Futuristic Star Ascension

[Dragongal]

"Well I think the medbay is the best place. You can sleep peacefully there, both of you. I know in the video it looked like your shoulder was hurt, Mason. And both of you are just out of stasis. Just follow Doc." Adira made it clear that she would take no nonsense. This was her ship, and they were merely guests.

 

[sugakookie]

The boys listen and follow the doctor.

Hours later, the Capathians have food and drink provided for them. Those who did not survive were dealt with properly. Max is sleeping soundly after eating and Mason is making rounds, checking on all of his people.

Apollo is fixing a chair with a loose screw, listening to a fellow engineer complain about how he had to fix a loose metal plate earlier and how he shouldn't be doing such remedial jobs. Apollo finishes with the screw and walks away from his whining underling in the middle of his complaints.

 

[Dragongal]

Adira had already given orders to let the ship drift toward the neutral zone for a few days in hopes of finding the final pods. That was the likeliest place that they would be. She had sent a message to General Ford about the Tia complaint, but it would be at least a day before he received it. In the mean time, she was unable to make any decisive moves regarding the Tia. The most she could do was go to speak with Mason and explain this to him. "... and so, it's best if you present the case to the Council when we get you back to a hub."

 

[sugakookie]

Mason nods. "Okay. We can do that." He figured they wouldn't be able to just attack Tia so it made sense to him to have to report his case.

Max stirs and wakes up, looking around as if he expected his surroundings to change. He remembers where he is and also remembers that he didn't drink anything while he ate. A strong feeling of thirst overcomes him but his head is aching too much for him to sit up or do anything.

 

[Dragongal]

"Now, I'm not promising that they'll actually do anything to the Tia people.... So don't expect that." Adira didn't want to let Mason down if he was expecting revenge.

One of the nurses, a pretty little miss, had been walking past when Mason woke. "Oh, hello there? Didn't expect you to wake up again so soon. You can have more medicine if you like? For your head?"

 

[sugakookie]

"Of course," Mason says, but he's sure that they will do something anyway.

Max looks up at her. "Yes please," he says quietly, not daring to move his head to nod.

 

[Dragongal]

"You guys wouldn't know, being asleep and all... but the treaty is terribly rocky. I'm not supposed to get as close to them as we're going to, but I also don't care." Adira shrugged. "We have thee missing pods with potentially twenty each. That's sixty people."

The nurse smiled and got Max a cup of water and some pills for him to take. "Here you go. Those should help right away. Anything else you need?"

 

[sugakookie]

Mason raises an eyebrow. "If you don't care, why not just attack them?" Mason asks, thinking like the military man he is.

Max slowly sits up and takes the pills, chugging the water. A thought occurs to him. "Um, some more water would be nice. Also... the doctor, is she around?"

 

[Dragongal]

"As I said, this is not a warship. And I will not start a war. This is a matter for diplomats, not myself. I won't be responsible for thousands of lives lost in a war that could have been prevented." Adira's tone was very stern.

"Yeah," the nurse said. "Give me a minute, I'll send for her and get some water for you."

A few minutes later, after the nurse had given Max his water, Doc came to Max's bedside. "How're you feeling?"

 

[sugakookie]

Mason holds his hands up in defense. "Understood."

"I still have a headache," Max says. He's still sitting up. "I wanted to apologize for how I acted earlier. I'm not usually like that, I guess it had to do with being in shock." Max did look apologetic, and he wouldn't meet her eyes.

 

[Dragongal]

"Good." Adira nodded decisively. "In three days, if we can't find the other ships... then I'm sorry, but they must have been lost. Even with the force of the explosion, they couldn't have gone farther, and we can not go into that neutral zone. They shouldn't have gone in there anyway. They could have been caught by debris from the planet or something like that. I'm sorry, again."

Doc looked Max over for a few seconds, then said, "Well, apology accepted. No need to act like a cowering dog, you can look at me."

 

[sugakookie]

"As long as we found most of the ships, I won't complain. You saved a lot of people and I thank you for that," Mason says.

Max looks up at Doc and his cheeks grow a bit pink. Why am I blushing? He sets his empty glass that used to have water in it down and lays back down in his bed. "That's all I needed to say," he says.

 

[Dragongal]

"It was pure luck. Now I'll leave you to what you were doing."

"Alright. You need more rest anyway," Doc commented, then moved out the next patient.

 

[sugakookie]

"But you could've made the decision to ignore the ships... but, okay. Have a nice rest of your day, Captain," Mason says with a small smile and continues to check on all of his people.

