Chapter 162 - Pirates

*(mood song: "The Wellerman (Sea Shanty) - Gangsta's Paradise MASHUP")

In an abandoned solar system with a giant red star, the pirates lay in wait. Their spaceships hidden behind enormous asteroids that floated around the system.

Pirate Captain: "why's it taking so long... that ship should have been mine already..." the bored pirate captain tapped the arm of his chair as he waited, his claws clinking against the metal surface.

pirate: "captain! I'm getting a signal! it's close!"

The Pirate Captain widely grinned: "BWAHAHAHA! PREPARE THE SHIELDS! WE WILL FORCE THAT SHIP TO A STOP AND THEN PLUNDER IT!" the excitement of riches and plundering reflecting on his excited voice.

Pirate ships: *YES CAPTAIN!*

-- Sarah's Spaceship --

Spaceship AI: *captain, there seems to be multiple asteroids at the front*

Sarah was surprised: "huh? asteroids? isn't that normal?"

Spaceship AI: *Normally, but... their orbits seem to have been recently changed, it seems highly likely to be a hostile trap, the new scanners also seem to have trouble scanning that area captain.... probability of hostile forces 84%*

Sarah held her chin in thought: "...Leo said he optimized the ship for breaking through so... maybe we should just accelerate... no matter what is it we can breakthrough"

Spaceship AI: *that seems to be the most optimal course of action, as guessing their intentions would risk the ship's integrity, this might cause a diplomatic problem with an unknown race though captain*

Sarah scoffed: "last time we stumble upon a battlefield and almost died... I don't wanna take any risks this time" her hand held the accelerator, as she moved it all the way forward to a red indicator "we are breaking through!"

Spaceship AI: *understood captain, injecting emergency coolant... temperature control successful, we should have six hours of maximum acceleration available captain*

Sarah smiled: "that should be more than enough!"

--- Back on the Ark ---

A twitching and sweating Erik laid on his bed, while Inky held his head.

At that moment, Rose got inside, a frown on her face.

Rose: "what is the issue?"

Inky: "Erik collapsed after finishing a sack of slugs, he seems to be in pain..."

Rose: "hoh, he ate them quite fast..."

Inky: "what?"

Rose: "oh nothing, let me scan him first..." a laser came out of her hand as it scanned Erik's body "new organ development... without issue, as for the DNA..." a needle then came out of her index finger, as she stabbed Erik's leg, making him grunt, but the small wound closed itself quickly the moment she took the needle out.

Inky: "hey!"

Rose: "just a tissue sample, he's fine... now let's see how it-..." and went silent.

Inky: "w-what is it?"

Rose: "quite unexpected... everything is changing, really unexpected..."

Inky: "w-what do you mean?"

Rose: "...his DNA is becoming Tetraploid, with four copies of every gene... instead of two"

Inky was confused: "...is that good?"

Rose nodded: "his DNA was already quite complicated, a change like this... will take a huge toll on his body"

Inky: "what is that good for then?"

Rose: "radiation damage, regeneration, longevity, avoiding genetic diseases... having more genes to choose allows the body more options to avoid faulty genes, its a quality change"

Inky: "then... when will he wake up? he's been like this since yesterday..."

Rose: "well, for now, some nutrient fluid should help, his body is changing too much in one go after all" a tube emerged from a nearby wall, and Rose connected it to Erik's arm, the needle on the end penetrating below the transparent scales and into his vein "as for the excess in body temperature..." another shelve came out of another wall, and Rose took out a towel, a sponge, and a bucket that she filled with water from a faucet also emerging from a wall "use this cloth, and the square dampener or sponge, to wet his body and keep him cool, that's all we can do other than waiting"

Inky touched Erik's firm and muscled belly: "...our kids are okay right?"

Rose: "yes, there's no rejection, they should also mutate more compatible genes too with the change"

Inky touched her own belly: "hmmm... so they will be different than those inside me then?"

Rose shrugged: "well, if the genetic material is different then yes, it's a given they will be different"

Inky's face got serious: "I want them to be the same, or at least similar.... what do i need to do?"

Rose smiled widely, in an almost creepy manner: "well~ more human genes, and taking similar genes as he did should be enough~ I can make you a diet plan, but... are you ready~?"

Inky: "I'm ready!"

Rose: "good~ good~ hehehe, let's leave Erik to a bot to care for then, and let's start right away!" quickly dragging Inky away as a bot came in.

