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Cyriscel nodded at the caption and walked to his position instantly. When both the caption and the Wraith reached their positions Cyriscel was ready for any order.“Okay here we go, Cyriscel, I want you to target and take out all three fusion reactors on that ring; we need to bring that shield down. with another nod to show that he understood the orders Cyriscel started aiming the Mag-Rail guns and said out each of the degrees the Mag-Rails were being aimed. Seconds after he finished aiming the guns it was a very shot five sec pause before the Mag-Rails fired and utterly destroyed the generators. Each explosion was greater and more beautiful and destructive than the last.

Right after Cyriscel shot the Mag-Rail guns at the targets he felt as though time stopped and some sort of flashback accrued. Memories of his home planet Cironnis (sie-ron-nis), the main home world for more than 80% of the Wraith race, the first known diamond shaped planet, with three diamond shaped moons and two six ringed rings that create an cross each other on the planet. If you were in a ship looking at the planet from space you could see an orb in it that proves it was once a normal planet before it was crystallized and frozen. Even so it was still a great sight that puts some in awe. This memory happened six weeks in war between humanity and the Wraiths. The leaders at that time was the monarchies’ None of the monarchies’ have emotions and are so full of energy that they live as immortal’s and their word was and still is law to the Wraiths. Cyriscel was fleet commander for the 3 monarchy Topaz, one of the Religious leaders of the Valadorrum race. Cyriscel, What keeps you up so late? Not even the Alien beings should make you act this strange? Rest, it will be better for you when you do come to face them. Our holy champion, Zallidar(zal-lid-ar) (a Wraith god) wills it. Said Topaz without showing emotions. I apologize for such, but these beings are strange. They all act so differently and they even say the colors of the walls differently. It makes me wonder what their war strategy’s are and their ways of living. Some even say they fight for their emperor. But the thing that is most strange of all is that each one we kill two more will be able to take its place. They break more and more of our logic that its strange how they are even here. Said Cyriscel so close to emotionlessly that it would be hard to tell that if he even had emotions back then. Don’t fear my child, Zallidar will protect us and let’s not forget that there is still pretty good number of us to make this war even out. Now get yourself some rest, you’ll have a very big fight soon. said Topaz right before getting up and walk away with his two bodyguards.

Cyriscel woke from his flashback that only took seconds of his time away from him. The Wraith was still sitting in position waiting for further orders.

As Taji was saying "Wolfe" to wake him James was having a dream about his childhood.

"Whats wrong with that kid." Sneered a particularly nasty boy who delighted in tormenting him, all the while pointing at his face. Another kid joined in saying "Look at the devil child with his red eyes, ha ha." At that the boys could see that James was clenching his fists at his sides and his face was growing red. With a swagger in his step the first boy walked up to James and poked him in the ribs."What'cha gonna do about it freak..." before the kid could even finish saying the word "freak" James launched a punch to sneering kids temple

All of a sudden his memory world dissipated into searing pain above his left eye. As his head slammed into the back of his chair James' eyes fluttered open to see Taji leaning over him with a coiled fist much as he had stood over the boy after he had knocked him out and not only that but a much too bright sun blazing into his sensitive eyes. Turning his head to the side and shutting his eyes he quickly activated his visors tinting so he could see something besides blazing light.

"What the Taji, why did you go and hit me it didn't help that you woke me with a sun in front of us. My eyes are very sensitive to light Raising his hands to rub his temples to help assuage the headache that was forming, he noticed that half of the lights of the shuttle weren't on and the other half were blinking like a Christmas tree.

"Consider that... payback for earlier. Taji said rather smugly and settled back in her seat. Turning around James said "For what..." he demanded but saw her eyes go flinty and so he gulped and fine ished quickly with a "Nevermind" while turning around.

Deciding to take this lovely time to determine exactly what was going on with the ship he settled back down to study the console. "Shit" he said after a minutes consideration of the blinking lights "We only have basic life support and absolutely no communications or engine.... let alone the navigation system, so we couldn't tell them where we were even if we had a working comm unit."

Deciding his shielded eyes could probably handle looking at the sun again he looked upwards at it and noticed it had moved slightly from the first glimpse he had of it. To make sure he wasn't imagining things he closed his eyes after imprinting the image in his head and counted to ten. Sure enough when he opened his trained eyes he noticed a slight difference in placement with the sun. With a slam of his fist on the dashboard he exclaimed "Damn it we are still drifting in space."

Taji's soulless eyes sparked with light for only a second as she digested his words. It took her a a little time to fully process what he had said and she tilted her head to one side, unsure if she had heard him right. Slowly, the full meaning hit her, however, and as realization dawned, she surged out of her seat and pulled herself up over the back of James' chair. The light did little to eyes that were so used to the glare of such a massive sun and she had little trouble balancing herself over the back of the seat. james, however, didn't move. Indeed, so fixed was he on their dilemma, that initially, he didn't notice that she had moved at all.

In the midst of their leisurely jog on the ring, Taji's hair had come loose from its usual tie, and now, unfettered, it hung in sleek coils about his head, brushing his shoulders as it spilled over her own. He noted for the first time that it wasn't loose, per se, but was actually tightly wound into a series of small, smooth ropes- humans would call the messier version "dreadlocks". Admittedly, it was a little harder to notice in the day-to-day duties, when everything was pulled back and away from her face. But now, it only served to add to the Shifter's exotic appearance- especially when he turned his gaze upwards.

