Starbound: A Space Odyssey 139 The Pursuit 7

"What is it?" The Apex captain glanced at the pilot that was at his side.

"It appears that their Forcefield is down." The pilot commented with a frown on his face.

"Really?" The captain was surprised for a moment. In his mental calculations, the shield of that ship could still take a few more hits before it was disabled for good, "Double check their power usage."

"Yes, Captain." The pilot did what he was told and carefully scanned John's ship from their distance, "Indeed, their shield is down. They seem to be redirecting the power usage from their Defensive Energy System to somewhere else."

The Captain frowned and entered in deep thought before asking in a low voice, "Do you think they have some kind of weapon?"

"I don't think so." The pilot readily answered as he also thought about the possibility but immediately dismissed it, "From our scans, we found no weapon in that ship. Despite it appearing to be a custom made s.p.a.ceship, there doesn't seem to have any kind of weapon, and just the simplest Forcefield as a defensive system."

"What we of actions do you suggest we take?" The captain was a cautious person and didn't wish to fall in a possible trap set up by the enemy.

The pilot knew of his Captain's cautious nature and made his suggestion, "We should slow down until we are at the same speed as them, maintaining a certain distance, and also send some probationary attacks to see of they are planning something. We should use mainly our machine guns and energy beams, homing missiles are useless ever since that sniper Novakid climbed on top of the s.p.a.ceship."

"Good." The Captain nodded, "We are going to do as you suggested. Relay the new orders, all ships shall slow down and keep the same speed as the enemy and use only the machine guns and energy weaponry."

...

"Why are they slowing down?" John confusedly looked at his Navigation Console.

He saw the pursuing ships dropping their speed until they were at the same as him.

"Because you turned off the Forcefield." Peri explained, "They think it's a trap. It's the same as when in fight your opponent suddenly drop his defense and leave such obvious gap for you to strike. Any experienced fighter would be wary to exploit the gap since it could very likely be a trap. Of course, a normal and inexperienced fighter would most likely attack, even though it could possibly be a bait, but an experienced one will surely hesitate. Thats what's happening, the Captain of that fleet is a veteran, he thinks your opening is a trap for them. His next sort of actions will to probationary attack a few times to test the waters. If the opening is genuine, he won't hesitate to send everything after us. Your careless move made them hesitate and give us time. Nice one, John."

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John's lips twitched after he heard Peri's explanation, [They have an absolute advantage in the numbers and also in weapons. What could they possible be overthinking we have with us to lure them into a trap?] These were his thoughts, although he was speechless about their decision, he was also joyous. This will buy them time for the engine to be ready to speed up with the improvised turbo.

...

"Fire the lasers." The Captain ordered his fleet to do so as soon they finished charging their weapons.

*Tzzzt*

The beams were sent and they watched as the enemy s.p.a.ceship maneuvered and dodged all of them.

"Not a single hit, Captain." The pilot reported.

"I saw." The Captain answered with a cold tone.

He was getting impatient, despite him being cautious, he couldn't allow the enemy to flee. As such, he received orders to destroy them, but he simply couldn't charge forward and fall into whatever trap the enemy was planning.

They been cautiously tailing John's ship for a about minute now while sending a barrage of bullets and energy beams.

[Maybe...] The Captain thought to himself as his eyes flashed, [It isn't a trap at all...? It's a possibility, but why would they lower their Forcefield? Wait...maybe their Defensive Energy System malfunction...]

His head was running through all possibilities as he tried to find a way to destroy the enemy and return as soon as possible.

[Should I sacrifice a ship?] The Captain thought, [It's for the best. To see whatever or not is a trap, I should send one forward to test the waters.]

"Hear my orders." The Captain in the communicator, "s.p.a.ceship number 5 go forward and do your utmost to destroy the enemy."

"Yes, Captain." The pilot at the s.p.a.ceship number 5 gladly accept his orders even knowing that he was a possible sacrifice.

...

"They are starting to get suspicious." Peri commented as soon as she saw one of the Miniknog's ships break formation and speed up towards them.

"It's too late by now." John said, "We are almost ready, just a few more seconds."

John looked at the lever at his side pushed it upward to the maximum.

Soon John felt a weightless sensation as the Artificial Gravity Generator was turned off.

He tightened the seatbelt to stop his body from floating away, looked at the screen of the Navigation Console, and watched as the s.p.a.ceship picked up speed.

"Here we go." John lightly said, "Lenny, be ready. They are going to do everything they can to stop us. Don't die."

"*Tzzt* I won't die, John. After all, I'm too good to die."

John rolled his eyes as he heard Lenny bragging, but he flashed a smile and turned up to Peri.

She nodded indicating she was ready.

"Well, it's time. Full force ahead, SAIL. Let's get away from them."