"Rodgraim Aragon, the Aether Dominion captain watched silently as the Crocodile Pirates' fleet closed in on his position. The cold hum of the ship's systems and the soft clink of glass as the Marvin robot poured his drink filled the sheer space around him. Outside, the Crocodile Pirates, led by the brutish leader aboard the "Giant Crocodile," were eager to claim the prize that was the Aether Dominion.
Rodgraim had anticipated such a ruse much earlier than the pirates realized they were falling into a trap. He'd rebuffed the alliance offered by Luna and had spurned any notion of being protected by the Pluto Outpost; he assumed the role of a lone traveler, which he hoped would pique the interest of the pirates. He had set out the perfect bait, a lone S-class ship, fully equipped and more than capable of handling a fight, but they were to not know that yet.
The pirates, on the other hand, were itching with desire to plunder the Aether Dominion, seeing it as nothing more than a lucrative prize. They knew not that they were about to take on more than they could chew. It was a risk to go in alone into the great unknown, but Rodgraim had no doubt he'd be paid for this. The craving hunger of the Crocodile Pirates for wealth and power made them blinded from the real danger ahead.
Once the pirates moved, Rodgraim coolly stepped away from the bar to enter the control deck. He had been waiting for this moment. The com system buzzed as the pirates closed in, their ships preparing to launch an all-out assault. The "Giant Crocodile" and its two fire frigates were already preparing to unleash a barrage of missiles. Rodgraim wasn't worried. The Aether Dominion was an S-class warship and its shields and armor designed to take far more than what these pirates could throw at it.
Meanwhile, at Pluto Outpost, Luna and her crew on their temporary fleet were watching the developing situation with apprehension. They had barely landed and at once found the pirate fleet moving towards Rodgraim's ship. Luna's officers began discussing the situation.
"Didn't Rodgraim refuse our offer to form a team?" said one of the officers. "Now he will stand up alone against the pirates."
"Yeah, that's his choice, right?" another officer said with a casual tone. "If he wanted to be protected, he would have accepted our assistance. Now, it's too late and it's up to him."
Luna felt no such distance. She'd instinctively known that Rodgraim was no ordinary captain, and the idea of his going alone into pirate-infested reaches of space had unsettled her. While her crew was only just getting used to traveling in the interstellar expanse, she couldn't help but feel that those pirates were a hell of a lot more dangerous than they looked. Pirates, seasoned to the core, with years of plundering ships like Rodgraim's under their belts; but Luna knew better than to underestimate anyone. If there was the slightest chance of saving him, she had no choice but to take it.
It was then that Luna's comms buzzed once again, but this time with a more reassuring voice from her fleet. "Don't worry, Goddess Cloud," the voice said. "We're still in range of Pluto Outpost. If the pirates attack, the fleet will stop them."
Luna didn't comfort these words. She knew it would take some time for the fleet to mobilize, and by the time it was in a position to attack, it might have been too late. Luna had to make a choice. But, her crew was jinxed with inexperience, so it wasn't ready to take on a pirate fleet. The pirates were foes to be reckoned with and their fleet of battle-hardened ships. Meanwhile, Luna's fleet was no more than little novice voyagers still learning the ropes of space travel.
"Should we help him out?" Luna asked, though she already knew. She could feel her crew hesitating. It wasn't the fear of the pirates they were having trouble with-it was the fear of making a mistake.
"We should let it go, take it up with Rodgraim," one of the fleet officers suggested. "He's in charge. If it comes to the pirates coming after us, he's got that giant ship. He'll be fine."
Reluctantly, Luna agreed to it. But her gut was protesting otherwise. The pirates were not after just the cargo or resources; they wanted the Aether Dominion. And as a symbol of great power, the value of the ship went way beyond the building materials.
Meanwhile, out in space, the pirates opened their offensive. The "Giant Crocodile" and its pair of fiery frigates broke into a thunderous bombardment by a multitude of missiles. Rodgraim sat tensely in front of the walls that turned screen-like on a display, content and impassible. The pirates' fleet was closing fast, and each missile was locked to destroy.
But Rodgraim was ready for that. A split second before the missiles struck, the Aether Dominion's shield had ignited. The Aether Dominion wasn't just some S-class ship by name-after all, it was a space fortress, with the best defensive technology available. As the pirates' missiles fell on it, the shield soaked them up like a sponge, dissipating the energy even as it approached the hull of the ship.
The pirate commanders looked at one another in shock. "How is this possible?" But they had actually fired a full salvo of flame missiles, a weapon they had used to great success against countless ships. None hit the Aether Dominion. The missiles bounced off the energy shield, snuffed out before they had any serious effect.
Rodgraim watched in perspective as the pirates rapidly converted into panics. Their missiles failed to pierce his ship's armor and their energy barrier. And with that, it has become pretty obvious now—the Crocodile Pirates were grossly undermatched by the Aether Dominion. The sheer amount of firepower they had used thinking that would overwhelm the ship turned out to be a much stronger force than they actually thought it would.
The pirate captain was called the Crocodile, and he let out a scream of rage. "Fire again! Blast that ship into oblivion!" he bellowed, but there was reluctance in his orders, as it was coming clear: pure firepower wasn't enough to take down the Aether Dominion.
Rodgraim sneered, feeling a shift in the pirates' tactic. Their withdrawal time was fast approaching, but he wasn't yet done. He activated the armaments of the Aether Dominion, ready to close this battle for good.
As the pirates crumbled, Luna and her fleet at the Pluto Outpost watched the circus show. A simple raid is all they had thought it would be; now it was clear—Rodgraim had been in charge from the start. The pirates had been played into his trap. Their attacks meant nothing to the Aether Dominion, and it was only a matter of time before Rodgraim unleashed his devastating counterattack.
For Luna, this was a situation of relief and realization. She had learned the art of interstellar navigation as well as strategic thinking. Rodgraim was no other traveler but a master of tactics, and his cool headedness amidst danger showed how much he could really do.
The pirates scrambled about, their morale crumbling. The Aether Dominion's weaponry powered up and prepared for a quick clean-up. The hunt was over, and the pirates were ready to learn the price of underestimating an S-class ship.