Opening Salvos

[Seth]

The Nike sailed into battle - or at least into distraction - with all the lethal grace and precision of an eagle. It plunged down their lines, and the opening blast from its oversized laser cannon triggered a reaction in a Reaver dreadnaught's fueling system, sending fire and death racing down a ship five times its size.

It was good fortune, good fortune that brought a cheer from the crew - and the moment before the Reavers had their own stroke of good luck. A moment later, as they skittered by at unmatched speeds, a Reaver grappling claw tore through the hull and into the engine room. She caught a terrified flash fo Teala's mind, as she tumbled towards the black, before Nike's gravity controls caught her and slammer her through an open door. She was space-seared, the condition spacers called it when the skin had been briefly frozen, but she was alive. Emily was on the move as soon as Teala's condition was relayed. Soon the effect of the Reaver's claw became clear, to Xiantha, at the controls - it had knocked out one of the engine pylons, leaving them at a third speed and unable to burn hard. Retreat vanished as an option with the first pass; and her crew hardened their jaws and prepared to follow her into the jaws of hell.

Ten ships remained after the first pass. Some were larger; some smaller, but both were filled with Reavers that would happily take the crew apart as a snack, and butcher the children in her hold. A Reaver still dragged itself along by the grappling claw, pulled as far and fast As Nike flew, dragging itself closer and closer until Xiantha's supreme skill as a pilot smashed it into another Reaver vessel as they passed, brushing it off along their hull and taking a second and third vessel out of the fight.

Then the dogfighting began. No asteroid field could have prepared her - but hours of attentive vigil were a good start to the attention, reflexes, and self-control required. At moments, it seemed the blink of an eye would kill them all, and she'd lost her decisive advantage in speed but not maneuverability. From there, she had only to depend on her ship's armor and her lover's crack aim. He took down one ship, then a second, never scoring the lucky chain reaction that his very first shot had accomplished. She could feel Patrick's mind fill with memories of being outnumber and out gunned, bleeding and seeing red, yet still guided by an almost methodical tactical sense. He was a berserk that still sought cover and fled, and from his mind Xiantha could draw inspiration to disappear behind ship's debris and enemy vessels. The Reaver's own fire destroyed the sixth and seventh vessel of the fleet - but one of the smaller vessels latched onto Nike, and two dozen Reavers had boarded her ship before she managed to scrape the vessel off on another.

Tiao was off the bridge and on her way before she could be ordered, and Ant met the Reaver boarders in the tight corridors - he had his shotgun in hand, and only his strength and bulk to shield children from death and horror. He was a bulwark, intractable and indomitable, holding the line until Tiao and Jason arrived. His injuries, like Teala's, were serious, but Tiao and her new security trooper fought like lions. Whatever uncertainty Jason had when he'd fought against Xiantha disappeared in his first terrified sight of a Reaver; and a pair of automatic rifles and a tight corridor made short work of those that had survived Ant's assault.

But the two remaining Reaver vessels were carriers, massive things which seemed utterly resistant to the shots of Nike's laser cannon. She sheered off armor plating with every blast, while Lisa hacked computer systems in search of schematics of the vessels, searching for any kind of weak point. Just as Lisa had achieved success, a lucky blast from one of the dreadnaughts crippled Nike's sole laser.

They were unable to evade, and unable to return fire. The carriers held thousands of Reavers, slavering for their flesh. In the middle of the blackness, Xiantha heard River's voice - a whisper in her mind. I love you. You carry a part of me, always.

The two ships would never be able to catch her, but that didn't stop them from trying - they were fast but not agile, and Nike could float amongst them like a butterfly. All was not well, though - they couldn't seem to evade the maximum range of their cannons, and Nike bled power with each passing minute.

When a half dozen ships arrived, it was a shock. They were no Alliance corvettes; they were the ships of Rim smugglers and freighter Captains, late arrivals to the news of Whitefall, intent on their own investigations. They were barely equipped for war; they dropped fuel canisters and programmed empty shuttles on suicide runs into the belly of the dreadnaughts - then made haste in all directions when their efforts proved successful, and the first dreadnaught began to detonate from within. The blast from the first caught up the second, and final ship ship. It was with awe that her crew watched from the bridge, as the second dreadnaught disappeared in fire.

