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Two weeks later, they start their first hunt.
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1
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There are six ships, including Deal Hunter.
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2
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The attack ships can operate continuously at twenty times standard acceleration.
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3
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Most have only one laser cannon because of the power and the number of parts.
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4
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They are looking for a small group of pirate ships.
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5
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With little to no experience, they don’t know where to look or what to expect.
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6
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The first encounter occurs when a freighter is traveling between systems and signals for help becaus...
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7
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When the Deal Hunter fleet arrives, the freighter has already been severely damaged.
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8
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The pirates have four fighters and are taking their time.
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9
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The radio chatter is the pirates asking the freighter’s pilot for payment to continue.
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10
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Deal Hunter comes onto the grid, and Kainda gets a situational update from Hunter.
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11
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“Hunter, send the attack ships after the fighters. Destroy them so we can salvage them for parts.”
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12
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“Attack ships deployed; they will need some time to destroy all four fighters.”
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13
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“With each kill, they can gang up and should focus on another fighter. Have two or more attack ships...
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14
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Fifteen minutes later, Kainda asks Hunter to open a vid channel to the freighter.
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15
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“Hello, pilot, I’m Captain Capek.”
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16
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“Hello, Princess. The universe knows that the captain of the Deal Hunter is Princess Kainda. The mod...
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17
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“What information can you tell me about pirate activity in the area?”
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18
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“Sorry, Princess. I thought I was in a safe channel and would not be attacked.”
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19
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“Who told you it would be safe?”
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20
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“That is information paid for as part of the contract. This is a good-paying contract if you can get...
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21
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“Why isn’t the Murphy military helping?”
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22
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Kainda sees and hears the pilot laughing,
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23
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“Wow, you have no idea. The Murphy fleet is a token. The pirates are in control and are getting aggr...
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24
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“Continue your delivery.”
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25
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“The fighters disabled my ability to maneuver and jump. I’m effectively dead in space.”
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26
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Kainda taps a control to mute her voice and asks Hunter,
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27
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“Can we fix his ship or help in some way?”
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28
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“Captain, fixing his ship will get around quickly. We need to be careful.”
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29
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“What salvage is in the area? Can he fix his ship?”
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30
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“There is enough salvage to fix his ship.”
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31
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Kainda taps to open comms and says,
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32
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“I have another, more lucrative salvage to get. You are lucky.”
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33
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Kainda cuts the connection, pauses, takes a deep breath, and says,
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34
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“Leave him. Jump out and let him figure it out. I will look bad to help, but I can just look like I ...
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35
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<<<>>>
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36
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A few weeks later, Kainda’s fleet now has eight more ships that can help with salvaging.
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37
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They are now at the point where the fleet goes to new wrecks for salvage and keeps other salvage gui...
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38
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The fleet comprises Deal Hunter, six salvage ships, and seven robot attack ships.
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39
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Each salvage ship includes worker robots and storage space.
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40
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The robot ship moves parts to a salvage ship for workers to sort and store.
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41
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In the first fight encounter with a salvage guild, the guild was not aware of the robot attack ship’...
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42
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They waited until they had amassed a force of twenty ships.
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43
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When the salvage guild started their attack, they targeted Kainda’s salvage ships.
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44
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“Captain, the guild ships are moving to attack.”
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45
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“Execute the plan. Attack robot ships; let them get close, then take them out. We will get more ship...
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46
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After two encounters, the pirate princess’s salvage fleet is not touched.
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47
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The salvage guilds keep their distance and watch.
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48
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<<<>>>
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49
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The pirate princess fleet has arrived at a recent battle.
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50
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Two pirate groups fought for hours.
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51
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There is debris scattered, with sixteen fighters destroyed and a frigate-sized ship completely disab...
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52
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Dozens of other ships were damaged and jumped away.
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53
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The Deal Hunter fleet came in and started to sweep the area.
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54
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The ten salvage ships deploy and send out robots to gather parts.
