Space marauders (closed to Iscaa)

[LucasC00]

A 6ft. tall man of average build made his way through the corridors of the medium sized merchant vessel. He wore simple spacer's clothes and had a cheap but reliable heavy caliber pistol holstered at his side. Once in the cockpit of the ship, known as The Darkstar, dark brown eyes gazed out the front view port before looking down at the various screens and control panels as he took a seat. A hand ran through shoulder length, dark brown hair as he swiveled in his chair to look at his co-pilot, a short wiry man. "Any sign of trouble since I was away?"

"No sir, none at all. We might wanna get our radar checked out once we put into port though, there was a small blip about a half hour ago but it was gone as soon as it was there. How's that special load in the hold?"

"Cargo's fine and thanks for the heads up about the radar, one more damn thing going wrong in this rust bucket. Why don't you go grab yourself a bit to eat and get some rest if you can, it'll be about another half day or so before we put into port." He waved the co-pilot out of the cockpit before turning back to his nav systems and poring over the data, he didn't like his radar being on the fritz, piracy had been up recently in these space lanes and the last thing he needed was something sneaking up on him.

 

[Iscaa]

Sayyida

Sayyida was named for her 15th century ancestor Sayyida al Hurra. She had been the daughter of a prominent Muslim family based in the Kingdom of Granada. Forced to flee their home in 1492 after the reconquista by Christian Spain, she later became a pirate and went after Christian ships. Her fate was unknown. Well this is what was handed down in Sayyida's family, and how she got her name. Growing up on a small quiet planet, she dreamed and admired her namesake even taking on a similar occupation when she become of age. That of piracy, only her adventures were not on the ocean but in space.

She had never been captured due to her cunning and love of regularly changing her appearance. One never knew if she would be a red head, blond or dark haired beauty. An undeniable beauty, she indeed was not above taking full advantage whenever possible. She usually ended up spending most of her portion of the spoils they acquired on her appearance and outrageous outfits, just like any female would past or present.

She was an adept strategist when it came to avoiding the authorities. Her dandy little ship the Stingray was perfect for her needs. It was small, swift and it's maneuverability was unmatched in the quadrant. She had a small crew of six of the most trustworthy men you would ever come across.

Sayyida didn't believe in being greedy, and therefore didn't expose herself and her crew to unnecessary danger. This was probably one of the main reasons she was so successful in her endeavors. She truly believed, "Life was to be enjoyed while it lasted." So with this motto and her loyal crew she happily captured ships and lightened the burden of their cargo for them. Plus every now and then they were not above kidnapping a person or two for a tidy ransom.

It had been a while since Sayyida had acquired a "good haul" and money was getting tight. She was at the point that she couldn't be picky about what kind of ship to take. He second in command, Jesi had just notified her of a medium sized merchant vessel within an hour's reach. She nodded her head for the go ahead. They needed to replenish their food stocks and do a few small repairs on the Stingray. In other words they needed some cash, or cargo to barter. She added,

"Let's make this job quick and painless Jesi."

 

[LucasC00]

Once he was satisfied that the blip that came up on the radar was just a random anomaly he turned away from the nav screen and leaned back in his chair to stare out the viewport. For some reason he could never get enough of this view, it was just so damn relaxing. After a few more moments of enjoying the view he leaned back forward and started bringing up his cargo manifests and doctoring then here and there, he had to make sure that his special caego didn't show up anywhere. In his home port what he was carrying wouldn't be considered illegal at all but where he was headed? Now that was a different story, but as usual the payout was worth the risk.

Once that was taken care of he slotted a small chip into the comms array in front of him and made sure his commlink was linked up and headed to the mess to get himself so.ething to eat. Now if anything went wrong the ship would notify him directly. He chatted with a few of the passengers in the mess and then chatted with the cook for a bit before sitting down to eat. Before he could dig in however one of the people who bought passage came up to him and began speaking.

"So is it true that piracy has been up in this area recently? If it's true then why are we here, why not take a different route?"

He sighed a bit as he set his spoon down and looked at the young man, "Because it's a hell of a lot quicker than other routes by about 3 days and it's 1 out of 2 of the 4 routes to where we're going that the system it passes through isn't currently embroiled in a civil war. Don't worry, we're half a day away right now and there hasn't been a sign of anything..."

 

[Iscaa]

Sayyida leaned over Jesi's shoulder glancing over the monitors, then decided this ship would be their next prey. She ordered Jesi,

"Jesi cloak us and be quick about it. I don't want them to have any warning that they are about to get boarded."

