The three of them dressed quickly and headed back up to themand deck. Icons showing a Terran Federation Cruiser and three Destroyers were highlighted on the tactical map, as the iing vessels approached their position. John had just settled in to hismand chair when the shing light on his console indicated an iing hail. He pressed the button to receive the call and the view-screen in the centre of the bridge flickered into life. A distinguished looking man with greying temples and wearing a Terran Federation Navy uniform filling the image.


    “This is Captain Flintlock of the cruiser Indomitable, please identify yourself assault cruiser,” the man requested politely.


    “This is Commander John ke of the Invictus. It’s good to see you Captain,” John replied.


    “The distress beacon from the Calypso reported a pirate attack, do you know what happened to them?” Captain Flintlock asked curiously.


    “We destroyed two frigates and a corvette, then boarded a second corvette to help the freighter crew fight off a pirate boarding action,” John exined.


    “It sounds like we were very lucky you happened by Commander,” the Captain said gratefully. “But your ship is registered as a civilian vessel?”


    “I’m ex-navy, currently retired,” John exined.


    “Well thank you for your assistance Commander ke,” the Captain said, a new tone of respect in his voice.


    “The docked Corvette is the Griffon, it was captured by pirates over a month ago. Can I leave that and the Calypso in your custody?” John asked.


    “Of course. We have repair crews that can assist the freighter, and I can spare some men to get the Griffon back to Port Heracles,” Captain Flintlock replied. ” Are you in a hurry to get somewhere?” he added with a smile.


    John nodded and said nonchntly, “Actually yes. We think we’ve identified the source of the attacks and are going to eliminate the pirate base.”


    “You’re going to do what?!” Captain Flintlock gasped, looking stunned.


    “I’m lucky to have a gifted Tactical Officer and she figured out the source. We believe they’re based in the Chendar system,” John said, smiling at Cra, who blushed at his praise.


    “Do you want us to take care of them?” the Captain volunteered immediately.


    “Thank you Captain but this is personal. We have a score to settle,” John exined.


    “I understand Commander,” Captain Flintlock said nodding. “When the Calypso is under way, we’ll head towards the Chendar system in case you need assistance with the cleanup.”


    “Much appreciated Captain. Invictus out,” John said, and they closed the call. He then turned to smile at the beautiful blonde at his side, and said, “OK Alyssa, let’s resume our course, if you please.”


    “Already on it,” she replied, grinning at him. She powered up the massive engines on the assault cruiser, and the ship turned smoothly to her new heading, before leaping into Hyper-warp.


    “John, while you were on board the Calypso, Cra and I found something interesting,” Sparks said tentatively.


    “What did you find?” He asked intrigued.


    Sparks looked over at Cra who nodded and continued their tale. “You did well getting this one to join us,” Cra said, smiling at the redhead affectionately, and causing the girl to blush.


    “Sparks hacked into the Griffon, and downloaded the ship’s log, the navigation logs, and their tactical maps,” the brte said, clearly impressed.


    “Not only that, but she scanned the wreckage of the two destroyers and the corvette, and managed to break the encryption on their blocked transponders!” Cra went on.


    “I’ve managed to put together aplete order of battle for what’s left of the pirate fleet, and I’ve confirmed that they’re definitely using the Gas mining facility as a base,” she said, as she pressed a few buttons, bringing up the listings for the pirate fleet.


    John was astonished as he nced through the itinerary of dmissioned Terran Federation vessels, and he finally eximed, “Twenty ships! How could they have bought and outfitted so many ex-Navy vessels?”


    “That’s the other thing John,” Cra continued grimly. “I’ve been studying the listings for ship registrations, and all these old military vessels were dmissioned from the salvage yard at Port Heracles. They should have had their weapons stripped, and then the hulls sold off to salvage dealers, but that didn’t happen.”


    “This stinks of corruption,” John said, his jaw clenching in anger.


    Cra nodded, confirming his dark suspicions as she said, “They were all bought by the same buyer, a Mr Everett Hitch.”


    “And who authorised the transactions?” John asked forebodingly.


    Cra’s face looked bleak when she replied, “Commander Rupert Grant.”This material belongs to N?velDrama.Org.


    “Grant! I knew I should have put a bullet in that bastard’s head!” John fumed.


    Sparks looked at Cra, Alyssa, and John, seeing a wide range of emotions on their faces: sadness, shock, and anger respectively. “Sorry to Interrupt, but who is this ‘Commander Rupert Grant’ guy?” she asked curiously.


    “We had a run in with him at Port Heracles. He’s the Commander of the station, and in charge of this sector,” Alyssa exined. “Plus he tried to ruin Cra’s life!” she added angrily.


    “I hate him already!” Sparks said vehemently.


    John blew out his breath in a big sigh. “OK, we’ll deal with Grantter, we need to focus on the Pirates for the moment,” he said calming down.


    He looked through the listings for the Pirate fleet, and called out the ship ssifications as he read them, “Corvette, Corvette, Destroyer, Frigate, Corvette… Heavy Cruiser!”


    He looked over at Cra in shock, and asked her in disbelief, “That can’t be right?”


    “I’m afraid so, John,” she said soberly.


    “How in the hell did they get their hands on that?” John blurted out, before slumping back in his chair.


    “That’s bad, right?” Sparks asked, concerned.


    Cra nodded grimly, and brought up the detailed specifications for the Heavy Cruiser as she replied, “The Heavy Cruiser Stalingrad is armed with six beamsers, and eight heavy cannon on both the port and starboard sides. It’s designed to use broadsides inbat, but also has full coverage with a defence grid, andser cannon turrets.”


    She brought up the weapon arcs for the formidable looking ship. At just over seven hundred metres, it was significantlyrger than their Assault Cruiser.


    “Can we fight that thing in the Invictus?” Sparks asked, her voice tinged with worry.


    Cra paused for a moment before continuing, “Yes, but it’s going to be a very tough fight.”


    Silence descended on the bridge as they absorbed this troubling news.


    “Wait a moment,” Alyssa said brightly. “Look at the yaw and pitch ratings for that ship!”


    They all looked up at the detailed information disyed in front of them, but nothing immediately jumped out at the others why this would be good news.


    “That thing turns like a brick!” the beautiful blonde said excitedly.


    “Oh, very nice Alyssa!” Cra said, catching on to what her friend had spotted.


    Sparks was still mystified, and she nced at the Latina, hoping for an exnation.


    Cra looked hopeful for the first time, as she eximed, “Look at the fire arcs! The heavy cruiser’s main guns have no rear coverage. If Alyssa can manage it, we can get behind them, and they won’t be able to broadside us!”