I will turn this rescue around, so hear me!

The trip to Microtech got Ravi in high spirits, she seemed to need to get out and explore for a bit and that whole expedition with me really helped sort her out.

I wanted to throw myself around Pyro for a bit and learn the place but I never expected to actually like it! Met a guy while there, only name he gave me was "Agent" but he was pretty caring and supportive.

He knew my name, my reputation, but unlike the rest of the people in this system didn't run and hide from me. I swear every criminal at every corner of the 'verse knows about that asteroid base.

He and I flew around as he gave me the grand tour of the system as best he could with his Zeus CL's systems screwing up (I was pressing MFD buttons where he couldn't see me, I'm a shmuck) and Arcantha caught on.

"Can I come hang out with you two?" She asked over a call.

I looked Agent in the eye and he was already on board with it.

We landed at Terminus and I thought the moon with my name was a frigid hellhole...

I was tasked with taking out a settlement surrounded by frozen lakes and the best I could fing around Pyro was a bargain bin full of Scalpel rifles so I nabbed one and some ammo for the excursion.

We arrived to six abandoned ships, and nobody around. Looks like somebody wiped this place before I got here.

We headed over to Ruin Station to meet Arcantha and load up my beloved Valkyrie with a Nursa so we could have a heavily armored and armed medivac

"Mom? MOM WE NEED HELP!" A call from Kreyla comes in and we jump to attention.

"What's going on, hun? What happened?" I reply

"Our Hammerhead ate shit and now we're stranded at PAB Alpha!"

"I don't know! Everything was fine and then suddenly we have no power and everything shut off! We're stranded and need a pickup!"

Shit...

"Sit tight, honey. We'll be there in a bit, just gotta load up the Valkyrie and we'll be there soon!"

Mom. Mode. ACTIVATED.

"Who is there with you? Who are we picking up?" I ask as we pile in and I sit in my death throne.

"It's me, Lilly and Diverian." She responds.

"Are you stranded in vaccuum?"

"No, we're inside and wrangling parts off a Cutlass for a Starlancer that's just sitting here."

Those parts are different sizes, and when I explain they don't fit she lets out a "FUCK!"

By this point we're already en route in the Valk while Arcantha and Agent take the top and bottom turrets to provide covering fire.

Did you know the Valkyrie has enough allocation for 20 shield pips?

We're getting close to the location when the quantum drive breathes a sigh of relief with the same sigh they all do and BOOM. Asteroids for days. Each and every single one finely crafter from solar flares, war and mining.

And then I get three red radar pings. A 400i, an Intrepid and a Harbinger and they are all ACCUTELY aware of who we are and that we're here.

"KREYLA YOU SAID NOTHING ABOUT HOSTILES!" I yell over comms in a panic.

"Are there hostiles?! I thought they stopped chasing us! Sorry about that!"

Out of six guns not counting mine, we are one-third ready to fight and these are shit odds. You get all those pilots and gunners on foot I can take them alone, but here I'm out of my element.

"I see your markers, we're gonna haul ass in on NAV mode and then you HAVE to load up quick! We're outgunned massively and we need to haul ass out quick!" I say as the throttle is pinned as far as it will go.

We close the thirty kilometer gap pretty quick, and as we get within six I throw the brakes on with SCM and the shields come up insanely fast.

Like, REALLY fast. I hadn't even assigned pips yet and I swear they were charging AS THEY TOOK HITS!

We zoom in and I only see markers for Kreyla and Lily, I stop this ship and shriek "GET IN GET IN!"

Arcantha confirms they've grabbed on with tractor beams and are pulling themselves in.

"Div! Where the hell are you?!" I yell at him.

"Just get them out of here and come back for me later, I'll be fine I promise." He says.

He is way too calm for his own good.

As we begin to speed away we're now up to two-thirds capacity on firepower but Kreyla wastes no time letting me know my equipment is garbage.

"Mom you really need more firepower on this thing, these Panthers suck!" She says as our shots hit the 400i with little to no effect.