Seconds later, the Stingray was cloaked, as Jesi signaled for the rest of the crew to be silent. They all knew the routine when that order was given by the second in command. As they cruised nearer, Sayyida gave another silent thanks to the gods that had lead her to this remarkable ship. Five years ago, her badly damaged little two man viper ship had gotten her as far as a small repair planet. As luck would have it at the local bar, she and her co-pilot Jesi came across a small group of men that hated their captain. She listened thinking this was the opportunity of a lifetime. After a few drinks she was able to talk them into mutinying and the rest was history.

She became the new commander of what became the Stingray leaving the disgruntled drunk of a captain behind on the planet. The five men plus Jesi had been together ever since. She showed them that their loyalty would be rewarded with a life of adventures and good pay.

Along the way they had acquired the cloaking device which had made their life of piracy so much easier. Their victims seldom saw them coming ...or going for that matter. The sound of their ship locking onto the docking bay, brought Sayyida back from her reverie.

" OK men, you know the routine...lets board this vessel!"

In no time, the six men followed by Sayyida were making their way to the command center.

 

[LucasC00]

As the other ship docked with his The Darkstar gave a light shudder. The captain looked up from his food and then slowly rose from his seat. "Strange, there shouldn't be anything for us to hs e even hit in this sector. Damn nav computer is going to shit." He muttered as he left the mess hall and headed to the cockpit.

I'm the cockpit he brought up a few data screens and then looked in confusion as it told him that their ship was docked with another. He brought up the vidscreen for the external cameras and then thumbed his comm for his co-pilot, "I need you to go check the docking area, computer's telling me we have a ship docked with us but there's nothing on the external camera. And be careful, something doesn't feel right here."

He thumbed his comm back off and started bringing up all of the internal cameras as he unlocked and loaded the rail rifle in the rear compartment of the room. "Better not be pirates, that is the last thing that I need to be dealing with right now."

 

[Iscaa]

Sayyida and her men had made good time, she checked the expensive directional devise she had recently purchased. It seemed to be doing what the sleazy salesman had been going on and on about. It showed her the different kinds of electrical fields on the ship. Right now they headed for the cockpit, but it kept on showing an unusual signal off to the storage area. She was not familiar with that kind of wave, she would certainly investigate that as soon as she had control of the ship.

As they continued, there was some fighting as they came across a couple of men, Sayyida's men were well trained in fighting resulting in a short fracas. In no time the men were rendered unconscious. It took only seconds to tie them up and shove them into a side locker before they continued on. Things went so much smoother when a ship had no forewarning of an attack.

By the time they found the central control area, 8 crew members of the ship had been immobilized. Sayyida began to wonder when she would be meeting the good captain of the ship, she smiled to herself as she looked at the various control panels.

"Ha...just what I am looking for....the cameras, now where would I find the captain of this vessel?"

Turning to her men, she ordered;

"Find me the commander of this tub, and bring him to me...pronto do you hear me?"

Smiling they all made a quick exit to comply with her order. Sayyida sat down in the Captain's chair put her hands behind her head then propped her booted feet on the cockpit console and waited.

 

[LucasC00]

Eventually she'd be able to hear the echoing blast of several shot guns and one particularly loud and high powered sounding rifle. If she'd look at the video screens she'd be able to see a fire fight in the cargo bay. Three crew members and at least one passenger were firing away from behind overturned crates and lockers at her pirates. One man, the one with the high powered rifle, seemed to be the one giving orders, directing his crew against them.

"Don't worry about reloading when you run out! Just hand the weapon back and let them take care of it for you and pick up a fresh one! We can fight them off dammit!"

One of the men, the captain's co-pilot, shouted out, "Sir! Let's just surrender, I don't care what they do to us, it's gotta be a better fate than dieing!"

Surrender if you want but I will give no quarter, nor will I ask for it! I will die defending my ship if I must but I will defend it, dammit!"

 

[Iscaa]

Suddenly Sayyida heard the echo of gunfire, she quickly glanced at the various cameras on the monitors. It took only seconds for her to pinpoint the cargo bay where the men were fighting. Grabbing her bag of goodies that she always had with her, (since it had all kinds of devices she loved to collect the latest technology of which the energy devise she had used earlier had been a part of that very collection), she swiftly left the cockpit.

