“Hey Alphas, pack an incendiary grenade. Fried calamari is hard to come by.” Astrid commented when the captain revealed what the villain of the hour looked like. It was comforting to know they were not dealing with a complete monster. At least as far as morals went, appearance was a different game entirely. Still, his military background, the size of his vessel and the sheer fact he survived his path of crime long enough to retire in the first place was enough of a warning not to underestimate Du-Vos under any circumstances.

Astrid wasn’t exactly sure how twenty frightened and possibly injured people, some of whom were children, were expected to orderly stand shoulder to shoulder, but at the end of the day that wasn’t her problem. They could wrap them in stretch foil and tape them to the walls for all she cared. Nonetheless, she was pleased to hear Franchesca’s time estimate. “Assuming everything we need is repairable, three hours should be all I need with plenty time to spare to address any unexpected developments.” Of course she knew better than expecting the estimate to be hundred percent accurate, but if she prioritized her work correctly, the important things could be done. As the briefing carried on, she kept listening, turning her eyes to the deckplan of the Moray, trying to memorize the basic layout of crew compartments, service tunnels and power and data cables. Finer details could be looked up on the go as problems arose.

“Alright, that’s the rescue part of the operation more or less squared away. What then? Disarm and disable and wait for someone to come mop Du-Vos and his lackeys up, or do we set the Moray to ram them at full burn and call it a day?” Astrid asked in a voice as if she was talking about the weather or some other trivial matter. “Hardly a loss given Moray’s size, state and age, and it’s not like they’re going to charge us for the damages, we’ll be who knows where by the time anyone starts pointing fingers. Over and above that - and correct me if I’m wrong - Du-Vos and his rabble are officially recognized as pirates, therefore not protected by any law I know of.” She added with a shrug, a small part of her wishing she’d actually paid attention when the legal side of things was discussed at the academy.