[dogscoff]

A very small update to whet your appetites for the major piece coming soon (tomorrow maybe?)

Note to U_E: These events happened a few dozen turns ago, but I don't think that will cause a problem with general continuity. I hope to catch up with current affairs in the next installment.

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KanesS historians debated long and hard over whether to call it the Second Battle of Pruli, the Third Battle of Pruli or the Fourth. It all depended on whether you chose to include the bloodthirsty boarding of the stricken ship or the massacre of the rioting colonists on Pruli VIa. A small but vocal minority even refused to acknowledge the conquest of the tiny moon, claiming that the Xiati colonists didn't really put up enough resistance to constitute a battle, but that particular crowd of spoilsports were quickly silenced. The one thing everyone agreed on though, was that this latest battle was by far the most spectaular. It was a desperate chase that ran around the system for weeks and unlike any of the previous conflicts, it was never clear from the outset just who would win. The Xiati had sent a small relief force to reclaim the stricken colony. They were immediately spotted by three KanesS buccaneer ships, who had been in the system following news that another Xiati explorer had been taken following the capture of the moon. No doubt it had been sent to investigate the distress call transmitted by an escaped colonist, found rotting and inedible in an abandoned mining survey outpost.

The three captains had been fierce competitors, and in the long, boring months waiting for more prey had almost taken to fighting among themselves. However, when they saw the size of the fleet they decided to form a temporary pact and split the considerable profits between the survivors. The troop transport alone- full of battle-suited and vengeaful Xiati infantry- would provide a small fortune in toys and meat for anyone who dared to unload it, if only it could be taken intact. All engagements between Xiati and KanesS so far had been single-ship skirmishes that had resulted in outright victory for KanesS, who would swoop in quickly, pounding the enemy with their cannons and doing their best to dodge incoming fire until they were close enough to deploy their boarding parties. Once the pirates had found their way aboard, the outcome was both predictable and grisly. With this in mind, the temporary alliance was confident enough to take on this fleet, despite being somewhat outnumbered.

Their confidence was shattered, however, when they discovered that one of the Xiati ships was actually a carrier.

Such technology was unknown to them, and they were amazed to see dozens of miniature ships emerge from the larger one and fly at them, inflicting terrible damage in a multitude of small hits. Although their ships easily outclassed the capital ships, the KanesS were woefully unprepared for these tiny, nimble targets. Only their thick armour offered any kind of defence. It was a bitter struggle from that point on, and when it became clear that the Xiati would destroy any captured ship, delicate boarding maneuvres were considered too risky in such a life-and-death situation. After a great deal of carnage and destruction, the Xiati capital ships were all utterly destroyed, and a few homeless fighters harrassed the damaged pirates as they fled the system. Eventually these few vagrants retreated to the system's other warp point to await either rescue, or destruction.

The wounded ships KanesS limped back to the nearest repair facility with no booty to show for their efforts, while repair and supply ships hurried in to offer them their overpriced services. Meanwhile, as the news of the battle's ambiguous outcome spread, weapons developpers were already working on improved anti-fighter targetting systems that pirates throughout KanesS space were queuing up to pay for.