The carrier floated through space, at the mercy of Nexu squadron. The two cargo freighters that it was protecting had long disappeared into hyperspace, which was fine with them but it did put a bit of a timer on things.
'First Order carrier,' said Face, then paused as he completely blanked on the name of his made up group of pirates, 'your ship is now property of the Nexu Piratical Alliance. You have two minutes to abandon ship before we start blowing holes and getting you out that way. Any attempt to scuttle or destroy our new toy will result in us taking you hostage and feeding you, alive, to our pet Nexu. Your call.' he keyed off the transmitter.
'We have pet nexu?' asked Ro'vean playfully over the comm.
'A whole den,' confirmed Face. 'Cubs for each pilot.'
'Ooooh,' said Ro'vena, 'I'm calling mine Toothy.'
'I mean,' mused Garan, 'that's not an entirely inaccurate name for a Nexu. Just not exactly the most threatening one.'
'Hush, wet blanket,' interrupted Rana. 'I'll kick him later for you, Rovie. I think it's a really pretty name.'
'Thank you, lovie.' replied Ro'vena. You could almost hear her beaming over the comm. 'The cruiser flew so good! You should be proud!'
'Didn't it just!' said Rana enthusiastically. Looking at of the cockpit, Face could see Rana's starfighter wiggling with excitement, like she couldn't wait to go rushing off.
'Let's rain this in,' Face interrupted. 'But good work, you two. All of you. Nest, they're taking their time over in the carrier. Give them some warning shots to decide their minds for them.'
'With pleassure, sir,' said the doctor gleefully, bringing the cruiser to a stop just above the triangular ship and sent cannon bolts flying past the carrier's port side. Half a minute later, the first escape pods were jettisoned.
'Can confirm life signs in those pods,' said Tarrik. 'Looks like they're doing what they're told.'
Face breathed a deep sigh, his shoulders sagging in relief. He knew first hand, from his time fighting for the Rebel Alliance, that soldiers who were terrified of their own superiors often preferred to go down with their ship, rather than survive, only to suffer the same fate, handed out by their own side. His plan was always a gamble, but a calculated one. It was good to see it work out. 'Three Flight, prepare to board. Two Flight, stand ready to follow them if needed, if they have any trouble. We'll stay space-side and provide cover.'
Acknowledgements called in as he settled back into his seat, not entirely relaxed, knowing things could turn bad at any moment, but nothing did. As more escape pods shot out into space, Three Flight landed in one of the hangars without incident, the magnetic locks in their landing pads keeping their ships from drifting out into space. His pilots, wearing protective masks, left their ships and manually locked down the hangar, the great door sweeping shut, hiding them from his view and the harsh vacuum of space. His body tensed when he could no longer see the interior, but the continued chatter of his pilots eased his fears somewhat. It was nearly an hour later before the carrier came back to life, its engines flaring out hot blue jets, the hangar bay shields lighting up once again.
'Status report?' he asked.
'Looking good, One,' said Vix. 'The captain decided to stay behind and she gave us some trouble, but I handled her. I'm a people person, you know.'
Face rolled his eyes. 'You might say you have devilish charms.' Groans over the comm greeted his joke, but the Devaronian just laughed.
'I'm the guy they're talking about, when they say that,' said Vix, then continued, 'everything else is good to go. Eleven and Twelve got the important things working again, some minor systems not yet operational but they're not necessary.'
'Good work,' said Face warmly. 'Nest?'
'Those pods are trying to call for help,' said Tarrik, 'but Fenn's blocking protocols are working just fine. Can confirm the carrier is deserted except for our people, One.'
'All I need to hear, thanks. All fighters, land and meet me on the bridge.' Face switched off his comm and, waiting until all other Nexus had safely landed, brought his own starfighter in to land.
Everyone save for the twins was already on the bridge by the time he got there, with Cora and Luna sat ready at the helm consoles. He paced over to them and punched in coordinates to several systems, ones he knew to be uninhabited. 'Set a course for the nearest first, then head to the others, doesn't matter what order, or which one we end up at. We just need to make sure they can't follow us, then send the nav data to Nest.'
'Understood, sir,' said Luna, already programming the nav computer.
Face nodded in approval, then headed over to another computer terminal, gesturing for Zatt to join him. When the little Nautolan arrived, standing at parade rest, at once both stiff and fidgeting nervously. Face frowned at her, feeling some guilt that she still seemed uncomfortable, even after several months under his command. He put the thought out of his mind and gestured to the computer. 'I need as much information about the internal structure of the First Order as possible. Do you think you can get that from here?'
'Of course, sir,' she said, settling into the chair. 'The terminal lit up at her touch. 'The twins haven't reported any damage to any systems, so the ...previous crew haven't tried to destroy any data. At the very least, I can get access their flight logs to see where they've been previously, but I should be able to get a good map of this sector at least,' she paused, biting her lip. 'Sir...this would be much easier if I knew to look for something specific?'
Face looked down at the expectant woman. He was saved from answering immediately by the arrival of his second in command. 'Course set, sir,' said Luna. 'Ready to jump at your command.'
'Proceed.'
Luna turned and nodded to Cora, who pulled a lever on her console. In a flicker of pseudomotion, the stars outside turned to lines, then gave way to the streaks of hyperspace.
'Sir?' Zatt said tremulously. 'Is there something I should be looking for?'
Face looked away from her, over to Ka'iulani on the other side of the bridge, who, alongside Vix, seemed to be trying to get Fenn to laugh. It seemed to be working, for they were hiding their face more than usual. Face could just about see their very red cheeks.
'Sir?' Zatt prompted.
'Supply lines,' Face said abruptly, loudly, so loudly that the other Nexus looked over to him. 'Our mission from here on out is to disrupt supply lines, gather intel.' almost as an afterthough, he pulled out a slip of flimsiplast with a note scribbled on it, and handed it to Zatt, who looked at it with a frown.
'Troop movements...?' she said inquisitively.
'You have your orders,' Face said to her, sharper than he had intended. He mentally chastised himself as he saw a look of hurt on her face. He stalked away.
'Sir?' said Luna, but Face had already left the bridge.
