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Re: EPISODE 03: Shades of Truth [Prologue: Out of the Night That Covers Me]

Reply #75 –
[Eve - Main Sickbay]

Just as the computer announced Lucan was in Vector Three, Even groaned and then Lucan's voice came across the comm.  "You know I'll give you all I've got," she said to him as she rubbed her temple.  "Just be careful over there and we'll see you soon."  Looking at the medical staff there, she spread her hands.  "It's just us ladies and gentleman but that's no small thing.  Let's keep this ball rolling, shall we?" she said with a bolstering smile.

She had just finished up dermal regeneration of a deep laceration on someone's leg when a hail to transport two to sickbay was called.  "Computer beam Ensign Ferrick and the wounded immediately to Bed One," she instructed and rushed in that direction only to pause as she saw Khorin in a wretched state but more so the woman's head lolling at an unnatural angle.  She then realized Grayson had reportedf there was an intruder in that section.

"Damnit, too much to deal with right now," she snarled as she did a quick scan of them both.  "Get them both in stasis units.  Commander Grayson are there other injured?" she called out over the comm but received no answer, a sense of dread washing through her.  "Lieutenant zh'Wann, please report to the shuttle bay.  Commander Grayson called an intruder alert and now there is no more communication from him."

While attendants took care of Douglas and Ferrick, Eve rushed over to a control panel.  "Computer display the shuttle bay," she ordered.  *Unable to comply*  Something had destroyed the surveillance system, no doubt part of the damage they'd received so far.  "Computer, are internal sensors still working there?"  *Affirmative*  "Good, please scan for lifesigns."  *There are two life signs, one very weak and another stronger but apparently injured.*

"Get a lock on them and beam there here immediately," she almost interrupted and pulled her hair back and off her neck, letting some of the heat rise from her skin.  Another hit rocked the ship, making her grab onto the panel to brace herself.   *Unable to comply.*  "Damnit," she fumed, her normal calm demeanor completely ruffled.  "Nurse Jenkins, Deputy Chief of Security here.  Cadet Bellde'side and I are on our way," ThanIda reported.

Eve let go of her hair with a huge sigh and reached over to grab one of the extra kits.  "Good.  There are two life signs, likely Commander Grayson and the pilot of the shuttle.  That doesn't sound right though since he called an intruder alert ... I'm on my way as well since I can't get the damn transporter to work and bring them here."  Turning to the staff, she pointed to Lieutenant Colby.  "You're in charge until I get back," she said and once outside of sickbay sprinted for the shuttle bay.

Re: EPISODE 03: Shades of Truth [Prologue: Out of the Night That Covers Me]

Reply #76 –
[ USS Theurgy | En Route to Shuttle Bay | Deck 06 ]

The intersections whisked by as ThanIda zh'Wann ran with her phaser rifle in her hands - Cadet Bellde'side armed with a Type II hand phaser and at her heels. Their boots and their breathing was all that could be heard besides the blaring sounds of the Intruder Alert, broken off by the Head Nurse's voice. Ida tapped her badge in mid-run to answer. "Be advised, if we are not there, exercise extreme caution if entering the bay area," said the Andorian Deputy, rounding a corner. "The XO informed us that it's a holographic intruder with its own emitter. zh'Wann out."

The winding corridor carried them towards the Shuttle Bay, and towards whatever awaited them there. Firing while on the move limited the accuracy with which one could discharge a phaser rifle, particularly if that motion was faster than a slow walk. However, a well-trained professional could maintain reasonable accuracy while moving at a brisk shuffle, so when they drew near, Ida raised her weapon and trained her eyes across the sights - her long legs striding forth in tactical advance towards the sliding doors.

"Behind me, Ridge-nose," she said to the celebrity-turned-outlaw, who only that morning held his a hand phaser for the first time. "Don't take any chances. Seek cover immediately and fire from that vantage point. Try to locate where it might have its emitter. It might even be projected from the shuttle. Ready? Go!"

The sliding doors opened and they barged through - Ida's eyes and antennae searching for the target. At first, there was no sign of movement besides the fire and twitching energy circuits of the damaged Yridian shuttle. Behind her, she felt rather than saw or heard the Cadet circling along the edge of the open area. Meanwhile, she moved to the two bodies on the deck, crouching down by one of them without lowering her gaze from her surroundings. She reached down with one hand and took the pulse - a quick glance down determining identity and the location of the neck. "zh'Wann to Jenkins," she whispered after touching her combadge, "Unknown woman down. Appears to have a phaser wound across her back and shoulder. Strong pulse."

The immediate area deemed safe, she glanced towards the other body. Images flashed before her eyes; her and the Pinkskin locked in sweaty intercourse on the floor of that holding cell. Now, Grayson just lay there with his eyes and mouth open, the gaping hole in his chest emitting smoke and a scent of charred meat. An uncharacteristic tightness to her throat made her stumble on the words she had to say. "Commander Grayson is... is..."

Shots went off. Reinforced glass breaking.

Ida ducked low and cast her aim about. Cadet Bellde'side was firing towards the large control booth in the back of the area from ten feet away - his hand phaser coughing panicked energy bursts. There was movement inside the rain of glass shards. Ida spotted a dark female sillouette and cold ice-blue eyes. "Take cove-!" she tried to warn the frightened Cadet. Too late. The figure in that booth turned her attention to the Security Officers outside her glassed-in cover and returned fire - shooting rapid pulse fire from her hip with her rifle.

Ida threw herself to the side and rolled into a sprint - her rifle never touching the deck. She reached the shuttle and dove in behind it - sliding into cover. The deck plating behind her erupted with the impact of the phaser bursts that chased her there. There had been no time to determine the fate of the Cadet, only a glimpse of his disjointed dance as the first volley ripped through his body. No time to think. The intruder paused only to change the setting on her weapon, Ida knew this by the massive hit against the shuttle she hid behind. She could tell by the nightmarish sound. A level 16 wide-field setting that could strip the walls from a building. Smoke and debris rained around her - ears ringing and visibility zero. Her white hair was frizzled by the residual energy in the air. The shrapnel had cut both uniform and skin.

"zh'Wann to starboard detail, I need back-up!" she called, despite everything not giving into her fear. She peeked past the damaged rear of the Yridian shuttle, verifying that the Cadet was down. Dove back as another hit rocked the shuttle upon its landing legs. "zh'Wann to Jenkins! Officer down, yet do not enter the bay area! I repeat, do not enter the bay area! Wait for back-up to arrive outside!"

There had to be an emitter somewhere. She glanced towards the booth to spot the intruder, only to see her finishing typing into the control panel there and straightening - rifle in her pale hands. A single word echoed across the burning shuttle bay. "Energize."

And the intruder vanished in a site-to-site transport to Lor'Vela-knew-where aboard the Theurgy.


