“I didn't...... know....... how integrated..... You were.” Alec was having difficulty operating in spite of the shielding around the ship.
“It's a promising planet but it definitely needs some sort of asteroid defense before anyone tries to do anything with it.”
“Affirmative..... leave......... sensors........ malfunctioning.” Alec appeared eager to escape the system.
Kiyan interfaced with the controls and lifted off. Retracting shields to only cover the ship he dodged what he could and blasted what he couldn't. Leaving the cloud of debris behind he climbed into a high orbit and prepared to exit the system. Sensors began to indicate various erroneous readings over a wide range indications. Flickers and flashes covered the view screens until Kiyan turned off the scanners and switched to optical navigation data. The ship notified Kiyan that scanners and com systems were damaged and charge levels were low. There was more than enough energy left for navigation out of the asteroid field and a jump to the Avenger's location so Kiyan wasn't too worried.
Kiyan had charted a course towards the edge of the asteroid field and was navigating through the belt with floodlights illuminating the immediate vicinity. The nearby asteroids glowed and the occasional flash as a small rock collided with the shields was the only light that Kiyan could see. He caught a glimmer out of the corner of his eye but saw nothing when he looked so he assumed a reflection from an icy asteroid. Another glimmer caught his attention from the other side making him pause a moment to examine the area. Finding no asteroids in the area he replayed the recording of the visual. There was a definite glimmer.
Kiyan began to feel a bit of nervousness coming on. He was checking the status of the repair drones when he saw another glimmer ahead of him. The repairs were 83% complete, estimated operational in twenty minutes. A glance at Alec informed him that he was only operating on a basic level. Increasing speed to the highest that he could safely navigate the asteroid belt Kiyan decided to get out of there. The ship jolted to one side from a weapon blast confirming Kiyan's suspicions. Short range sensors were operational enough for a fight. Kiyan found that trying to navigate and fight was a lot more difficult without Alec helping. Dodging an asteroid he watched as a fighter that was following him collided exploding as it attempted to miss the asteroid. Another fighter came into sensor range as Kiyan slid around another rock. Point defends systems were already burning through shields when Kiyan came around the other side and was able to aim a plasma cannon at the fighter. A moment later all that was left was a cloud of cooling molten metal. There was a jolt as the drop ship collided with a small asteroid and shield warning bells began to sound.
“There are too...... many, you..... must survive....... Can't let them.... capture ship..... need energy.” Kiyan was about to retort with something when the influx of energy paralyzed him. Alec interfaced directly to Kiyan and informed him that the ship and this android had too much technology to let the drakken capture. “Kiyan, you must survive until the Avenger returns. Charge levels at 1742%. Live.”
Kiyan felt the massive amounts of energy stored in his implants and was about to disagree with Alec when the android exploded. The conclusion threw Kiyan across the ship. Picking himself up Kiyan noticed the self-destruct sequence reach critical. The blasts seemed to move slowly as they erupted from every console and then the massive explosion from the engines propelled Kiyan towards the wall. Kiyan held out his hands defensively at the rapidly approaching wall and closed his eyes. When he opened his eyes again Kiyan found himself floating outside the ship surrounded by droplets of liquid metal. Looking back at the ship he saw a gaping hole on the outside and flashes as it disintegrated. Kiyan's HUD gave a warning just before the ship shattered into a million fragments with a flash and the concussion wave that tossed Kiyan ahead like a leaf before a hurricane.
