ic Incursion: Blood in the Water

[GooseInduced]

At first, Sei had looked toward the tusked Alien in confusion. She wasn't sure what she had done to draw his attention, and was even further startled when he recognized her species. It wasn't common. "Yes. Sei is Kahi'iru." As she took a step toward him, Sei wondered how he knew of her kind. Her reptilian mouth was ready to form a smile when what he said next threw her more towards shock. After several long moments, she managed to recover, but the hard set of her brow and metallic sheen in her golden eyes gave away the anger bubbling under the surface. "Sei not mutant. Kahi'iru not animal. All Kahi'iru speak." The smile that her mouth formed was more sinister than happy. "Most just too dumb to understand."

[Heritage]

Ana had not been living out among the stars for very long, roughly the equivalent of two Terran years; it meant she was often making faux pas or embarrassing herself, though she also learned very quickly and never made the same mistake twice. But there were one or two advantages to being a stranger in a strange land as well, like not having preconceived notions about the many races she encountered in space.

"C'mon, Sei; we primatives need to stick together, right?" She unslung her gear bag, pulled out her tool harness, and slid it over her shoulders of her armored suit; this wasn't her full kit, which was probably light years away on the Xeno, but even her lightweight travel set was probably better stocked than this ship. Slipping on a pair of protective goggles, she turned her full attention to the FTL drive. "Shoot anyone who tries to interupt me, would you?"

Edited November 21, 2014 by Heritage

[Gizmo]

At the airlock, the stunned silence the greeted Kharag's impromptu speech went on long enough to become increasingly awkward. None of the Lor raised their weapons, at least, as they glanced back and forth between each other, silently debating who would be the one to respond. Finally, a middle aged Lor who looked more like a school teacher than a soldier spoke up, "Uh. Well, that was, well..." He fumbled for an appropriate word. "Let's go with 'impassioned'. Don't think we're quite at the resigned to die stage yet, though, so if you want to put some of that energy into helping us all stay alive, we'd be happy for the help. You have a name, friend, or just the death wish?"

 

The scene in the engine room was no less awkward but the silence was ended more forcefully as the female Lor slugged her tusked coworker in his should hard enough for the sound to reveal boney protrusions on other parts of his body. "You unbelievable jerk!" she reprimanded crossly.

 

"Ow! Hey, how was I supposed to know? I heard about them on a sci-vid series, it said they--"

 

"I don't think that's helping, Wrenk," the blonde technician hastily interrupted. "Listen, um, Engineer Plonsky, Citizen... Sei, I'm really sorry about that. You're, uh, not really seeing us at our best right now." He raised both hands in a nonthreatening gesture, having trouble looking either woman in the eyes rather than staring at Sei's bow as though trying to guess how serious Ana had been about shooting them. "If you can really fix this mess, just let us know what you need, please."

[RobRX]

Kharag smiled smugly, quite eager and willing to introduce himself to this strange new time he had found himself into. "Very well. Know that each and everyone of you is blessed to behold my magnificient and blessed presence for the first time in years. Many years, in fact, millenias by the modern calendars. I have many names, given to me in my travels across the lands I now own; I am Veskren, the blessed traveller, I am K'ralg of the east. The scourge of Za'ak, son of the Gods. I am Kharag and I have returned!"

 

However, his long-winded pompous speech was only met with a moment of silence, since two thousand years and the collapse of the Delaztri empire had condemned him to be reduced to nothing but an historical footnote in galactic history, only known to xenohistorian who felt like studying the history of a scattered race which had lost it's former, short-lived glory. In essence, in this era, he was a nobody.

Edited November 22, 2014 by RobRX

[Thevshi]

After Paradigm had smashed one of the Communion needle ships, the other two looped back around and flew straight at the Naram, trying to ram into her. She was able to just avoid the first, but the second came streaking straight at her. Paradigm brought her arms up in front of her as the needle ship collided. But Paradigm was far tougher and heavier than she appeared and the needle ship exploded around her as the Naram was not budged or injured.