Moving along the corridor she thought, "Now would be a great time to try out that stun gun I just acquired at the last planet the ship had docked at." While the men had gotten some well earned shore leave, Sayyida had checked out the technology stores and had purchased some very interesting items. She had been dying to test some of them out, now she was about to do just that.

Stopping outside the cargo bay the captain dug in her bag for the stun gun, looked it over again to make sure it was ready to go...and set on the upper stun level she took a breath and stepped inside the hatch. Seeing where her men were situated she soon located the men belonging to this ship. they all had on yellow jumpsuits, which made them easy targets.

She smiled to herself thinking, "If this gun works like it's supposed to well this is going to be as easy as shooting ducks in a gallery!" She aimed at the closest yellow suited man and pressed the button, down went the man. Her eyes widened in pleased surprise, "Well what do you know? The damn thing works!" Before anyone could really understand why, men in yellow were dropping down to the floor like flies....including what Sayyida figured was the captain...in minutes it was all over.

Sayyida called out; "It's OK men...it's all over, you can come out now." She blew on her trusty weapon as they all crowded around her asking questions. Finally putting it away she answered,

"Now now boys, you know I don't give away secrets, but I will say, this is one handy dandy piece of technology. Now see that man over? My guess he is the captain, bring him to the cockpit, I want to ask him a few questions. Then start going over the cargo, make a list of the unusual items and bring that to me as well. The usual cargo, you can immediately start transferring to our ship. Now get a move on!"

With that last order Sayyida smiled once at her men turned around and made her way back to the cockpit.

 

[LucasC00]

When he awoke he felt like his mouth was full of cotton and his head was being stabbed by an ice pick made of light. Finally he was able to register his surroundings and saw he was in the cockpit of his ship. "Ah, shit." He quickly glanced around the cockpit to see who or what else was in there with him then started trying to move to see if he was tied down or not. If he could just reach the inside pocket of his vest he'd be able to send the ship into lock down and send out an s.o.s. and hopefully get some help from this sector's authorities. "How'd they even know to single me out?" He muttered to himself, he and his co-pilot were the only two crew members on board not dressed in any kind of uniform. Personally he hated those gaudy yellow things but the corp he was currently under contract with insisted the crew wear them.

 

[Iscaa]

Sayyida watched the man from the darkened part of the cockpit located just behind the man. He was coming around, she could see that he was pretty disoriented, (Good, maybe he will let something of interest out before he realizes it.) Looking around he groaned,

"Ah, shit."

She grinned as he muttered to himself,

"How'd they even know to single me out? He and his co-pilot were the only two crew members on board not dressed in any kind of uniform."

She made a quick call to get that other man she had hit with her stun gun, that she noted wasn't dressed in a uniform over here pronto. There wasn't much that got past her, it was how she survived all these years.

Once he realized that he was indeed tied down he momentarily slumped in the chair. Seconds later he tried to move his hand towards the inside pocket of his vest.

Still grinning Sayyida moved forward reaching over his wide shoulder, with a slow sensuality she slipped her hand down his chest until she found a pocket on the inside of his vest.

At his sudden startled reaction, she put her lips to his ear and whispered,

"Easy now Darlin, I won't hurt you,..... that is as long as you co-operate."

Pulling out a small object, she came around holding it up for him to see. She swiveled his chair to face her before continuing,

"Now what have we here? Could it be what I think it is? Something like a transmitter of some kind?
Want to tell me more?

She watched him closely for any tells...on what she had asked.

 

[LucasC00]

"If you think I'm giving anything up, then you're sorely mistaken. This isn't my first rodeo, I've dealt with your kind and worse in my line of work before." He renewed his struggle against his bonds and glanced around the cockpit to see if anyone else was present. "The crew you attacked with isn't that big, so unless you left more behind on your own ship, that tells me that you should have a fairly small vessel, which means that your based fairly close to this space lane to make travel and resupply easier on yourself. I'll get out of this one and mark my words, there'll be a bullet with your name on it at the end of this."

 

[Iscaa]

Laying the small instrument to the side, Sayyida burst out laughing at this man's bravado.... because that was all it was. She's seen too many of his kind, she shook her head as she leaned towards him, whipping out a small but extremely sharp switchblade, placing the tip just under his jaw line. Sighing heavily once she continued in a low voice,

"Listen up cowboy, I will not repeat myself again....what is yonder item? The truth now, or you will so regret it."

She pressed the knife in enough so a bright red trickle of blood oozed out of his throat and ran downward disappearing beneath his nice white shirt.