From this angle, all that he could see were her high cheek-bones, earrings, and glittering eyes. For a moment, she could almost pass for some ethereal spirit from gods-only-knew-where. Indeed, in her dark eyes, there was a certain endless depth that, he was sure, you could lose yourself in, if you weren't careful.

The entire effect wasn't even lost when, a moment later, she arched an eyebrow and those sparks in her gaze turned to flinty obsidian. "Define 'drifting," she said, cautiously. And when James reiterated that they had no power and were simply floating, he noted a change in her expression. Indeed, as she sat back down, it seemed to take on a more concerned, dare he say, more panicked look. After another moment, he heard a light tapping and realized that it was her foot, then another that followed suit on her controls. The controls, however, were not as cut-and-dried as a simple tap. Instead, he could hear her flipping everything she could get her hands on. And as time passsed, the sounds became more and frenzied, as though she were trying every combination of switches and keystrokes she could fathom to get the thing going.

When he turned round in his seat and, in like kind, peered over the top, he found her expression clouded with seeming-alarm. It was odd to see the hardened woman in such a state- it fit little with her normally nonchalant, "don't give a damn" attitude.

As James was pounding his fist on the control panel his mind was fast at work thinking of a way to contact the Maelstrom. After a few seconds of thought he thought he had a way that would work. Okay if I were to exit the ship and use my suits sensors to follow the energy trail our ship left... I should be relatively close enough to contact Iridal via my suits up-link... Yes that could work... sadly I'll have to leave Taji here as her suit isn't outfitted with the necessary modifications to traverse space like that or even live long enough out there for that matter...

James was beginning to feel confident that this plan would work when he felt something dance light across his shoulders. Looking up he saw that her hair was in "dreadlocks" instead of just coiled behind her head like he had assumed. You know... she looks very pretty from this angle he thought as his face began to redden slightly and he tore his eyes from her back to the console in front of him and the space beyond.

Then she asked "Define drifting," and he reiterated what he had just said... barely registering the fact she seemed concerned by that earlier remark... too confused was he over his reaction to looking at her. Only when she seemed to suddenly launch back into her seat and he could hear the frantic scratching noises of switches being flipped did he realize... something wasn't right. Turning around he saw her frantically pushes buttons here and switches getting flipped over there.

Oh crap... there is no way I could leave her here alone... SHES CLAUSTROPHOBIC?!... now what did that training I took in psychology mention when dealing with phobias.... Oh yeah keep their mind occupied and off the subject that has to with their fear...

"Don't worry about us drifting Taji, my men are very well trained when it comes to this sort of thing... I should know... I trained them! James said in a proud sort of voice. "They'll find us in no time at all. Now in the meantime why don't you tell me a little about your past to help fill of the time." James said in a cheery voice that exuded confidence in what he was saying... though he was beginning to worry how he was going to handle Taji till they found them. He knew they would find them... it was just how long till they did that he didn't know and that could be a problem with handling Taji.

Taji, however, continued with her current train of thought and said nothing at first. Instead, she sat back and considered for a moment, as though thinking of a way to at least get her navigation tools up and going. Another series of combinations and key-strokes later, and they were still in the dark. The woman closed her eyes and breathed out heavily, running her hands through her coiled locks as she tried to remain calm.

Taji.

What?! the woman demanded, her temper flaring for a moment as her eyes shot open. She was frustrated with herself on the deepest level, and James heckling her for dirty little secrets wasn't helping. However, when she saw his expression darken, the Shifter heard a quiet voice in her head that warned her that they would be stuck here for a while, with any luck... Yelling at him perhaps was not the best idea. And she couldn't explain why, but she found it difficult to stay truly angry. After all, out of the entire crew, besides Marcus, he had probably shown her the most kindness- the most sincere kindness. The others had been tolerable, but she got the feeling from the looks in their eyes and the way that they acted that in them it was not so sincere as it was a way of keeping her in check. Fear- excepting the Captain, of course.

In light of this fact, Taji did something that she did not normally do. With a deep breath, she closed her eyes and sat back for a moment before speaking again, and this time... "I'm sorry, James. Um... As far as your question, there's not much to tell. It's all in my file. You know that the Shifters control a lot of the organized crime on a lot of planets-slums, racketeering, drug-dealing... Until about a month or two ago, I was working for a Syndicate on my home planet. We had a falling out, and I left. All there is to it."

It was the first crack in an icy exterior. Sure, she had been polite up to this point, but that had been simply because she felt that it was how she was expected to act if she was to survive in this atmosphere, and if nothing else, Taji was a survivor. The Shifter part of her brain could easily determine what was needed in that respect and she could adapt accordingly, but it was never sincere. Indeed, as the Captain had seen during their private meeting, if anything, the only reason that she held her tongue in check at all was to maintain that facade. But get her alone, and you could sometimes catch a glimpse of what lay beneath the layers of clay-like skin and soulless eyes. In his case, it had been an explosive temper- one that had very nearly cost Taji this job, she was sure- but she would have welcomed jail at that point.

James, however, got to see the slightly softer side of the feminine warrior, in lieu of her vulnerable moment. It was a side that few saw, but for a second, he caught the slightest tone of regret in her voice, and saw her vision dull as she seemed to focus on something that was fathoms away in space and time. It was a painful topic, but one that had undoubtedly shaped her into her current self.

