The pirate Captain Volkov stood on the Solent's scorched cargo bay ramp with her hands on her hips. She looked over the haggard group of human's for a few moment's before speaking.

"Welcome to the Wraith, flagship of our fleet. Which one of you is Ash?"

Ash stood, the old Earth rifle hanging loosely in his grip by it's strap. The pirates behind Volkov moved forward with their own weapons pointed at the pitiful sight but she waved them off.

"Put your weapon down please Ash, no harm will come to you here. You're a human." She said reverently.

He glanced down as if he forgot that he had it and loosened his grip. They had nearly been killed. They would have been if not for the help of Volkov's fighters covering their entrance and exit. The young man that he'd rescued lay near his feet holding the injured girl that he'd been carrying and sobbed. The emergency jump had been hard on them all but this was something else. Trauma.

"Thank you Captain Volkov." Ash said to the pale woman with a long blonde warrior braid under her cap. "If not for your pilots covering our escape, we would have died. Please thank them for us."

"Of course, I will do that." She said in her thick Russian accent. "I will send in my best physician for the girl. Please come to see me when you are ready, Ash. We have much to discuss."

Ash nodded and kneeled down to put his armored hand on the boy's shoulder. "It's going to be okay, you're safe now. What are your names?"

"I'm Connor, this is Liz. Who are you?" He said and wiped blood from her face with his jacket sleeve.

"My name is Ash Miller, this is my ship, the Solent. As far as where we are, the best I can tell you is that we landed on a huge pirate ship if you can believe that. A capital ship."

"Ash Miller?" Connor said with wide eyes. "Laura's dad?"

Ash's entire body tensed at the mention of his daughter's name. "Yes! Laura is my daughter! Oh my god, Connor, She told me about you, now I remember. Where is she?"

Connor looked down and the tears welling in his eyes dropped to his worn out cargo pants. "I'm sorry Ash, she's gone."

Ash stepped back as if he'd been struck. The reinforced suit thudded against the wall of the cargo bay and he slid down until his butt hit the deck. He stared into Connor's eyes and found them haunting. "What... what happened?"

Just then, the Wraith's doctor stepped into the bay and asked who was hurt. Connor held Ash's gaze for a moment before turning away and waving for the doctor. Ash's whole universe faded to a blur. Nothing mattered. Every sound was turned down to a murmur, every sudden movement discarded as not important. Jayden waved for his attention but he just turned his head the other way. Laura was dead. He left his little girl behind and she died. Charlie spoke through his helmet comms.

"Captain Ash, I am sorry for your loss. I wish I could have met her after this was all over."

Ash tried to reply but he couldn't speak without crying. After several attempts he finally gained enough composure. "Thank you Charlie."

"I am sorry also that I must inform you that the Syndicate is requesting an update on the situation. They said that the SOS message from their agent has stopped."

"Understood." Ash said blankly.

He took a deep breath and removed his helmet before rising to his feet once more. "Connor, we were sent to rescue an alien agent from an organization called The Syndicate. He was with you, right?"

Connor was unsure how to respond to the man. He had just quite literally swallowed his emotions or buried them or something. He looked like a military officer now. He was all business. "Uhh.. Yeah, Loukios. He was with us but he died in the crash. The truck rolled over on him. I grabbed his gear but I couldn't save him. He said something before about money that he owed."

"Shit!" Ash screamed and threw his helmet across the cargo bay. It smashed into a huge metal object in the center of the space and clattered to the floor.

Kate and Jayden rushed back into the room with their weapons but stopped short when they saw Ash holding his head and pacing back and forth. Charlie had already told them about his daughter so they opted to give him some space.

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"She's going to be fine, She just needs to take it easy for a while and keep these wounds clean. You did good young man, getting her out of there. She owes you her life." The pale skinned doctor said and patted Connor on the shoulder.

"It's mutual." Connor said and nodded his thanks.

Liz sat up and took a drink of her water before looking around the cargo bay nervously. She whispered "That's her dad? Laura?"

Connor looked away before returning his gaze to Liz. "I just told him she died, nothing else." He said, staring into her eyes. She nodded.

"Listen up." Ash called out. "I'm going to go speak with Captain Volkov. I want the rest of you to stay on the ship for now. Get some rest, wash up, eat, wait for me to come back." He lowered his voice. "These people are pirates, but they saved our lives. Show them respect but do not leave the ship."

