Retreat

Something didn't feel right. Kallou and Shpak both came to that conclusion. It's been half a day since they eliminated the pirates, and things just weren't right. Shpak was the first to move, contacting Kallou over a shortburst encrypted channel, saying one of his ships needed some repairs and he'd like to detour for that. All lies, there had been no damage. It seemed that they were on the same page, not trusting anything.

Kallou double-checked with some crew, then sent a reluctant approval. The fleet detoured, a trip that would cost them maybe a day on their trip. Part of the ships was sent on, to serve as scouts. Utter bullshit, of course. But it was a tactical move that enemies were likely to expect from them. By doing so, they played into those beliefs.

By the time they arrived at the starbase, Shpak's troops had already made sure to actually inflict enough damage to sell the excuse. The crews enjoyed some time off, rotating their duties so everyone could have some relaxation time. Shpak and Kallou made use of their time to meet on Kallou's Wolf, ostensibly to discuss the repairs.

This time, Kallou was the first to move. He launched projections, showing countless datapoints flying through hyperspace. Some theoretical, some actually observed. Shpak took a deep breath in turn. "Storms and eyes, you really do keep a corner of your eye out. Hells, you're keeping all eyes out. So, you think the pirates were part of this?" Kallou nodded, suppressing the urge to curse. Shpak then did enough cursing for both of them.

When the man had finished making sailors blush, Kallou spoke in turn. "I have a few hypotheses, but barring some variables, they don't matter. All I can say is that someone caught on to what we're researching. And they seem to be preparing to intercept us if we get too close to the truth. As you can see, they seem to be lying in wait everywhere. The pirates were a trap to gauge our potential."

"Damnation, we actually made it worse by striking that hard then. It means they will be wary... Okay. I know you have the ability to call in the cavalry, but that would require an armada and exposing your side way too much. If this ship is what you're willing to share, it means what you're not sharing is even better. A total war is possible, but it would permanently endanger all of us... So, what next? A wild goose chase? Trying to slip between the cracks?"

Kallou shook his head. "No, we do that, they know we're onto them. That alone gives away too much. No, what I think we should do is fail. Continue, spread out, do a sweep, fail at finding things. And then, we put feelers out for Stormfarers to give us a hand, get a crew who can sneak in and find things without a watching eye."

Shpak shook in turn. "You lost me. If they can keep an eye on us, a single crew would be ea..." His eyes lit up as he connected the dots. "They won't know who we all hired. They would need to distrust every single ship out there. Can't afford to take on every ship there is, because then they'd start a war with everyone."

Kallou nodded, then brought up a design for a long-term plan. "Good thing we prepared for a long expedition, we're going to need it. Isn't it like you always say, Yakiv? We didn't do it because it's easy, we do it because we thought it would be easy." The two men shared a grin, before jumping into a discussion, planning their next moves for the months to come. A few steps back for now, but they still would win this war in the end. The prize was worth it.