And then it was gone, the hard exterior firmly back in place as she pursed her lips into a thin line and turned back to the dead console. "Not much else to tell, really. Pretty sure someone as straight-knocked as you wouldn't be interested in tales from the criminal underworld."

"Ah you would be surprised at what I would find interesting... my father Kyle Thomas Wolfe had been part of the militia before I was born but after... his heart was broken when my mother died giving birth to me..." There he paused and let out an audible sigh.

"I don't know if he ever forgave me for that... you see after he lost my mother ,Esther Porenn Wolfe, he seemed to give up on life. When I finally grew old enough to understand things my father was so dispirited he had turned to the bottle for comfort. My father was not the type of drinker who got happy when he drank... all too often he would stumble home and take his loss of my mother out on me. It got so bad one day when i was 14 he came home in a rage and as he entered he slammed the door so hard he broke the bottle in his hand. When he saw me he began to shout 'You took her from me you red eyed demon'" as he finished that statement there was a note of hate in his voice as if that title had been used much more frequently than had been indicated.

"and then he threw that bottle at me. So that it cut me right up my arm giving me this scar." He motioned towards his left arm and willed his suit to reveal the long gash that had been left on his upper arm.

"After that I ran away because I couldn't take it anymore... I resorted to petty crime afterwards, you know picking pockets so I could eat... one day when I was sixteen I tried to pick the pocket of the Captain." With a grin he continued "You can probably imagine how that turned out... he had me down on the ground in a headlock before I knew what hit me. After a few moments of struggling I gave up and then for some remarkable reason he said 'Follow me boy'... I wasn't sure what he was up too but I didn't dare disobey after what he had done. He took me to a school and said to me 'If you have energy to steal from somebody you could use it to learn something as well' and left me there after telling the Principal to put the cost of my schooling in the budget for the school."

With a wistful look in his eye he continued with "After that I sometimes wish the Captain had taken me to prison." Afterwards he let out a rueful laugh.

" I don't think the Captain ever knew that boy was me because at the time I had been wearing sunglasses and he never stuck around to find out what my name was."

In spite of her fear, Taji couldn't help but chuckle at the story. It was one that she had heard before, but with different characters, and a sadder ending. The woman sat back in her seat, her arms crossed as she shook her head. "Heh, I think your dad and my mom should've gotten together for drinks."

Wolfe tilted his head to one side and Taji sighed, realizing that she had opened her mouth, and now she had to insert foot- or pony up on details. There was a brief second before she decided to finish the thought. James' expression was a combination of confused and concerned. However, she would need a relaxer first. Without blinking, she reached into her armor's pocket and produced a silver case. Form inside, she pulled a long, slender stick and a lighter. Without stopping to consider, she lit it and inhaled the toxins in a satisfied draw- thankfully, these cigarettes were made to produce almost no actual smoke. Without missing a beat, she began her story.

"Make no mistake, my Mom loved me and my brother to death, but she just... she wasn't a very strong woman. After my dad died, there weren't too many days she was lucid... I can't remember everything she was even on, to be honest with you. When he realized that Mom was a lost cause, my brother joined the military- the actual military, like what we're in now- and he took care of me. But then he got shipped out somewhere... He popped in and out and always made sure I had clothes and stuff, but he was never able to stay... I haven't seen him in years. He always sent money. He said it was supposed to be for school after I graduated the public system. But Mom got hold of it... So by the time I graduated, there was nothing left. But I had started taking care of myself by then, and I was making pretty good money. I had another family... And even though they helped me take care of Mom, they promised never to cross me like she had..."

There was an angry note in Taji's voice when she made this last point, and it was a particularly difficult one to make. What she didn't intone was the hard, cold reality of their betrayal, but that went without saying. James could see just in her expression that it had been a backstabbing of the worst kind, and when she spoke again, he noted that her voice shook with rage as she recounted the events. "I should have known that they wouldn't keep their word either though, no one ever did. But after clawing my way up, I never thought they would... I wound up six feet under."

A bitter chuckled escaped the Shifter at James' expression, and she explained in more detail. There was the initial time, when she had been picked up by a rival family, when she was just starting off as a package girl. They caught her carrying in their territory, and didn't take to it kindly when she opened fire on them in defense. Despite the daring rescue of their own favorite little tomboy- she was only 12 at the time- years later, the Da would remember it when he wanted her out of his hair.

There was another pause as she took another draw from the cancer-stick in her hand. "I did everything for that f***er and I screw up once, and he tries to bury me. Pretty sure I did everyone a favor when I did my own hit on him."

"You... 'hit' the Da of the Syndicate?"

"Damn straight I did," Taji chuckled, her countenance lightening a little. "I shifted to look like a Ceas- they're these gargoyle-looking things on my world- and I waited on the ledge of the nearest building... And then I scooped his head clean off with the biggest caliber rifle I had. Seriously, his head rolled across the floor. Not my best kill, but not the worst either. He thought I was just another Ceas, hanging out on the roof. As far as he knew, I was dead in a box under the desert somewhere. He didn't know that I had clawed my way out. Course, after that, the Syndicate- my "family"- really picked up the pace on hunting me down, so when the cops picked me up, I had little choice but to take the job they were offering. Or face massive jail-time. Starting to wonder if I made the right choice..." She added with a wry scoff. "In retrospect, though, it was worth it... A**hole tried to bury me alive!"

And for the moment, it seemed James' idea had worked. The Shifter was quite preoccupied with the conversation, despite the morbid topic.