"Honey mom is kinda broke right now, but she plans on-"

"How much are all attritions?"

I quick math and remember my past estimates.

"I think around 460k, I've been saving up but I-"

Ploink! 2 million in my accoutn outta nowhere and thank the gods nobody can see me cry in my helmet.

"I...honey mom can't..."

"Pay me back later."

We get out of the rocks and I switch to NAV again to put down maximum thrust, point for a blind spot and quantum out.

"Div are you sure you're fine, honey?" I ask over comms.

"Yup, I'll be fine. These guys don't really shoot at people not in a ship." He replies calmly.

I fucking would shoot em'. Don't care.

The boat is in perfect condition as we land on a less-than-perfect condition pad. Thrusters off, systems, and we all pile out.

"So what's the plan? We restock and go get our boy?" I ask. everybody has already run off and scattered to get what they need.

"Mom go get your damn guns and let's head back out." Kreyla says sounding almost irritated. "I'm getting the SuperHornet."

I run through tetanus central to get the attritions we need not just for the rescue but also so I can have the perfect medivac ship. The guns run me 460k as anticipated and I contemplete getting new shields and power plants before I remember Div is still out there. I open my mobi, get ship services up and request the guns be mounted ASAP so we can take off.

"Where is everybody? Are we ready for take-off?" I ask trying not to take control of the situation from Kreyla. It's her crew, I gotta do what I can to support my kiddo.

"I'm in the Hornet and ready to fuck shit up, gonna head out now and clear space as best I can." Kreyla says almost overly-confidently.

Love that kid, love the energy, sass and attitude could use some work but hey, she's free to do as she likes.

Agent, Arcantha, Lily and I load up in what we can then take off for the final leg of the rescue. Diverian is coming home, and pirates are gonna die.

Request take off, switch to VTOL and get off the pad. Our ass is facing the doors and I don't have time to rotate this boat so I throw it in reverse and flip laterally before locking in NAV for the jump.

"How much O2 do you have, Div?" I ask.

"About fifty percent, I'll be fine."

He is too calm, what even gets this man excited?!

We're flying through quantum and I'm checking on the crew to make sure all is well, I'm feeling confident and ready to absolutely wreck shit to get Kreyla's guy out.

Boom! We drop and Kreyla is already blowing shit up and trash talking every motherfucker imaginable, and a random citizen is out helping her in an arrow.

Don't know the guy, but I like his choice in boat.

My sight locks in on Diverian's marker before that motherfucker in the 400i comes into my view, and for once the ship and I are in perfect sync because that waas the first perp to get locked. I close our distance and the second we cross two kilometers my big metal baby lights up that overpriced heap of crap.

He's dead in less than a minute and we're all overwhelmed with a sense of victory. Three other ships in the area but this kill mattered.

II aim for Div and close the gap as best I can while the crew provides covering fire. "You're too far, back up." Div says EVER so calmly. I'm reversing and he's counting off distances.

500, 400, 300, 200, boop. He's got a lock with a tractor beam and is zipping in.

"I'm onboard, where do you need me?" He says and I close the rear hatch.

Agent on the left remote, Arcantha top turret and Lily on bottom, so I ask Div to hop in the right remote and he hops over.

Fully crewed murder rescue. Life is GOOD.

For the hostile ships, not so much.

We clean up the last two targets and the space is calm.

"I'm ready for MORE!" Kreyla says with her adrenaline clearly pumping. "MORE!"

One hostile pops in, and everybody is already locked, Kreyla sounds happy as all hell.

Then six more, and I turn this thing around before I switch to NAV and pin it.

"No, Kreyla we're leaving! That's too damn much!"

"Awwe..." She groans over the mic.

A stray missile hits me as the shields are still discharging then the jump starts. Kreyla is already ahead of us and setting down before we get there.

"I coulda took them, didn't have to pull us."

"No, if it were three or four we would have stayed. But I spent so much time getting you all out of there and I wasn't about to watch my kid die."

She got quiet, not sure if mad or pouting.