Fic: Ready For Anything
Title: Ready For Anything
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Jack, Ianto.
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: On a routine rescue mission, Jack and Ianto find themselves up against some space pirates.
Word Count: 1336
Written For: Prompt 105 - Pirates at fandomweekly.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters. They belong to the BBC.
A/N: Set in my Ghost of a Chance ‘Verse.
When they came across the battered hulk, drifting without power only a few lightyears from its last recorded location, Jack swore and muttered something under his breath.
“What was that?” Ianto asked without looking away from the readouts in front of him. He was busy using the Happy Wanderer’s state of the art sensor array to check for life signs aboard the other vessel.
“I said they’re getting bolder, coming so close to sectors under the jurisdiction of the Shadow Proclamation.”
“They?”
Jack made a disgusted sound. “Space pirates. Raiders, looters, thieves, and renegades, out for anything they can get their hands on. There’ll always be criminals, people who’d rather take what they want than work for it.”
Ianto sighed. “And here I thought alien races were supposed to be more enlightened than humans.” There was no doubt in his mind that the pirates were of some other sentient race since there were very few humans out in space at this point in time, earth’s space program still being in its infancy.
“Many of them are, but not all. Even the most civilised races have their share of criminals and malcontents.” Jack glanced towards his lover. “Not much point checking for life signs; there won’t be any survivors. They never leave any, just kill everyone aboard and take anything of value. That ship will have been stripped clean of everything but the bodies of the crew.”
Leaning back in his seat, Ianto stared at the image of the derelict ship on the viewscreen. “So what do we do now?”
He and Jack had taken on the task of locating the missing ship under the assumption that it had probably suffered some kind of accident or mechanical malfunction. That sort of thing happened on occasion, even to the most rigorously maintained spacecraft, and while on most occasions the crew were able to effect repairs themselves, sometimes a bit of outside assistance was required. The thought that it might have fallen under attack in such a civilised and law-abiding sector of space hadn’t crossed their minds. Out on the rim, where inhabited worlds were more spread out, they might have considered that a possibility, but not so close to galactic centre. Around here, even war was a thing of the past. Disagreements were settled over the negotiating table under the supervision of a trained arbitrator, with all races abiding by a mutually agreed set of rules.
“There’s only one thing we can do,” Jack replied. “Grapple on and tow it home so the crew’s families can carry out whatever funerary rites are appropriate.”
“What I don’t get is why the crew never called for assistance. Surely they would have seen the pirate ship approaching.”
“I’m sure they tried to, but I think you’ll find the local communication relay satellites have all either been disabled or destroyed. Either that or the pirates have jamming technology at their disposal and prevented the distress call from going through. The engines would have been hit first so the ship couldn’t make its escape. They probably weren’t carrying much in the way of armaments. Most cargo ships don’t; they’re not designed for warfare.”
The big cargo ships were bulky and relatively slow, efficient at what they were built for, the transporting of heavy loads over long distances, but designed for endurance rather than speed and manoeuvrability. As much space as possible was given over to cargo, leaving little to spare for weapons systems.
The Happy Wanderer was a different matter; a mid-sized cargo ship, she was equipped with every possible kind of added extra Jack thought might come in useful. Although it didn’t show from the outside, she was well armoured and in possession of the kind of defensive shielding technology used on exploration vessels, as well as some very impressive weaponry. She was probably better armed than most pirate ships, and likely in a better state of repair too. Pirate ships couldn’t exactly put in for a service at the nearest space station. There’d be too many questions.
“Okay then; setting grapples.” Ianto reached for the controls to bring the Wanderer into position to lock on.
“You might want to hold off on that,” Jack said quietly, a tense note evident in his voice.
Flicking his gaze up to the viewscreen, Ianto saw what Jack had already spotted; another ship was closing on their position, moving fast.
“Well, would you look at that. Seems the pirates might have stuck around. How very considerate of them.”
“Isn’t it?” Jack dropped into the pilot’s seat, flicking controls, bringing the engines fully online, while Ianto, in the co-pilot’s position, readied weapons and targeting lasers. They quickly strapped themselves into their seats.
“Do we blow them apart or just disable them and turn them over to the Shadow Proclamation?”
“I haven’t decided yet.” Jack turned the shields on. “Let’s see what they do first. We don’t know for sure that they’re the pirates. They’re not exactly flying the Jolly Roger.”
“Mm, they probably wouldn’t want to advertise by painting a skull and crossbones on the hull,” Ianto agreed.
“Could be a passing ship coming to see if they can offer assistance.”
“How likely is that?” Ianto directed sensors at the approaching ship.
“Not particularly, but you never know. Best not jump to conclusions.”