As the cloud of silver metal dissipated around her, Paradigm focused on the remaining Communion needle ship, and streaked off after it, aiming to ram into the needle ship. But the Communion ship rolled to one side as Paradigm approached, and the Naram paragon failed to connect.

[Gizmo]

"He said 'blessed' three times," a younger Lor muttered out of the side of her mouth to the middle-aged guard who's spoken up for the group, eying Kharag warily.

 

The spokesman shrugged in resignation. "Maybe he is. We could certainly use a little divine intervention right about now, or at least a little extra confidence." Turning back to the green skinned alien, he adjusted the strap of his firearm and held out his hand. "Well, we appreciate the assist, Kharag. I'm Jor. Come with me, I'll take you to Samran-86."

 

* * * * *

 

The final needle ship spun nimbly away from Paradigm's attack, keeping its distance now that it had had a chance to gauge the Praetorian's unexpected might. Instead it pulled into a tight circle and reoriented itself to point at the Either Ore. At full speed it set itself on a collision course for the vulnerable freighter!

[Thevshi]

Paradigm glanced back over her shoulder as the last needle ship changed course and started towards the Either Ore, apparently deciding to focus on the vulnerable merchant ship instead of her. Banking back around, the Praetorian accelerated to her top speed, as she streaked after the Communion vessel.

Surging forward as she began to gain on the needle ship, Paradigm brought her arms in front of her as she braced herself for impact with the silvery craft. They were only a few hundred feet from the Either Ore when she collided with the needle ship, smashing through the metal hull and causing the vessel to explode in a silvery cloud. The Naram pulled herself short as she continued past, slowing back down now that the immediate threat was dealt with.

There was another Communion vessel fast approaching, but she had at least bought them a brief respite. Paradigm flew back over toward the Either Ore’s airlock to join Kharag for the moment.

[Heritage]

Ana paused in her examination to glare over her shoulder at the three crewmen, but her face quickly softened when she saw the fear and desperation in their eyes. "What I need are the full schematics for your FTL and while you're at it, your atmo system as well, since that's the next order of business after we get this baby back online." She patted it affectionately. "Also I need parts, any spares you can find."

The pale blonde turned back to the drive, but then stopped herself. "Oh, and something to drink, too; good old-fashioned water or whatever liquid-based stimulants you have. Terran coffee would be best, but I'm not picky. And ice cold!" She even remembered to smile and say, "Thanks."

Edited November 25, 2014 by Heritage

[RobRX]

Damned Lor language and it's limitations; it certainly flowed more naturally and less repeatedly in Za'akis, thought Kharag. He wasn't exactly used to the language yet. "Very well, Jor of the Lor; take me to this Samran-86. Tell me; do you have any active sensors so we may know what is going on outside?"

Edited November 25, 2014 by RobRX

[GooseInduced]

It was Ana that helped keep Sei's anger in check. The Terran had always been kind to her. Treated her as equal. It had given her a certain respect toward the girl. This tusked male was another story. He had put his foot right where his mouth was and Sei couldn't help but eye him disapprovingly. "Sei understand." The Kahi'iru pulled the bow from her back, hitting the button as she flicked her wrist, the mechanism sprang loose. The spaces around the grip expanded, the the limbs of the bow unfolded and sprang out drawing the string taught. It had grown more than three times its previous size into a weapon that no one on this ship could handle but Sei. Simply because there was little chance of anyone else having arms long enough to properly use it. While she didn't knock an arrow, she stood at the ready. She would defend Ana if needed.

 

Still, as she watched him and the other crew member speak she began to understand. They were all on edge, stressed. The situation was taking it's toll on everyone. "Sei.... Sei understand. Male not know. But now Sei has told you. Sci-vids are wrong." Sei looked to Ana, then to the crew members still standing about. "Well? Get Ana what she needs. GO! While she can still fix ship!" She raised her voice a bit, having hoped to spring them into action.

