Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Homeworld - Tales of the Vjel-Amaj: Aira's Quest - Part I ❯ Chapter 17 – The Great Escape ( Chapter 17 )

“Huh?”
Brogan's communication unit suddenly buzzed at the same time he was about to say something to one of the technicians.
“Chief Brogan, here. Go ahead”, he responded and signaled the technician to wait for a moment.

“”Chief!””, Orelis' voice shouted over the unit.
“- Whoa, hey, C-O. Was about to call you for --”
“”Sorry - but we got no time for chatter! Chief, what's the status of the ship and the hyperdrive?!””

“Well, if you want a report, C-O, sure: We've managed to get the ship back to hyperjump capability, but we have to treat her smooth. My men barely managed to get the damaged nacelle back to operational status. For security measures, we should keep the crew and the refugees as they are, I'm not sure if it is totally safe to be wandering around since we're unsure about life support's functionality. Heh, some of them are concerned about --”
“”That's enough - No time for slow starts, we're in trouble, Chief, BIG trouble!””

Brogan looked at his colleague with a slightly troubled expression, “What's the big hurry, if I may ask?”
Orelis continued with his serious voice, “”A fleet of turanics and taiidans just appeared out of nowhere and is closing in on this mothership! Whatever it takes to get the ship's propulsion and core drives back online - Do it now! Right now, we are coordinating the evacuation and will be engaging condition: red damn soon! If we don't get out here on time, they'll catch us - Pants down! So, keep your men focused! I will get back to you shortly, bridge out! *veep*””


Leaving him no chance to reply, Brogan stood still and turned his view over to the technician.

“But... The reactor and all systems are still on cold. That won't do the ship well, Chief.”
“No time for worries - Get the coordinator over to me! We've got preparations to be done!”

Brogan however turned away and threw a troubled view upon the propulsion systems. Though he sounded confident, something told him that this might backfire.


Almost five minutes later...
The once calm blue lights throughout the resting amaji cruiser suddenly flashed into a threatening red blaze followed by a public announcement chime sounding throughout the whole ship that caught the attention of every single person within and beyond the ship's perimeter, followed by the long situational statement of Commander Orelis. His words even struck panic despite his demand of everybody to remain calm but alarmed that the crew needed to attend to the immediate evacuation operation. Chaos somewhat broke loose at the very moment he ended his statement...


Unlike the common commanding officers, Orelis was an expert in the field of internal coordination and operation like no other, especially in such stressful situations. Already foreseeing the chaos his announcement would bring, Orelis made it clear to the bridge crew before that he needed them to remain focused and calm, for they were going to be his last stand against chaos until everybody was safely onboard. If his subordinating bridge operators and operatives were to lose focus, his command would lastly collapse.

Though he did trust the crew, he was sure that if he had stated his announcement without the threat, they would have underestimated the seriousness of the situation. However, all hell was breaking loose. The inner scaffold area still had far too many people and stationary equipment outside. Dismantling the settlement camp while reengaging full ship profile and operations were going to be the most time-consuming events.
Receiving two transparent foils representing passive but detailed negative-snapshot photography from the drones, the current officer in command frowned into deep concerns as he saw the countless numbers of signatures showing the massive numbers of the approaching fleet - but it was also the sheer size of certain signatures that amazed him.

For the moment, though, he was thankful for the fact that the massive fleet was not able to emerge closer to the mothership, logically due to its vast persisting artificial gravity well. Nonetheless, the foils revealed dense white auras and spots representing EM emissions and radiations... There were a lot more vessels and smaller ships beyond the wake. What made the situation serious was soon to make it a far more desperate one...
Despite his trust to the crew, Orelis still remained concerned if they all were going to be able to maintain the deadline.



- Chapter 17 - The Great Escape -


Somewhere within the mothership...
`Move - Move - Move!'
`Keep moving!'
Hundreds of tapping steps, hurrying boots and hard objects echoed among the area. For nearly another hour, the large group of operatives and others made swift steps as they carried the gear and ancient data objects among their path. Though agitated and exhausted by the rush, they still maintained the hurried pace. Unfortunately, a very small group of the amaji had fell far behind due to being the slowest.

Hearing a stumble and a painful shout from behind, Velle and the few others stopped at once as they noticed the voice. While most of them were out of breath but still able to move further, they already knew who fell to the floor again. One of the operatives who carried the startled kadeshi girl settled her to the floor as well while two other guarded the passages.

“Ma'am *pant*, are you alright?!”, Velle called as she rushed back.

“Let's catch our breaths a bit!”, one of the guarding operatives said and lowered himself shortly.
Along with his reaction, the one who carried Aira before settled himself down as well, “I *gasp* swear to the gods, that girl looks heavier that she seems...!”

“Hey - Think the `rines got the job done already?”

“I remember hearing the transmission of them reaching the place - Hope they'll make it back soon enough...”


Their surroundings, however, was very disturbing due to the visceral remains of the rotted corpses.

Hailynn panted and gasped with deep pain. Yet again, she was weary and already out of endurance. The disgusting smell did not make matters better. The recent stumble was the most painful of the seven she suffered, each of them reviving all injuries she received previously from the near lethal confrontation with the turanic soldier.

“*long gasp* Frakk... *ngggghhnnmhf* Not again...”, the messed-up woman cursed.


Instead of getting up immediately, though, she slowly rolled upon her back. Ironically, lying upon the cold floor pacified some of her sore muscles, but nonetheless, her suffered injuries were pulsing painfully more than ever. Hailynn laid on the floor with arms and legs openly, moving any further stood out of the question. The exhaustion and pain at the same time was simply too overwhelming.

I'm staying right here...


“Velle - What's wrong with her?! Did she hurt herself badly?!”


“Can't really tell... Ma'am... Ma'am, you hear me?!”, the amaji operative replied at the same moment she reached the wounded commander. She repeated her query as her head hovered over Hailynn from above but she only gave a painful sigh. Velle tried to help the wounded officer up but was forced to put Hailynn back upon the floor. Her moaning sounded far too painful.

“This... This won't work, guys...”, Hailynn suddenly slurred, “I-I don't know how long we're moving... but I can't keep the pace. This... limping is killing me... We're losing track of the others... I can't --”


“Doesn't matter, Commander! The `Vjel-Amaj' won't be leaving without us!”


“That's not the point, Tev”, Hailynn replied and panted several times again agonizingly, “We've... We've got to get the crew back to the ship... before it's too late. I cannot let you people get caught...”
“Ma'am, if you want us to leave you behind - Forget it! We're not --”, Velle stated, but Hailynn's sudden barking comment scared her.


“DAMN IT! This is not the right time... for heroism! There is a f-frakking load of taiidans - Gods know how many armies of turanics -- *Pants* Turanics, for frakk's sake! If they get a hold of the `Vjel-Amaj' and the crew... I-I bear not to think about it...”, Hailynn tried to calm down but was still affected by the impairing pain that somewhat nailed her to the floor, “I've sworn to protect the crew... at all costs! Tev, I want you... I want you to lead the group ahead and catch up with the advancing groups! You all should make it before the deadline.”

“No...!”
“Frakk, Tev! I'm not asking you - I'm demanding you! *Aahhgnng*...”, her intended intimidating shout ended suddenly with the impaling pain upon the lower right side of her chest. It took her a short but intensive while until she was able to speak again, “I'm orderin' you to get the frell out of here... I'm slowing all of you down! That's an order!”


Even though every single operative of the small group dared not to leave her behind, a selected few did understand her words. Hailynn admitted it: She was a heavy anchor slowing everybody down... and if they would not let loose, they would sink with her.

Hailynn was both shattered and at the end of her wits.


“I'll... I'll catch up with all of you... somehow...”
Hailynn's words sounded hardly convincing.

“Fine by me if the others want to move along, ma'am -!”, Velle shouted at the weary commander, “But I will not move from your side!”

“Are you kind of stupid, woman?!”, Hailynn insulted her with a threatening voice, “Those are turanics out there - Gods know what the taiidans will do... but do you know what they will do with a woman like you if they catch you?! And don't think they'll kill you immediately...! They're willing to leave that kind of mercy for men only...”


Indeed, the turanics were the amaji's most feared enemy at this time. Logically, these turanics for sure shared the same aspect as the factions terrorizing the Kiith Amaji borders....

“You're a woman, too, Commander... I'm staying -!”, Velle pulled out her handgun, rather frantically and clumsily, “And if I must - I'll shoot --”
“Oh sure... That'll stop them from stunning the both of us...!”
Velle's grip trembled...
“- us ...”


Hailynn suddenly went silent. Velle's comment caught her totally off-guard.

Noticing the motion of a small person walking by, Tev noticed the kadeshi girl with the slightly swollen cheek walking pass him, her path leading to Velle and the lying hiigaran woman. Watching Aira carefully, he noticed her odd steps. She swayed slightly; some of her steps were not fluent but hesitant. Within the following moment, Hailynn suddenly noticed the pale face of the girl hovering next to Velle's, who soon kneeled down to her side. Aira's mind, though outright in chaos, focused itself for this very moment.

“Naji...”, the girl whispered with a trembling voice, “My soul needs your guidance. I desire your guidance... Your essence of wisdom more than ever...”
Both women and the other men remained silent while echoes of faraway voices and hull tensions resonated.
“Shodanii... Shodanii's farseeing mind discovered a relic of my past... The cause of my existence... `Kadesha's Ark'...”


The reaction on Hailynn's face clearly showed that she was confused.
“A world ship, my naji. A ship... A ship of life and hope... Hope for finding Kadesha's lost love. I was born... in that world, my naji. Can you... heed my cry, my naji?”


Aira's irritated hand softly touched Hailynn's bruised cheek as her accented voice spoke further, “The souls of my heritage have... suffered. Kadesha's Ark... Our hope... Our only sake searched the galaxy for Kadesha's lost one. The everlasting purge in her sacred embrace forced our pilgrimage... to seek the truth of our culture. Generations bled... Lives sacrificed... The purge... Despair!”, the chaos in Aira's mind began to confuse her, but she fought against it, “- No... Kadesha's Ark! The people... They have found Rahji... Finally - At last... But they are never to receive his embrace! The Vaygr - The Taiidans - The Turanics... They have encircled the return... Kadesha's souls have not found `Kadesha's Tear', never are they to receive Rahji's embracing love... Curse and death would engulf their souls if they... stay...”

“Aira...”, Hailynn quietly said, but the girl suddenly griped her collar, followed by an outburst of tears.

“Naji! Their souls... My blood is theirs! Their blood is mine! The pilgrimage - They have prayed for a century... If... I-If... If my soul does not succeed in revealing what you have blessed me with... They will lead the last of our blood to certain death!”, as the girl spoke, she somewhat became more out of mind, “A connection... A rift... They have forged a... a... connection between Kadesha and Rahji to reunite their sorrows - but without the `Tear'... They will soon lead the pure death into Rahji's Garden. Death's servants will follow! Those sacrificing blood fear the truth, they fear our pilgrimage! They heed the sungods' will to never allow Kadesha's embrace to touch Rahji again. The purge! The purge! O-Only `Kadesha's Tear' would end all endeavors... End all peril! Please... Naji...!”


