A Viper's Nest Ch. 09

He had asked Zhaktlei if she was also wearing ear defenders, however, she informed him that thanks to their cranial implants, there was no need. The implants automatically adjusted for sudden increases in noise levels. John inquired if it would be possible for him to get the implants and the Chief Engineer told him that she honestly didn't know. However, she did say that considering how advanced their medical science was, the possibility that John could get similar implants was high.

About halfway in, the Chief Engineer stopped next to a very large cuboid device. Zhaktlei explained to John that it was the Primary Printer for the battleship and that they had recently used it to print out a custom made crash couch, made to John's exact measurements and needs. Four Engineers appeared and they were pushing the crash couch out of one of the nearby machines. Shortly afterwards, the Chief Engineer had produced John's new Nano Flight suit collar.

"John," Zhaktlei said, "you'll need to remove your Nanosuit uniform before you try on the Flight suit," she then pointed at his collar with her right hand.

Without thinking about where he was, John deactivated his collar. He was half-blinded by the neon blue light of the collar's reservoir as the Nanos that made up his uniform retreated across his body. All work inside Engineering ceased as everyone watched, there were even a few gasps. Most of them had, by now, watched the files of John having sex and several Engineers stared at his now naked body. Breaking the collar apart, John switched over the collars and then activated the new one.

Again, he was half-blinded by the neon blue light as the collar activated but any discomfort or annoyance from it quickly disappeared as John yelped. When the Nanos for his new Flight suit had reached his groin, he felt something go down his Urethra and at the same time something went into his arse.

"What the hell?" John said while trying to pull at his Nanosuit.

"That'll be the waste extraction tubes," the Chief Engineer said, "you'll have some discomfort each time you wear your Nano Flight suit, but over time you'll get used to it," she then looked over to where the Shalsui was standing.

"All pilots have the same reaction, John," the Squadron Leader said, "as Zhaktlei said, you'll get used to it. I'm sure some of the pilots will even tell you that they enjoy the experience," she then laughed at the expression on John's face.

"You could have warned me," he complained while looking up at the Chief Engineer and she shrugged.

"If I told you that you would have a tube down your cock and up your arse," she said, "would you have activated the collar?" Zhaktlei asked.

"Probably not," John admitted. He looked around and guessed the entire Engineering staff were watching him.

"Back to work everyone," the Chief Engineer shouted, "while it was nice to see a naked male in here, you all have jobs to do," she said. There was a collective sigh and then everyone turned and walked away.

"Was it your intention to show everyone your body?" Shalsui asked John.

"No," he replied, "I didn't even think about it," John said.

"While it was fun to see you naked John," the Chief Engineer said as she walked up to where he was currently standing, "perhaps you should think next time before you strip naked in front of fifty horny Vipers?" she said.

"Fifty?" he replied and both Zhaktlei and Shalsui laughed.

"Come on," the Chief Engineer said while gesturing for John to follow, "let's get you into the crash couch, see if everything fits," she then walked towards it.

*****

At the distant edge of the Arroganza system, Patrol ship Matriarch's Light fired its manoeuvring thrusters as it drifted towards a large asteroid. The thrusters along its left flank ignited and the pilot of the ship, Essiluss, swung the ship around the approaching asteroid with practised ease.

"We're coming up on the satellite, Captain," she called out.

"Stop the ship once we're within range to connect," Captain Eki ordered.

"Understood, Captain," Essiluss replied.

The patrol ship continued moving towards the monitor satellite for another ten minutes before the pilot slowed the ship down by activating the thrusters at the front of the ship. When the Matriarch's Light had come to a stop, the comms array, located on the bottom of the ship, deployed from within its armoured compartment.

"I want this done quickly," Captain Eki said, "I dislike being so far away from the station," she then tapped away at her command chair's keypad. A screen was projected just in front of her by the holoprojector installed above where she sat, and the Captain used it to access the ship's logs.

"We've connected to the satellite, Captain," Comms Officer Hunull called out, "downloading its logs and searching for any Vortex recordings," she said.

"No signals on the active scan, Captain," Tactical Officer Ustu reported, "all we're picking up is the asteroid field and nearby gas giant," she said.

"Understood," the Captain replied.

"Found it, Captain," said Hunull, "a Vortex portal opened four days ago. The monitor satellite detected it within the system's Oort Cloud," she said, "shit, a large Ericius fleet was also detected," Hunull looked over to where the Captain was sitting.

"Damn, why didn't it relay the detection back to the station?" Eki inquired.