Suddenly everything went black. As he watched the running lights went dimmed and died leaving the only light in the cabin the starlight streaming in through the canopy. With a quick glance around James took an assessment of the situation. He tried a few key combinations and all he got in return was dead silence. The only thing that remained constant was the whir of the life-support system.

"Oh crap we just lost our main power but don't worry Taji we still have life support." He said putting on

"Well how long do we have."

"Oh we have more than enough time for the Captain to come find us, and if he doesn't come himself he'll send Lanex."

Only one fact scared him and that was that they now only had 36 hours till the life support failed. Realizing that fact only made him more determined not to tell Taji that their lives just sprouted a timer and that was the last thing he wanted to tell her in this condition.

Waiting is always difficult, especially for a man such as the Captain. The mass drivers had done their job of launching Marcus' asteroid at the gate. Now was only the waiting.

The physics while difficult to comprehend were not entirely difficult to understand, what was happening was that the wormhole was being maintained from the other side. The explosives had done their work, mostly. Because the two hadn't had time to finish evenly distributing the explosives around the massive gate-ring enough of the skeleton was left that it allowed the gate to maintain the connection, powered from the other side.

For the Captain, this was a problem. His solution was to plunge a huge object into the gate from this side. The power supporting the gate-ring shield was already dead allowing objects from this side to pass into the wormhole. Something forbidden because it would disrupt the wormhole and destroy it. The captain wasn't a physicist and didn't know why it happened, Marcus could probably tell him, but he did know that it worked and so he was taking advantage of the opportunity.

"Report." The captain said half turning his head so it was obvious who the command was directed at. "Eh Captain, we have about twenty six minutes until it reaches the gate-ring. Sensors cannot detect anything coming through anymore but judging from our last readings it’s going to be close."

The captain grunted. "Comp Com Ship wide. Lanex report to the bridge. Com End." Less then a minute went by before the Undaran stole onto the bridge with a swagger the put an instant crease on the Captains brow. "Lanex, I don’t think luck is on our side, we need to stay here and prepare for anything that comes through that gate. I want you to get the remaining fighters and go find Wolfe and Petrova. Check the ring first and be fast about that we only have a few minutes before something might pop out. I'm sure there will be allot of interference on your sensors, there is some type of massive jamming field being emitted from the ring and on top of the fact we not only detonated three fusion reactors but nearly destroyed the ring. There is going to be a lot out there, but I know Wolfe, I found him when he was a street urchin and set him to rights. That boys a survivor and from what I've seen of Petrova so is she. When you find them make sure they haven't beaten that fighter up too bad."

Lanex snapped a smart salute. "Aye Captain, if there out there we'll find them." Then turning he strode from the bridge.

"Call me crazy, but I don't think they're gonna to find us." Taji flatly stated as she took another draw from her cigarette and stretched. Since losing power, she had gone through four back to back. James wasn't about to object, however, because they were keeping her calm, seemingly. While the woman didn't know the exact time that remained to them, she knew enough from colony-hopping to know that they probably didn't have an infinite amount of time. Hell, they probably didn't have that much period, despite James' reassurances.

In lieu of this fact, Taji had decided that if she was going to go down, she was going down with a smile- that and she had bartered an arm and a leg for the silver case and the cigarettes in them. Literally, she had traded a rare ivory statue-piece while on the run. A satisfied smile crossed the Shifter's face as she finished the cancer-stick and put it out on the dead console in front of her. The woman ignored her colleague's disapproving sigh and shut her eyes for a moment. As long as she couldn't see anything, she wouldn't think about the space around them, or the lack of it in the cockpit around her.

But far from simply relaxing, Taji was raking through every bit of experience she had to figure them a way out of this one. Sitting and waiting just wasn't her style, and it was slowly but surely driving her mad. Unfortunately, her other experiences with this had involved wood, which could be broken, and sand, which could sustain life- sort of. Here, she had neither. Indeed, in this situation, no matter what angle she viewed it from, they were irrevocably screwed.

To help the thought-process, though, she started voicing her ideas aloud. To her infinite irritation, James found fault with each and every one. "Fine then!" she finally exclaimed, "Why not just jettison me and my f***ing incomplete armor and fly your happy ass back then?! Your armor can handle it!"

With a slight smile on his face James calmly replied. "And leave you here to die?... Out of the question. No we sit tight and sooner or later one of the crew members will find us."

Riffling his fingers through his shoulder length hair James suggested "Why don't we take a rest" in his mind he continued that statement to say to conserve what air we have.

"When we wake up we should be able to think clearer on our predicament... no use trying to on a sleep deprived minds"

Taji sighs dramatically and says 'Well I guess your right, we should get some sleep... after this' and as she said the word this she took a long drag from her death stick and blew out a big cloud of smoke into James' face... causing him to cough several times.

Waving his hand in front of his face to clear the air James spluttered "Al..l rig..ht sounds like a ..plan"

After she finished her cigarette the two began the long and uncomfortable work of people trying to get to sleep when mortal peril is staring them in face.

The Captains fingers began drumming on his armrest. Those that knew him would recognize this as a symbol of both nervousness and inpatients. At the moment however, he had to pee. Internally he was debating on if he should take the time to run to his quarters or if he should remain on the bridge.

"Captain, Lanex and the other fighters have left the ship. They report they will check the gate first followed by continually expanding sweeps of the area." Rooma said breaking into his thoughts.

"Stepton, how long till impact?"