Aira's story sounded threatening but confusing and illogical at the same time. It was practically impossible to distinguish if she was in full of her mind or lost - hence... Did it make any sense?


“A-Aira... I don't know what to say...”, Hailynn said faithlessly.
The girls hands suddenly tightened upon her caretaker's color, somewhat revealing how desperate the girl was, “I beg you... My naji... Please... G-Guide... Me...”

Yet again, the kadeshi girl fell unconscious again.

“Man - This is getting whack...”, one of the men commented and suddenly looked away; his aim shortly swung around trying to figure the source of an unusual noise emitting far from behind.
“That's it!”, Tev suddenly said and holstered his sidearm, “Velle, get the girl! We're moving! You three - Help me out!”


Follow their sudden movements with her eyes, Hailynn threw a vicious look to the others, “Hey... H-HEY! What the frakk are you -- *ngggh*?!”


“With all needed respect, Commander - We're not leaving you behind!”, operative Tev shouted at her as he and the others tried to lift the injured commander, “This is gonna hurt big time - Save your breath, ma'am!”

Hailynn refused as she signaled them to stay back.
Velle, who wanted to help her, was held back.

Hailynn needed to understand that there was no chance in being left behind. She had no chance in really persuading them to move on. Staying behind would only lead these, in her eyes, `kids', to certain death... or worse. But it was furthermore Aira, who she feared for. With intense efforts, Hailynn suddenly fought herself up from the floor.

“A-Alright... You win...”

“Let us at least support your side, ma'am - Two of us can still support your shoulder”, one operative said.
“Drop those supply packs”, Tev demanded, “The commander is more important than those things!”

“Will we make it before the fleet arrives?”, Velle asked as she lifted the stunned kadeshi girl.
“Don't know - A lot of obstacles ahead, as far as I know... There's another scaffold maintenance area we need to get through - plus hydroponics! If we hurry, we might make it in an hour and a half...”

“Oh my...”

“Don't worry, Velle. Somebody, contact the group ahead while using a secure channel! Tell them to keep moving! Inform them that we'll try to move the fast we can!”

Hailynn kept quiet as she thought of Aira's confusing words...


= `Vjel-Amaj', Bridge =

Minutes later...
Noticing the rear access doors shifting open, Orelis turned around. At last, they have arrived.


“Great timing, everybody!”
A handful of operatives and familiar faces of several commanding officers of the main shift entered the bridge's operation deck. Greeting Orelis with short salutes, the group of operatives with differently colored uniforms allocated themselves to their appropriate stations.

Kenta rushed into the bridge as she held a small but thick portable hard-drive, “Sir, you've got to see this!”

“What's that?”

“Our `escape route'... out of the system!”, she replied with an excited voice.

Other operatives shortly looked up, some of them with confident expressions. Maybe they were going to survive and return home to Amaji Prime... after all.

Before Orelis answered, he noticed another familiar figure standing at the rear of the bridge, “Kenta... Load up what you've got there - I'll get to you in a moment.”
“Got that - ... I mean... Aye, sir!”, Kenta nervously replied and rushed to the observation station, joining her brother who already proceeded with the operation of his console.

As the whole bridge crew came into full action, Orelis stood at his spot as the highly ranked and decorated officer approached him.

“Captain... Sobaan. Sir...”, he greeted him with a respectful salute, amaji style.
“I must remind you, C-O of the bridge, that I am no longer your superior officer. There is no need to be this `formal'. Yet, I assume this situation requires any means of support.”
Orelis remained silent.

“As I said once before, I will operate as an advisor - not as a superior officer. I am sure my presence here would be considered more appropriate than dwelling at my quarters.”

Without any further mentioning, the captain sat upon one of the seats next to the commanding seat.
“Very well, sir. I am pleased to see you here - nonetheless.”
Captain Quenton of the Sobaan spoke with a calm voice, “C-O, your chief astronomer operative has important information for you. I strongly suggest consulting with her.”
“Yes... sir.”


Bypassing two other operatives who entered the bridge, Orelis moved towards the side of the bridge and approached the sophisticated observation section.

“Operative Kenta, what is it you have?”
“One moment, sir!”


Within a short while, her main screen uploaded the data featuring several images of stellar cartography - but foremost, it revealed certain regions of the current star system, easily perceived by his logical thinking. Quan supported her deeds by allocating information as well. What surprised Orelis the most, though, was a certain detailed image showing three faint but certain points, areas marked by her doing. Kenta looked back at him. She did not say a word but her excited eyes said it all.

“If this is what I think it is... Just, how the frell... did you manage to get your hands on this?”
Kenta did not answer immediately at first, “...I am not sure if you will like it, Commander Orelis: Dr. Pethera S'jet and her team extracted this little bit of data from the loads of retrieved data and the transferred infolinks we downloaded. May sound macabre but it is a 0.0000000... I'm sorry, whatever percentage below 1% in knowledge of the whole system - It was sufficient enough for Quan and I to calculate hyperjump coordinates, sir. Definite coordination points that will lead us to the edge of the system and thus... allowing us to achieve full stellar navigation! No obstacles, no blackhole interference!”

“Well... I'll be damn. By far... That is the best good news I heard so far. Thank you, you two. *sigh* I guess we will have to thank... Pethera and her team as well.”

“I fear so, sir... But if we see things logically, it is Shodanii we are to thank actually. This is not even a fraction of what stellar information she granted to us.”

“But I will worry about that later. -- Kelsea!”, Orelis called out and turned away from the observation station.


Slightly surprised to hear her name, Kelsea turned with her seat around, “You called, sir?”

“Officer Kelsea. Aira is not here at the moment. I need you to take over and align sensory to Kenta's gathered data. This is urgent! I want to have all navigational requirements for hyperjumping to be completed by the time we dispatch from the mothership!”


“B-But... I'm a comm-- ”, Kelsea at first wanted to excuse, but interrupted her speech as she remembered Orelis' last reaction of her trying to deny his demand, “... Y-Yes, sir...”
Instead, she grabbed her headset gear and made her way to the higher positioned sensory station.

“Ah - I forgot to mention, sir!”, Kelsea added, “A lot of confusion and panicking is going on at the settlement camp outside...”

“*heavy sigh*... Alright - Ready another P.A. call - While I try to calm them down, I want two empty-handed assisting crewmen and marines to disembark and support the people out there! We need to get this done without any unnecessary delays! If we must - leave supplies and gear behind. We're better off getting away with our lives...”

“Packard, you take care of that, alright?”, Kelsea called over to her subordinate.

“Got it, ma'am! I'm on it! - But speaking of delays... Commander Orelis, one team has arrived from the excursion trip. They have informed us that the rest of the teams are on their way, but are likely to require a while - maybe up to an hour, sir. Furthermore, Commander Delixa's group has fallen far behind and ordered the rest to proceed ahead to the ship...”

“W-What?! Are you kidding me?”, Orelis snarled and made a few steps to the center of the bridge.
He was indeed not pleased of hearing this, “Why is Delixa's group even behind those retrieving heavy extracted mainframes?!”


Packard shook his head.


= Maintenance bay, scaffold crossings =

Reaching the dark outer scaffold, the small group stopped at the edge of region. The whole area was indeed a vast and spacious section, filled with platforms, crossings, railings and many other connectives - but mainly, one could percept the area separated into different segments. Loading decks with discarded cranes, large compartments and many other small fixed bases were seen throughout the area.

Noticing a group of amajis situated far ahead on the other side of the wide bridge crossing, Velle settled Aira down shortly as her group stopped, “Look, ahead of us.”

“Yeah - Guess those are our guys. Looks like they're waiting for us...”, one of the operative said as he saw the person several hundred meters away waving his flashlight, “Guess they don't want to leave us behind, heh.”

But just as the operative was going to call the person ahead waving with the flashlight beam, dreadful sounds of repeating gunfire suddenly cracked from afar, originating from a far distinct railing.
“Crap - What the --!”
“Get down!”, Hailynn shouted and barely pulled the two back towards the entrance that provided cover. Sparks of projectiles smacking randomly upon both their and the area of the other group.
“W-Who the frell is shooting --?!”, Tev yelled but was interrupted by Hailynn's barking voice to stay down for the sake of gods.

“It... I-It has got to be the marines! Friendly fire -- For sure!”, the other operative assumed loudly, “Maybe they're a bit anxious and did not recognize us --”
“C-Commander?! - Ahh!”, Velle asked as she covered Aira's ears, soon scared by another barrage of projectiles cracking upon their region. For the next ten seconds, the barrage sustained.
A sound chimed, revealing a transmission coming in over a secured frequency, “”Cease fire, cease fire - Whoever is shooting...! Weylon to Velle - Weylon to Velle””, her shoulder unit sounded loudly, “”Who's opening fire on us?! Is that you - Are those our guys?! Over!””

Before Velle answered, Hailynn signaled her not to respond and insisted to do it herself. At the same time, the raining attacks paused, luckily giving her the chance to take a glimpse across the whole dark region. Anxiously wanting to know what was going on, Velle asked Hailynn again but was told to stay quiet.
“Delixa here - Nobody hurt on our side but it was a close one... Weylon - Get you and your group to the `Vjel-Amaj'!”, the messed-up officer whispered with a harsh voice, “Those are not - I repeat - not our men shooting! Has anybody been injured on your side - How about the guy with the flashlight, is he okay?! Over!”

“”*Deep breath, long pause* Commander... That was I with the flashlight... I just lost it. I'm fine but Loren received a heavy bruise from her toolkit that luckily stopped a direct round! Bloody lucky... - b-but what makes you so sure that those are not our marines shooting at us?!””

Lying with her back at the edge, Hailynn leaned one more time over, allowing her augmented eye to percept the region and their attackers, “Weylon... Get out of here - and don't wait for us, for gods' sake! Inform bridge command about us once you arrive at the ship and maintain radio silence from now on - and don't stop! That's an order - Delixa, over and out, *veep - fshhk*”

Hiding her head and returning her view again to her small group, she then demanded, “All of you, set your comm-units to passive and use the earplugs - Do that for Aira's as well.”

“Those are not our marines who are shooting at us?”, Velle naively asked.
“Velle... That gunfire came from high-frequency repeaters... Amaji standards don't use that sort of weaponry”, the hiigaran woman commented with an outright firm voice, “But that doesn't matter. We're compromised.”


“What...?”

“Th ey're hostile”, Hailynn was sure of it due to the fact that she recognized a few of them wearing the dreadful armor, “Turanics... Either they belong to the vanguard or they just arrived. Doesn't matter - Fact is: They know we are here!”

“Damn...”, the third operative cursed, “but what should we do now? Can't we just run over the crossing?”
“Huh - Are you insane! That would be suicidal!”, Tev noted.


“Guys, stay put”, Hailynn told to both of them, “But Tev is right. There is practically no cover over that crossing - but we can't stay here either. If we stay, they will pin us down in no time - They ought to know this ship better than we do.”
“But where are we to go, Commander?!”, Velle distressed, “This route is pretty much the only known path back to our ship!”

Hailynn slapped the side of her forehead as she thought about her datapad that had the map, which unfortunately had been smashed long ago.