[ USS Theurgy | Main Bridge | Deck 01 ]

Since the needed sub-routines for her to switch off her emotional chip was lost in the Niga Incident, Thea had to witness the damage done to her physical body without being able to turn off the terror. And yet she also held the experience of being hunted across the Alpha Quadrant in counter-weight to the events that were unfolding, keeping her digital mind level and offering her advice and assistance as best as she might. Sarresh Morali had given her phasers and her shields some kind of encrypted calibration, and things were looking more favourable by the moment. The running calculus of their odds was a background process, just like the tally of lives lost when breaches in her hull sucked them into the Hromi Cluster. Both numbers were not voiced in order to not discourage the bridge crew.

Yet when Commander Edena Rez - mere feet away from Thea's projected body - determined that the intruder on Deck 06 was holographic and did not need the her ship-wide hologrid... the Ship AI's quick calculations determined several things simultaneously. It was her. The one from the hail. No time for warnings. The odds of the entire Senior Staff being wiped out before Thea finished speaking too unfavourable. She acted. "Guards!" she called, eyes casting about, the search for breaches into her Transport protocols running at a furious pace. Hidden. Encrypted. Just like she would have done it. Four from Security came inside, while she tried to filter the buffer for all transports at once. "Protect the Captain and Commander, take them out of here! Now!"

"Captain!" called Nicole Howard from the Engineering station, overriding Thea's order, "Inertial dampers just came offline and... the magnetic fields that control the antimatter containment is failing! The injector coils are overloading! There is no way we could... We are being sabotaged!"

Thea's fears came true. The shimmer of the transport lit everyone's faces. Moving to intercept, Thea's photonic hand phaser appeared in her raised two-hand grip - a gift from Lin Kae that was always at hand. Shouting was everywhere around her, deafening. Time seemed to slow down and yet speed up at the same time.

Out of the Transport beam materialised the figure of a woman, and while Thea had filtered out the assault rifle she had carried, she immediately went for one of the security guards - with barely any time needed to get her bearings. People were moving everywhere on the Main Bridge. Thea had to get though. The holographic intruder broke the security guard's arm and floored him in a singular wrenching movement - a hand phaser wrenched from numb fingers. Chief Tactical Officer T'Less was next to fall - the shot to her chest sending her into the control panel behind her back. The second Ash'reem on the bridge besides Morali - CSO Amatras Neotin - tried to wrestle the phaser away from the intruder, only to be shot down by friendly fire from the Theurgy's Security - having opened fire as soon as possible. Thea was firing now too, with no immediate effect. The holographic figure shimmered and ignored the assault, instead whipping her weapon towards Jien Ives, rapid bursts discharged to take down the Commanding Officer.

Yet Nicole Howard had got to her feet, and in what Thea deemed an incalculable human choice... threw herself into the line of fire to protect their Captain. Jien and Edena were both pulled away by the arms of the Security personnel, saved by the red-haired engineer. The look in Captain Ives' hard eyes when the woman fell would linger in the forefront of Thea's memory banks for a long time.

Thea was pushing people out of her path, her phaser raised. Yet the path was suddenly cleared by external force. Since the inertial dampers were off, a hit against their Vector's shields sent all organics stumbling and falling on their faces. She had her clean shot, three bursts hitting the intruder's hand phaser - breaking it into pieces. No pause. No need to rethink tactics. The intruder simply dropped the smoking remains in her grip and went into hand-to-hand combat with Thea -  blows traded at an alarming pace and similarity.

They were programmed the same way. Starfleet-taught punches and kicks, some passing through the other as they entered passive mode as a means of evasive manoeuvre. The only difference was that Thea felt fear for the lives of her crew, whilst the intruder she fought held no remorse. At one point, where they locked horns in grapple, the ice-blue eyed hologram greeted Thea with a smirk. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mother," she said with a heavy British accent, "I'm Cala."

It had all happened too fast. So many dead or dying. The remaining personnel might try and help somehow, despite the way the enemy fire made the whole bridge toss and turn with each hit. Thea did what she could fighting the internal threat on the Bridge, yet she could not help in keeping her hull from being hit  by the bombardment from the Calamity's external presence. For their enemy was fighting them on both fronts - from within and afar. The Warp Core overload she could try and compensate as best as she might, but she had no tactical access...

"Scan her!" called Jien as he climbed into his chair, trying to access the tactical controls in the armrest, "find her emitter and destroy it!"


[ Hromi Cluster | Wolf-06 Cockpit ]

Coughing blood inside her helmet, Evelyn Rawley led Razor away from the mayhem that was the proximity of the Calamity-class starship. The hull of her barely repaired Valkyrie was smoking and her impulse engines sounded like they suffered a wet cough of their own. Yet she was alive, and not about to give a bloody inch to the enemy now that she was finally back in that cockpit. Fuck the consequences, piss on the fact that she had lost yet another wingmate. Khorin Douglas had, for all she knew, died a valiant death and had set a new course for that Stovo-fuck Klingon hell, yet she was still alive and not about to let anyone get through her lest she would take a bit of their ass with her.

[Maverick broadcasting to all members of the flight team.  Does anyone see any force fields erected on any of the breaches we opened? Computer, using the Theurgy as a base template for the enemy vessel, are there any vital ships systems in place where any of the open hull breaches are?]

Rawley frowned when she heard Maverick's computer answer him.

[Negative.]

What the hell were they fighting? Ghost ships? Even the large fuckers? Had the people in that feed not been real? Holograms? A bloody AI? Were they peeling away the hull on a ship that did not need life support? How did you fight something that could not be distracted and would never desist? A faceless monster bent to a singular purpose. To seek and destroy. How did you fight an unconquerable soul?

The answer was plain to her, at least. They could never quit either. Communications from the Harbinger came in during the chilling silence on the intercom. "Wolf-06 here," she said and bared bloody teeth, "No hard points left, but my phasers cut fine. I'm assisting that shuttle the Harbinger launched, making sure it gets where it needs to be. Razor is on my six, covering my tight ass. Wolf-06 out."

Said and done, not about to consider her own safety and health or what anyone might get in edge-wise, she rolled off to the side and throttled off to where that shuttle was lining up against one of the Calamity's Vectors. Fuck her body hurt, fuck her Valkyrie groaned in protest, but fuck it all the same since this was this she was meant to do in life.


[ USS Harbinger | Main Bridge | Deck 01 ]

Commander T'Rena observed the MCPO's progress in the tactical displays and contacted Rennan Cooper directly, answering his call. "Fire at will, Lieutenant." The level of passion in her tone was the same as if she might have commented the temperature of her tea. "I repeat. Fire at will."