Something beeped on the console. “Okay, that settles it; they’re trying for a weapons lock, so I think we can forget about the possibility they might be friendlies.”
Jack shrugged. “Unless they think we’re the pirates. Let’s see if they’re willing to talk.”
The other ship couldn’t get a lock on the Wanderer; she had some very efficient technology onboard that messed with most targeting systems. Still, whoever was aboard opened fire without replying to the hail Jack sent out. They missed, but the explosion still rocked the ship.
“Return fire?” Ianto asked.
“Well, it would only be polite. Target engines and weapons systems, see if you can disable them.” Jack held the Wanderer on a steady course while Ianto’s hands flew over the weapon controls, locking on target and firing.
The port engine exploded, and Ianto’s next shot took out one of the other ship’s laser cannons.
Turning sharply, Jack brought the Wanderer around for another run. “Are they waving a white flag yet?”
“Not that I can see. Oops, looks like they’re firing another missile.”
“Well that’s downright unfriendly. Get rid of it, would you?”
“Your wish is my command.” Ianto fired, exploding the missile before it got anywhere near the Wanderer, then sent out another laser blast, making sure the other ship wouldn’t get a third missile off. “They’re trying to make a run for it,” he reported.
“On one engine? Like that’ll work. We’ve wasted enough time trying to be nice; how about we just end this?”
“Works for me.” Ianto’s next shot went right up the other ship’s metaphorical tailpipe. The subsequent explosion was spectacular, but short-lived, the atmosphere in the other ship burning off in a matter of seconds.
“One less pirate ship to worry about,” he murmured.
“Nice shooting. Let’s get what we came for and go home.”
“No argument from me.” Turning back to the control console, Ianto started flicking switches again as Jack manoeuvred the Wanderer into position, her tail to the disabled ship’s nose. “Setting grapples.”
The grapple reached out and the two men felt the vibration through the hull as it connected, the prongs sliding into receptors on the cargo ship.
“Grapples set and locked. We’ve got it.”
“Setting course for Zentrovia Station. Do we have radio?”
Ianto checked the instrument panel and shook his head. “No, looks like you were right and the communication sats are down. Not sure if they’re destroyed or just disabled though.”
“We can message to have a repair crew sent out under guard once we get into range of a working relay. For now… We’ve done all we can.”
In a sombre mood they set out to return the cargo ship’s deceased crewmembers to their families.
The End
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Jack, Ianto.
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: On a routine rescue mission, Jack and Ianto find themselves up against some space pirates.
Word Count: 1336
Written For: Prompt 105 - Pirates at fandomweekly.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters. They belong to the BBC.
A/N: Set in my Ghost of a Chance ‘Verse.
When they came across the battered hulk, drifting without power only a few lightyears from its last recorded location, Jack swore and muttered something under his breath.
“What was that?” Ianto asked without looking away from the readouts in front of him. He was busy using the Happy Wanderer’s state of the art sensor array to check for life signs aboard the other vessel.
“I said they’re getting bolder, coming so close to sectors under the jurisdiction of the Shadow Proclamation.”
“They?”
Jack made a disgusted sound. “Space pirates. Raiders, looters, thieves, and renegades, out for anything they can get their hands on. There’ll always be criminals, people who’d rather take what they want than work for it.”
Ianto sighed. “And here I thought alien races were supposed to be more enlightened than humans.” There was no doubt in his mind that the pirates were of some other sentient race since there were very few humans out in space at this point in time, earth’s space program still being in its infancy.
“Many of them are, but not all. Even the most civilised races have their share of criminals and malcontents.” Jack glanced towards his lover. “Not much point checking for life signs; there won’t be any survivors. They never leave any, just kill everyone aboard and take anything of value. That ship will have been stripped clean of everything but the bodies of the crew.”
Leaning back in his seat, Ianto stared at the image of the derelict ship on the viewscreen. “So what do we do now?”
He and Jack had taken on the task of locating the missing ship under the assumption that it had probably suffered some kind of accident or mechanical malfunction. That sort of thing happened on occasion, even to the most rigorously maintained spacecraft, and while on most occasions the crew were able to effect repairs themselves, sometimes a bit of outside assistance was required. The thought that it might have fallen under attack in such a civilised and law-abiding sector of space hadn’t crossed their minds. Out on the rim, where inhabited worlds were more spread out, they might have considered that a possibility, but not so close to galactic centre. Around here, even war was a thing of the past. Disagreements were settled over the negotiating table under the supervision of a trained arbitrator, with all races abiding by a mutually agreed set of rules.
“There’s only one thing we can do,” Jack replied. “Grapple on and tow it home so the crew’s families can carry out whatever funerary rites are appropriate.”