“I don't know... but we're more likely screwed. This... *ngghn* This ship is their turf - They are deadly... A group of theirs is likely to catch up with us before we reach the ship...”
Aira suddenly lifted her hand, pointing to a certain area of their section leading downwards.

“Access... PX-L932. Passage 7, Deck: Storage Compartment IV-Delta 930...”, the strange kadeshi girl suddenly spoke with a monotone voice as she stared upon the wall with gloomy eyes. Her long speech went on without pause but it was easy to assume that the girl was not fully in control of what she was saying. More or less, she was describing the possible passage with its positional designation.

“You're not telling us we should go... that way?!”, Tev asked, surprised about Aira's unusual act.
Aira repeated her monotone speech but was interrupted by Velle's hand covering her mouth. Hailynn painfully fought to get up again, “I don't know - but we don't have much of a choice. Doesn't matter. Aira knows a lot more of this ship than we do. Let's get going!”


- Why me? -

= `Vjel-Amaj', a certain corridor passage =

Shouts and arguments are heard every around.
After losing track of Ray by the sudden chaos and alerts, Fenna tried to walk straight but was frequently disturbed among the passageway. Constantly knocked and bumped away by the mass of hectic people, anxiety slowly took control of her. Despite being surrounded by the many people that bypassed her, she was alone in this horrible moment.

After hearing the dreadful announcement of the massive fleet approaching the mothership, she feared the worse to happen. Becoming desperate of the situation and the stress, Fenna suddenly ran ahead, mindlessly... Bumping herself against the hectic crowd and knocking stacked cases and supplies, she turned upon a rather empty corridor leading away from the chaos.

In need of privacy, her eyes burst into tears. It was clear that she had not recovered from all of the emotional stress since utter perilous venture through the comet... and now hordes of turanics were coming. Dreadful stories of women being enslaved as breeders or worse filled her mind. The simple thought of it scared her so much that she frightfully cuddled upon the isolated corner unseen by anybody.


A recall of her past revealed itself.
Once before, she was an amaji cargo pilot - however an unskillful one, probably one of the most worst ones ever to fly a ship. The Kiith Amaj was in desperate need for specialists or those willing to take upon such tasks. While she had the will of navigating ships, her clumsiness and irresponsible way always led to trouble, unprofessional crashes and unpunctual duties, lastly flawing her records.
Despite the amaji agenda, the flaws upon her career and dignity reflected light negatively of all eyes. She was a dangerous pilot. Never was she to pilot a vessel again within or outside amaji space... yet until that very day a female highly ranked hiigaran officer knocked upon the door of her apartment somewhere deep within the orbiting colony station high above small blue planet.

A long talk - A long discussion.

Ever since, Fenna never knew why Hailynn visited her, why she chose her as a subordinate helmsman to pilot one of the most advanced ship the Kiith Amaji had; - if not - the most advanced cruiser throughout the ranks of other minor kiithid. Part of her wished she had denied, but this was her true second chance. Questions filled her mind about Hailynn once more, but lastly, she came to the point that the piloting career simply was the wrong way to go.


Suddenly awoken from her daydreaming, Orelis' voice was heard among her comm-unit, “”Commander Orelis to Ensign Fenna. Please respond!””
Fenna wiped her eyes and sobbed several times. Orelis called out one more time.

“I-I... *swallows* I'm h-here. *sniff*”
“”Ensign. Where are you? Haven't you heard the announcement?””
“Yes... Y-Yes, I have... sir.”
“”Please report to the bridge at once! I don't know what you are doing right now - but hurry. I want you at the helm, Ensign. It is unlikely that Commander Delixa will not be able to take over the ship's helm. And there is no excuse on talking yourself out of this anyhow. We are counting on you. Asap, Fenna. Orelis, out. *veep*””

The connection ended as fast at it was established, leaving her alone with her innermost depression...

======== (Chap 17, part 2 of 3) ==========


- Cold Blood -

= Hydroponics - Recreational Park =


Foreign voices of vocoder transmissions and speeches were heard among her vicinity.
Her augmented eye glimpsed over the edge of her hidden position. She pinched her eye slightly together.

Heavy equipment...
Armed-to-teeth...

Heavy armor...
Heavy steps...

Steps that slowly snapped every single overgrown plant or dead twig below.
Counting the steps, it was a small group of three. For sure, there were more of these turanic gunmen spread widely everywhere among the area - at least they were very far away. Taiidans were for sure also among the area, but that was the least of her worries. Waking in a triangle formation, two of the men spearheaded while the third covered their backs.


She closed her eyes for a moment... trying to remember where the others were hiding.
Beads of sweat ran down the side of her face. The air was think and incredibly humid. The smell of plant life was bugging her nose along with the intensive urge of scratching herself everywhere. But despite being plagued by this somewhat unbelievable region, she forced herself to remain focused... not even moving the slightest muscle.

The third one broke the formation as he approached Hailynn's concealed location - but luck seemed to be on Hailynn's side as his direction swayed slightly away. Unfortunately, the man was going to be too close for her to shoot him by next few moments. To maintain her concealment, Hailynn was forced to remain frozen like a rock as the slow heavy steps of the turanic stopped practically right next to her.

Her intuition told her that he must have followed some of her trail somehow but ended up cold. To her disadvantage, her awkward aim was focused ahead - The third one however was behind her. If this ambush were to work out, she would need to gain a second of time to shoot...


The amaji were so close to their destination, but due to the circumstance of pursuit, the pursuers caught up with them. Luckily, they did not seem to have any sort of surveillance equipment allowing the hostilities to pick up life signs. Nonetheless, the heavily armed gunmen were totally aware of their surroundings.

Nevertheless, it was clear that she could not take them down solely. Hailynn was going to have to rely on the other amaji operatives this time... Would they have enough courage to confront these men?

Hailynn squeezed her eyes together.
Stay put... Stay put, her mind repeated frequently.
The garbled voices emitting from the turanic's communication gear indeed made her very nervous... so nervous that her breathing became unease.

All the sudden, an unexpected faint sound occurred from a remote location that immediately caught the attention of two gunmen ahead... The sound of a faint sneeze of a girl!


“NOW!”, the hiigaran officer shouted as loudly as she could.
Reacting to the shout, both Tev and another operative leaned from their cover and opened fire. Unable to react on time, both gunmen suffered direct hits. Knocked by the impacting projectiles, none of the two were able to withstand the violent blows upon their torsos.
Gunfire of repeaters occurred as the spasm forced them to pull their triggers, causing aimless shots to shred the ground. Unable to move, it was clear for Tev and the operative that both of these pursuers were incapacitated.


Before the third gunman looked below his side, two rounds suddenly smacked upon the thick trunk of the tree... shots that missed him...

As the third turanic turned around, he suddenly spotted an amaji woman who held a handgun, her aim clear of any obstacles, aiming straight at him. Amidst the sudden excitement, Velle froze... stunned by her own fear as her eyes crossed the dreadful view of the turanic gunman.


Both her eyes and mouth were wide open. Her body did not respond any further - but she shook her head slightly, showing the man that she did not want to kill him. Due to his positioning, none of the other operatives had a clear line of sight, but saw Velle's startling reaction.

Swinging his repeater rifle at this very moment, the turanic immediately took advantage of her hesitation... But just before his rifle attained the lethal aim, Hailynn's shoulder suddenly shot up from below, knocking his aim totally off the line. While the sudden stretch was successful, a plethora of her injuries ached intensively - causing her to immediately lose her common sense for the moment as she delivered a following blow that knocked the gunman to the ground.


Without any sign of remorse and regret, Hailynn fired a single round... aimed at the ridged forehead. Velle could not believe her eyes as she witnessed the hiigaran woman suddenly shooting several further rounds until her sidearm gave frequent clicks. All shots smacked violently upon the gunman's body, leaving him lifelessly full of appalling wounds.

Turanic voices from afar sounded along with radio transmissions frequently repeating, obviously but vainly calling for status report.


Turning away from the dead body, Hailynn immediately discharged the empty clip and loaded her handgun with a new one - only to unleash all rounds by dispersing further lethal shots upon the other two who were seriously incapacitated.

Hailynn swiped dirt and moss off her uniform. Breathing heavily, the wrecked hiigaran officer quietly said, “Looks like their armor was not that tough as we expected...”

Limping ahead, Hailynn suddenly shouted at the others to get moving. Moving out of cover, the operative who hid along with Aira seemed to be all right and was signaled to carry her further without halt.


“No more delays! Go... GO!”
Velle lowered her aim, not believing her eyes as the hiigaran woman walked passed her. Though in awe of being killed, her mind was simply overwhelmed by witnessing the killing of the three in cold blood - not even with the slightest sign of regret.

“Don't just stand there!”, Hailynn shouted at her, “Move!”.
But Velle remained at her spot.
“C'mon - There's an army coming straight for us!”
“You --”


But just as Velle wanted to reply, both of their attentions were caught by the sound emitting from their earplugs. The signal proved to be a communication call coming from a friendly source, awaiting anybody to respond. After holstering the smoking sidearm, Hailynn used her sore arm to force Velle into moving by dragging her arm slightly at the same time she used her other hand to adjust her earplug.

“Stop fooling around, Velle - C'mon!”, Hailynn shouted at her, then focused herself on the signal, “Delixa here - Who is it, please respond!”

At the very moment she heard the frail voice, Hailynn immediately stopped:
“”C-Comm... *moan* - Major Bahur M-Miras... here...! *coughs* Mission accomplished, ma'am - *ahng*””
Hailynn's eyes aimlessly wandered as she heard rows of gunfire and other weaponry firing amidst his vicinity, “Major! - Major! What's going on?! Where are you?! Return at--”
“”Ma'am - We've been compro- we have confronted an opposing force...””

Noticeable, his breathing was irregular. He was injured.

“”My men have s-succeeded in the attempt of - Damn- FRAKKERS!!! *roaring gunfire* C-Cover him! Corp- Sergeant! Sergeant!””
“Bahur! We're not going to leave you behind - tell us your position at once!”

There was a short pause before his reply was transmitted, “”Comma-mander - Ma'am... The opposing force has *mmnngh* overwhelmed my squad... Leave... Leave the ship at once...””


Bahur spoke further, at first shortly remarking the status of their last task, lastly admiring and honoring the Commander as an officer and friend and the Kiith Amaj.
Hailynn inhaled to reply, but before she said a word, she held her breath.
Without any further word, Major Bahur Miras ended the comm-line.

Squeezing her eyes together, she had to face the fact that she underestimated the task of sabotaging the mothership and its field generators. The vanguard troops must have confronted them by the time they were finished with the engineering bay. If she had only sent more men, maybe they all would have been able to survive. The rush for evacuation must have distracted her.


Velle remained silent but saw Hailynn's noticeable emotions. She was angry...at herself and the cold reality...
A whole marine team... wiped out.


Hailynn rubbed her face. The nightmare seemed to never end.
Before she could bear further thought, the sounds of approaching gunmen were approaching from afar - for sure backtracking the gunfight that happened shortly. Alas, both women rushed ahead, following the last words of Bahur not to look back and keep moving, for the sake of the ship and its crew...