They had been surviving by the skin of their teeth for six hours. Her crew was wounded but alive, her ship needed a dry dock like a man in a desert needed water.

Lisa coughed, breaking the stunned silence on the bridge.

"Captain." She said the word now without a hint of the teasing that was normal for her, and Xiantha's mind could hear how the word had taken on new connotations for Lisa. "Captain, one of the freighters is hailing us."

[JanetJulian]

The first lucky shot sent exhilaration through her and the feeling that maybe, just maybe they could pull this off. Perhaps it was that cockiness that lead her to get just that little bit too close, but the sudden lunge of the grapple felt like it cut through her like it cut through the hull of the ship. She cried out when she felt Teala spinning out, pushing commands, trying anything she could think of to get her back. But the ship was even faster - catching her and pulling her back.

"Thank you," she told it, blowing out a breath and trying to see just how bad it was. And it was bad. In that moment she didn't think they'd make it out. The notion of running ahead and being chased was gone. There was no choice but to fight. To do their best until they were overwhelmed. So she grit her teeth and did just that.

The next bit was a blur, her focus narrowed to her screen, her controls, and the mind of the man beside her. She shamelessly took what she needed from him. Knowing what he was aiming for allowed her to maneuver better, to find places to hide that she would never have thought of herself. Once she got the hang of it she started improvising, adding her own flair and ingenuity to the mix, each moment one more breath, one more chance to take another ship with them.

The boarders seemed to signal the beginning of the end. No way they could hold a ship this large with half a dozen people. And no way she could focus on that, not with all those other ships left. She sealed the ship as best she could manage and fought on, afraid to even think about what was happening, but unable to stop herself from checking in on Ant, terrified for him even as she held her place and kept them rocketing between the enemy ships. Part of her was amazed what he was able to do, how many he held off on his own before the others could aid him, and the fierce thoughts coming from the gentle soul she knew. She had tears in her eyes when the last Reaver went down and for a moment she believed it might even be possible. That they just might survive this.

And then, just like in the beginning, disaster struck. The laser was gone, and with much of their speed and power gone it was all the could do to keep away from the two remaining ships. And still she refused to give in, dodging and running and hiding as best she could manage. She'd lost sight of any end goal, just wanting to survive one more minute, refusing to believe that all this work and sacrifice was for naught.

And then the cavalry arrived and she cheered loudly, on her feet, bouncing up and down as the final ship got caught up in the explosion and went up as well. She turned and wrapped her arms around Patrick, hugging him tightly to her, tears of stress, terror, joy and relief spilling down her face. She couldn't believe it.

They'd lived.

[Seth]

Patrick wrapped his arms around her, squeezing her hard and tight against him, his heartbeat hammering. Others seemed to sag with relief as well, and Lisa didn't interrupt with a reminder about the rescue ships which were hailing them.

Tiao's voice came over the intercom. "I need some hands to help move Ant. He's bleeding pretty bad and Jason's arm is messed up, and Ant's too much for me alone. Can someone get a gurney and come down here?"

Patrick broke, stealing a quick kiss and then nodding at the overhead speaker.

"I'll go help with that," he promised. "Thank our rescuers for me."

He headed for the door, and Lisa's lips quirked a smile. She seemed ready to patch everything through when a thought occurred to her, and she rose and stole a hug from Xiantha herself. she was still in the wake of her own fear, and gave a laugh that betrayed just how terrified she'd been.

"Some damn good flying, Captain."

[JanetJulian]

Xi managed to exhale, letting Patrick go with a kiss on his cheek. "Couldn't have done it without you." Which was true on more levels than he could possibly know. "Go. Take care of him for me. Tell him I wish I could be there."

She kissed him back and then let go, turning to her console and staring at all the hails. She'd been focused so long on just keeping them alive that she felt a little shaky and not quite ready to cope with the greater 'Verse.

She gave Lisa a hard hug as well. "Couldn't have done it without you either." She exhaled. "Any of you.