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Ash stepped into the cafeteria of the Wraith after walking for what seemed like ten minutes. The ship was covered in alien script and painted lines but he didn't know what any of it meant and needed to ask for directions several times. It was stolen, of course, all of their ships were. He hadn't seen the fleet make up yet but he assumed it would be a mix and match that would be comical if it weren't so deadly. Volkov was waiting for him at one of the tables against the wall.

"Ash, welcome, I have a coffee for you."

"Thank you Captain."

"It is my pleasure, you have probably been through so much since the Sharlah attacked."

"Our ship was in transit when it happened but it hasn't been easy for us either. Nothing compared to what Connor and Liz went through I'm sure."

"How is the girl?" Volkov asked and took a drink from her own mug.

"The doctor said she'll be okay, she just needs to rest and take care of the wounds."

"She is safe here, for the time being."

"Where exactly is here if I may ask?" Ash faked a smile.

"I can't tell you that, Captain, but you are safe. We are hidden by the.. circumstances of this area. There is one way to get here and most species do not have the technology to find it. A failed attempt is fatal."

"Okay, good enough." Ash said and took a sip of his coffee. It was fantastic.

Volkov smiled at his reaction. "We have had plenty of time to perfect the recipe. We grow our own crops. The generation ships are still in remarkable condition after all this time. I guess that is what they were designed to do. That and to kill us."

Ash nearly spit his drink out and Volkov laughed. "I'm sorry, I didn't know that you.."

"Yes we know what the Callidus did, the snakes. Our ancestors made sure to pass that along so that we would never trust them again. We hit them the hardest, no survivors. We kill every stinking fox that we see."

"I'm sorry, it was a horrible thing to do but it wasn't the Callidus as a race that decided to hinder the human population, just a small.. insurgency.. within the Callidus politics."

Volkov leaned back with a curious look. "And how do you know this? Any of this?"

"We landed on Callidium. Our AI took us there blindly. She didn't even know what the coordinates were for but that was it, Callidium. They aren't the ones who told me though, that was the Syndicate."

"For once they tell the truth."

"Yeah, I guess so. So I'd imagine you're pretty hated universally?"

"Of course. We're supposed to be dead yet we drive nails into their coffins instead. They Syndicate hates us because we're better criminals. The Callidus hate us because we aren't supposed to be alive and we take everything from them. They can't even find cargo pilots that will travel the normal trade routes anymore."

"How big is your fleet?" Ash asked.

Volkov smiled. "Another dangerous question Captain. It's big and it has sharp teeth. Now for one of my questions. If we help you with your alien problem, how will humanity repay us?"

"What do you want?"

"We want a home. We want to land and touch grass." Volkov said and motioned out the window at endless space. "This is all we have ever known. We were born on the ships and so were our families. We want to call a planet our home."

"I'm not a politician or anyone important really, I'm just a space truck driver. I think, though, if you helped us beat the Sharlah and saved our planet that we would be happy to have you and welcome you as heroes"

"We are pirates. Criminals." Volkov said bluntly. "We are wanted."

"I know but what else could you have done?" Ash asked.

"Die."

"I think that's still an option for all of us, including the human race as a whole Captain Volkov, we'll take any help that you're willing to give and you won't be turned away from the world that you fought for."

Volkov nodded and smiled. Her ghost white face took on a slight blush at the thought of having a home. "We're going to outfit your ship with some weapons and military grade shielding if that's okay with you?"

Ash laughed. "Yes, please."

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"Charlie send a message to Father or whatever his real name is. Tell him that their agent was killed by the Sharlah but we have his credits. Request that he honor his end of the deal and send a fleet to Dottier. Let me know his response as soon as you receive it."

"Yes Captain."

"Jay, Volkov is outfitting us with some weapons and shields, make sure you know how to use and maintain them and teach Ruo. She's our new gunner."

"Got it Ash."

"Kate and Ruo, I'm going to get you some time with their pilots to train on dogfighting and evading enemy fire."

"Okay Ash." Ruo said.

"Connor and Liz, I just want you two to rest. When you're feeling up to it, we'll talk to Volkov and get you set up with some new weapons and armor in case we need you when the fight comes."

They nodded.

"Ash I've received a reply from the Syndicate. They want us to stand by and wait for further instructions." Charlie said.

"Yeah that sounds about right. I don't think we can count on them or the Callidus war fleet. We can only count on our fellow humans. It's not a surprise really. Get your heads in the game. I don't know how much time we'll have to prepare but we can't waste a moment of it."