Dervin knew what he must do, but wasn’t sure how to do it. Mutiny was a difficult thing to deal with even under the best circumstances, and these were certainly not the best circumstances. A pirate empire quickly going rabid, crews all but canablizing each other, ISPN closing in and to top it all off the Dread Pirate Robert was losing his mind. “Rally the forces,” he said “get all our mechs and form a defensive blockade around Nassau Prime.” Did he actually intend to try and defend the planet against the onslaught of ISPN and the Albatross? Dervin had always admired his captain's guts but this, he knew, was pure insanity.
And yet he knew it must be done. It was his job as the first mate to carry out his soon to be king’s wishes, despite his reservations. So that’s exactly what he did. Some would mutiny hoping to flee before any fighting started, but once the first ship had left the spaceport, all guns were ordered to fire upon them. An example if he had ever seen one and despite their grumbling no one else tried to flee. Dervin sighed and hardened himself to once again face death, as he had done many times before. But only now did he know that Death would not be so easy to avoid this time. The Captain’s eyes were inscrutable, as always. A deep brown set against his pale features as obsidian shards on a beach. What was his plan, Dervin wondered, but did not ask, hoping to keep the mystique—and his own morale—from crumbling.
The Lancers rallied in the hanger on port, they who were accustomed to life in the stars, were ready to die for the Dread Pirate. A loyalty won from the Captains daring defiance of death time and again would not be broken by something as trivial as insurmountable odds. Even if they failed, to take the chance to send one penultimate “fuck you” to ISPN was worth a million deaths. Overall they had forty two mechs under their fleet. It wouldn’t be enough. The Dread Pirate Roberts and his pirate republic, as he called it (though Dervin could think of no republic that had a king) had been a major thorn in their side for close to a decade now and even managed to conquer a minor shipping hub right under ISPN’s collective nose, and despite treating the populace better than the corporation ever did Albatross still marshaled forces and ordered a surrender.
“As if those glorified, wannabe space cops gave a rat’s ass about what was right.” Dervin had said when the demand came in. Even so, the wisdom of past experience told him Albatross Lancers were some of the best fighters in this part of the galaxy, and with ISPN backing them, forty two plucky pirates would not be enough to beat them. Dervin crunched the numbers and every time, every possible estimate, no matter how conservative or hopeful, still led to them being outnumbered, outgunned and encircled. It was at this point he really hoped the Captain had something up his sleeve, an ace in the hole that would completely take them out of the equation. If such a thing even existed, he was not sure.
Albatross were the first to show up, and did so on the very outskirts of Nassau, taking over a minor space station that had once been the vacation sight of a very rich corporate executive. It was there they waited for three days, slowly growing in number until their numbers matched that of the pirates, then exceeded it, and finally doubled it. At a time that would be considered early morning, the Albatross sent a transmission to the port above Nassau Prime.
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“Surrender now, or you all die”
“How unbelievably righteous,” the captain quipped, “Wake everyone up and get them in fighting formation.” as it was demanded, so it was done.
Most of their forces floated just outside of Nassau’s sphere of influence, facing towards the direction of the albatross, who were now slowly approaching. Long range missiles fired first, some hitting off shields and doing nothing, others not so much. Mechs scrambled to avoid any targets towards them, an easier feat than one would expect in zero g, and got back into formation as lasers began to fire. Dozens of small fighter ships flew towards the fleet, pelting them with small scale laser fire and ballistics. Most mechs and ships were equipped to deal with such forces, scrambling fighters of their own, using flak guns or just cutting ships in half with mech weaponry.
Dervin knew the point wasn’t to do any real damage, it was to soften them up at best, but really it was a test of their defenses. To see if any fighters could slip past the blockade and towards the main port, but any such attempt failed. The Captain watched out the window towards the battle unfolding, focused upon it like a tiger stalking its prey.
“Bring me Frida.” He ordered
“The witch?” Dervin questioned, utterly perplexed by the captain.
“Yes, Dervin. The witch.” The Captain was impatient. Dervin couldn’t help but wonder what his plan was here. The self proclaimed Witch had never truly done anything mystical in all the time he had known her, even if others swore upon the great spirit that she was legit. He had never been there for any of her real magics. Until today.
“It’s time then..” Frida said when faced with the first mate
“I guess so.” He said, leading her to the Captain unsure of what the end game was meant to be.
When the Captain and the Witch were together, they exchanged no words. Apparently clear on a plan neither intended to share. The Witch raced off towards an unknown end while the Captain and his first mate were left alone.
“So, now what?” Dervin asked
“Now we wait and see if this witch is the real deal.” The captain grinned, a lopsided smile like that of a child on an adrenaline high.
“So you’re really not gonna tell me your plan then?”
“And ruin the surprise? Not a chance in hell.” And with nothing left to say, the two of them watched the battle.
Despite himself, Dervin couldn’t help but be impressed as he gazed upon the battlefield. It was a debris field of dead mechs, destroyed ships and those continuing the fight. Cruisers firing massive rail guns at each other, battleships flooding the space with flak and fighters, and mechs tearing one another apart. Some battled on the backs of ships, others in fields of debris and some had been pushed so far back Dervin worried they would crash through the hull of the port and send dozens careening into space. There was no way for them to win this battle, that much was clear. Yet the captain’s smile never wavered as if everything was going according to plan.
Even when a Nelson mech breached the blockade and flew straight towards them with its spear outstretched, the captain did not so much as flinch. The mech pulled back its arm, getting ready to throw, and then. Just as it was released. Everything went white.