THE TIES THAT BIND
Acting captain Thissryls Log stardate: 4-03-4643
Coordinates 26 X 125
We have been adrrift in the eddiess of this ssmall nebula for nearrly 20 hourss now. Elthar-Or gave hiss life heroically, ssaving uss all by ejecting the engine core beforre overrloading.
Xfnphi too has passed, the finesst bravesst captain I have ever sserved under. An equal to the famouss veloxi captain Jokedst of whom we all have heard. I sstill do not know what sspeciess makess a finer captain, Humanss, or Veloxi, but I know that now, I, will have to fill their sshoes. A Thrynn alone.
I fearr we cannot rremain in thiss nebula for much longerr. The shifting ion storms although small, are extremely turbulant. They soon will tear the grapples that bind us to the Umanu sshipss. But escape seems intangible.
Skexis condition rremainss critical. El-Arla iss a sskilled doctor, the finest Ive met.. Im amazed that this vessel hass held up underr the combat sstress. I know my old sship would have ssurely fallen by now.
The Argoss is a fine sship, with a fine crew.
Whatss left of it.
Sthsyss iss in sstable condition, although I doubt hiss arm will ever be what it wass. We all bear sscarss. Earth ssector iss a harssh misstress.
Oopoo and the Leghk have for lack of a better word, bonded. I am recommending him ass official diplomat between our sspecies. We truly need to find them a home. They are a powerful reasson for us to survive, even if it meanss ssending them off to freedom, while we fight a dessperate holding action, the Leghk musst regain their own identity.
There are rroughly 43 surviving Umanu, thosse who have not gone catatonic, orr died in the battle, arre attempting to furtherr link ourr sships in hopes of wheathering thesse ion sstorms. No sships are in any condition to esscape. By a twisst of fate, all our FTL drivess have been destroyed, or disabled. Sphexi has been hard at worrk, trying to ssalvage parrtss from all sships in order to build one worrking drive. I fearr Arth cannot ssave us. All attempts at disstress channelss have failed. Tonight we launch a homing probe, to warn the Coalition of a new, and old threat in the event that we do not survive.
The bridge of the Argo was in tatters. Wires spiraled out from the walls and ceiling. Plating was scattered. It smelt of burnt plasteel and fried circuitry. Izzy paced in a circle across the once fine bridge. In the center of it all, a horrid reminder of what had transpired; the captains chair with a gaping hole in its back. Reupholstering it was rather low on the priority list way after shields, and right before waxing the hull.
Thissryl was remembering his friends. So many gone now. On his last assignment he had to watch his best friend burn before his eyes. Wave after wave of Gazurtoid attack, bloody and fanatic. And now, here, it was happening all over again. Maybe it was better to not be so attached. he pondered, to wall off the outside so there would be less pain. He found himself absentmindedly stroking the Endurium necklace he had removed from Xfnphi. Contraband definitely, if anyone saw, they pretended not to notice.
Ivan was in command of the Umanu fleet, captain Petrov had not made it through the Uhls attack so rank fell to him. They had something in common and Izzy felt an immediate affinity for him. Damn Izzy thought to himsself, So much for walling off the world.
Ivan arrived on the Argos bridge with a data slate. The Leonovs sensors were functioning perfectly, and they had been observing the battle nearby, he wanted to discuss it, and their options.
The psychotic battle had raged for more than 36 hours. Steel, carbon, shyneum, endurium, flesh, and bone floated around in the dark. Long frozen trails of blood spiraled from the bodies of still beings, orbiting in small circles about the debris of what was once whole.
The Uhls watched all this. They watched as blazes of fire leapt across the void between ships. Lancing destruction and pain.
A second Gazurtoid battlecruiser drifted and burned in the dark. They were indeed formidable puppets, their gigantic ships like small moons overshadowed much of the battle, and the one on fire burned like a small star, yet still it fought back. Onboard squid crew sealed off sections, and pumped water in abundance into the fires. The other giant ship which had fallen had seen a terrible fate, when it becomes so hot that water burns, when hydrogen and oxygen separate. The end was a fantastic lightshow. It had taken out 3 Spemin and 1 Gnunk ship with its superheated shrapnel. But as formidable as they were, they were particularly vulnerable to Gnunk shield nullifiers. The devices repeatedly dropped their shields, and pummeled the large behemoths with class 10 missiles. The Gazurtoids would have been vanquished by now if not for several factors: the Uhlek for one, the sheer size of their vessels was another, and the fact that after 36 hours of battle, the Gnunk were running out of cobalt. Now each purple flare was an extremely calculated shot. Rarely seen and usually signaling a massive counterstrike. The Gnunk owed their survival to their particular evolution, they were fierce warriors, fearless and cunning.
The Uhl could not micromanage the battle, such control was beyond their abilities. They controlled ideas, rather than individuals. They could generally push combatants in a direction, or send more ships to the battle, but there was a level of autonomy in their subjects. As if gods will had directed them.
Thrice, the puny Spemin ships had attempted to tow off a dormant or damaged Uhlek vessel. And each time they had paid with their lives. There were fewer than 30 Spemin ships left, less than half of what they started with. Dropping like sting gliders.
As amusing as this was to the Uhl, feeling the deaths of sentients as one feels the pleasant application of grow goo to a burnt arm, it was time to stop playing. Time to give the Gnunk what they came for.
