"Consider it done." Hmph, it seems we´re all on the same page here. Zack thought relieved. Well I think they´re still overestimating me but it´s okay. I´ll prove them wrong when the time comes. "Indeed. There will be raiders surely waiting for us, and the fyers hounding us for shards. I'll keep them tied, however, I can't do it alone. Zack, I need your help. Between us we can cause a great enough distraction, or at least buy time, for Dominic to get a hold of the Artillery Blaster and land the mortal wound to the Crucifix." "Sounds like a good plan to me! Count me in!" Zack said. I have to admit, this Hade guy is a good strategist. He seems to be okay, despite his attitude problems Zack thought starting to get along with Hade. "You know how to use one of these?" Zack remained silent for a bit. "Well, I never used any of those before, but i´m a fast learner." Zack said giving a brief smile. Finally things were looking better regarding his comrades relationship. Zack was eager to receive a better weapon, when he realized... "Dominic, are you sure you are alright? We only have one chance for victory, and failure is not an option!" Zack asked concerned about Dom´s wound. Well... maybe he was just concerned with Dominic because he was afraid that he could screw everything.
"Dominic, are you sure you are alright? We only have one chance for victory, and failure is not an option!" Dominic stood shocked for a second. That had taken him aback. So, the kid did have some guts after all. Then the bounty hunter smiled, which of course wasn't visible by either of his companions due to the mask he was wearing. "I've done harder things in worse situations," he replied to Zack. Dominic then switched guns with the young researcher. The plasma pistol was about a tenth of the size of his weapon of choice, and instantly made him feel lighter all over. It was even going to be easier to manoeuvre with his injury now. Dominic took a look at a display screen on the side of the pistol, which calculated the amount of juice it had left. Twelve shots - and he had no extra cartridges that would fit. He was going to have to be especially careful with this. "Okay. Zack, you cover the rear - Hade, stay close to me. Let's move out!" The bounty hunter started running down the hallway to Air Dock 4, weapon out in front of him, ready to fire at anything which may cross their path.
Pelican "Sockets," she spat. "All right, give me five minutes, some carbon fiber cabling, and a torque wrench of about... 5 millimeters." "Four," Arphaxhad corrected. "Four millimeters." “The appropriate tools should be in the bulkhead beside the shard plexus. Thanks to help provided by the other AI's on board, we have increased our velocity by 20%. You now have … 3.75 minutes until interception.” As the specter bore down on them, its terrible form came more clearly into view. Despite being in its amorphous space-travel form, its appearance struck Diana with terror. It seemed impossible, but there was no mistaking the terrible violet hue and the distinct burning core. Pallas confirmed her fears by assessing the energy signature of the specter. It was the very same beast that had attacked her the last time she had seen Ben. Artemus was still frantically flipping switches and darting between consoles. There was nothing more he could do to accelerate the ship, but at least he could get a good analysis of the specter before it killed them all. Perhaps someone would find the invaluable data in the remains of the Pelican. He nearly tripped over the fallen shard seeker that still lay by the doorway. Tank was unconscious and had spilled a lot of blood on the floor. “Dear goodness, why hasn't anyone cleaned this up!” Artemus huffed, “Adam, get him out of the way. Archimedes, get a medical droid to clean up this mess and patch this fellow up. I wouldn't want him to die without knowing it.” Perseus The small team made it to the air dock without event. Zach took up position inside the air lock where he could provide cover from threats within the ship and from without. Dominic and Hade exited the ship and found themselves among stars, dwarfed by the immensity of space and the colossal ships on either side. Fyers sped past like burning comets periodically; they were on the hunt, all except for one. A single fyer drifted through space between the ships picking furiously at something clutched within its mantid talons. It was the shard cannon, and not only that, but attached to it Flynn's cyber-prosthetic hand still clutched the handle tightly. They had only moments before the fyer tore weapon apart and made of with its powerful shard.
