Necromancer, Medical Bay>
The man was wheeled into a bright white room. He was quickly plugged into monitors and given an IV drip. Raphael strode in behind the guards. "Doctor, what's his status?" Raph asked the attending physician.
"Sir, he is malnourished and dehydrated. Plus we aren't quite sure how long he has been out there. But he seems okay besides that." He said checking over the monitors
As he was awakened by the medical staff, albeit more gently than in the hanger, he tried to work out what was going on. All he could remember was a name; Alex. Was it his? As he opened his mouth to ask where he was, he noticed the armed men in the room.
Vier's voice would crackle over the intercom, "Can he pilot his Mecha? We need more hands on the hanger deck." There was certainly a sense of urgency in her voice that was usually absent.
Alex looked around the room unsteadily, "who are you people" he asked, "where am I?" As a voice came over the intercom the ship shuddered. "What's going on here?" He exclaimed in a panic.
"Please remain calm," The voice said over the intercom, as masked doctors stood back from the table. Alex found himself in a very white room, with an odd number of people looking at him as he came to, "We have similar questions regarding who you are and where you are from, however this ship is currently receiving excessive amounts of damage. Are you self-aware enough to pilot the mech that we found you with?"
Hesitantly, Alex said, "I think that sounds familiar..." As he concentrated on trying to figure out what to do, words flashed across his vision. NEURAL PATTERN RECOGNIZED. START UP SEQUENCE INITIATED. Before he could process what was happening, the ship took another hit, the floor shuddering beneath him. In the hanger the mecha hummed to life without warning, surprising several workers.
"Are you unfamiliar with the operation of the mecha?" the voice asked again, speaking quickly, but at an even tone. "Please fill us in on your capabilities."
"I think so," Alex said, "I just saw something that said that a start up had initiated. I don't know how much help I'll be but I can try."
"Raphael, it is your call as to how to handle this. But I would like his assistance with operating the mecha in the hanger bay." The voice over the intercom said.
"Excuse me," Alex said hesitantly, "But I think the mecha just turned on."
Necromancer, Bridge>
The Bridge crew shook as the were struck by the missle. "Damn it!" The XO shouted, as he turned his main cannons on new targets. He decided to also unleash every missile the Necromancer had in it's mag.
Werner looked annoyed as the ship shook. "Helmsman, full burn. Get us on an exit trajectory and prep for FTL. Tactical, keep those misses from striking the ship." He tapped his comm device. "Engineering I need a status report. How are the reactors holding?" He asked as he continued to give the bridge crew orders.
The Necromancer would max out its acceleration, aiming for the edge of the system as the FTL drives began to charge. Numerous reports being shouted one over another as the missiles continued to close the gap. Even with all of the ship's weapons firing, all of its missiles being launched, and even additional bombs being tossed out of the hanger by the junkers, there were just too many missiles. Tactical began counting down,
"IMPACT IN 3
2
1....."
"Brace!" Werner yelled increasing the grip on his chair.
The entire ship would shake, red markers showing up on the central display, highlight the ship's right side engine, weapon systems, and sensors. Just about everything useful on the exterior of the ship had been turned into swiss cheese.
"Uh, Sir, No detonations, excess torpedoes and missiles are missing the ship entirely."
"What?" Werner said looking confused. "Tactical, what is going on?" He said pulling up several status screens.
The status screens were of little help, much of the equipment designed for seeing what was going on outside of the ship had been destroyed. "Sir, we'll be ready for FTL in a few moments..."
"Expedite." He ordered. "I want to get the hell out of here." He said as he watched their position on the tactical map.
Space>
Ronin's kill count on missiles was climbing fast, but he was only able to slow the inevitable wall of missiles. He would get to see as the first few began to hit, the ship's shield flaring a bright white and blue color before failing entirely. In the next fraction of a second the ship's man cannons would simply be gone. The ship shuddering as another impact hit the missile launch bays head on, cratering them inward and sending bits of the ship's armor out into space. The next round cut through his shields effortlessly, scraping along the side of the heavy weapon he was holding and turning it into a rapidly expanding cloud of gas before passing through an armor panel behind him. Still more projectiles came, hitting the ship's engines again and again, cratering deeper and deeper into the ship's armor.
Then, an intense flash of white light as the ship reached the edge of the system and warped out, reapearing a few moments later in deep space.... though it seems
Three guests had come along for the ride.
One of the Shredder Gunboats would start taking pot shots at Ronin as it went towards the other side of the ship, dropping off floating
squid look alikes while trying to keep the ship's hull between itself and Ronin.
The other two would head towards the ship's hangers.
Necromancer, Medical Bay>
Raphael was struggling between commanding the ship and listening to Doc's. When Vier made her recommendations, Raph shook his head. "No way. His is an unknown and we are in the shit. He could get himself killed or get one of our own killed. I am not going to risk it. He is not even sure he can fly. I not letting him out there on a 'I think I can.'" He stated flatly as the ship was rocked by another impact. "Damn it, status report!" He called to the bridge.
As the ship shook,another message flashed into Alex's vision. STARTUP COMPLETE. ATTENTION; SUBCONSCIOUS TRAINING DETECTED, PULLING TO FRONTAL LOBE. Suddenly, Alex was bombarded with a torrent on information. He knew what he had to do. Sprinting towards the exit of the medbay, only to get pinned against the wall by one of the guards.
"Projectile weapon impact, Damage to cannons and STL engines. The devices did not detonate like before, implying they may be trying to take the ship intact." Vier responded over the intercom. "Damage is far less serious than it could have been. Sir, I could use another set of mechanical hands in the hanger bay."
Raphael reached out and grabbed the man by the collar, pulling him back into the room. "Where do you think you are going?" He looked away to listen to Vier. "How can we trust him? We don't know him! He could be one of them!" Raphael shouted over the klaxons.
"This is not a tactic normally used by the NMX, and he will be killed too if the ship is destroyed. The risk seems within acceptable limits." Vier replied over the intercom.
Raphael groaned and dropped Alex on his ass. "Go. If you try anything I will blow you to bits with a kiloton nuclear warhead. Am I understood?" He then tapped his comm piece. "You are responsible for him Vier. This is your idea." He said leaving the room. The four guards glaring before they moved and followed Raph down the hall.
Dashing through the hallways of the ship, Alex reached the hanger. As he approached the mecha, to his surprise, the cockpit slid open. As he stepped into the cylindrical aperture a helmet, sleeves and a seat folded into place around him. Shockingly, a metal plate slid over his eyes, but then his retinas lit up with information. Taking stock of his armament, he noticed a rifle and an smg as well as two odd looking pistols. Moving the arms around, Alex was amazed, he didn't even have to think to move them, they just did. It was as if the entire machine was just another part of his body.
Vier would start rotating through communications frequencies, trying to find one that would allow her to speak with the man inside of the armor.
"
Hello....
Hello....
Hello...."
Necromancer, Hangers>
Hound squadron would finish landing just before the ship FTL'd out of the system.
"Everyone reload," Hazel snapped, waiting on the Junker drone in the bay to finish placing missiles on 8-Ball's craft. She would turn her craft towards the exit as she waited, ready to launch out again if needed... but before the call to launch came, an enemy gunboat slid into place out in front of the hanger, dropping off a dozen floating squid type Mishhu to charge forward as it started firing into the hanger with its massive nose mounted cannon, the first shot piercing right through one of the Hound-Squadron fighters, the ensuing blast sending bits and pieces of star fighter throughout the hanger along with a very flashy fireball.