She turned her head to Aisha and nodded in affirmation. "Communicate with the Lone Wolves squadron as much as can safely be sent tactics-wise. Protect that shuttle at all costs and do as Captain Vasser instructed." On their view screen, the Reavers were decimated a great deal, yet so was their Wing Commander's squadron - a handful surviving Valkyrie Mk IIs flying out there. Not that T'Rena would bat an eye, but the Wing Commander had lost a lot of Tactical Conn Officers. It was unfortunate for all their sakes, yet the pilots were doing their oath-sworn duty.

"Submitting trajectories now," said Commander T'Rena at last, stepping away from the station after sending the needed info - letting everyone get the chance to help the Valkyries escape in the coming tactic, where the finishing strike would be laid. "It is up to Junior Lieutenant Cooper to deliver as promised, otherwise, the tactical situation is obviously not in our favour. I suggest a tactical retreat to be prepared if this does not work, Captain."

Should that time come, she would advise to leave the surviving Tactical Conn pilots behind - the trajectories good yet the time to use them scant. The needs of the many aboard the Harbinger outweighed that of the few in Tactical Conn, the logic contradictory to that on Captain Vasser's mind to try and shelter them with their shields.

OOC: Stop Calamity while she is locked in hand-to-hand combat with Thea on the Theurgy brigde by whatever means available (consult Lin Kae if there is time for it?). Gentleman, have Rennan Cooper light up the fireworks. Wolves, assist as needed. We wrap this chapter up with my next post, and let the celebrations in the Acamar System begin, so if you have anything left to say in this Prologue, now is the time to say it.

Re: EPISODE 03: Unconquerable Soul [Prologue: Out of the Night That Covers Me]

Reply #77 –
[Rennan Cooper, Weapons Scientist: USS Harbinger - Shuttle Bay]


As the violent shaking and rattling somewhat subsided, Rennan stood over the control panel, waiting for the OK from the bridge. Cracking his knuckles and rolling his neck, he peered all around the shuttle craft that currently held his virtual presence. There was such intense action in the fierce melee all around him, and here he stood, in the middle of it all, watching. Waiting. He felt as a deafmute in the calm eye of a hurricane, watching the carnage and destruction all around with nothing left to do but pray.

Receiving his message from the bridge, his face lit up as he was made to tremble by another strike. "Computer, play the final minute of media file Cooper 6389 in the shuttle bay control booth." In The Hall Of The Mountain King began to ring through the air, filling his soul with the same brutal, stoic sense of warmth that it had brought him the first time he had heard the song. Rubbing his finger over one side of his visor, the POV in the shuttle craft was squeezed into the left side of his visor, leaving the right side to see the control panel. His fingers began to fly over the control panel, adjusting digital faders and the like until he finally closed his eyes and threw his head back, slamming his hand onto the button to fire phasers, each one of his thirty two teeth shining malevolently in the artificial light radiating from the ceiling. It was a blissful, almost sexual experience for him, bringing this destructive beast to life. As the phasers flew from their arrays, it was almost as if the next four seconds went by in slow-motion. He watched as the phaser beam made its ascent towards the shuttle, and the moment of impact, and then... The refraction?

The next thing Rennan knew, he was sliding down the bulkhead that had previously been ten feet behind him. The only thing he remembered before that was watching a stream of energy strike a cabinet, propelling it with such great force that it shattered through the heavy blast glass in front of him before the computer killed the phaser. Luckily, the pressurization field in the bay had already been raised again. He didn't feel damaged, but he knew that there was something wrong inside of his body after being hit with a 100 kilogram airborne cabinet. Crawling over to the control panel, which was only marginally damaged, he tried to figure out what had gone wrong. As he stood up carefully, he slapped himself in the head, trying to rid himself of the infernal ringing in his ears. Suddenly, he realized the problem. Wasting no time, he navigated into the shuttle's computer core, searching rapidly through pages and pages of logic. The back of his head began to throb, gently at first, but growing stronger and stronger. It wasn't an injury from being tossed, but it was something he'd fought hard to leave behind. This failure started to invite his old demon back. Fortunately, he finally found it. Against all computer generated warnings and automatonic attempts to thwart his dangerous engineering, he was able to bypass the safety circuitry in the shuttle's warp core and phaser systems and re-fire the ship's phasers only thirty-one seconds after the first attempt.

Sliding his hand back over his visor, he watched from the inside of the shuttle as a phaser beam, the likes of which he'd never seen flew from the shuttle's array, hitting the Calamity dead on target. As his song came to the crescendo of its' finale, the shuttle began to go critical. Using all ten of his fingers to control various sliders on the control panel that was prepped for the deflector beam, he energized the repulsion, shooting the shuttle towards the enemy at breakneck speed. It was out of his hands.

"Lieutenant Cooper to the bridge. I apologize for the slight delay, and the, ah, incidental destruction of property in the shuttle bay. However, all is well now." he said, chuckling to himself.

Collapsing back into the floor, he felt a trickle of warmth gently dancing down the side of his head, and over his face. As the world began to gently fade to black, he felt of his nose, pulling back a bloody hand. The same happened when he felt of his ear. As the original adrenaline wore off, he began to feel the effects of the phaser propelled cabinet that had body-slammed him into a wall. It suddenly felt as if the energy were suddenly siphoned out of him, and it was less and less clear how he'd recently sent such a lucid message to the bridge; much less remotely deactivated the safety mechanisms on a shuttle craft. Flopping his arm onto his communicator, the world began to phase in and out around him, the sounds getting closer and farther away at the same time. "Cooper to... Sick bay.." he managed to squeeze out before falling into unconsciousness.

Re: EPISODE 03: Unconquerable Soul [Prologue: Out of the Night That Covers Me]

Reply #78 –
[Diadeniera: USS Harbinger - Deck 5]

Dee watched the human male breaking down right in front of her on the edge of hysterics.  A full blown meltdown of a crewmate--even if he was just the barkeep--simply was not a pleasant thing to deal with.  Her jaw tightened slightly as he began to break down her calm explanation and attempts to help even as the turbolift doors opened on Deck 5.  The doors made that familiar hiss but at first she did not move, her eyes transfixed by Rory feeling the thunder in his heart just beneath the surface.

She wanted to help him, to ease his burden and tell him everything was going to be okay.  She had a deep and pressing desire just to embrace him, squeeze him tight and lie that there was no way he was going to die aboard this Starship.  The fact of the matter was she had no idea, right that very second a shot absorbed by the ship caused the entire turbolift to jolt forcing Dee's arm to jerk out and brace against the wall to keep from falling.  It was a none too subtle reminder that this was not the time to be worrying about feelings and fear.

"You could die in fifty years or five minutes from now but do you really want the last thing ever thought about you is 'pity you got on a Starfeet vessel instead of the Risa IV Cruise Line'?  Pull yourself together or I'll throw you in the brig until the counselor can sort you out.  Go!"  Diadeniera's jaw tensed as she threw her hand out gesturing out of the turbolift with no real intention of seeing Rory the rest of the way. There were a lot more pressing matters to attend to and if they were in the middle of a fight she had to be prepared to deal with combat situations not babysitting, her place was on the bridge.