Having left Chalice to the shard installation, and still making a game try at piloting the Perseus, Lev cursed at the sight of the Specter, flipping on the intercom switch. "Chalice, if you don't get that thing installed, I swear I'll come down there and do it myself. Hurry! Rossum, patch up with her pal Phax-whatever and give them some help. I've got a hold of the piloting controls up here." A little more quietly: "I think." Bracing himself against the console, he pivoted a little towards Artemus. "That dead guy got an AI that can pitch in to help Chalice? I'd send Archimedes down that way too instead of cleaning the corpse up. Waste not, want not, right?" He tried to grin, but clearly wasn't feeling it right at the moment. Suggestion made, though, he turned his attention back to the controls, adding: "Wonder if there's a way we can conserve our power 'til we clear out. Let it drift really close and then use our reserves to burst out of there. Probably get us killed. Maybe. But if Chalice gets that crystal in in time, it might give us some leeway. What do you think, Doctor?"
"Okay. Zack, you cover the rear - Hade, stay close to me. Let's move out!" was the last thing he heard. The door opened, and for a fleeting second there was a screaming as air was sucked into the vacuum, taking Dominic and Hade with it. Then sound became dulled, as if they had been dipped in molasses. Space inviting them into it's immense dark embrace. Styx's fiery black skull appeared, his AI taking into account Severette's sudden change of atmosphere, and engaged his cloak. It divided up into six separate segments, acting as his tachyon sail, three to either side of him, shooting out like an agitated bird of flight. They flickered as they took in sailing winds. "Styx, steer me close to Cody and don't lose him." he ordered. "Easily," his AI retorted, and instantly he soared at a short distance behind his teammate. Far ahead, the Artillery Blaster was visible. Hade's blood ran cold, the weapon was being picked at by a particularly large fyer, and it would destroy the blaster soon. He hoped deep down Dominic could make it in time, or the Perseus, and eventually all their lives would be forfeit. There was a gauntlet of fyers to run before they'd reach it, sharply diving in all directions in small packs, hunting for shards. Hade dared not fire until they had spotted him with certainty, he'd be eviscerated under their quantity and animal ferociousness. As if to emphasize his thoughts, catching him from a blindside, a fyer smashed into Hade, sending him hurtling in zero-gravity. "Damage sustained," Styx warned. "Face me to it!" Hade yelled, and he whirled towards the long snouted, ugly predator. "Quarter power to shields, manual evasive mode, hostile locked," his AI listed. Severette thundered forward, pistols flaring as the pumped three-round bursts into the creature. Sparks lit up the fyers strong hide, it shook off the small pain, and then flew straight Hade's way. They collided. The shard seeker was the victor, as the fyer met his shield in force, shattering the orb, however sending it reeling away. Hade didn't waste his second of opportunity, ripping two bursts into it's underbelly. The fyer wailed weakly as it spilled it's entrails into space. Hade Severette didn't get to celebrate the kill. Two more fyers, smelling the scent of shards, headed his way.
A silent terror overcame the group as the specter closed n the gap between them. “Intangible demon, curse you. If you all had one neck, I would strangle you thus!” Adam dry spat at the console screen as he made a choking motion with his hands. “Dear goodness, why hasn't anyone cleaned this up! Adam, get him out of the way. Archimedes, get a medical droid to clean up this mess and patch this fellow up. I wouldn't want him to die without knowing it.” Adam noticed Doctor Syndax nearly trip over a man who he thought was dead, he was very bloody. “Aye aye, skipper.” Adam unbuckled himself and cradled the man’s body as he assessed his wounds. “Poor chap, maybe I can help treat your wounds until the medical droid gets here. And if those techs down below don’t figure out a way to tap into the resources of my Rosetta stone we’ll all be dead soon. This is not the way I expected to die, but at least my enemies never caught me.”
