I opened this thread as a placeholder and will post the first part of the story, after the first contact between the Loroi survivors and Cydonias crew is made. Please stay tuned!
[Ok, here it goes: the first story post of the IC thread. I hope you like it. Music was a bit hard to find, I hope this one fits: Link]
Some time has passed since the message from the Loroi shuttle was received by Cydonia. Frantic activity has take hold of the human ship, as no one knew what might happen in the next few hours. The Captain had ordered full combat readiness for this reason and sidearms had been issued to the crew. An answer was send to them, stating that a vessel was send to them for help.
Dr. Murasaki was preparing the sickbay for all possibilities that had come to his mind. He prepared and checked his instruments, afterwards he checked Cydonias pharmacy if all drugs were on their places and nothing was missing. A routine check of the lifesupport systems showed nothing unusual either. As he was unwatched by his subordinates, he finally had the time to do something against his shaky hands...
At the same time, Ensign Metzger was busy checking Cydonias weapons and target systems. The calibration of those damned target scanners took longer than he had expected, but he was able to increase their accuracy. Just a tiny little bit, but who knows... It could make a difference in a fight. As he had finished his work, we leaned back and quietly took a quick look around on the bridge. Everyone was busy checking their systems, typing in their consoles or giving orders. Just the young com-officer looked apathetic on the mainscreen. She blushed as their eyes met for a very brief moment and immediately looked down on her console.
{Whats wrong with her?} he thought to himself and returned to work as he noticed the deprecating stare of Captain Blake.
Chief Engineer Abramovic watched his coffee mug slowly moving over his desk. The tiny vibrations of Cydonias reactors caused this. Finally the waiting game was over and Cydonia was alive again. The slight heat, that spread through Cydonias innards as more and more systems came back to live. Those tiny vibrations that showed him that this ship was alive and so full of power. How he had missed it. He reached for his mug as it was about to fall of his desk,
{No need to spill precious coffee.} he thought to himself. He was ready...
Captain Blake took a sip from his beloved tea, while he sat in his chair on the bridge. He watched his officers doing their duty, checking everything and preparing for whatever might follow. Everyone was doing his or her duty. Well... everyone except Ensign Metzger. {Flirting in such a situation?} He knew that he could be easy to distract, but this was non acceptable. A deprecating stare from him later, Metzger was back at work and guessing from the blushed faces of him and Ensign Cho, any additional words wouldn´t be necessary. {Hm... why did they send me out with those kids?} He thought to himself. He hoped that nothing would go wrong in the following events. Putting his cup back in its holder on his chair, he carefully read those files again that had been given to him as the mission started. They included every information about other alien races the Orgus had given them. He was sure now, that these woman could not be Umiak. But what are they?
Meanwhile on the "Calypso", the humans shuttle:
Wolffe and his men were ready for everything. Their guns were ready, the eva suits closed, communication was working and and extra stock of first aid kits and water was brought aboard shortly before they had started. The skilled pilot took a swing by course around that gasgiant and so they could reach their destination in a considerably shorter time. It was of course more stressful, but nothing a marine couldn´t take. Only 1ß minutes and they will reach the probe. But for some reason, the copilot became very nervous and was typing like mad in his console...
[Lt. Wolffe, sir... There is something strange nearby... I think it is a distress call of some sort, but on an unknown frequency. Definitively not one of our signals... and not the one we picked up earlier... very weak, too. Approximately 100km ahead of us. Sensors indicate a weak IR signature... and some small pieces of debris... What should we do, sir?]
At the same time on the Loroi Shuttle:
Parat Twilightsaber was still not sure what she should think about that answer she received a while ago.
{They are sending a craft?}
The human commander was acting cautiously and did not reveal their position. She was already enjoying that little game he wanted to play with her and what curious about her or him for some reason.
{Lets hope that they will reach us in time.}
Copperspears life was fading away, although the Mazil Paiad did everything in he might she could to help her, and every solon brought the Soroin one step closer to the spirit world. The air was getting bad as well and she could feel the sinking hopes of the crewsisters.
