LPS Redemption - Unknown system, 30 December 2041
The pirates fought to the last, it had taken hours to clear the station the defending warrior contingent had been decimated as had the crew.
Brian had left four teams of his own guard and some crew members to help restore order aboard the station. The new armour had proven it's worth, despite numerous strikes against his Guards armour there had not been any injuries.
The disabled Frigate had been boarded and secured, unfortunately life support had been knocked out by the missile impacts along with main power. This meant that with the overall poor state of the vessel that emergency hatches had not closed when the hull was breached, the crew were all dead from exposure.
The good news being that the Frigate was salvageable, with a prize crew aboard making repairs it would soon depart for home base.
The Redemption was currently docked with the station allowing his engineers easy access to help with repairs. It also allowed the temporary support already at work to sleep in their own quarters and rotate with other crew providing round the clock support.
Brian was meeting with the station executives in the conference room.
"Lord Protector we are in your debt, we would all be dead had you not intervened. I had to admit when I saw a Frigate charging down a Cruiser I thought you needed a mental assessment."
"It was a calculated risk Director, one not guaranteed to work, we could not stand by and watch as pirates assaulted your station. Though I would like to know why they singled you out, do you have any idea why that would be?"
"Lord we are a trade station, we hold significant amounts of cargo waiting to be collected for onward movement. I can have the manifest sent to you if you would like, there are items of significant value on the station."
"Why would you store such cargos? Surely it holds a great deal of risk?"
"It does indeed Lord, our station was thought to be well defended against pirate attack though the threat assessment was based on what was deemed to be normal pirate behaviour where the most we would likely encounter was a pair of destroyers.
The station is a business venture between a guild of independent traders not beholden to any House, often when cargoes are to small or of too little value to transport it directly they are stored. There are seven such stations including the one you are now docked to within three week hyperspace travel. Traders will pick up small or low value loads when they reach a destination regardless of where they are due to be delivered, timelines are often long on such cargos. They bring them to stations such as this to offload, then they fill their ships with stock for a single destination. The unloaded cargo is then processed by its intended destination waiting for another ship to take it on its way.
The houses often don't deal with such cargos as they hold to little value for ships to deliver which allowed our guild to take advantage of the hole in the market. If the cargo had been destroyed or stolen it would have been crushing to our guild. No one anticipated a squadron of pirates led by a cruiser to assault the station."
"We were surprised by that also Director, it is something I intend to get to the bottom of. Hopefully there aren't many pirate controlled heavy warships out there or this region of space could become a lot more dangerous. Many others will have threat assessments based on pirates controlling light warships like yourself, they will all need to be revised.
Is there any support you can call on to help protect yourselves?"
"Unfortunately not Lord, not unless we concede ownership to one of the Houses but we are reluctant to do so. We value our independence."
"If you can provide me with the locations of the other Stations I will have my patrols check in with them sporadically. It's not much but it is all I can offer at the moment Director."
"That would be very much appreciated Lord, I am overwhelmed by your generosity. I wish there was some way I could repay you, unfortunately we are not in a position to do so."
"Lord Protector, excuse my interruption, Director I may be able to help you help yourself if you are willing."
"Director, allow me to introduce Tal'oum Co-Leader of House Shining Horizon and my Ward."
"Honoured to meet you Lady, what help do you speak of?"
"My house has a number of freighters sat idle including six Corvette escort warships, I would be willing to loan you these assets to help you move supplies. I am also willing to loan you some engineers to help reassess your defences. There is a condition to the support offered thought Director. The profits made with the support I provide must be used to upgrade the defences of your stations and the eventual purchase of your own escorts."
"Lady, I don't know what to say! I would love to be able to accept but I must talk to our guild council to be able to agree. I suspect they will approve but I hope you understand the need to include them in this decision?"
"My guardian has shown taught me many things Director, we all work towards a common goal. Your stability brings stability to this area of space which in turn brings stability to my own House. Talk to your council and I will have my assets prepare to support you."
"Thank you Lady, I will have an answer for you in the next few hours. Lord Protector, my communication equipment is still being repaired, would you allow me to use your ship to speak with the guild council?"
"Of course Director, there is an office next door, it is at your disposal. There will be a Guard outside the hatch if you require anything."
The station Director left through the hatch to the office leaving Brian and his three Apprentices alone in the conference room. He had given them a break from their assignments to allow them to observe the meeting to see what they could learn.
"Apologies Lord, I know your instructions were to observe but the efforts of this guild provide an essential stabilising effect to this region. If they were to fail then the effect would be widely felt."
"It's ok Tal'oum, while you deviated from your instruction your input was valuable. It will impact your House profits though, though your Corvettes are available you could easily find paying contracts for your Freighters."
"True Lord but someone I respect very much said it best together we stand."
The comment took Brian aback, he paused a moment to process it.
"Tal'oum, your selflessness is commendable, I'm proud of you."
She bowed her head in acknowledgment of the praise without further comment.
"So, you've all seen the reports of what we've already come across and seen what we've faced in system. What are your thoughts?"
"The pirates appear to be getting more organised, their ability to work together is surprising."
"Agreed Ake'bao, anyone else?"
"The number of vessels we've encountered has been significant as well as the classes, though they aren't in prime condition they still represent a threat to most in this area of space. Even with the number of ships we've captured or destroyed there doesn't seem to have impacted their operations. There has to be a significant support network somewhere."
"Very astute Shi'lahn, any more?"
"Despite what information we've collected we still seem to know too little."
"Not exactly Tal'oum, or rather I don't think it's a lack of information that's the problem. Our AIs can process vast amounts of information but they appear to lack the creativity required to intuitively link things together. I think we need help working out the bigger picture."
"Agreed Lord, possibly the Great Lord might know of someone capable of this type of work. It is not often needed in our society."
"No Ake'bao we're not going to see the Great Lord, not yet."
"Then where Lord?"
"We're going to see the Lord Protectors home planet Ake'bao, we're going to Earth."
Brian could help but smile at Tal'oum, she was perhaps the sharpest of his three Apprentices and she was spot on in Brians next planned move.
"Ops, signal home base. Have the Transport divert and meet us in the Sol System once she's finished with refit." Brian ordered through his command bracelet, recovering an affirmative response almost immediately.
"A transport Lord? How many humans do you intend to recruit?"
"It's not just the number intend to recruit Shi'lahn, the Transport has a command centre designed to support ongoing operations which would allow them to start work immediately."
"Because you said to divert the Transport Lord, you think they will be able to help when we arrive to support Kad'lim?"
"You're catching on Ake'bao, yes I believe the pirates are linked somehow to what's going on with the situation there."
The door to the office opened and the Director joined the group once more in the conference room and took his seat.
"The council required little time to make their decision Lady, we accept your offer of support."
"Then if you can tell me where you require them Director, I will have the ships deployed immediately."
"Of course Lady, I will make sure you have that information within the hour. Can I do anything else for you Lord Protector?"
"No Director, you've been most helpful. From the estimates I've seen on the repairs my people will be finished tomorrow, we'll remain here until then. If you'll accept the support I'll leave my people supporting you here until you can replace those lost?"
"That would be most appreciated Lord, they are most proficient, even the warriors have been able to assist with repairs. They do you credit."
"That they do Director. They all know how to fight, not just the warriors, if the pirates make another attempt they'll ensure they regret it."
The meeting dispersed and the Apprentices were sent back to their assignments. Brian added supplemental orders to those that had been sent for the Transport. He would need replacements for those he was leaving behind.
Tal'oum also dispatched orders of her own, co-signed by Shi'lahn.