And the new Uhl child was ready to flex newfound wings. Its thoughts reached out
Acting captain Thissryls Log stardate: 4-03-4643
Coordinates 26 X 125
We have been adrrift in the eddiess of this ssmall nebula for nearrly 20 hourss now. Elthar-Or gave hiss life heroically, ssaving uss all by ejecting the engine core beforre overrloading.
Xfnphi too has passed, the finesst bravesst captain I have ever sserved under. An equal to the famouss veloxi captain Jokedst of whom we all have heard. I sstill do not know what sspeciess makess a finer captain, Humanss, or Veloxi, but I know that now, I, will have to fill their sshoes. A Thrynn alone.
I fearr we cannot rremain in thiss nebula for much longerr. The shifting ion storms although small, are extremely turbulant. They soon will tear the grapples that bind us to the Umanu sshipss. But escape seems intangible.
Skexis condition rremainss critical. El-Arla iss a sskilled doctor, the finest Ive met.. Im amazed that this vessel hass held up underr the combat sstress. I know my old sship would have ssurely fallen by now.
The Argoss is a fine sship, with a fine crew.
Whatss left of it.
Sthsyss iss in sstable condition, although I doubt hiss arm will ever be what it wass. We all bear sscarss. Earth ssector iss a harssh misstress.
Oopoo and the Leghk have for lack of a better word, bonded. I am recommending him ass official diplomat between our sspecies. We truly need to find them a home. They are a powerful reasson for us to survive, even if it meanss ssending them off to freedom, while we fight a dessperate holding action, the Leghk musst regain their own identity.
There are rroughly 43 surviving Umanu, thosse who have not gone catatonic, orr died in the battle, arre attempting to furtherr link ourr sships in hopes of wheathering thesse ion sstorms. No sships are in any condition to esscape. By a twisst of fate, all our FTL drivess have been destroyed, or disabled. Sphexi has been hard at worrk, trying to ssalvage parrtss from all sships in order to build one worrking drive. I fearr Arth cannot ssave us. All attempts at disstress channelss have failed. Tonight we launch a homing probe, to warn the Coalition of a new, and old threat in the event that we do not survive.
The bridge of the Argo was in tatters. Wires spiraled out from the walls and ceiling. Plating was scattered. It smelt of burnt plasteel and fried circuitry. Izzy paced in a circle across the once fine bridge. In the center of it all, a horrid reminder of what had transpired; the captains chair with a gaping hole in its back. Reupholstering it was rather low on the priority list way after shields, and right before waxing the hull.
Thissryl was remembering his friends. So many gone now. On his last assignment he had to watch his best friend burn before his eyes. Wave after wave of Gazurtoid attack, bloody and fanatic. And now, here, it was happening all over again. Maybe it was better to not be so attached. he pondered, to wall off the outside so there would be less pain. He found himself absentmindedly stroking the Endurium necklace he had removed from Xfnphi. Contraband definitely, if anyone saw, they pretended not to notice.
Ivan was in command of the Umanu fleet, captain Petrov had not made it through the Uhls attack so rank fell to him. They had something in common and Izzy felt an immediate affinity for him. Damn Izzy thought to himsself, So much for walling off the world.
Ivan arrived on the Argos bridge with a data slate. The Leonovs sensors were functioning perfectly, and they had been observing the battle nearby, he wanted to discuss it, and their options.
The psychotic battle had raged for more than 36 hours. Steel, carbon, shyneum, endurium, flesh, and bone floated around in the dark. Long frozen trails of blood spiraled from the bodies of still beings, orbiting in small circles about the debris of what was once whole.
The Uhls watched all this. They watched as blazes of fire leapt across the void between ships. Lancing destruction and pain.
A second Gazurtoid battlecruiser drifted and burned in the dark. They were indeed formidable puppets, their gigantic ships like small moons overshadowed much of the battle, and the one on fire burned like a small star, yet still it fought back. Onboard squid crew sealed off sections, and pumped water in abundance into the fires. The other giant ship which had fallen had seen a terrible fate, when it becomes so hot that water burns, when hydrogen and oxygen separate. The end was a fantastic lightshow. It had taken out 3 Spemin and 1 Gnunk ship with its superheated shrapnel. But as formidable as they were, they were particularly vulnerable to Gnunk shield nullifiers. The devices repeatedly dropped their shields, and pummeled the large behemoths with class 10 missiles. The Gazurtoids would have been vanquished by now if not for several factors: the Uhlek for one, the sheer size of their vessels was another, and the fact that after 36 hours of battle, the Gnunk were running out of cobalt. Now each purple flare was an extremely calculated shot. Rarely seen and usually signaling a massive counterstrike. The Gnunk owed their survival to their particular evolution, they were fierce warriors, fearless and cunning.
The Uhl could not micromanage the battle, such control was beyond their abilities. They controlled ideas, rather than individuals. They could generally push combatants in a direction, or send more ships to the battle, but there was a level of autonomy in their subjects. As if gods will had directed them.
Thrice, the puny Spemin ships had attempted to tow off a dormant or damaged Uhlek vessel. And each time they had paid with their lives. There were fewer than 30 Spemin ships left, less than half of what they started with. Dropping like sting gliders.
As amusing as this was to the Uhl, feeling the deaths of sentients as one feels the pleasant application of grow goo to a burnt arm, it was time to stop playing. Time to give the Gnunk what they came for.
And the new Uhl child was ready to flex newfound wings. Its thoughts reached out