[Gizmo]

The airlock cycled again to let Paradigm on board the Either Ore and after Kharag's bombastic introduction the Naram paragon seemed to be a little more what the Lor had been expecting. At a jog the younger woman who'd questioned the Za’akis' choice of adjectives led the way for Paradigm and caught up with Jor and Kharag just as they reached the freighter's cockpit. There they were greeted by a Lor with military regulation short red hair and military regulation straight backed posture. "Welcome aboard. I'm Samran-86, acting captain of the Either Ore. You have my thanks," she greeted them, doing her best to keep weariness out of her voice and looking to Paradigm specifically. "You made short work of those fighters. I consider myself fairly well informed about any militaries capable of fielding vacuum unassisted combatants but I've never heard of the Praetorians." It was a polite opening for an explanation but it was hard to miss that unlike the ad hoc guards who'd greeted them this was a career military woman who hadn't let her guard down a fraction since they'd walked in.

[Gizmo]

The female technician gave her tusked coworker a pointed look when Ana requested a beverage of some kind. "Why do I have to--" Wrenk began only to be silenced by a finger pointed imperiously in the direction of the door. "Gah, fine. Not even supposed to have food or drinks in here..." he muttered as he went off to find whatever passed for a galley on the cargo hauler, sparing an apologetic look in Seikahi’ino's direction but saying nothing.

"I'll pull up those schematics for you," the woman spoke up, moving to a terminal and tapping away with much more focus than the panicked running about the pair of passengers had found the engineers in when they'd arrived. Now that someone had taken charge and given out specific tasks the group seemed much better able to deal with the crisis at hand. "Li, you did inventory last, why don't you go see what we've still got that's useful?" The blond Lor nodded in agreement and raced off to do so.

[Thevshi]

Paradigm glided along with the female Lor, not wanting to potentially damage the deck of the merchant ship by jogging on it at her greatly increased weight. As they caught up with Kharag and his escort, the Naram touched back down on the deck, but still used her flight somewhat to keep her full weight from bearing down. She gave Kharag a small nod before turning her attention to Samran-86 as the Lor officer introduced herself.

"Greetings Captain. I believe we spoke previously when I first responded to your distress call. I am Paradigm, and this is one of my comrades, Kharag. It is not exactly unexpected that we would be unknown to you. Some two thousand cycles ago, we were the defenders of the Delaztri Empire. Our last battle in defense of that empire was against an attack by the Communion. At great cost, we were able to stop the Communion, and drive them away. We have only recently been awoken from suspended animation, to find the galaxy much changed, and the Communion once again sweeping through it."

"The empire we once served may be long gone, and the galaxy very different than we remember, but long ago we all swore oaths to defend and aid those in need. As such, we were on our way to offer our aid to the Lor Republic against the Communion, when we received your distress call. I have bought us a temporary respite, but there are more Communion forces in route. What is the status of this vessel?"

[Heritage]

Once you knew what you had to work with, things became much simpler; no more belly-aching about not having this part or wishing you had this tool. You just took stock of everything you had and made do. The main thing Ana needed was intact drive cylinders and several liters of core coolant; from there, everything else was essentially gravy.

While she waited, she stuck her multimeter in damn near every access port she could find, checking for shorts and burned-out circuitry, and praying to the dark god of spare parts that she didn't need to replace a motherboard. The whole time she was climbing around the drive, she was blasting Justin Timberlake's 'SexyBack' through her suit's external speakers; yes, Ana knew she had pretty crappy taste in music, but she didn't really care. Her loudly singing along offkey didn't really help, either.

Edited December 1, 2014 by Heritage

[Gizmo]

Samran-86 looked skeptical as Paradigm began her introductions but as the clone's eyes lit up with faint light and the paragon felt a light presence in the back of his mind, Eject's expression turned grave. "Void's breath, you're telling the truth. If you really have intel on these monsters we need to get you to the fleet immediately."

"Sir, that bigger ship is going to be on top of us any moment," the copilot interrupted, looking between the Praetorians despite himself with a mixture of curiosity and hope. "Bunch of those smaller, pointy ones, too, I think. Hope you can handle as many as your friend," he added to Kharag.

Eject took a steadying breath to cover the urge to curse and hit the comm button on the console next to her. "Engineering, how are those engines coming?"

