The Gamma Hounds had mostly regrouped at the asteroid where they had staged their assault, and the three veteran members waiting patiently . It wasn’t long before Evan’s black Alis rejoined them, sliding smoothly into formation.

  “The Argonaut got away,” Evan reported, his tone even but edged with frustration. “He blasted a small asteroid and nearly coated me in slag.”

  “You said he slagged it?” Ratchet tilted his head, ears twitching. “That’s not something a normal blaster is capable of. A charged shot would’ve blown a chunk off, sure, but slagging ?” He fell into a thinking pose, lips pursed, until sudden clarity flashed in his eyes. “Superheated blasters. Those could easily pull that off.”

  Evan reached up and removed his helmet, exhaling as though he’d been holding his breath the entire time. “That was my initial thought as well. In light of that, I think we should reevaluate how we handle the Argonaut.”

  Nia cocked her head, tail swishing lazily behind her. “No fancy gun is going to overcome a skill gap between fighters. Regardless of how nice it is.”

  Emerald shook her head slowly. “No, it won’t. But that’s not what he’s referring to… is it?”

  Evan didn’t answer right away. Instead, he turned to his side console and began typing. A few moments later, each of the Gamma Hounds received a Novanet link. When Emerald opened hers, she was greeted with the page of a high-end fighter shop. The listing was for superheated blaster modifications designed specifically for Argonauts. Her eyes widened at the exorbitant price.

  “Those types of mods aren’t something a run-of-the-mill raider could afford,” Evan explained, voice flat but carrying weight. “And a high-ranking Reaver would buy something more useful long before wasting money on them.”

  Ratchet nodded in agreement, though his muzzle curled into a wry grin. “Superheated blasters aren’t meant for combat. Their blue projectiles look flashy on camera, so they get used plenty in holofilms. That’s about it.”

  Nia smirked, leaning back in her seat as she concluded smoothly, “Which means our little Argo pilot isn’t the hardened type. He’s a rich boy playing pirate—someone with a taste for style over function .”

  “So, he should be an easy target?” Ratchet said hopfully.

  Evan, however, shook his head. “Regardless of his background he’s not an amateur behind the sticks. A greenhorn to combat maybe, but not to flight.”

  Oliver Nexil

  Oliver Nexil couldn’t help the laugh that slipped from his lips. His already inflated ego swelled even further at the thought—he had outflown the Black Shadow . He had escaped, survived, and for once in his short career, he felt unstoppable. With more than a little smug glee, he maneuvered his Argonaut through the dense asteroid belt and set course for the rendezvous point.

  It wasn’t long before ten Hewards came into view, their mismatched, dented hulls making Oliver sneer in disdain. If these poverty plebs could afford proper equipment, we would have turned that fight.

  The comm crackled to life, and a gator with a grisly grin filled the screen.

  “Little Oli, what happened to your group?” the gator asked, voice mocking despite the drawl.

  “We were ambushed,” Oliver replied evenly, forcing his face to remain steady.

  The gator chuckled, sharp teeth flashing. “Ambushed? Last I checked, you was the one layin’ the ambush. Need me to teach you how those work, boy?”

  Oliver felt his eye twitch at the tone, but he bit back his pride. “Let’s see you lay a successful ambush against the Gamma Hounds and Black Shadow,” he said, each word dripping with condescension.

  “Black Shadow?” The gator burst into laughter, shaking his head before pulling another into view. “Sha, who done be named dat? Pitiful, sha. Might as well call da next bounty huntah Wet Watta!”

  Oliver’s fists tightened on his controls as another gator appeared on the comm, this one female with a wide grin. She squinted at the console, then broke into uncontrollable laughter.

  “Oh, even I feel sorry for dat po’boy,” she cackled. “Black Shadow. May as well call him Dull Dusk. Huey, ya gotta send dis to Francois.”

  “I be sendin’ it, sha!” Huey howled, tears streaming from his reptilian eyes. “Shoot, one of us turn a new leaf, dey be callin’ us da Green Gator!”

  Oliver ran a hand down his face in exasperation as their laughter rang through the channel. Before he could retort, a squirrel voice cut in, too cheerful for the moment.

  “Or the Bushtail!” Dravius piped up.

  The laughter died instantly. Both gators snapped their glares toward the rodent.

  “Git off da damn line, Dravius,” Huey spat.

  “Yea, no one be needin’ yo input, ya ramblin’ rodent. Git up on outta dis comm,” the female snarled.

  Dravius’s ears drooped, his mouth opening to reply—

  —and then one of the Hewards exploded in a sudden inferno. The entire channel erupted in chaos.

  “Oh, shit! Where dat come from?!” the female gator shouted, panic slicing through her accent.