- Lone Sweet Home -

= Inner scaffold sector, dry docks =

Irregular chimes and a short buzz occurred as the horizontal bulk access barrier slowly shifted open. The gush of the warm, humid and thick botanical air rushed passed their bodies from behind as the main access gateway to the darker world of the dry docks.
The barrier stopped but still offered enough space for them to slip by. Amathar and Velle entered first, followed by the others who gave the remaining equipment and supplies one-by-one through.

Finally reaching the sector, the group of amajis entered the vast region. Hailynn shortly fell to her knees, followed by sweat dropping upon the floor.

“I'm okay... Fin-... *pant*... Finally... The `Vjel-Amaj'...”, she stuttered to the others despite her devastated looks. Obviously, the long `run' from the core, the maintenance bay and the rush through the botanical sector was more than strenuous for her than for the others. Hailynn's breathing sounded so deep and choking that some of the operatives feared she would fall unconsciously. But despite her wrecked body, her will stayed focused. Forcing her view upwards, their goal was within reach: The `Vjel-Amaj' rested far ahead upon the wide field, partially visible due to the floodlights.


Hailynn suddenly fell further upon the floor.
“...Fr-frakk...”
Her legs abided her weight no longer. Both of her bruised legs were too strained to continue, so fatigued that she barely felt them as they became numb. Suddenly, a pair of arms grabbed both of her sides, supporting her the best they could.
“We're almost there, Commander! Just hang in! Just hang in there!”, Tev shouted at her as he carried her along.


At the same moment, a loud and frightening sound of tensioning metal and crushing echoed throughout the whole region... if not, throughout the entire mothership. Another tremble rumbled that even forced the group to their feet, followed by shouts hollowing from far ahead. Seconds passed until the minor quake faded away.
“W-Wha... What was that?!”, Velle cried, holding herself upon one of the other operatives.

Artificial voices suddenly spoke in an incomprehensible taiidan language...

“What's with the alert?! Are those taiidans or the turanics doing this quaking?!”, Velle asked again as they tried to move along with the rumbling. The adolescent girl suddenly lifted her head from the shoulder of the operative and spoke.

Her accented voice sounded differently, unlikely caused by her will but by trance, “Warning... Interphased field generation detected. Power conduit breach detected among sector K, service deck... Hull breach detected throughout... Cryodeck twelve... Outer deck regions, two-three-and-fourteen - lower barrier. Attention: Atmospheric level decreasing. Immediate evacuation is advised. Automated atmospheric prevention engaged. Warning... Alienating gravimetric field developments detected... *long pause* Alert... Automated shutdown sequence failure. Alert... Automated shutdown sequence failure. Integrity and structural deformations in progress.”

Aira continued speaking without pause.

“Oh my gods... Aira...”, Velle said to girl and tried to awaken her, but her eyes still remained beady, her voice still spoke further.

“Hey - Guess the `rines were successful!”, Tev shouted, “Gonna be a surprise for those goddamn taiidans, ha!”

Mixed thoughts flew through Hailynn's mind...

“Yeah - but I still didn't get it. What's the point?!”, Amathar shouted.

“The mothership...”, Hailynn explained shortly, “The mothership contains a large number of artificial gravity field generators in harmonic combination with flux field generators. I have ordered the marines to sabotage the harmony following Shodanii's instructions and her last will - which will lead to the destruction of the entire vessel... and if not, the vicinity around it. That's the bad news...”

“Holy... crap!”

“But that was the only way to stop the turanics and the taiidans from enslaving her again for charging their power cells and reactor units... Shodanii is willing to sacrifice herself so they cannot escape this star system, if they should ever find a way out... But with the majority of them returning, it seems as if this is the best she could do to support us”, but as Hailynn spoke, her voice gradually became angry, “And those frakking fools are going to pay for it! Shodanii is going down with the ship - and her intentions of us sabotaging field generators will take those idiots with her!”
“We... We've got to get off this p-p-place before we get... crushed!”, Velle cried again.


Though already scared by what was happening, all of them felt a change in the artificial gravity field already, alternating briefly but noticeable.

Another short tremble transmitted throughout the whole region.
Echoes of amplified shouts and chaotic movements were heard and seen everywhere far ahead throughout the sector. Men and women carried the most they could but frequently dropped the equipment due to the hectic and tremors, but also due to the bottlenecked access points of the `Vjel-Amaj'. The whole floor was wet and dirty, puddles were everywhere - Probably caused by the melted chunks of ice the cruiser had brought with it.

All the sudden, one of the men dropped his things and pulled out his sidearm, followed by others who aimed at the same direction,

“Who's there?!”
The dark figures slowly stepped into the light, emerging from the darkness behind.
“Huh... Whoa - Guns down, those are our guys!”, he shouted to the others, “Look!”
“Finally - They made it!”, another person shouted and rushed to support them.

“What's our... status?!”, Hailynn suddenly demanded at them.
“Evacuation is in progress, C-Comannder!”, the man replied with a shaky voice due to the persisting light tremors, “We're not done yet bring all this stuff in!”

“Alright... L-listen up. Don't waste time with the supplies - take only the most important things onboard. We're leaving this ship - once and for all... no more delays - deal or no deal!”, Hailynn demanded to the operative, before turning her view to her group, “Get Aira and I to the bridge. Good job, all of you. We'll make it, don't worry.”


= `Vjel-Amaj', bridge =

Long moments later...
Noticing a certain audible change in their surroundings, Orelis and the bridge crew became aware of the memorable sounds of the ship coming back to life as the ship's main reactor and basic power systems resonated power. A short look to the ship's status screen revealed every single and detailed segment phasing from black to green.
“Zann.”
“Basic power grid in the `greens', C-O. Advanced core grid will follow soon!”
“What about propulsion and field generators?!”
“Chief states they're online, however the hasted powering caused some issues. Short, we're on it, sir.”

Orelis nodded but then felt the slight rumble again like the rest of the crew, “Damn... What's going with this place?”

“Commander Orelis”, Kelsea's delicate voice called from above, “S-Sir, I've tried to align our navigational guidance system with Kenta's observatory... but...”
“- But... What? Come on!”
“- We're capable of hyperjumping, but emerge point accuracy is below safe expectations. I'm sorry, sir, but my skills lack greatly...”

“Don't worry, Kelsea”, Kenta called from the far side, “Leave the navigational alignment to us, just focus on my instructions that will follow shortly - but it's the mergence between the old cartography and our operation systems we should be worried about... and the navigator's skill in upholding field control upon the wavefront.”

“Okay...”

“Best would be, of course, if Aira could calculate jump coordinates rather than us. Our computers and efforts are mediocre compared with her outstanding mental association with the ship's sophisticated interface. I-I have to admit that despite being chief astronomer, she is the best person for this task.”

“I'm counting on each and every one of you”, the current executive officer commented before he approached the frontal area of ship, “It doesn't matter to me if you are good or not. Never forget that I trust all of you.”



“So do I...”, a very familiar female voice spoke from far behind.

All speech ended as they all turned their view upon the person who just spoke. The entire bridge crew hesitated to say a word or continue. All of their attentions focused upon the Commander of the `Vjel-Amaj' who was quietly helped into the bridge. Far more, it was her appearance that surprised many. She was dirty, injured and bruised, her hair messed-up, her uniform even more filthy than before that even made the dried coffee stain seem the least of damage received. Nodding towards the two operatives that carried her by their shoulders, Hailynn was released and albeit standing on shaky legs, she managed to hold her balance.

“Commander... Delixa... Finally”, Orelis said to her, “I thought you were a goner...”

“My C-O, what is the status of navigation? Are we able to... escape?”, Hailynn asked directly.

Orelis raised his eyebrow, but then straightened his back as he turned towards her direction and slowly spoke after clearing his throat, “Commander. The ship is in capability of engaging hyperjump profile. Preparations are almost completed. Navigational destination must still be designated, ma'am.”

“I understand...”
Shortly turning around, Hailynn looked down upon the mind-distorted kadeshi girl, who quietly looked upon the floor. Feeling a hand upon her shoulders, Aira slowly looked upwards. A trusted face...

“Aira. Are you sure of what you said - everything you said about ... Kadesha's Ark... and its fate?”


The girl's velvet eyes shimmered by the light reflecting upon it. Her mind was still under great confusion, but Hailynn deeply knew she understood her question. Everybody ignored the minor tremble transmitted through the ship. Without a word, the girl closed her eyes gently and nodded quietly.

Hailynn turned away. Limping towards the center of the bridge, the bruised officer slowly pressed several keys of her shoulder unit, causing it to uplink its signal upon the general communication system of the bridge, “- Commander Delixa to all units and the entire crew -”, she said little by little.

- The Pledge... -

As of her words, this caused her transmission to be heard and transmitted to all communication units within and beyond the ship, linked with the ship's P.A. system and Operative Packard, who supported her request as well. She paused until she heard the tone of the automated system completing her actual request.


Hailynn took a deep breath before announcing her innermost thoughts:
“To all crewmen, officers and operatives of the `Vjel-Amaj', my brethren - and people of the hiigaran-vaygr refugee faction - This is Commander Hailynn Delixa speaking. Please, listen. As it is known... The deeds I have caused during the past days have... overshadowed the dignity of the ship and has brought great shame upon myself.”


Her voice was heard everywhere among and beyond the ship.
““My cause in the past is inexcusable and unforgivable. I bear shame, my brethren.””, Hailynn's digitalized voice sounded from the speakers throughout the ship and outside, “”Despite my cause, I am responsible for all that has occurred and - by the gods of Kharak - I will face my fate. Nonetheless: I am in great need of your support and will, crew of the `Vjel-Amaj'. I fear to solicit for this command - but the `Vjel-Amaj' will not return to Amaji Space. Not yet.””

Hailynn paused as she turned towards the kadeshi girl, who stared upon her with a questionable gaze.

“A vessel... known as `Kadesha's Ark'... is in great danger. Its fate is perilous. This vessel is at the edge of the star system, among a region possible for our escape from this system. Crewmen of the `Vjel-Amaj', we are the only ones who are able to change their fate to the greater good. We are able to rescue or at least turn their fate away from the loss of innumerable lives - Lives of Kadesh, lives alike Aira's.”

Hailynn turned away, “My crew, I wish to rescue these lives - To do what I have pledged to the Kiith Amaj despite my previous cause... However: My intentions will not demand you. I will order the relocation to their vicinity - but my order will forfeit, if one crewman, despite of rank, heritage or origin, wishes to return to amaji space. None shall be ashamed for this. I will not misuse my new kiithidial status of `Krin'sa' to negate or dictate one's intent. If anybody wishes to return to our... Homeworld, I, Commander Hailynn Delixa of Amaji Navy, will concur. But nonetheless, the lives of thousands, if not millions, are in danger. I bear not to lie: The task is proven to be dangerous for us as well... I will grant time of thought - but respond soon. The `Vjel-Amaj' will depart soon. Commander Delixa, standing by. *veep*”

A long silence prevailed throughout the bridge, aside to the natural noise of technical units. Nobody said a single word.

Fenna, who quietly sat ahead upon the helm, was in deep confusion. Her hands trembled and sweated. Unknown and invisible for others, she was deeply desperate of escaping all of the madness and its dangers. She closed her eyes tightly. The weight of responsibility was already suffocating her as she was likely to be the one who would lead the ship through the hyperjump field back to amaji space... but in regards to Aira... she remained silent.