Another strike that rocked the ship Diadeniera could almost hear the communication of the bridge in her head.  She knew that they were likely performing evasive maneuvers but the heavy fire was still causing impact on the ship.  From the sound of things the dampeners were still online but who knew how much power was holding their shields intact, they could be winning this fight or be close to obliteration and she would not know.  An anxiety rose in her that briefly identified with the plight Rory was going through but unlike the civilian she actually belonged there.  Bracing for the impact her hand slid around the railing of the lift, turning her head away from the male she gave him the cold brush off--she felt bad for it but decided that it was probably the most intelligent thing she could do in order to get things done.

Re: EPISODE 03: Unconquerable Soul [Prologue: Out of the Night That Covers Me]

Reply #79 –
[Skye - Space Battle]

Working on instincts and talent, Skye did her best to back up her CO and wingman and keep them both mostly intact.  It was more than a little creepy that they were simply fighting machines but in a way it made her feel better.  It wasn't flesh and blood she was blowing up but holograms.  Then she thought about Lin Kae and all the work he was doing to help Thea evolve into something better.  Would this bother him?  That slip in her attention cost her a blast that knocked her shields down a few more notches and she decided when it came to her ass or one of her pack, the hologram had to go.  Hopefully he would forgive her later.

[Eve - Outside Shuttlebay]

"Acknowledged," Eve replied to ThanIda but knew the security detail would reach there before her.  She was quick but she was also still getting the layout of the ship and had to backtrack a couple of times, cursing herself as she picked up the pace.  Her face was drawn into a scowl when told an unknown woman was down and then from the way she spoke of Commander Grayson it seemed he was a lost cause.  Then it seemed things escalated and she heard the call for back up but the order for her to wait for back up was difficult hearing another officer was down.  She finally reached the shuttle bay and seeing no one there yet made her champ at the bit.  "Come on," she willed the back up to get there, knowing that precious seconds could mean the difference between life and death.

[Rory - Turbo Lift then Deck 5 Bar]

Rory had confessed his was afraid, had shored himself up as much as possible considering the circumstances.  He wasn't throwing a tantrum anymore, was simply trying to reach out for a moment and find some compassion that he hadn't felt at all since stepping foot on this gods forsaken ship which rocked with another hit.  His eyes looked into hers, hoping for just a small word of kindness or a look or pat even to reassure him ... and received nothing but a cold hard stare.

When she did finally speak, it was like a personal slam.  He'd wanted to see a Starfleet vessel because it interested him, was something different.  If he wanted to lounge around with women all day and night he could have just stayed home and let his celebrity status lure them in without any issue.  She thought so little of him, as apparently everyone did on the Harbinger.  Hurt flooded his expression but he didn't say anything.

Again the ship rocked and he grabbed onto the rail looking very much lost and she flung her arm out, yelling at him to go like she was chasing a stray dog away from a trash bin.  Rubbing his hands on his thighs to dry the sweat, he took one last look at her at slowly stepped out of the turbolift and began the trek alone to the bar.  Alone and so far from home.

Inside he pulled out a bottle of Irish whiskey, the real stuff and not that synthehol mess.  Tugging the cork out with his teeth, he spit it across the floor and upended to chug a good portion.  By now the explosions could be seen clearly through the windows along the wall, something rather reminiscent of fireworks during celebrations and yet were truly balls of hellfire trying to claim everything and everyone in the immediate vicinity.  Grabbing his guitar, he chugged more and felt the heat spread through him then began to play and sing.

Re: EPISODE 03: Unconquerable Soul [Prologue: Out of the Night That Covers Me]

Reply #80 –
Dogfight: Flight Element Alpha 1
Miles "Iron Fox" Renard Wolf 01 and Skye "Kestrel" Carver Wolf 02
((Hope you don't mind me Controlling Skye a bit Searcher?  if you have any improvements on the dialogue just IM them to me and I will change it.))

The two pilots worked in tandem with each other. Each spotted a separate ship of the two remaining automated fighters.  Miles smirked as he got on one's back struggling to get a good lock.  Much to his surprise, Carver was having an equally difficult time with hers though more along the lines of trying to shake its near-lock on her.  "Damn they're fast learners." he said over the com.  "He keeps on shaking my locks."

"Then don't target it," answered Skye. "Why don't we make then go towards each other and when they intercept paths we switch targets?   They'll both pass right by our crosshairs."

Miles grinned hearing the young pilot's suggestion. "Roger that Kestrel, following your lead." he said as the two began a broad arc forcing the one on Miles to cross Skye's path to evade while the other was forced to cross miles path as it tailed Skye.  Soon the two neared a path crossing each other and Kestrel smirked.  "We've got you now."  The pulse phasers and main cannon lit up the space in front of her.  The fighter and tore apart as Miles did the same to the one that had just been on her tail.

"We got em Oh-Two  Get on my wing and prepare for heavy weapons assault on Vector Three. Can you verify your current payload. I've got two Hellbores and two ions." Miles said over the com to his wingmate.

She replied, "Two Hellbores and two photon-cluster-torps."

Miles grinned "Perfect, launch both cluster torps. Set them to detonate in a cluster near vector three.  Fire everything you can to weaken those shields and target two points for your Hellbores.  I'll save my Hellbores just in case the vectors reunite."

S'iti Aisha Harbinger Bridge
"Captain, sensors show all clear on enemy fighters.  And it seems Cooper's idea seems to have worked perfectly aside from minor damage near his location.  Shuttle approaching Vector three of the Calamity." S'iti said as she watched as the sensor display. She then began adjusting her firing patterns to keep it working per Cooper's plan.

Dogfight: Miles Renard

Miles watched as he saw the cluster bombs break apart and detonate.  The sight was like a glowing version of flak from the old Terran World War Two films.   Then the Hellbores impacted. One hit the shield and seemed to force it to buckle some as the other punched through charring a good section of hull. It melted through a chunk of the armor leaving a small section of hull exposed.

Miles was somewhat disappointed as he figured she would have known better than to target two missiles at the same target location,  but then he saw why.   Through the fireballs of micro torps flew a shuttle its engines overloading from some form of super charged phaser fire.

It rocketed towards the Calamity as the hull around the small engines seemed to radiate energy.  "Clever girl,"  he said. He could see now why Skye fired the two Hellbores at near the same location.  She was paving the road for the shuttle that was clearly on a collision course.   Miles smirked as he opened a hail. "Harbinger, this is Wolf Lead. Send this message to whoever is remoting that shuttle.  Whoever the hell you are, I know someone from R and D that would be jealous of what I am seeing right now."  He said watching the shuttle as it made its way to the hull of the Calamity.

