Chapter 315: Asteroid Field
They traveled to the edge of the system before doing a blind jump that resulted in them being in a stray asteroid field that was not in the gravitational well of any nearby celestial body. Salem had them waiting there for a moment as Ram did a full check of all their digital equipment.
They were still in republic space. But with a bit of a modification to the ship’s beacon had them off any radar or detection system. The only thing that could see them now were specific listening stations that were designed to spot ships operating without beacons like their ship was at the moment.
"Why are we being so cautious?" Yuti asked as Salem set up the route they would take to the system they were heading to. It turned out they did not need to worry about being intercepted before they returned to the ship. So memorizing part of the information was not worth it.
"I do not get it either but I think the bulk of the answer is because of the Spectre." Marcus answered with a grunt. "But we do have some time now so I think I can speak for everyone when I ask what exactly you are worried about." Marcus pointed out as he continued to look at a screen that was attached to the ship’s radar system. He was watching it through a remote set up so they could watch for threats.
Salem sighed as she considered how much she could tell them. "It is not just a precaution against Spectres as a whole. Usually once you are away from them the Spectres are not a threat. But Spectre Jace is a bit different than the others."
"That is who we were running from... aw man..." Ram pouted as he realized he missed an opportunity to meet a person that was becoming a legend among his people. "But now it makes sense why you had me do all of this. By the way we are all clear."
"Jace is an inventor and programmer on top of being a highly rated combatant. So there is no telling when he might pull out a new gadget or hack our devices. Then there is the fact he is this deep in Republic space at all." Salem declared as she flicked a few buttons and began flying forward. Moving away from the thickest part of the asteroid field to the edge so they could jump to their next destination.
"You think the reason he did not come after us was because he had a different objective that was far more relevant?" Yuti asked as she flicked a few switches and buttons as well. Helping Salem as she navigated through the asteroid field.
"Like a full invasion..." Marcus pointed out as he looked away from his attached data pad and got lost in thought. "They plan to not just attack the Republic but fully invade their country. How long has the Vexical Empire been planning this. Because I doubt they would be this ready without preparation."
"Years. The Emperor created MILD specifically to invade and conquer the other human countries. Now that they have likely joined hands with the Victorium they could conquer just about everyone who committed to that unprovoked attack on Vexical Prime." Salem declared as weaved around another asteroid but something caught her attention as she flew. When she looked over it was no longer there. But she could have sworn she saw another ship out here.
"Would that be so bad?" Atlas asked. "The emperor and military of the Vexical has been turning things around in recent years."
Marcus growled out a response. "But now it is no longer the emperor it is likely one of his-"
"Marcus, is there anything on the radar?" Salem interrupted him. Realizing he was probably not paying attention.
Marcus frowned and looked down. Then his face went white as the blood drained from it. "Shit, we have multiple contacts who are moving to surround us. Ship tags indicate... They are stolen and probably illegal. Pirates?"
"Sounds about right." Salem grunted out as she twisted the yolk and the ship did a spin and dive. Going right toward a larger asteroid that had a set of holes going through the side of it. "We might have strayed into their hunting ground or backyard."
"I see where this is going." Yuti mumbled before looking back. "Strap in! We are going to do some heavy maneuvers!" Yuti called out as she strapped herself into the co-pilot’s seat.
There was a flurry of movement as everything was secured and everyone began strapping themselves in. But Salem was more focused on the enemy ships. She suddenly did a nose dive as a few lasers missed them. A moment later a message came in over the channel.
"Hand over all of your goods! Or we will kill you and take it all anyway!" A heavy accent that Salem did not immediately place yelled at her.
Salem banked the ship around a turn and pressed momentarily on the weapon trigger. She watched as a few orange lines raced out and into the path of the pirate ship nearest them. It tore through them and they could see a momentary plume of orange flames before the ship trailed off and slammed into an asteroid. It exploded and caused a chain reaction as the debris flew in all directions.
Salem turned the ship and quickly flew to the edge of the field. "Noo!! Kill them! We will just have to gain a profit from their corpses!" The same accented leader yelled loudly as Salem used an asteroid to block laser shots from one of the pirates’ ships. They were a lot less maneuverable than her ship. So she was able to easily dodge their attacks.
But as they got nearer to the edge of the field Marcus called out from the back. "We have something as big as a freighter in front of us. Possibly a pirate mothership. What is our plan for that?"
Salem did not respond and just sped up while pressing a few buttons. Yuti immediately understood her intention. So then as they exited the asteroid field Salem was going at full speed as she dodged around the bridge of the freighter ship that had definitely been heavily modified for pirate operations. Then the stars morphed around them as they switched into warp space. Leaving behind a shudder of electricity that momentarily shut down the freighters systems.
"Salem you are insane for trying that. What if the freighter had a way to hold us in place? Or any of the other ways that could have gone wrong like a gravity generator." Yuti pointed out once they were out of danger.
Salem just shrugged. "I know what I am doing."