Max stares after the doctor and sighs quietly to himself, tucking his cheek further into the pillow.

 

[Dragongal]

Three days passed, and the Star Ascension was floating near the neutral zone with the Tia. Adira was in her Captain's seat reading over medical reports when Ra'nkur, her second-in-command, alerted her to something happening outside the ship. Evidently there was a debris field, and a recently created one. And the sensors picked up two life-forms. One human, one not. Before anyone else could even offer, Adira had put on her helmet and adjusted her jacket, which worked with her boots to turn into a suit capable of handling empty space. "I'm going out," was all she said before she started heading to the airlock.

 

[sugakookie]

"Be careful, Cap. You know what to do if debris separates you from the tether," Apollo calls, having his suit on and ready to go as soon as he heard the alerts. Others follow Adira to the airlock to accompany her.

Epicot Price sits in a room separated from everyone else after they find out exactly what he is. He staring at the door, hoping someone would come through it with his lunch soon. Why did the leaders have to save me, of all people? Why not leave me to die?

 

[Dragongal]

"Apollo, come on. Since when do I use a tether?" she commented through the comm system in her helmet. Her boots had their own propulsion system. They didn't work when dealing with gravity, but in empty space they were fantastic. Seconds later both of them were outside of the airlock. One of the two before them, the more human one, seemed to be trying to flee. When they saw Apollo and Adira, they opened their universal comm link to speak through their helmets. "Run! He's going to kill you too!" was all he got out before they heard a yell as he was shot in the shoulder by the Tia.

Adira wasted no time before shooting the gun out of the Tia's hand, thus disarming it. A few security members had joined herself and Apollo, and at her command aimed their guns at the Tia and cut off any escape for him. As the was happening, she approached the injured man, who had evidently lost consciousness.

 

[sugakookie]

"Shit," Apollo hisses. He holds out his hand. A magnetic tether comes to his palm and he attaches it to the man's suit. He presses a button on the forearm of his suit and the tether gets pulled back towards the ship where the medical crew was waiting. Apollo sends another tether his way and clips it onto Adira when she's not paying attention. He didn't trust her boots. He trusted his own engineering instead. "What are you waiting for? Kill the damn thing!" Apollo says, motioning to the Tia being surrounded.

 

[Dragongal]

"No we need him as a prison- DAMMIT APOLLO" Adira had started the explanation, but it was ended as she was dragged back to the ship. With a growl she went inside and took off her helmet, then headed to the medical Bay. "At least I can ask this one about -'

Doc stopped Adira before she could enter. "The new guy you just saved? In surgery, go away," was all she said before leaving Adira in the hall.

 

[sugakookie]

Apollo looks at the group with guns pointed at the Tia. "You heard me. Shoot." He turns to go back towards the ship, hearing a gun shot sound behind him and smiling in satisfaction.

"What's going on?" Asks Max from a bit behind Adira. He was already up and feeling much better than before.

 

[Dragongal]

"One of the Tia was attacking a human. There was wreckage from a ship of some kind too. I already have some men examining that. I ordered my security team to bring the Tia in as prisoner. Now we can know why he was attacking this man, and if there are any further plans of violence." Adira was content with that thought.

Doc then came out and said, "It's clear why he passed out. Under his suit is a gaping hole in his leg, blood was pooling in his pant leg. He's stable now, but resting. He should be left as such.

 

[sugakookie]

Apollo walks up to Adira. "Actually, the Tia aren't very chatty. Especially not this one, since he was just shot in the skull."

Max raises an eyebrow, preparing to see a fight break out between the two. When the doctor comes out, his attention is immediately turned to her.

 

[Dragongal]

"Pardon? I ordered the security team to take him prisoner - you heard me give the command. Why is he dead?" Adira was waiting for an actual answer - maybe he had pulled another weapon? Doc's diagnosis caught her attention. Whoever that was was now the last person who knew what had happened. "So the wound on his leg wasn't cauterized?"

Doc shook her head. "No, seemed to have been made by shrapnel of some kind."

 

[sugakookie]

Apollo simply smiles. His secret wouldn't be exposed. The robot he had engineered to follow his orders lived among the humans as if he was one, too.

"Will he be okay?" Max asks, even though he doesn't really know the person they're talking about.

 

[Dragongal]

Adira looked at Apollo and said, "You're not off the hook either. But I have bigger issues right now."

Doc shrugged. "He's stable. He's healing remarkably fast, I think he's been enhanced. His reflexes definitely are. We're running his ident card now."