  Figures their cheap Hewards don’t even have decent scanners, Oliver thought bitterly, already sending out a pulse. His display lit up with two Argonaut signatures. His jaw tightened when he saw they didn’t match the IDs of the Gamma Hounds.

  Before he could question it further, a voice cut across the open channel, smug and sharp.

  “We’ve come to collect. Try not to make our jobs too easy.”

  Oliver immediately shared the scan data with the rest of the Reavers.

  “Oli, are those the Gamma Hounds?” Huey asked, his voice suddenly tight with concern.

  “I’m not sure. These aren’t the same Argos from earlier,” Oliver admitted, suspicion rising. Switching to the open line, he tested them. “Since when did the Gamma Hounds have six members?”

  A furious reply came back. “We’re not those washed-up has-beens. We’re Harriet’s Harriers—and we’ve come to collect.”

  Oliver blinked in disbelief, then smirked.

  The gators, however, howled with laughter. “Sha, dese fools done got all of three missions!” Atchafalaya bellowed.

  Oliver’s smirk grew sharper as he leaned forward. “Then let’s end that pitiful record. Surround them.”

  “We need to be careful. Those bastards took out Dravius easily.” Said one of the other pilots, the look of loss clear on his face.

  The feeling was not shared by the aces or Oliver though.

  “A small pool of water coulda taken out Dravius easily.” Snarked Huey.

  “Git dese bunnies boys!” Atchafalaya bellowed.

  At this order the rest of the Reavers moved in on the two argonauts like a disorganized swarm. Only Oliver and the gators hung back. Then with a level of skill not shared by the rest they zoomed to the location ready to flank the overconfident bounty hunters.

  Emerald

  “That’s number five,” Evan reported over their private channel, marking another stranded miner’s location.

  “How many miners are still unaccounted for?” Ratchet asked, his ears flicking as he adjusted his console.

  “I think Jenner said eleven total, including the six presumed casualties,” Nia replied, her tone almost casual as she drifted her fighter lazily out of the path of a tumbling asteroid.

  “Alright boys, mission accomplished,” Ratchet said with a smirk, though his tone carried the same joke he always defaulted to under tension.

  “Don’t we have that same number of pirates unaccounted for?” Evan countered evenly.

  Emerald nodded. “If the reports were accurate anyway. And we still haven’t seen any harvesters. Which begs the question—where were they taken?”

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  Before the squad could dive deeper into speculation, a notification pinged across their consoles. It wasn’t a live hail, but a recorded message. Emerald tapped it open, her muzzle tightening as Harriot’s face filled the screen.

  “We’ve found the other eleven pirates, Gamma Hounds. Under Association code, we’re laying claim. Stay out of our way.”

  The screen blinked dark again.

  Ratchet frowned, his tail swishing with irritation. “Well… guess that means we’re done here.”

  Nia smirked, her whiskers twitching in amusement. “Looks like Ratchet was right. Mission accomplished.”

  Evan shook his head. “I’d put up a thousand Zorkmeds that those blowhards can’t handle a two-on-eleven dogfight.”

  “Meaning we go in for the cleanup?” Ratchet’s voice sparked with greed.

  Emerald leaned back, her expression cold and calculating. “No. We hold perimeter. When they blow their chance, we swoop in and claim the bounty ourselves.”

  The team nodded—everyone except Nia, who raised a skeptical brow. “That’s well and good, but we don’t know where they are.”

  “Sure we do,” Emerald countered with a sharp grin. “They said eleven pirates. That means they’ve almost certainly joined up with our rich boy in the Argonaut. Evan—where did that shithead fly?”

  Evan’s screen lit as he sent over a flight route.

  “Well then,” Emerald said, her voice carrying the thrill of the hunt. “Let’s go observe.”

  The Gamma Hounds followed the path Evan had traced. It was less of a strict route and more of a general trajectory, but after ten minutes of weaving through the dense belt, they came upon the chaos.

  In front of them, two Argonauts—sleek, armored, and unmistakably Harriers—were being hounded by seven Hewards. Emerald’s eyes narrowed as she searched for the Reaver Argonaut but saw no trace of him yet. Blaster fire filled the void, constant and unrelenting. The sheer volume made it clear: the Harriers were drowning.

  “Looks like H and H are having trouble,” Evan observed dryly.

  “Trouble they brought on themselves,” Emerald replied, her muzzle curling as one of the rabbits’ shields flared.

  Ratchet’s ears flattened as he watched the shield flicker. “That shield won’t last much longer guys.”

  As if on cue, the missing Argonaut emerged from behind an asteroid, launching a deadly volley at the struggling rabbit. She dodged, but barely. The Hewards pressed their advantage, landing hit after hit causing the Argonaut’s shields to collapse with a flickering gasp.

  The other rabbit panicked, banking hard to cover his partner, but the Reavers closed in. Desperation finally won out; Harriot’s voice cut across the comms, strained and wild.