S'iti Aisha: Harbinger Bridge
She brought up the hail and patched it through as requested. 

to:[Rennan Cooper, Weapons Scientist: USS Harbinger - Shuttle Bay]
Within the shuttle bay just as he began to black out a familiar voice pierced the veil between consciousness and unconsciousness. "Whoever the hell you are, I know someone from R and D that would be jealous of what I am seeing right now."

Re: EPISODE 03: Unconquerable Soul [Prologue: Out of the Night That Covers Me]

Reply #81 –
[Razor | Dogfight Hromi Cluster]

Thomas high tailed his way alongside Ghost as she lined up with the shuttle that got launched from the Harbinger. Not quite sure what the plan was Razor rerouted power to his phasers, shields and propulsion. Most of the fancy tech he had aboard his Valkyrie had been shut down, making his flying more basic than ever before. He looked at the half charred bird of Rawley and he shook his head. "Damnit Ghost, you're one crazy bitch... Your bird is about to disintegrate and you're still pushing the assault..." He mumbled to himself.

Now and then Razor broke off to engage and  destroy a couple of reaver that seemed to come into an intercept course. His engagements never taking really long, he returned each time to cover the shuttle and Rawley. What if she was suicidal though? What if she was crazy enough to slam her bird against the Calamity. Would he be able to pitch her out or to escape? These question flashed through Thomas his mind while he saw the hull of the Calamity getting closer and closer. "Fuck it, why did my comms had to fry..." He muttered and prepared for the worst. Now realising the ship was on a crash course he wondered when Rawley would figure it out. He wouldn't leave her, she had saved his ass after all. He kept his eyes on the hull for now that got chipped away by the shuttle and it's phasers.

[Amelya Duv | Shuttle bay USS Harbinger]

Amelya had quickly gone to the med bay after escorting some wounded crewmembers from the bridge to sickbay. The amount of patients started to trickle in now as the first responder teams had reached most of the location where reports had come in from wounded crewmembers. Amelya had given clear orders on what to focus and she decided to take a triage/trauma team under her care and she made her way to the shuttle bay s she had heard Cooper ask for assistance from sickbay.

She arrived with a three man team at the shutter doors of the shuttle bay and she checked how the conditions were inside the shuttle bay. She wouldn't risk her team if there was an open hull breach or fire beyond this point. After a quick enquiry the doors slided open and she looked at the damaged bay. She could hear the music of "In The Hall Of The Mountain King" over the sound snapping cables and various alarm systems going off. Her eyes scanned the bay looking for Cooper and she spotted the collapsed scientist by the console.

Swiftly she made her way to him and she kneeled down behind him. She took out her medical tricorder and scanned the body of Rennan. While she focused on the head she asked gently "Mister Cooper, can you hear me? Can you tell me what happened?" She looked worried at the results she got from the scanning and now diverted her eyes to the man laying at her knees. She moved her fingers over his cheek down to his neck and she felt manually for a pulse. "We need to get him back to Sick bay ASAP." she said to her team now and preparations were made the transport the wounded weapons scientist.

Re: EPISODE 03: Unconquerable Soul [Prologue: Out of the Night That Covers Me]

Reply #82 –
[Edena Rez - Theurgy Bridge  |  Lin Kae- Engineering]

The arrival of the holographic intruder on the bridge saw Captain and Commander forced into cover by security, both T'less and Nicole Howard being struck down by the ice-eyed woman that materialized.  Edena stayed low and worked to the Tactical station, now unmanned, to resume T;'less' duties while she was rendered incapable.  "Bridge to Lt. Lin," she said, patching through to their holographic expert, and the inventor of the technology now being used against them.  "We have a hologram from the future using your emitter.  How do we find it?"

After Kae had finished being awestruck by that comment, he explain how the emitter functioned.  "It creates a holographic field in a radius around itself to create a physical form.  It sits at the exact center of the hologram's maximum height and width.  If she were standing on the tips of her toes with her hands reaching straight up, the middle point of her body would be the up-down axis.  If her arms were straight out to either side, the center of that would be the left-right."

It left Edena having to do some quick calculations, something made easier by her other hosts, the four of them a think tank of minds measuring Cala's height and arm length, adding them together to determine where the Emitter, a device no larger then a softball, would sit inside of her body

"The emitter is at her waist line!" Edena finally shouted to anyone and everyone on the bridge capable of getting a clear shot at Cala and hitting the emitter.  With any luck, the engineers in the future didn't think to add shields to that machine and she would be taken out in a single shot.



[Nathaniel "Maverick" Isley - Valkyrie]

"Nightmare, we're moving in to defend.  Helix formation."  With that order, Nathan and Hannah were moving in perfect sync, their ships traveling in a corkscrew formation, sometimes just barely missing each other, and confusing the hell out of the enemy Fighters.  Their motions were uniform enough not to crash into each other, yet random enough to confuse computer sensors.  The two took their pot shots, most of them misses, but when they did miss, it was only herding their enemy into a better position to be struck next time.  Their goal was to protect the shuttle which had come from the Harbinger, to either draw fire or to cover with their own, and they had been fairly successful in that.  They had taken a few hits in the process, however, draining their shields, Hannah's already being pretty light to begin with.  "Maverick to SCO, requesting permission for myself and Nightmare to pull back and play a support role until our shield strength begins to climb back up.  I'm at thirty percent and Nightmare is at fifteen!"

Re: EPISODE 03: Unconquerable Soul [Prologue: Out of the Night That Covers Me]

Reply #83 –
[ USS Theurgy | Main Bridge | Deck 01 ]

The intruder alert went up around the bridge, and before Natalie could really ponder the ramifications all hell seemed to break lose on the Theurgy. The shields took a sudden and vicious pounding, and Natalie was rocked in her seat. The cries of panic came out over the comm, and the bridge was treated to the sound of internal phaser fire. And all the while, the brunette officer couldn't do a damned thing about the internal sensors. Whatever had mucked them up had done a true wonder on the ship, and it was beyond Natalie's skill to fix on the fly.Give an few days, without--

Without a hologram materializing in the middle of the bridge and shooting everyone in sight.

Natalie yelped, sharp and freaked, as a blast shot right past her ear, scoring the wall just under the main view screen. She twisted in her chair, trying to get out of the line of fire, but the emergency restraints she'd activated at the start of the combat held her locked, firmly in place. She was hyperventilating. Close range phaser fire was definitely not something she was used to, despite years of service in the fleet, and most assuredly not on the bridge. Her heart hammered in her chest, and if Winterbourne hadn't taken his hand away from the conn and gripped her shoulder hard, she might have fallen into a true panic attack.

"Stay with me, Commander," he said, his voice tense. "I need someone feeding me what's going on out there," the navigational sensors were compromised, just like everything else, and it was all Winterbourne could do to stay on target. Nodding, Natalie did her damndest to clear the picture up. She began rerouting subroutines and praying as fast as she could, focusing hard on the task at hand, and ignoring the gut wrenching fear as the two holograms fought behind her.