“What I don’t get is why the crew never called for assistance. Surely they would have seen the pirate ship approaching.”
“I’m sure they tried to, but I think you’ll find the local communication relay satellites have all either been disabled or destroyed. Either that or the pirates have jamming technology at their disposal and prevented the distress call from going through. The engines would have been hit first so the ship couldn’t make its escape. They probably weren’t carrying much in the way of armaments. Most cargo ships don’t; they’re not designed for warfare.”
The big cargo ships were bulky and relatively slow, efficient at what they were built for, the transporting of heavy loads over long distances, but designed for endurance rather than speed and manoeuvrability. As much space as possible was given over to cargo, leaving little to spare for weapons systems.
The Happy Wanderer was a different matter; a mid-sized cargo ship, she was equipped with every possible kind of added extra Jack thought might come in useful. Although it didn’t show from the outside, she was well armoured and in possession of the kind of defensive shielding technology used on exploration vessels, as well as some very impressive weaponry. She was probably better armed than most pirate ships, and likely in a better state of repair too. Pirate ships couldn’t exactly put in for a service at the nearest space station. There’d be too many questions.
“Okay then; setting grapples.” Ianto reached for the controls to bring the Wanderer into position to lock on.
“You might want to hold off on that,” Jack said quietly, a tense note evident in his voice.
Flicking his gaze up to the viewscreen, Ianto saw what Jack had already spotted; another ship was closing on their position, moving fast.
“Well, would you look at that. Seems the pirates might have stuck around. How very considerate of them.”
“Isn’t it?” Jack dropped into the pilot’s seat, flicking controls, bringing the engines fully online, while Ianto, in the co-pilot’s position, readied weapons and targeting lasers. They quickly strapped themselves into their seats.
“Do we blow them apart or just disable them and turn them over to the Shadow Proclamation?”
“I haven’t decided yet.” Jack turned the shields on. “Let’s see what they do first. We don’t know for sure that they’re the pirates. They’re not exactly flying the Jolly Roger.”
“Mm, they probably wouldn’t want to advertise by painting a skull and crossbones on the hull,” Ianto agreed.
“Could be a passing ship coming to see if they can offer assistance.”
“How likely is that?” Ianto directed sensors at the approaching ship.
“Not particularly, but you never know. Best not jump to conclusions.”
Something beeped on the console. “Okay, that settles it; they’re trying for a weapons lock, so I think we can forget about the possibility they might be friendlies.”
Jack shrugged. “Unless they think we’re the pirates. Let’s see if they’re willing to talk.”
The other ship couldn’t get a lock on the Wanderer; she had some very efficient technology onboard that messed with most targeting systems. Still, whoever was aboard opened fire without replying to the hail Jack sent out. They missed, but the explosion still rocked the ship.
“Return fire?” Ianto asked.
“Well, it would only be polite. Target engines and weapons systems, see if you can disable them.” Jack held the Wanderer on a steady course while Ianto’s hands flew over the weapon controls, locking on target and firing.
The port engine exploded, and Ianto’s next shot took out one of the other ship’s laser cannons.
Turning sharply, Jack brought the Wanderer around for another run. “Are they waving a white flag yet?”
“Not that I can see. Oops, looks like they’re firing another missile.”
“Well that’s downright unfriendly. Get rid of it, would you?”
“Your wish is my command.” Ianto fired, exploding the missile before it got anywhere near the Wanderer, then sent out another laser blast, making sure the other ship wouldn’t get a third missile off. “They’re trying to make a run for it,” he reported.
“On one engine? Like that’ll work. We’ve wasted enough time trying to be nice; how about we just end this?”
“Works for me.” Ianto’s next shot went right up the other ship’s metaphorical tailpipe. The subsequent explosion was spectacular, but short-lived, the atmosphere in the other ship burning off in a matter of seconds.
“One less pirate ship to worry about,” he murmured.
“Nice shooting. Let’s get what we came for and go home.”
“No argument from me.” Turning back to the control console, Ianto started flicking switches again as Jack manoeuvred the Wanderer into position, her tail to the disabled ship’s nose. “Setting grapples.”
The grapple reached out and the two men felt the vibration through the hull as it connected, the prongs sliding into receptors on the cargo ship.
“Grapples set and locked. We’ve got it.”
“Setting course for Zentrovia Station. Do we have radio?”
Ianto checked the instrument panel and shook his head. “No, looks like you were right and the communication sats are down. Not sure if they’re destroyed or just disabled though.”
“We can message to have a repair crew sent out under guard once we get into range of a working relay. For now… We’ve done all we can.”
In a sombre mood they set out to return the cargo ship’s deceased crewmembers to their families.
The End