[Softsapphire, report at once if your scanners indicate any vessel approaching. Stormrage, be ready for take off, as soon as Softsapphire detects the human vessel, then set a course to them at a... moderate speed...]
{Just a little bit longer...} she thought to herself and watched the lifeless body of Copperspear.
Floating in the endless void, an infentesmal speck clings stubbornly to life. Encased in a damaged environment suit, a lone figure drifts between consciousness and an eternal black lurking at the edge of their perceptions. Somehow blown clear of the dying Argent Fire during the battle, the Loroi breathes shallow breaths, her suits internal oxygen turned down to the bare minimum needed to remain alive and awake, heating elements operating intermittently as she tries to extend the brief stay of execution in vacuum... Her air supply a scant few hours from running out, and a trickle of blood across her cheek to remind her of her wounds, Nelopaio slowly taps in the commands to execute an omni-directional signal, an act she's repeated twice an hour since awakening in the midst of nothingness. Half-dazed from the ordeal, her thoughts are unfocused, but clear enough in their direction... Reaching for that tiny chance of survival...
Wolffe stood just behind and between the pilot and his copilot watching and listening to the readouts intently. As the copilot made his report Wolffe responded immediately and decisively.
"Set a course for that IR signature and get us there as fast as you can. Don't worry about stealth, but avoid that debris as best you can. If you can't get close enough we will cover the rest of the distance with EVA. A distress signal with an IR signature that small could be a survivor. I don't plan on leaving anyone out there to die gasping, but confirm visually before you get too close." Wolffe then clapped the co-pilot on the shoulder and continued; "And that's First Lieutenant*, but thanks for the promotion."
With that Wolffe left the pilot's cabin of the shuttle, sealing the door behind him. If they were going to be bringing possibly hostile individuals aboard they could not let their pilots be exposed to any danger. The Marine Officer then looked into the passenger compartment camera and waved.
"Test, test. Can you see and hear us okay?"
It was important for the Pilots to be able to see and hear what was going on in the cargo and passenger areas, if only for them to be able to react in the event that the Marines were overwhelmed with a counter-boarding. If the Marines were killed there would be no sense in the Pilots sitting and waiting for their turn, hopefully having the chance to forcefully disengage the shuttle from the enemy vessel. For that reason it was necessary to keep in touch not only with personal comms, but with the redundant shuttle-cams as well.
Wolffe walked back through the shuttle through the passenger section to the separately sealed cargo bay. The cargo bay acted as a kind of airlock between the passenger section and the door leading outside the shuttle. Wolffe felt a little annoyed that the universe could not conjure the dramatic environment that the situation demanded. Something this important needed gray clouds and the bucking sea as the landing craft bore down on the beaches where the enemy waited. Instead he was met with the quiet stares of the Marines through their visors in the red-light of the cargo bay.
"We're headed out to check out a possible drifter. Pilot's picking up a distress signal and the IR signal is weak enough to be a survivor drifting in nothing but an environment suit. We're going to attempt a recovery. Roland and I will suit up with EVA packs and lifelines to make the pickup. Bomber I want you to hang on to our lifelines and focus on the big picture; you see any debris heading for us I want you to alert us right away. Irish, whoever is out there might be running low on O2, I want you to prep to receive a patient suffering from suffocation injuries. We don't know if aliens even breathe O2, but it's all we've got."
Wolffe waited by the cargo door, waiting for confirmation from the pilot that they were close enough to attempt the rescue. He looked over at the Marines in silence as they waited. As they got closer to the target Wolffe spoke up again.
"Bomber, can you lock onto that distress signal? I want to talk to whoever is out there."
---
* Lieutenant (Navy) is equivalent to a Marine Captain, one rank higher than Wolffe holds. Marine rank and structure does not have a Lieutenant rank. This is a common mistake between soldiers from different branches of the military who typically only focus on their own rank and structure. Corrections are commonplace and without animosity, usually only to save the person who made the mistake from being disciplined by higher ranks in their own command.
[" "Aye sir." ] Roland Nodded and moved to the suit locker by the airlock shedding his combat armor and beginning the suit up process. He handled the suit with practiced ease. Life on mars then marine training had made an EVA suit almost as familiar to him as his shoes.