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55
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Each salvager has an attack robot ship to push parts to the worker robots.
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56
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In addition, there are eight more attack robot ships.
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57
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Kainda is on the Deal Hunter bridge, going through the list of parts as the ships catalog what they ...
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58
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The ships were a few minutes into the salvage when the Deal Hunter’s alarm started going off.
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59
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“Captain, twelve pirate ships just jumped onto the grid. There are two cruisers, two frigates, and e...
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60
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Kainda gets into the captain’s chair and says,
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61
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“Start the engines to get us out of the area. Send a message to all the salvage ships to get their r...
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62
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“Fighters are heading towards us.”
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63
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“We will be the primary target. They want me to get defensive, which means we go on the offensive. T...
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64
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“The frigates are heading to the largest group of salvage ships.”
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65
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“Send the other attack ships to the frigates. Now I wait for a few minutes.”
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66
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Kainda watches the screen, which she has set up to rotate slowly to give her a 3D view of the battle...
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67
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It is easy to see that her attack ships are substantially faster than the fighters with their biolog...
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68
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“The attack ships need to fire at the frigate’s sensor array, weapons, and then the bridge.”
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69
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Kainda is looking at the frigates in the 3D view and sees an opportunity.
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70
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“Hunter, when I jumped close to another mass, I felt the impact. Do people outside the ship feel tha...
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71
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“There is very little data for your question. The theory says the effect applies in and around the s...
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72
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Kainda checks the screen and says,
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73
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“Salvager nine needs to head toward the bridge of the closest frigate. Head across the bridge front ...
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74
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“Captain, what are you trying to accomplish?”
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75
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“If the turbulence field applies around the ship, we get that salvager to get close to the bridge an...
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76
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<<<>>>
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77
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The frigate’s bridge crew works together.
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78
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The weapons officer says,
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79
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“Captain, these attack ships are moving in a pattern and so fast our turrets can’t track them. Six t...
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80
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“Change the targeting AI parameters.”
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81
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“I have already adjusted the targeting AI. This is a physical limitation; their attack routes move a...
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82
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The radar crewman says,
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83
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“Captain, we have one of the salvage freighters heading toward us. Their current path will impact th...
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84
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“Is she trying to crash a ship into us? Target that freighter.”
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85
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“Captain, our laser cannon turrets are now all offline. The report is that they may be able to get o...
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86
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The captain looks around the bridge, saying,
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87
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“Give me some options.”
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88
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“Captain, the freighter will impact in 30 seconds.”
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89
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The salvage freighter turns at the last second to go across the bridge.
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90
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Just before that, the frigate captain says,
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91
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“Helm, hard starboard and down angle. Dive under the ship.”
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92
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<<<>>>
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93
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Kainda watches as the salvage ship heads across the bridge area.
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94
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As she is watching, Hunter says,
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95
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“A missile has been fired at us, now two, now four.”
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96
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Kainda shifts in the chair and tightens the restraints.
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97
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“Accelerate at eight times standard. Start maneuvers to use the cannons and destroy the missiles.”
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98
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Turning back to the screen, the ship Salvager Nine is gone, and the frigate has changed direction an...
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99
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“Hunter, please evaluate the change in the frigate’s direction.”
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100
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“The most probable situation is that they changed course to avoid a collision, and the pilot is not ...
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101
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“Excellent. Evaluate the paths for the other salvagers. Any salvager that can do that maneuver shoul...
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102
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The frigate starts to return to the original course when another salvager is accelerating toward the...
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103
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<<<>>>
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104
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The captain has his hand on his stomach and asks,
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105
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“What just happened? Is everyone okay?”
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106
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The crew nods; they are okay; however, most have an arm on their stomach in pain.
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107
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Someone says,
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108
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“We don’t know. Checking.”
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109
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“Captain, the freighter jumped right in front of the bridge.”
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110
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The captain replies,
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111
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“That is crazy. The jump will be way off course, jumping this close to another mass. We always get f...
