3 MFs and a BF to go.
The Vigilant recalls it fighters, and, along with the Stalwart, attack the remaining Bulk freighter. Its shields are at 70% and it hasn't had any fight taken out of it (The Vigilant is at 55% and the Stalwart at 95%.) It fires off its remaining SAD load at the Vigilant (now at 45%) and attacks the Stalwart with its two phase turrets. (Stalwart at 90%) The Vigilant releases its two remaining fighters (100%, 100%) and All four ships attack the Bulk Freighter as the Malevolent Fuzz (RA, 97%) and Ffrith (100%, vision slightly impaired by bile smeared on viewing screen, as the designers of the Azdara did not assume that the ship would be at such close quarters with the enemy and therefore did not include windshield wipers. Together they make a joint attack on the Bulk Frieghter, and disable it while suffering no damage (the gunners didn't no which attacker to fire at.)
Meanwhile one Freighter flees into hyperspace while another is disabled by the two aradas and the Unwavering, which suffers heavy shield loss but is not destroyed or even disabled.
So, the convoy is disabled. Entropy counts the ships- The Merchant arada, motionless and pitted with phase scarring, the crescent fighter, spinning wildly away towards Vriima, who moves to intercept it and stops it dead, (when it is repaired it will replace the crescent fighter destroyed by the FTG,) the two bulk freighters, the three MFs, one abandoned, one half-destroyed, and one disabled but with the crew still alive, and the three couriers (one abandoned by the crew- the escape pods were now out of range and probably would not be rescued by anyone but instead float through the blackness of space forever.)
The CSLF had lost 1 Crescent fighter and 1 Arada.
The CSLF then proceeded to open the cargo pods to see what was inside- the ships manuevering up close to the sides of the disabled ships so that their airlocks/loading docks were paralell and attaching themselves via magnets and spikes, and then forcing or cutting the airlock doors open. This differed from standard procedure (blasting a hole in the cargo bay from afar and sending cargo drones to carry all the cargo away, and thus minimalizing any contact with the crew because unless the crew sealed the bays clsoed than they would all be sucked out into the vacuum,) but when the cargo was living creatures like fuzzes, you simply couldn't do that. You had to quickly seal the interior doors to prevent the crew from resisting your efforts (crew usually wouldn't be in the bays in the pirst place, as the pressure is kept slightly lower in them and it is uncomfortable, anyway, if you were facing the possibility of having your hull cut open and you being sucked into the vacuum, it was simply suicide. Fortunately, in Miranu freighters and bulk frieghters the crew can't get into the cargo bays, as they are in the form of removable pods.
Entropy and his crew took the first Bulk Frieghter, the Vigilance took the second, the Steadfast took the disabled MF, Ffrithe the half-destroyed one, the Malevolent Fuzz the abandoned one, The Vindictive Fuzz and Vengeful Fuzz both took couriers, and Vriima took the abandoned Courier.
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Entropy, a look of sucess on his face, stood near the cargo bay airlock with fuzz handlers beside him to help the fuzzes into the ship, a specialist with an electron prod to attempt to force the airlock open, and two crewmembers with cutting lasers if that didn't work.
The exterior airlock doors opened and intense heat was applied momentarily (the outer hull of the Bulk Friehgter would be at freezing temperature,) and then the interior doors opened. Entropy felt the freighter's door- it was still very cold, but not cold enought to freeze his fingers off. The type of control panel the electron prod was designed to short wasn't there, so Entropy and his crew retreated as the blowtorch wielding crewmembers sliced it open- the airlock being larger than the Lazira's, a Lazira-airlock-shaped segment of door fell into the ship and the blowtorch crewmen pulled it away with some difficulty. The electron prod worked on the smaller interior lock, though- it opened easily.
Entropy gazed out into the multitudes of Fuzzes- they would all fit in his hold, although just bairly- and this was only one of the three cargo segments: he have to have the Resolute take the rest- if it was only Fuzzes they found. Entropy had a strong suspicion that that wouldn't be the only cargo on this ship- and he was right. As the Fuzzes were herded into the ship, he noticed that half of them were unmoving- dead?
No, stuffed. Entropy picked one up- it burst and a black powder came out of it. Hexabanine- one of the strongest narcotics available- and very valuable, too... he didn't want to become involved in the narcotics trade, but there was a fortune here...
"Partition the hold! Put the live fuzzes in one half and the stuffed ones in the other!"
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After the fuzzez, living and stuffed, were loaded into the holds, he called the Resolute up and ordered it to open the second pod. After a few minutes, a voice crackled over the intercom. "No fuzzes in here! Just a bunch of big, heavy grey things- wierd. What are they?"
"Wait a second- do they have red markings on them?"
"Yeah- why?"
Space Mines! This obviously wasn't your run-of-the-mill convoy.
"They're space mines. Be very careful with them- fill one of your pods with them, I guess."
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The other pod contained more fuzzes, but not as many stuffed ones. The Resolute filled its other pod and headed back to Ursla's moon to put the mines and fake fuzzes in storage, and then to Ursla to release the live ones.
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The Vigilant discovered that one of the Bulk freighters pods was full of useless tchotchkies. It didn't put any in the hold. The second pod contained all live Fuzzes, with which it filled 3/4 of its hold. The third pod contained- about 50 tons of dispersal rockets, and about 100 tons of padding to prevent them from accidentaly detonating. It partitioned the hold and put as many dispersal rockets in as it could fit (no padding) and transferred the rest to its empty SAD Module bays and several in the fighter bay- the fighters own holds were filled, and the FTG Crescent fighter- which had been taken into the bay to be repaired eventually, was filled with them- they would be sold eventually.
It then returned to Ursla's moon, and then to Ursla to deliver the Fuzzes.
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I have to run. I WILL finish this, I swear!
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THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE!
(Lies are in your head.)