The ship wasn't firing phaser's any more. The overload alarm had gone off, signaling immanent warp core failure. The shields were taking hits, left and right, from the Calamity. The internal sensors had crapped out, and the external ones still couldn't lock onto the enemy vessels, and not a damn bit of it mattered if they didn't do something about that hologram. Sarresh Morali helped to shove the Captain away from the two holograms locked in combat, and made his way, fast as he could, around to the upper section of the bridge. Pushing the body of his immediate superior out of the way, and tamping down on the thoughts of dread, of explaining what had happened to Amikris, the other Ash'reem's daughter, Sarresh began pining away on the Science console.

He concurred with the holographic specialists analysis: it would make the most sense for the emitter to be in a centralized location. The temporal affairs officer wasn't very up to date on holotechnology however, so what little he could do to be helpful was try and pull up some kind of way to get a solid reading on the emitter in the heart of the enemy. What he got was...crap, truly. He banged his hands on the console, trying to pull up something, anything useful, out of the damaged internal sensors. "It's shielded!" He shouted into the dunn. "she's got a force field component to that damn emitter." he could barely get a reading, the power surge coming from her waistline just enough to tip Sarresh off. "Modulate the hand phaser's, find a frequency!"

"Captain! The Harbinger's launched a shuttle!" Natalie shouted in turn. The sensors couldn't lock onto the Calamity, but they could sure as hell read the other ships in the arena. "Its..overloading the phaser's...whatever they just did, it looks like it punched through the shields! Its on a collision course!"

OOC: not sure I did 'panicking ops officer' quite as well as I'd like...I blame no sleep and too much work. Let me know if this needs reworking.

Re: EPISODE 03: Unconquerable Soul [Prologue: Out of the Night That Covers Me]

Reply #84 –
[ Hromi Cluster | Wolf-06 Cockpit ]

The Harbinger's shuttle tore the distance apart with its phasers, torpedoes screamed, detonations bloomed and electric shouting cut the eardrums of all. In the cockpit of one of the fighters, Evelyn Rawley fought through the chaos, bent on the destruction of the enemy. She had noted the disintegration of her Valkyrie - the lost run against time and shield-technology. Yet Ghost could not afford to be distracted when she had to make minute decisions at every turn. She could not afford any sense of regret. Only renewed decisiveness.

The Harbinger had informed them all about the Warp Core detonation that was due, the shuttle about to deliver a decisive blow. Yet even if the shuttle's phaser beam was drilling deep into the enemy's hull, it would never get there since it was bombarded with counter fire. The shuttle would detonate in their faces lest they did something about it. Decision made, she shot off towards the blackened enemy like a missile - leaving the engineered shuttle behind. In no time at all, she was at top combat speed going for the starboard side of the damaged Vector 03 of the Calamity starship. She switched on the squadron's comm-channel.

"If there is one thing that I've learned," she said and coughed, since speaking was not a good idea, "Then it is the point of no return. And... if that's to be my bloody fate, then now is no fucking time to hesitate."

Tunnel vision. Nearly there, a minute grey speck was suddenly in her sights. Then two. No... The second squadron of Reavers was launching from the Vector. Shit! She convinced herself she was not seeing the face of death. Red lights began to flash rhythmically everywhere on the fighter's control panel. She was in their sights. Yet with them out of the hangar, there was all the more reason she had to draw fire from the Harbinger shuttle. She was headings straight into the hornet's nest. She just hoped Razor could keep up with her. "I piss on fear! Fear is nothing! Nothing!"

Rawley ignored the onslaught of phaser fire and warning lights, throttled back her speed at the last moment before overshooting the Ravers and Calamity both, then leaning her Valkyrie to starboard and diving low on the farther side. Her computer gave blaring warning signals the starship's phasers locked onto her. Without any more fucks to give, she dropped her nose further and switched from her phasers to her untested tetryon pulse cannon. Then she pulled back, screamed in pain as she ascended so abruptly, and the barrage of phasers got so close to hitting her she was blinded by the energy bursts. Yet in getting the belly of the beast between her crosshairs, she tightened her gloved finger around the trigger. The screeching, defect particle eruptions tore straight through the ventral shields because of the encryption and rendered the Calamity's phaser array minutely inoperative - granting her escape from the second volley.

She left behind a sea of fire as she climbed the steep cliff-face of the Calamity's port side. Three Reavers awaited her there, making her hiss like a cornered snake. She threw herself into a high-speed roll that both crushed her into her seat like a lover's body and also took her dangerously close to the Calamity's shields. She had no idea where Razor was at in the chaos. A torpedo flew by her, missed her, yet forced her to evade the detonation against the glimmering shield wall all the same. One of the Reavers took the detonation head on, crashing into the white spherical field. Only instincts operating in her mind, she knew the Calamity would fire again soon, and that the shuttle was due to detonate in seconds. Unfortunately, she was much closer to the next weapon array than she thought. She simultaneously heard the aggressive chirp of warnings going off and felt the phaser bursts bombard her ventral defences.

She was hit. The blast-wave pummelled her Valkyrie, illuminating the cockpit. Filling the sensors with plasma and cockpit with shrapnel.

[CritiCaL DamAGE... SHielDS.... at 2 %] her computer stuttered over the racket. Somehow, her Valkyrie still held together. It was a remarkable piece of engineering. She yanked at her gears violently and shouted for them to obey. She was at the end of her wits. She rolled, dared her impulse engines to give out, and made a drastic manoeuvre done in divinity-sent execution. Two Reavers were in collision course with her. Even as Rawley was trying to outmanoeuvre the phaser cannons of the larger enemy, she thought she faintly heard the lock-signal and clutched her phaser triggers like she was hanging by the hands from a precipice. As she cut the darkness of space with her searing cannons, her face was drawn into a mask of iron focus - knowing without a doubt that her life depended on her aim. She hammered the two Reavers for as long as she dared before rolling out of the collision-course - just as her own Valkyrie screeched and flared in protest by the enemy return-fire.

Escape. Rolling out of her rotating climb, she drew a deep breath - one she had neglected during the fray she left behind. She burned the last joules she had left in her bird to get clear. She got only half as far as she needed to, yet turned her bobbing helmet around when the shuttle ignited - watching it happen all the same. She saw how the detonation burned through to the enemy ship before the blast wave reached the patchwork debris that was left of her fighter.

Hating how it felt like she an act of surrender, she pressed the button marked ETS.

The small Federation fighter became dust at the forefront of the blast - one which could be seen across the whole sector.