Moments went by. Hailynn shortly looked over to Packard, but he shook his head.


“*veep* Crew of the `Vjel-Amaj'. Nobody has responded. I cannot tell you... how... thankful... how honored I am of all of you willing to support in this dangerous attempt. I bow to your trust and true pride of the Kiith Amaj. I thank you, Commander Delixa, over and out.*veep*”

Lastly, Hailynn noticed Aira approaching her side.

“Aira...”, she quietly said to the girl, as she tried to kneel down, “I wish you to know...”, the adolescent girl looked upon her caretaker, “I am sorry what I have done to you... Can you ...forgive me?”
Aira remained silent but gently embraced Hailynn's neck. Her notion said more than thousand words... Hailynn softly laid her hands upon the girl's shoulders, “You must guide us, Aira. Guide us to `Kadesha's Ark'. You are the only true unbound who can do it.”

“B-but... I am an entity...”, she quietly replied.
“No. Shodanii told me something before I fulfilled her will, Aira. You may be an entity, but you are much more than that. You are very special - for her - and for us. And there is one thing I have sworn to Shodanii before I ended... her existence...”

Hailynn lifted herself slowly.
Somehow, Hailynn was not really sure of what she was saying. Part of it was true... but the other part was a fabrication of Hailynn's shame wanting to cleanse her soul by pledging to Aira.

“I have sworn to Shodanii to return you to your Homeworld, Aira. `Kadeshi's Ark' may be the only hope for you ever to return to the world our people call: `The Sea of Lost Souls'... `The Garden of Kadesh'.”

The immense turmoil within Aira's mind slowly weakened as her colorful eyes suddenly widened.

“I don't know of the kadeshi are willing... but I'm not going to let the opportunity fail, Aira. Please, man the sensory station... Lead us to your people.”


The girl hesitated for a very long while until she nodded and made her way to the station. Kelsea removed herself, somewhat thankful that she could return to her true proficiency.

Hailynn turned around and spotted Captain Quenton Sobaan who sat next to the empty commanding seat. He greeted her shortly with a salute.

“Commander Orelis.”
“Commander?”
“Order all units to return to the ship at once. No more delays. Once all units have been confirmed, I wish all entries and docking points to be sealed.”
“At once.”

“Commander Delixa, ma'am?”, one operative called out.
“Yes?”
“Ma'am, I wasn't sure to say this, but a whole group of marines is still far beyond the ship's perimeter. Major Miras and others - I don't know if -- ”
“They are dead. I am sorry to say this... but they have sacrificed their lives for the sake of the ship and its crew... This is a part of my shame I must accept. Are there any others beyond?”

“Negative, ma'am. Once the people around the ship are onboard, we're clear for takeoff.”
“Alright. To all stations, prepare for the deployment of the gravity control profile!”


- The Great Escape -

Invisible fields of gravity slowly began to expand from the cruiser as the pulsing sound started to hollow throughout the entire scaffold sector along with a calm but alternating high-pitched frequency resonance. Within the bridge, the charging sounds and confirming voices along with chimes accumulated around Hailynn and the commanding officers who sat upon the commanding seats rowed among the center of the bridge, at the foot of the higher positioned sensory station.

“All stations, status report.”
An asset of voices spoke from all sides.
“Main gravity field established. Supportive field generators one-through-forty are at optimal levels.” “Collaborating guidance field harmonizing with main grav-field in three... two... one... Ma'am, supportive fields are alternating - Helmsman is required to attain control manually.” <Understood...>
“Reactor output levels nominal.” - “All defensive systems green.”
“All crewmen confirmed onboard... Losses excluded, ma'am.” - “Observatory and sensory at standing by and awaiting entry to open space!”
“All hyperdrive systems of the `Vjel-Amaj' is standing by, ma'am.”
“Overall status report complete. `Vjel-Amaj' is ready for take-off.”


So... This is it...

“I assume this will be the last we will see of this... mothership *sorrowful sigh*. Helmswoman”, Hailynn then called out to the front, “Engage levitation profile. Bring her up...”

As all words ended, all was up to Fenna who nervously held the complicated controls while encircled by the multitude of screens, digital avionics panels and pedals - All responsive and awaiting her physical commands.

“Commander! Th-There are people out there!”, one of the surveillance operative shouted, “They're f-firing upon the ship! Others are among side, trying to gain entry.”

Fenna's voice sounded from the front, “I-I don't want to become a breeder!”

“Keep cool, Fenna. Fire control --”, Hailynn replied and threw a look towards the captain. Quenton shook his head, signaling her not to do as she for sure intended: To open fire upon them with the ship's defensive flak system, “—Nevermind...”

It would be far too inkushane (inhumane) to slaughter them, even for revenge.

“R-Roger... Engaging...”, the nervous Ensign confirmed, though timidly. Despite the sound of voice, nobody sensed how nervous and anxious she truly was. However, finally gathering enough courage, both of her hands gripped tighter among the horizontal grip-controls and slowly shifted them ahead and forwardly.


Following her cause immediately, all screens, their digital values and indicators, responded immediately as the carrier field below the ship harmonized with all other field, lastly exceeding the balance and generating an ascending force upon the belly of the entire vessel.

Outside of the `Vjel-Amaj', the noise emitting from all fields became louder as several loose objects including those left behind, even the turanic gunmen, slowly raised from the ground uncontrollable along with the hovering ship that slowly ascended from the ground.

A minor alerting sound scared Fenna, warning her that one portion of the supportive fields maintaining the trim had failed and was about to alter the ship's yaw. Stunned by the `threat', Fenna hesitated, then tried to find a solution. Unfortunately, her unthoughtful attempts were causing the fields to vary slightly - noticeable for the whole crew by the slight vibrations transmitting.
“Ensign... What are you doing?”, Hailynn called from behind, somewhat slightly irritated, “No.. What? Hey. Stop that! You're destabilizing the whole gravity profile!”

Every single mistake was immediately felt, noticed and perceived by Hailynn's senses. Practically everything that was done wrongly caused the ship to respond reflectively... somewhat telling her exactly what was going wrong and what she would need to do.

“Compensate with - No... No! Not with the thrusters, NOT with the thrusters, for frakk's sake!”

Despite giving her a short moment of thought, Hailynn's cursing continued afterwards... To a point, it was justifiable: The whole cruiser was engaging a lean angle, slightly noticeable by the artificial gravity fields not vertically aligned, but she was more focused on insulting all of her mistakes and vain attempts in compensating the problem. The ship began to slowly hover forward, only by a minor inches but it was more than enough of a warning.


“Ensign! - Alright that's it; I'm going to do it myself. Get off that seat and --!”
Hailynn suddenly felt a hand upon her shoulder at the same moment she was halfway from getting up from the seat. Ironically, it froze her posture.

“Commander Delixa”, Quenton Sobaan said to her, “We all trust your skills as a helmswoman. But this is no longer your task. As of you being the superior commander-in-chief, a commander of such should no longer be at the helm. Commander, Ensign Fenna is alike you... remember...”


Hailynn did not understand at first - but within the same second, his words indeed reminded him of their past... back then, she was an inexperienced pilot and frigate helmsman... alike Fenna... now.

“I have trusted you despite your flawed efforts, Delixa. Please, you must trust her. Support her. Tell her what she needs to do. One by one.”


The surprised hiigaran woman sat back down quietly and calmed down.

Fenna held the controls the best she could, luckily, her strenuous holdings held the ship in the awkward position. It was impossible to express how embarrassed she was. She simply neither understood what she did wrong nor what she should do... When suddenly Hailynn's voice sounded from behind, “Fenna... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to... I must apologize. Please... Please, do as I say. We'll make it through - Together. Do as I say: Disable supportive fields, 30 through 35 and the array on our stern-starboard. Once that is done, I want you to disable all automated controls you've recently engaged.”
Fenna paused for a long. It took her much courage to even have one of her hands release the controls, for she feared loosing control of the entire ship all at once.

“Good. Okay, hold it right there. Pull your starboard controls by minus one degree and settle your right foot upon the central pedal and lean it downwards by the heel until you have notice the change in our angle... Again - central right pedal, downwards by the heel... Good - Hold it right there.”

The inexperienced helmswoman closed her eyes and shivered as the ship rumbled one more time.

“Don't worry - that's natural! No, no - Hold it, don't add any more power!”, Hailynn repeated, trying to calm Fenna down, since she somehow noticed her anxiety just by her hand shaking the acute trim control due to its manual settings, “Just wait... Don't worry, the ship will respond, she just needs a while... to get used to you...”


Ironically, the ship did respond after another short while. The false angle and the awkward hovering position slowly corrected itself. For this very moment, Fenna became a bit more confident - if not much.
“Okay - Good job, Fenna. But now you need to compensate the back-drifting angle or we will end up the same way, but on the opposite bank. Reengage the supportive fields, just two of them for now.”

Surprisingly, Hailynn's tutoring proved itself along with Fenna's capability of perceiving her commands. Still, Fenna asked herself why Hailynn had chosen her as the subordinate helmswoman.
“Alright, Ensign. You've got us trimmed well... But now... How do we get out of here?”
“There's an access vault that transferred us here - but don't ask me how to activate it now that Shodanii's... control... is no longer available”, Orelis replied.

Aira's voice suddenly spoke from above in a monotone manner, “Terminal vault, beta deck, three... Access in progress...”
“What? `Access in progress?' H-how...?”, he asked with a surprised expression as he saw the upper screen revealing the access gateway high above opening slowly.
“She was in contact with Shodanii, Orelis - She is now somewhat alike her”, Hailynn explained, “I guess she is able to imitate some of her capabilities...”
“Well, I'll be damned... I'm just glad we're getting out of here - Once and for all!”


At last, the `Vjel-Amaj' was transferred into the decompressed region of the outer scaffolding and the gigantic hangar. As it was long before, the inner world was filled with a dusty blue-gray haze, slowly moving corpses, debris, minor hulks of destructed vessels and the burst valves of industrial segments throughout the entire limited range and field of view. Once again, it was up to Fenna - and Hailynn's coaching - to guide the ship slowly towards the much desired exit. During the flight, Aira had constantly repeated threatening warnings and occurrences of the mothership's integrity - perceptible by further parts of bursting valves and pipes throwing objects upon ship's hull...


“Oh... my... gods...”, Fenna suddenly said as she looked upon the screen ahead.
Orelis suddenly lifted himself, “What the...!”

As the amaji cruiser approached the open access dock to outer space, all screens revealed a massive amount of vessels outside, residing closely to the mothership.

“H-Hailynn to Chief Brogan!”, Hailynn anxiously shouted upon her comm-unit, “Hailynn to Chief Brogan!”
“”Whoa - Brogan here. Hey, Delixa. Good to hear from yah, ma'am! Glad --””
“Chief! Kill the reactor! Kill all power at once!”
“”*slight chuckle* Heh, hey is this some kind of joke - like the one you pulled two months ago? Took us a lot of trouble to get it online, y'know. Honestly, not really a good --””


Hailynn yelled even louder, surprising even more people throughout the bridge, “Cut the frakking reactor or we're screwed, Chief - Hurry!”