"About two minuets sir." Marcus replied

"I'll be right back then." After rushing to his quarters to relieve himself he returned to the bridge but instead of sitting back in his chair he remained standing something on the main viewer catching his attention. "What is that? Enhance the image." The scene expanded and The captain could make out a CMC Warlord class battle cruiser exiting the aperture. The capital ship could have easily fit nearly forty Maelstroms into its hangers. It was the largest and most powerful ship the CMC had build. The Captain took a step back. "All power to weapons. Comp Con Shipwide, This is the captain speaking. All hands to battle stations, I repeat all hands to battle stations, this is not a drill. We're about to have our asses kicked. Com End." The captains mind raced as a brilliant flash erupted just behind the capitol ship. The gate exploded with a rush of power so devastating that it knocked the massive ship sideways and it appeared to be drifting. "Stepton."

"Captain I still can't get any readings the interference is still too great. I can't even tell if Lanex was clear of the blast."

After a the briefest moment of consideration the Captain vaulted over the Pilots consol and into its seat. He strapped himself in saying "Iridal, I need you to take over Navigations"

"Automating navigations, aye captain."

"Cyriscel weapons are free, have yourself some fun."

"I understand Caption, let me remind you please remember the port Dome Turret is jammed in its rotationary track."

"If you call me Caption one more time wraith... ." Leaning into the controls the ship it lurched forward with its powerful engines. The maelstrom had incredible speed and maneuverability, and at the moment that’s what we are all depending on that.

As the Maelstrom closed on the enemy ship Cyriscel began to open fire. The plasma beat against the shields of the larger ship that was about 8000 times larger then the Maelstrom. The attacks seem wasted and meaningless. A tiny fly buzzing around a whale shark.

Zelius walked about the engineering bay. He checked the consoles for anomalies for the third time in a row, and made sure that everyone was in their positions. He had appointed a crewman he could trust to take over when he was on the bridge. He moved over to the engineering control console and tapped a few keys, bringing up efficiency graphs, heat levels and other sensors. No harm in being thorough. Everything was where it should be.

“Notify me on anything that happens.” He said to the second in command he had appointed.

“Yes sir.”

With that, Zelius left the engineering bay to make his way to the bridge. He passed few people on his way, everyone was probably at their stations, word was that there would be a battle. Zelius' helmet unfolded telescopically from around his neck, encasing his head in a seemingly solid sheet of metal. Only idiots would go into a battle zone without a vacuum suit or armor with similar qualities. He finally reached the bridge, walking in, he took up his position.

“Sorry Captain, was making sure everything was all right in engineering.” He said and began to tap a few keys on the console in front of him.

The keys clicked under the pressure of typing before popping back up with another small click. Like in engineering, he brought up graphs and other sensors.

The massive ship opened fire with its brutally powerful laser batteries; but as the large beams struck the Maelstrom their energy was refracted and reduced causing the ship to only take minor concussive damage. “Damage report!”

“Captain were hardly taking any damage at all but if this rate of fire increases too much we will eventually be unable to bleed the absorbed energy off.” Zelius said rapidly.

“Plasmoids” The captain ordered, immediately dozens of fist-sized pods were launched at the enemy ship. They detonated on impact with the shields of the larger vessel covering the their shields in small synthetic microbes that began using the shield energy to replicate and spread across its surface. “Captain, though the plasmoids will encircle their shields relatively fast, it is going to take some serious time before they can drain enough power to force them to drop their shields. Time Wolfe and Petrova may-” Marcus was interrupted as Iridal announced “Fighters, Captain I’m reading multiple fighter squads inbound. Three by the looks of it in standard six-man wings bearing three two mark seven, range sixty thousand meters and closing.”

“Mag-rails, tear em apart.” Multiple streams of a violet-blue lanced out nearly destroying an entire wing before they were on the Maelstrom. Plasma raked the hull as the remaining two wings shot passed. The captain pulled hard on the controls and the ship flipped over its momentum continuing to carry it in its previous direction. Cyriscel used the opportunity to take out a few more of the fighters before they had the chance to double back.

The Maelstrom was almost glowing with the energy she was bleeding and as the fighters made another pass one came too close. Countless lines of super heated energy lifted away from the hull and ravaged the undercarriage of the fighter; its fuel tanks ruptured and it exploded in a brilliant fireball; the shockwave, though partially absorbed by the hull and inertial dampeners still, caused many of the crew to be thrown from their positions. The Captain fought to retain control and managed to turn the maelstrom into the next oncoming wave of fighters. “Screens three and six rear view, charge the ion cannon.”

The Captains eyes narrowed as he watched the two groups of fighters speeding for them. “Iridal prepare to spear the right-hand leader with the starboard hook and release on my mark.” The captain waited for the fighters to close in more. “Fire.” The hook erupted from the Maelstrom’s starboard wingtip trailing a long line and pierced the center carriage of the fighter, just missing the cockpit canopy. The captain dipped the port wing and turned hard to starboard rotating the ship in its flight. The helpless fighter was almost like a cats toy as its own inertia combined with the maelstroms rotation slung it around right into the path of the other group of fighters. “Release” the captain ordered as he forced the Maelstrom down and away. One of the pilots saw the incoming danger and attempting to escape steered right into his fellows. The line released and the explosion of two colliding fighters forced the remaining fighters into the path of the speared one. “Detonate” the captain ordered. A blue-white ball of explosive plasma engulfed the speared fighter and destroyed the rest of the squad.