[ USS Theurgy | Vector 01 | Shuttle Bay ]

"Clear! Get in here!" cried ThanIda zh'Wann as she stepped out from behind the burning carcass of the Yridian shuttle, her mind was racing - trying to assemble a coherent thought. The panic of the intruder being anywhere on the Vector at the forefront of her mind. The Head Nurse had arrived, and just behind her came the back-up from the starboard side of the hull. Covered is soot and bleeding from cuts where shrapnel had tore her uniform open, Ida walked up to meet her personnel - leaving Eve Jenkins to look to the three bodies on the floor.

"Scan the ship, the intruder can be anywhere. Look for the same holographic signature that our Ship AI have on in our internal sensors." Immediately, the gold-collared guardsmen rushed for a control panel. Meanwhile Ida turned to Eve. "Will they make it?"

[Warning. Warp Core breach imminent. Warning.]

At loss of words, Ida could but stare back at Eve when Thea's words came over the intercom. Before any answer or action would come forth, there was a distant thunder heard - a massive detonation that hit the Theurgy. Little did they all know that the Inertial Dampers in their Vector were off-line, until they were all sent rolling across the deck plating of the Shuttle Bay.


[ USS Theurgy | Vector 01 | Main Bridge ]

Thea and Cala were locked in martial combat, yet it could be questioned if the impossibly fast exchange of blows could truly be called physical.

Rather, this was a war between advanced computer systems. Virtually instantaneous propagation of destructive tactics, literally a nano-fraction of a second for each shift in their struggle. There were no delays either. The conventional three-component formula of military action control consisted of a warning as to the emerging situation, waiting for a decision to be made by the commanding officer, and execution of the order issued. All these steps were rendered invalid. No one but the two AIs could appraise the course of the battle and make a correct decision. By extension, all organic lives thus became hostages to the unfolding situation.

If both systems had been functioning 'perfectly', in the sense that they lacked damage and flaws from sabotage, Thea would have had the superior processing power since she could tap into the Theurgy's Main Computer Core. Their speed was limited by emitter technology, in how fast their forcefields could be rendered, and even though they might have the same cortex processor, Cala did not have her own Computer Core within reach. Then again, Thea's systems were crippled by the unstable injectors and the imminent Warp Core failure, taking away what little advantage she might have had. Thus, they were locked in stale-mate - seconds passing by. Would the Warp Core breach happen before the Harbinger shuttle detonated?

The two AIs ran the same calculus, and the result was one - the outcome already a fact.

"Winterbourne, put some distance between us and the detonation!" shouted Jien Ives over the din, "Our Core might not handle it!"

Security Officer Adam Kingston was on the bridge and he was changing the setting on his phaser, walking closer to the two fighting holograms. He was evidently taking the Temporal Officer's advice and knew what frequency might penetrate force fields. Thea realised this at the same time as Cala did, and it was too late to stop her.

"You should never put your betters to the test," said Cala and whirled away from Thea, the blade of her carpus slapping the hand phaser out of Adam's grip. Thea was fast, but not fast enough to stop Cala from caving in Adam's skull against a titanium railing. Seamlessly, the Calamity's Ship AI turned to face the assembled crew - her body being immersed in a pending Transport beam away from the Theurgy. "The fact remains. I shall never desist. I will always hunt you until you are destroyed. This is merely the beginning."

Just as she vanished, the Harbinger's shuttle detonated - the shockwave sweeping across the sector.

"Brace yourselves!" called Captain Ives, while Winterbourne turned their Vector around to get out of the blast radius. Alas, much too late... yet Thea had not been idle, and she managed to balance the injector coils with Lin Kae's help down in Main Engineering. Despite how the Inertial Dampers were offline, all three Vectors as well as the Harbinger were unaffected by the blast, along with the Lone Wolves and the Harbinger's pilots.

Still, Calamity was firing her phasers at them while she had initiated her reintegration sequence - all her Vector's assembling. It was a tactical retreat, Thea saw right away, since the damage to the secondary hull had been severe, and the element of surprise lost. The odds were mathematically not in her favour any more.

"She is leaving..." whispered Thea, the emotions surrounding the first meeting of her 'daughter' overwhelming her. She was not alone in her unique existence, yet perhaps even more so now, when her daughter had been programmed to destroy her.


[ USS Theurgy | Vector 03 | Battle Sickbay ]

She was confused, disorientated, and bleeding from injuries prior to the emergency transport and yet all Rawley could think about doing next was getting into another Valkyrie. Instead, she she found herself in Sickbay, on a biobed, and subjected to medical scans. They had even dared take her helmet.
 
"I don't fucking care what you think about my 'present medical state' I want back in that fight, immediately!" Evelyn cursed as she tossed a medical tricorder across the room. The hull of the Theurgy shuddered from another impact, which further enraged her desire to get back out and in the fight.
 
The nurse might have stepped back from the outburst, yet by then appeared the Chief Medical Officer, stepping up to the biobed - seizing her jaw and firmly pushing her down against the cold surface - fixating her vertebrae. "Look at me, pilot..." he told her as his face filled her view - pallid grey eyes staring down into hers while the din of battle raged around them, "...and listen to me, for I will either sedate you or restrain you like an animal if you do struggle. Do I make myself clear?"
 
"You try to stick me with anything and I'll tear your head off!" She roared as she continued to try to worm her way out of the hold of four medics. Dodging her flailing limbs, Dr. Nicander turned his hard gaze to one of his nurses. "Give me three cc:s of sodiu-"
 
The ship rocked from another impact. Rawley was damn pissed off, and not at the ceaseless coughing nor the warmth running down her neck, just as little as the fact that she could barely keep Dr. Nicander into one cohesive image. He kept splitting into two. She struggled to bite the tattooed hand that held her. "I can take care of myself, I just want another bird. Fuck, I just got out there!"
 
Sighing without removing his hand, Lucan overrode her whilst speaking to the nurse. "Just hand me that hypospray, right now," he called and absorbed another ship-wide impact that rocked the floor with his legs. He reached out with his free hand towards the nurse and was delivered the cold hilt of the medical instrument. Then, like an austere reverend, he made the Evelyn turn the other cheek - so that he might press the muzzle of the hypospray against her appetising neck.
 
Ghost glared intensely at Nicander, completely baffled as to why they couldn't get it through their heads that she was still good to fly and didn't need any more medical attention.  This doctor, had already put a few bad marks on his records with her - despite how he had saved her life in her last fight - so she didn't hesitate in placing a solid strike on his chest with her feet as he tried to close in. The doctor stumbled back, and the medics hesitated long enough for her to get up and try to stagger off.
 
The ship rocked with a strong hit, knocking most anybody who was standing down. Ralwey came down on a medical cart and smacked her head, but not hard enough that she wasn't able to get right back up and start staggering towards the doors. "I'm getting back... in that... fucking..." her vision started to blur out again, most likely from the rush combined with already significant blood loss to the brain. The pilot went down hard on the floor, completely unconscious.
 