Checking the seals, joints, and life support pack he pulled on the suit in short order. Doing a final check on his own suit then stepping over to let the Elltee do a double check as he visually inspected the other mans suit for any problems.
[ "You want to take lead on this one?" ]
OOC: I figured, if there was any risk. one would do the actual work, while the other stays clear in case there is a problem and the one doing the work needs help
A few moments later, the Loroi shuttles sensors detected something new, near that cloud of debris and radiation, that once was the proud Argent Fire and its dreadful opponent. The new object was smaller than the loroi shuttle, had an acceleration of 5G and was on a course to them. But suddenly, it stopped and mysteriously didn´t send any messages to them. That thing was about 500km away and because of the radiation, the sensors could only get a glimpse at it.
Bomber quickly adjusted their radios on that unknown frequency. Whoever it was, he or she was still out there and sending, bu there was no time to lose, as the signals was getting weaker.
[Sir, adjusted the frequency and saved it in our radios. We can speak to the survivor at any time now, by choosing that frequency.]
Bomber answered him.
[Pilot here, we are in position and you should be able to see that possible survivor now. No signs of weapons, at least of those we know.]
A quick flash of thrusters, and the wink of running lights are tiny clues that a borderline oxygen starved mind has to work to understand... With no idea what might be awaiting her, Nelopaio very slowly, and very deliberately, moves in a particular direction, using the minimum momentum possible to slowly spin her stranded form to face whatever Fate has in store... Moving against her rotation when she spies the source of the new oddities, she tries to focus on the unfamiliar vessel, her thoughts sluggish as the oxygen indicator calmly rolls into her last hour or so of air... She'd have some time yet, but not much... And no hope for recovery beyond this unknown arrival... The thought of the blaster at her side doesn't even occur to her as Nelopaio watches and waits, turning up the oxygen feed after a few moments to a more comfortable level, despite it cutting her reserve virtually in half in the suits estimates.
Switching from the omni-directional beacon to the vacuum suits built in communications, she opens every frequency it can accommodate, and puts a little faith behind Fate... Her voice is unfocused, but there as it's soprano note starts to transmit in Loroi Trade...
"Unidentified vessel, I'm a survivor of the Union frigate Argent Fire... I'm adrift and require rapid assistance, my oxygen supply will be depleted within the hour... Please respond..."
Stormrage is at the shuttle's helm when the comm-unit flashes a faint, brief but definite transmission... in an omni-directional burst. Though the "Slipper" does not have the military grade sensors of a warship it is still enough for her to get a bearing from the burst.
"Twilightsaber... one of our sisters is adrift in space she just sent out a omindirecetion comm-signal! I'm surprized she has survived the radiation... The message is garbled but I have a bearing. I'm moving the shuttle to pick her up.. she can't have much time left. We should try to find anymore sister that may have escaped the Argent Fire... sine this humaniti is not supposed to be hostile...where ever they are ourr moving about should not be a concern."
Powering up the drives Storm releases the magnetic struts from the rocky metallic surface firing the maneuver verniers to move away from the asteroid.
"Hold on... I'm moving us."
Switching to the comm Stormrage transmits to the adrift loroi crewsister, [ This is Teidar Sezon Stormrage of the Argent Fire. We have heard you sister and are on our way. Pulse your comm again in 200 solon. ]
Then Storm fires up the main drives tearing across the emptiness of space at a full 12 G acceleration for a few seconds eating up the 500km distance VERY quickly.
Now mostly on the fringe of the asteroid field only a limited amount of course adjustment is needed to avoid the space debris... Then the "Slipper" sensor pick up another vessel... the new contact was in the same direction as their adrift sister...
Storm scowled slightly, "Twilightsaber, you may want to try your communications with the Vessel... they are very near our sister... chances are they heard her transmission as well. I hope they have some ship bigger than whatever their in.. its Very small... and slow."
[OOC: sunphoenix, weren´t you the one who did those ship stats? Edit: made a few corrections, sorry I ´m a bit ill today.]