  “Harriet’s shields are down! Help her!”

  Emerald tapped her console, switching to record before answering. Her white muzzle stretched into something predatory. “Funny. I recall two bunnies specifically claiming bounty rights on all eleven pirates.”

  Harriot’s eyes flashed in disbelief. “We’re getting overwhelmed! Help us, and I’ll give up half the bounty!”

  Evan’s voice cut in, low and sharp. “Your sister’s life is worth more than half the bounty. Give up the claim.”

  Harriot’s snarl filled the channel, but before he could argue, the Reaver Argonaut fired a rocket. It detonated close enough to send Harriet spiraling. One of her Argonaut’s wings tore clean off.

  “Fine!” Harriot shouted, panic cracking through his voice. “Take the whole bounty! Just help us!”

  Emerald gave a single, deliberate nod. That was all it took.

  The Gamma Hounds struck like wolves. Emerald launched a wide-area explosive that caught two Hewards mid-turn, tearing them apart in a blossom of fire. Ratchet’s blaster flared crimson as he unleashed a charged shot dead-center into another, shredding its hull.

  Nia darted around the perimeter like the cat she is, ready to intercept any escapees. One Heward tried to flee after Evan’s kinetics blew off its wing. Nia pounced, her blaster lancing through the cockpit in a final flash.

  Only three Hewards and the Reaver Argonaut remained. The trio regrouped, rallying around their leader. He retaliated with a blindingly bright green shot, the energy beam cutting across the void like a blade. The detonation was so bright every pilot flinched.

  “GOD DAMNIT, MY EYES!” Ratchet wailed, pawing at his visor.

  “My helmet has a filter. The Reavers are fleeing. Marking their nav path,” Evan said evenly. “I’m pursuing.”

  “Evan, do not pursue.” Emerald’s tone brooked no argument. “That was a call for help.”

  There was silence for a beat. Then Evan’s voice returned, tight but controlled. “Which means we don’t have a large window of pursuit.”

  Pressing his thrusters forward to the maximum he shot off in the same direction as the pirates. At the speed he was going any contact with an astroid would completely obliterate both him and the Alis. “Evan, pull back now!” Emerald ordered with a bark. As she did he narrowly dodged a smaller asteroid causing her heart to skip a beat. But even she could see he was gaining on the fleeing ships.

  But then the comms pinged, Harriet’s face filling the screen this time. Her hair was wild, her pupils pinprick-tight from panic. Her voice cracked as she pleaded, “I don’t have any control besides thrusters. I’m drifting into the asteroids. Please—help me!”

  Harriot’s feed blinked on next. He looked pale, ears stiff with fear. “I don’t have any towing tethers!”

  Emerald didn’t care for the two rabbits but she wasn’t going to watch them die. However, none of the gamma hounds had tethers readily available on their fighters. Except Evan. “Evan, you need to turn around now. Harriet is drifting into the asteroids and with her wing as it is she has no control. You’re the only one with tethers.”

  By this point Evan was nearly on top of the four fleeing fighters. “God damnit.” He raged as he maneuvered his ship pulling a rapid 180 back towards the group. Unfortunately this maneuver sandwiched him between two asteroids on a collision course with each other. “EVAN BANK DOWN!” But once again he went with his own idea rather than her’s and instead pressed his thrusters forward. Emerald held her breath as Evan came closer and closer to being crushed, until finally he shot past the edge of the asteroids narrowly avoiding death by the skin of his teeth.

  “Harriet send me your location I’m on the way with tethers.” Evan said through gritted teeth.

  Emerald gave him a hard look before sending a private communication to him.

  We’ll talk about this back on the ship. In an instant his demeanor changed, and he gave a rather timid nod in response.

  Evan arrived at Harriet’s Argonaut with little time to spare. Luckily, he was experienced with the tethers and was able to rapidly deploy and attach them to the other fighter. Before long he was towing Harriet straight up in order to leave the asteroid belt and avoid any obstacles. “I’m going to carry her over the asteroid belt. Permission to bring her to the Gamma Ray?”

  Emerald nodded. “Granted.” She turned a cold gaze on the rabbits. “You two shitheads are to stay in the hangar until we reach the station. Am I clear?”

  Both rabbits nodded reluctantly.

  “While Evan handles the tow, Ratchet—you and Harriot scavenge for salvage. Evan can send out a collector drone once Harriet’s secured. Nia—you’re with me. We’re going to talk to those miners, see if they know what happened to the harvesters.”

  No one argued. Not even Harriot.

  Emerald’s smile was sharp. This hunt wasn’t over—not by a long shot.

  Oliver

  Another clean escape. The thought filled Oliver with smug satisfaction.

  “Well, look at chu, Oli. Ya got us outta there clean,” Huey said fondly over the comm channel.

