FSE

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Somewhere in the Sirius system, a shuttle approaches a station called Freeport 2 "Freeport 2, this is Rescue 6, we have survivors from convoy 624 aboard requesting permission to land" the shuttle pilot requests

"Permission granted for pad 6" the docking officer replies

"Copy, landing at pad 6" replied the pilot.

The shuttle set down on pad 6 and lowered its passenger ramp, the convoy survivors walked down to the deck and were approached by a freight rep "are you the survivors from convoy 624" she asked.

"Yes, it's just the two of us" one survivor replied "I'm Sandy and this is Emma",

"We're off the freight transport Pegasus, she was a good ship" Sandy added

"So your ship and how many others tried to make a run for it" the rep asked.

"Us, the Appleby, the Hornet, a few trains and some rhinos, the rhinos tried to covered the transports" Sandy said "our fighter escorts were shot down like fly, the Hornet started dropping her cargo in a hope they would let her go".

Sandy continued "They destroyed her, the Appleby and trains, tractored all the cargo that survived then blasted us".

"Did you drop your cargo" the rep asked

"No" Sandy replied "We abandoned ship"

"Why?" asked the rep

"They blast our rear guns to pieces, and the captain ordered everyone to leave" Sandy said.

"Ok we'll look into your contract and interspace commerce will be in touch" the freight rep said and left.

"What are we suppose to do now, sit and wait for IC to check our contract, then they're gonna send us peanuts, that's gonna take 2 weeks even for them to do that" Emma said pacing.

"Look let's see if this place has a bar, if it does, first round is on me" Sandy said patting Emma on the shoulder and walk her to the exit.

Freeport 2's bar buzzed with activity when they arrived, all the tables were occupied. Many different species equine humanoids, catians, wolf-dragons, humans, ba'ku, Sandy spotted room at the bar, they went over to the bar and stood waiting to be served, Emma felt someone grab her butt, she turned and saw a pilot standing behind her with his hand on her butt.

"Please, remove your hand, sir" she said,

"You're pretty" he said as he wrapped his arm around her, she pushed him away, he threw her to the floor.

Sandy turned to the customers next to her and asked if they were using their ash tray, they shook their heads.

She thanked them grabbed the ash tray and smashed it over the pilot's head then gave him a left in the stomach and a right in the face. He fell to the floor unconscious.

Sandy helped Emma up, then they went to the end of the bar, the customers there vacated their seats as the two girls approached.

A female barkeep walked up to them "two please" Sandy said the female barkeep nodded and went to get their order. Sandy watched as security removed the unconscious pilot, the barkeep returned with two glass of red coloured juice

"You did that" she asked pointing to the pilot being carried out.

"Yep" Sandy replied;

"Did you arrive with one of the convoys?" the barkeep asked.

"Our convoy was attacked and destroyed, we're the only survivors" Emma replied

"I'm sorry to hear that, have you talked to a trade rep yet?" she asked.

"As soon as we got off the rescue shuttle" Sandy replied.

"Did they offer you a place to stay?" the barkeep asked the girls looked at each other then at the barkeep

"No they didn't" Sandy replied Emma just shook her head.

"How many credits do you have?" the barkeep asked

"About 100 between us" Emma said,

The barkeep shook her head "that is not enough for a two week stay here but I may be able to help you" she said as she looked around the room "now where is he".

"Where's who" Sandy asked

"Bobby, he's the captain of a freighter docked here he's also waiting for IC to get back to him as well, I think he has some cabins on his ship you can use, excuse me" the barkeep said, then left to find 'Bobby'.

"What do you think," Emma asked Sandy

"I don't know, but if this 'Bobby' has some cabins available and he can be trusted, we would be very foolish not to consider talking to him and finding out more" Sandy replied.

Just then a group of pilots came into the bar cheering and patting eachother on the backs then sat down at some tables. One pilot, a catian male, almost six feet tall, he wore a work-horse grey vest with a black pants, his fur was white with several large black splotches covering his face, ears, head and shoulders, he's hair was mostly black, ears were flat against his head and his tail was swishing from side to side.

"Hello handsome" Sandy said to herself as he walked towards them and sat down next to Sandy and ordered some apple juice.

"Rough day" Sandy asked the pilot he turned, his ears pricked up then moved at random,

"You could say that, we lost a convoy today but we kicked some pirate ass" he said looking down the bar, his black and white mane swished gently

"Really, that's good" she said.

"I heard the Pegasus fought valiantly against the pirates before she was lost," he said turning around on his stool,

"Really, where did you hear that" Sandy asked, the barkeep returned.

"I'm sorry girls I can't find him" then she noticed the pilot sitting next to them as he spun back around.

"You're a hard cat to find Bobby" she said,

"Only if you don't know where to look first" he replied "escort duty is getting hazardous",

"I know, I hear about how bad it is out there" the barkeep said,

Sandy cleared her throat.