Again, for the loroi:
The engines of the "Slipper" glow in bright purple, leaving behind thick trails of purple shining particles, as it got our of the irradiated space. The metal of the shuttles hull creaked from the stress and the crewsisters did hold on everything the could grasp. You could hear a faint scream from a young crewsister, her grip on one of the handles hasn´t been strong enough and she was slung against one of the shuttle walls.
[Sorry, you pushed the engines to 120% (12G vs 10G, even if its for a short period), so I have to roll this out. 1= you reach the destination even faster than 12 G without any harm, 2-10 = nothing happens, 11-19 = engines shut down because of overheating (limited performance and endurance outside atmosphere), 20 = engine breakdown
I rolled this: 1d20 → [15] = (15)] Link
The thrust from the engines was suddenly gone and it was silent for a brief moment. Then a siren started wailing through the shuttle and blue lamps started flashing. An automated emergency process kicked in: the overheated engines had been shut down, every cooling flap had been opened and the thrusters on the front of the shuttle did everything to stop or at least slow it down. A computer generated, repeating voice yelled through the ship:
[Engines overheated. Initializing emergency cooling procedures. Please remain in an upright position and follow the instructions given by the crew! Engines overheated...]
A countdown was displayed on Stormrages console: "600 solon, 599, 598, ... till engine cooldown completed."
{Lets hope those humans didn´t notice that...} Twilightsaber thought to herself and sighed.
[Stormrage, please bear in mind that we have many injured sisters onboard. Such stunts could kill them...]
She lectured the impulsive Taidar.
Afterwards, she let Softsapphire open a channel to that human ship on the frequency that drone used. She looked at the vessel closely: it indeed looked tiny, and its dark gray hull, painted with some red and white markings had little in common with the pictures of the remains from that human ship, she had seen. The whole thing looked somehow antiquated to her. Then she noticed some kind of opened airlock on the back of the vessel and some shapes in open space, that looked like loroi... although in some form of clumsy EVA suit.
{Are they trying to rescue our crewsister? How noble of them... or stupid. Doing something like that in such a harsh environment, with such... primitive equipment... Why do they take that risk?}
she asked herself
After Softsapphire had opened the channel to the human ship, she thought about what to speak to the humans, for the blink of an eye and then said:
[To the human vessel: We are the ones who were sending the emergency message earlier. Please state what you are doing at the moment and if you need any... assistance...]
{Nevertheless: there is an injured crewsister out there..}
For the human side:
[Were the f*cking lord of christ did that thing came from?]
The pilot yelled this in panic in his microphone, as he saw the loroi vessel suddenly approaching at a speed, no human made ship could withstand.
[First Lieutenant, prepare yourself! Unknown vessel approaching at very high speed!]
The pilot was relieved shortly after, as the shuttle sensors indicated that the unknown vessel was slowing down. He could see bright purple "light" on the front of that vessel, only 1km away from them and after moments that felt like days, it stopped, right in the middle of open space, facing their left side. A while later, a blinking red light at the Copilots console indicated an incoming voice message. The copilot put it on the internal com system, so that everyone could hear it. The message was automatically send to Cydonias bridge, too.
Roland was out the hatch and trying to get his bearings. Even in good conditions an EVA was a risk. it could kill you in a hundred different, and gruesome, ways. I the aftermath of two ships being blown apart it was even worse.
A split second burst of gas from his maneuver jets was enough to get him moving, his tether reeling out smoothly as he aimed himself toward the location of the object he was looking for. when the pilots warning blared in his ear his attention was drawn to the approaching ship. He muttered something under his breath.[ "Ever wonder what a worm on a hook feels like eltee?" ]
His hand went to where his sidearm normally rode. That space was empty and the move was instinctive. and slightly ridiculous. he knew firing a weapon in zero gee was a bad idea without a combat suit. He also knew that a sidearm would not even scuff the paint on anything designed to operate in space. However there were certain circumstances that overrode years of training. Having an alien ship suddenly pop out of no where, while he was a sitting duck, was one situation he hadn't had time to mentally prepare himself for.