Now on the side of the Crucifix, Hade began battling it out between several Fyers - the one holding the blaster was in between the two battleships. Dominic knew he would have to retrieve it on his own. "Alright Diego," Dominic spoke into his mask, "analyse critical points on the target and get a Tach-board going." The creature picking at the shard cannon instantly had several points on its body marked with red circles - it was just like target practise. Then a board made of pure Tachyon energy materialised beneath Dominic's feet. He grabbed the Tach rod from his belt and swung it forward, creating a current which would inevitably lead him to the Fyer. Dominic looked around him - there was a wide gap between the two ships, and Hade had taken his battle somewhere to the far left, distracting the creatures and giving Dominic some space to himself. It was now or never. The bounty hunter dove from the Crucifix, catching and surfing on his own Tachyon current. He held the plasma pistol raised with all the confidence one could muster in a situation like this, and the rod right next to it, like a flashlight. Diego ran an ETA in Dominic's peripheries for contact with the target. The bounty hunter fired at one of the circles floating around the Fyer's head, but the bug moved at that exact moment. The plasma shot instead made contact with its shoulder. It writhed silently in pain and then lunged at Dominic - faster than expected. Dominic threw the tach rod to his right and turned his board to follow its direction. He evaded the Fyer and now almost exactly in between the Crucifix and the Perseus, soared upward in an arch over the creature, weapon at the ready. The beast looked up as Dominic shot at it once more, causing him to miss his mark again. This Fyer was a lot larger than the one they fought in the ship, and suddenly its body began to shimmer - it was in the presence of a current; a current Dominic was apparently right in the middle of as well. If ever there was a moment for a non humanoid to smile maliciously, this was it. The bounty hunter's eyes widened as the beast flew upward at an incredible speed. He was trapped, and damned himself for his mistake, but now wasn't the time to be thinking about that. Dominic had maybe two seconds to react - to somehow find a way out of this situation. He chose to shoot. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Eight shots. The Fyer made contact, but instead of using its mantid claws to rip him apart, or its tail to spike him, it just tackled the bounty hunter. They both followed the current further up into space, but the creature didn't move. It was obvious that it had been vanquished. Dominic pushed the Fyer off of him and started creating a current to escape the one he was in. Lieutenant Flynn's shard blaster was floating somewhere below. He had to get to it soon, before another one of those things did. "That was close," Diego piped up, "You may want to consider wearing a shard suit more often - it could help in situations like that." "Just start targeting the shard weapons on the Crucifix!" Dominic retorted. As he neared his objective, Dominic placed the plasma pistol on his belt and held his free arm out. He grabbed hold of the shard cannon and instantly stopped his current, sheathing the tach rod as well. Everything seemed to be clear in his vicinity. Hade had definitely pulled through. Dominic then turned his attention to the raider ship. Diego had marked two points - there was one on each of the spires extending from opposite ends of the Crucifix. Dominic took aim at the closest. He reckoned disabling one would allow the Perseus to escape. "Let's blow this *****!"
“The appropriate tools should be in the bulkhead beside the shard plexus. Thanks to help provided by the other AI's on board, we have increased our velocity by 20%. You now have … 3.75 minutes until interception.” Chalice grabbed a spanner from the bulkhead and tore the front panel off the shard housing. After a cursory glance at the wiring beneath, she grabbed a spool of carbon fiber cable and began winding it around the shard. "Phax, access the shard socket control program. Prepare the system for a massive field influx through sockets 2, 3, and 7. Monitor my activity through my goggles and shut down those sockets as I begin working on them. As I complete the circuits, begin analyzing the fieldflow and preparing the system for field sync. Do not restore fieldflow or activate synchronization until I give the 'all clear'. Display status of those sockets on my field of view for as long as they are nonoperational. Inform the crew that we will experience a slight loss of propulsion as the shard is installed -- readjust the countdown to impact as necessary. And don't waste processing on the Cuttlefish's fields. If the sync with it breaks, tighten down the docking magnalocks. And you'd better seal the door to it, just in case." She trimmed off the end of the spooled cable and poised her cutters on one of the under-panel wires. "Okay, cut power to socket 2."
That Specter. Amorphous Violet Violence. It wasn't a specter Diana would forget. It wasn't a specter anyone could forget. As Diana watched the massive specter approach, she mashed at the button for her catapult, even though she knew it was offline. But she mashed at it anyway. This was the specter that attacked her and Ben. It might have even killed him. And there was nothing she could do. Even if she were to crash the ship into it, she probably wouldn't be able to kill it. Even if she managed to "Kill" it, it would only re assimilate. Nothing she could do. Diana shook from the frustration. Unable to even attempt to avenge Ben. Because as much as she wanted to destroy the monster, she was also scared of it. She had seen it's strength. An impossible strength that she had only escaped from thanks to Ben. Without Ben there, she would have died. There wasn't an if. Ben could have lived. But she would have died. Period. That amorphous violence was death to Diana. So she stood, shaking and mashing at her catapult. Ignorant to the world around her, focused only on the reaper.
