We are not alone (Original Novel, Part 2)

Haven't read part 1?

Go here! "We Are Not Alone," Part 1

John was in the pilot's cabin, helping to do the pre-flight checks, ensuring they were fully fueled and that everything was operational. John had to ensure that the synth-gravity generator was still online, the purpose of which was a bit peculiar but extremely useful. For passengers who preffered to remain still they could activate “Synth-gravity” which would create a small gravitational pull keeping them firmly on their seat, most preferred to use it as ships broke through the atmosphere. John only used it when things got really jumpy and during combat, it was better than shaking around in your chair like a bobble head.
The ship John was in was a D-class seer shuttle, nothing much but it got the job done, though it wasn't built for many people. The ship had been modified, small sections had been carefully added on so it could carry as many people as it did without it being far too cramped. They were starting to launch, small panels on the bottom of the ship sliding aside as the launch thrusters turned on, small metal legs that served as landing gear for the shuttle. The ship took off at a steep angle, passengers quickly flicking on the Synth-gravity but most simply tightening the straps holding them down as they flew. The ship was picking up speed as it went, they had to be slow until they left the atmosphere because ships that hit too fast had great trouble. Flying at a fast speed was only wise if you needed to get away quickly and were ready for a jolt, though most were injured from such things.
John turned on his Synth-gravity as they breached the atmosphere, the screen turning bright orange as the outside of the ship warmed up, a small jolt hitting as they broke through. Thankfully he was unaffected by this, as was the pilot, due to the fully fueled Synth-gravity generators. John flicked off his personal bubble, though he kept his straps on as he picked up a small micophrone, it looked much like a walkie talkie. He spoke confidently as he adressed the passengers, “We will be engaging the Dimendrive shortly, be prepared.” A Dimendrive was a marvel of engineering, it had been built by a now nearly extinct race known as the Galdin, an insect like race who are masters with machinery. Not even the ones that live now know exactly how it works, but automated factories kept enough coming out for more ships to be built.
The Dimendrive sent you through multiple dimensions in a sort of leap, the most common one to hop into is the Niden, much like our own dimension though everything is much closer. People have attempted to study and actually map out this dimension fully, but the only maps succesfully made are maps between planets and solar systems. There are also some ships that went through and claimed to have met some other ships, which had been greatly hostile, with an unknown design. According to the captains and pilots who witnessed such things, the ships these hostiles flew seemed to be designed after various birds, from hawks to pidgeons.
John begin flicking various different things, to be perfectly honest he barely understood what half of the switches and levers he had to manuever really did, but he knew enough to actually turn on the Dimendrive engine. The captain nodded at him, “Activate the Dimendrive, we've got the fuel for a jump this distance...” John grabbed a lever in front of him and pulled it down, activating the engine Dimendrive engine and causing a bright white flash. They were now in the Niden, and the moon was clearly visible in front of them, though in their dimension it wasn't there. This was the real secret of the drive, it could somehow... “Teleport” you forward in the real dimension through the Niden.
They were about twenty minutes from the moon when they were pulled back into reality abruptly by a Dimendrive disruptor, John smirked, his friends had finally struck. He drew his plasma pistol and fired, causing the pilot to fall limp and then taking over the controls, carefully manuevering the ship to dock with the pirate ship. The shuttle, known as Libertia easily docked in the much larger ship, one of human design, based off the old ships in design but much larger than the primite rockets sent to the moon in the early years of space travel ever were. It was called Death's Incarnate, a name that John never would have chosen, but the leader of the group he'd hired was... unstable to the say the least, and more violent than John would've liked.
He headed into the back area where the passengers were, weapon holstered again, as the pirates boarded the ship, various weapons drawn. Most of them were again modified guns from before the aliens had arrived, they were the easiest kind of weapon for criminals to acquire through the black market due to the sheer amount of them and how easy they are to make. He smiled as the leader of the pirate group, they were known as The Renegades, walked into the room, holding a modified assault rifle of some kind which had been rigged to fire bursts of plasma. Her name was Elizabeth, a bit of a strange name since she had come from the planet Xorgon, a place of humanoids with skin the color of sea-foam green.
She was quite tall for her kind, standing at 5'9, her magenta eyes were tilted. Despite her small size compared to John, who stood at six feet, she was an intimidating figure. Her earlobes were pointed, another trait of her kind, and her hair was an odd dark blue, though it's the most common color of hair among the Xorgonians. She was dressed in light green steel combat armor, and spoke slowly and firmly to the passengers, “Hand over every dollar you've got and don't try anything.” She walked up to a passenger as she said this, making a point of winking and flicking her gun's setting to Kill.
John'd completely forgotten about the charade he had planned to put up when the pirate arrives, Elizabeth gesturing him over. He moved towards her warily, he knew what the woman was capable of when provoked, he'd learned such a thing the hard way. The first time he'd met her he'd made a jest about her size, and found himself in a head lock with a knife to his throat. Once he was about ten feet away he stopped. Elizabeth rolled her eyes before speaking, “I assume the captain of this little... vessel is taken care of?”
He nodded, “Took him out when the ship was dragged out of interdim space.” Interdim was a slang word used to describe when a ship was using it's Dimendrive, it had been created by humans, who seemed to have a nack for shortening words. As Elizabeth began to take the man's money, John glanced around at the rest of the scene, various people giving up their valuables and being searched, just in case. He was supposed to receive a twenty-five percent cut, and the ship would be left adrift, though still completely functional.
Elizabeth got the last of the money from the man, aiming her gun at his head when he resisted giving up his expensive looking watch, then snapped to get John's attention. She nodded at the back of the ship, where the shuttle had connected to Death's Incarnate, “Time to get moving, humie.” John scowled, humie was a slur of sorts that many aliens used, many aliens, humanoid or not, saw themselves as superior to the humans.
He shrugged off the jibe and nodded, “I'm gonna see if the captain had anything worth taking... then I'll join, you shorty.” He smiled, though he knew he'd pay for the jest as he turned and headed to the captain's cabin, chuckling. He found about seventy dollars and a gun similar to his own on the captain, then boarded Death's Incarnate.