Just then there was a knock on the side of the hatch and Jesi poked his head in.

Ma'am...that other man you wanted? Where do you want me to put him?

Sayyida stood up thinking for a few seconds before replying,

"Bring him in and tie him to the other chair."

Minutes later Jesi had the still unconscious man tied to his satisfaction. He turned waiting for further orders.

She nodded once before saying,

"Get back to the cargo....I'll let you know if there is anything else I need."

 

[LucasC00]

"Fine, I'll tell you what it is, but if I'd tell you then you let me, my crew, and the passengers go. You do that and we got a deal, you can even keep the cargo." A devious plot quickly began to form itself in his mind, he might not make it out of this but he swore to himself these pirates wouldn't survive this either.

 

[Iscaa]

Sayyida stood looking at the man evaluating just how much she could believe. She suddenly spun and threw her knife at the unconscious man. the knife embedded itself in his upper arm, his body jerked.

She turned back looking deadly serious,

"I don't make deals...the next time it will not be his arm, now I want answers....your name first, and my gut tells me, your hiding more then the usual cargo. I will give you to the count of ten to start spilling the beans or your crew member there isn't going to wake up ....ever again."

 

[LucasC00]

"Alright, my name is Captain Baldur, and that little device there is a kind of key to some of the cargo I'm carrying on board. I just wanted to make sure I still had it, clearly I don't now. And as for wether or not that man ever wakes up again? He's been doing this a long time with me, he knows the risks involved in this line of work." Clearly this was not a man to be threatened and cowed, he wasn't a fat littler merchantman, he was likely a man who once engaged in...less reputable work and had retired from it.

 

[Iscaa]

Sayyida paced back and forth in front of Captain Baldur, pleased that he had come clean with her. She did sense that he wasn't the run of the mill transporter of cargo, there was more to him then that. He an air of confidence about him and no fear whatsoever. For himself, his crew-mate was another matter.

Pulling up a spare chair, she leaned towards him with a smile on her pretty face,

"Now that wasn't so bad was it? Why don't you tell me about this "Cargo" that you are trying so hard to hide from me? If you play your cards right, I might even make a deal with you, so you don't look like you lost your entire ship and everything it carries."

She then sat back in the chair and again waited for his response. She had gotten quite good at playing the cat and mouse game over the years.

 

[LucasC00]

"Let's make a deal, I tell you what my special cargo is, you let me keep my ship and keep my first mate alive, I split the regular cargo with you and I'll give you, I don't know, thirty percent of the profits from my special cargo. Everyone gets to walk away alive and with something to gain."

 

[Iscaa]

Sayyida sat back mulling over this so called deal the good Captain Baldur had just finished suggesting. She cupped her chin as she thought about it, finally she sat up,

"Well Captain Baldur, as good as your offer is, I have to say....nay to it, I don't want to sound greedy but this special cargo must be worth way more then what your willing to give me. I think you had better tell me what it is, then I will be in a better position to make a fair deal....fairer for me and my men that is."

She leaned back in her chair and cocked her eyebrow at him.

At that moment Jesi stuck his head in the door again,

"Ma'am, we have all the cargo loaded up now and ready to depart. Will await further orders just outside."

Sayyida nodded her head and he disappeared. She sighed and frowned,

"You better tell me where the cargo is now, if you do, I won't kill the entire crew...speak now man!"

 

[LucasC00]

"It's in a comart mentioned on the ship, I honestly doubt you'll ever find it without my help. As for what it is...well, there's a planet in this sector currently engaged in a civil war, all trade with the planet is shut off until the outcome of the war has been decided, I had planned on smuggling in some weapons and medical supplies to make a very tidy profit, I stood to make well over double what everything was actually worth."

 

[Iscaa]

Sayyida looked at her nails as the Captain explained things. Finally she looked up at him replying,

"Now your talking, let me see, I won't find it without you? Is that right? Then I guess you and I will have to take a little walk together."

Still watching his face she called out to Jesi, who slide into the cockpit only seconds later.

"Jesi, take the good Captain's man here to the Stingray, and put him in the holding cell. The Captain and I have something to do, then we'll both be joining you on our ship. Disable this tugboat....but not permanently, just enough so they won't be able to follow us anytime soon."

To which Jesi saluted before going over to the unconscious man, easily lifted him over his shoulder (Jesi was a huge guy) and with one last glance at Sayyida exited once more.