Hurtling through space Kiyan tried to avoid the asteroids by bending them out of his way but he found that he moved more than the asteroids. Capitalizing on this discovery he slowed to a stop and looked around. Turning he barely had time to react as a fighter closed in on his position at top speed. Throwing up his hands he felt the metal of the craft for a split second before it liquefied. Connecting with nearby asteroids Kiyan began to move towards the edge of the field. Glancing back over his shoulder as he moved, Kiyan saw what looked like a river of fighters winding through the asteroids at him. There was a drakken frigate deftly maneuvering amidst the rocks like it was an extension of the pilot. Darkness comes like a river but one is not. The words of the dream came back to Kiyan as he watched them advancing on him slowly but surely. One is not. One is not a fighter like the rest or one is not like the rest? Kiyan connected with a couple small asteroids nearby and bent them at the advancing fighters as hard as he could. His efforts were rewarded with a few fighters spinning out of control and a couple explosions. The ones that he bent at the frigate either dissolved under laser fire or bounced harmlessly off of shields. Why aren't they firing on me? Despite Kiyan's best efforts he was soon surrounded by a swarm of fighters that blocked his every movement. Kiyan liquefied any that got close enough and the drakken soon learned to keep their distance. The frigate soon joined the circling drakken and appeared to be making scans. A couple fighters decided to strike and loosed a barrage of laser blasts at Kiyan. Stretching his bending to its limits he liquefied the fighters and bent the metal around him as he sensed his shields failing. Encased in a shell of metal his shields failed exposing him to the icy cold of space. His metal shell protected him from the vacuum but the cold bit into his bones until he felt the change come over him. The cold lost its bite as the transformation completed. Trapped in metal there was nothing more he could do. The loss of energy finally took its toll and Kiyan slipped consciousness.
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Drovak piloted his new vessel with the skill that only lifetimes could impart. The protectorate vessel that they had been stalking had sent a smaller vessel into the asteroid cloud. A better opportunity might never present itself for the capture of one of the protectors. The command of the mission was split among three captains. Drovak was one of them but as he was the newest captain the other two simply ignored him. One felt that they should strike the battleship and seize the glory of victory. The other was more prudent but only because he was more cunning. The second declared that there were rumors that three battleships had vanquished a thousand drakken vessels. Their strike force would not last more than a few minutes in open battle. Besides who knew how many reinforcements could be waiting to drop out of warp. No they needed a better plan.
Drovak thought for a minute as he went to fetch a dish from the kitchen for the first captain before a plan presented itself to him. Returning to the conference room he attempted to speak to the other two captains.
“Be silent whelp. I have been a captain for the last sixteen clonings. Learn your place waste of scales.” The first captain refused to even suffer Drovak to try explaining what his idea was. Drovak glanced at the second captain and saw the same look of disdain. A hint of a question was in his expression but he bowed to the senior captain. Drovak saw the question and decided to take a chance.
“Spawn of a maggot, I am the third captain of this command appointed by the dark lords. They think I am worthy of leading warriors of the dark one in battle so you will listen to me, you descendant of pond scum.” Drovak carefully dropped the name of the dark one while striking at the ego of the first captain. The first captain would never listen to a clone that had been promoted so recently. The second seemed to want to avoid a fight if possible, he was the only one that would ever agree to Drovak's plan.
The whisper of steel against leather was Drovak's only warning as the first captain lunged at him. Ducking under the table and swinging a hand full of claws at the back of a passing leg Drovak felt his claws slicing through scales and muscle. The first captain landed on the floor with blood pouring out of several gouges in his leg. Before he could recover Drovak was on his back. A dozen quick stabs with a long sharp
knife hidden up Drovak's sleeve finished the battle. Standing up from the twitching body of the first captain he turned to the blaster held by the second captain. The moment of hesitation was all he needed to dodge the first blast and come up with his own blaster leveled at the second captain's head. They eyed each other for a minute before anyone spoke.
“I will take command of the troops and vessels that were under him.” Drovak needed to appear strong in order to make the other captain fear him.
“Transfer his personal food stores to my ship and I will be satisfied.” The other captain lowered his blaster after seeing Drovak's nod. “What is your plan?”
“I say we capture the smaller craft and fill it with explosives.” Drovak holstered his blaster but still spun his knife between his claws after wiping the green blood off. He needed to maintain an edge of intimidation over the other captain.
“It could be piloted back to the battleship and detonated when it docks.” The other captain was eyeing the twirling knife as he spoke. “The explosion might be enough to destroy the ship or at least damage it enough to make an attack with our strike force practical. There is still too much risk. What if the ship sends a distress signal?”
