The Hunter Becomes The Hunted

"Let them split," Leo said, and his lips curled into an easy grin.

SLAM!

He reignited the main ion drives and snapped the Wanderer-7 out of its backward drift, rocketing forward with a concussive roar of turquoise thrust that shoved everyone back into their seats.

The diving pirate opened up with both plasma lances in a frantic vengeful barrage from their upper starboard quarter.

SZZZZZZT! SZZZZZZT!

The guide pulled Leo half a meter to port, and the first bolt of superheated green plasma seared past the canopy so close that the glass flared white. 

The second caught the starboard flank, and the shield grid blazed up in a sheet of blue hexagons that swallowed most of the heat before the rest splashed harmlessly across the slate plates in a shower of orange sparks.

"Shields at sixty-eight!" Elena reported, her eyes wide and bright as she watched the readouts. "The plates are dispersing the thermal wash! He can't get through our belt…!"