LOL... Sarah's scouting mission with the Alexander apparently scared the pirates quite a bit.  "moved in impossible ways..."  That's hilarious.<br/><br/>It's somewhat true though, the Alexander (or the Kobras Aquairre) with Sarah at the controls can pull off tricks that would seem impossible to most.  Both ships have an almost unheard of speed, and combining that with their really high maneuverabilities and Sarah's skill?  Ouch.<br/><br/>I wonder what class ship the Thamnophis was?  It must be one of the ships under going repairs there, because it wasn't listed earlier. (of course, none of the damaged ships were listed)  I also wonder who sent the message to Cortez?  Was it Commodore Aquairre?<br/><br/>On another note, the Katana is a frigate, about the same class of ship as the Kobras Aquairre.  It's probably a good choice for a scouting mission... especially as it's the only Frigate in the system that is fully repaired.  (unless the repairs are completed already on the rest?)<br/><br/>I'm all for going on some more scouting missions into the nebula before going right after their base... especially if the Everest isn't ready yet.  It's painful to anticipate sitting this one out, however... as it's not terribly likely that the new captain of the Everest will want to leave his ship behind.  Sure, he'll want in on away missions... but leaving his ship in another system for weeks at a time, while it's still mainly defenseless?  That isn't in-character for him.<br/><br/>Of course, he will follow orders.  So if Cortez wants him to come along, he will.  One problem, of course, is that the Kobras Aquairre isn't actually in the Ares system, (as it's just been loaded with food), so it has to take the time to get back.  Of course, it is VERY fast... even in the warp... so it should get back quickly.<br/><br/>I wonder how much of our stuff will be done by that point?  Will the weapons systems, launch bays, and the like have arrived yet?  Will the Everest be done?  (I'm still counting on Jason and Sarah's tech use rolls to have sped that up some...)