The Colony

In the next few days, a lot of changes went down in the pirate base that the pirates jokingly named Tiger's Den. It was an incredibly unoriginal name, but Athena didn't bother with changing it because that would mean she had to come up with a new name, and that was a headache she didn't want to deal with.

Adrianna, at the request of Athena and with the assistance of a number of Terran marines, began drilling both the pirates and the Epsilon-9 enforcers alike in an effort to install some discipline into them. She adopted a carrot-and-stick strategy, rewarding and promoting those who were obedient to her commands while severely punishing those who hesitated or outright refused.

This was the method the Imperial Army used to train its troops. Adrianna didn't have the resources or the time the Imperial Army did, but at least she was able to get the message through to these men: they have come under new leadership, a leadership that had little tolerance for disobedience.

A number of pirates and enforcers were made into examples of what the rest should avoid doing. One of them was Zurik, the pirate guard who sold his comrades out the moment he got the chance. The man was briefly promoted after Athena took over, and he seemed to think his contributions would get him special treatment. Adrianna quickly proved him wrong. When he was caught complaining about the new leadership, he was demoted and publicly flogged, and his position was handed to the man who told on him and took evidence of his complaints. Another pirate who started a fight in the cantina after getting drunk was similarly punished. Orlan might be fine with his men fighting each other just because they felt like it, but that would no longer be tolerated under Athena's rule.

Adrianna had little sympathy for these thugs, especially after learning how they made a living. It didn't take long before she gained a certain level of infamy among the thugs that made up the White Tigress and Viktor's crew. Most feared and despised her, but they had no choice but to obey her unless they wanted to find themselves on the wrong side of the rifles of the armored marines once again. That was precisely the point. Given the time limitations, only fear could keep these people in line and motivate them to do what they were told.

At the same time, in sections of the base that were off-limits to pirates and Viktor's crew, a number of hand-picked Terran, Protoss, and Zerg units spent their time going through information about this galaxy that Athena's adjutant had collected and compiled. This information would allow them to modify their strategies and tactics to fit this new galaxy.

For the Terrans, there was Rum, Vodka, and 18 other veteran marines and marauders. Athena hoped to turn them into her governors, commanders, and officers. They were all infinitely loyal to her, and using them exclusively as front-line soldiers felt a little wasteful.

For the Zerg, there was Kir, with her pet drone as emotional support, of course. Studying could be a stressful task...

For the Protoss, there were Vayron and four other zealots. Their focus was mainly on the structure of starships and, more importantly, the quickest way to neutralize one.

After his conversation with Athena, Viktor also found his way to a copy of the information Athena's adjutant compiled. As far as Athena could tell, he was doing his best to get ahold of his own ego and improve himself, both for his own sake and for the good of the Swarm.

After some time, the passengers were let out of their cells, but they were still kept in a restricted area. A number of them tried to reach out to the new leader of this base and offer their service in exchange for protection, but for now, Athena ignored them.

She had more important things to worry about. More specifically, she had pirates to kill.

According to information the White Tigress purchased from intel brokers at Lawman's Port, the planet designated R412 had been colonized around 5 months ago by a group of several thousand refugees who fled the Sandera Empire in the Vander System in search of a better life.

A corrupt dictatorship that reigned over one of the twelve habitable planets in the Vander System, the Sandera Empire was known for levying extremely heavy taxes on its civilian population to support the lavish spending of its elite. It was a weak nation, even in the context of the Chaos Sectors, but the fact that it still existed meant it wasn't rotten to the core. Not yet.

Either way, this taxation policy had turned countless of its population into refugees and migrants, and this group of several thousand was just a tiny fraction of that.

After some searching, this group of refugees found their way to an inhospitable planet outside the reach of any major force in this system. For months, they used the materials and hardware that they spent their collected life savings on to build a settlement. Life was tough, but at least they were more free than when they were back in the empire. For a while, things were good.

