The Storm
Far away on Arth, the family loved ones, and friends of Eli, who had for days prepaired the earth for his final planting, grew nervous. The time for his last awakening was fast approaching, and there were still no signs of life.
But back beside the Nebula the battle raged on. But slowly, the tide was turning against the Gnunk and Spemin fleets. Slowly, one by one, more Uhlek vessels were powering up. Shuttles bearing Uhlek drones were constantly dropping out of subspace. At first the Gnunk had attempted to fire on them, but they where far too many, too fast. Now 7 more Uhlek warship had joined the oppressive wall. And a constant rain of Plasma bolts continued to fall upon the beleaguered fleets.
And onboard the Argo
Captain, the battle iss goinng badly forr the Gnunk, the Uhlek will ssurely turnn onn uss next.
Maybe, even things up, we will.
Sphexi was working hard on the power supply. She was nervous. She had never worked without her sister before, her podmate, her first memory. On the homeworld there could have been only one, they would have had to fight for dominance, and killed the other. But on Arth.. Beautiful Arth. Her mandibles twitched and antennae shook, but her hands were steady as she worked. She couldnt be without her, she wouldnt be without her
Replace this burnt out power conduit, bypass these relays, and
Captain!
Xfnphi merely looked, he was failing fast.
Ssir, Main power iss back online!
As if he spoke magic words, the main lights flashed on, and all the panels relit.
Ssirr, we have comm again.
Medical, to the bridge now, emergency! Izzy screamed out.
El-Arla came on one corner of the main viewer, she was obviously about to protest, Skexi was on a pad behind her, and Aoife was hard at work. But then she saw the captain, and next Sthsyss.
Ill come immediately, Aoife, youre in charge down here.
Thissryl, open .. a channel .. Xfnphi had to pause for to regain his composure and breath, to Umanu.
Aye, Ssir, the Kiev is rressponding, audio only, their viewer is down.
The comm crackled to life, ..This .. Kiev, Argos p..ase r..pond..
Kiev, Argos this be, request. Again Xfnphi pauesd, You tow us and fleet, in nebula hide, maintain proximity.. Uhl damper field, protection for.
Roger Argos, well coor..nate.. tug, standby?
El-Arla came running into the bridge then, a medkit in vine.
My god, Seeing Xfnphi in person set the full gravity of his condition.
Forget me, Sthsyss help. El-Arlas head hung, and she shook in the Elowan version, of crying.
Two jobs Izzy. First.. Lock Blasto pod .. on Uhlek fleet.
Quickly running between stations Izzy powered up the Argoss only blasto pod, and manually targeted the Uhlek wall formation.
now.. open channel, Gnunk fleet.
Captain!
Just do it.
Aye ssir.
The viewer hissed, and fuzzed into view.
Onboard Grrrrashhs command ship coolant leaked and one bulkhead had cracked. Their first gunner was dead, and smoke roiled about the bridge. Grrrrashh was feeling the tide of battle slip from his grasp.
Commander, were receiving a message, from the Arth ship.
Onscreen, he shouted while personally targeting a Uhlek warship and fireing.
The main viewscreen flashed to life and displayed a grizzly sight. Grrrrrashh was taken aback.
What do you want of us Arther?
A hand. . we lend.
In no condition are you to lend US a hand.
No time.. explain, your forces fall back, shield nullifier coordinate with strike of ours.
How can you possibly still be living, talking!?
Hardy we veloxi are.
Grrrrashh didnt have time for pleasantries, but at this point he would take any help he could get. It was a glorious battle, but not going well, and Spemin were a pathetic ally.
Agreed, fire when ready, well drop their shields.
Xfnphi nodded, it was all he could manage.
Izzy ran back to the tactical station where El-Arla was extracting Sthsyss.
Ready Thissryl?
Aye Ssir, pod armed, Uhlek fleet manually targeted.
Xfnphi breathed in.
Fire
Simultaneously, a large purple flash struck out into the night, once again dropping the Uhlek shields. And a white streak launched itself from the Argos. It moved like a shooting star, past the Gazurtoid, past Spemin and Gnunk, right into the Heart of the Uhlek formation. And then the night turned to day.
It felt like forever.
When sensors finally went back online Grrrrashh was astounded to find only 10 Uhlek ships remaining of the wall, and those were damaged. The arth ship had done it, and that bug commanded with a steel beam rammed through his chest, they were truly Gnasch, if not Gnunk. Still more Uhlek warships were powering up, but at least now, they had a fighting chance.
Xfnphi turned to look at Izzy.
Thissryl, reaching dieing time, am I.. a few moments only.., you in .. command. are . whats left.. my ship.
Izzys head rang, he had to fight to keep his vision clear, and now fear set in. He moved to the command chair, to Xfnphis side and laid a hand on his captain looking him straight in that huge insectoid eye.
It hass been an honor ssirr.
The old Veloxi captain passed into the night.
This too Eli felt.
And slowly, their ship was tugged towards the nebula.