[RobRX]

"Of course I can." Kharag said, not mentionning that would however require a much greater effort on his part in order to dispatch foes which are less easily reachable in melee. Taking a moment to think, it occured to him that perhaps this really was not a situation to go on the offensive, even if he desire it. Space was not his element and he had this damage ship to keep safe.

 

"I will stay on this ship and protect it. When the ships enter within range, I shall ensure their destruction. We will remain in touch." He tapped the side of his calloused, ridged head. "Get everyone on this ship who can fight and give them a weapon. The Communion will be coming for them."

[GooseInduced]

Sei knew she wouldn't be much use here, aside from making sure no one bothered Ana of course. So she did her best to stay out of the way. The crew around the Terran were doing what they could to help, plugging their machines in and checking various things.

For a few moments she just stood there, bow in hand as she stared at a diagram on the wall. Looked like a map of the ship. She knew her vicinity well enough to know where they were in relation to the cockpit, but what any of the scribbles meant was anyone's guess.

Stupid words.

When eject rang out over the speakers, Seika heard it first from a terminal nearby. She didn't want Ana to be desturbed so Sei walked over to it and hit the flashing button on screen with a finger nearly too big for it to register. Her tall frame had to stoop to speak, too closely, into the mic."Ana is fixing the engine. Ana and the crew are working hard."

Edited December 3, 2014 by GooseInduced

[Thevshi]

Paradigm half raised an eyebrow at the curt response that came from the engineering section, but decided not to press Samran-86 on the issue. Hopefully whomever it was that was working on things down there would be able to get things working better, there was little the Naram could do to help with that, save buy them more time.

"Kharag is correct, if any Communion get past me, and some may well if they are closer now, all aboard this vessel will be targets." She stated to the Lor officer. "But, we may be able to help balance the odds a bit more favorably. I can have a few more Praetorians come aboard, to assist with any boarders. Meanwhile, I will go back out there and do what I can to stop them and perhaps even slow down that larger Communion ship."

[Gizmo]

Eject looked at the comm speaker silently for a beat before placing a hand over one eye and taking a deep breath. "...this is the big, reptilian one, isn't it? Fine. Alright. That's-- alright." Letting out the breath quickly, the Lor officer clapped her hands lightly and rolled her shoulders. "Honestly I haven't even had time to meet the engineering crew yet so for all I know your Terran friend might really be the best on board. Why not? It's that sort of day. Just remind 'Ana' that every life on this ship is counting on her and ask her to keep me informed. Captain out." She pressed a button with the heel of her palm before hitting another to address the entire ship. "Attention everyone. This Acting Captain Samran-86. I won't try to feed you sweet paste, we have hostile ships inbound but we also have allies. The Praetorians are here to give us a fighting chance and I swear to you that's all we need. We did not survive the destruction of our home to die here. Please stay in the hold but be ready."

[Thevshi]

Paradigm glanced over to Kharag giving him a small nod. "It is likely time for you to prepare for boarders. Duty unto death my friend." She started.

The Naram paragon then turned back to regard the depths of space and the sensor readings showing the approaching Communion ships. Activating her communicator, she called back to the Devotion. "Paradigm to Devotion. Elite, as I am sure you are aware, we have more Communion inbound. Repairs to the Either Ore's FTL drive is still underway, so we need to buy them more time. Kharag is preparing to assist with any boarders, but could likely use some reinforcements. I am preparing to head back out to try to stop or slow down the Communion. Of course, I always value your insights. What other options do you believe we might have?"

[Blue Rose]

The Elite rises from tactical readouts of their attackers to walk over to comms on this woefully undermanned ship.  Too many systems are simply being put on automated with a prayer that nothing goes wrong.  They'll need to train up new personnel to man this ship properly sooner rather than later.

 

But for now, it's a matter of going half-cocked improvising their way through ill-conceived operations based on guesswork and brute force.  Unfortunate, but such is the necessity of the situation.