"Sorry, Bobby these two need a place to stay until IC gets back to them" she said

"Really I'm still waiting for IC to get back to me, that was three weeks ago" he replied looking at them

"If you don't mind me asking but what ship do you have" Emma asked.

"It's a container transport" Bobby replied "she is...was heavily armed, I do have some spare quarters, if you're interested"

"I don't know" Sandy said

"Look, before you decide anything how about a tour" Bobby added getting up accidentally hitting Sandy with his tail.

They took the lift to docking pylon two as Bobby walked towards the ship's airlock threshold "Welcome to the Akira, she's 500 metres long, three cargo bays each holds about 1300 units of cargo, she has a secondary bay that holds about 100 units" he said.

"How many crews do you have?" Emma asked

"At the moment...One" he replied as they walked down the corridor to the lift "I got here with a crew of five".

"Really, you said she was armed" Emma said

"yes, she can support twelve class seven gun turrets but I had to sell half of them to pay docking fees, life-support replenishment and repairs" he continued "not to mention renting an external power umbilical", they walked past a 2 metre by 2 metre compartment with a round pad on the floor "that is a catian transporter pad mainly used for bring cargo aboard but it can transport people as well".

They reached the lift which open as they approached "bridge...escort duty does bring in a few hundred credits and is an effective use of my time" he added.

"Any chance we could join your escort group?" asked Emma

"It is possible but you are not a part of any ship's crew around here" he said.

The lift stopped and they exited "There has got to be a ship around here willing to take us on," Emma said running her fingers through her hair as they walked, then it hit her. "We don't have to find a ship we've already found one but is her captain will to put us on",

"He is but are you capable of holding your own in battle" Bobby replied, stopping outside the bridge

"We can" Sandy replied,

"Then welcome aboard" Bobby said smiling.

'Come out, come out, where ever you are' Sandy thought looking down the turret access tube at Bobby floating feet first down to his turret, strap in and test his gun controls.

"All gunners report when ready" the pilot said, reports came in from the bow guns, forward turrets, mid-ship turrets,

"Lower aft ready" Bobby reported, his tail floating gently side to side in the Zero-G environment, Sandy closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Upper aft turret, are you ready" she heard the pilot say, she looked down at Bobby he was looking up at her, he tapped the side of his headset

"Upper aft turret ready" she said

"Copy that, no contacts yet".

"Try to relax" it was anna she was a wolf, she manned the mid-ship portside turret "these patrol ships can take a beating and still return home",

"Let me get this straight we are going into battle with no escorting fighters" Sandy said.

"The plan is to draw out the pirate's then call in the fighters" Bobby said,

"Right on" said josh also a wolf and anna's brother; he manned the mid-ship starboard turret.

"Josh behave yourself you don't want Sandy to come up here and beat you up" anna said smiling

"She couldn't even hurt Bobby and he's as timid as a mouse" josh said

"Hey, who called me a mouse" Bobby said loudly pretending struggle with his harness. Sandy giggled

"But he has a point you couldn't ever hurt a teddy bear" Bobby said smiling,

Sandy grabbed a nearby PDA and hurled it at Bobby; it bounced off the tunnel walls several times and then gently floated into Bobby's waiting hand.

He typed something on it and sent it back on a slow but accurate course back up the tube, she read it "you couldn't hurt anyone with a simple PDA, how about some dinner tomorrow night" she erased the message and typed something then threw it back.

The PDA hit the wall and flew straight at Bobby, he twisted and caught it in his mouth "nice throw" he said after he remove it from his mouth then read her message "elohssa, emitefil siht ni ton" Bobby looked at her with a puzzled look

"I'm sorry what is 'elohssa, emitefil siht ni ton' mean" he asked

"It says 'not in this lifetime, asshole' " she replied

"Oh, maybe next lifetime then, we catians' live to about a hundred and fifty years old" he replied.

Bobby looked down at his targeting screen, it was clear but something was off, he couldn't put his paw on it "you got anything up there" Bobby asked Sandy

"Nope" she replied,

Bobby watched his screen for the rest of the patrol but nothing appeared.

Back on the Akira, Bobby was lying down in an access tube; he was putting in some power cables for the new computer systems he bought. The laser welder felt hot in his hand as he separated and spliced bundles of wires together, he caught a whiff of someone nearby. Someone grabbed his feet, he dropped the welder as he was pulled out of the access tube, he came face to face with Sandy, she kissed him softly and deeply, he wrapped his tail around her leg.

Sandy pulled away and gently uncoiled his tail from around her leg "the computer will be ready soon" he said getting up and shook his head his black and white mane swished from side to side. He turned back to the bulkhead "we just have to hook up some of the other connections then we're done, the transporter will work better with this system".

Sandy reached up and started playing with his mane, twirling several strands of black and white fur around her finger, she felt something fluffy tickle her neck, and she giggled softly.

"Can you go to the bridge and see how Emma is going with the computer interfaces" he asked bring his tail around to tickle her under the chin

"Ok" she replied running her fingers along the fluffy tip of his tail then she left.