"I've done harder things in worse situations," Well, i´m sure he did... He´ll be fine, Zack hoped. Dominic then switched weapons with Zack. Ahh! This weapon is really heavy comparing to the pistol that I previously had. Zack thought while clumsily equipping himself with his new weapon. Well, i´ll get used to this. It´s better for Dominic to carry only the pistol due his to injury.Zack thought starting to miss his old pistol. Since he was a very young boy, when he was having survival lessons from his father, he have always prefered to use light weapons for his father´s disappointment. "For how long do you think you can survive just by using that lame equipment?" That´s what his father used to ask him but Zack never changed a bit and even today he doesn´t regret it. He always trained with a samurai sword and a pistol. Sometimes he even trained with absolutely nothing but his fists. It was just the way he liked. * "Okay. Zack, you cover the rear - Hade, stay close to me. Let's move out!" "Roger!" Zack said following them, always with his eyes open to make sure he and his companions didn´t get caught off their guard. There was still no signal of danger and they reached the point where Zack had to stay to defend the ship from the threats coming from within and from the outside of Perseus. Looks like I´ll have a tough job ahead. Zack said to himself while watching his two companions exiting the ship. .........Time seemed to have frozen. There was absolutely no threats coming from any of the possible ways. Arghh! It has been a while since they left, and there´s still no sign of danger around here. Zack thought bored. All he wanted was to be useful to his comrades, but so far he haven´t had the chance to help in anything. Zack was starting to feel upset when suddenly, he heard some noises that caught his attention.
Pelican "Wonder if there's a way we can conserve our power 'til we clear out. Let it drift really close and then use our reserves to burst out of there. Probably get us killed. Maybe. But if Chalice gets that crystal in in time, it might give us some leeway. What do you think, Doctor?" The researcher was still preoccupied with a data console and barely looked up at the man at the flight controls. “Hmmm, oh yes, well since we are going to die anyway-” “Attention passengers, please be advised that there will be a brief loss of acceleration while the flight shards are exchanged.” Artemus interrupted once again to relay the message from Phax. “Ah, there you have it. We'll be pausing anyway. This will be a fantastic opportunity to survey the spectral core of the creature. We may even be able to get a read out on the fusion center from this proximity...' Artemus began muttering to himself about the analysis he was trying to conduct before the specter caught them. At the same time, the medical drone was finishing up with Tank. A quick drying polymer had been applied to his wounds, and a remote infusion 'bug' had been placed under the skin of his arm. It was steadily pumping fresh blood cells, nutrients and drugs into his system. To his other arm a saline bag had been strapped and was replacing the lost fluids. Tank's eyes opened and groggily viewed the form of Adam standing over him, helping to dress his wounds. Suddenly, the lights aboard the Pelican dimmed and the vessel slowed noticeably. A purple glow encroached on the windows as the specter's long tendrils closed in. A terrible scratching-tearing sound was heard as the hands of energy and shard gripped at the hull ripping off scanners and antennae. With a flicker the lights returned and the Pelican lurched forward. “Level 7.2 shard engaged. Automatic acceleration initiated. Manual steering still active.” Artemus chimed. “ We are now traveling at 90% of the specters speed, 95%... 110%... 130%... 170%... 250%.” “Whoo-hoo!” shouted Artemus, “Good show gentlemen!” “We are now traveling at 500 milli-c,” the ship AI logged their final speed. “What a shard! Great work Al-minhar! Great work!” Artemus exclaimed finally leaving his data console and moving to the forward view window. Perseus "Let's blow this *****!" With an almighty blast the shard cannon let a surge of energy burst forth, destroying the nearest spire at its base. The massive focusing rod swayed out from crucifix and tore itself free of its mooring. Success. Drawn to the energy burst like moths to a flame a trio of flyers appeared. Arcing rapidly out from the far side of the Perseus on shimmering tach fields, they headed straight for Dominic from his blind side. Hade was battling fyers of his own. Zach raised the long barrel of Dominic's weapon and aimed at the lead of the three fyers. He was about to pull the trigger, when his AI interrupted, “Warning, enemy raiders attempting to exit the air-dock.” The Crucifix had evidently called a retreat, the raiders would certainly attack as soon as they spotted Zach and his comrades.