 

A mechanical hand reaches out to press a switch, the sensation of cold plastic coming in sharper than it should.  This arm needs some tuning.  "Solid copy, Paradigm.  I've been reviewing sensor readings from the enemy ships, and I have some ideas.  We're currently working on an antimatter burst on our end to jam their sensors momentarily and convince the enemy we've escaped through hyperspace while we hide behind the Either Ore and run silent.  If you exit the remote side from the enemy approach, I will join you to engage the enemy in space.  Enemy weapons and main engines seem to be of relatively sturdy construction, but maneuvering thrusters appear to be more vulnerable.  If we target there, the fighters will be rendered impotent as they drift past and the boarding ship won't be able to dock with the Either Ore, forcing them to deploy the boarding party through open space.  The more of them we can engage en route, the fewer we need to worry about interfering with repair efforts."

 

Beebeebeep!  Beebeebeep!

 

The Elite takes a look at the beeping engineering panel, then announces to both Paradigm and the pilot, "Antimatter burst in forty seconds.  Once the battle begins, the Devotion will go live and dock with the Either Ore.  As soon as FTL is available, we need to get back to the freighter so we can get out immediately.  And if we take a few boarders with us, we may be able to get more up-to-date information on their technology."

Edited December 5, 2014 by Blue Rose

[Thevshi]

Paradigm listened to Elite's plan carefully, as tactics was the former Murian officer's area of expertise.  There was of course no reason to question the plan or Elite's reasoning, so the Naram gave a nod as she replied.  "Understood.  I will move to the far side to be prepared to exit once the antimatter burst is triggered.  As for quickly returning back to the Either Ore once it is able to use its FTL drives, I certainly agree you should make all haste back, but depending on the circumstances, I may stay a bit longer to further delay the Communion.  After all, I am capable of FTL flight equal to the Devotion, so I should have little trouble catching up."

 

With that, she turned and looked back at Samran-86.  "Once the drives are ready, give my people a chance to get aboard, but do not hesitate to make the jump if I am the only one still out there.  Good luck captain." 

[GooseInduced]

Sei nodded at the speaker as if Eject could see her. "Yes. Sei is the tall one with scales." She kept nodding as Eject spoke, smiling a bit at the speaker. "Ana can do it... Uhh... Sei out." She straightens up from her hunched over position with a smile on her face, looking over to where Ana and the crew are diligently working to the fix the ship. "Captain Lady says people are counting on Ana. Keep Captain updated." She has to step quickly out of the way as two crew members rush by her. Knowing that they were in good hands, Sei decides it might be best to stay out of the way. "Sei will be here. Let Sei know if Ana need anything big moved... or something." She said and sat herself down on a crate, tapping her bow against the ground as she waits.

[Heritage]

Ana grinned at Sei's interactions with the acting captain; true, the big reptile was no genius, but she was honest and direct, two attributes that were sadly rare in her experience, and that made her invaluable.

In terms of supplies, the cryokinetic did not get everything on her Christmas list, but there were a few workarounds. "Sei, are you good with a knife?" She held up an O-7 power coupler, of which she had several in a small gray plastic box. "We need to strip off the insulation to get to the part inside." Ana demonstrated removing the outer layer with a Stanley knife. "See, just like skining a small animal; could you do that with all of these in the box?"

She held it out to the tall hunter, a hopeful look on her face.

[GooseInduced]

Sei hadn't set idle for long when Ana called to her. Her question made her laugh, the Seikahi'ino moving from her spot on the crate, pulling the knife (or rather, small sword) from it's place on her hip. "Sei is familiar with a blade." She crouched down to take a close look at what Ana was doing with the wire. Noting how she was careful with the blade to not cut too deeply and ruin the components inside. Her knife was returned to her side, far too big to reliably do such a delicate task. 

 

Sei reached out and took the coupler and the knife from Ana, folding her legs beneath her to sit on the floor. "Sei can do this. No problem Ana." She smiled wide before looking down at the task before her. Her thin mouth pressed in a tight line as she began cutting through the insulation. "Like this yes?" Happy to finally have something useful to do, she began humming to herself contently.