BAAANG!
A deafening blast ripped across their side. Out of the void emerged a heavy cruiser, a size larger than the Grim Reaper. Its prow bore the emblem of a skull with wings spread wide.
"Pirate ship Abyss?! What the hell is it doing here?" Naomi gasped.
"Yo, Naomi! Baroque here. Long time no see. Looks like you're in trouble, so I'll lend a hand. Consider yourself kidnapped."
The encrypted comm beamed straight into the Reaper.
"Well, well. The mighty Imperial Army, ganging up on a lone civilian ship. Even us pirates wouldn't stoop that low. And what's this? Your shiny super-flagship, the Deathcallion, already busted up? Ha! Pathetic!"
Baroque's taunts blared over open channels while Naomi noticed a small shuttle slip free from the Abyss.
"What's that little thing up to? Osaka, track it on the monitors."
The shuttle circled the Reaper twice, then returned to the Abyss.
"Huh? So what was the point—ah!"
The Reaper suddenly lurched sideways. Neither Naomi nor Osaka had touched the controls—hell, their engines were dead. Yet the ship drifted, inexorably, until it clamped flush against the Abyss's hull.
"They've snagged us," Osaka muttered. "Some kinda tow cables. Means we're basically captured. But Abyss ain't safe either—if we launched missiles now, they couldn't dodge."
Even Osaka sounded baffled.
"Alright, enough chatter. These ones are mine now. Later!"
Space rippled. The Reaper's alarms screamed: spatial anomaly detected.
"You—damn it—!" Yug's voice snapped over comms, then cut off mid-curse.
* * *
Still lashed to the Abyss, the Reaper was dragged across space, jerked through a series of short-range and long-range warps, until they finally arrived before a derelict, hole-riddled colony.
"Looks like... we've reached their destination," Serena said, voice subdued.
Naomi nodded grimly. Of course she was uneasy—the ones who brought them here were pirates. Mercy wasn't on the menu.
"Osaka, can your AI back itself up? If things go bad, we may have to abandon ship."
"Pfft. Naw. Somethin' like me? Ya'd need a whole dang mainframe the size of this ship. Ain't no easy backup fer an AI this big."
"I figured as much," Naomi sighed. "Was hoping for some miracle redundancy."
"Tech's advanced, sure. But human greed's advanced faster. Storage never keeps up. If it comes down to it, don't worry 'bout me, Captain. You run."
While they spoke, the Abyss hauled them into a milky-white dome, flimsy-looking like a giant greenhouse.
"What is this? Looks cheap as hell. Wouldn't a pebble punch right through?" Naomi frowned at the external feed, puzzled by its delicate frame.
"Welcome to our dock," Baroque's voice cut in over secure channel, smoother than before. "This is a sealed bay. We'll pump in air—get ready to disembark."
Naomi set her jaw. "We don't have a choice. Engines are dead. Serena, keep that pendant on you at all times. If a chance to escape comes, we take it."
"Yes. I understand. And Naomi..." Serena's smile was calm, almost regal. "If it truly becomes hopeless, you may leave me behind."
Naomi shook her head fiercely. "I'm never giving up. And neither should you."
Serena chuckled softly. "You're strong, Naomi. Stronger even than the knight who once guarded me."
The dock hissed with mist as atmosphere filled the chamber. Monitors confirmed: oxygen, pressure, all breathable.
Figures emerged from the Abyss, walking across the bay toward them. Then came a knock on the Reaper's hatch.
"Here we go," Naomi muttered, tension in her voice. She opened the lock.
The hatch creaked aside. Waiting beyond were two men—one red-haired in plain clothes, the other the massive cyborg brute who had once chased them.
Naomi instinctively stepped back.
"You! Move over! A big guy like you blocking the hatch? Get outta the way!"
A woman shoved past the giant with a snap. She wore a sleek white spacesuit—polished and stylish compared to the Reaper's clunky gear.
"Elsa, wait—introductions first—" the red-haired man began.
"Later! Health scan comes first!"
The woman, Elsa, pulled a metallic wand from her belt and swept it from Naomi's head to toe, then did the same to Serena.
"Hmm. No injuries or illness. Good. Oh, but that thing in your pocket? Don't use it here. This dock's fragile—you'll poke a hole through and we're all dead."
Baroque's face tightened in alarm. Naomi blinked in confusion—then smacked her forehead.
"Oh! Right. This." She pulled a small laser pistol from her suit pocket.
"Damn it, you forgot you were carrying that?!" Baroque groaned. "Fine, keep it—but don't shoot my walls. They'll pop like paper."
"Huh? Really? I thought you'd confiscate it."
He snorted. "That toy? Won't scratch us. If it makes you feel safer, hold on to it. Just don't do anything stupid. Anyway—name's Baroque, captain of the Abyss. You've met him before—Rim Zap. And this here's our doctor, Elsa."
Baroque's easy grin and casual tone loosened the tension in the room. Naomi's grip on the pistol eased.