out and touched the younger woman on the shoulder. Twenty-Six jumped, then blinked up at Ivil. Her eyes were a little watery, and definitely worried. "Are you alright?" Ivil asked.

Twenty-Six nodded. "Yeah. Just... Missy broke something. Usually it's Donny that breaks things. I... I don't know if I can fix it."

Ivil glanced at the console. The wires within looked burned, and she caught a faint odour of melted plastic in the air. A short circuit? That seemed unlikely, but then the Held Together was a junker, so perhaps it wasn't all that surprising. "Do you need help?"

"I need to rewire it," Twenty-Six said. "It's easy enough."

Ivil had the impression that Twenty-Six wasn't actually worried about the console. It would have been foolish of her, and everything she saw pointed towards Twenty-Six being clever. "Would you like some help?"

"I'll manage," Twenty-Six said. She just stared at the mess of wires, not moving. Finally, she reached towards it, but her hands were trembling, and she dropped them. "I don't like it," she said.

"I see," Ivil replied. "What if I promised that you'd be safe?"

Twenty-six chuckled darkly. "Thanks. I don't know... I don't know if that would actually help any. But thanks."

"Just stick close. No one will hurt you while I'm around. And maybe if everything goes right, we'll come out of this in better shape than we started? That's certainly happened to me a couple of times."

"Thanks," Twenty-Six said again. "Really, I... I'm just worried."

"And that's natural. There's a lot to be worried about. I don't know about this old ship, but you, at least, I can keep safe. I promise. And that's a promise that's worth more than you might imagine."

***