The YWS Fleet: Asteon

The planet Asteon has asked the YWS Fleet for help in dealing with a large number of hostile pirates which have been attacking merchant traffic. These are not the Sky Pirates, but something different. Captains, please post your status and the status of your ships.

-Griffinkeeper
YWS Fleet Coordinator

Spoiler

This storybook is open to all YWS members. Members of the YWS Fleet club are welcome to post links to their profiles and ships instead of the usual form. The YWS Fleet Club is likewise open to all YWS members.

Griffinkeeper's Profile

Grif's ship, the SPEW Gryphon IV.

Animal is here,

Animal's Profile and Ship

VampireSenshi reporting for duty, cap'n

Profile :Y

Noni and the Silver Shuriken reporting for duty; both in workable condition.
Profile.

Motes of light erupted as the YWS Fleet jumped into the Asteon system. The SPEW Gryphon emerged first, followed immediately by the Inquisitor, the Silver Shuriken, and the YWS Cardinal. The ships immediately entered into formation.

"Adelaide?" Grif asked. The Artificial Intelligence appeared instantly on the holoprojector. Her appearance was like that of a muse from Greek mythology, with a long robe that extended down to where her ankles were. If her appearance was plain, her face made up for it. Her eyes were bright and intelligent. On top of her head was a laurel wreath. Her hair was long, but individual strands acted like electricity. Motes of light surrounded her, as if by magic.

Adelaide smiled at Grif and nodded. In that gesture, Grif knew that everyone had arrived safely, that the area they were in had no contacts, and that everything was ready. Adelaide continued on,

"The Asteon system. Known for it's large asteroid fields and mining colonies. It's asteroid fields are among the densest in the galaxy, and present significant navigational hazards. Safe tunnels of transit have been created through the field, but they have recently been attacked by pirates. If the pirates attacks continue, then it would seriously jeopardize our metal supply, which we're using to rebuild the YWS Fleet," Adelaide reported.

"What about the locals?"

"No indigenous species, the system is home to a group of human miners. The entire system is owned by a group known as the Asteon Mining Guild. Their leader is a woman by the name of Viola Shorack."

"Picture," Grif requested. It popped up. She was young, mid twenties, and incredibly attractive. The dress she wore in the picture was as provocative as Adelaide's robe was conservative. Grif looked back to Adelaide.

"Femme fatale?"

"Almost certainly. She and a group of other ladies of negotiable affection arrived in system and quickly took over the place. Since her arrival, she has been accused of purposely keeping the male to female ratio about 4:1. She does this to keep prices high and probably for manipulation purposes."

"I'll keep it in mind. We'll proceed to the planet itself and talk to Viola. Signal the other ships to watch for pirates, we don't want to be unprepared."

"Woohoo!" I shouted as I pulled Inquisitor in to the formation with a jerk. We were here on the planet of Asteon, but we had less ships than we had expected.

"EDI, status?"

"So far, so good." EDI said with a ringing voice.

I sighed and sank back into my seat.

EDI said, "Sir, are you planning to buy Bear?"

"Yes, soon, very soon. Why?" I asked suspiciously.

"I would like to inform you that I am not compatible with Bear, I was designed for frigates."

"We will change that. My friends, the penguins of Madagascar are the best engineer around."

"Sir, I would better not link mechanics and penguins."

"Never mind, all there life, they have changed the laws of physics. Get Captain Noni on line."

Captain Noni showed on the com and waved. I said, "Are we docking here or do we continue through these flying rocks."

"If I were smart enough, I would never dock my ship at a place where it would be blown by asteroids. Grif told to continue forward. I woul- INCOMING!"

The pirates were coming from all directions possible, we were surrounded and probably outgunned. I fretted, I have never faced such a tense situation. And today was not a good die to die. I did what I could do best, "EDI, activate full auto-pilot!"

Grif looked at the large numbers of pirates. The SPEW Gryphon could take them, but the other ships in the YWS Fleet didn't have that kind of ability.

"We're get a wide beam transmission from the pirates," Adelaide said.

"Attention unknown ships. You are surrounded and have no chance of escape. Prepare to be boarded. Any resistance will be harshly punished," a female voice said gravely. Grif only smiled and activated his comm.

"Geraldine Cooper, this is Griffinkeeper, tell your comrades to power down their weapons, or somebody could get hurt," Griffinkeeper said. There was a long pause.

"Grif, the pirates are powering down their weapons and returning to the asteroids. We're getting a private hail," Adelaide said.

"On screen," Grif said. Adelaide complied and a woman appeared on the screen. She wore a black jumpsuit that accentuated her highly attractive form. Her hair was long and black. On her face was a smile.

"Howdy do, Griffy-poo."

"Super-duper, Ms. Cooper," Grif said, completing the ritual greeting. "I'm surprised to see you back in the piracy business."

"I'm not in the piracy business. I went legit and started mining independently, and that's when the Guild started trying to intimidate. We've been inspecting ships entering the system just to make sure that they're not coming to aid the Mining Guild. I can reveal more detail, but you have to invite me to dinner first," Geraldine replied. Grif smiled.

"I think that can be arranged."