Tank's eyes slowly opened, and the black came into focus. He thought he had died fighting a good fight. He hoped he had. But apparently he was alive, lying on the hard floor of The Pelican, in a Hell of a lot of pain. "****. Why the Hell am I not dead yet?" Then he realized he had been rolled over, and saw a man staring down at him, a man he had previously seen at the bar. He almost shot an angry query of why he was there wen the memory of what all had had happened rushed back. He watched his two most treasured mercenaries burn. A scowl formed in his face. He was still fairly drunk, but Tank now had a clearer view in his head than before. He could feel pain now, and all it did was make him mad. He pushed himself back up, even using his partially scorched arm to grab a bar, and lifted himself up to a seat. He looked over on the floor and saw his massive gun laying there, tired from a lost battle. Tank didn't know if he lost because they were forced off that rock, or because he lived through getting off of it. It was something for his mind to ponder on for a good, long while. Finally, he bent down, grabbed the strap of the gun, and pulled it up next to him. "We did decent work today, hunny." "Sir, glad to see you back up moving. You nearly died." "I nearly lived MAC...but it's good to hear you too." Tank popped open is pack of cigarettes and lit one, hoping that this one wouldn't go missing before he finished it.
Pellican The crew of the Pelican breathed a collective sigh of relief as the specter fell further and further behind them. “Well done everyone, Archimedes, plot us a course to the emergency beacon found on the Sirrus system. At this rate I imagine it will only take us about a week to reach the rim.” Artemus commanded as he moved back to one of his many instrument panels and began to investigate the data he had gathered on the aggressive specter. Without warning the lights on the Pelican dimmed, and the members aboard felt tug of deceleration as the tachyon sails went offline. “Archimedes?” Artemus inquired. The lights aboard the ship returned followed by a strong blue glow from outside the ship. “Doctor, I'm afraid I am unable to set your desired course at this time.” “And why on earth not?” “The accelerator shard that was just installed is not responding. We have begun accelerating again, and a being taken steadily off course. Manual override recommended.” Artemus moved up next to Lev at the flight controls, as he continued to speak to the ship AI. “How fast are we going?” “We have reached 650 milli-c. Our vector-direction has now stabilized onto a new course.” The Pellican began to vibrate slightly with the speed, and a metallic hum could be emanated from every corner. “650 milli-c... No on has ever passed 725 even in research tests,” Artemus stroked his chin. “Where are we headed?” “We are on course to intercept with Beta-Plexius.” “You mean the Plexius system.” “No Doctor, I am aware of the difference between a star and its associated system of satellites. We are on course to intercept with the red dwarf star Beta-Plexius in 10 minutes.” Artemus looked a Adam, then at Lev, and finally at Diana. “Well, someone do something!”
The medical drone started to mend the passed out stranger’s wounds as Adam helped, mostly watching. The drone seemed to work quickly. For a brief second the Specter got close; too close. Adam didn’t expect to live much longer, he sighed and held onto the man’s arm as if bracing for an impact and began the chant of Ammon. In adroit timing the ship’s lights and engines kicked in. Doc Artemus howled as the ship made record speeds, the Rosetta stone was worth it after all. The unconscious man’s eyes opened, registering pain and a mix of emotions. “Easy there friend, you got dinged up a bit, maybe you should stay lying down. My name is Adam. Adam Al-Minhar. What's your name?" The doc and his AI began to hurriedly exchange words, he buzed over the controls, something was wrong. “We have reached 650 milli-c. Our vector-direction has now stabilized onto a new course.” Adam’s ears automatically tuned in on the conversation. “We are on course to intercept with Beta-Plexius.” They were about to crash into a star. Even a relatively cool red dwarf would destroy the ship in microseconds. They would be dead before they even touched the surface, shields and all. “Well, someone do something!” “Well? Do we have no control over the sails at all? Worst case scenario someone goes EVA and manually steers them like a true hardy pioneer. Or we jettison them...please tell me your ship has an emergency jettison system.”
