Pirate Bebop

Ch.12

It was pretty tense. This would be our first time acting as pirates. While I may be an old hand at it, the others were, at best, minor delinquents. Going from committing misdemeanors to outright piracy was a huge leap. At least the plan was to get in, get the goods, get out. The less death inflicted on the target, the better. Of course, the plan was for none of us to die, which was laughable in reality, but we’re a small, elite team. We should be good. Shut it, Murphy!

I was in my male form in the Mobile Trace System of the Zaku Warrior, ready to launch first. Rivala was already at her full size and formed her crystal exo-armor over the Warrior, which was now properly equipped with a 90mm SMG in the right hand and the heat hawk in the left. I would disable the ship’s thrusters and Spike would get the weapons of the gunboats.

“Alright, we’re about to enter the Krukov system. The moment we’re in, we’ll beeline for the ambush point.” Jet informed us and I got ready in case we were late enough that the convoy was already in-system. Thankfully or not, I was left to hurry up and wait, meaning we were here before our target.

“Hey, Silver?” Rivala’s voice echoed from the Zaku’s systems, so that meant this was a direct message since she’s linked to it.

“Yeah, lass?” I asked as I struggled not to move. Downside to the MTS; since it’s a 1:1 of movement, you can’t sit down without the mobile doing the same. Thankfully I’m a slime, so the only issue is trying not to fidget. Also thankfully, there was tactile feedback when holding things.

“I know it’s weird to you, but can I join your relationship with Luster?” Rivala meekly asked and I blinked in confusion.

“I thought ya already were, lass. Ya’ve been with me longer than anyone, ya know me. If Luster wasn’t in the picture and ya woke up, why, I would’ve been yer mate right away. Have ya talked to Luster about this?” I asked my dearest, oldest friend and hopefully now mate and she made a pleased hum that made my membrane tingle and I longed for my true womanly form.

“She was the one who told me to ask you. Thank you, Silver. You have no idea how happy this makes me.” Rivala chirped and I patted her crystal shell on the Zaku’s chest with a wrist.

“Back at ya, luv.” I chuckled before I felt the ship decelerate. “Oi, Jet. I’m about ready to do fuckin’ cartwheels, are we in position?”

“I’ve hidden the Bebop in the hollow of an asteroid near the route the convoy is supposed to take through the system. I’m going to open up the hangar so you all can launch immediately. All hands, either be in a ship, mobile or out of the hangar deck in five minutes.” Jet informed us and then five minutes later, the hangar turned into a vacuum as the Bebop reclaimed as much atmosphere as she could and then opened the deck.

I launched immediately, headed for another nearby asteroid with Spike and Faye doing the same. We don’t want the target realizing where our mothership was, because the Bebop was unarmed. We really need to fix that. Not just for space combat either, she is sea-worthy.

Once I was nestled on a space rock, now came the long and torturous process of-. “Picking up several FTL signatures!” Ed warned us and I felt a mixture of anxiety and relief. We got here just in time. A few minutes later and we’d be doing this by the seat of our pants. “Scan complete! That’s our target!” Excellent! We’ve just gotta wait until they’re close enough to spring the trap.

🎺

“I just want to love~.” Lucatiel sang in the cockpit of her Worker Rodi doing some minor hull repair. The griffin hen cursed micro meteors for sanding ships while in FTL. She suddenly spotted thrusters in the cold dark of space speeding towards the Hawthorne. “What the-?”

Lucatiel screeched in fear when a streak of blue-green light went straight for where she was at the aft end of the ship near the thrusters and whatever happened caused her Rodi’s cameras to glitch, but she could feel whatever that was had sent her suit flying ass over tea kettle through space! The engineer frantically went through the recovery process with her heart in her ears.

🎺

Woops. Sorry, I hope whoever you are, you get back to your ship okay. At least I didn’t hit it directly. I turned from the crippled delivery craft for the nearest gunboat opposite where Spike and Faye were approaching from to help them disable the escort guns.

🎺

Lucatiel sobbed in hysterical fear as she gunned the thrusters for the brown dot on her viewscreen. The Hawthorne was a contracted delivery ship, so it didn’t stick to the gunmetal gray colors of the UnSC like the gunboats. If she could get back to dock, she might be okay! Why did she have to get a good-paying job as a mobile suit engineer pilot~?!