Unfortunately for them, this didn't last long. Things at the colony quickly took a turn for the worse when bands of pirates began showing up in the planet's orbit and demanding payments from the colonists. The colonists, without many weapons or any warships, could only watch as different factions of pirates fought over them before a single victor emerged and all other pirate ships fled the planet. They were then forced to pay tributes to the victors at regular intervals. They still maintained some connection with their homeworld, but any trips arriving to or departing from their own planet were closely monitored by the pirates. Plus, no one would really stick up for a remote colony with no wealth or influence to speak of.

In the end, these people fled their own government, only to come under the oppression of these pirates. The colonists were furious, but there was little they could do.

This lasted all the way until Athena set her eyes on this world.

A P-34 starcruiser jumped into orbit over R412. On the bridge, Athena stood there in the form of a Terran marine. Yes. She brought out the possession trick again. This was a dangerous journey, and she wasn't going to put herself at risk.

Sitting in the captain's seat was Viktor. He was joined by two dozen of his crew and a dozen Terran marines on the bridge.

"Boss!" One of Viktor's original crew members glanced at Athena nervously before turning to Viktor. He didn't recognize Athena, but he knew these men in blue armor were not to be messed with. "We have completed the jump. All components of the ship are functioning properly."

"Good." Viktor nodded before carrying out his part of the plan. "Keep an eye on the scanners. Prepare to descend toward the planet's surface."

Athena observed the exchange in silence. R412 was one of the planets that White Tigress was confident would be watched by ships from a rather powerful pirate faction. On one hand, this would have derailed Viktor's entire plan, but on the other hand, it gave Athena an opportunity to find herself a new ship and the information its computers would contain.

If she was the pirate captain and a mysterious civilian ship suddenly began heading toward the colony she had been watching, what would she do? Let it reach the surface? Of course not. She would try to intercept the ship and find out what was going on, and Athena was counting on these pirates doing just that.

"All clear, but that may be because the scanners are just warming up…" The crew member reported before his eyes suddenly caught a glance of something on the screen. "Wait…boss, I've got something! A ship! It just entered our scanner's range! A light cruiser, I think! I don't recognize the class. They saw us before we saw them! They're closing the distance!"

"They have better sensors than we do. More expensive ones." Athena whispered before glancing at Viktor.

"Should we deploy our weapons and engage?" An officer asked, a little panicked. The P-34 had some weapons, but they were all dormant and hidden due to Viktor's orders. Even if they were active, a modified civilian transport would have trouble outgunning a light cruiser designed for warfare.

"No. Remember the plan!" Viktor snapped. They just went over the plan twice before leaving the base! "Take evasive maneuvers to put some distance between us and them. And try to hail them!"

"Yes, boss!"

As the entire ship rattled around her as it moved, Athena examined the relative position of the two ships and the planet of R412 on the star map in the middle of the bridge. The civilian vessel was turning around in an effort to flee from the light cruiser. By all accounts, it seemed no different than an innocent ship that was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The light cruiser thought so as well, because it immediately began to pursue at full speed.

"We have that light cruiser on the line! Audio only."

"Patch me through." Viktor took a deep breath. He had always prided himself on being a good actor. Now it was time to put that to the test. If he failed...he shook his head and tossed that thought out of his mind for the time being. "Unknown vessel, state your intentions!"

"This is Captain Hector. I'm gonna get straight to the point here. We work for the Kiara Revolutionary Legion. Power off your engines now and prepare for boarding." The voice of a relatively young man appeared on the comms.

"On whose authorities?" Viktor played dumb. "This is neutral space! No nation has laid claim to this area!"

"Give me a break, captain. You are here for a reason. You are either playing dumb with me or you were lied to. Frankly speaking, I don't care what it is. Reverse your thrusters until your ship ceases movement and then power off all engines."

"Sir!" Almost immediately, a crew member on the bridge of the P-34 suddenly called out in panic. He had never been shot at by a light cruiser before. "Incoming fire detected...taking evasive maneuvers now!"