"Scanning the satellite now, Captain," Zozta, the ship's Engineer chimed in, "looks like one of the asteroids managed to take out its ability to communicate with the rest of the network or even the station," she reported.

"I assume the Oort Cloud is too far away to detect the approaching ships?" Captain Eki asked.

"Yes and no, Captain," replied the Comms Officer, "if the fleet's engines were active then we would be able to see them, however, I suspect they are drifting in, hoping to not be detected," Hunull said.

"Do we know which route they are taking?" Eki asked.

"Calculating now, Captain," Ustu replied. After a few minutes went by, the Captain heard the Tactical Officer swear.

"What is it Ustu?" the Captain asked.

"They're taking a route that will enable them to sneak up on Border Station Five," she replied, "if they stick to it and none of the other Patrol ships or monitor satellites detects them, then they will be able to get so close to the station that they could launch a surprise attack," Ustu said.

Before the Captain of the Matriarch's Light could give the order to send an emergency signal to Border Station Five, the ship was hit by something. Warning lights inside the bridge activated and the lights dimmed. The patrol ship was then hit three more times, each hit caused power fluctuations as the crew tried to figure out what was going on.

"Those were weapon hits, Captain," Zozta shouted, "looks like we've lost our comms array, the rear engines are badly damaged, and I'm having trouble keeping the reactor stable," she said while frantically accessing the screens in front of her.

"Tactical," shouted Captain Eki, "get the shields and weapons online, now" she called out.

"Bringing them online now, Captain," Ustu replied, "sensors indicate...damn," her voice was drowned out by several more impacts.

"What is it?" the Captain asked.

"Ericius ships, Captain," came the reply, "sensors are picking up five of them emerging from inside the asteroid field," Ustu said.

"Captain," the Engineer called out, "I recommend we only activate shields or weapons, the reactor won't be able to maintain both," Zozta said.

"Damn," Captain Eki said, "power up the shields and tell the crew to head to the life pods," she ordered.

"If we turn the ship so that the undamaged side faces the enemy ships," Tactical Officer Ustu called out while tapping away at her control panels, "the life pods will have a better chance of getting away, then we can detonate the reactor," she said.

"Is that possible?" the Captain asked, looking to her right. Engineer Zozta was frantically trying to keep the reactor from going critical.

"I can get the ship's computer to power up the weapons once the last life pod launches," she replied, "with the shields up it won't be long until the seals on the reactor fail and the ship explodes," Zozta looked up at the Captain when she finished.

"Do it," Eki replied, "all hands, this is the Captain. Evacuate the Matriarch's Light and set course for Border Station Five," she ordered.

Inside the bridge and throughout the patrol vessel, evacuation lights and signs were activated. While a Cerastes class patrol vessel was small compared to the rest of the Matriarchy ships, it still had a crew of thirty. Fortunately, there were enough life pods on the damaged side of the ship to accommodate everyone. As the Captain and her bridge crew made their way to the nearest pod, a series of bright flashes lit up the Matriarch's Light as the life pods launched.

Ten seconds after the Captain's life pod was safely away, the computer turned the ship to face the enemy vessels. Using what was left of the engines, the patrol ship lurched forward as the weapons were brought online. All along the hull of the Matriarch's Light, armoured bays opened and Laser Batteries ascended. At the front of the ship, torpedoes were loaded into their tubes and thick armoured doors opened. Once everything was ready, the computer fired at the closet Ericius ship. The first salvo took out its shields and then as the guns rotated to fire at the next closest, the torpedoes, which had been fired shortly before the lasers, impacted against the hull of the enemy vessel.

The first torpedo ripped off the front of the ship, the second detonated against the armoured bridge, killing the crew inside, and the third and fourth torpedos hit the Ericius ship close to the reactor. The resulting internal explosions caused the reactor to go critical and the ship exploded. One of the nearby Ericius ships tried to get clear of the explosion but was caught in the blast. Its shields failed and several of its weapons were damaged. The Captains of the remaining ships decided that the Matriarch's Light was too dangerous to ignore and so they all focused their fire on the damaged patrol ship. They instructed their crews to only disable shields and weapons.

As the Ericius ships opened fire, the stress from trying to maintain both the shields and weapons caused the last seal on the reactor to fail. The resulting explosion from the reactor going critical managed to destroy or severely damage the remaining Ericius ships. However, any hope that the surviving ships had of being able to repair the damage was short-lived, as their own overstressed reactors went critical.

Captain Eki, watching from inside her life pod, prayed that they would be able to reach Border Station Five before the main Ericius fleet was able to spring their trap.