“There won't be any signal from the meteor cloud because of the radiation and even if the battleship sends a signal we will have already destroyed it before any reinforcements come.” Drovak assuaged the fears that he could in order to convince the other captain.
“I like it, there will be much glory to be had if we win.” Drovak liked the look of greed that flickered across the other captain's face. If only he knew Drovak's real plan.
Drovak made the necessary announcements and took command of the other ships in the fleet. The plan that he had devised with the other captain involved weakening the small vessel with a swarm of fighters then capturing the damaged vessel with grappling lines. Boarding and capturing the crew was the next step. The other captain wasn't happy about capturing the crew instead of killing them but a few more spins of the knife, a glance at the corpse in a green pool of blood and the promise that information could be had from the captives convinced him. They had some exotic matter warheads that could be stored on the vessel and remotely detonated. The drakken chosen to pilot the vessel were fresh clones imprinted with unquestioning obedience and would slit their own throat if commanded. The rest would be simple.
Drovak chose to personally supervise the capture of the vessel. The other captain agreed with another glance at the still corpse. Several hundred fighters slipped into the asteroid field under cloak and waited for the return of the protectorate ship. Drovak took the helm of his ship and piloted it skillfully through the maze. Drovak couldn't risk using scanners to find the ship so he had several fighters fly over the planet and locate the vessel. He had trouble believing the report that the ship was leaving the planet surface and heading in a random direction out of the system. He had the fighters that were closest follow the ship as he mobilized the rest to cut it off. He was further surprised when he was notified that the ship had reached the asteroid belt and was using visual methods of navigating it. Something was not right here and Drovak didn't like deviations.
The first fighter reported cloak malfunctions shortly before the vessel opened fire on it. Drovak decided to uncloak the rest and move in with all speed. Drovak felt his plan come apart at the seams as he watched the ship explode on his console screens. It must have been damaged on the planet surface before the fight. From what he knew of protectorate technology it should have taken the greater part of the fighters present to subdue the vessel. He was about to call back the fighters when he noticed a blip on his scanner. Closer examination stunned Drovak as he saw the humanoid figure hurtling through the asteroid belt without any shielding from space. It must be one of the ascended. Drovak saw a glimmer of hope as he ordered the fighters to capture the person. As he approached with the greater number of fighters winding their way through the asteroids he found that capture was harder than he had expected. It appeared the ascended had the power to liquefy metal. Any fighter that got too close turned into a cloud of metal. Another ability that Drovak discovered as he got close was that the ascended could move asteroids with his mind. There were a few fighters that succumbed to rogue asteroids suddenly flying at them. Drovak's ship's shields protected him from the flying rocks but he didn't dare chance the melting metal. While he was deciding what to do a couple of the fighter pilots decided to take matters into their own hands. Before Drovak could stop them, they had opened fire on the ascended. Drovak had weapons locked on them when they turned to liquid and flew at the ascended enveloping him in a metal bubble. Running scans of the metal showed extreme low temperatures and fading life signs.
“Pull it into fighter bay one and erect the containment field.” Drovak shouted orders at his crew. He had to directly order a couple of fighters to attach grappling lines to the chunk of metal. When it was in the cargo bay the containment field was raised. Drovak had all the fighters engage the cloaks and standby. Drovak went to the fighter bay to supervise the teams tasked with cutting the metal off of the ascended. After carefully removing the metal one of the drakken tried to slice the ascended in two with the cutting laser. His still body served to remind the rest of Drovak's wishes. The creature that emerged after the metal shell was cut away was unlike anything Drovak had seen in any of his lives. The tall clear ice body and what looked like tendrils of metal reaching to all of its extremities with the glowing blue eyes. The sharp spikes that rose in ridges along the creatures back and arm looked lethal. The hands had long thin blade like claws on each finger and sharp spikes extending from the wrists. Scans showed life signs on a basic level. It was alive but hibernating in a deep sleep state. Drovak and a couple other drakken loaded the still ascended into a special stasis pod equipped with a containment field. Drovak returned to the command deck and proceeded to maneuver to where the rest of the fleet was waiting.