While she was desperately heading for the grainy brown dot, the rear-view camera hazily displayed a gigantic UnSC ship had just dropped out of FTL in the distance! She squeaked as she tried to get her Worker Rodi to fly faster towards safety, away from the new source of danger. Contracted or not, the UnSC were too trigger happy for her comfort!

🎺

Jim was shocked at the alert about a criminal heist in progress, but the Changeling Behemoth rushed towards the hangar despite still being in his training outfit. The MTS would just have to compensate. He wasn’t sure it would handle his bulky body too well yet since he hadn’t gotten into the Strike Sword since his ascension. He doubted it would be a problem.

🎺

“I’m alive! Staying alive, staying alive~!” Lucatiel cheered when she got to the ship even with damaged cameras and sensors. She had the Worker Rodi approach a berth and she locked the hands on the sides of the docking bay. Now certain it was secure, she made sure her EVA suit was intact before she cycled the suit’s atmosphere and opened up to the vacuum of space.

She flung herself to the inner airlock of the hangar and cycled it. Once done, it opened and she cycled it to let her in. Once she was inside of the ship proper, she undid her helmet with a sigh of relief and followed the signs to the galley. She grabbed a can of cherry soda and then followed the signs to the lounge. She’d surrender if the Hawthorne was raided, but right now, she just wanted to watch a sitcom and relax after that near-death experience.

🎺

Jet watched the griffin hen who had invaded the Bebop with initial worry, but now he was amused. Clearly this poor hen mistook the Bebop for the delivery ship. He laughed heartily, belatedly realizing that yes, both of them were brown ships of similar design. After she got tossed by Silver, she clearly got befuddled and desperately went to the first familiar sight.

“Uh...should I grab a blaster?” Ed asked uneasily and Jet chuckled.

“Yes, but only for defense. I think you can just sic Ein on her. He’ll keep her busy.” Jet watched when, after Ed told Ein what to do, the corgi rushed to the lounge where he started panting and jumping in front of the hen, who cooed and put him on her lap. Yep, occupied. Good boy.

🎺

“Ya’ve got to be kidding!” I snarled as I crossed blades with Jimbo. Of all the cosmic coincidences, the ship that nearly got us at the start of this adventure is on us again?! “What, ya got a psychic on board or something, Jimbo?!”

“You’re the one raiding a convoy in UnSC space!” Jim Hawkins replied in a much deeper and, if he dare say, sexier voice. “You’ve taken something vital to the UnSC and I’ve been tasked to retrieve it! Return what you’ve stolen!”

“Faye and I have got the target shipping containers, we’re moving back to the Bebop. Keep ‘em off of us before retreating yourself.” Spike reported and I grunted in acknowledgement as I pushed Jim away and peppered him with my SMG, but the shield attached to his sword projected an energy field that deflected the bullets. Where the fuck was that last time?!

Thankfully the Bebop was hidden in an asteroid and could only be seen from the opposite direction of the giant Star Dreadnought. Also, that Jim’s suit clearly outpaced anything the UnSC had aboard that fuck-off huge sword of a ship. It’d take them a good while to catch up to Jim, so all I had to do was keep him busy.

I parried another sword slash and dodged a spray of his own SMG bullets. Rivala could handle it, but I’d rather not have my girl take a beating for no reason. What is with the rainbow of particles his suit is dumping everywhere, especially from that new weapon?

“Notification: new system unlocked: Solar Reactor.” What? Whoa! The energy load on the Argent and Eezo reactors just halved! Sweet! I began moving just slightly faster, able to devote more Argent to pure thruster power! I stunned Jim with this speed and battered his sword/shield with my heat hawk! I had Jimbo on the back foot as I pressured him and-!

“Get to the Bebop, now!” Jet ordered me and I clicked my tongue.

“Sorry Jimbo, gotta go. Ya stay a good lad, don’t let them push ya around, y’hear?” I kicked the stomach of his mobile suit and then rocketed with full speed towards the Bebop. The instant I was in the hangar and it closed, gravity asserted itself and I felt the sensation of going into FTL, likely obliterating the asteroids nearest the trawler and hopefully not hurting anyone with the near-crawl we jumped into FTL with.

“Everyone alright? Any damage?” Spike asked as he looked over the Swordfish II, where he scowled at the thankfully minor damage the thrusters had taken from the gunships.