"Thanks, though." She gave Lisa a kiss on the cheek as well and then let her go, managing a smile before she stepped over to her console and looked at what she had to answer, picking the ship that seemed closest to what might think of as command.

"This is Captain Xiantha Daig of the Nike. That was some good timing, folks. Thanks for the assist."

[Seth]

Patrick smiled at her. "I know," he winked. "But we'd all be goners without you." He nodded, hurrying after his brother without any further need of encouragement. "I will!" he called over his shoulder.

Only one of the freighter Captains was hailing her at the moment, and it was the only shift which continued to drift closer, likely getting a visual assessment of their damage.

Lisa smile before letting her go. "Next spaceport, I'm finding my own little cabin boy like Teala," she laughed. "I could completely go for some victory sex about now." She hugged Xiantha once more, squeezing hard and then letting go.

Lisa laughed. "Completely deserved." She settled back into her chair, awaiting the on screen appearance of the other Captain. He was youngish, nearly thirty, with longer hair and an unkempt stubble.



"Lord in Heaven," whistled the Captain. "If I knew I was coming to such a fair damsel's aid, I would have burned that much harder. Vic Morales," he nodded. "You can call me your knight in shining armor," he winked. "Or second hand armor and in need of a new grav boot converter." He grinned, and rose from his chair, tone becoming a bit more serious.

"You need a tow? You look pretty beat up there."

[JanetJulian]

Xi chuckled. "Sounds good. We can always use more muscle." She winked at Lisa and felt a bit buoyed by the girl's good mood, even if she could perceive the relief and terror that it was covering.

She leaned back in her chair and smiled at the handsome face that greeted her.

"Thank you for the offer, Vic, but I think we can limp along alright as long as we don't run into any others. Whereabouts were you thinking of towing us? Our usual port is a fair ways away and as you say, we could use us some patchin'.

"Might be able to help you with that grav boot converter, though."

She shot Lisa a sidelong look and surreptitiously typed her a message as she spoke.

He's pretty cute. Think he'd be interested in cabin boy?

[Seth]

She laughed. "How do you know he'll be muscle-y? He might be a fellow computer geek."

He chuckled. "Well, I can tow you wherever you need, if I got fuel and a mind to. Looks like you lost some pressure in your engine room, and I figured a fix would need to come in dock." he spread his hands. "Originally cmae this way to look for some survivors, but it looks like the Reaver rumors were true enough."

He leaned back. "at your disposal, ma'am. Let us now what you need."

Lisa chuckled and texted back. Ship Captain though. He'd find out I had twins, and before I knew it he'd be expecting us to stay in his quarters and be his personal sex toys all day long. She was teasing Xiantha over legitimately expecting such a reaction from the unknown Captain.

[JanetJulian]

Xi snorted. "'Cause I know you," she said with a grin, leaving it at that.

"Well, we need to get back to Greenleaf as quick as we can," which she had to admit wasn't necessarily all that quick. "Wouldn't mind some company. We're flying now despite the holes, but our Engineer was injured and I don't know how long we'll hold together.

"And just so you know - Reavers never hit Whitefall. These were incoming, not from that direction. But there are Reavers coming, that's for sure. Best not to be caught out in the black alone."

She snorted at the message back. Worse fates, she wrote back.

[Seth]

"One Ant fantasy about Lisa's spanking, and you never let it go," she laughed.

Vic nodded. "Well, we can give you a tow or just stick close throughout the burn." He nodded at her concerns, and again as she made mention of what happened at Whitefall.

"Any survivors? That was the whole reason we hopped this way." He nodded at the mention that more Reavers were coming. He frowned at her suggestion but agreed with a nod. "done and done. I'll comm with the other Captains, and we'll form a fleet back towards Greenleaf. Some of us could use some repairs, too. You need to borrow an engineer?"

Lisa chuckled. Really? You'd just let him steal me and turn me into his little cabin girl? She followed it up with a pouty frown.

[JanetJulian]

Xi chuckled.