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Corban would have rather been the one on the mission exploring the asteroid system but he had commanded the last mission exploring a nebula. It was only fair that someone else get to go on this mission. As Kiyan had left the ship Corban was the highest ranking officer aboard so the task of manning the bridge fell to him. He was not alone as he was training Savos and Jeremy in the finer points of bridge operations. Fred was busy training with Ray in some form of martial art. Corban got Jeremy settled pouring over some sensor readings and began instructing Savos in how to manually control the Avenger's navigational systems. Alec wasn't offering much assistance as he seemed to be focusing on maintaining a data link with the drop ship.
“This is boring, there is nothing here.” Jeremy voiced his professional opinion of the sector.
“Try out the long range scanners. See if you can find Kiyan.” Corban smiled as he silently agreed with Jeremy's sentiment.
“Are you sure Alec won't mind if I do that?” Savos had a measure of fear for the AI.
“No I won't mind. As it is I would rather someone took over the helm for me so I could focus on keeping track of Kiyan.” Alec's voice made Savos jump like usual.
“Ha, Savos if you don't stop jumping at Alec's every word you will have a heart attack.” Corban couldn't help but laugh.
“I can't help it, he is like everywhere and he pops out when you least expect it.” Savos glanced around with an apprehensive expression.
“It’s a good thing you have two hearts and can spare one then.” Corban smiled as Savos laughed nervously.
“What does an energy spike in the high energy bands mean?” Jeremy interrupted the conversation about how inertial dampers and artificial gravity affected space travel. Corban frowned when he heard Jeremy and went over to look at the panel with him.
“Alec, this is consistent with the radiation release from a drop ship drive going critical.” Corban had not yet finished speaking before the panels leaped to life. The analysis that Alec showed on the view screen confirmed Corban's suspicions. Jeremy held hi
s hands up as his console showed the results of a high intensity sensor sweep of the origin of the energy spike.
“There are sensor discrepancies that could be drakken vessels. I should never have let him go on that mission.” Alec appeared to be blaming himself for whatever might have happened. A warp frame appeared and sensors went dark for a moment before they dropped back into normal space. They were still a fair distance away from the asteroid field but out of range of any drakken ships. Sub warp drives kicked in as the cloak engaged. It was still several minutes before they would be within range.
“I have several sensor anomaly in the outer asteroid field. I can't see anything farther in.” Jeremy was doing the best he could with his limited experience.
“Confirming residual radiation from a drop ship explosion.” Alec took control of the ship and uncloaked. Corban, Savos and Jeremy watched as Alec began releasing charged particles waves into space. They could see shadows from ships as the particles began to compromise the cloaks. There was a hesitation for a moment before the drakken realized what was happening. Savos gasped as the swarm of fighters uncloaked and opened fire. The carriers and a few dozen frigates rounded out the drakken fleet. Alec loosed a couple forced point singularities into the fighter swarm leaving a cloud of devastation. The twisted fighters that remained after the collapse and resulting gravity wave were in no condition to make an offensive. One of the carriers made an attempt to flee but surprisingly one of the frigates began to dance around it raining down a hail of fire into it from all sides. Alec took the opportunity to meet the remaining oncoming ships with a storm of plasma. The first ship's shields collapse under the gale and the ship melted before exploding. Two of the frigates must have discovered the treachery of their companion because they turned aside and opened fire on the traitor. Corban tried to interface with a combat console and was able to direct a torrent of devastation at the frigates attacking the frigate crippling the fleeing carrier. One of the frigates spun out of control after losing shields but the other one was locked on a collision course. A series of three forced point singularities crashed into the approaching vessels leaving only a couple capable of offering any resistance. Surprisingly they still came on in the face of insurmountable odds. A few well-placed shots reduced them to rubble.