  “Nice job, new guy. Looks like that Argo ain’t all for show,” added a scrawny wolf with patchy fur.

  “Ya did swell, honey. Stick with me and muh brutha, and you get by swell, sug. In fact, why don’t we split this pot three ways?” Atchafalaya drawled, her accent thick and teasing.

  What are she and Huey going to pool their… Oliver’s thought was cut short by a sudden explosion that rocked his ship. With a jolt, he looked to his side just in time to see the wolf and his Heward vanish in a bloom of fire.

  “Ol’ Ben den do nuffin, no how. No reason he should see a cut, right, shug?” Atchafalaya said with a wink toward Oliver.

  Before he could respond, a new voice rolled over the comms, deep and commanding. “Now what was that?”

  Oliver stiffened. He knew that voice.

  “Just trimmin’ off the fat, boss,” Huey replied with a laugh.

  As he spoke, a blocky carrier exited FTL not far from their formation, its silhouette blotting out the stars.

  “Well, that works out just fine,” the voice continued. “I got all my aces and my new favorite rookie. Lenny already collected the harvesters you dropped off. So what’s this I heard about you shakin’ off Shadow, Oli?”

  Oliver swallowed hard, steeling himself to kiss ass like no other. “Yes, sir. Nearly coated him in slag, so he had to peel off.”

  The jovial laugh of Bane “Rusty” Ballor filled the comms, sending shivers down Oliver’s spine.

  “You even got some use out of those toys ya daddy bought ya. Well, I’d say you’ve earned a good spot among the Reavers. What do you two say?”

  Huey grinned, nodding eagerly. “He pulled his weight, no doubt about that.”

  Oliver still found Huey insufferable, but he appreciated the vote of confidence. Atchafalaya, however, was gazing at him hungrily, her grin sultry and uncharacteristically serious.

  “I’d say me and Huey found our thirds,” she purred.

  “Ha! Careful, Oli. She bites,” Rusty said with a laugh.

  Oliver didn’t reply. Instead, he silently mapped an escape route—one he fully intended to use the moment they landed, putting as much distance between himself and Atchafalaya as possible.

  Huey

  It’s been a long while since Sis got her eye on someone like that, Huey mused as they touched down.

  Through his cockpit glass he watched Oliver bolt from his Argonaut, not even bothering to close the canopy, sprinting straight for the living quarters. Huey, by contrast, took his time. He’d wait until they reached one of the outposts before rushing off anywhere—plenty of time to blow some credits.

  “Now where did muh mouse run off to?” Atchafalaya muttered as she came up behind him.

  “Ya scurred him off, Sis. Give him time ta mellow out, ya?” Huey said with a smirk.

  She tapped a claw to her maw, pretending to think it over. “You’re right. Meat’s better when it’s aged. But a handsome young rich boy like that? Those other hussies’ll be crawlin’ all over him if I hold back. Especially now that he came back blooded and well regarded by the boss.”

  She sighed, clearly torn between patience and pursuit. Huey couldn’t help but smile as he noticed her drop her accent for a moment. Unlike him his sister was perfectly capable of speaking without it, having spent a large part of her childhood away from the family and in more civilized space.

  Heavy footsteps drew both gators’ attention. Huey turned to see a massive wolverine in power armor striding toward them.

  “Boss,” Huey greeted with one of those wide crocodilian grins. “Came to welcome us back?”

  “Of course. My favorite reptiles came through for me once again,” Bane “Rusty” Ballor rumbled. “Not only that, we got us what may well be a new ace. Where’s he at, by the way?”

  Huey pointed a claw over his shoulder toward the hall. “He went to celebrate,” he said with dripping sarcasm.

  Rusty shot Atchafalaya with a knowing smile. “More and more he’s seeming like a smart lad. Be that as it is, consider him a fixture of your squad. I’ll also tell the others—hands off.”

  He winked at her, and she nodded in appreciation, though her hungry gaze lingered on the hallway Oliver had fled down.

  As she started that way, Rusty’s gauntleted hand landed on her shoulder. “Hold on now. I got another gift for you two. You’ve both done well lately. It’s only fair I take care of you both—and help keep the squad…” He paused, then smirked. “Uniform.”

  He gestured toward the far corner of the hangar, where two large tarps draped over obvious fighter silhouettes.

  “Butch! Show time!”

  A massive bulldog strode out from behind the tarps, grabbed them both, and flung them aside in a dramatic flourish. Two gleaming, brand-new Argonauts stood revealed.

  Huey and Atchafalaya’s jaws dropped.

  “Brand new—just for you!” Butch barked with a comical bow before glancing at Rusty. At the wolverine’s nod, he padded off, leaving the two gators stunned.

  “Now then, Huey—I hope you enjoy your gift. Atchafalaya…” Rusty’s grin widened. “I hope you enjoy both.”