Wolffe looked over Roland thoroughly after he changed into the EVA suit. He appreciated his second in command's ability to think for himself, as Wolffe had not considered using the full EVA suits to make the recovery. Wolffe instead had strapped himself in to the harness of an EVA pack; a pack designed specifically for use with the Marine's combat environment suits. The dedicated EVA suit would allow for faster movement and finer maneuvers than the pack would, and with his background in Zero-G training the Sergeant was the prime candidate to make the recovery.
"I trust you to make the pickup Roland, I will be right behind you in case anything goes wrong. We don't know what state of mind the survivor is in, so talk him through the recovery while you are making it."
As they neared the target and he received confirmation from the Pilot, Wolffe depressurized the Cargo bay and opened the external hatch. Suddenly the weak voice came over the radio and could be heard by all of the humans aboard the shuttle. As the message came in and the shuttle closed the distance and decreased it's speed Wolffe checked the lifelines that Bomber had hooked on to Wolffe and Roland, sturdy cables attached to a winch system that Bomber could haul them in on in case they lost control.
Make that a 'her' Wolffe thought to himself before responding in fluent Trade. One of the reasons Wolffe was chosen to lead the Marines aboard the Cydonia was his extensive training in the Trade language on top of his studies of it when he went through University. He scanned the space around the shuttle before he saw the figure floating some distance away. He and Roland deactivated the magnetized surfaces of their boots and kicked off the ship to float toward her, their bright yellow lifelines trailing behind them.
"Union Survivor, this is Wolfpack Alpha of the ECS Cydonia. We have you in sight and we are coming to get you. Remain calm and minimize your oxygen use by keeping still and trying not to speak."
Wolffe paused his transmission and thought for a moment. This was his 'one small step for man' moment, the first contact with another alien species. But he was a soldier, not a poet. He could not think of anything so meaningful to mark this moment with. He defaulted to blunt honesty and said in a reassuring voice over the comm;
"We are Humanity, and we are here to help you."
Breaking this peaceful moment came the panicked voice of the Pilot over his headset, and Wolffe was thankful that the Union Survivor could not hear him over the separate channel. The last thing the survivor needed was to hear her rescuers freaking out.
"Calm down! We expected this. Do not move, we continue with the recovery as planned and then we can worry about the other shuttle. This one needs us more urgently than they do."
Wolffe keyed his frequency back to respond to the rapidly approaching alien vessel. As it raced down upon them he could not help but grin at his 2IC's comment. Something told him that this was exactly what Cydonia's Captain had in mind; to lure the alien ship into the open with a shuttle as bait would give the Cydonia the advantage if this turned into a firefight. Wolffe hoped it would not come to that.
"Unidentified vessel, this is Wolfpack Alpha of the ECS Cydonia. We are currently engaged in rescue operations but have the situation in hand. Please remain patient and do not put yourselves at risk, we will be with you as quickly as we can to provide medical assistance and take you back to our parent vessel."
They were closer to the drifter now, Roland had to take hold of her and they could have Bomber haul them back in. Back aboard the shuttle Irish opened up a collapsible stretcher and peered quietly at the rescue in progress.
---
'Alpha' - Indicates the officer of a given group or unit. Saying 'Wolfpack Alpha' means the person speaking is the officer of a unit whose callsign is 'Wolfpack'. Wolffe's name just happens to be a bit of irony there, that he is sure to have been teased about at some point.
Roland grunted slightly as the lieutenant attempted to make radio contact, and then moved on toward the survivor. Humanoid, almost human, and she might just be female. but with his luck she had a squid for a face and preferred to chew off people faces.
He clipped a safety tether from is belt and offered it to the floating survivor, moving to touch his helmet to hers so she could hear him through the visor. He raised the tented outer favor so the woman could see his face.
[ "I'm here to help." ] He spoke loudly hoping it carried to her own helmet. [ {trade} "I am here to help. " ] He shouted in trade on the off chance she spoke it.
It never occurred to him that he was making history, details like that were not very important when floating in space, trying not to get his face eaten off by an alien or have his shuttle blown to vapor by an alien ambush.
