The Privateer/The Taking of the SLCG Makin Atoll
Pirate activity has always been a problem, especially near fringe space. But Coalition authorities hadn't quite grasped how much of a problem it was until they lost one of their colony ships.
It was only a few years ago, but the Coalition isn't likely to forget anytime soon. During a mission to expand the colonies past fringe space, the SLCG Makin Atoll was escorted by a full complement of SLC Navy interdiction bombers, heavy fighters, and cruisers. The so- named 92nd Fleet was ready for all forms of resistance. Not even a single enemy fighter would breach their defensive borders.
Not a single fighter needed to.
What the 92nd Fleet hadn't recognized at the time was that "fringe space" was fringe for a reason. Where the colonists hadn't spread, where the Coalition and its militias hadn't quite covered with their authority, was where the pirates thrived in secret. Granted, the pirates of fringe space weren't organized criminals, so there was not likely to be a huge base full of them, where they'd all go to meet up for drinks afterwards. Not likely...but there was, well-hidden among the nebulae and the debris and the chunks of asteroid. In fact, the pirate base was so well-hidden that the 92nd Fleet - and their flagship, the Makin Atoll - were about to pass right over them, without a second thought.
The opportunity was too great to pass up. A hastily gathered meeting resulted in an equally hasty plan of action. As the Makin Atoll passed over the pirate hideout, a small detachment of hijackers would attach to the flagship's hull. The pirates couldn't use their ships, for the simple reason that it'd give the hideout's position away, and because no amount of pirates in stolen fighters could stand up to the naval might of the Solar Liberty Coalition's 92nd Fleet. And of course, the 92nd would have signaled for help long before the action had a chance to get started.
What the pirates had planned instead was daring, insane even, but simple. The hijackers would approach the Makin Atoll in nothing but EVA suits. The suits registered such a small signal on radar that it would be futile to try to find them; scans for life forms would have too high of a noise-to-signal ratio on account of the Makin Atoll's full crew complement also being picked up with them. And even if discovered, the 92nd Fleet was not permitted to open fire on the hijackers; shipboard weapons ran too much risk of damaging the flagship in the process of trying to remove the hijackers.
The hijackers' plan was already in motion, as a shuttle bay was chosen as a point of entry. The shuttle bays wouldn't be used at a time like this; the shuttles would get in the way of the ship's escorts, therefore all the crew in charge of shuttles would be on call somewhere else. Security systems were a non-issue, and actually gaining entry to the shuttle bay involved little more than what the pirates already carried: personal shield systems, specially tweaked to bypass atmospheric containment fields.
As soon as they gained entry, two SLCN lieutenants on break spotted the discarded EVA suits. As reputedly skillful as the Coalition Navy is at dogfighting and ship-to-ship combat, the average Navy pilot is nowhere as talented in infantry engagements as pirates. Though Navy law enforcement officers tend to carry Magsec sidearms, designed to penetrate shields, many did not expect to encounter a squad of pirates in full regalia, wielding coilguns and other anti-personnel tools, designed to kill or incapacitate a ship's crew without damaging the ship.