 

****

It only took a brief moment until the pure darkness engulfed the entire ship, rendering it merely invisible for the bare eye whilst hidden among the port to open space. Despite the warning announcement, certain areas within the cruiser were caught by surprise. Nonetheless, unrest was actually caused by the random quakes trembling throughout the ship.

As for everybody throughout the bridge, their eyes could only see the faint consoles and frames glowing; obviously powered by a minor independent power grid. Aira continuously spoke in the unusual manner, foremost speaking of the automated announcements and randomly in her kadeshi language. The girl's mind was certainly still confused and under unexplainable influences - However, for a change, she was distracted but a lot calmer than the rest within the bridge.

To this point, Hailynn sunk into her seat slightly. The pressure of stress and despair was affecting her greatly. Her fist smacked upon the side of her sophisticated seat... somewhat angry.
Too late...


For this very moment, Hailynn's mind was shortly entangled by the strains of misery, exhaustion and a brief headache. Thoughts were thrown wildly. Hailynn's entire body ached. The treated physical wounds awoke her, felt by the soreness and the sealed cut upon the joint of her arm. It was clear that she was mentally near a nervous breakdown... but she just could neither faint nor give up - not now.
She needed to calm down; push herself through yet again - without drugs or any possible medication. Tightening both palms into a fist, she forced herself into breathing unhurriedly, allowing her mind to slowly returned to reality...


“Commander?”, Orelis called to her from the side, “Hailey - You alright?”
She did not answer at first.
Think... THINK!
“Hai-”
“Is there any action going on... out there - Have they spotted us?!”
“What?”
“Are we compromised?”, the wrecked and weary woman asked him.


“Sensory - Any news?”, Orelis called out as he lifted himself but unfortunately, Aira was still repeating the same monotone words of warning and nonsense without pause, “Aira? Hey - Aira?!”
“What's wrong with her?”, a voice of an unknown operative questioned from further away.
“Dunno, but I should have kept Kelsea up there - damn it. Might as well send her up there right now.”
Kelsea gulped.


“Commander Orelis, we took over certain functions of the sensory station already”, Kenta called in from the side at the observatory station, “We can't really see much but -”
Orelis pinched his eyes together. Though he recognized her voice, the entire area was near to pitch black, “Good. What have you got?”
“Rerouting basic live feed to the main screen and navigation - coming soon. As far as I can tell, it seems as if the enemy fleet is just... moving along... minding their business. I guess they haven't noticed us... but that's about it, commander. “
“For any other details, we would require some power allocated to sensory, sir”, Quan added, “Without Aira not... clear of her senses... well, let's say at least it should allow sensory to percept everything clearly - passively, I mean.”
“They'd blown us to bits by now, anyways”, the grumpy officer snarled to the others in a strange ironical tone, “Pretty sure we can allocate the power. Engage backup generators and the emergency lighting. Power allocation to -”

“Forfeit command. Orelis, please wait.”, Hailynn's voice suddenly said quietly but still hearable, “Zann?”

“Hm - alright, Hailey. Your call.”

“I hear you, ma'am.”
The hiigaran woman rubbed her aching head as she spoke, “Zann, how are our EM emission levels?”
“With the reactor cut-dead? Well, despite the natural persisting field - we're probably emitting nothing more than that of a small `Sukolai' shuttle, commander. Anyways, our ship is pretty much well concealed enough by our surroundings. Good thing Fenna parked us away from the edge - without any supportive means of visual guidance...”


Hailynn looked ahead shortly. Indeed, Fenna managed well for a deep-green helmswoman. Although the young pilot acts like a queasy wimp in situations such as this one, this was the first time she took initiative - probably saving the ship from being discovered.
“Can we maintain our EM-profile low but still keep certain systems powered at the same time?”


The technical engineer frowned, “Ouf... That could be a tough one, commander... - but yes, it is possible. We could keep the reactor down and have capacitors empower basic grids.”
“Passive capture and live feed completed”, Kenta announced as the main screen and other secondary ones revealed images - Images and live surveillance feed of the breath-taking fleet floating beyond and among the mothership's perimeter. The view was practically dreadful for every crewmember - excluding Captain Quenton Sobaan.


Fenna sunk into her seat in fear and anxiety. Countless vessels and even an indefinite amount of smaller crafts were slowly levitating among the fields of floating debris, as if they were somewhat haunting... patiently waiting for their prey to come out the hideout, needless to say how petrifying every single vessel of the taiidan-turanic armada appeared. She felt cornered... horrified.

“Why don't we just get out of here!”, Fenna suddenly shouted from ahead, surprising everybody by the sudden break of silence, “L-Let's just hyperjump! Here and now!”
“Whoa! Hey - HEY!”, Orelis growled, “Get yourself together, woman!”

“No - Let's go! Now!”, the young amaji cried towards the back, hoping she could persuade anyone.
“Fenna - We can't hyperjump just like that! We must be clear of the mothership's intensive field!”, Kenta tried to explain, hoping she calm Fenna down - but failed.
“Have us just jump with one of our other p-possibilities! L-Let us just do that f-f.. - phase jump - thing then! We'd clear this place before they gun us down!”
“Without any means of guidance, it'd another blind jump into nowhere! We'd end up anywhere - more likely without finding a way of navigational orientation from that point! We shouldn't dare our luck again like that!”


Both of Fenna's anxious hands curled themselves tightly upon the main controls. Luckily, the ship did not respond. Arguing further, a selected few operatives joined in the rushed discussion.
“Fenna!”, Hailynn's voice thundered from far behind, “That's enough!”


All arguments ended abruptly.
“Rushing out there would be certain DEATH! They'd blow the whole ship with barrages before you'd blink - so stay put! Alright - Everybody, listen up -!”, Hailynn suddenly raised herself from her seat. It took her a short moment to catch her woozy balance though. Gaining the attention of everybody.
Giving a long sigh, Hailynn shook her head at first, “Fenna is right though... We need to get out of here - but not by gaining all the attention of the galaxy - and I know exactly how to do it. To all stations, `Code: Purple', here and now!”, Hailynn pertly commanded along with a swung hand.

The anxiety throughout the bridge disappeared as Hailynn stood in the darkness, surrounded by the silence - excluding Aira's constant monolog. However, the silence remained for a long time. Although Hailynn was not able to see their faces, something told her that they all were confused by her command.
“Come on, everybody! Code: Purple! Now!”
“Hailey”, Orelis spoke from her side, “I know all sorts of `conditions', `codes', `situations' and `status' commands, but I never - ever - heard of code: purple - Honestly. You trying to fill the rainbow in our colorful command set?”
“What? But -”

“Commander Delixa”, the quiet captain suddenly called out, “I fear I must remind you that this vessel and its crew is not a full military unit. I do not need to remind you that this ship has a lot more civilian operatives than military servicemen - but commander: We are the only two upon the bridge who have ever used `Code: Purple' - The rather… unofficial code. Furthermore, it is a special term that was used during our service in the Hiigaran Navy, upon the `Talon-Vo'” frigate. Do you remember?”

Hailynn, though wanting to remember herself of the nostalgic moments upon the `Talon-Vo', shook her head in embarrassment. Luckily, her face was concealed by the darkness.

“So - There is a purple?”, Orelis snickered, “I thought you were really pulling a joke, commander. *slight chuckles - followed by sighing*”
“Commander Delixa, why don't you explain your tactic? Please.”


Fenna shook her head, not believing that they were going to have to listen to some silly war story in a time like this.
The female commander rearranged herself to her seat, lastly recalling the events related to the tactics, “Err - yes, thank you, captain. *harrumpf* A very long time ago, our frigate, the `Talon-Vo', survived a sudden onslaught upon one of the distant jump routes during the Hiigara-Vaygr War. It caught our fleet by total surprise. The entire route of retreat was spearheaded by a vaygr crusade that barricaded our direct escape into friendly space.
We were pursued for... gods... I think that was for four months. Despite efforts in linking up with other lost fleets, we were often on our own, most of the time it was: our prowl versus vaygr - walls of death. Code: purple was a special code we used as an immediate and instantaneous all-out command of attaining full subtlety and stealth. All sources of electromagnetic emissions, communication and anything else were to be immediately terminated until further notice.
Most of the time, we ended up sneaking our way out only using gas exhausters as thrusters applying to the physics of inertia in space - and most of that time, I was at the helm... Trust me, the ship reacted a lot more sluggish than a `Bishop' transport liner. *sigh* But let's cut this short. I think we require doing the same - The `Talon-Vo' was a very good ship, reliable. I am sure the `Vjel-Amaj' is capable of doing the same despite her… modest size.”
“Well said, commander.”


“You sound like you don't want to insult the `Vjel', heh-heh - but whoa whoa, okay, let me get this straight - Let's say we cut our radiation to zero..”, Orelis added -
“Near-to-zero”, Zann corrected -
“Whatever. Okay that would be the subtle part, but I don't get the stealth part. Now I don't have the slightest clue what type of sensory those turanics or taiidans out there possess - but the `Vjel-Amaj' would surely still appear on their screens somehow! We don't possess any cloaking or any true concealment systems. I mean, what would stop them from just looking out of the window and spotting us? And how are we to navigate while being this blindly?”


“We are not totally blind, Orelis. Passive surveillance and the drones we still have out there should help us out. If we are lucky, we can catch surveillance feed and we can use the mothership's shadow - if I am seeing things correctly on that screen, it just might work out. Besides, let's hope they keep busy with the refueling and receive word of our existence by the time we're out of here. ”
“Right. Right. I know. Think positively”, Orelis sighed.

“But foremost: Kenta, I want you to scan that derelict taiidan frigate at seven o'clock once you are able to do so. Figure its passive hull magnetism value or anything that could help us out. If so, we could polarize our hull armor and align its field to that junkyard and -“
“- and sneak into the herd of sheep. Now I get it.”
“Got it. I'm on it, Hailynn. Sir - Ma'am, I mean.”
“The jump coordinates are locked, too, or?”
“Yes. We have rearranged our destination the point Aira chose. The one leading us to that Ark place, ma'am.”

“Good. That should -”
“Warning!”, Aira suddenly shouted, interrupting her calm speech, “Abnormal gravimetric fields detected! Danger! Field stabilizers T, J, F in sector omicron destabilizing! Alert! Alienating gravimetric field progressing amidst the vessel!”
“What she talkin' about? Huh?”


Again, the cruiser rumbled, but this time in a lot more intensively than before.
“Are we under f-f-fire?!”, an operative shouted.
“Negative! The quaking is coming from the mothership j-j-just as Aira said!”

The tremor faded but was still persisting.
“Commander, multiple comm-requests coming in from all decks”, Kelsea reported, “including an urgent one coming from Lieutenant Colonel Manaan, ma'am. Should I patch them through - one by one?”
“Frell no...*sigh* Look, patch Kaydaana through but lock all signals down unless predominantly urgent. I wish you to PA a short statement that all communication must seize and maintain radio silence!”
“Understood. Patching her through to your comm-unit, ma'am. One moment.”


The hiigaran commander rubbed her forehead, the headache was still interfering with her mind.
“C-Colonel Manaan, you may speak.”
Hailynn pressed the key of transmitter.
“Hailynn here. What is it, Kayda-”

“”Whaaat? That you *fffshht* Hailey - Why'm I always tha' last to know about what's goin' on this ship?! ””
“Kaydy, what you need?!”
“For fraggin' sake, I'm tryin' to take a show'r here! We undah attack or what?!”