Hadrid watched on his console screen how the shuttle mission progressed until it changed to rescue mission. Knowing that sooner or later aliens will board their ship he moved from his position and approached the captain.
[Captain, perhaps we should start preparing for visitors. First contact protocol demands proper actions be putted in motion.]
Captain nodded [Alright, take remaining marines and make preparation for our guests. I hope you can handle it properly Hadrid? It's crucial for our race.]
Hadrid nod , moved back to his console and activated shipboard comms.
[Medbay, this is First officer speaking, Dr. Murasaki, please take two men, suit it to light EVA suits, grab first aid equipment and analyzing tools. Accordingly with protocols we will make quarantine zone around docking bay which we seal off from rest of the ship.]
Switching channels to security comms:
[Attention all security personnel, this is First officer speaking I want all men report at docking bay, suited up in to combat EVA suits and fully armed. Ferox out.]
Switching channel to engineering deck:
[Engineering, this is First officer speaking I want full diagnostic of sealing system in docking bay. I want the dock to be ready for protocol 13 in 25 minutes. Ferox out.]
With orders given, Hadrid picked up his rifle, helmet and left the bridge toward docking bay. He had much to do before arrival...
Last edited by Beliskner on Tue Jan 22, 2013 6:40 am, edited 1 time in total.
Seeing the figure floating through space towards her, Nelopaio can't help but let out a slightly shaky sigh of relief... Learning you're going to live, when death seemed inevitable is a high that no drug could provide, and she allows herself a brief moment to just feel it wash over her, before very slowly raising her hand in his direction, reaching out. For a warrior of the Union, stranded in space, salvation is a lone Marine.
Hearing the sound of a sister on the comm, she takes a deep breath as the human drifts closer, activating her comm, "I hear you sister... This is Soroin Mallas Nelopaio... We have contact with a Humaniti vessel... Possibly a shuttlecraft. Continue transmitting and establish contact for recovery."
Making contact, she moves slowly, knowing that any sudden movements could send them both tumbling. Feeling herself being secured, and hearing both the bump of helmets and the words, she answers...
"I can hear you... And I bid you welcome in the name of the Emperor." she replies in Trade, her tone bemused for a moment in sheer relief, "...I've got half an hour, perhaps a little more... There are others... They require assistance..."
She trails off as she sees a males face under the newly depolarized viewplate, tilting her head a moment in confusion before vaguely remembering her briefing... Deactivating the mirrored polarization of her own faceplate, she looks back at him through it blearily. Far from being a squid-faced monster, the features of one lovely even by Loroi standards gaze back, marred by the dried blood on one side of her countenance. She says nothing more for now, doing as she is bade to conserve oxygen, and simply holds fast to the EVA suited Marine...
[ {trade} " On behalf of The six worlds of humanity You are welcome." ] Roland replied after a second His eyes going wide in surprise. He might have been less surprised if it had been a squid faced face eater.[ "if your friends are out here we'll find them...By the way do you guys fly that ship that just popped in on us...if you do please ask it nicely not to open fire." ]
["Sir we have one survivor alert and responsive, no signs of damage to her suit." ] Roland tabbed his helmet com and sent it directly to the Lieutenant. [ Sir she appears to be human, I kid you not sir.....ready for retrieval." ]
He began to secure the woman wrapping his safety line around her and moving behind the to wrap his arms around her He tapped his jets spinning around canceling his rotation with another puff of gas and a burst to start them on the return trip.
He leaned his helmet against the woman's and spoke again. [ {trade}My name is Steen, Sergeant William Roland Steen Who are you, and who was flying that other ship?"]
[OOC: Ok, I tried to write this several times and I hope it makes some sense now. Just a small post this time. I assume Wolffe is speaking in trade?]
Parat Twilightsaber was still observing the strange vessel, as two messages were received.
["Unidentified vessel, this is Wolfpack Alpha of the ECS Cydonia. We are currently engaged in rescue operations but have the situation in hand. Please remain patient and do not put yourselves at risk, we will be with you as quickly as we can to provide medical assistance and take you back to our parent vessel."]
