The Uotila system lay quiet, its sun casting pale blue light across the asteroid belt. In that stillness, six Coercer-class destroyers dropped from warp, their arrival sudden and surgical - like scalpels slicing through silence.
Each ship gleamed with minimalist menace: angular black hulls trimmed with gold, diamonds, and compact Y-S8 afterburners. The sleek sporty frames were humming with the suppressed growl of an 875 Gigajoule capacitor array, powering sixteen focused pulse lasers. At the center of the formation, the lead destroyer, Eternal Dagger, began moving. The other destroyers soon fell into formation, travelling slightly faster and orbiting the lead.
On her bridge, Princess Aiko stood with the grace of a blade unsheathed. She was beautiful - disarmingly so. Her cute upturned nose was the height of nobility. Her narrow eyes outlined with smudges of ultraviolet kohl, and her icy lips pursed in delicate boredom. A long black ponytail spilled across the back of her armored flightsuit, swaying gently as the ship banked.
On her left pauldron gleamed the unmistakable sigil of the Pink Safety - a sharp angular glyph, neon against jet black. Once, it was merely a symbol of the elite state special security forces. Now, it was a ghostmark: feared, whispered, and violently reborn under her banner. “Visual confirmation,” she said, calm and unhurried.
Lieutenant Commander Pollard, her tactical harness clipped in tight, angled the holotable and zoomed in. “Target located. Mobile Tractor Unit, class R-51. Small-frame core recovery. No comms. No crew. This thing’s running silent.” Aiko arched a brow. “Who left this garbage here?"
Pollard nodded. “A Gila-class cruiser no doubt - belter pirates are constantly harassing the Guristas refugees. But I’m not picking up anything. It’s alone.” Aiko stepped closer, scanning the raw data feed. “Bait?”
“Always take the bait", Pollard said. “However, there’s no sign of cloak distortion. I think someone’s slipped up and forgotten this one.” Aiko’s lips curved, “Then we engage. Tighten formation. Load Conflag. Prepare for synchronized strike.” Across the command net, affirmations pinged back. The Coercers pivoted into a crescent, spreading across a flanking vector.
The MTU came into view seconds later: a squat, cylindrical frame with clawed salvage arms folded inward, drifting with passive inertia through the asteroid haze. Scorch marks stained one panel. The reactor signature flickered. It was a dead thing waiting to be torn apart. “Begin charge sequence,” Aiko whispered, as a strand of hair brushed gently across her microphone.
On Eternal Dagger, eight pulse laser capacitors began to glow - a quiet crescendo of light. The other destroyers mirrored the action in flawless rhythm, forming a deadly arc around the target. “We are ready.” Pollard stated the obvious.
Aiko raised a hand. A simple motion. A sovereign’s gesture.
“Extirpate.”
The Coercers unleashed hell. Beams of focused plasma lanced through the void, carving the MTU’s hull with ease. The first volley sheared one of the salvage arms; the second punched straight through the core housing, venting a crackling bloom of green energy. The defenseless unit shuddered and began to burn. Pollard murmured, “This thing’s abandoned.” Aiko stepped closer to the viewport. Her reflection elegant and cold, in contrast to the fiery chaos outside.
“Interior is slagged,” Pollard reported. “Salvage complete.”
Then—
A blip.
“New contact!” Triple Commissar Badasaz barked, his mustache quivering, “One Gila-class cruiser, it looks like the illegal miners have a friend. Five klicks and closing!” Aiko’s face was impassive, “Ship scan?” Pollard hesitated. “No signs of human life, must be crewed by capsuleer bots.” Aiko nodded, “No doubt.”
On the screen, the Gila flared its engines, charging directly at them. Missiles armed, drones launching from internal bays. Aiko’s voice was pure like morning dew, “All ships, rotate formation. Target the pirate. Laser banks full cycle - on my mark.” Aiko tilted her head slightly, watching the Gila like a hunter eyeing wounded prey.
“Mark.”
The destroyers fired, beams crossing space in bright latticework. The first strike rippled harmlessly across adaptive shields, but the second melted straight through. The pirate cruiser twisted, venting coolant. Its drones scattered, missile launchers misfiring. The third volley cored the Gila through its reactor chamber. The ship detonated in a flash of white light, fragments spraying outward. Aiko smiled, her teeth flashing white, brighter than the explosion itself.
“Area secure,” Pollard said. “No other signatures.”
Aiko grinned, “That should calm them down.”