Traveller Shuttle
The shuttle came to life, and Trendsetter Three-Nine took the "controls" — the local Polysentience — once everyone whom she'd met was on-board. With her alien cohorts with her, she pulled away from the massive ship at maximum STL speed.
Dodging debris was the first, but not the peak, of her problems. Those among the group who had functioning armor noticed very fast that the ship's radiation "pocket" was active, threatening to sicken those outside the safety of many kilos of mechanized protection. T39 cut the pocket as soon as Skade alerted her. She could survive for a while without it, even if it was uncomfortable. She sadly reasoned it wouldn't be necessary for too long; there wasn't a lot of air on the shuttle anyway.
Next came a destination, as she swooped the shuttle below a tumbling craft of unknown make. Where could they go? The shuttle didn't have a comm system; it worked through the Polysentience, after all. Talking to vessels using radiation waves of any sort wasn't the Way of the Failover. So they didn't have that option.
Skade had a bad feeling — perhaps brought on by the rapid depletion of breathable air — that they had jumped out of the wok and onto the grill. Then the power-armored fellow in back started shouting through their comm.
"PLEASE TELL ME THERE'S A SHIP NEAR BY."
Skade didn't have a good answer. Where was the Heartbreaker? Nowhere to be found. Seisenkyo? She didn't know that either. Maybe another Star Army vessel?
She hit upon an idea and turned on Isao. "Our armors! The distress beacon!" It usually was inactive, but if she and Isao turned theirs on, they might be located in enough time to save those who weren't armored.
Isao was about to shout that his armor hardly had the power for that, but the AIES of his old 2A informed him that yes, indeed, he now had enough power.
He activated it. Skade did the same in her Mindy 3A.
What were the chances of a Star Army vessel being that close and receiving their limited signals? Skade guessed they weren't good, but she kept a smile on behind her helmet. She then popped the visor up so people could see the smile, while not exposing her to radiation and dwindling air.
Corgan looked worn, but as gruff as ever. Edtoto was near the I'ee, helping to calm them while Takeshi braced the unconscious prisoner against the shuttle's wall. Everyone looked worn. Weak. Down.
She tried to smile a little brighter.
T39 called out that there was something coming up. Skade went up to the cockpit. "How far?" she asked, glancing at the small time counter at the right of her vision. Four minutes of air left ...
"I'm not quite sure?" Trendsetter said. "It's over there."
Over there? Skade followed where T39 pointed, bending down a bit to see the tip of her finger pointing at a starship coming at them hard. It was a tiny speck, but growing bigger each few seconds.
Isao came up too, not quite frothing at the mouth yet from the bursting dam of emotions and knowledge that he was free. "What is it?!"
"I'm scanning," Skade said back as her armor did the work to identify the ship. Class came first; it was a Tenba. Next came registry; NL-X1-192, the YSS Bumblebee. Last came commanding officer, Shoi Luong Yang.
Isao and Skade got the transmission coming from the Bumblebee; the shoi was a young Neko with voluminous blond hair and a boisterous grin. "Looks like someone doesn't want to sail away just yet!" she offered before the visual was wiped out by a much more Neko-looking Neko with a flowing mane of jet framing her olive-tan face and yellow eyes. She didn't look happy, but whether that was directed at the commanding officer or not ...
"Masashiga-Hei, this is YSS Bumblebee," the Neko said. "We're enroute to your position. Please assess casualties."
Skade relayed the needed info, including Corgan's busted arm, the team's many superficial wounds, the lack of air and the high radiation levels. "We also have several species on board, ma'am!"
"Acknowledged," the Neko replied. "We're not a medical, but we are hauling some extra supplies. We'll be there in a moment."
* * *
The group sat just outside one of the two medium HCCCs inside the Bumblebee's hold. The few crew the ship had attempted basic first aid. Isao had obtained so much in raw survival skill, along with his previous medical knowledge, that he started helping too. He worked with Corgan on the man's arm.
Luong-Shoi and her XO, Shoi Kohosei Donna Blackbell, came to visit them after the ship had spirited past lightspeed and toward home at the Seisenkyo.
"Everyone OK?" Luong-Shoi asked. "That thing back there ... what the hell was that?"
