Soul of a Gambler

Part XI - "Standoff"

Author's Note: Bracketed text denotes a character speaking in Krazoran, or writing in Krazoran. Non-Krazoran characters will not understand them however I wanted to ensure that you, the reader, would not lose out on any relevant text or dialogue.

Shipmaster Arios Ferantyl had nearly fallen asleep in his command chair. Things were more often than not quiet out this far, and he whiled away the majority of his deployment in an Ichor vapor induced haze. His crew protested, citing the illegality of Ichor in the Imperial systems but the near-perpetual state of R&R the VIGILANT SENTINEL remained in washed away most feelings of apprehension among the crewmembers.

Akka remained a bustling production center even after the lesson the Krazorans had learned about keeping important elements this far on the frontier. The headquarters of the espionage organization known as the Office of Secret Intelligence on Shield World Roland was lost during the Slipspace War due to some unforseen repercussions on the part of Humanity.

Despite this, other than the single Blackwatch battleship Shipmaster Ferantyl had caught some time ago and the occasional cargo transport or private pilot who decided to take a "shortcut" things were quiet. His pilotka-style hat had been drawn over his eyes, and his hands were folded over his Ichor Stick. Sleep lurked just around the corner, but the sudden whoop of the alarm scared it away.

[ "Warning! Slipspace trajectories have been predicted to cross through this vicinity. Hyperdiction systems are automatically charging, please take battle stations." ] The ship's Tactical AI shouted above the wailing alarm, and Ferantyl snorted back in the snore that threatened to escape his mouth.

[ "Jenna, how long do we have until the contacts reach Hyperdiction range?" ] Ferantyl straightened his cap and shook the sleep from himself, unfortunately the chemical fog was harder to dispel but it would be a lie to say he hadn't fought that way in the past.

With luck, there wouldn't be a need to fight. His crew could handle it, they always could.

[ "One-hundred and twenty seconds. Hyperdiction Tether is ready. I advise that you--" ]

[ "Yeah, yeah, tether the lead contact. I am high, Jenna, I am not stupid." ]

Jenna had no reply to this. The bridge crew filed in from the entrance behind Ferantyl's chair, and stepped down into the trenches that flanked a raised walkway to the projection-window screen at the front of the command deck.

Ferantyl rolled up his right sleeve, exposing his tattoo of Kha-Anantal, the Fate Serpent of the Void that devoured the sun in the ancient myths of his people. Half of a successful Hyperdiction was the performance before taking down the incoming ships, and good showmanship was something the Shipmaster valued. He stood and made groggy steps toward the front, stopping just a few feet from the projection-window.

[ "Initiate tether with draw strength eighty-five, ready the Disturber Net. Target velocity, four hundred Luminal. Target heading, one hundred sixty seven degrees. Use primary reactors." ] He dictated to nobody in particular, orating the information displayed to him by the bright red triangles on the window's display of the space before the ship.