“Good shot sir” Marcus said nearly applauding. The ship was still under continuous fire from multiple laser batteries on the capitol ship and the remaining four fighters were coming around again. “Zelius, how is the ion cannon coming?” “Nearly 2/3ds charge sir. I estimate about forty seconds till it reaches critical mass.” Hearing this the captain turned hard to port heading away from the giant ship at nearly a right angle. He increased speed as the fighters closed in behind him. ”Charge ready in 5,4,3,2,1, now.” The captain repeated his flipping maneuver allowing the inertia of the Maelstroms speed to continue forward while it faced in reverse. “Mag-rails at the big one, make a weak spot in the shields.” The rail fire destroyed one of the fighters, “Ion cannon, fire.” A massive, steady beam of green energy erupted from the Maelstrom impacting the exact spot Cyriscel had been hammering with rail fire. Two fighters that were caught in the beam were destroyed instantly as a huge sphere of power shot down the line of energy at blazing speed. It struck the larger ship with hardly any effect. A rowboat colliding with an aircraft carrier.

The last fighter launched torpedoes at the Maelstrom but the hull attacked and destroyed the missiles before they could hit and the captain rolled her with the blast. The fighter came around as the captain corrected the ships position and peppered her hull with Plasma. “Captain, the main ship, look.” Marcus said in awe as green and blue began to shine from it and multiple explosions could be seen going off on the aft section of the ship. “Caption I specifically targeted their main power reactor with the ion cannon’s blast” Cyriscel replied as if he were merely noting the time. Distracted by the ships destruction the single remaining fighter was forgotten. “Collision aler-“ Iridal couldn’t even finish the warning before it slammed into the Maelstrom. Luckily the pilot had bad aim and the fighter was destroyed as it bounced off the ship but it did terrible damage. Rooma was thrown from her consol, striking her head against a the sci/anl podium, Marcus and Zalius were knocked off their feat, the captain was launched over the pilots consol and into the Wraith, and many members of the crew were injured.

After the fighter hit the maelstrom everyone was sent flying around the bridge except for Cyriscel who was still in his seat but from the collision he hit his head on his own consul then fell towards the ground from his left side. The consul was strong enough to withstand the wraith’s armor when he hit his head on the counsel and not even a scratch was on it. After a minute after the crash Cyriscel started to get up He looked around, the captain was also getting himself off the ground as well and he said, Everyone here ok? After The others gave their reply, Cyriscel just gave the captain a nod but did not reply. The captain then said to Iridal, Iridal, Damage report. Iridal appeared in front of the captain and said, The right wing is severely damaged but the weapons system is still operational on it, though the dome turret is no longer on that wing and will need replacement. The rest of the ship only took serious amounts of damage as well. All internal sensors are down. Cyriscel got back into his position and said emotionlessly as usual, Captain, are there any further orders?

Elsewhere, Taji and James drifted in and out of sleep, from one restless dream to another. The Shifter was used to sleeping in odd places, however, and was seemingly soundly out within a matter of minutes. With the kind of jobs that she had made a living on, one could not afford to be picky about their sleeping-space. Compared to the trees and rooftops that she had so often found repose on, this space was relatively comfortable- if not a bit cramped.

The thing that set this sleep apart, however, was the dreams that came so quickly to her, even in this fitful half-rest. Taji had never been one to dream often, but when she did, she had learned to pay attention to the imagery- if she could ever remember it. Like the last dream, she found that she could see her home quite clearly, but this time, she was transported out of the desert and into the city, into the very slums that raised her. The place buzzed with activity- the voices of vendors raised above the dull roar of speech, the screaming and laughing of children that wound through the crowds, playing hide and seek. She saw neighbors and friends who she hadn't seen since her self-exile, and for the first time, the Shifter felt a pang of... guilt. Maybe it was regret?

Whatever it was, she quickly swallowed it and began to look around. A group of Syndicate soldiers walked and she quickly shifted forms so that even as a Shifter, she barely looked like herself. As a slightly taller woman with much shorter hair and a little more meat on her bones, she made her way past them unnoticed, and promptly bumped into someone. Taji started to apologize as she turned around, but stopped when she looked into the person's very familiar face.

A few moments later, however, she bolted up and looked around frantically, a cold sweat beading on her brow. To make a Shifter nervous, whatever it was must have been quite serious and she was glad that James wasn't awake to ask her bothersome questions.

That dream though... It had been so real and that was partially what frightened her. Had everyone really?... No surely not. But int he meantime, she had felt quite like she had been there. It was an odd experience to say the least, from the grit of the sand against her skin, to the warmth of the sun's glow- she could still feel the heat in the ridges of her spine and shoulders- to the fact that she could breathe... Wait. Breath.

The Shifter's brows furrowed and she inhaled deeply. To her surprise, she found that she had little trouble at all. Something was not right. Usually, because they were accustomed to a thinner atmosphere, Shifters in any human-made vehicle tended to be a little hard of breath. The pressure that normally pushed against her lungs had all-but disappeared, and in its place was a feeling of... well normalcy.

A groan from outside told her that that was not all that was amiss, and when she peeked out a window, she espied a trail of sorts, possibly from a slightly smaller craft...

This time, Taji didn't have to punch James to wake him up. But he would admit later that he quite missed his ear-drum.