The shuttle came to life, and Trendsetter Three-Nine took the "controls" — the local Polysentience — once everyone whom she'd met was on-board. With her alien cohorts with her, she pulled away from the massive ship at maximum STL speed.
Dodging debris was the first, but not the peak, of her problems. Those among the group who had functioning armor noticed very fast that the ship's radiation "pocket" was active, threatening to sicken those outside the safety of many kilos of mechanized protection. T39 cut the pocket as soon as Skade alerted her. She could survive for a while without it, even if it was uncomfortable. She sadly reasoned it wouldn't be necessary for too long; there wasn't a lot of air on the shuttle anyway.
Next came a destination, as she swooped the shuttle below a tumbling craft of unknown make. Where could they go? The shuttle didn't have a comm system; it worked through the Polysentience, after all. Talking to vessels using radiation waves of any sort wasn't the Way of the Failover. So they didn't have that option.
Skade had a bad feeling — perhaps brought on by the rapid depletion of breathable air — that they had jumped out of the wok and onto the grill. Then the power-armored fellow in back started shouting through their comm.
"PLEASE TELL ME THERE'S A SHIP NEAR BY."
Skade didn't have a good answer. Where was the Heartbreaker? Nowhere to be found. Seisenkyo? She didn't know that either. Maybe another Star Army vessel?
She hit upon an idea and turned on Isao. "Our armors! The distress beacon!" It usually was inactive, but if she and Isao turned theirs on, they might be located in enough time to save those who weren't armored.
Isao was about to shout that his armor hardly had the power for that, but the AIES of his old 2A informed him that yes, indeed, he now had enough power.
He activated it. Skade did the same in her Mindy 3A.
What were the chances of a Star Army vessel being that close and receiving their limited signals? Skade guessed they weren't good, but she kept a smile on behind her helmet. She then popped the visor up so people could see the smile, while not exposing her to radiation and dwindling air.
Corgan looked worn, but as gruff as ever. Edtoto was near the I'ee, helping to calm them while Takeshi braced the unconscious prisoner against the shuttle's wall. Everyone looked worn. Weak. Down.
She tried to smile a little brighter.
T39 called out that there was something coming up. Skade went up to the cockpit. "How far?" she asked, glancing at the small time counter at the right of her vision. Four minutes of air left ...
"I'm not quite sure?" Trendsetter said. "It's over there."
Over there? Skade followed where T39 pointed, bending down a bit to see the tip of her finger pointing at a starship coming at them hard. It was a tiny speck, but growing bigger each few seconds.
Isao came up too, not quite frothing at the mouth yet from the bursting dam of emotions and knowledge that he was free. "What is it?!"
"I'm scanning," Skade said back as her armor did the work to identify the ship. Class came first; it was a Tenba. Next came registry; NL-X1-192, the YSS Bumblebee. Last came commanding officer, Shoi Luong Yang.
Isao and Skade got the transmission coming from the Bumblebee; the shoi was a young Neko with voluminous blond hair and a boisterous grin. "Looks like someone doesn't want to sail away just yet!" she offered before the visual was wiped out by a much more Neko-looking Neko with a flowing mane of jet framing her olive-tan face and yellow eyes. She didn't look happy, but whether that was directed at the commanding officer or not ...
"Masashiga-Hei, this is YSS Bumblebee," the Neko said. "We're enroute to your position. Please assess casualties."
Skade relayed the needed info, including Corgan's busted arm, the team's many superficial wounds, the lack of air and the high radiation levels. "We also have several species on board, ma'am!"
"Acknowledged," the Neko replied. "We're not a medical, but we are hauling some extra supplies. We'll be there in a moment."
* * *
The group sat just outside one of the two medium HCCCs inside the Bumblebee's hold. The few crew the ship had attempted basic first aid. Isao had obtained so much in raw survival skill, along with his previous medical knowledge, that he started helping too. He worked with Corgan on the man's arm.
Luong-Shoi and her XO, Shoi Kohosei Donna Blackbell, came to visit them after the ship had spirited past lightspeed and toward home at the Seisenkyo.
"Everyone OK?" Luong-Shoi asked. "That thing back there ... what the hell was that?"