Viktor watched in silence as his ship slightly shifted its path to the side and easily dodged the shot. Still, the light cruiser got its message through. It was well-armed and it was quite capable of opening fire. Railguns were infamous for being inaccurate over any extended distance, but railgun munitions were also extremely cheap to purchase and maintain. They were practically designed for spraying and praying.

"That was a single warning shot from one of the eight medium railgun turrets aboard my ship. Your ship is a civilian vessel that just finished a jump. You don't have the speed, the distance, or the armor to survive until you can activate your FTL engine again." Captain Hector's voice echoed through the bridge. "Do as you're told now!"

"How do we know you won't kill us after you board our ship?" Even though this was exactly what he wanted, Viktor still appeared hesitant. "If we have no guarantees, we may as well take our chances."

"I assume you haven't heard about us before." Captain Hector on the other end was obviously a little stuck as well. "That's a shame…we have ransomed ship captains and crews before as long as they didn't resist. I thought we would've had some reputation by now. Either way, I guess you just have to take my word for it. A guaranteed death if you flee or a possible survival if you yield. Your call."

Viktor was silent for a while before finally giving in. He made a reply as he secretly hoped his act was convincing enough. "Very well. I hope you will uphold your end of the bargain, captain. Men, do as they said."

As the conversation came to an end and the crew worked to bring the P-34 to a stop, Athena grinned to herself.

"It looks like they bought the story."

"It's good that my plan wasn't chosen, my Queen," Viktor said quietly as they patiently waited for the light cruiser to catch up to them. "I had no idea these pirates have light cruisers. If we blindly jumped in with the Ravager…that light cruiser could've taken the entire ship down before we had any chance of running. I thought pirates usually deploy frigates and corvettes."

"They are a special case," Athena explained before glancing at some of the crew who looked a little confused by what Viktor called her. She pondered the idea of coming up with an excuse before deciding there wouldn't be one good enough. Ah well...it wasn't like her reputation was on the line. "The Kiara Revolutionary Legion seems to be a particularly powerful pirate faction in this area. Rumors say they were founded by defeated lords or generals from another star system who fled here to avoid retribution from their political rivals. They brought with them quite a fleet, and this fleet formed the backbone of the Legion. They are powerful, much more powerful than the White Tigress."

"In that case, would it be wise to challenge them?"

"It would." Athena simply stated. The light cruiser had a much greater chance of unlocking the starport for her than the average pirate vessel, and she was really getting annoyed with having to use ground troops to fight enemy ships. As for the Ravager and the P-34…Athena saw them more as transport with some guns attached than warships.

As she watched the light cruiser close the distance, Athena briefly returned to her own body and gave a silent command to a number of units hiding within the ship. She wasn't on the ship herself, which meant these units had to be loaded aboard the vessel secretly before it departed.

This would of course put these units at risk of destruction, but all evidence Athena came across suggested that no self-respecting pirate would want to destroy a defenseless civilian ship potentially carrying cargo that had surrendered already. There were risks, but they were acceptable risks.

The light cruiser finally came to a stop next to the P-34 star cruiser. Connecting two starships in space was a little challenging, but it wasn't remotely impossible with both sides working together. Standard-sized stabilizing beams extended from the hulls of both starships and locked together in the middle. Thrusters across both ships were activated and deactivated to keep both vessels stable.

Finally, a metal passageway, around 5 meters wide and 3 meters tall, extended from the gate of the light cruiser and locked onto one of the side gates of the P-34, forming a temporary pathway that allowed infantry soldiers in power armor to cross from one ship to another.

Dozens of pirates, armed to the teeth and all wearing power armor, gathered around the corridor in front of the closed gate and patiently waited for it to finally open. Despite the situation, they were at ease. They had done this countless times before. They would reach the other ship, enjoy the feared look from the crew or the passengers, and then head for the bridge. This would allow them to jump this ship back to base and get this matter over with.

What they didn't know was that this time, it wasn't the helpless and unarmed crew of a civilian ship waiting at the other end of the gate. Instead, it was several alien warriors, hoping to do almost the exact same thing to their light cruiser.