22 (DSV Nautica) Whispers of things to come
Zhi sat in his quarters, running his hands over together in a nervous fashion. Aki had essentially fired him from his position. The ship rumbled around him, and the familiar sound of an FTL tunnel whooshed around him. He sighed, and laid back down. He wasn't allowed to do anything until Aki had spoken with the home council. He felt a little sick in his gut, thinking back on how stupid it was to do that. The ship had entered FTL fine. Probably still cloaked. It was all for nothing."Unacceptable."The gruff voice of the council member was filled with anger. Even though it was Ka'yas body, it wasn't her."What Zhi did was just short of sabotage. You will have to deal with him. When he comes back, he will have some explaining to do. ""He's the best of the engineering staff. I think we can work out a better punishment for him."Ka'yas glowing eyes narrowed. A twitch of displeasure."I certainly hope this isn't because of your relationship with the engineer-""If it was, I wouldn't have reported it. I would have fought with him, but not formally reprimanded him."
The council member opened his mouth, but Aki cut him off."If this is a test of my emotional state, I'm really not in the mood for it. If this is an investigation into my relationship with Zhi, you have your answer. And if its neither of the last two, its rude. Plain and simple."Aki and the council member glared at each other, until the link severed and Ka'ya returned to her body, and seeing Aki's face, figured there was something very wrong. She excused herself from the room, leaving Aki sitting at the comms table, staring at the keystone that had let the council member connect to Ka'ya and take over her body. The Erebus shuddered around her as the telltale squeal of an FTL tunnel breaching rang out. She frowned and ran full speed to the bridge. Ba'yr was relaying information to her. The conduits that were damaged had been isolated, and had to be repaired first before anymore FTL travel. Their cloak was also dropped. The Draconids would be on them in no time at all.Aki muttered under her breath, ancient prayers before readying the weapons systems. It wouldn't be long before the repairs were made. Neither would it be long before the Draconids tracked them down and sent a much larger force to deal with them.
Ash and Lyn were part of the team that was sent out to protect the engineers, the protectors clinging to the hull of the ship. Zhi was among them, having been demoted by Aki for his actions in effectively sabotaging the ship. He focused on his work, telling himself that Aki did what she had to do. As the captain of the ship, she couldn't afford to play favorites or go easy on anyone. Especially in this inhospitable place. He couldn't help but feel a sting of anger though. Aki was his mate, and
the emotional side of him made him feel that she had trashed him. There was nothing rational about his anger, but it was there. He shook his head and brought his attention back to the conduit he was working on. It had suffered some blast trauma and wasn't carrying the energy like it should. He sighed and began repairs, trying not to think about his situation. He screwed up and it had come back to bite him in the ass. Who was he kidding. The universe didn't work like that.Space around the ship began to pulsate as wormholes opened up. 5 to be precise, the telltale sign that Draconids were about to attack. They had about 10 seconds.
"HURRY UP!" Lyn's anger echoed through their minds, as the protectors began to measure the best target, deciding on the closest. They spread out, the strands of will tethering them together and reinforcing their powers. They would be able to take on one Draconid no problem. Not five. they would be slaughtered if they took on five. They Needed the backup of the Erebus, but they couldn't count on the superpower of the triage ability, or the Erebus itself would be torn up. The first Draconid came through, and was promptly punched in the face - Hard. He spun lazily backward, shocked, as Lyn landed another blow under his jaw. It was gonna be awhile before he woke up. She would have gone for the kill, but something impacted her from the side, sending her hurling through space. Another Draconid had tackled her, and was preparing to deal a deathblow. She blocked the blow with difficulty, thanks to her companions assistance. The Draconid let out a silent roar in the vacuum of space as the tip of a Rapier breached his skin from behind. Ash had thankfully stabbed him, buying her time.
"Five, captain."Aki's heart felt like it was in her throat."Three are on an intercept course-"De'an didn't wait. He began rolling the ship as Aki fired the main weapon. The ribbon of energy arced out and wrapped around one, then two, then the third Draconid, constricting on then, then exploding. The Draconids wheeled back, slightly burned, but very much alive and capable of damage.It was at this moment that De'an got a stroke of inspiration, and turned the Erebus hard starboard. The forward prongs hit one of the Draconids, sending him spinning out of control as Aki began to charge another shot. Other crew members and gunnery pairs were letting off pulses of energy, hitting the Draconids. Alone the pulses were annoying, but en mass, they were deadly.The injured Draconid grabbed Lyn by the throat, and began crushing her neck, bringing her face to face with him. Her polymer suit hardened to a near diamond consistency, to counter the force exerted on her throat. But that wasn't the only issue. She felt him in her skull, trying to crush her mind. He was winning. She felt
like she was slowly fragmenting, trying to hold together what she was. Her heart was pounding as she tried to fight it off. He was just about to crush her before he suddenly lifted off her, feeling like a great weight had been lifted off her chest. Ash had punched the Draconid in the base of his neck. It served as a nice distraction, and gave Lyn a chance to run him through with her own rapier. The Draconid was bleeding from his mouth, but silently roared in defiance as he grappled with the others. All 8 protectors focused their will energy onto Ash, whom became supercharged. A series of quick strikes to the throat and groin area, and the Draconid was down. Ash briefly considered capturing him, but shook it off as a stupid idea.
Ash turned his attention back to the second Draconid, glancing at the Erebus. It was maneuvering drunkenly through space as the much smaller Draconids outmaneuvered it. They were in trouble.