Siren Song

As the century drew near, whispers were heard among pilots of a siren song to lure the brave centurions from their goal. The day dawned grey and daystar-less and promised radiation, and those involved in the secret plot were unsure if their temptations would work. Mission o'clock drew near and the skies remained dry as pilots assembled from the launch pad. Everyone rejoiced at the return of the peerless Skunk from his sojurn in deep space, and he outline our goals. Find the centurions, tempt them with delights, tell them they were headed the wrong way, encourage them to stop and rest, and secretly provide a morale boost.
Following Dr. Claw, the band of sirens flew away towards Castle Island. The wending route took us through oft-unvisited territory, where the fleet was met with cheers and curious stares! PQ even managed to hand off a sticker to food in a moving transport, no easy feat with a space-capsule in tow. On the flat, smooth skyways alongside the Atlantic Nebula, Bane and PQ practiced their arial trickery. Word has it they may even compete. There was some debate as to exactly how the intercept would happen, but suddenly, there were lights in the not-too-far distance as Skunk ordered high-fives to be readied! Four noble pilots emerged from the night!
Left in their dust, the interceptors headed quickly in the opposite direction, readying to greet another lap. Excess had renovated his space capsule, and in its place, ready to lure the centurions, was a .......Lemonade Stand? (Some pilots were disappointed that lemonade wasn't being sold to centurions for points) DC managed a single hand off to Tard as the long distance travelers sped past. That just wouldn't do. Moving some light years down the wormhole, the Stand was reconstructed. Stogie was first to jettison his ship for the beverage and received limeade, while Tard was tricked, and subsequently also Snow's maggot, Antlers. Pastry Queen had switched signs! The Lemonade Stand was now offering "A Swift Kick in the Butt," which Excess was all to happy to provide! Snow's homebrew, some champagne and other steering dampeners made the rounds to doctor up the citrus molecules, but Taskmaster McFuzz declared it was time to set off again.
As the centurions departed, so did the interceptors, hustling into the deep shade provided by Castle Island, where they lay in silence, waiting for the puzzled brave ones to pass and wonder where they'd gone. Bane had set off among their number, but was detained at Daystar Rising Point with a flat, so the interlopers left to rescue him. While Dreadflint assisted in Bane repairs, Skunk, Wombat and others prepared for their Sans-A-Spacesuit medals.
When next the long distance flyers arrived, they were greeted by not one, but many Full Moons, and streaks of light in the dark night. Brave Wombat took off on Centvrion to join them for the loop, baring all to the breeze, while Tard was lured by the night air to join the ranks of Spacesuit-less! When LordMcFuzz reappeared, more steering dampener was enjoyed by all. Repairs were finished on Biebs, and together, everyone set off towards home. The return flight was almost entirely without incident until about 1 ly from the fort. Bane, in flight, snatched the pannier containing Tool Bag from Cloudbuster, placed it In His Teeth! and climbed back up Biebs. Then, he catnapped ShadowCat and they took off in the opposite direction. Reaching the launch pad of old, they were, at first, nowhere to be found. Zooming out of the darkness, they stretched derby ribbon between the Interceptors and Centurions, and ordered them to cross their finish line. They had anticipated a different finish line.
Many medals were given, for Centuries and Sans-A-Space suit, Antlers was hazed and found fitting, and pilots dispersed into the night.