The Schengen’s Hope knifed through Murdoch space in pursuit of the stolen shuttle. The escaping prisoners could outpace the rest of the fleet, but not them. The Schengen’s Hope’s Murdoch drive simply had more power. A manufacturing defect had forced the navy to upgrade the thorium reactor in Pollock’s ship ahead of schedule.
“Permission to ram the dropship, Admiral,” Commander Ian Pollock asked. Given the nature of traveling at faster-than-light speeds, their normal weapons were useless in Murdoch space. That left them with one choice: using the ship itself as a weapon.
“Permission granted. Do so with the utmost care,” Admiral Tatsuyama said over the ship’s interlink. “Keep the bastards alive.” Pollock activated one of the ship’s most primitive weapons. A spear extended from the ship’s bow. There’s no chance these Ishvalty pricks get away, the commander thought. If I’m lucky, I could get promoted over this.
Pollock studied the virtual image of the Ishvalty General Drok’Thal. A pair of slit-like, yellow eyes stared back at him. His narrow, serpentine face disgusted Pollock. The blue-green, leathery skin of the Ishvalty noble contrasted with the yellow skin tones of the other two escapees. The graphic indicated his caste level, Royal. The general was ranked high enough he might become the emperor one day. If it happened, humanity would be doomed. The general hated humanity, after all.
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The general, captured in the battle for the KT-245 asteroid, gave humanity their best bargaining chip. He would be worth hundreds of thousands of human prisoners on his own. His comrades were valuable too, coming from high-ranking Ishvalty families. If they escaped, humanity’s plans to exchange them for the prisoners taken at the planet Nèze would be dashed. If they died, humanity’s hopes to negotiate for peace in the aftermath of the exchange would crumble.
“Copy that, Admiral,” Pollock replied. “Brace for impact!” he ordered. He accelerated The Schengen’s Hope to ramming speed. The Schengen’s Hope shook as its spear punched a hole clean through the shuttle’s power bay. The shuttle’s Murdoch drive lost power, and they dropped out of warp. The defenseless shuttle tumbled end over end. The Schengen’s Hope pursued them into normal space.
“Lieutenant Williams, what’s your status?” Pollock inquired.
“We’re geared up and ready for combat, Commander,” Lieutenant Williams, the officer in charge of the ship’s marines, responded.
“Take the utmost care to ensure no one dies today,” Pollock said. “You have permission to launch.” The troopship lander jettisoned from the ship.
The lander raced forward on an intercept course for the prisoner’s shuttle. Drok’Thal was rumored to be a fierce combatant. Pollock wished he had even more men for the job, but The Schengen’s Hope only had a few men qualified for a traditional combat mission. He had no other choice.