Nemesis

[Susan Ward]

The outskirt of Wendell Ice Field, Magellan system.

A lonely Guardian hooked to the dusty surface of a rather large asteroid, drifting at the extremity of the field, all systems shut. All systems...? Perhaps not. Hard to tell, even for the various detection equipment onboard the ships forming patrol AC-28. Lane Hackers. They were following a predefined patrol path, uncovered a few days ago in the data extracted from a Bayonetta wreck.

The pilot, inside the Guardian, raised his head in the cockpit, in an attempt to locate visually AC-28. An impossible task, given the distances and the chaotic spinning movement impacted to the asteroid, following the 'landing'.

The light formed in the core of distant stars shone on the opaque helmet of the pilot as he lowered his head to check his instruments. Passive capture was under way. The cryptography cell needed a large enough corpus of data encrypted with what was labeled as cypher CK-485-B for studies to begin, eventually leading to a potential way to decipher Lane Hackers transmissions using that very cypher. A long and uneasy task, that demanded significant resources. Generally speaking, Lane Hackers regularly proceeded to alter their encryption algorithms - the longest time observed between two versions was eleven weeks. If only they could get their hand on the co...

The pilot's thoughts were interrupted by a strident noise indicating a high priority tachyonic transmission had been received by the very long range communication array integrated to the Guardian.... A high energy blast that was without doubt caught by patrol AC-28 as well. Whoever sent that message couldn't possibly have made a greater job at painting the asteroid for AC-28 to investigate. The pilot released all the grapnels and proceeded with falling back as fast as possible, soon followed by the pack, rushing up for the scramble.

---

- "Attention, attention! This is Battleship Revenant. Identify yourself immediately." The voice was cold and uncompromising. The Guardian lowered its speed, to maintain a reasonable distance with the venerable dreadnought, while its pilot was sending confirmation codes to the beast in front of him.
A tense silence followed, before that same voice echoed again :
- "Welcome, operative."
- "Good evening." politely replied the pilot, before adding "I'd like to dock immediately, please."
- "Authorization granted, operative Ward. Bay one is all yours."
- "Thank you." answered the pilot before initiating the docking maneuvers necessary to enter in the old dreadnought.

---

There was little activity in the docks, noted the pilot as she walked out of the hold, once the Guardian was properly moored. Some mechanics actually gathered near the ship to take a look at the scars and assorted holes present on its hull. The pilot did not reply to their jeering, settling for a serene smile addressed to the crowd before quietly walking her way towards the officer waiting for her by the main door.

The officer saluted when she approached, soon replied alike.
- "Good evening, Lieutenant." said the pilot while observing him calmly.
- "Ma'am!" replied the Lieutenant, seemingly unsure of the way to treat this operative.
- "I'd like to see the Captain of this unit, Lieutenant... Mr. Reeves, is it not?"
- "Correct, Ma'am. But I'm unsure if his current schedule will allow that, Ma'am."
- "Is that so, Lieutenant?" peacefully asked the woman with a slight smile. "Well, do you think you could contact the bridge to reach his second in command, so that a meeting can be arranged as soon as possible?"
- "Aye aye, Ma'am." replied the Lieutenant before gesturing the pilot to follow her. "I will guide you to the bridge."
- "Thank you, Lieutenant." then said the pilot, before adding "By the way... Could you please give orders to limit access to this Guardian's whereabouts? I would also like to request your quartermaster to not issue refit and repairs on the fighter. Thank you."
- "Hmm... Very well, Ma'am." acknowledged the Lieutenant, slightly raising an eyebrow at this uncommon directive. - "May I ask.. Why? It definitely looks like the ship is in dire needs of repairs, with all due respect. "

Smiling with serenity, the woman took a few seconds before replying.
- "You are most correct, Lieutenant, however rest assured you shouldn't worry about it. The necessary repairs will be performed somewhere else."
She slowly raised her arm as to invite him to guide him.
- "Now this is settled, could you please show me the way? I'm afraid my schedule is a bit tight."
- "Aye aye, Ma'am. Allow me to give orders about your ship first..." nodded the officer before walking away with haste.