The trade dialect of that person was strange, but she could identify it at once as the version of trade that the human ambassador was speaking in the beginning. Shortly after this, a new message was received:
["I hear you sister... This is Soroin Mallas Nelopaio... We have contact with a Humaniti vessel... Possibly a shuttlecraft. Continue transmitting and establish contact for recovery."]
What a relief, that sister was alive and those aliens were indeed humans. Memories of Mallas Nelopaio came to her mind and she was happy, knowing that she was alive. She ordered Softsapphire to open a channel to the human vessel at once:
[Human vessel, we are survivors of the Union frigate "Argent Fire" and you are picking up one of our officers. I repeat: if you need any kind of medical or technical assistance helping her, please say so. We do not have any hostile intentions. When you are ready, please guide us to your... parent vessel... in this system. We have injured personal aboard and we would be grateful, if you could offer them medical treatment.]
After that, she ordered to send a message to Mallas Nelopaio
[This is Parat Twilightsaber speaking. Fear not, sister! Let them rescue you and whatever happens, don´t forget that we are close by. Please report what you observe aboard of their vessel and what you are talking with them. Give them only as much informations as necessary, but try to get as much informations out of them as possible.]
Thinking about Copperspear and the others, she hoped that their ship was not far away and more advanced than this tiny craft...
Meanwhile aboard of Cydonia:
Hadrid watched as the shuttlebay was prepared for the arrival of those survivors. Some guys from engineering stood there in their EVA suites, together with a group of marines and their guns. But he noticed that something was missing. Suddenly the com unit of his suit was beeping and he could hear the shy and somehow worried voice of Ensign Cho:
[Lt Cmdr, there is somehow no response from Dr. Murasaki. Could you please check... discreetly... what is wrong? You know of his... problems...]
Storm grimaced at her silly oversight in pushing the 'Slipper's' drive to 120%... her fatigue was showing. She remembered disengaging the drive governors from the helm control console before, in expectation of potential hostiles in system! She had wanted every bit of speed the little craft could muster. Full drive thrust was no longer 100% but hardware tolerance limits... 120%!
Frowning she reengaged the governor limiters and reinitialized the computer warning prompts.
"I'm going to maneuver us closer to the Human... craft."
Firing the maneuvering thrusters... while the maindrives cooled but still at a modest 1 G of acceleration Storm gracefully pivoted the Loroi craft into a parallel parking position some 100 meters to the portside and slightly to the fore of the smaller, fragile-looking human craft.
She over shoots a little bit {200 meters instead of 100 she was aiming for} the but its still close enough to her intended position as she adjusted her attitude thrusters stopping the annoying roll she was about to yaw out of position with. Its a little clumsy but not critical... after all she a Teidar not a Tenoin!
Paiad has fallen on the sudden and extraordinary acceleration, but gladly Copperspear was securely attached to the stretcher, so there was no more damage on her. But there was other problems. Stormrage had started to behave erratically. The effect of the stimulants are wearing off faster than she expected or perhaps she had took some brain damage from earlier. Paiad was angry on herself, she should have examined the pilot more carefully. Perhaps she should release her from the task, but she should have to look her first. She mentioned her worry to Mizol and entered to cockpit.
{How you feel? Do you need more stimulants or painkillers?}
She asked from Stormrage.
Softsapphire was shocked by the whole acceleration. She was a scientist, used to grounded studies. But when all was done, she turned to the top Mizol.
"Twilightsaber, we should remind our sister of our plan to first not speak about us as Loroi and to speak among ourselves using Trade, not Sanzai. Otherwise, let us hope that we will get help as soon as possible. This ship was never built for interstellar travel."
la pɛ nɔtʀʏltsɪmœ ʀɛv, dɛ ʒã puʀ la pʀɔtɛʒe
nu vœnõ dõkœ dœ tupaʀtu, puʀ ɛtʀœ sa ɡʀãdaʀme
dœ la site pʀɔtɛktœʀ, dœ sœ ʀɛvœ defãsœʀ ynjõ dœ la fɔʀsœ dœ tus, nu vwasijalɔʀ lɛzɔʀiɔnɪt
- The Chant of A Certain Army