“Negative.” The response from Harokas was as quick as it was surprising. It also made little sense.
“Harl, break off man, you’re only 10 clicks from contact, and we’re twice that from you!” Perera also couldn’t believe what he had heard from Harokas.
“Negative, too late now anyway.”
“We’ll talk after, Harokas.” A quick decision needed, brought a quick decision made and Harokas was right about one thing, the fight was on. Tzadkiel’s voice was full of admonishment, but concern for his colleague filled him too. Harokas was an able pilot, as adept and any, including Tzadkiel but this was a poor call, not out of place amongst the gun happy newbs in any academy and it also potentially put them all in danger. He activated the Enemy Of Da State’s afterburners and reset his target lock on the lead pirate, time and distance beginning their casual dance to contact. He continued to glare at the image of Harokas’s Merlin in his HUD, even as two missiles from Perera’s streaked overhead, avidly seeking their target. With a guttural snort, the Caldari mercenary launched his own.
Harokas glanced at his shield readout, down to 54% and two more volleys from the Gurista ace took another half of that. This wasn’t going to well, or to plan and as the pirate’s leering face appeared on his holocom, Harokas had already begin to suspect treachery.
“Not enough ISK in the account, my friend?”
“Fuck you, friend, and your games, who said anything about your allies?”
The holocom dispersed and as this was replaced in the HUD by three crimson threat displays, the ace’s wingmen opening up on him, Harokas had already plotted an escape route. He swiftly ordered his ship into warp but winced as the thermal fallout from piercing lasers cut through the remainder of his shields. Turn you heap of shit, turn! Harokas’s mind barely took in the popping of several relay conduits from somewhere within his frigate. Smoke was starting to belch from the ruptured external coils, jetting precious gases and more toxic exhaust fumes like blood into the vacuum.
“Get outta there man!” He heard Perera yelling over the holocom. Harokas smiled grimly at the merc’s concern but took Tzadkiel’s silence for what it was – open criticism. Both, he could handle.
Finally, the warp aperture began to open and the dull roar or arrested subspace filled the cockpit. It seemed an eternity (and four or five juddering hybrid hits) before the tunnel enclosed him, and with the cosmic bang of the warp bubble shrouding him like a warm comfort blanket, Harokas’s battered ship streaked through the solar system, leaving the fight and several pirates’ curses behind him. He breathed. His ship creaked. There wasn’t much of it left.

* * * *

Tzadkiel surveyed the results of the skirmish. Moments after he had seen Harokas enter warp, the Gurista ace had perished under his and Perera’s combined assault. The rest, as predicted, hadn’t offered too much by way of opposition. Still, something gnawed away at him.
“Not much here Tzad.” Perera said disappointedly. “Probably better shit left over from the kills.” Tzadkiel absently flicked through the readouts from several debris containers. Perera was right, there was nothing worth keeping and the abandoned cached had already been emptied.
“Anything from Harokas yet?”
“No, still nothing.”