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We start our assignment by heading towards Zante, one of the planets that we went mining on before. Once we get about half-way there...

: Yuri, there's a large ship ahead. It seems to be engaged in combat.

: A large ship? Could it be Celina?

: I'll bring it up on the monitor.



: Yup, there's no doubt about it. That's Celina's Lykourgos.

: Who is she attacking? That doesn't look like a Kreios pirate ship to me.

: Who knows? The ship looks like a pretty good one, made in the LMC, but I bet it won't be able to hold out much longer.

This next bit would take too many screenshots to properly convey, so have some video.

: What did I tell ya?

: What kind of attack was that? I've never seen anything like it.

: That was a laser accelerator, the best weapon in Lykourgos's arsenal. It uses anti-gravity lenses to accelerate the lasers, and then gravity lenses to focus them into one beam and let it rip. There aren't a lot of ships that can hold up against it.

: All right. Let's get in between them. We have to talk to Celina. Kira, patch me through.

: Roger.



Celina's ship continues to pummel the mystery guest. Yuri stops it by getting right in between them like a boss.

: Celina Sioufas, do you read me? My name is Yuri. I want to talk to you. Come in, Celina. This is Yuri.



Celina's ship turns about and takes off!

: Hey!

: She completely ignored us!

: Yuri, I'm getting a communication. It's from the other ship.

: Huh?

??: Hey! Do you read me?! What's the matter with you?! I almost had her, you bastard! What're ya trying to do to me here?!

: What.

: Are ya outta your mind? You were just about to get blasted to bits!

??: You don't know what you're talking about! Just forget it! I don't have time to waste on peons like you. Just don't get in my way next time! You got that?!



And with that, the ship takes off after Celina, despite getting a hole blasted through it earlier.

: He didn't let us get a word in edgewise.

: That cocky son of a--! Celina was just about to beat him down!

: Be that as it may, his ship is still LMC-made. That means he could easily outdo us.

: Aw, Grus!

Well...that didn't go as planned.

The crew head back to Dodecanese to rest. While there, Yuri chats with his friends to see if they have any ideas. Or at least, they try to...

Bar Patron: What?! You guys! I'm gonna get you for what you did to my friend before!

*As soon as the party enters the tavern, one of the customers jumps to his feet in a rage. It's apparently one of the gang that was beating up the trader before*

Long story short, he wants to fight. Yuri kicks him to the curb and he leaves. Anyway...

: Well, I hate to owe Celina anything more than a drink, but she's not a bad gal to have in our corner.

: I know she's really good, what with bein' a ranked pirate and all, but when ya get right down to it, she's just a woman. Ya think she can really pull this off?

Geez Torlo, sexist much?

: You really are as dumb as you look! Don't ya know that when she gets really angry, a woman is twice as dangerous as a man? You wanna test my theory out?

: Um, no thanks. I can take your word for it.

: I've never actually come into contact with a famous pirate like Celina. I've only ever seen her name in the rankings.

: Aw, you don't have to get all nervous over Celina! I mean, it's not like she just goes around shooting down ships for no reason, or anything. And you trust Yuri, don't you? You wouldn't be here if you didn't. So don't sweat it!

: Okay...

: But what if her feathers get ruffled and it turns into an all-out battle? What then?

: No problem. All I've got to do is threaten to tell all her embarrassing secrets to the universe! Heh heh heh.

"What's all this ranked business", you may be asking? Celina - you know, the girl we're trying to track down? - is the 23rd top-ranked zero-G dog. In the known universe. Yep.

And so, after a quick break, the crew set off to find Celina once again!

: Yuri, there it is!

: Celina's Lykourgos?

Fun fact: Lykourgos seems to be a Greek word. A quick Google search brings up references to a king of Sparta from around 219 BC. And now, back to the plot.

: Yes, that's it, without question.

: All right. I'm going to talk to her this time. Kira, open up a line!

: Roger!

: Celina Sioufas. This is Yuri. Captain of the RUSALKA. I want to talk to you. Please respond!

??: ...

: She really is ignoring us.

: ...

: This isn't getting us anywhere. Here, lemme do this, kiddo.

: Huh? Yeah, okay, sure.

: Hey! I know you can hear us, Celina! Get on the horn right now, or I start blabbin' all your secrets, woman!

??: ...That voice...That vulgar manner of speaking...Nia Lochlain, could that be you?

