I growled and shifted my wings. Our engines were damaged, I knew my chief engineer well enough to know that she would not put a power restriction on them without a very good reason.
At 50% engine power there was simply no way we were outrunning that cruiser.
"Helm, put the hulk of that cruiser between us and target Alpha. Drones, return and circle." I ordered as I brought the tactical hologram back up.
The cruiser was actually slowing down as we moved to keep the disabled ship between them and us. As they entered weapons range they turned their starboard side to face us, giving us their broadside as they hung in space, stationary relative to us at extreme weapons range.
Tel'te frowned from the pilots seat as she watched the image on her screen. "Why are they staying back?" The blue-skinned twi'lek asked after a moment of nothing happening.
My second in command crossed her arms as she looked up at the hologram, still standing next to my pillar. "Perhaps they are worried we have more of those explosives."
I shook my head "Or it is a trap. If one of the cruisers survived the blast, the second one might have as well."
Jack spoke up after another moment from his console. "I...don't think so. I'm getting some strange energy readings from that ship. I think their port shields might be down." he said, glancing back at us "They cant risk getting closer without giving us a chance to get around them."
I tilted my head in thought. "And with our damaged engines, there is no way we will be able to win in a fight against them at this distance...especially if our ventral shield generator is close to breaking. This is a bit of a conundrum. Commander, if we sent the crows out to intercept, could they get around to hammer the unshielded side without being shot down? What do you think?"
Swan hesitated for a moment before she shrugged. "I don't know, maybe. We don't have that many left and we don't know what weapons that cruiser is equipped with."
If the drones made it, we might be free of our assailant. If they didn't, we would be severely weakened by the time it was time for the real fight. After the fight with the cruiser, we were down to twenty drones as it was.
If that cruiser was outfitted to fight smaller ships instead of things in its own weight class like the other one, they might not even make it across the space between us.
"Captain, they are hailing us." Jack said with a frown. "Want me to put it through?"
"I believe it is time to talk, yes." I answered before a hologram formed in front of my pillar.
The hologram depicted a female Nautolan with green skin and cold bands around her head tendrils, sitting in a command chair. She was wearing some kind of body armor, not too dissimilar to a mandalorian set of armor, but lacking the jetpack. Hard plates mounted on a tight bodysuit.
"I am Velora Kiran" She started. "Captain of the Ravager. I must congratulate you, Captain Atreus, that was a well led trap and fight, but I am afraid that you are all out of space to run." she said with a small smile, crossing her arms and leaning back in her seat.
I tilted my head. A female captain? Harpy dustling!
"I do not believe so, Captain." I finally answered "I believe that your ship is heavily damaged from those explosions. For example, your port shields are down. If it came to battle between us, I believe that either of us could become victorious."
Captain Kiran frowned slightly before she shrugged. "Perhaps. And perhaps I should thank you for taking out my competition. With Krayt and those two fools out of the way, it will be much easier to take control of the Glass Hand."
"If you survive this, you mean." I said as I eyed her. "I believe we are still in a bit of a standoff."
She nodded "Indeed. It is a bit of a problem. What do you suggest we do about it, Captain?"
I spread my head feathers in slight amusement "You could surrender?"
Kiran snorted "I don't think so. I do not believe prison would be something for me. I think I'll just leave the system, there is no profit to be made from continuing this conflict. You may have that wreck."
Well, if they were willing to leave us alive, who was I to argue? Besides, they were pirates and smugglers. There would be very poor profit in fighting us.
"Captain, I believe it might be prudent to..." Dooku started before quieting as I shot him a look before I turned back to the hologram.
"So leave, Captain Kiran." I said "But there is something you should remember as you take control of your Glass Hand."
"And what is that, Captain?" she asked with a raised eyebrow and a small smile.
"What happened to the last leader of the organization when they bothered me and mine." I said before I lowered my beak for her "Farewell, Captain Kiran." I finished before I closed the connection.
The pirate cruiser hung in space for another couple of moments before it started to accelerate out towards the hyper limit.
I closed the hologram down and there was a general atmosphere of relief on the bridge as I sighed "Mr Melton, keep a eye on your sensors in case there is some kind of trick. Miss Tel'te, keep the hulk between us and them until they jump to hyper. Once they do, set a course to the closest republic outpost, maximum safe speed."
"Captain, what about the cruiser?" Swan asked with a small frown.
I hesitated before I finally shook my head "There is no time to take on prisoners or salvage it for valuables. If this turns out to be a trick, we can not risk the extra time. We will blow it up before we leave. Better whoever is still alive there die quickly than choke to death as their air run out."
If I could have saved them without taking to big risks with my crew, I would have. But as it stood now...
My second in command sighed but nodded. "I suppose that is a risk of the profession they took when becoming pirates. What is our destination after we drop off the prisoners?" she then asked.
I shifted my wings in thought "We will see. Somewhere with a good shipyard."