"Just stick close for now. And yes, there are, but they're pretty well hidden. We came out to try to distract the real Reavers and hopefully lead them elsewhere. Guess that plan didn't work so well, but they're gone now which is even better. I've got a cargo-hold full of their most vulnerable sorts to take to safety. If you got any people good with kids I could use 'em. We got boarded and my crew is pretty banged up, but they're safe."

She exhaled. "If you got a spare I could use an engineer, though I need someone ... flexible. This ship is pretty different tech than most are used to."

Never said I would. Sides you'd make a terrible cabin girl. Always talking back and gettin into things. Maybe he'll send a pretty engineer for you.

[Seth]

Vic nodded. "We'll get everyone down planetside for an evacuation, then. I - hmm, kids love me," he grinned. "But I'm needed here. I'll see if I can rustle up a volunteer for you. We got a first aid kit or two we can spare, if you need."

He looked thoughtful. "Uh - I'm not so sure how my engineer'll do for you, then. He knows my freighter pretty well, but he's no genius."

Lisa laughed at her station. Some people like my back talk, she countered. And my getting into things. Maybe. She chuckled and leaned over to peck Xi's temple.

[JanetJulian]

Xi laughed. "I'm sure they do, but I appreciate whatever you can manage." She nodded when he said his engineer likely wouldn't do. "We'll prolly be okay. No worries."

She looked up at Lisa and smiled. "Once things settle a bit I'd like to invite you over for dinner, though. My treat. My XO is an amazing cook."

Well I like it plenty, she returned and then brought up the navigation screen to work on a course back toward Greenleaf. She lowered the engine power to minimum to keep it limping along and kept all the unnecessary section on emergency power only.

[Seth]

Vic chuckled. "I'll take you up on that. My chef is a protein processor. I'll buzz you in a moment."

Lisa laughed aloud, after the communication blinked out. "Now if you were only a well hung, handsome man who wanted to turn me into his cabin strumpet," she teased. She frowned as Xiantha worked out the coordinates.

"Can't leave yet," she offered. "All those freighters put together won't have the air recycling necessary to carry so many people. Twenty or thirty, maybe, but the rest'll need t obe on Nike. Ooh - speaking of dinner, we might want to get Tiao set to cooking a feast."

[JanetJulian]

"Sure thing."

She looked over at Lisa and laughed. "I like how well hung comes before handsome." She grinned and sighed when she realized Lisa was right.

"Alright, I'll swing us back by then. We can do another load." Her fingers were itching with the need to get home and her mind felt fuddled. She was exhausted, she realized. "How is Tiao doing? You sure she's up to feast-like proportions?"

[Seth]

She snorted. "You have your priorities, I have mine."

Lisa nodded her agreement, taking over laying in the course once she saw the exhaustion in Xi's features. "Well, are we letting you cook? Because those people have been traumatized enough." She gave her a flash of a grin. "I'll see how she's doing. If she's not up for it, I'll cook and she can supervise."

[JanetJulian]

Xi chuckled. "Just interested to see it's function over aesthetics. Guess I shouldn't be surprised." She winked and then laughed at the notion of her cooking, holding up her hands. "I sure hope not. I was actually contemplating a full on collapse. Systems are definitely in need of recharging."

[Seth]

Lisa nodded and chuckled. "Pretty packaging's over rated in the dark."

She nodded. "Well, you stopped a reaver attack on a planet and saved all our lives. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say you've earned a nap. Go power down. Might need your skills again soon."

She flashed a grin. "Send Patrick up, or keep the boys away?"

[JanetJulian]

Xi laughed. "See, and I'm a believer that you can have it all." She grinned and then blushed slightly. "Well, not all by myself. But thanks. I think I'll take you up on that. Go ahead and send Patrick up if he wants a rest. I fear Ant is going back into the tube. I'll have to check in on him when I can."

She ran fingers through her hair and checked to make sure everything was alright before she gave up and headed for the stairs up to her room. She got in the door, shed clothes into piles and collapsed face first into bed.

Two minutes later she was fast asleep.

[Seth]

Lisa laughed and shook his head. "Maybe," she grinned. "Question's if I want to wait long enough for it. I think I'm looking for something more immediate than permanent," she grinned. "Alright. Rest, but no Captain disturbing."

