Olvir Daren stood aboard his flagship, overlooking the remnants of the Crimson Vipers fleet. 1 battleship, 3 cruisers, a frigate, 2 corvettes and a carrier, which housed most of their remaining fighters. These 8 ships and the several thousand or so people on them were all that remained of the pirate clans. And a lot of them were not even pirates, but rather refugees and soldiers, from the Kryva, Helkaites, Republic and the Alliance. Of the refugees, some were elementals. Some were there temporarily, for safety. Others have joined them to continue the fight. They had all endured years of suffering, constantly fleeing from uriak patrols. For the elementals among them, the uriak hunting parties were another threat. Overlord Raxion seemed to be as intent as ever when it came to locating and eliminating, or sometimes, recruiting, any elemental he could. 

The pirate's thoughts wandered over to Kyma, Merela, and their students. What had become of them? At Xoer, after the Growth and the Jorna Octagon were destroyed, and the remaining allies were split, they had lost all contact. As far as he knew, they could all be dead by now. Or worse, tortured and recruited into Raxion's plague. Perhaps some other Knights have survived, and were still fighting. Or they were all dead, and the forces under his command were all that was left from the massive allied armada that assaulted the Growth. 

"Captain?" said one of the communication officers, wrenching him back to reality. "What is it?" the captain said, caught off guard by how jaded he sounded.

"We have intercepted a transmission. One of the hunting groups is passing not far from us. It sounds like they are transporting captives", the officer said. "Can you get anything on their arsenal?" Daren asked. "They have two medium warships and a host of fighter frigate type vessels. We should be able to take them in a head on confrontation without too much difficulty", the officer said. "Bring us in just outside of their visual and scanner range. We should have just enough to monitor them then", the captain ordered. The fleet altered course, and zeroed in on the enemy. 

Several minutes later, they caught up to them. "Can we get any read on the captives?" Daren asked. "Over 2 dozen. 3 of them are Alliance personnel", the officer said, adjusting his controls. "Is that Orzun and Xarian's group?" said Lieutenant Serin, coming up behind them. "Yes. That means the captives are most likely elementals. Lieutenant Serin, command the fleet. I will take a group to the captives", Daren said. "Good luck. Don't make me remain the only commanding officer again", the lieutenant said, to which the old captain chuckled. Secure us a perimeter. And we just might come back alive", he joked, as the pirate ships closed in. 

The uriaks had no warning. The pirate battleship singled out one of the larger ships, while the cruisers targeted the second, and with the help of the other 4 ships, secured a perimeter for the boarding party. The pirate fighters monitored the enemy hangars, shooting down any uriak orbs that emerged, with the help of the frigate and the corvettes. 

Daren was the first to exit the boarding crafts, and unleashed waves of wind and dark energy, sweeping aside any uriaks that were able to enter the hangar fast enough. The several dozen soldiers and elementals opened fire, and elemental blasts went off, taking the uriaks out by the dozens.

One of the pirate cruisers sustained moderate damage to its port side, but the other three capital ships covered it, and 2 more uriak fighter frigates went down, as a bomber squadron released their payload onto the bridges. One of the corvettes shot down 4 orbs in quick succession, and the frigate destroyed another warship. The heavy guns on the battleship dealt significant damage to one of the capital ships.

An explosion rocked one of the corvettes, and Lieutenant Serin winced, clenching his hands into fists, as more of his comrades succumbed to the uriak plague. He directed the fleet to focus fire on the damaged capital ship. Within the next 20 minutes, it was destroyed, along with several more fighter frigates. The uriak fleet was now down to 6 fighter frigates and the undamaged second capital ship, while they had lost only the corvette and 10 fighters. Each loss hurt immensely, however, as yet another old friend perished. 

Captain Daren raised his shield, blocking several shots from an uriak, and snapped its neck with air. He ducked under a fire wave, and faced the hybrid head on. He blocked its fire and lightning with wind and dark energy, and retaliated with his flanged mace. The hybrid blocked with its spear and cut him on the leg. He kicked it in the chest and grazed its face with a dark energy claw. He blocked a fire ball and blasted it with a torrent of wind, just as a burst of gold lightning struck him, throwing him back. Both he and the hybrid recovered at the same time, though the latter was faster with its attack. The pirate captain focused on his dark energy, blocking the fire storm his foe launched at him, and drew the air out of the fire, channeling it into a dark energy shield, just as gold lightning came crashing down, breaking the shield into shards, but leaving him unharmed. Daren launched the shards back at his foe, transforming them into dark birds, which swarmed the hybrid, leaving it burned, though still alive, and now infuriated. And unfocused.

Daren sidestepped its tackle, and struck it on the back, just as lightning struck him, followed by fire. Only a last second dark energy shield saved him from its fury, as it pounded away at his defenses, trying to break through with its last strength. At last, the storm dissipated, and before it could strike again, he burned through its hand with a dark energy wave, leaving it unarmed, and brought his mace down on its head, crushing its skull. The hybrid dropped, and with it, the enemy morale. 

Even when Xarian and Orzun arrived, the uriaks kept retreating. Daren shot Orzun in the shoulder, and almost burned Xarian, though the latter ducked in time. 

"Blasted pirates. We shall make you pay in time", Orzun hissed, and they fled. The pirate fleet was too preoccupied with the rest of them to even notice their small ship as it jumped to safety. 

...

Virneas, Kyma and Merela listened to the battle raging in the hangar, desperately hoping for release. Who was it that managed to occupy the uriaks so thoroughly, and deal so much damage so quickly? It had to be Knights. Or a powerful resistance force.

It was a major surprise, when they spotted vaguely familiar gear, as pirates burst in the prison block, one of them especially familiar. They watched in awe as Captain Daren led a team of pirates and allied soldiers, wiping the guards out in short order. As their cell was blasted open, Kyma and Merela embraced the pirate captain like an old friend.

"20 years. It is good to see you alive", Daren said, relief palpable. 'Likewise, captain", said Kyma. "What happened to the others?" asked another familiar pirate. "Killed or captured. Some are still out there, but not many. How did you find us?" said Virneas. "One of my personnel intercepted a transmission. We came as fast as we could. Now, let us depart, before they receive any reinforcements", Daren said, and lead the group and the 44 freed prisoners, who had quickly armed themselves with the weapons of fallen guards and soldiers. 

The pirate fleet left behind the remnants of uriak vessels, taking their second capital ship with them, as it was relatively undamaged, and well equipped. That night, Captain Daren honored the fallen.

"Everyone, gather around! We have secured a victory today. An entire hunting group had been destroyed. Orzun and Xarian are on the run back to Xoer, their tails tucked between their legs. 44 prisoners have been freed from the uriak plague. 3 members of the Kai Tor Luso order are now with us. 20 years ago, we have fought alongside our Kryva, Helkaites, Republic and the Alliance comrades, and now, after all this time, all the suffering, we are still here. We are still in the fight. Now, we must honor the fallen, and everyone else who made this victory possible", the captain said, and everyone cheered. Morale had lifted exponentially, and for the first time in years, Virneas, Kyma and Merela felt at some relief, back among friends.