A faint smacking sound was heard. Obviously, it was Hailynn's hand that slapped upon her already aching forehead.
“Damn it, Kaydy! Stop fooling around and report to duty! Get your damn self to fighter bay and wait for further orders!”
“”Hey hey hey! Watch yer mouth, old lady, or I'll - *veep*””

“Gods, that woman got some nerve. Kelsea!”, Hailynn said loudly after cutting the comm-line, “I don't care if she happens to burn the ship down - If she calls again, cut her off! And put her comm on lockdown as well!”
“Y-Yes, ma'am.”
“Zann. You have my `okay' for powering the grids now - but remember, keep our profile near-to-zero as you said! And power to basic gravity systems - bow, starboard, port and stern, please. Fenna will need them.”

“T-That's all I will have to navigate the ship - just that?! B-but how am I to -?”, Fenna denounced.
“It'll be as sluggish as hell, Ensign, I know. Just stay focused to my navigational commands. Let's get going…”



Haven lost.

Twenty minutes later...
Leaving the enormous world of taiidan mothership behind, the nimble `Vjel-Amaj' slowly departed from the port into the dreadful territory of space that was filled with innumerable vessels, debris and fields of junk and hulks of derelicts. Surrounded by the armada, it became clear that there was no way in turning back. Capitol ships were almost everywhere. Mixed feelings did prevail. However, escaping the stench of rotting death and its history was more than enough for a reason to depart. The mothership, once a daunting ghost ship of a strange consciousness offering refuge, was now soon to become a ensnaring death trap.


Able to maintain stealth, the ship successfully extracted the remaining drones, luckily sparing the ship of extensive financial costs for replacement units. Despite their success, the crew - foremost the helmswoman - was in deep anxiety and despair. Every floating object that repeatedly bounced upon the hull of the cruiser transmitted sounds dreadfully, scaring those who were too nervous. The creeping feeling of being discovered disturbed nearly everybody.

Ever since departure had Hailynn constantly given navigational orders directly to Fenna, who did the best she could, although she was a lot more scared than ever. The flight through the comet while being chased by the vaygr made it hard to actually decide whichever situation she suffered through was worse. Indeed, it was outright difficult for her to perform precise maneuvers, even the simplest ones. The cruiser was simply too unresponsive due to the super low profile of `code
urple'.
Hailynn constantly gave simple commands of flight corrections and the desired durations followed by Fenna's response of doing so the best she could. Unfortunately, the young helmswoman often performed the orders too imprecise.
From time to time, she would lose control due to her inexperience, confusions and fumbles with the many pairs sophisticated controls to her disposal. Nonetheless, the ship still drifted away whilst bypassing under the eyes of the surrounding predators.

“Somebody has to explain me just how these frakkers managed survived for so long in this space”, Orelis grumbled.
“Long story - I'll tell you about it when… if… we get out of this place alive.”
“Look at the… size… of that vessel.”
He pointed upon the screen, referring to the most dominant vessel resembling the mobile outpost of the turanics that resided upon the side of the mothership, levitating within the vast field of debris. Obviously, it was docked and for sure was conducting fuel and power into its core. Furthermore, it seemed as if they ignored the warnings and the gravitational fields erupting throughout the entire mothership.
“Hmm…”, Hailynn hummed.
“What's wrong?”
“That mothership is having an earthquake and they all are still docking?”
“Beats me -”


It seemed as if they were craving for recharging their propulsion cells... as if they were desperate. Orelis shook his head and crossed his arms when he suddenly noticed the silence. After looking at Hailynn and other operatives at first, they all raised their heads towards Aira.

The kadeshi girl ended her speech so abruptly that her sudden pause caught the attention of the crew among the bridge. Though her mind was still plagued by wild memories, voices and other faint but confusing reminiscences, her mind suddenly lost the mental connection to the mothership's dull-minded A.I. that constantly spoke through her lips. Lastly, the girl found herself surrounded by that darkness yet again to her surprise.


“Aira? Are you alright? Can you hear me now?”, Hailynn called upwards.
“I... I... Where? I was down n-next to you, my naji, w-when -”
“Glad you are back to your senses, Ai', but please stay calm up there. We're very busy right now. Just - stay calm.”

The adolescent girl nodded quietly.
“We got a problem...”, Quan noted, “We've got an incoming group of three vessels, battlecruiser class, coming in from eight o'clock high! Speed unknown, but they're approaching slightly faster than our drift”
“Did they detect us?”, Orelis asked, “Or should we charge the reactor, commander?”

“Let's not get overhasty, Orelis.”

“I don't think they detected us, sir. I don't see any sensor sweeps focused upon us”, Quan added.
“Rough guess would be that they're heading on some patrol route”, his sister assumed.
“Well. Lucky us *grumbles*.”
“We're still as visible as a piece of junk on their sensory”, Zann added lastly, “As long as we don't do any hasted or unusual movements, we should be able to maintain our stealth.”

“Fenna, you see the hull skeleton of that taiidan destroyer? I want you to bring the ship under the area that offers enough space for us. Once we are close enough, I want you, Zann, to alter the hull polarization to magnetize and attract us to that skeleton!”
“Roger that. I'm on it”
“Eh...”
“I will guide you, Fenna.”


Doing as Hailynn ordered, each of her commands led the ship to the desired location after slowly altering the yaw and motion of the vessel. They were running out of time. The group of three battlecruisers was coming dangerously close to their vicinity. Polarizing the hull respectively, the `Vjel-Amaj' and the hulking remains magnetized each other that lastly led to attraction. Feeling the minor impact, it was clear to Fenna that the ship had planted foothold upon it. The `Vjel-Amaj' was now partially concealed by the derelict hull, hidden within its `ribs'.


“I don't believe it, it worked...”, the nervous helmswoman commented, “Now what?”
“We'll know if it worked as soon as we know how those damn idiots react, Ensign…”
“Gravity impulse, one-seventh ahead to vector 3 o'clock, for two seconds. Make the hull and us drift sideways. Should look authentic enough for us to look like a floating piece of scrap.”

Though mistakenly doing a much stronger impulse, the entire hull began to move ahead - unnoticed for the approaching group due to the infinite amount of objects floating through the entire sphere.
“They're coming closer...”, Quan reported once more.
“I don't like the looks of this. You sure they're not frakking this up?”, Orelis asked with a note of concern, “I know this place is swarming with them, but for them coming that close to us. That is way too much for being a simple coincidence!”
“Steady as she goes”, the hiigaran officer replied, “It's too late to get out of this.”

To the surprise of everybody, the three battlecruisers surrounded the floating hulk very slowly. The vessels indeed did not seem to have detected them but due to their slow pace, they somewhat escorted the concealed amaji cruiser without knowing of its existence within.

“Stay calm... stay calm”, Hailynn whispered anxiously, “We're just dead fish floating...”.
“Why are you whispering?”, Orelis asked quietly.
“...”
Hailynn curled her palms to fists again, now she was the one who was getting nervous. Another three minutes went by until the vessels that drifted beside slowly advanced.
“A group of strikecrafts have bypassed the yellow perimeter but is on an alternating course. No danger at all.”, Quan reported again.

“No...”
“What?”, Orelis said and turned his head, looking upwards towards the girl that suddenly said something, “What's wrong?”
“No... No!”, Aira cried, “No!”
“She going crazy again?”
“A-Abnormal... gravity field... I-I... I can feel it! D-Destructive... Immensive - Na'gra tath!”

“Whooooa... whoa!”, Quan suddenly said, “H-Hey, she's... right!”
“What's going on?!”
“The mothership, it's...”
“Patch live feed to our stern!”, Hailynn ordered at once.

Within a short moment, all eyes turned ahead to the main screen that soon revealed an occurrences developing between the enormous mothership and the vessels that docked upon the exterior hull. Shocked by the sudden event, all eyes witnessed an invisible force somewhat clashing upon the hull of the mothership and the largest vessel of the armada, invisibly crushing minor sections.

Several minor stars flashed amidst that area, a small portion of the smaller fighters suddenly imploded without notice - soon followed by a small hull segment of the mothership rupturing to towards outer space. Gushes of gases and other fluent masses burst into space…

“What the -!”
“You've got to be kidding me...”
“C-Commander...”, Kenta noted with the notion of dread in her voice, “The entire gravity field persisting among the mothership is.. de-harmonizing! It's alternating!”
“Frakk...”

Hailynn dropped her shoulders. They haven't even reached one-fifth of the trip into the wake and away from the gravitational field for hyperjump clearance. Unfortunately, things became worse as Kenta's images revealed rotating strains of gravimetric force emitting from the humongous mothership. Despite both observatory and sensory stations being underpowered, the passive surveillance was sufficient enough to percept the imminent dangers that were forming from far behind.


“Oh my...”, the amaji operative said quietly...
“Report!”
“G-Gravity well! Strains of gravity fields have excluded themselves and are waving through the entire region! Oh my gods, one of the more intensive fields have enveloped twelve... no, thirty-two of the capitol vessels... I-I cannot count the amount of fighters being...!”

The low-detailed live feed only gave a weak impression of what was occurring beyond.
“Commander!”, an operative announced from the other side of the bridge, “The three battlecruisers are breaking away!”
“Ha, looks like they got surprised too and don't know what's going on, eh?”, Orelis snarled, “This might be our chance to get out of here!”
“Not yet”, Hailynn noted, “Let's -”

“Incoming! Gravity well strain!”
“What?!”
“Are we going to get crushed?!”, Fenna cried in despair.
“Negative - It will only pull us to the source that is resonating from the mothership! But with the other gravimetric fields crushing everything at the near vicinity of the mothership - it'll pull us into deep trouble!”, Kenta explained.
“Crap - Fenna, get us out of here before -!”


Too late.
The gravity well strain emitted nearly instantaneously, causing the hulk, the hidden cruiser, and an indefinite amount of debris to be attracted towards the mothership's area. Slowly gaining reverse movement, it became clear that the gravity well was pulling every mass in space. This must have been what Shodanii focused for, the cause for sabotaging the flux generators of the mothership, the effect leading to the entire vicinity to be crushed by the intensive reactive force of gravity.

As for many of the crew, none could believe their eyes as they witnessed the once massive armada of turanic and taiidan desperately trying to swarm and spread out. All vessels and fighters were seemingly urging to spread out like a immense flock of scared birds.
“Zann - depolarization now! Fenna - get us out of here!”
“'Depol' done but I doubt we're getting out of here that easy, ma'am!”

The ship gained on negative speed, moving backwards towards the mothership.
“I have no control! Gravity controls are not working!”
“Hull integrity under stress!”, a technician operative noted.
“Damn... Of course... How are the fields to work if a much powerful one is negating ours?!”, Orelis snarled again ironically, “If we want to have our grav-field working against this one, we're going to have to charge that reactor, Hailynn!”
The gravity well affected the entire crew.
“That will blow our cover!”
“We've not much of a choice, do we, Hailey?!”

She closed her eyes.


