14 (DSV Nautica)Starcrossed paths(AU-945)
The Erebus shadowed the nebula like a predator stalking its prey, the black hull with the electric blue veins ever changing dimmed by its low power mode. Zhi had been to work on the propulsion conduits for some time. His crew was busy tracing the burst circuits and repairing them to the original state. The ship would only be 100% once they had gotten it home into the hands of the shapers in the dock yards.Zhi panted as he slowly climbed through one of the access hatches. He placed his hand on a small panel, concentrating his energy into repairing the circuits managed by this particular control node. Each node held a map of the proper conduits. If the conduits were destroyed, focus will power into the control node and presto. The ship repairs itself. Only problem was the amount of will it took to repair the conduits and circuits was massive. Zhi was exhausted and he had only repaired 3 of the thousands of nodes throughout the ship. Almost all of them had propulsion mapping. The engineering staff were working as hard as they could to repair the conduits and circuits. Not much difference between to two. They did the same thing. The only difference was a conduit carried enough will energy to kill someone. Circuits would give you a nice zap.
Aki typed in commands, rerouting the conduits to use backup circuits that were in better shape. De'an was busy with his nose against the console, reconfiguring the software with the new bypass specifications. The engines couldn't function with the old information.Sensors beeped in warning. A ship had been detected. Two ships. Three. They were nowhere near the Erebus, but nonetheless it was interesting. What was even more interesting was one of them was emitting a noticeable will signature. A ship like theirs? It wasn't Ayr'een. Was it dragon? No known dragon ships existed. Aki scrutinized. They had to go back for the team, but this was their mission. To chart this new information. If they lost the ships, it would be a colossal failure on her part. De'ans words rung in her ears. She had to do her job as captain and carry this mission out. "Zhi...the conduits need to be up in less than 1 cycle. Its time to go.""Capt-""Zhi."She said his name firmly, letting him know that she couldn't budge. She could feel how tired the crew was. She was exhausted herself. But this was her job. They all had jobs to do. This was hers. And they were doing theirs.
"Yes captain."Zhi redoubled his efforts, the crew scrambling to activate the nodes and repair the circuits and conduits. They ship had to not only fly, but go at an extremely high speed. Had to accelerate to approximately 10% of the speed of light. The propulsion systems would only be able to do this at near full operation.Aki made her way back to the engineering. She took a deep breath, noting how thin the air was getting. Zhi met her at the
entrance to the central engineering core."One of the main air scrubbers was blown out. Completely. We might have to live with the low oxygen levels."Aki took this in. They needed their air. The air scrubber looked like it had been run over, smashed, shot, crushed, and blown up. She wasn't sure where the water came from either. "There's another problem...If we want the team back we are gonna have to Jury rig something together. We are barely alive now. With them we will suffocate."Aki stayed quiet for a few minutes, contemplating their almost null options. She nodded silently before heading back to the bridge. The Erebus rumbled and diagnostics appeared. The propulsion conduits were repaired. Circuits at 89%. Life support was down around 45%....and there was a massive anomaly that had appeared on scanners. Aki blinked and scrutinized the findings. They needed to examine this. This disruption had occurred in the same area as the three ships had been spotted near. Odd.
Aki took her spot in the captains chair. "De'an, warm the jump drive. We are gonna take a close look at this anomaly that has been spotted. De'an grunted. The conduits warmed and began to tunnel the majority of the ships energy. Aki could feel Zhi's apprehension at the engines being so stressed, but she decided it was worth the risk."Take us to approximately ten thousand kilometers out...and jump on my command.""Imaging the landing site. In 60 seconds."Aki waited for the time to pass bu examining the anomaly that had suddenly appeared. It was heavy in EM radiation, but held little threat to the Erebus. Closer scans revealed the ships to have EM based technology. Their systems would be heavily taxed and rendered unusable by the anomaly. More good news. They could jump in and cloak quickly. They might show up as a blip, but it would be dismissed as interference. Nothing more. It was too perfect for them. Aki could barely contain the grin. This was gonna be fruitful indeed."Ready captain.""jump."The ship dimmed, and shuddered beneath them. A high pitched shuddering squeal sounded as the ship was hurled through the wormhole across a space of 7000 light years in about 3 seconds. Aki shook herself to clear the buzz of wormhole travel, turning her attention to the consoles. They were covered. The cloak was engaged. It was all perfect.
"Captain. 986,481 km out from the origin.""Accelerate toward the origin. Take us to approximately 3% the speed of light.""Yes captain."The Erebus lurched as it swiveled around and accelerated toward the source of this ruckus. The ship began to speed up, the super lubricated hull slipping through the night sky like lightning through the atmosphere of a planet."ETA is 3 minutes, accounting for acceleration and deceleration. We have preliminary data. One ship is
Named the DSV Nautica...the other....The Black Spot." De'an typed more commands into the console."Lets go get their secrets."De'an responded with a simple grin.