She leaned and gave her a quick embrace. "Sleep well," she waved her off.

It was a change of momentum that woke her - Nike was remarkable in her ability to fly quiet, but the crank of metal on metal was enough to rouse Xiantha. A computer image showed one of the freighters with a tow cable attached to the hull.

[JanetJulian]

"I get it. Sometimes immediate is all you need." She chuckled. "Well, if he can wake me all bets are off. But I'm not sure I'd bet on it."

She had no idea how long she was asleep when the change of momentum woke her. She came awake quickly, a bit disoriented, and moved to see what it was, frowning when she saw the tow cable. Clearly the engines must have given out. She rubbed her face again and checked the time before moving to get herself dressed and check on the state of things.

The empty bed told her Patrick must be still out and about. Probably with Ant. She made a mental note to stop in and check on him as she headed for the bridge.

[Seth]

"All right," she chuckled. "I'll just let him take the risk on his own."

They were some four hours later, but not far from the planet. Likely loading the passengers from Whitefall had taken some time, and her suspicions were confirmed as she stepped out. Her ship was buzzing with the noise of people - minds and conversation, as the ship's cargo holds, quarters, and gallery were filled. She saw dozens in their conference room, which seemed to have been been converted into a nursery for the youngest passengers.

"Captain?" asked Lisa, voice buzzing in Xi's ear when she stepped out from her quarters. "Had some energy spikes from the engines, and didn't want to push anything. We're down to one, keeping us in air and heat and power."

[JanetJulian]

Xi felt frustration by their lack of progress, but there was no help for it. They couldn't leave the people of Whitefall to the mercies of the Alliance or any of the other Reaver ships that might be coming through. She couldn't help a slight wince as her mind was assaulted by all the people.

Xi started and then nodded at Lisa's words. "Figured it was something like that. I'll be right up." She waded her way past people, nodding and being respectful and made her way to the bridge.

[Seth]

Lisa was alone on the bridge, but she could easily pinpoint the rest of her crew. Emily, Ant, Teala and Jason were in the medbay, Emily the only one who was conscious, and up to her elbows in patients. Tiao was busy on the galley, giving Xiantha wave amidst a dozen hungry settlers who were assisting her cooking.

"Eat," tiao instructed, handing her two bowls of soba as she breezed by. "Make sure Lisa does, too," she smiled, waving her off and turning back to the stoves.

Lisa turned as Xiantha came in. "Hey, sorry I didn't wake you," she said. "Buzzed your room once. Engine's didn't break down, but figured better safe than sorry. We're finally on the way - took a couple shuttles to get everyone aboard. Everyone else's escorting us. I didn't let 'em know everything, just that Whitefall was a setup, and the Alliance might be none too happy to see survivors safe and sound."

[JanetJulian]

Xi checked in without really thinking about it, pleased to find everyone either asleep or happily busy. She waved back at Tiao, collecting the bowls. "Will do!" She promised, blowing her a kiss and then heading on her way.

"Probably slept through it," she said, handing a bowl to Lisa. "Tiao says eat." She smiled. "She looked happy. Sometimes I feel bad making her help me with the ship. She belongs in a kitchen."

She settled in the Captain's chair, slurping her noodles, checking their position and progress. At this speed it was going to take days to get back.

"What's the reaction been so far?" She asked, feeling like Nike was the pregnant whale in the middle of the pod, being shepherded by the smaller, more agile fish. Which gave her a sudden thought.

"Any of these ships surrounding us fast and capable?"

[Seth]

Tiao blew a kiss back, smiling at her.

Lisa nodded. She took the bowl with a smile, taking chopsticks from Xi and slurping noodles. "She does,' she smiled. "I think she'd enjoy it, for a time. Or a family," she added. "I don't think she'd like a restaurant, but I think she'd like a family to cook for." She grinned at Xiantha around her noodles. "Though I'm perfectly happy being her substitute."

Lisa frowned as she saw Xiantha's expression.

"None that's armed. Nothing as fast Terpischory or Nike," she pointed out. "what are you thinking?"

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