“Uh...guys? When did we have a civilian-grade mobile suit?” Faye asked uneasily and I looked at the docking berth. Wait...is that the suit I knocked off of the delivery ship? It’s a Worker Rodi, which is basically the Rodi Frame outfitted with the absolute minimum armor rated for impacts and colored with yellow and black hazard patterns, meant for heavy industry work.

“Well, it would be good for the armor we just got. Now we don’t have to wait for 47 to get us a frame.” Rivala commented chipperly.

“The pilot’s in the lounge, snuggling Ein and watching a sitcom I have recorded.” Jet said over the intercom. “We just accidentally shanghaied someone, so let’s go greet the new crewmember.” I snorted and docked before Rivala disengaged and shrunk down with me in her arms. We all went through the ship to the lounge where the pretty griffin hen was watching one of Jet’s horrible shows and petting Ein. Thank gosh it wasn’t a soap opera.

“Uh, hey.” The hen turned her hawk-head towards us and blinked in bemusement. “So, you boarded the wrong ship and, well, welcome to the Bebop.” Jet awkwardly greeted.

The poor lass fainted.

🎺

“This is Harissa Vela with CGN, reporting on the events of the Krukov system. The Silver Pirates have stuck again for a second time in just as few weeks. This time, their target was a UnSC Rodi prototype enroute to Aiur from the Macbeth III testing grounds. They ambushed the civilian cargo ship and abducted one of the maintenance workers along with her Worker Rodi and the prototype that could use the Rodi’s frame. If you encounter Lucatiel Mirrah, please contact the nearest authorities so she may be rescued.”

The transmission cut off and the darkened figure snarled with increased ire.

🎺

“We have more mechanics than miscreants on board now.” Faye whined after Lucatiel had woken up, freaked out, then got calmed down with the news that we’d let her go free at the next dock if we could manage it. Although, having someone trained in exterior ship maintenance and modification would be much better than leaving it to anyone else.

I could do it, Ed is still learning, Luster hasn’t even piloted a mobile before, but I’m not trained in it like Lucatiel is. “Aw, you’re not counting me.” Swerta mewled from Faye’s black beak and the hippogriff patted her own shoulder in placation. Those two were getting on good real quick~.

“So...you’re not like the examples the pamphlets provide regarding space pirates.” Lucatiel commented as she looked around the dining table in the galley. “I should be dead or a sex toy right now, but you’ve fed me, comforted me and even say you’ll let me go.” She nibbled on a ration bar, because as unpleasant as they can be, they’re good for a nervous stomach.

“Well, we’re not pirates by choice.” I admitted with a shrug. “I used to be one, gave up on it, then the UnSC decided to be major douchebags and set us up to die for doing the job they hired us for. Now we’re pirates.” I morphed and the hen gawked at my massive tiddies stretching my tank top and exposing my abs. “Oh, right, this is my base form. It’s just easier to be male in the suit.”

“Holy cow. Literally. I thought ladies getting this blessed in the body was an ancient thing, but there’s three of you.” Lucatiel commented as she looked between Luster, Rivala and I. At least Rivala was wearing a T-shirt and jeans instead of going nude like she’s used to.

“Careful, the only reason everybody on board isn’t blessed with the super-sexy bodies of the golden ages is because they haven’t wished for it.” Rivala beamed with a naughty eye sweeping over the normal people of the ship and I tugged on her slime pony tail with a disapproving pout that made her titter from her dock getting tugged.

“None of that. If ya turn everyone on board like us, then we’d never get anything done.” I chided my bubbly mate and she grinned lewdly. “Exactly that. Anyway, we’ll drop ya off discreetly at the next port if ya want, but I’ll up-front say we could use someone with yer skills. Ed, Luster and I may be dab hands with tools, but none of us have training in EVA work.”

“Well, it’s not like I can really say no. Also, I can only work with whatever you have, but it needs to be at a drydock if you want more than repairs done.” Lucatiel shrugged and looked around at us all. “You people are alright. I’ll help you out, but if I ever leave the ship, everyone will know you’re there. I’m nobody special, but abductions have bulletins put out.”

“I could change your appearance.” Rivala said with a wiggle of her eyebrows and I huffed. “I can absolutely turn you into a bodacious babe like us!”