Startled awake James jumped up so quickly he banged his head against the ceiling falling back down all James could hear was a ringing in his ears. Turning around James asked "What the hell was that fo...." His voice trailed off for in the distance of James peripheral he saw some fast movement... Spinning back around he saw the familiar shapes of the other small ships from the dock of the Maelstrom. "Taji, Try every command you can think of to give this ship some kind of response" commanded James as he began pressing buttons feverishly on the console hoping for some kind of response. Getting none he found himself reaching for the ejection from the pod but caught himself and paused because on deeper introspection decided that if he did eject that the ships would already be gone by the time he got to the area the ships would long be gone, and even if he could Taji wouldn't be able to survive with her suit... unless she used her emergency reentry mode on her suit... but seeing as it was meant for entry into the atmosphere of a planet, it wouldn't have any motor skills at all. Gnashing his teeth in frustration James pounded his hands on the control panel.

A hand forcefully came down from above and behind, gripping his fist and holding it fast. James was startled by the subtle strength behind it and paused in his physical tirade. "Taji what-"

"Shh!"

The Shifter's eyes had narrowed and she looked out the front of their tiny ship, straining to put a picture with what she was hearing. And then she felt it, even to her own surprise. She sensed it just before the roar of an engine filled their ears and the world around them violently shook, throwing her back into her seat. Immediately, though, she sat back up and peered over the seat again and saw a blur of gold, before it disappeared. And then she realized that whatever it was, it had turned them, fully in another direction.

"The hell?!"

deleted

“Vaeden, get down to engineering and make sure the power core is still stable, then check on the starboard warp reactor in the wing. Stepton, get Light down to medical. Comp com shipwide, this is the captain. Internal sensors are down, we have no way of detecting injured crew members or even a hull breech. Security, medical and repair teams report to bridge. I need to know the full condition of this ship within the next 5 minutes, com end.”

The next few hours shed light on just how much damage they had and hadn’t taken. No hull breech but the starboard warp reactor was offline and without it they were stuck in the system. It would need to be the first thing the work crews fixed. No deaths but nearly half the crew were injured or incapacitated including the chief communications officer. Petrova and Wolfe were still missing and the captain was loosing hope. If Lanax doesn’t find them soon he would have to call the searchers back.

“Captain!” a crewman yelled as he ran onto the bridge. A heartbeat later a flash sped through the door striking the crewman in the back. Blood frothed on his lips and he crumpled at Marcus’s feet who then turned a myriad of greens and whites. “Armors up, comp com shipwide, intruder alert this is the captain I repeat intruder alert, com end.” As the captain stood he began to armor fully. Seeing Marcus standing their slack jawed just staring the captain fired his grappling hook at the man, locked on to the back of the chest plate and yanked him across the bridge. Looking back he saw the figure clad in gold armor walk calmly onto the bridge. The captain recognized him. It was Nah me’Haro, one of the greatest bounty hunters in the galaxy.

Cyriscel noticed the figure walk into the bridge and instantly a memory flashed through his head so fast that he didn't even know what it was, all he knew was that he was angry about something. Cyriscel turned around and charged towards Nah me’Haro tackling him with full force. The two flew off the bridge and into the empty corridor of deck four. While they were gaining their feet Cyriscel removed his armor’s crystal blade and Nah me’Haro followed suit with a plasma sword. Cyriscel felt uncomfortable fighting against the man, his sword was deadly and could potentially cut right through his armor. Cyriscel charged towards the bounty hunter stood waiting for the assault. The Wraith had a plan to kill nah me’Haro, and as Cyriscel reached hi opponent, Nah me’Haro attempted to slice Cyriscel's side, only to have his attack dodged by the Wraith. Cyriscel ducked to avoid Nah me’Haro’s following attack and tried to cut into his side. At that moment Nah me’Haro counter attacked and would have stabbed Cyriscel with the plasma sword if not for grabbing the man's sword arm and pushing the attack away from him. Cyriscel Tried to Stab at Nah me’Haro’s face but he was too quick and threw a kick at Cyriscel’s hand knocking the blade away. The first kick was followed by a second this one aimed at the wraiths head, its impact knocking him back and away. Nah me’Haro seeing an opening quickly tried to stab Cyriscel’s in the chest with the plasma blade, but as the blade approached the wraith Cyriscel quickly swung his blade in an arc and rammed it through Nah me’Haro’s hand and into the hilt of the plasma sword destroying it. The man screamed in pain but the fight was still far from over.

A bolt of plasma lanced out from the bridge striking the bounty hunter hard in the chest, he went down. His body armor smoldered as he wrenched the crystal blade from his hand. Seeing the incoming threat of the captain with weapon raised and pointed in his direction Nah me’Haro quickly rolled to his feat and pulled free a blaster. A shield telescoped out from the Captain’s left forearm as he asked “Nah, What are you doing here? Why are you attacking my ship?” The mans eyes were locked on the captain and his lips waved feebly but no sound came forth. “Nah, can you understand me?” The Captain noticed a vein on the side of the bounty hunters head beginning to pulsate violently. Without warning Nah opened fire repeatedly into the Captains reinforced shield.

Cyriscel slammed a kick into the side of the man that drew blood and caused him to collapse. He twisted on the ground firing up at the Wraith but the blasters low energy resonance only drove Cyriscel back as the energy was absorbed into the wraiths body like water to a sponge. The Captain dove on Nah shield first in hopes of pinning the large bounty hunter to the ground. With the weight of the Captains armor and shield on him Nah screamed in rage, it was a very inhuman and nerve wracking sound that briefly stunned the Captain. As the man wriggled and fought to escape his forehead came back into view. There was no longer just the solitary pulsating vein. His entire head was pop marked with them and his hair was literally just falling off as he degenerated into a near zombie fit of endless rage.

