He was less sure about taking some prisoners, but the marines had their orders.
"Jazz, Warsong . We're going to tow the Toralii vessel to the Madrid , request an escort in."
"Confirmed, Warsong . I'll follow you in myself, along with my wingman." He changed channels. "Predator, we're following Warsong and the captured bird back to the Madrid . Butcher, Jigsaw, maintain the CAP. I'll see you all back on deck."
They confirmed his orders and then Jazz swung his fighter's nose around, forming up near the Broadsword and following it as it towed its prey towards Velsharn.
The pace they made was so slow that, after several hours, the Madrid came to meet them. It was a risk, but it would have taken too long otherwise. The Broadsword Warsong pushed the captured Toralii frigate out towards the much larger Human ship, and as they drew close, Jazz could not fight a strange sense of satisfaction.
Against the Toralii it was rarer that Humans had the bigger, stronger ship.
The Madrid 's autocannons followed the Toralii ship as the Warsong pushed it into the hangar bay, momentarily disappearing from view. He waited, and then the Warsong returned, minus its prey.
He didn't know what the fates of the Toralii prisoners would be, nor did he much care to.
"Mission complete," he said, patching in his communications to Predator and the Warsong . "Let's head back to the Beijing ."
Liao had never been on another Pillar with any kind of emergency state. She always knew where to go on her own ship, but here she had no clear duty post. She was a visitor.
After a moment's hesitation, though, realisation dawned.
She was supposed to go with the civilians.
It was what she was supposed to do, but that thought rankled her. Not that she had anything against civilians or thought she was above them, but it seemed a waste of her time. There must be something more productive she could do.
So Liao headed back to the airlock, to the Broadsword that brought her here, managing to get up the loading ramp right as the hangar bay was decompressing. She made her way up to the cockpit, pulling open the heavy metal door that sealed that area off from the rest of the craft, and rested her hand on the back of the pilot's headrest.
"I want to know what's happening out there," she said, and the pilot handed over his headset.
The Switchblade had returned. More urgently, the CAP had engaged a Toralii ship; with the aid of the Beijing 's marines, they now owned that ship.
She was, in a way, halfway between her life after the court martial—a civilian out of touch with everything—and her life before the destruction of Earth, once more in charge of a powerful warship, privy to events as they unfurled. She could hear, but not affect, the events around her.
The captured ship would be deposited in their hangar bay in two hours. Normally she would not wait around for such a thing, but something about the situation compelled her to stay. She requested the Broadsword hold position for her, something the crew was happy to do. She let Kamal know she would be late, and then she waited.
The doors to the Madrid 's hangar bay opened, and the Warsong unceremoniously dropped the Toralii frigate into the hangar bay. It barely fit. The hull was scorched and holed, and the alien ship's metal plating exposed decompressed sections, battle scarred and warped from explosions.
When the bay was re-pressurised, Liao went out to see the prisoners. Eight of them, their wrists cuffed behind their bodies with heavy steel chains, led by her marines.
She approached the first one, a white-furred Toralii whose face was covered in scars. They all still wore their armoured space suits, and this one, by her markings, was the commander. Their prisoner wore no translating earpiece, but as she approached, the Toralii seemed to recognise her.
["Commander Liao."]
Liao nodded. Speaking was pointless until the translators arrived with their tablets and technology.
["Your worlds burn, insect. Just
"Jazz, Warsong . We're going to tow the Toralii vessel to the Madrid , request an escort in."
"Confirmed, Warsong . I'll follow you in myself, along with my wingman." He changed channels. "Predator, we're following Warsong and the captured bird back to the Madrid . Butcher, Jigsaw, maintain the CAP. I'll see you all back on deck."
They confirmed his orders and then Jazz swung his fighter's nose around, forming up near the Broadsword and following it as it towed its prey towards Velsharn.
The pace they made was so slow that, after several hours, the Madrid came to meet them. It was a risk, but it would have taken too long otherwise. The Broadsword Warsong pushed the captured Toralii frigate out towards the much larger Human ship, and as they drew close, Jazz could not fight a strange sense of satisfaction.
Against the Toralii it was rarer that Humans had the bigger, stronger ship.
The Madrid 's autocannons followed the Toralii ship as the Warsong pushed it into the hangar bay, momentarily disappearing from view. He waited, and then the Warsong returned, minus its prey.
He didn't know what the fates of the Toralii prisoners would be, nor did he much care to.
"Mission complete," he said, patching in his communications to Predator and the Warsong . "Let's head back to the Beijing ."
Liao had never been on another Pillar with any kind of emergency state. She always knew where to go on her own ship, but here she had no clear duty post. She was a visitor.
After a moment's hesitation, though, realisation dawned.
She was supposed to go with the civilians.
It was what she was supposed to do, but that thought rankled her. Not that she had anything against civilians or thought she was above them, but it seemed a waste of her time. There must be something more productive she could do.
So Liao headed back to the airlock, to the Broadsword that brought her here, managing to get up the loading ramp right as the hangar bay was decompressing. She made her way up to the cockpit, pulling open the heavy metal door that sealed that area off from the rest of the craft, and rested her hand on the back of the pilot's headrest.
"I want to know what's happening out there," she said, and the pilot handed over his headset.
The Switchblade had returned. More urgently, the CAP had engaged a Toralii ship; with the aid of the Beijing 's marines, they now owned that ship.
She was, in a way, halfway between her life after the court martial—a civilian out of touch with everything—and her life before the destruction of Earth, once more in charge of a powerful warship, privy to events as they unfurled. She could hear, but not affect, the events around her.
The captured ship would be deposited in their hangar bay in two hours. Normally she would not wait around for such a thing, but something about the situation compelled her to stay. She requested the Broadsword hold position for her, something the crew was happy to do. She let Kamal know she would be late, and then she waited.
The doors to the Madrid 's hangar bay opened, and the Warsong unceremoniously dropped the Toralii frigate into the hangar bay. It barely fit. The hull was scorched and holed, and the alien ship's metal plating exposed decompressed sections, battle scarred and warped from explosions.
When the bay was re-pressurised, Liao went out to see the prisoners. Eight of them, their wrists cuffed behind their bodies with heavy steel chains, led by her marines.
She approached the first one, a white-furred Toralii whose face was covered in scars. They all still wore their armoured space suits, and this one, by her markings, was the commander. Their prisoner wore no translating earpiece, but as she approached, the Toralii seemed to recognise her.
["Commander Liao."]
Liao nodded. Speaking was pointless until the translators arrived with their tablets and technology.
["Your worlds burn, insect. Just
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