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4 April, 3063 – Our forces arrive in the Arboris system and we take a look around. Because there is a recharge station at the Zenith point, that’s where we arrive. There are a pair of JumpShip here, one by the Zenith Jump Point, and another at the Nadir. There are several DropShips making their way from Arboris to the JumpShip. It appears some are commercial types like a Mule, Monarch and a Buccaneer. But there are also two military DropShips – Leopard (not the CV version with fighters) and the Gazelle (which usually has tanks).
We radio them all while interdicting our WarShip, the DropShips, and fighter screens to the Nadir point while leaving behind forces here at the Zenith one. All five DropShips are far too gone on their burn to turn back. The WarShip can go faster and with its four DropRings, it can set up a perfect speedbump.
We contact the five DropShips, and radio the Jumps. One of the JumpShips claims to be a passenger Merchant Vessel, here at the Zenith Point, and its registry checks out. It claims to be waiting for the Buc and the passenger DropShip called a Monarch to jump out. Those ships also radio their merchant registries, and they check out, so we don’t even stop them.
The other JumpShip, an Invader class one, at the Nadir point, with three rings for the three DropShips launching for it leaves before we can confront it – it must have already charged its battery.
That leaves these three DropShips burning for a large WarShip and fleet. There’s no even an assault DropShip in the mix, these are smaller ones. Captain Randall Lewis orders them to stop and be boarded. There’s no chance of survival, so they agree to do so.
All three ships are pirate vessels, which we take. They are a Gazelle, Leopard, and Mule. The Mule was mostly empty, it was to be used to carry the goods they raided, with only a few things in the cargo. The Leopard carries 4 Mechs and 2 fighters. All six are in the stable. We have 15 tanks in the Gazelle, mostly faster ones. They were jumping out to hit a trio of lightly defended nearby worlds and then come back.
We set aside their captured forces for now, and tell them that we will not arrest them, but set them free, without their equipment, with their lives. It s a better deal than if they had attacked us.
The first pirate band is down.
Three or four left.
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