Violently

“Where's my suite?” The entitled client growls out as I work.

“At the bottom of the port stairwell,” I answer distractedly.

“You're not even going to show me to it?” I can see through the ship's cameras right now… he's frowning at me.

“You seemed in a hurry to leave,” I shrug back, “Wouldn't you prefer to delay our departure for five minutes while I show you to your room?” I am seriously thinking about locking him in there….

“Don't you have any servants?” He's practically frothing at the mouth.

“The ship's life support is balanced for two,” not that I need the air, “so not right now. If this is a problem, we haven't left yet, so I can refund your credits and you can find someone else to take you.”

“No!” He shouts, seemingly panicked at the suggestion… he is definitely running scared. He then switches to a growl, “I will make do.” He huffs off.

I shake my head again as I finish the work, wait for the window, and launch. We get out into space, and I point the ship away from everyone, and travel there at a reasonable speed. I nod as a Huge ship in that loose orbit starts to follow me, and speed up once I'm not concerned about running into anyone: The ship has a base speed of 12, Speedster from the Pilot Sphere boosts that by one, and I can do both Engineering and Piloting at the same time: Diverting power to the engines adds two more points of speed.

Unfortunately, the Cruiser chasing me appears to have figured out how to keep up… and even catch up. They have to be redlining their engines to pull it off… but they apparently can. Okay then… and when the ship alarms start screaming at me that they're powering weapons…

…I grin as I power up

[mine.

My](http://mine.My) passenger reacts to the alarms, coming up on the bridge and screaming at me, “We can't fight that! Just run!”

“Tried it, didn't work,” I laugh, “make yourself useful if you can… can work engines or shields?”

“I always liked to tinker with both, but…” he begins, going white.

“Then you'll do fine!” I yell back, “Take an engineering chair and follow instructions! I want engines!” I start spamming Mythic power… specifically the Marshall's Lend Power. I add my Surge die, maximized by Divine Providence, boosted by Greater Surge from the same source and Potent Surge from a Mythic feat to his die rolls as I do so on my own managing the piloting and gun.

The battle progresses… very slowly. I keep at **** range, using Divine Providence and our higher maneuverability to circle around and concentrate on their rear for perfect shots and maximum damage. My passenger, meanwhile, I have first rebalance the shields so as much as possible is focused on the enemy… and then divert power to them for when they occasionally guess at where we actually are with their blind fire.

Yes, blind fire. It soon becomes apparent that the only reason they could follow us is because I had stupidly flown in a straight line. Their sensor range is maybe a third of ours, and they can't actually see us. Had I turned a few times, they would have just shot on by. Ah well, I want their XP anyway. They figure out where we are each time we fire, and guess at where we'll be… which I confirm by actually stopping long enough to run a sensor scan of my own to identify every little detail about that Inheritorworks Laserlance cruiser they apparently hijacked. Every round, they divert power to shields, recovering about twenty shield points. Every round, I shoot them with a perfectly aimed shot that deals forty points of damage (because of the Sustained property).

It's a long, grueling slog.

And whoever is captaining that thing is apparently quite determined, because they keep trying after their shields are gone and I pause the barrage a moment to ask if they'd like to surrender (whoever is manning the radio just cusses me out without turning on the camera). They keep going, apparently their engineers patching systems as I make them fail one by one with perfectly placed shots.

It's only after **** knows how long when I finally manage to disable their ship via the **** of a thousand cuts that they actually answer the hail properly.

“Johnas Albright, what Devourer's devil did you sell your soul to in order to get that gunner?” The man's voice has that echo-y quality from a microphone in a helmet as the screen flickers to life, showing me the state of his bridge… which isn't pretty. I can see the stars through a hole in the back. Looks like I vented his atmosphere, but that's barely a problem for anyone, as even the cheapest armor can supply a person with air for a full day while the higher end stuff can keep you in air long enough to die of thirst. The man himself is another Tryziarkas, and is speaking in their racial language.

“As Abadar is my witness,” my passenger puts a hand over his heart, “I have NO idea. I just booked passage on the first ship that said they had good engines… I just wanted to run from you.” He's conversing in the same.

Despite him talking to the other captain, he's looking at me when he says that. Heh. I get Tongues from Mythic Borrowed Power, so I join in, “It is impolite to speak of someone like they're not there, Private,” the opposing captain is actually a general, my skills let me read his rank insignia just fine, “just like it's rude to ask after a person's name without giving your own, and ill-mannered to power up weapons without even suggesting an alternative course of resolution. You have been a very bad representative of your people.”

The other captain takes a breath through gritted teeth, and switches to Common, “My apologies, Captain Dana,” he takes another breath through his teeth, “You have certainly proven you are a woman of worth.”

“You've done your homework, then,” I roll my eyes, “or at least read my ship's public registry. You still haven't given me your name.”

“I am General Mehindir of the Solar Lance.” He closes his eyes for the next bit, “...and I should be surrendering.” He opens them again, “What are your terms?”

I consider that, "Seven questions, answered honestly, clearly, and completely; an oath of non-interference from you and everyone beneath you; and an oath of silence of what I have done from the same.”

That takes the man back, partly because it's a reference to an old fable of his people (the Culture skill rocks sometimes), but mostly… “Not money, equipment, or slaves?” He blinks at me.

“Would you rather I demand your left eye?” I roll both of mine as I reference another fable, “I have no room for slaves, less for equipment, and money, well…” I chuckle, glancing st my passenger, “...I am being paid well enough. However, knowledge is power… and I can get your silence and non-interference by another route if I so desire.” My weapon is still hot, after all: I could absolutely reduce the ship to scattered scrap and snipe any and all escape pods… eventually.

“I accept your terms,” the man closes his eyes, and takes a slow breath, “What are your questions?”

“First, why are you hunting my charge?”