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The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/DrBlackJack21 on 2025-12-07 21:50:53+00:00.
Concept art for Sybil
Of Men and Ghost Ships, Book 2: Chapter 50
Acting Admiral Dobson watched as the combined fleet of the pirates, merchant alliance, and the massive mystery ship surged forward, hitting his own much smaller but more advanced fleet with everything they had. The numbers indicating shield stability were steadily trickling down. He knew it was just a matter of time before the enemy pushed their own ships too far, and he could reroute power back into his weapons and whittle them down past the point they posed any additional threat. For now, it was all about holding steady and not flinching in the face of the enemy.
Sevron, the ship's AI, was reviewing his data before turning to Dobson. "Sir, they're on an intercept course and accelerating!"
Dobson nodded. "An obvious attempt to make us flinch. Hold steady!"
Sevron didn't seem convinced. "Sir. They could be attempting a shield burn..."
Dobson considered that potential. Shield burns were a high-risk, high-reward maneuver, but were only effective if you managed to catch your opponent by surprise. The positioning had to be so precise that it was relatively easy to avoid, as your opponent could simply pull out of contact range with your own shields. Still, that might be the variable they were planning on overcoming their fleet's superior defences.
If that was their last great gamble, Dobson found himself disappointed by their lack of ingenuity. "Reroute enough power from shields to allow our positional thrusters to maneuver away from a shield burn once they are in range." As massive as the ship was, and as fast as it was going, its momentum would prevent it from making any sharp turns. It would be a simple matter to outmaneuver them. It looked like the shields were dipping into the yellow warning range, but that had already been taken into account.
However, the Sevron wasn't done issuing warnings. "Uh, sir? They seem to be angling for a head-on collision... They might be attempting to ram us? Sir?"
Dobson frowned. That didn't seem too likely. Sure, they may have outmassed his capital ship by a significant margin, but as large as his ship was, they'd still take considerable damage in the initial collision. It would take a madman to attempt such a suicidal charge...but then again, these were finge spacers. Maybe their sense of spite would force them into a suicidal attack rather than admit defeat... Turning to the helm, he changed his orders yet again. "Pull more power from shields. Enough for a full power burn to take us out of contact range once they've gotten close enough..."
The shield percentages were dipping lower, into the red zone. But they should have just enough to get by. Already, most of the ships were peeling away from the attack as their guns overheated or went dry. The only real remaining threat was the huge ship intent on charging their position.
This time, the Sevron didn't bother with honorifics. "Sudden acceleration from the large ship! They were holding back!"
Dobson didn't hesitate and yelled. "Helm, get us out of the way! Now!"
The crew reacted with lightning reflexes, and the sudden change in momentum pushed the inertia dampeners past their limits as several times Earth's gravity pushed down on the crew, forcing everyone to brace. Even though the burn was brief, several less-experienced officers briefly passed out and fell from their chairs. Moments later, the behemoth brushed past them, its shield crackling on their own. All sorts of warning sirens blared as the split shield system failed, taking down the shields of every ship in their fleet.
Dobson cursed. That final burst of speed had given them enough of an edge that even at full burn, the most they'd been able to do was get out of the way of a direct collision. Still, the larger ship couldn't be in great shape either, and by the time the other ships were able to bring their weaponry back online, his fleet's shields would be back up. The tide of this fight depended on what would break first, his fleet or the behemoth. "Status report on the large enemy ship! What's its condition?"
As an AI, Sevron was still at his station, ignoring the alarms and fire suppression system that was taking care of a few overloaded terminals. "Sir, they're pretty rough, too. Their shields faded before ours, and their hull was in direct contact with our shields for several seconds. They've lost most secondary weapons systems. Only their front-mounted weaponry remains a significant threat!"
Dobson smiled bitterly. That was manageable; they were far more maneuverable than that monstrosity. "Fire on their weakened flanks as they move past, then focus on their engines! Once we've slowed them enough, they'll be nothing but target practice!"
Of course, Sevron had to speak up one more time to spoil his current mood. "Uh, sir? The enemy is launching boarding vessels..."
Dobson looked at the readings on the large ship, but couldn't see what the analyst was talking about. "Where? I don't see the large ship launching anything!"
Sevron shook his head. "Not the large ship, sir! The other ships!"
Adjusting his feed, Dobson could see the analyst was right as a steady stream of smaller vessels launched from all the pirate and merchant ships he'd already discounted. He cursed. "Signal all hands across the fleet! Prepare to repel boarders!"
Dirk of the bloody hand had no idea how he'd come to be working alongside the very people he'd been attacking not long ago, at the orders of the massive ship that had torn his fleet to ribbons shortly thereafter, but if it meant he personally got to bloody a few core world dandies, he was okay with that.
Dirk's assault ship wasn't the first to drill a hole into the core world ship. He might have wanted to get a bit of revenge, but he wasn't stupid enough to poke his face out into a bunch of core world marines before they'd been softened up a bit, so when the hull breached, he could hear fighting going on down the corridor. Turning back to his band of eager pirates, he grinned. "Time for us to get some state-of-the-art core world tech!" The men cheered and started to push toward the exit from the assault craft as he added, "Whoever managed to kill the most core world dandies gets a five hundred credit bonus from me!"
That did the trick. Between the chance to get new weapons no one in the feinge worlds had ever seen, and the offer of a bonus just for being more violent than anyone else, was enough to send them into a frenzy as his crew spread out to loot and pillage the ship. A small group peeled off toward the sound of fighting, intending to flank the core marines, while others started breaking into whatever rooms the nearby doors led to.
However, a few of his more disciplined men stayed back, providing a screen for Dirk. They didn't need to go after a bonus for killing people. They were his bodyguards and received a bonus every time he returned alive and well. When you filled your ship with a crew of greedy cutthroats, it paid to bribe some of the toughest, most brutal pirates to be loyal above the rest. That's how Dirk had survived when so many of his predecessors hadn't.
Together, they marched down the corridor in the direction of where the helm likely was. Along the way, Dirk got to gun down a few fleeing crewmembers, but when he saw the utility belt on one, Dirk only winged him in the leg. His bodyguard was familiar enough with his style to know he hadn't been trying for a kill shot, and one of them grabbed the man and held him up for Dirk to question.
Dirk looked the man up and down as the man's wide-eyed expression said he knew he was in trouble. The pirate gave his best friendly smile, which only seemed to frighten the man further as Dirk spoke. "Am I correct in assuming you're a ship engineer? Complete with maintenance override codes and all?"
The man nodded, and Dirk's grin widened. "Good! So, here's the deal. You help us override a few systems in the helm, and rather than kill you like the rest, I'll let you use one of the escape pods to survive to see another day. How about it?"
The man's eyes went wide, but then hardened in a way that Dirk knew the answer was only going to piss him off. So, even as the man began to open his mouth, Dirk simply shot him and moved on. His guard didn't hesitate or wait for orders; he simply dropped the corpse and continued with the rest.
After a few more corridors and a few more corpses, Dirk picked out another target and began his spiel. "So, here's the deal..."
Carter watched the madness unfold with a grin. They'd taken a bit more damage than he'd intended, but Sybil was already working on repairs, and it looked like the core fleet was going to be busy for the foreseeable future.
John looked quite pleased as he grinned at Carter. "The man who first walked onto this ship would never have had the courage to charge the enemy lines so brazenly! Well done, lad! We'll make a proper swashbuckler out of you yet!"
Carter grinned back, but the girl interrupted his thoughts. "Are we sure it's a good idea to give the pirates and merchants all this advanced tech? We co...
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