Short moments later...
The hulk spun into the vicinity of the confused armada again, unable to escape the sudden grip of the invisible force that either immobilized or crushed its victims. But just before the hulk bashed upon one of the larger vessels held by the gravity well, the nimble amaji cruiser suddenly released itself from the spinning hulk.
“All stations! Code: Red!”, Hailynn shouted, soon to be followed by the command of powering all stations. Within moments, all of the artificial lightning lit throughout the ship. Countless amounts of junk and other objects rained upon the `Vjel-Amaj'.


“Stabilize the ship! Hurry!”
Fenna desperately grabbed her controls and fought as hard as she could to retain all gravity controls in order to repel forceful affecting gravity well. Barely able to regain control, the ship ended its spin and caught itself amidst the dense region of debris. Unfortunately, due to the long and strenuous attempt of detaching from their hideout, the `Vjel-Amaj' was thrown back, and found itself dangerously close to the mothership and its alienating fields a destruction.

“That was close…! Too close…!”, Quan shouted, “We were nearly enveloped by that crushing strain!”
“Fluxing power to the grids!”, Zann announced, “Few more seconds till completion!”

Within moments, the entire cruiser came back to full life. At last, the ship held its position as its gravity containment field equalized the negative pull. However, at the very moment the ship attained full power, both Quan and Kenta noticed a plethora of signals and rays being focused upon their ship.

“We've been detected!”
“Well that had to happen, damn it!”, Orelis cursed loudly, “Ensign Fenna! Full speed ahead - get us out of here!”
“I'm trying to but -”


The ship swung to the side but was still gripped by the gravity well strain holding the ship.

“More power to the gravity units!”, Hailynn ordered directly to Zann, who immediately relayed her commands further to the engineering deck. Within the desperate moment, the field units immediately responded and resonated an alternating field leading to the release from the entrapping gravity well. More debris rained towards the cruisers direction, soon followed by a taiidan frigate that luckily bypassed them barely.

“I'd rather hyperjump know if we could!”, Orelis shouted.
“No-can-do! The -”
“Yeah yeah, I know! The damn grav-well! But for frakk's sake, let's get out of here!”, he shouted back at Kenta.

“Zann! Don't expand the exteriors and nacelles yet! The last thing we need to happen is to have them suffer severe damage!”
“Understood - but we shouldn't delay it for too long, ma'am! Chief Brogan reported that the conduits are standing-by but won't hold for all too long! The lower starboard conduit is instable, but if we jump soon enough, it should keep together till we get home!”


Hailynn nodded.
“Alert! Incoming fire!”, one of the fire control operative announced in despair, “Enemy fire approaching from a high vector!”

Though being tormented by the fields of destruction and disturbances, the shrouding fleet of turanic and taiidan vessel indeed noticed the unknown vessel - Without any terms of identification, barrages were fired upon the cruiser. Everybody within the bridge braced themselves, unsure if they were actually going to survive the attack… when suddenly… Only a selected batch of artillery fire actually bypassed the cruiser moments later - the portion of the barrages that came closest to their target…

“Wha- Did they forget to aim or are they shooting with duds?!”, Orelis snarled, though surprised.
“Negative - it's the gravity well emitting from the mothership! The gravity vortex has thrown a strain amidst our position! While we were protected by our own containment field, the artillery fire was misled into a totally different trajectory!”, Kenta explained, surprised, but joyful - actually thankful for her prayers being heard.
“Well - burn my soul! El-oh-el…!”, Orelis said quietly.
“What?!”
“Nothing, just a military term for `lucky us' or something!”


Another segment of the mothership's outer hull ruptured, this time whipping an unusual strain of an explosion affected by the immense gravity attractions. Hundreds to thousands of objects were ripped into open space - everything, from hulking vehicles to a massive amount of corpses.

“Fighters and frigates that are somewhat free of the gravity fields have dispatched themselves from the armada, ma'am!”
“They're coming for us!”
“We shall wait no longer! Announce to the entire ship that `code:black' will engage soon, so have everybody brace themselves - Helmswoman, maximum power to thrusters!”, Hailynn demanded loudly.


Aira anxiously fumbled with her seat-harnessers.
“Hailynn, the whole galaxy is being sucked here!”, Fenna cursed, “How am I to dodge all of this stuff coming in by flying that fast?!”
“You made it through that comet dodging everything, Fenna! Damn it -!”
“You can't be honest -!”

“Frakk, set the automated sequencers and A.I.-supporters like you did back then at the comet if you must! I don't care if you are going to fly us into a goddamn dreadnought - but for frakk's sake, get us OUT OF HERE!”, Hailynn shouted at her as loud as she could.
Fenna nervously bit her teeth together as she swung herself back into the seat and settled her grips upon the designated controls. The burst of thrusters was going to make this flight into another wild and uncontrollable ride - just like in the comet back then… but she had no choice.

“Have it your way - but you asked for it!”, the young amaji shouted back, jamming the controls ahead while stretching her legs, down-thrusting the selected pedals that dealt for the thrusters.

Instantaneously, all fusion thrusters of the `Vjel-Amaj' flashed, then ignited, lastly blasting pure fusion energy that launched the elegant cruiser ahead. Due to the ship's inertia being suppressed by the containment fields, the thrusting force was a lot more intensive, allowing the ship to attain high acceleration in a matter of seconds. Despite the inertial stabilizers and dampers, the entire crew felt the pressure, but due to Hailynn's treated injuries, it was her who suffered the most from pain.


Barely able to dodge the incoming masses, Fenna frantically threw the gravity controls from one side to another, causing the vessel to barrel-roll, yaw and spin, even more flying so awkwardly that even she had lost orientation. But nonetheless thanks to her freedom in allocating certain controls to the automated systems, the controls among her automatically suppressed and corrected most of her mistakes almost instantly. Astonishingly, her unusual erratic maneuverings were surprisingly dodging most of the dangers relayed upon her screen such as gravity well strains, derelict obstacles but foremost, heavy fire.


The kadeshi girl braced herself fearfully. The pressure was merely crushing her frail body. Despite all the excitement, her fragile mind was elsewhere. Innermost, she felt the nearness of the mothership flowing from her hands.


<No…! Nooooo!>


More parts of the mothership imploded, a large segment of its super-solid integrity bending and crushing like a weak stick. Explosions engulfed the nearby vessels that tried to escape, but lastly were they consumed by the gravity vortex in an instant, so immersive that nothing could escape its deadly grip.
Tears flew horizontally from Aira's eyes.
The gigantic mothership was becoming smaller as thousands of objects dashed passed her mentally.


<Shodanii…!>


To Orelis' surprise, Fenna was really urging to survive this as she heard her cursing around - almost as much as Hailynn whilst slamming the controls at all directions. The sounds of debris raining upon the hull were slowly starting to fade away.

“W-We're nearing the last perimeter of the spherical gravity well!”, Kenta reported.
“You call that spherical?!”, Quan shouted, referring to distorted fields among them and the mothership.
Looking far ahead, Hailynn spotted the alternating wall of dense gas clouds, barely showing any objects or obstacles but minor debris parts.
“Gravity well effects failing! We're coming free of its effects!”
“This is our chance! Zann, deploy all exteriors and the nacelles!”, Hailynn shouted towards his direction.

Without any delay, the nimble cruiser thrusting at blinding speed like a rocket slowly deployed its nacelles.
“Upper starboard - locked. Portside, upper and lower… locked! Lower starboooarard… Bingo! All nacelles locked! Conduits charged! Contacting engineering for last preparations, commander!”
“Got it!”


Quan's eyes followed the small blips still following the ship upon his screens, “We still got followers hot on our tail but they're closing in way too slow! Ha - bet they didn't expect us getting away with it!”
Her brother sounded somewhat euphoric, but Kenta smiled. Everybody had the reason to be this anxious.

<Shodanii! Bear my prayers! My soul cannot accept your… sacrifice! I beg you - Please forgive my… my failure in… saving your soul!>, Aira's mind shouted, but no voice was to head her prayer. Aira clenched both of her hands into fists, <My soul needs you… Where… Guidance… How? My ->

<Faith…>, a faint voice echoed…

Aira's eyes widened at the same moment the sudden flash blinded her view, followed by the feeling of an energetic heat wave merely burning her skin. The girl screamed in agony.


The entire region behind the `Vjel-Amaj' flashed…
Surprised by the sudden flash, everybody's euphoric reactions ended at once.

“Gods of Kharak…”, Kenta prayed, “T-The mothership has … e-exploded!”
Shockwaves of energy, light, explosions and distorted gravity strains hurled into all directions.

“Hearing waves of too many transmissions flooding the entire broadband!”, Kelsea reported loudly, “T-They're… They're - I don't know! They -”
“Shockwaves are engulfing the region!”


Heavy long-range artillery fire missed the cruiser yet again.

“Entering gas field in a few seconds!”, Fenna shouted, needless to say how fretfully she stared upon the gas shroud they were approaching.
“Commander! I seriously advise to get out of here!”, Kenta advised, “The shockwave is far too i-immense! We won't -”
“That hyperdrive ready?! Don't disappoint us, Chief!”, Orelis called out to the engineering deck.


“”Heh! She's hot and ready to go! It's now or never, bridge!””, Brogan's voice replied over the speakers.
“Relative distance to our destination is approximately 878 HU away from this current position according to our map! I have no idea how large this nebula is, but it'll be one frell of a jump - ”, Kenta repeated, “Now or never!”
““I have all jump sequences ready. No need for countdown with her drives running hot and it won't be a long flight with her drives running like this - you can count on that! You give me the order and we're outta here, bridge!””

“Jump coordinates locked! Hyperdrive ready! Code: Black already applied! All stations green!”, Zann lastly reported and showed Hailynn a `thumbs-up'.
“Now or never… Hailey!”, Orelis repeated as well.


Nearly everybody turned their view over to the wrecked-looking commander. Hailynn laid her back gently upon her seat as the ship rumbled further. Despite all of the pain she was suffering due to the pressure caused by the immense thrust, nothing stopped her from her victorious smile.
“Brace for impact… Commence hyperspace jump… JUMP!”, she shouted.

That time and again, the entire vessel hummed increasingly as the resonating field enveloped the cruiser.

She lowered her view as the unimaginable size of the shockwave approached her position. Gigantic fragments of the mothership shattered among the everlasting glowing field of pure death. Feeling the heat at first, Aira feared of her future. Suddenly, her skin tickled and trembled. Goosebumps… Glimpsing over her shoulder, she felt the cold wall of energy slowly slipping upon her skin… soon to quietly pull her into its cold bane.

Her hair suddenly was blown towards the front in an instant.
Within her heartbeat, the fields of gases, the shockwave, the dying armada of turanics and taiidans, the derelict graveyard and lastly, the destructed region resembling the remains of the mothership froze, then instantly dashed away, followed by violent streams of hyperspace rushing past her view. Aira's hand stretched out but never was it to feel the warmth of the being her soul sought for ever again in her entire life…
Faith - That was all her soul endeavored to repeat. Aira's soul could not explain if the faint voice she heard was from the sorrowed being…

A single tear drop fell from her eye, falling away into the endless stream.

<Fair well… Shodanii… I pray for your… lost soul… May Rahji… guide you to… eternal freedom >