"Thank you for your compliance, civilian vessel. Please dock and prepare for salvage..." the Desdemona managed to transmit before Hollen's Prize went to full throttle.
In open space, the speed may have meant nothing, but in the cramped confines of the debris field, it was more than enough. With the gravitic sheath off, the full uncompensated force of the acceleration pushed the crew into their seats, blood thumping in their ears.
Like a dreadful blossom, the prow of the derelict cruiser flared up with blinding fire, lasers silently cutting through dead ships as they trid to seize the sole live one. In their pursuit of their Prize, they found an unspent ammunition storage instead, and a broken vessel in their path exloded like overripe fruit.
The delicate balance was upset, wrecks tumbling off each other, spinning, crashing, scattering.
Blinded she might have been, but Desdemona's anger almost caught up - then, Quan saw an opening! A gutted dreadnought, with launch bays agape. The best way to get shelter from the thrashing ships, no?
He swerved up and hit the braking jets - but the bays were sadly cluttered with fighters that failed to launch, and Hollen's Prize crushed them as a wrecking ball as she skid along the bay.
Then, there ws silence, only damage codes blinking on the display.
"d**n, that was close. But the Lilarcor's still out there, strapped to that murderous husk." Yulo frowned. "Autumn, get at look at what is broken!"