Sayyida, pulled her stun gun out again as she rose from her chair. Taking her small knife she sliced through the duct tape that bound the Captain's legs to his chair, leaving only his hands tied behind his back.

Backing up to a safe distance, (he was after all a powerful man), and she had never been one to give an enemy any chance to get the upper hand. She hauled her stun gun out adjusted it's power level before pointing it at his chest. Deadly serious now she ordered,

"You are going to lead us to where the cargo is hidden, if you have any ideas of overpowering me, just know this weapon is set to kill.

 

[LucasC00]

He just started grinning now, "If you want me to lead you there, we're going to need some enviro-suits, the smuggler's compartment is outside on the hull of the ship, makes it a little bit easier to get damaged or lost, but also makes it a whole hell of a lot harder to be detected or stolen, except of course in this case." With that he led her out of the cockpit and through the ship to one of the airlock bays.

"So how do you even plan on unloading this cargo? I mean it's not worth much anywhere else, it's low rate equipment, and I doubt you have the contacts I do to actually make it worth your while."

 

[Iscaa]

Sayyida eyed Baldur savagely, she just hated to be bested, especially by a man. While he lead her to the air lock bay. She kept her distance, all the while trying not to shoot his sorry ass. By the time they arrived, she'd been able to get herself composed. She stopped when he turned around to face her, continuing to point her weapon at his heart. Looking up at him she lifted that eyebrow of hers,

"This is what is going to happen, you are the one going out in the enviro-suit and your the one that's going to get the cargo out of the smuggler's compartment and bring it right back here to me. If you dare to try to double cross me in any way, I will make sure you end up drifting through space for the next thousand years. You got that mister?"

She paused long enough to see him look into her eyes thoughtfully before nodding his head in compliance. Satisfied she continued,

"As for how I am going to unload this cargo, well you will just have to tell me how you had intending on doing that. I am not above improvising when needed."

"Now get into that suit, we don't have all day to exchange pleasantries. Move!"

 

[LucasC00]

He shook his head and chuckled a bit as he donned the enviro-suit, "you know it's going to be more than I can carry back right? Some of this stuff needs to be unloaded by machine, they're huge crates but I'll take as many trips as I need to get back what I can." With that he hit the airlock once she was clear and space walked along the hull of the ship until he was at the smuggler's compartment. He punched in the code to unlock it and with a hiss of released air he opened it and began to carry crates of gear back. On his final trip he cracked one crate in the compartment open and sifted around inside until he produced a small handgun and two clips of ammo. He tucked it into the suit so that it wasn't visible then reseal ed the crate and brought it back.

 

[Iscaa]

Once Baldur had exited the airlock, Sayyida watched as he got to work. It didn't take long for her to realize that he hadn't been kidding, there were more crates then one man could handle and she was in a hurry, pressing the direct link to her first mate, she quickly notified Jesi,

"Jesi, it looks like we have more cargo then I thought, bring some extra loading equipment to transfer these crates onto our ship and bring a couple of extra men. I want to get finished as soon as possible and get out of this area. Are the men all contained on this ship? I don't want any surprises....you know how I hate surprises."

Her ship was ready to depart now, so as soon as the extra cargo was on board she intended to cloak and warp out of there at high speed. As she watched and waited for Baldur to bring in the first crate, she reflected,

(I have no doubt this guy will try to get the upper hand, sooner or later. It's really too bad but he is going to be way too much trouble to keep around. As soon as I get the information I need, I am going to have to boot his ass out the airlock along with his mate of course. I hate to do it, but I don't have the time or manpower to see if they are trustworthy.)

In minutes Sayyida heard her men moving just outside the airlock and breathed a sigh of relief, confident the job would be finished shortly.

 

[LucasC00]

As he lugged in the final crate and set it down he closed the airlock and pull the helmet to his suit off and grinned. "Alright, I got one final deal to make with you before you set off on outta here, and I got a feeling you'll really like this one." As he spoke the final words he pulled the pistol from its hidden spot and pointed it at her head. "You're going to take me with you, hell, we can sell this ship at the next port for some extra creds. I used to be in the same business as you, I still have my contacts and could be a good bit of help to you, and it looks like you got it going pretty good for yourself, I know that if I shoot you I ain't making it out alive and I'm perfectly willing to go down with you if that's what it takes to keep from letting you personally have the satisfaction of besting me. And I can guarantee I'll be as loyal as your men so long as the money keeps flowing."