--- Sarah's Spaceship ---

The spaceship had accelerated to a tremendous speed, the G's increasing as Sarah could barely keep herself conscious.

Spaceship AI: *entering the solar system in 3... 2... 1... entering completed... Warning! 9 G's reached... reducing acceleration to human safe levels*

Sarah could feel her vision return, as the spaceship reached a constant speed, the acceleration no longer pressing her against the seat so much.

Spaceship AI: *Acceleration reduced to 2 G's*

Sarah: "ugh... start scanning..."

Spaceship AI: *scanning.... WARNING! six unknown objects detected!.... they are scanning in our direction, seems like an ambush captain!*

Sarah gritted her teeth: "accelerate again! we will crush through it!"

Spaceship AI: *captain, your body would suffer, and if an acceleration like that is prolonged, you might suffer brain damage so-*

Sarah gritted her teeth: "just do it!"

--- On the pirates side ---

Pirate: "haha~ it's here boss! it's accelerating!"

Pirate Captain: "deploy the shield net! we will catch this morsel of meat right in our mouth! HUAHAHAHA!"

Blue lines connected the ships in a net, as they set to capture Sarah's ship, their ships were light and fast, and they had done similar robberies in the past, so it was just routine to them.

Sarah's ultra fast and heavy spaceship soon hit the net.

Pirate: "haha we caught it capta-"

*BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!*

The catch was successful but... the laws of physics followed. Sarah's spaceship had way too much momentum to be stopped so easily, the pirate spaceships were ripped off their asteroids and crashed together, as Sarah's spaceship dragged them behind, their shield net still active, and being roasted by the spaceship's antimatter engine exhaust.

Inside the pirate spaceship's, chaos ensued as alarms blared.

Pirate Captain: "release the nets! release them now!"

Pirate: "Captain, the system is jammed! the exterior sensors are fried!"

Pirate Captain: "override it! now!"

Pirate: "can only override this ship captain! can't override the others!"

The captain gritted his teeth as the shouts of his other men sounded over the comms: "do it!"

His ship lost power for a moment, as it was left behind, quickly restarting, but as he was about to yell orders he noticed something, a turret had emerged from the foreign spaceship.

Pirate Captain: "no... don't tell me... quick-"

--- Back on Sarah's ship ---

Alarms blared as Sarah regained consciousness thanks to the nets deceleration.

Sarah: "what... we escaped?"

Spaceship AI: *captain, we are currently being dragged by the enemy devices, main engine will reach the point of critical failure soon*

Sarah's eyes opened wide: "how long?"

Spaceship AI: *estimating.... two minutes and thirty seconds until catastrophic failure of core fuel contention, the resulting blast will-*

Sarah: "I know! I know! so start firing back right now!"

Spaceship AI: *understood, activating antimatter cannons... calculating parameters of use.... enemy close to main engine, use not recommended, use anyways?*

Sarah: "yes! just use as little as possible!"

Spaceship AI: *acknowledged, calculating amount and distance.... aiming.... opening fire, brace yourself captain*

The cannons on the sides blared with magnetic fields, as 4mg of antimatter shot out and instantly hit the pirate ships still connected to the rear, the 4 mg of antimatter contacted with 4 mg of matter, as 8 mg of matter quickly turned to energy and heat. A resulting blast equivalent to 168 tons of TNT.

*BOOOOOM!!!!*

Sarah's spaceship rocketed forward, and suddenly accelerated, as the pirate ships were blasted to pieces, the blast also moving the ship forward.

Sarah struggled to talk, as the ship went forward like an arrow released from a bow: "uuhhh... de.. crease... ace... leration!"

Spaceship AI: *command received, main engine shutting down.... calculating.... unable to decrease speed, mass and acceleration are too high captain*

Sarah was getting dizzy, as the G's were too high, and the spaceship also ricketed up and down due to the blast: "ugh... at least... we ain't... accelerating... anymore...."

On their back, the pirate captain's spaceship had survived the bast with just some damage. He had survived, however... his eyes were blooshot with rage.

Pirate Captain: "how dare they... KILL MY MEN!" his sharp teeth gritted as he came up with a plan "contact the union!"

Pirate: "The union?! b- but captain then!"

Pirate Captain: "they will steal our prey? even if I can't have it... I WON'T LET OUR BROTHERS UNAVENGED! call now!" in his mind thinking 'I would even sell my flesh to the void devourers to get revenge! just you wait my brothers... we will soon send you company... to the great void!"