The coin rolls.
Metallic. Cold.
Across fingers.
As eyes linger.
He sits in the cockpit of his ship.
Looking between all its displays.
Till his gaze tilts to the distance.
To the stars and to naked space.
At another ship, to be specific. “Ah, there she is,” the Captain grinned. “Just as I predicted.” He was no Force-sensitive, yet his visions of the future tended to turn out as expected, and he tended to live up to his name as a sage.
“As we charted and coordinated, Cap’n,” corrected his first mate. A brave chap, he'd daresay. “There’s a wee bit of a difference.”
“Listen,” Captain Sage leaned his head back in his seat, resting the crook of his knee over an armrest. “Fate and chance are two sides of the same coin.” He flipped his. It landed in his hand. The outcome made no difference at the moment. “We have a map and a plan...and I have my wits.” He tapped his noggin.
“I…don’t get it.” An apt reply.
Sage sighed. “Just take us in.”
In. To the distance. To the ship. A freighter drifting along, bigger than his, the Endless Song. She whispered to him as she went full speed ahead by the ship’s navigator.
The other vessel was at a distinct disadvantage, however. Slower, with a lighter armament, carrying passengers who weren’t combatants, and not expecting to be raided by pirates the next moment.
“Ready cannons.”
“Always ready, Cap’n,” spoke a gunner.
“I know.” Sage pulled a hairbang away from his face. “But it’s fun to say. So sing our name and fire away!” He flipped his coin as his ship broadcasted music, a sweet if tragic violin. When it landed back in his hand so too did a barrage land on that other freighter to slap it in the rear and hamper a hasty retreat.
“That got their attention!”
“Excellent. She’ll turn around to greet her aggressors. Her little cannons are forward-facing only. Take them out, if you’d please.”
The Song sang a new tune as her opponent came to. Cannons blasted both ways in an exchange, but those of Captain Sage overpowered the other's. It was a quick dance, and the well-placed aim of a gunner took out its target's cannons, which weren't many to begin with.
So, there go the weapons, just as the captain commanded. “Communications array, mates!” Around when the predator’s prey may be beckoning at long range for reinforcements. This far out in space, they would not arrive in time anyway, but it was a chance that Captain Sage was not willing to take.
“She's a sitting duck now, Cap’n Sage!” Another gunner exclaimed.
“Aye.” He would not lie. “Now hail them.”
“Channel opened.”
“Crew of the Keeper’s Wish, we are the pirates of the Endless Song. Surrender to us and you will not be harmed. Do not and we will destroy you. Will you comply?”
A moment of silence. Heads? Another coin flip. Tails? It landed.
“We will comply.”
As I predicted. “Excellent. Then prepare to be boarded.”
Metallic. Cold.
Across fingers.
As eyes linger.
He sits in the cockpit of his ship.
Looking between all its displays.
Till his gaze tilts to the distance.
To the stars and to naked space.
At another ship, to be specific. “Ah, there she is,” the Captain grinned. “Just as I predicted.” He was no Force-sensitive, yet his visions of the future tended to turn out as expected, and he tended to live up to his name as a sage.
“As we charted and coordinated, Cap’n,” corrected his first mate. A brave chap, he'd daresay. “There’s a wee bit of a difference.”
“Listen,” Captain Sage leaned his head back in his seat, resting the crook of his knee over an armrest. “Fate and chance are two sides of the same coin.” He flipped his. It landed in his hand. The outcome made no difference at the moment. “We have a map and a plan...and I have my wits.” He tapped his noggin.
“I…don’t get it.” An apt reply.
Sage sighed. “Just take us in.”
In. To the distance. To the ship. A freighter drifting along, bigger than his, the Endless Song. She whispered to him as she went full speed ahead by the ship’s navigator.
The other vessel was at a distinct disadvantage, however. Slower, with a lighter armament, carrying passengers who weren’t combatants, and not expecting to be raided by pirates the next moment.
“Ready cannons.”
“Always ready, Cap’n,” spoke a gunner.
“I know.” Sage pulled a hairbang away from his face. “But it’s fun to say. So sing our name and fire away!” He flipped his coin as his ship broadcasted music, a sweet if tragic violin. When it landed back in his hand so too did a barrage land on that other freighter to slap it in the rear and hamper a hasty retreat.
“That got their attention!”
“Excellent. She’ll turn around to greet her aggressors. Her little cannons are forward-facing only. Take them out, if you’d please.”
The Song sang a new tune as her opponent came to. Cannons blasted both ways in an exchange, but those of Captain Sage overpowered the other's. It was a quick dance, and the well-placed aim of a gunner took out its target's cannons, which weren't many to begin with.
So, there go the weapons, just as the captain commanded. “Communications array, mates!” Around when the predator’s prey may be beckoning at long range for reinforcements. This far out in space, they would not arrive in time anyway, but it was a chance that Captain Sage was not willing to take.
“She's a sitting duck now, Cap’n Sage!” Another gunner exclaimed.
“Aye.” He would not lie. “Now hail them.”
“Channel opened.”
“Crew of the Keeper’s Wish, we are the pirates of the Endless Song. Surrender to us and you will not be harmed. Do not and we will destroy you. Will you comply?”
A moment of silence. Heads? Another coin flip. Tails? It landed.
“We will comply.”
As I predicted. “Excellent. Then prepare to be boarded.”