Far away on Arth, the family loved ones, and friends of Eli, who had for days prepaired the earth for his final planting, grew nervous. The time for his last awakening was fast approaching, and there were still no signs of life.
But back beside the Nebula the battle raged on. But slowly, the tide was turning against the Gnunk and Spemin fleets. Slowly, one by one, more Uhlek vessels were powering up. Shuttles bearing Uhlek drones were constantly dropping out of subspace. At first the Gnunk had attempted to fire on them, but they where far too many, too fast. Now 7 more Uhlek warship had joined the oppressive wall. And a constant rain of Plasma bolts continued to fall upon the beleaguered fleets.
And onboard the Argo
Captain, the battle iss goinng badly forr the Gnunk, the Uhlek will ssurely turnn onn uss next.
Maybe, even things up, we will.
Sphexi was working hard on the power supply. She was nervous. She had never worked without her sister before, her podmate, her first memory. On the homeworld there could have been only one, they would have had to fight for dominance, and killed the other. But on Arth.. Beautiful Arth. Her mandibles twitched and antennae shook, but her hands were steady as she worked. She couldnt be without her, she wouldnt be without her
Replace this burnt out power conduit, bypass these relays, and
Captain!
Xfnphi merely looked, he was failing fast.
Ssir, Main power iss back online!
As if he spoke magic words, the main lights flashed on, and all the panels relit.
Ssirr, we have comm again.
Medical, to the bridge now, emergency! Izzy screamed out.
El-Arla came on one corner of the main viewer, she was obviously about to protest, Skexi was on a pad behind her, and Aoife was hard at work. But then she saw the captain, and next Sthsyss.
Ill come immediately, Aoife, youre in charge down here.
Thissryl, open .. a channel .. Xfnphi had to pause for to regain his composure and breath, to Umanu.
Aye, Ssir, the Kiev is rressponding, audio only, their viewer is down.
The comm crackled to life, ..This .. Kiev, Argos p..ase r..pond..
Kiev, Argos this be, request. Again Xfnphi pauesd, You tow us and fleet, in nebula hide, maintain proximity.. Uhl damper field, protection for.
Roger Argos, well coor..nate.. tug, standby?
El-Arla came running into the bridge then, a medkit in vine.
My god, Seeing Xfnphi in person set the full gravity of his condition.
Forget me, Sthsyss help. El-Arlas head hung, and she shook in the Elowan version, of crying.
Two jobs Izzy. First.. Lock Blasto pod .. on Uhlek fleet.
Quickly running between stations Izzy powered up the Argoss only blasto pod, and manually targeted the Uhlek wall formation.
now.. open channel, Gnunk fleet.
Captain!
Just do it.
Aye ssir.
The viewer hissed, and fuzzed into view.
Onboard Grrrrashhs command ship coolant leaked and one bulkhead had cracked. Their first gunner was dead, and smoke roiled about the bridge. Grrrrashh was feeling the tide of battle slip from his grasp.
Commander, were receiving a message, from the Arth ship.
Onscreen, he shouted while personally targeting a Uhlek warship and fireing.
The main viewscreen flashed to life and displayed a grizzly sight. Grrrrrashh was taken aback.
What do you want of us Arther?
A hand. . we lend.
In no condition are you to lend US a hand.
No time.. explain, your forces fall back, shield nullifier coordinate with strike of ours.
How can you possibly still be living, talking!?
Hardy we veloxi are.
Grrrrashh didnt have time for pleasantries, but at this point he would take any help he could get. It was a glorious battle, but not going well, and Spemin were a pathetic ally.
Agreed, fire when ready, well drop their shields.
Xfnphi nodded, it was all he could manage.
Izzy ran back to the tactical station where El-Arla was extracting Sthsyss.
Ready Thissryl?
Aye Ssir, pod armed, Uhlek fleet manually targeted.
Xfnphi breathed in.
Fire
Simultaneously, a large purple flash struck out into the night, once again dropping the Uhlek shields. And a white streak launched itself from the Argos. It moved like a shooting star, past the Gazurtoid, past Spemin and Gnunk, right into the Heart of the Uhlek formation. And then the night turned to day.
It felt like forever.
When sensors finally went back online Grrrrashh was astounded to find only 10 Uhlek ships remaining of the wall, and those were damaged. The arth ship had done it, and that bug commanded with a steel beam rammed through his chest, they were truly Gnasch, if not Gnunk. Still more Uhlek warships were powering up, but at least now, they had a fighting chance.
Xfnphi turned to look at Izzy.
Thissryl, reaching dieing time, am I.. a few moments only.., you in .. command. are . whats left.. my ship.
Izzys head rang, he had to fight to keep his vision clear, and now fear set in. He moved to the command chair, to Xfnphis side and laid a hand on his captain looking him straight in that huge insectoid eye.
It hass been an honor ssirr.
The old Veloxi captain passed into the night.
This too Eli felt.
And slowly, their ship was tugged towards the nebula.