"Phax, engage!" The shard flickered to life, and Chalice felt the ship shudder a little as it resumed its trek forward. “Level 7.2 shard engaged. Automatic acceleration initiated. Manual steering still active.” Artemus chimed. “ We are now traveling at 90% of the specters speed, 95%... 110%... 130%... 170%... 250%...We are now traveling at 500 milli-c,” Chalice breathed a sigh of relief. Success. Now to clean up the work area and go meet everyone... "Hang on, did the ship just say '7.2'?" "That is correct," Arphaxhad answered. "Rudimentary estimates were level nine..." She scratched her head introspectively. "Must be a bad connection. We could get more power out of this if we had a proper shard housing. Phaxhad, what have we got?" As Arphaxhad began listing off viable spare parts, Chalice let her gaze survey the crystal, admiring the complex interplay between the light and its blue translucence. It really was quite beautiful. Suddenly, from out the center of the shard, a strange glow began to emanate; a glow that quickly spread to become a burning light. Chalice almost jumped back in alarm. "Phax, what's going on?" "Unknown energy signature detected. Appears to be centralized in the level-9 shard." "Mother of pearl, I have got to study that thing. Put in a request to the Doc that I be given a week with it once we get to..." "Shard has stopped responding. Unknown energy signature is pulling the ship into a new course. We are now heading directly toward the star Beta-Plexius. Estimated time of intercept: 10 minutes." A momentary pause. "The captain has requested that 'someone do something.'" "Shut down the shard!" Chalice ordered. "Cut the power and divert it to the reverse thrusters!" "System error: shard socket control program has stopped responding. Attempt to override has failed. Attempt to reset within programming has failed. Attempt to force reboot has failed." Chalice dashed over to the control panel and began throwing switches. At first she simply tried to deactivate those sockets the shard was hot-wired into, but as that failed her attempts became more and more erratic until finally she was flipping switches completely at random, hoping against hope that something, anything, would work. Unfortunately, the entire switchboard was completely unresponsive. "F*** this crap," she muttered to herself, throwing on a pair of heavy silicon-rubber gloves and grabbing the cable shears. There was one way to halt any connection, and that was to breach it by hand. "Chalice, I must advise against this. Your protective equipment has not been proven reliable against energy levels of this magnitude. Additionally, manually cutting a live connection can cause damage to the..." "Off." Chalice took a deep breath. Phaxhad was right; this was a reckless decision. Stupid, even. But at the moment she could see no other choice. She positioned the shears around one of the cables connecting the shard to the socket panel and prepared to cut. As soon as the shears touched the carbon-fiber cable, a bolt of energy rushed through the diamond-tipped blades and into Chalice, blowing smoking holes in the thick silicon gloves. The ships lights dimmed as the power was temporarily rerouted, and Chalice was flung across the room, hitting the rear wall heavily, where she crumpled to a heap. She managed to mutter a weak, "Ouch," before passing out.
“Well? Do we have no control over the sails at all? Worst case scenario someone goes EVA and manually steers them like a true hardy pioneer. Or we jettison them...please tell me your ship has an emergency jettison system.” “The shard appears to be focusing its own tachyon field sails, jettisoning our focusing rods would only leave us without a propulsion system... if we survive.” Archimedes paused. “I've just been informed that one of our crew members has lost consciousness near the accelerator shard housing. You may also be interested to know that we have exceeded the space travel record. We are now travelling at 760 milli-c, and continuing to accelerate. I've recalculated our time to impact; we will collide with Beta-Plexius in 33.4 seconds.” Everyone on the main deck turned toward he main view window. The tiny glowing marble of the red dwarf seemed to grow as they rapidly approached. The shuttle was shuttering and shaking now. Everything that wasn't bolted down jittered and slid, instruments and supplies fell of of shelves and tumbled across the floor. “We have reached 800 milli-c.” Artemus clutched the back of Lev's chair tightly as he listened to the AI count their acceleration and took in the sight as the glowing sun consumed their entire field of view. “850 milli-c” The heat came up suddenly despite the best efforts of the Pelican's life support systems. Through the glare, the boiling surface of the sun could now be seen filling the main window. “We are now travelling at 90% the speed of light. Sensors are beginning to report aberrantly.” The crew could now feel the weighty pull of the sun's gravity as it overcame the simulated grav-field of the ship. Suddenly, the rattling and vibrations stopped. The team on the Pelican was bathed in brilliant light, none of them had ever imagined that death would feel so peaceful. “All sensors have failed, rebooting system.” the seemingly unstoppable voice or Archimedes broke their disbelief; somehow they were alive. Through the walls of the ship glowing channels of writhing and pulsating orange light flowed. Ahead of them nothing could be seen but a brilliant glow of marbled white and orange. With a lurch they were engulfed in a sudden blackness. Out the view window massive glowing orbs continuously streamed out from somewhere nearby shrinking into the empty distance as they sped away. Artemus watched as the brilliant orbs passed. Suddenly, a darker orb moved past the window next to them before diminishing into the distance. “I do believe that was a planet.” he muttered. Galaxies continued to stream out past them until the empty black expanse was filled with a trillion distant stars with their daughter planets. Again the shuttle lurched as the Pelican also was ejected back into the universe. The blue glow of the aberrant tachyon fields dimmed and the Pelican gently coasted through space. They crew looked at one another in disbelief, before the ever present voice of Archimedes broke the silence. “Welcome to Archimedes Voyage Assistant version 4.6.5, all systems online.” “Archimedes... Where are we?” Artemus asked cautiously almost afraid of the answer. “Our current location is delta.4.gamma. 32 mark 506, Sirrus system. May I set a course for us?” “Dear God, we've covered a weeks worth of travel in moments. Quick, someone get downstairs and remove that shard. Check on the girl too, is everyone else OK?”