: Of course it's me! Come on now, Celina. I gotta talk to you face to face.

Celina: ...All right, fine. I'll go to your ship.

: The communication was broken off.

: If she says she'll come to our ship, she'll come to our ship. Pull up next to the Lykourgos, kiddo.

: Okay, but how do you know Celina, Nia?

: Well, ya know how it is. Long story.

*fadeout*

: ...



: ...

: (So this is Celina, huh?)

: Never thought I'd see you on this kind of crew, on this kind of ship. You're always full of surprises, Nia.

: Well, you know how it is. Long story. I'm kinda helping this kid out.

: Hello. I'm Yuri, the captain of this ship.

: Well, well! So this is your plaything of the hour, is it? Your tastes have changed, my dear.

: What?!

: What are you talking about? It's nothing like that!

: ...

: Heh heh. Fine. Whatever. So, you said you want to talk to me? Then talk!

*fadeout*

: So that's it, is it? Veroia must be really hard up. But did they actually think I'd agree to a deal like that?

: Well...

: ...But guess what? I'm going to do it.

: You will?!

: Are you serious, Captain?!

: It's a good opportunity to get onto Skantzoura, don't you think, Nikitas?

: Oh, very good thinking.

: Wait a minute, you crafty little witch. Just what are you up to?

: Heh heh. Just a little bit of fun. Anyway, take me to the Security Agency. I'm prepared to be arrested.

: What?!

: They arrest me, and send me to the prison planet Skantzoura. That's the deal I want.

: But...

: What could she be thinkin'?

: Who knows? But those are her terms if we want her to help wipe out the Kreios Pirates. I say we take her to the Security Agency fast, before she changes her mind!

: Okay. I guess you're right.

: It's settled, then. Nikitas, take care of the Lykourgos for me.

: Yes, Captain!

So apparently, Celina is perfectly willing to go to jail. Odd. Well, back to Veroia we go.



And here is something interesting. On very rare occasions, you may encounter a fleet including an Adonis transport. Last time we saw one of those was back in Ropesk, when we looted Panfilov's stuff. Just like back then, destroying an Adonis earns a lot of credits.

Anyway, we arrive at the Security office.

: What a surprise! I didn't think you'd actually manage to bring Celina herself right here to Veroia!

: Couldn't quite convince her to come into the Security Agency yet, though, so she's hidin' out on the ship.

: But what do you suppose she wants onto Skantzoura for?

: Who knows? We asked her a million times, but she wouldn't cough up her reasons. But I'm thinkin' maybe--

: It has something to do with old Kreios, who was thrown in there a a year ago, right?

: Exactly. Anyway, knowing her, she's gonna have a trick or two up her sleeve.

: Hm...

: Commander, we have no idea what Celina is plotting. Don't you think we should rethink this whole thing?

: Don't worry. I'll go with her, make sure she doesn't try anything funny. Hey, I know! I could be her underling! Even though the idea of it kinda ticks me off...

: Nia, you want to go into the prison with Celina?!

: Yup. I'm gonna make her keep her end of the bargain.

: But...You can't do that! It's a prison planet! Anything could happen to you there!

: Yuri's right. And Skantzoura isn't your average prison planet either. Even though it's part of the judiciary system, it's completely cut off from the outside world. We get very little information about what actually goes on inside.

: But if I don't see to it that Celina keeps her promise, you aren't gonna be able to take down old Kreios, right? And then that means we won't be able to get to Mytilene and find out more about those Epitaphs.

: But...

: Look, you're not gonna get anywhere if ya let little things like this set you back, are ya? Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I know what I'm doing!

: ...

: It was a risky plan to begin with. Now that we've come this far, I don't see any alternative to doing as Celina is suggesting. Ensign Pappas, how long will the paperwork take to get them incarcerated?

: There's no shortage of criminal charges we can bring Celina up on, so we should be able to get the papers together right away.

: All right, then. Pappas, you serve as the escort and take Celina and Nia to Skantzoura. And then I want you to stay there on Skantzoura and give me a report every twenty-four hours on the dot.

: Yes, sir. I'll take these two on my ship, but what will the rest of you do? You can't really come with us all the way to Skantzoura.

: I'm still a little freaked out about all this, so we'll go with you as far as we can.

: Okay, fine. Well, we'll ship out as soon as you're ready then. Nia, you and Celina move to my ship.

: Gotcha.

Nia left your crew temporarily!