'With this haul, we should be able to make quite a hefty profit when we return back to base.'
Captain Yaron stood gazing out of the wide viewpoint of the freighter's bridge, the endless black expanse of space stretching out before him.
His reflection, a visage of calm authority, stared back at him from the glass.
The stars, so far yet so glaringly bright, provided him a little came and serene peace in this quiet of the moment.
"Captain, Zorak and the others have yet to come back. Don't you think we should head back there to check if something hasn't gone wrong?"
A stoic-looking Kree pirate approached him, his frown deepening with every step.
He stopped a few paces back behind the captain, clearly agitated.
Captain Yaron didn't immediately respond. His eyes remained fixed on the void outside, his expression neutral and distant. The silence stretched on for several moments, amplifying the tension in the room.
"It's only been 30 minutes since they left," Yaron said finally, his voice calm and measured.
"We'll give it another 10 minutes before we go and investigate."
The stoic pirate, clearly dissatisfied, clenched his fists. "Captain, with all due respect, we've lost contact with them, no word has come back. They could be in trouble!"
Yaron slowly turned to face the pirate, his gaze sharp and unwavering. "And rushing into a potential trap without information would solve what, exactly?"
The pirate hesitated, his resolve wavering under Yaron's intense scrutiny. "But, Captain, what if they need our help? We're just sitting here doing nothing."
Yaron's lips tightened into a thin line. "Do not mistake patience for inaction, Varrik. We move when we have a clear understanding of the situation. Not before."
Varrik's frustration was evident, but he nodded reluctantly, stepping back. "Yes, Captain."
Captain Yaron was infamous in this region as a merciless, sociopathic killer who cared not for the victims of his selfish plundering.
They reached the area where Zorak's team was last seen. The sight that greeted them was grim.
Blood was sprawled across the walls where Larko had been decapitated, and they saw a messy, blue trail stretching from the loading bay all the way to the airlock.
They knew immediately where their friends and comrades were, and their faces took a turn for the worse.
'They were ejected from the airlock!'
Varrik was fuming, to say the least.
"Spread out," Yaron ordered. "Find the intruder."
It was ironic, really.
Since they themselves were intruders on this ship.
The pirates moved cautiously, their weapons drawn and ready. Yaron himself prowled through the corridors, his senses on high alert.
He could feel vague the presence of an enemy, a lurking menace in the shadows of the twisting and winding hallways that made up the rear end of the ship.
The environment back here didn't help them in any way at all, as an ambush attack could come from anywhere at any time.
'Where are you...'
He headed back into the loading bay, stepping over the blue-blood stained floor and checking the nearby area.
'There's a weapon missing.'
He noticed immediately that there were less weapons in the loading bay than there were before, as he personally counted and documented them all when he first took over the ship.
And he wasn't happy with what the enemy had chosen at all, as it was the strongest weapon they had left back there, with all the stronger weapons being taken up by the pirates currently searching the area.