Zack was starting to feel upset when suddenly, he heard some noises that caught his attention. Zack looked around expecting to find danger, but it turned out to be nothing. He thought things were a bit quite for his own good so he decided to take a look at his companions. Zack turned his face to check on them. It was during that moment that he heard something. It was that same annoying noise that he heard not too long ago. The noise was becoming more intense by the secounds and whoever that was, it was approaching him slowly. It was the same sound he and Cody heard when they were in Dock 4, so it had to be a Fyer. He turned his direction back to where the noise was coming from, ready to take on any of them. It was dark and he didn´t had a night vision like Cody, but at least his weapon had a flashlight equipped. Still that wasn´t helping much. The noise continued... Whatever the number of Flyer´s that were approaching they were moving pretty slowly in a failed attempt of producing fear. Well, they´re all failing to scare me but at least they´ve succeeded to piss me off! At least they´re good in something... Zack thought sarcastically. Since he still had some peaceful time, he checked his inventory. There wasn´t much to tell. All he had was some ammo, Cody´s weapon and his childhood´s special knife. The moment had finally come. Four Fyer´s appeared right before his eyes. I need to figure out a good strategy... Four at the same time in a narrow place could be troublesome. Let´s see... He examined his space, his enemies and tried to think in a way to take advantage of the circunstances. One of the Fyer´s attacked him. He easily dodged the attack rolling to the left side, however, after he rolled two of the other Fyer´s raised their arms and tried to attack him. He dodged both of their attacks luckily by jumping backwards, but the fourth Fyer was already waiting for him to do that move so he attempted to deliver what seemed to be a certain attack. Zack wasn´t surprised, in fact, he had already figured out that the fourth one would try to do that, so he knelt to dodge the attack the Fyer had directed to his head and fired a bullet from Cody´s weapon. "Whoa" Zack said out loud surprised. The bullet had totally ripped off the Fyer´s head. I´m beggining to like this weapon, he thought with a dark smile. "Don´t forget that you still have three Fyer´s behind you!" His AI reminded him with an annoying voice. It was no time to argue with him and there was actually no point on arguing with that annoying and useless pile of junk. Zack turned again into the remaining Fyer´s direction but he was a bit too late. The Fyer´s had taken advantage from Zack´s distraction. Zack felt bad, he forgot one of his father´s most important lessons Remember son, never turn your back to the enemy. A simple mistake like that, could cost your life. Zack remembered the words. The Fyer´s arms were almost hitting him. He dodged from two of the arms, but there was no way to dodge from the third. Guided by instinct he defended himself with his weapon. He was safe for now, but the weapon had fell, and he was unable to reach it. He took of his knife. Three Fyer´s are too much for me to take care off. I need to get that weapon again Zack was feeling some pressure. He didn´t had much time. He must act quickly. He slowly backed off from the Fyer´s while they were approaching. "Darn"! He coudn´t back off any further. He saw the Fyer´s approaching slowly, they knew that he was hopeless. Am I gonna die here? He closed his eyes. Wait!! That´s it! Zack concluded. He had figured out a way to beat those ugly criatures. They were too close and has expected they raised once again their arms to strike him, so, he jumped the highest he could and kicked the wall with his right foot causing him to turn into the Fyer´s direction with great speed. He was in the same size has their heads now, due to the jump, which caused them to fail their attacks. He took advantage from their mistake and stabbed the Fyer (that was in the middle) in the head. Everything was going exactly has he had planned. He was holding the knife that was stuck in the Fyer´s head, and the others, careless about their companion, striked them both, the Fyer and Zack, however that was