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112
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“Captain, there is another freighter heading toward us.”
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113
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“Do we have any laser turrets?”
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114
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“They are offline. Current estimate is another minute to get one back online.”
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115
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The freighter has a course directly at the bridge and jumps just before impact.
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116
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Now the bridge crew of the frigate is in serious pain.
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117
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They are all making noise, breathing heavily, and holding their abdomens.
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118
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The captain shakes his head and immediately clutches his head in pain.
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119
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“Captain, there is another salvage freighter heading toward us.”
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120
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The captain asks,
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121
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“Do we have any options?”
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122
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The third freighter jumps in front of the bridge.
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123
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Everyone is in pain and is now making noises.
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124
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The ship’s helmsman feels something in her lap and looks down to see blood dripping onto her lap fro...
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125
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At the front of the ship, she is closest to the jump.
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126
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Her head hurts, and she is having trouble concentrating.
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127
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Her nosebleed is getting worse.
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128
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The bridge crew hears,
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129
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“Another ship is heading toward us.”
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130
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<<<>>>
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131
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“Captain, the last of their fighters have been disabled or destroyed. They have also fired two more ...
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132
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“Send those attack ships to the cruisers. Give them direction on how to fly to go faster than their ...
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133
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Looking at the battlefield on one screen, she sees the salvage ships getting away.
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134
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She can’t move her arms to adjust any views or touch switches.
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135
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It is hard to breathe, and because of the acceleration, she must force blood into her brain.
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136
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At this level of acceleration, she cannot stay this way for more than a few minutes.
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137
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As she watches, the first frigate has a mostly destroyed bridge.
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138
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The attack ships are destroying the bridge on the second frigate.
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139
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She sees the cruiser’s guns destroy an attack ship.
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140
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The last salvager is turning to jump when a cruiser gets within gun range and fires, hitting the shi...
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141
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The ship continues and jumps.
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142
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Hunter says,
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143
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“Two missiles destroyed. With their faster acceleration, they can catch us.”
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144
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Kainda watches the screen as two of the attack ships are chasing the missiles that are chasing Deal ...
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145
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They are coming from the starboard side.
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146
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They fire at the missiles when one missile changes direction and heads toward the attack ship.
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147
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The cruisers now shift their cannons toward Deal Hunter and start firing.
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148
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The laser cannon fire can’t be seen in flight.
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149
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It can only be seen when it hits something.
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150
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After multiple shots, a laser bolt hits an attack ship, causing it to spin off to port.
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151
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Deal Hunter shifts to fire at the missile that is still chasing.
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152
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“Captain, the missile will catch us in a few seconds. Also, the cruisers are shooting.”
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153
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Right after hearing this, Deal Hunter jerks, and Kainda feels the acceleration change.
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154
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“Captain, an engine is damaged. The missile will impact in fifteen seconds. We need to jump.”
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155
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Kainda says,
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156
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“The salvage ships have jumped. The rest of the ships can jump away. All ships jump.”
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157
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<<<>>>
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158
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The fleet has returned to the base, and Kainda is reviewing the reports on ship damage and salvage r...
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159
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“Hunter, we lost two robot attack ships, a salvager was damaged, and you were damaged. That is a pre...
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160
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“It is another example of the pirate princess being aggressive and winning.”
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161
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“We were lucky. In a long fight, they would have won. I wouldn’t have lasted much longer at that acc...
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162
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“You changed the game with the jump attack. I have no data on a jump being used offensively before.”
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163
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“We got little salvage before we had to leave. We need to prioritize salvaging from other types of w...
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164
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“Captain, I recommend salvage focuses on trade items that are desired on planets. Based on the news ...
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165
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“Good suggestion, Hunter. Can we create a list of items we already have that are needed? Maybe we do...
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166
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“There is a risk that pirates are in the area; they will destroy the little shuttle. Do we send robo...
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167
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“That would be good for protection, but could also be seen as aggression. Let’s try just the shuttle...
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168
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“Yes, Captain.”
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