Unlikely Friends

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The Tharos Expanse was a lawless sector on the edges of known space and had long been a battleground for smugglers, bounty hunters, and mercenary warlords. It was a place where no government dared enforce order, where the strongest survived, and the reckless died fast. Among the stars, Drake Vance was no stranger to the chaos of these regions. His ship, The Black Mongoose, had seen countless battles, countless escapes, and more than a few incidents where he should have been killed. But his reputation as a daredevil smuggler with a silver tongue had kept him alive well, at least so far.

It was here, amid the wreckage of dead ships and drifting debris fields, that he first crossed paths with Tacko Rinn. Tacko was flying a Space Wolf G4, one of the fastest, most agile starfighters in the galaxy, but flying a fast ship means nothing when you're outnumbered and being hunted down.

The Dominion had sent three strike ships to eliminate Tacko, after he had apparently made the mistake of having sexual involvements with the daughter of a local crime lord. A rather risky thing to do, especially when rumors of possible pregnancy soon followed.

Not one of Tacko's greatest manoeuvres at all, as this Crime Lord wanted him dead.

The Dominion enemy ships closed in fast, their long-range cannons hammering the void, sending bursts of charged plasma screaming past his hull. The G4 fighter twisted and rolled, darting between the jagged remains of a ruined battleship, using the wreckage as cover. Tacko fired back, his plasma cannons burning through the shields of the lead attack ship, but it wasn’t enough, they had him boxed in.

Sensors screamed warnings a missile lock on his tail. He spun the ship into a sharp dive, but the target-tracking system wouldn’t shake. The Dominion gunners knew their business. They weren’t letting him leave and then, from nowhere, a shadow emerged from the wreckage

a second ship, cutting across the battlefield at an impossible angle. It was

The Black Mongoose. Drake had been watching. He hadn’t planned to intervene he had other things to do, cargo to smuggle, and enemies to evade but there was something about watching an underdog fight for their life that never sat right with him.

But more practically, he figured that if the Dominion was hunting this kid so hard, it could mean, that he might be worth something.

With a burst of ion thrusters, The Black Mongoose shot forward, engines roaring as it cut through the fight. Before Tacko or the Dominion ships could react, Drake opened fire, his railgun cannons spitting rounds of high-velocity tungsten into the lead attack ship’s engines.

The Dominion pilot had no time to react.

The rear section of the strike ship exploded, sending debris and burning wreckage into the void. Its two remaining allies broke formation, momentarily confused by the new arrival.

Drake didn’t slow down. The Mongoose twisted through space, dodging the incoming fire from the two remaining attack ships. One flipped hard into a rolling maneuver, trying to circle behind him, but Drake was already ahead of them.

The ship’s, Ghost cloaking blinked on, causing The Black Mongoose to vanish from their targeting radars for just a few seconds just enough time for him to reposition.

By the time the Dominion pilots recalibrated, it was already too late.

Drake came up behind them, letting loose a spread of disruptor missiles that tore through the shielding of the second ship, sending it spiralling into an uncontrolled drift.

The last Dominion ship, realizing it was outgunned and turned to flee.

Drake let it go, There was no sense in making more enemies today, he thought.

With the Dominion ships destroyed or retreating, the battlefield fell into silence, broken only by the humming glow of dying wreckage floating through the void.

Tacko steadied his fighter, his breathing heavy, adrenaline still coursing through him. His ship had taken damage the G4’s shield core was flickering, the energy levels unstable, but it was still flying..... kind of.

Through the comms, a signal pulsed. A simple transmission an open channel from

The Black Mongoose, waiting for a response.

Tacko hesitated, then linked the channel. Drake’s ship hovered nearby, battle-scarred but untouched, an imposing silhouette against the dark canvas of the stars. For a long moment neither of them moved. Then, as if wordlessly deciding something unspoken between them The Black Mongoose turned banking toward open space but not before leaving a coded signal marker behind, an invitation of sorts....