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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 2755991" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 306: Plan of ActionThough having one of the largest collections of shipyards outside of the Core meant that Sluis Van was a very heavily defended world by whoever happened to be in control at the time, the outer edges of the star system were left generally open. And even though it was the New Republic in control of the shipyards, Shadow wasn’t too terribly worried. There may be a bounty on them, but that didn’t mean they had to be on alert all over the galaxy. Besides, they were far enough out in the system that the incoming traffic likely didn’t even see them. It was a safe system to wait near...just in case that fleet found them, there would be a New Republic fleet to fly into and escape in the chaos that would ensue.    Never let it be said that Shadow couldn’t think like a Fleet Admiral.    “We can’t risk bringing anyone else into this situation,” Jyren was saying. Tobias was in the cockpit with them, but was currently occupied by sitting up on the consoles and getting a good view of the star system...and Loki was being amazingly helpful by pointing things out through a makeshift HUD display, while at the same time paying attention to their plan of action...which wasn’t much at this point.    Shadow nodded, but had to stop herself from glancing over at Toby again. She was nervous about him up on those consoles...he might...press something...or...or something! Shaking it off, she turned her attention back to Jyren, “Agreed. But you know that means we can’t take the direct approach. We don’t have the firepower or the numbers to fight that fleet or the crews or even a Darkwing.”    That word still sent shivers(and sick feelings) through both of them, but sometimes it just needed to be said. Jyren sighed and also nodded, “Ships can be sabotaged. That’s not what I’m worried about...it’s the...it’s the other things.”    Of course, neither of them liked to say the word and still avoided it if possible. He was right, of course, but Shadow had been thinking about this, “There are ways to deal with this beyond the easy route, Jyren. You’ve done it before.”    “Yeah, but I don’t think I can do it again...” Jyren grumbled, “And not...not a thousand times.”    “Likely closer to a hundred,” Shadow corrected him in her old emotionless tone, but then went on in what had become normal for her in the past years, “You’ve done it before, Jyren. You can do it again.”    “I doubt it.”    “Exactly the problem,” she nearly snapped at him, but was currently too busy finishing working things out to get angry. At this point, it was just stating a fact, “How did you do it before?”    Jyren struggled with it for a moment before struggling even more, just out loud, “I just...I...I don’t know...”    When Jyren looked up, he saw Shadow smiling. It made him worry, because even through the link he couldn’t figure out exactly why. And that, despite all that had occurred to change the both of them, was still dangerous when it came to Shadow. And then, quietly and slowly, Shadow said, “Don’t think so hard. Just try to answer really quickly before you have a chance to think.”    That made Jyren freeze. She’d spoken it in just the right tone...and nearly the perfect voice, too. His eyes wide, Jyren asked, “You were listening?! But you weren’t even...”    Shadow’s smile grew into a grin, “I always listen, Jyren.”    “Hey!” he actually sounded hurt now, “That’s not fair!”    Though the smile stayed on her face, Shadow’s tone went flat again, “You do the same thing.”    A pause.     Then...slowly, Jyren started to grin, “Good point.”    And then Shadow went straight back to the business at hand, “That part is on you. Figure it out...feel it out. I can’t help you with that. But...you will need to help me with it once you’ve made sense of it all.”    “You’re sure?” Jyren asked slowly, obviously surprised, “That could take a long time...”    “We don’t have a long time,” she was almost grinning again, “But, yes, I do trust you.”    Jyren mumbled a thanks but it was so quiet that Shadow only heard it through the thought that flowed across the link. After a moment, though, he asked, “So what do we do about the rest of this?”    “Sabotage is what I was thinking,” Shadow said with one of her uniquely unnerving smiles, “Or at least something close,” she paused a moment to wait and make sure Jyren was keeping up, then fleshed things out, “She wants to get to our home. There’s only way to get there. We set a trap that can take care of the ships.”    “I think she’ll be expecting something like that,” Jyren said slowly, knowing that Jen wasn’t an idiot at all. In fact, she’d been the only sane one among them for a long time. Perhaps that was what made all of this so worrying.    Shadow leaned back in her chair and looked up at the ceiling, “Probably, but that also means she won’t be with the fleet. That doesn’t matter. We just need to take that out. Right now, those ships and everything aboard them are our primary concern. We’ll have to take this one step at a time.”    “Alright,” Jyren said with a nod, slipping halfway off of his co-pilot’s chair to lean over her slightly and force eye contact, “How do you propose we get rid of the fleet...exactly?”    Shadow grinned up at him, “I know someone that could probably supply us with a nice complement of very well designed stationary mines.”</blockquote>

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