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Cathos considered his options. While he could just keep on going, that would eventually lead to full-on mutiny. He did think about it seriously for a second but concluded that he didn't have enough rep or fighting capability for such extreme measures. Plus, he'd rather not. He scanned the ceiling and found the camera in the corner.

"I wouldn't hope to stop you with it, I would stop you with it." A few seconds of unbearable tension passed, with Cathos staring at the lens with an unreadable face.

"But, very well. You send it to the mess hall then." He plucked the hacking chip out along with a shutting down of his forearm monitor. As he folded it closed and retracted it with a clunk, the drone came back to life.

"By the way, Tabitha wants me to replace her as the pilot."

(Looks like we're done with free time. I'll initiate the next sector.)

"Thanks! I'm also just going to assume you gave it its weapon back. Now, you can borrow a drone if you politely ask for one."

The ship arrived at the next station's entrance beacon.

"Well, well. Looks like we've arrived!"

Mind if I kick things off with some light, easy combat?

Tabitha barely felt the ship jump as she continued with her practice drills.
However once it arrived, she immediately stopped and tapped into the ship's network to see what was happening. There appeared to be a Rebel Fighter dressed up in purple squid decals. Four other ships drifted nearby; all of them Engi freighters and thus poorly-armed but well-defended. "Attention all ships, this is a Rebellion checkpoint. Power down your weapons and wait for inspection. You will be processed in due time. Be prepared to pay a toll, the following lists are acceptable payment..."

"Somehow I doubt that checkpoint is legit..." Tabitha remarked, rolling her eyes "Those freighter Captains only get what their sensors tell them."

Ok I know I complained about how space is big and you shouldn't be able to see the other ship but well... if you're a pirate inspector you gotta get up close. Most Engies tend to just run a scan, see the shape of the ship and assume it's a Rebel vessel. But anyone with eyes would say "Pirate."
Makes sense, right?

Eh, different engi do different things, and circumstances vary, so while I'd personally say that it makes more sense to just have them be "friendly" pirates(All that, "Welcome to our beacon" stuff), I'm fine with it.

"Comes with having to just ship luggage around all day, I assume." Cathos remarked, in his seat at the helm and already comfortable. He moved his view a little bit to inspect the engi ships. After staring at them wordlessly, he spoke up.

"Let's not attack until it's done with the collecting. Those ships look pretty wealthy and if that pirate captain has any brains at all he'll know that too." He paused for a moment, "We are going to board them, right?"

Tabitha groaned "You're kidding, sir? I suggest we go in now before they get robbed any further. If we wait, we're going to be wasting more time returning their stolen goods."
She headed back to the main level "And don't say we're keeping their stolen goods either, sir. That makes us no better than those pirates."

Cathos let out an inaudible sigh, both of relief and dissapointment. He was just about to ask if they should kill the engi freighters afterwards as well, after they let their guard down. It seemed as if it was a good thing that he hadn't spoken up after all. While the captain was genocidal, it appeared the crew weren't.

"Quintet, your call?"

"Slaughter the pirates. They may seem nice enough now, but they'll kill anyone who won't pay the toll or challenge them about their stealing," Kr said. "I say the engi are fine." He had gone back to door control to wait for orders.

Not to mention that we don't look like those Engi ships, Tabitha thought to herself, but I think I'm ready if anyone tries to come onboard.

"Hang on! Let me at least get a good scan in."

Quintet powered up his scanners and scanned the ship with some detail.

"...Wait. The scans say they don't have any stolen goods, and I know there is not a material in the galaxy that can fool my scanners after all the updates it gets from the database. I'm going to do some talking, see what their intentions are. I know they're pirates, but what they're pirating for is unclear."

Quintet forced them to pick up a hail.

"Hello! I'm very happy you're around to make sure none of those fed scum get around. What do they even think they're doing? We won on every level."

"Uhm.. I, uh, right! The feds, come on, right? They already lost. They're down to their last legs and begging for mercy. Which we don't give."

"What rebel academy did you come from?"

"Uh.. The one off Hexa 345-"

"Fools. There is no such thing as a rebel academy. You're fakes and pirates. Now, what do you want? Tell me or expect yourself in my personal quarters."

"I- U-Uhm.."

(Someone else can play the pirate if they want. Free content.)

What are pirates looking for in life? Loot of course!

Immediately the pirates ceased communications or at least stopped talking to the AI. "I... uhh... ATTACK!" the Captain shouted to his subordinate, deploying the weapons.
The subordinate laughed "Guns are powering up Boss... wait, scans are indicating it's that Federation ship..."
"That bounty? We'd all be set for life once we hand that in!" the Captain grinned "This is indeed our lucky day!"

Sensing conflict, the Engi freighters began departing from the area at rapid speed to avoid being hit by any stray shots.