Despair spread through the pirate flagship faster than fire ever could.
Once the crews inside started pulling up the damage reports, they realized the truth almost immediately.
The propulsion system was gone, which meant the ship was no longer a warship in any meaningful sense, only a crippled hull drifting in place and waiting to be finished.
The shuttle hangars had also taken heavy damage, so even running was no longer simple.
Then came the final blow.
The internal communications grid began failing in sections, and the long-range command array stopped responding properly, leaving the flagship unable to call the rest of the fleet back into formation or even scream for help in any useful way.
And in a pirate fleet, that was the same as being abandoned.
Because pirates did not die together out of loyalty.
They ran.
The captain of the pirate flagship knew that better than anyone, which was why the look on his face shifted from anger to something much uglier.