exactly what Zack had foreseen. The knife wasn´t really stuck, he was just pretending. He kicked with his feet the Fyer´s chest, removing the knife from his head and backed off a lot, causing him to fall into the ground. The Fyer wasn´t so lucky, not that Zack cared about him, but still, being killed by your companions it´s always a shame. The Fyer´s howled furious. They were moving faster now than before. Zack quickly standed up and waited for them to come. He didn´t had to wait much, since they were right next to him and they´ve started running towards him trying to knock him out with by using their body strenght. To defend himself from their wrath, Zack threw his knife right into the Fyer´s head that was closer to him. The Fyer screamed in pain and knelt touching his head, trying to take the knife out but the other Fyer instantly shocked with him, killing his final companion. There was only one Fyer left.
Zack was staring at the Fyer, waiting for him to make his move. Alright... Now it´s just you and me... He thought, diverting his eyes into the gun´s direction. The Fyer acted. He tried to punch Zack in the chest, but Zack was fast enough to dodge his attack. The Fyer insisted, and tried to strike more him four times, but he was unsuccessful again. Look, you can stop that already, nobody likes an underachiever! Zack wanted to say that, but he knew that the Fyer woudn´t be able to understand. The Fyer kept his attempts to punch him, but suddenly, out of nowhere, he tried to kick him instead, for Zack´s big surprise. Zack wasn´t able to dodge the attack, so he was kicked in the chest and launched against a wall. "Arghh" Zack growled. He was now leaning against the wall, feeling his chest with his hand. This pain! Zack thought. That kick was really painful. Since he was very young, he had always been fragile in the chest. He still doesn´t know why nowadays, it´s just the way he is, he thinks... It was obvious that the Fyer woudn´t wait for Zack to recover, that would´ve been ridiculous. He jumped and raised his arms. Noo! If he manages to hit me, i´m a goner! He thought, despairingly trying to move, but the pain was too much for him to outrun the attack. He moved his arms trying to look for some sort of weapon and somehow, there it was. Wow! I can´t believe in my luck! It´s Cody´s weapon! He picked up the weapon and fired the bullet that will save his life. You´re finished! Zack looked at the Fyer while the plasma bullet launched him against the ceiling and with his final growl, he felt dead in the floor. It was done, the four Fyer´s were now dead. It seems that Karma have been with Zack since he started his quest to save his sister. It was his confidence that allowed him to prevail. And of course, my awsome skills Zack joked finishing his conclusion. He rested a bit, trying to find the strenght to get up. He was totally aware that Hade and Cody were counting on him. Success. He was about to pull the trigger, when his AI interrupted, “Warning, enemy raiders attempting to exit the air-dock.” The Crucifix had evidently called a retreat, the raiders would certainly attack as soon as they spotted Zach and his comrades.
"Fine, fine," Lev murmured, with a quick glance up at Artemus. He'd been intent on the piloting, and uncharacteristically silent for quite a few moments. Now, though, as things began to settle, he allowed himself a sigh of relief, slowly beginning to pry himself out of the chair. "And you're talking about Chalice, huh? She's my friend. I'll see to her, since we've got the autopilot set." Holding up a hand to forestall any argument as to the choice of shard remover, he lifted himself all the way out of the pilot's seat. A dry, "Thanks for the help, Rossum. Chime in any time you like," to his AI heralded his exit. He put on gloves and descended for the engineering section, climbing down the ladder most of the way but taking the last few rungs at a jump. A few more steps brought him to the engineering sector, and he strolled around to the engineering station bolted against the wall. One gloved hand stretched to remove the shard, clearly his first interest, as he watched to see if the girl would wake up on her own initiative--but remained silent, doing nothing to wake her up quite yet.