A sound caught the Captain’s ears. It was difficult to hear over the sound of the screaming and writhing of the bounty hunter but the Captain could hear it just the same. Lifting his shield to look under the revolving lights of an armed micro plasma bomb greeted him. Pulling it of Nah’s vest the Captain tossed the grenade up to Cyriscel. “Get that thing of the ship before it blows. I need to stay here and hold him down.”

Taji took a deep breath, and leaned back against her seat. Even for her, the air was becoming a little thin. In truth, she had somehow hoped that the streak of gold had been the ship that would find them, but when it had all-but disappeared from view, the Shifter had resigned herself to the inevitable. The tiny space of the shuttle had become little more than an annoyance in the face of this uncertainty, and she had ceased her incessant smoking as she and James stared down Fate. While she couldn't be exactly sure of his thoughts on the matter- he had been quiet for some time now- she felt a kind of calm sweep over her slender form. As a rule, with few exceptions, Shifters were not known for their religion. Many simply welcomed death as a natural release; a kind of sleep after a very long day's work. It was in this tradition that Taji viewed their current situation.

Eh, I've lived, she thought to herself as she settled back against the headrest. Not long, but damn if I've lived.

A small smile crossed her face as she thought back over her various adventures. She had certainly never been as straight-laced as someone like James, per se, and some of her best memories were moments of sheer infamy, but the people and the places had made it all worthwhile. She couldn't help but wonder if this particular adventure- more like misadventure, thus far- would afford her the same...

A frown crossed the criminal's face as she thought over the past weeks. In her former life, Taji had been known for her drive and passion, and granted, ti had sometimes meant that things skewed from her original plans. But never had she been so sloppy as here. The tech was nothing like she was used to, and here she could not play the lone wolf, as she was so wont to in the past.

"That's not we run it here, Petrova."

Taji's blank eyes narrowed as the Captain's words rang in her head. That entire conversation was a perfect example of why she somehow probably didn't belong here. But as much as she had wanted to sit this adventure out, he had refused to let her just walk away.

"Jail would be better than this!" she recalled yelling in a moment of rage while the sounds of power tools hummed in the background, accented by the snickering of the workmen. That, in turn, had only served to piss her off even more. "Do you have to do that now? Why don't you go take a break or something?"

"Yes they do have to do it now, and no, they aren't taking a break, Petrova, they have a job to complete."

"You know, they can fix that condition of yours. I know that stick is wedged up there pretty tight, but they use a local anesthetic, so you don't feel a thing." she had snidely remarked.

That had earned her such a look... And a stern talk that had almost convinced her to stay... followed by a few nights sleeping in that training room with the hologram programs- hell if she remembered what it was actually called.

A bright flash brought her out of her memories, and the Shifter opened her eyes, unsure of what to expect. Instinctively, Taji reached into a pocket dimension and produced what appeared to be a switchblade, toying with it between her fingers as she waited in anticipation. The unmistakable click alerted James to its presence.

James had been replaying his countless days working under the Captain and wondering if this endless drifting in space would be the end of it all. Well its been a good run but this might be the final stop for me.... who would have thought that one of the best pilots of this age would die simply because his ship couldn't power on.... Ironic that he silently mused. Leaning back in his seat James contemplated the available options,which weren't all that many to begin with, and began to explore scenarios that hadn't been thought of yet... seconds pass and James hears the clicking noise and steely rasp of a switchblade opening. Coming out of his meditative trance James begins to turn towards Taji only to notice the bright flash that had Taji nervous.

Cyriscel caught the bomb that the captain tossed up to him as he was already turning to start his run towards the top hatch on deck five. The constant beeping of the bomb annoyed Cyriscel and when it recycled the counter and increased tempo every ten seconds or so it would beep faster. Noticing he had less then a minute he charged out of the hallway with the Captain. Deciding to use the bridge stairs up to the top deck to save time he headed in that direction. Busy technicians and crew were in the process of various repairs and at one point he was forced to leap off of a wall to avoid colliding with a group of them. The Beeping of the bomb had quickened noticeably and Cyriscel knew that he was almost out of time. Dodging and avoiding various furniture and crewman on the top deck as he charged threw there midst he was getting many strange looks as he went though. When finally he reached the top hatched Cyriscel stole a second to look down at the timer, there were 12 seconds left. Opening the hatch and pulling himself into it he spread his legs against the side using the tension to keep him from being ejected as the inner hatch door closed underneath him. “Iridal pop the hatch now”. Before he could finish the sentence the hatched popped open and the air whooshed out. He quickly threw the bomb out into space with all his force as his other hand closed on the hatch handle and slammed it shut. The bomb exploded violently rocking the ship. There was no serous damage but many of the crew were knocked from their feet. Cyriscel opened the inner hatch and dropped to the deck below. He reached up and shut it before turning and heading back. Rounding the corner back to the mess area of the top deck Cyriscel noticed the eyes of the crew on him as they regained their feet or seating and after reaching the lift he turned and said emotionlessly, “ Back to your duties every one… There is nothing more to see.” When the lift door opened Cyriscel stepped in and rode down to the next deck.