VC Chapter 4-Close Encounters

Sector 1400

Planet 1401

January 16, 2052

A lone Voyager corvette loaded with a railgun and a pulse ray flew quickly out of the dusty orange planet in hot pursuit by five VEGA Exodus cruisers. However, the corvette was faster and more nimble and thus escaped the sights of the VEGA pilots into deep space. Aboard the corvette was a lone pilot dressed in a battle spacesuit with an empty co-pilot seat beside him. A sleek reflective visor covered his head and a metallic body armour was strapped to his chest with the words “Wicker” painted on the chest plate.

“This is Captain Wicker requesting pick up at extraction point Alpha Tango. Where is my fleet?” the pilot broadcasted in his helmet as he looked outside his cockpit for signs of his ships.

“Captain Wicker, there has been slight delays to your extraction due to irregular VEGA fleet patterns.” a man replied back on the ship console.

“I don't need excuses. I need extraction now. I have uncovered valuable VEGA intelligence and we must deliver it to NB!” Wicker steered his ship around in a circle to scan for an fleets in pursuit of him.

“Sir, we coming in-” the transmission buzzed into static.

Out of nowhere two Harrier frigates and one Genesis cruiser flew above Wicker's corvette and aimed its weapons on it.

“The hell?” Wicker looked above as he saw the shadow of an unidentified enemy fleet cast over his ship.

Wicker acted instantaneously and increased forward thrust when one of the harriers shot its disruptor rays and knocked the corvette's shields out. While doing a barrel roll up, Wicker fires off a railgun shot and misses the frigate by a couple of centimetres as it strafed sideways. Before the fight even begun, the Genesis fires its pulse rays and shoots out Wicker's engines making it spin out of control.

“Surrender now and we won't blow you out of the sky” Wicker's hologram transmitter suddenly activates as a man dressed in ragged combat clothes gave the ultimatum.

Wicker studied the man in the hologram and was able to make out that the way the man was dressed indicated he was probably a space pirate looking to make a small fortune by attacking small ships. The man had a cool composure with a beard indicating that he was of some age, but his eyes did not appear to look aggressive which meant that there was room for negotiations.

“Alright. I surrender.” Wicker replied back as he deactivated his guns.

“We are boarding your ship.” the man replied and then ended the transmission.

The Genesis cruiser slowly steered towards the engineless corvette. Once the Genesis was in position, a tube extended outwards from its port and latched onto the small ship with a rattle.

“Where the hell is my fleet?” Wicker mumbled as he unstrapped himself from his seat and went to grab his sidearm underneath his chair.

 At the rear of the corvette, a pop was heard as the emergency escape hatch was released. Wicker immediately took cover and held his pistol firmly. The pirates were in.