<i>Stones?</i>The corner of Ilion’s mouth curled just a touch.  Did his opponent put as little stock in that sort of thing as he did?  It was an amusing notion, the two of them not caring about the ridiculously expensive gemstone, others paying them to act on it.  He couldn’t say he wasn’t proud of this last one, though.  It would create quite a stir and perhaps hoist his name even higher… so long as he escaped Urudal.<br/><br/>“Oh, that little trinket?  Sorry about that.  It caught my eye,” he teased.  “I thought I might try skipping it across a lake later on.”<br/><br/>The screen beside him flashed to catch his attention, big letters appearing the moment he looked.<i>UNCLOAKED</i>Seraph was already giving the scanners a good workout on the vessel, and all the details came flooding up on the screen.  Ilion grimaced as he read over it.  Weapons… of course there were high tech, dangerous weapons on the other ship.  It was kind of a prerequisite.  The speed of his opponent was also going to rival his own, though.  The only thing he could do was hope to outrun him, just as he’d thought at the beginning of this nightmare.  Even if Urudal had recently refueled, there was no way his smaller ship could sustain that kind of speed like the Sidriel.<br/><br/>Ilion grinned.  Always top, was he?  If they weren’t in the middle of a standoff, he’d have thought Urudal was flirting with him.  Though it was also doubtful the man knew what he looked like, just as Ilion had no clue what kind of face or body owned the voice coming across to him.  Was it even real?  Urudal could’ve been using some sort of distortion on his own voice to make himself sound even more intimidating.  He was probably just an average guy.  Oh, but the rumble in there was damned sexy…  Curiosity sprung up.  It was too bad they’d never see each other face to face.  Even if Ilion lost, he’d fight until his last breath, and Urudal would have to scoop whatever was left of him out of space and hope there was enough left to identify to claim his prize.<br/><br/>Now.  What was it the man was saying about marking?<br/><br/>His screen flashed again and he gaped at the message in outrage.  Urudal had stuck a transmitter to Sidriel’s hull?!  It wasn’t just a ship to Ilion.  It was his home, his pride and joy.  Despite all the crazy missions he’d gone on, all the junk he’d stolen for other people, whether physical or information, he’d never really cared about any of it.  The money he got went to basic needs and working on either Seraph or Sidriel.  And now this beast had just violated his baby!<br/><br/>“Now, look what you’ve done.  We were having such a nice conversation, too,” he sighed, his fingers already flying across the controls to lock in a new course and prepare the engines to make haste.  All he could hope was that he could keep just ahead of the weapons, or that he could outmaneuver them, or else they’d drill through his shields in time and he wouldn’t have much time to be offended over the ruined paint job.  “You want me?  Come catch me.”  He ended the transmission, half a beat later punching the last button in the sequence and speeding off in a new direction.  Urudal was hot on his trail, proving that his own ship was powered by some of the best high speed engines on the market.<br/><br/>The chase was exhilarating, even if a little tedious.  Any attempt that Ilion made to elude his pursuer was lacking.  There was an exchange of weapons fire, which affirmed the readings Seraph had given him.  They were outmatched there.  The Sidriel, after all the modifications he’d made over the years, was now not only excellent in speed but also maneuverability, and Seraph’s advanced calculations were faster than physical reaction times.  Size was not a factor there.  Despite their differences, the ships seemed to be a fair match.  Ilion was impressed.<br/><br/>The chase lasted for what seemed like an eternity.  Hiding didn’t do much good with that damned beacon stuck to the hull, and no amount of silence between attacks made him feel safe enough to venture out to remove it.  They were stuck in a deadlock, time and time again neither able to gain the upper hand.<br/><br/>And then size<i>did</i>come into play in regards to the mass of their fuel cells.  He wasn’t sure if Urudal turned back or if he puttered out, but what mattered was that they had made it.  The great Urudal Azolslag had not been his downfall.  At least not yet.<br/><br/>He celebrated, then made a stop to try and remove the beacon.  It was a nerve-racking experience, because part of him was afraid there was an explosive embedded in it, no matter how many times Seraph promised him there was not.<i>It would be like a bounty hunter to do that.  Last resort,</i>he thought to himself as he pouted at the mark the nasty little device left behind.  He thought about tossing it out to drift in space, but then thought better of it.  It was attached days later at another stop with a surreptitious tour around the docking bays.  Let Urudal chase someone else for a while.<br/><br/>The gem was handed off.  He got his money.  Maybe it was time to look into better weapons.  Or shields?  He wondered what would be the best way to avoid the bounty hunter.<br/><br/>Ilion boarded his beautiful ship and headed back, this time taking the long way around.  Everything was freshly stocked and refueled, and if all went according to plan, he’d sent Urudal on a wild goose chase.  For him, it was a no brainer that they had to make a stop at one of the stations that catered to the sale of underground tech.  He needed to work on his ship to make sure that the next encounter he had with Urudal, he’d be more prepared.