Picking himself up from the floor, coughing from the blow he had taken in his chest, Dr. Nicander raised his tattooed hand to point at the escaped patient. "Bring her back here and restrain her," he called and looked to the nurses - of which two male ones carefully picked the pilot up from the floor. "She has quite evidently suffered head trauma and multiple lacerations. Bring me a dermal regenerator and compete the scans!"
 
Counsellor Nelis was in a stasis chamber, a smidgen of life still clinging to him despite it all. Steadily, more patients had been welling through the doors - with all from plasma burns caused by exploding panels to fractured wrists caused by falling. "Doctor, she needs a blood transfusion!" called Maal from the other side of the biobed. The Klingon male nurse had his eyes lowered to the tricorder in his hand as he scanned the unconscious wolf.
 
"Then get on with it,"  said Lucan evenly and seized Rawley's jaw again in order to stabilise her head for the treatment of her facial cut - the sealing light of his instrument closing up her forehead inch by inch. "If she wakes up, she will under no circumstances leave Sickbay. Understood?"

He tapped his combadge and sighed. The things I have to suffer in the name of vengeance.

"Nicander to Wolf Leader, Lieutenant Rawley used her Emergency Transport System and is back in Sickbay - where she belongs. When this is over, I will be interested to hear why she was cleared for duty without my consent. As it is, I will attempt to stop the internal haemorrhaging yet I cannot give you any guarantees. Sickbay out."


[ USS Theurgy | Vector 01 | Main Bridge ]

Firing her phasers at them until the last second, the USS Calamity soon activated its Warp Drive and vanished from the Hromi Cluster - forfeiting the battle for the sake of the war.

"Where is she heading?" asked Jien Ives, heart still racing. Medical personnel was rushing into the bridge, transport beams to Sickbay lighting up faces filled with mixed emotions. Horror. Relief. Shock. Loss. Disbelief. The Captain knew that his own features were not spared from such tell-tale lines either. Half his Senior Staff had been decimated in this battle - the worst since they left Earth almost three months ago.

"Her course was set to Sigma-Ten-Six-Alpha," said Winterbourne in a solemn voice.

"Hail the Harbinger, let them listen in. Mission Ops? Relay the following orders to the Lone Wolves," said Jien after a moment of thought, "They are to create a false Warp trail in the opposite direction, calibrated with both the Harbinger's and our Warp signatures. Get as far as you can safely go into Federation space then double back using only impulse and thrusters. You are expected to rendezvous with us on the fourth charted planet of the Acamar System within twenty-four hours, yet only if you deem that you have not been compromised. We depend on you to give us the breathing-room we need to make repairs. Now, Captain Vasser..."

Jien Ives raised his brown eyes to look upon the Harbinger's Commanding Officer on the view screen. "...I suggest we trade notes as well as supplies. It appears we cannot possibly make it to Earth in our present state, so we might as well try and come to some form of agreement. Together, we might be able to deal with the threat of the Calamity, and secure a plan to spread the truth about the present state of the Fleet. If you are interested, you know where to find us. Your call... Theurgy out."

He looked around, met the eyes of his bridge crew one by one. There was decidedly more to be said, yet it was not the time for words just yet. He needed to get his crew to safety.

"Begin reintegration sequence. Set a course for the Acamar System. Impulse only. All spare hands to Sickbay and Engineering."

"ETA five hours, Captain." Winterbourne laid in the course.

"Let's hope... she won't return here before then, yet we have no choice but to avoid using the Warp Drive."

Those five hours would be a long wait indeed.

OOC: Free to post your final pieces in this prologue. I will move on to set up things for the next part of the story. If not tonight, I will have set the scene for Chapter 01 tomorrow. In retrospect, this prologue should have been split into 2 threads since the battle wore on a bit, yet that is something I can remedy in the PDF-version. As it is, the next thread will be named Chapter 01. Thank you all for a great initial thread in this Episode!

Re: EPISODE 03: Unconquerable Soul [Prologue: Out of the Night That Covers Me]

Reply #85 –
[Hromi Cluster: Wolf One-One]
Razor was just returning to his original flight path to provide close fire support for the shuttle when he saw Rawley's bird fly off. His eyes widened a bit as he saw her throttle at full speed. "Crazy bitch..." He mumbled to himself and for a split second he doubted what to do. He thought their job was to give close fire support, yet Rawley seemed to have a different idea. "Fuck it!" He hissed as he couldn't get it over his heart to leave Rawley alone that close to the black ship of doom.

Razor fired himself away to chase Rawley and as more alarm sounds started to bleep again due to target locks and incoming fire, Razor focused more on what the hell Rawley was up to. As he kept performing evasive manoeuvres he soon saw the incoming Reaver squad on a collision course with Rawley. "Fuck sake.. Get out of there Ghost!" He shouted into his comms, yet he was talking to a deaf mass. Comms were out, yet he did not give a damn about it. The action of Ghost was uncalled if not suicidal. He had to make a choice now wether or not to cover her or to back out and return to the shuttle. As seconds seemed to be minutes he slid his fingers to the firing buttons on his joystick "I'm going to regret this..." He whispered as he angled himself below Rawley. He'd be on a risky intercept course to take out the reavers before Rawley would be blown to bits. He started firing even while he was still out of maximum firing range yet he had to try it.

Than happened the unexpected, Rawley had leaned her ship to starboard side, overshooting the Calamity and reavers. The reavers were an easy picking for Razor now as he blasted them into the reaches of deep space. Yet he wasn't as keen to dive after Rawley. He made a sharp U-turn with his bird and throttled full speed back to the shuttle that kept doing it's brave and valiant job. He screeched past it, knowing it would either hit the Calamity soon or explode by counter fire. There was nothing Razor could do anymore for it, nor did he have a single clue where Rawley was. He decided to make a run back to the Theurgy, he was useless to the rest of the squadron without comms either way.

He powered down weapons and redirected his power again to shields and propulsion. Hoping Theurgy would be ready for him as he would come in hot. He looked behind him now only to see the shuttle explode, he braced for the shockwave which hit him only seconds later. [Shields critical... at 5%] The computer chirped at him and Thomas shook his head as his instrument board started to spark. "For fuck sake!" He cursed as it kept sparking. The engines of his bird reluctantly maintained their power as he forced his damaged fighter back to the Theurgy.

[Amelya Duv | Harbinger Shuttle bay]

While Amelya tried to get Cooper back to consciousness the ship rocked a couple of more times by the weapons impact. She cursed softly and looked up at her triage squad "Let's get the hell out of here, he needs to get in a biobed stat!" She said severely. She got up now and let her team take care of the rest while she tapped her combadge "Amelya to the bridge, I have found specialist Cooper, he is currently unconscious yet stable. I will transport him back to sickbay. Amelya out." She turned around now and walked her team out of the damaged shuttle bay towards her overcrowded sickbay.
 
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