Pirate Trap - Second
Jrak stayed in silence, having drifted over to a wall console in the emergency power environment. It didn’t take long for them to realize that they had been caught in a boson cloud, which only meant one thing. Pirates. Jrak was not very well armed, their race had never been too big on warmongering and weapons manufacturing. Yet, while they didn’t have the predeliction for destruction, they weren’t fools. Jrak’s people were among the best - as they would claim at least - at cloaking and EM dispersal. The crackling noise from before was the activation of the Chameleon System as it began to bend signals and particles around it.
Despite the system’s activation, Jrak knew there was a flaw. They had dropped into a boson cloud, which meant that eddies of energy from the jump field would be drifting about. The Chameleon System had a tendency to work a little too well, and while it would produce a distortion of the surrounding area that would be confusing, once the jump energy decayed it would leave a clearly distorted mirage in the net. Jrak knew they had to get out of the cloud, both to avoid this and to be able to activate the emergency jump field.
Jrak set to work, an idea coming to mind. The Chameleon System worked by bending particles, light, scanners, it was almost flawless in that respect. The net had been dispersed, but it would soon reform. They had an opening in that moment. Jrak began to work feverishly, soft-padded hands pressing the panel frenetically as he began to angle the distortion. It would be more noticeable for a brief moment, but in the chaotic rainbow that most scanners would be picking up from such an energy dispersal they might get away with it.
Another, quieter crystalline crinkling noise slowly ticked through the liquid in the ship as the Chamelon System began to redirect its bending. There was a small shudder, as Jrak felt the stable boson cloud starting to reform. As it did it pushed the redirected field like a sail, slowly causing the cloaked cargo ship to drift away as it was pushed out by the same trap that had caught them.
Without sensors active, Jrak couldn’t see the pirate vessel, but the jump logs would record the location. A set-up like this was likely one not easily moved, and Jrak would gain much satisfaction reporting this net to the authorities at the jump gate they were aiming for. This small revenge was enough to satisfy the normally amenable pilot as they prepared to execute an emergency jump as soon as they were free. Just before they made their move, the portholes flashed with light as a plasma burst flared by! Jrak knew something was noticed, and they would just have to hope no boson particles remained in the immediate area. They slapped their hand on the execute command of the console, the entire ship flaring to brilliant life as the Chameleon System quit running and the engines hummed up. Another couple bursts, far closer with a clear target now available, could be seen and the computer threw up warnings as scanners told Jrak things they already knew. The field formed about the ship just as another plasma blast slapped against it, dispersing on the exotic energy in a shimmering aurora of light, and Jrak was gone.
As time passed, Jrak drifted, calming down from the frenetic escape. After a few moments, the jump ended and they re-entered realspace. A brief inspection of navigation terminals, and Jrak let a bubble escape their lips, feathered gills fanning with frustration as they realized that despite the good luck of such a dangerous jump not ending in the corona of a star, it would take two extra weeks of sublight travel to reach the nearby Jump Gate they had aimed for. Jrak spent a bit of time compiling the report and sending out an open channel to the system authorities, with information on the recent encounter and settled back for the nearly doubled travel time.