On boarding the Alamo, Valian went to his ship to make sure everything was in top shape.  Checking the controls, engine, weapons systems, shield, and other myriad of finicky bits that go into making a ship operational.  Normally the sort of thing you want done before you're put in a situation where you might need to take off at any moment, but Valian saw himself first, not as a contracted employee of Starfire, but as a pilot.  It was a matter of pride to him that he would notice if something was wrong with his ship.  The only reason he was checking was because he'd learned the hard way that it's best to be careful.

Much to his surprise, Valian had finished checking his systems before anything happened.  It stayed that way, until the one of the ships' pilots decided to pass by a large asteroid.  How large?  After practically leaping into his ship's cockpit, Valian pulled up some pictures from the Alamo's outer camera feed, and saw one large enough to hide a ship bigger than the the Alamo or the Babylon.  [i]Alright, what's the deal here?  Even if we were trying to avoid standard flight paths, what idiot chose to pass so close to an asteroid that big?  There's so much empty space out here...[/i]  That train of thought died as soon as he saw the ship that was hiding behind it.  When he did, he couldn't help but break into hysterical laughter.  "That is the silliest fucking thing I've ever seen!"  His mic was off, so his team-mates wouldn't have heard his outburst unless they were passing through the hangar at the time—he wasn't [i]that[/i] loud.

His laughter ceased as soon as he heard the anchors hit.  The fact that the pirates, idiotically silly carrier ship aside, hit him like a freight train.  His grin did not leave his face, but it turned from one of mirth into one of malice.  "Alright.  So, ninety ships?  Could be worse.  Wonder how many of them will be dead before this is through."  Wasting no more time, Valian brought his ship out of the Alamo's hangar.  Since the pirates were still a good distance away from him, he whipped his ship around with his many RCS thrusters to take aim at one of the anchors on the Alamo with his energy beams.  He didn't get the chance to see if he hit his mark though—the pirates had arrived, specifically a group of three.

[i]Damn, they're faster than I thought.[/i]  While he may have tried to get in an attack of opportunity on the anchors, John was right—they wouldn't be letting him cut those anchors.  He dodged around the enemy fire, and took shots of his own at his assailants, the flash of his ballistic gun visible just under the Starbolt's nose.  One pirate took a hit in the cockpit—taking the pilot out and sending the ship spiraling out into the void—and another in the wing, rendering it largely inoperable.  [i]Prioritizing speed over shields?  Interesting.  Might even be a pattern.  Sure would make my job easier.[/i]  

Valian glanced down at the anchor he'd shot at, and it was severed, the pirates already in transit tumbling out into the void.  He looked towards the pirate carrier, only to see more ships heading his way.  [i]Well, let's see what this fleet of eighty-eight's got any more surprises for me.[/i]