“I think that would make her even more attention grabbing. Even if you changed her face and colors, she’d draw people’s eyes even more.” Luster said while gesturing at our new potentially temporary crewmate. “Just do a color change and morph her face. Maybe even make her a different species.” Luster’s suggestion got Lucatiel waving her talons frantically.

“I’m rather happy being a tiger hawk griffin, thank you!” Luca squawked with a pouty expression. “As much as I’d like to be as physically appealing as you three, I think I’m fine as I am. Besides, piloting a mobile suit with tits out to here is kinda ridiculous.” Luca joked while holding her talons away from her average chest. “Just swap my colors around and stuff or I can just dye my feathers and fur.”

“Oh! We should have that blond hair dye from when Faye went through that weird ‘gold is gorgeous’ phase!” Ed chirped and I along with the original crew snickered.

“It was not a phase! I was just trying to see if having blond plumage would look better on me!” Faye squawked with her cheek feathers fluffing up from her blush. “Anyway, I can dye you blond and you won’t have to have your body altered.” Then Faye’s face became mischievous.

“Like how Faye’s avoiding letting me get my curves back.” Swerta said from Faye’s beak and then the two avians left with Swerta pulling the bemused Lucatiel out of the galley.

“Well, she’s nice. A bit too soft for our line of work, but she seems like a good fit.” Jet commented with his arms crossed over his chest. “Ed, once we drop out of FTL, give 47 another call. Let him know we have the frame and armor.” He looked at me. “Go ahead and unpack the containers as well as figure out what’s going to happen with the gear you strip from the Rodi.”

“Aye, Captain!” I cheesily saluted and then headed towards the hangar with Luster and Rivala on my tail. “I’ve already got plans for all of this-oo~! Lasses!” I looked behind me at my two mates since they’d taken a handful of my ass each and both had my tail in their other hand while they leered hungrily at me. “Ep-ep! It’s duty hours, save it for later.” Gosh they’re thirsty.

🎺

Jim punched the bag as he practiced his form. The instant he returned to the ship, he went back to the training deck to vent his frustration. He had Silver right in front of him and he wasn’t good enough to avoid letting the pirate get away! Sure, that was only his second sortie, but he had the fastest suit aboard the Legacy and he couldn’t keep up when Silver suddenly stopped toying with him by breaking out that sudden increase in speed.

Something within Jim roared in fury, indignant at his opponent just retreating. He never knew himself to be a violent person, but now that he’s tasted combat, he wanted more. Maybe he is directly descended from Urta. She was the goddess of War and Power for a reason. “Cadet Hawkins.” Jim’s seething rage vanished at the voice of Amelia and he turned to look at his commanding officer. “As frustrating as it is, you cannot win every encounter.”

“I know, Amy. I just...I had him right there and he slipped through my fingers.” Jim rubbed his large white hands together. “I’ll get him next time.”

“Don’t promise things before you understand the gap in your level of skill. Silver has been around for centuries; he’s a veteran combatant. He’s performed daring acts of piracy as far as the Attican Traverse in the Milky Way or even the core of Andromeda. The fact you forced him to retreat, even with the threat of reinforcements incoming, is something you should be proud of at such an early stage of your career.” Amelia stated as she neared him and he tasted her Love.

“Thanks. I’m all out of sorts and feeling inadequate when I’ve been riding high for so long so fast.” Jim bent down and kissed the woman who had so quickly forced herself into his heart. “So, when will Commander Arrow be with me for more training?”

“Tomorrow. You need a much more cathartic release~.” Amelia purred as she ran her hands down his rippling abs. “Caetana is already in my quarters-woo!” Amelia cheered when her hunk of a stallion picked her up in his arms like she weighed nothing and he hurried to the elevator.

“Then I’m ravishing you both until you can’t walk.” Jim declared as he pressed the button urgently. “No breeding allowed, so no eggs and we have to use condoms, right?”

“As much as it pains me, yes, we must avoid you inseminating or egging anyone since you’ve already provided so many offspring.” Amelia said with utter disappointment. “Besides, I cannot do my job if I’m constantly distracted with the wonderful sensations of motherhood.”

“Maybe when you retire we can do that again, but for us.” Jim suggested and the Love that came from Amelia intensified.

“Oh, shut up and kiss me you sexy beast.” Amelia growled and pulled him into a searing makeout session as the elevator doors closed.