Dracaryis stared at the HUD of his interceptor. The **Serpents Shadow** and its formidable defenses glowed orange in the darkness of the interceptor’s cockpit.
“Two ways to go about this. Board and take prisoners, or blow this thing and go home.” Dracaryis mused.
Drac cycled through the subsystem targeting module. Shields, weapons, engines, targeting systems. All it would take is a few tight passes along the hull and he could easily cripple the ship. Once he boarded, the denizens of the ship would have no chance against him. It was easy pickings.
“Hang on. I don’t have any cargo space. How am I going to take prisoners and retrieve the stolen goods?”
Dracaryis punched the comms panel.
“Zoldos Control, Widowmaker Zero-Four” Dracaryis spoke into the comm.
“Widowmaker 04, Zsoldos Control, send your traffic, over.”
“Control, exactly how valuable are the stolen goods? Are we talking “OMG i must have this back” or more “ blow them sky high as a lesson, we can salvage whatever is left” ?
There was a delay. Suddenly, a familiar voice crackled in over Drac’s headset.
“Widowmaker 04,” the voice of Declan Roark came in crisp and deliberate over the comm “you have clearance to do whatever you deem necessary. The only thing of value is the message that nobody steals from Clan Vizsla. Acknowledge, over.”
“Zero-Two, Zero-Four acknowledged.”
Dracaryis knew what to do. Maximum gain with minimum effort meant the **Serpents Shadow** would join the ranks of The Death Star, Alderaan, and Home One.
“One scrapped scav vessel coming right up.”
Dracaryis punched the engines to full throttle and powered up the interceptor’s weapon systems.
Shields, targeting, weapons, engines. That’s the only way to take this down.
The shield generator lay in the juncture of the bridge and engine array. Hitting it was tricky, as it involved skimming the hull of the ship inside the shields protective bubble. Dracaryis knew he had one pass to hit his target and destroy the shield generator. He accelerated, taking the enemy ship head on.
Just as he approached the foremost section of the vessel, he pulled back on the flight stick and made a beeline along the hull for the shield generator. He cycled the subsystem targeting module and activated his missile system.
Two missles to destroy.
“Let’s count it down.”
3-2-1 FIRE!
He pulled the trigger and fired a dual linked missile salvo. The red streaks from the concussion missiles drew a straight line along the hull and slammed into the shield generator. The resulting explosion rocked the interceptor and nearly pushed Dracaryis into the ships hull. He pulled away at the nick of time.
On his screen, the shield flickered away, leaving the enemy cruiser vulnerable to direct laser and missile fire from any distance.
Dracaryis followed suit with the remaining subsystems, disabling the weapons, targeting array, and engines with relative ease.
The display highlighted the enemy vessel’s remaining hull integrity: 25%.
Drac’a comm display cracked to life.
“Zero Four, Zero Two. Do not destroy that ship. Contents more valuable than originally reported.”
“Zero Four acknowledged.”
Dracaryis knew he could take on no cargo. He was out of missiles and the lasers were not strong enough to breach the hull.
A hull breach was the logical choice. Turn the interior to a vacuum and just walk onto the ship at his leisure.
It with no missiles and the possibility his lasers would only destroy he ship, he had to make a snap decision.
He accelerated to ramming speed and ejected. From his position floating In space, he saw the remains of his interceptor crash through the hull of the **Serpent**. He saw the bodies of the scavengers pulled into space and the flickering of emergency lights through the gaping hole in the ships starboard hull.
“Control, Zero Four. Ship disabled. Bring space suits and mag boots.”
*Fin*