Project - Prometheus Ch. 03

There was a flash of light and a loud bang, which disoriented both Inari and Kasumi. Korsa and her group approached, but not before the black-skinned woman had grabbed Priya. She held onto her before throwing something onto the bulkhead and at the Sentries. Whatever she threw, stuck onto the wall with a resounding clang as the group of Sentries barring her way were suddenly blown apart.

Pulling Priya's rifle, she shot directly at Korsa, before plowing through the disorganized Sentries. Moments later, there was a large explosion on the bulkhead which threw everyone clear of the area. But seconds later, everyone was being dragged back to the origin point.

Instead of the bulkhead wall being there, there was a massive hole that overlooked the planet below. Everyone had grabbed ahold of something to stop themselves from being sucked out in the decompression, but Priya wasn't fast enough. The grip she had on the floor wasn't enough and she was being dragged out into space.

"Priya!!!" Inari screamed as she saw her lover's grip fail and was sucked out. Seconds later, a transparent field activated around the breach, stopping the violent decompression. Inari couldn't believe it! She watched Pree die and couldn't do anything about it!

"I'm going to kill that bitch!" she bellowed. Hopping the guard rails, she vaulted over to the walkway that Shazza had disappeared down, charging through the Sentries that were giving chase.

"Captain, where is she??" Inari all but shouted into the comm.

"Ahead of you by about three hundred meters, but she won't be able to go anywhere. I've set the Sentries to gun her down and there are plenty in the walkways ahead," Captain Tomisic replied.

"Captain, please set the Sentries for a wounding action! That cunt is mine!" Inari requested, hurtling along the walkway.

"Done. Good hunting, Lt. Commander," Alex's voice said. Hefting her rifle, Inari could just see her target ahead. She was at a loss of what to do as more Sentries closed in. Screaming in defiance, the older woman took aim and fired. Rage driving her on, she emptied the entire clip at the Xuul'khan.

Turning, Shazza saw the angry woman charging towards her, before she took several bullets to the chest and arms. Her armored bodysuit protected her from the instant death that the bullets promised. But the force of them knocked her off of her feet. Landing hard on her back, she tried to get up, but an armored foot stomped down on her chest, driving the air from her lungs, leaving her gasping.

Ejecting her clip from her Ravager, Inari slammed in a new clip then cocked her rifle, taking aim directly at Shazza's head.

"For Priya!" she said as her finger squeezed the trigger.

"Captain?" came a voice that Inari was all too familiar with.

"Pree?!?" Starwitch replied, doubt and hope bleeding into her voice. "How?"

"Helmet was on and I switched back to my suit tank as I got sucked out," came the reply. Laughing in disbelief, Inari collapsed, thankful that her love was still alive. As Inari fell to the ground, Shazza wiggled away from the laughing human, but didn't get far. As she looked up, the butt of Kasumi's shotgun descended onto her forehead and she fell back to the ground, oblivious to the world around her.

"If you all don't mind, I'm going to drag this bitch to the brig," Kasumi said as she directed a Sentry to pick up the unconscious woman. As she left with the Sentry and Charlie squad, the rest of the Sentries dispersed, heading back to the tasks they were previously assigned.

"Love, you're still there?" Priya's voice came back over the comm.

"Yeah, I'm still here," Inari said, still a little hysterical.

"I'm feeling a little heavy and that planet is getting awfully big to me," came a worried response. Hearing that, Inari snapped to action, jumping to her feet and taking off down the walkways.

"What is...." Korsa started before realization dawned on her and she quickly took off at a dead run, right behind her friend. Taal'ani and Natalya looked at each other, both figuring out what Pree had meant a heartbeat behind Korsa and ran after her.

"Captain, can you get the bay where we parked the Darkstrider open sir?!? Sergeant Patel is out there and caught in the planet's gravity sir!"

"Already on it, Commander Sunara! Doors will be open on the most direct route to your ship!" Alex said over the comm.

"Thank you, sir!" Inari praised him as she forced her body to keep moving at top speed. Korsa wasn't far behind her and had caught up to her by the time she had reached the medical bay.

"Get ahead of me and prep the Darkstrider for liftoff! I'm not losing her today!" Inari ordered her ship's doctor. Nodding, Korsa took off at a full run, easily outdistancing her in seconds. In minutes, she had reached the doorway that led to the hangar where the Darkstrider was berthed. The doors were still closed, though the engines were just firing up.

Seeing they didn't have any time to wait for Natalya or Taal'ani, she charged up the ramp and found Korsa finishing through all the pre-flight checks. Sensing the captain behind her, Korsa stepped away from the pilot's seat, allowing Inari to pop into it. Just before Inari called out to the captain, his baritone voice came in through the ship's comm system.

"Atmospheric containment field, online! Opening the doors to bay seven!"

With that, the doors which were previously locked, unlocked and came apart. Once the opening was large enough, Inari took off and punched it out of the hangar, homing in on Priya's position.

"Using retro thrusters to slow my descent, but I'm too deep in! Where are you guys?!?" Priya's panicked voice came in over the Darkstrider's comm.

"Thirty seconds out! Hang tight!" Inari responded, panic heavy in her tone. Meanwhile, Korsa had dropped to the cargo bay and had already activated the containment field, getting ready to scoop up their falling crew mate.

"I see you! Almost there!" Inari nearly shouted out. Korsa hit the switch and opened the bay doors, standing ready. As Inari got closer, she saw that the edges of Priya's suit had warped, as it wasn't designed to survive re-entry into a planet.

"I'm getting uncomfortably hot! I can see the edges of my suit glowing!" Priya pleaded. Inari rerouted any additional power she had from every system into the engines, increasing their thrust output.

Korsa watched from her perch in the cargo bay, as Priya was almost at the doors, the Darkstrider diving frantically to catch her. Edging to the door, the Khontaran woman gripped one of the frame struts and looked out into the blackness of space. She saw her friend, just beyond arms reach, the edges of her armor glowing. Priya had just started screaming, the intense heat getting to her.

Korsa gripped her sword by the blade in a two-handed grip with both of her left arms. She extended the hilt out to Priya, who grabbed the lifeline and held on. Korsa pulled her through the doors, straining with all her might against the gravitational force. As she flew through the doors, Korsa slapped the emergency door button, the bay doors clanging back into place instantly.

"I've got her!" she shouted out triumphantly.

"Thank God!" Inari sighed with relief as she then pulled up, trying to get the Darkstrider free of the planet's gravitational pull. Priya was still screaming as Korsa ran over and ripped the burning armor off her friend. Once her helmet was off, Priya had stopped screaming. But her bodysuit was still smoking in several places, which her crew mate had removed just as fast as she had discarded her armor.

Eyes closed, Priya was still breathing, but the sound was shallow and Korsa looked over at her near naked crew mate. There were several burn marks on her skin that would surely blister if left unattended, but thankfully, nothing too severe. Priya moaned incoherently before her head lolled to the side.

Checking for a pulse immediately, it relieved Korsa to find one. Picking up her battered friend, Korsa climbed up to the main deck, coming up just behind Inari. Starwitch turned her head to look at her lover's form, a pained and unasked question on her face.

"She'll be all right," Korsa said soothingly. "Just passed out from the pain and shock. I need to get her to the med bay to look after these burns."

Breathing easier, Inari turned her focus back to fighting her ship into doing what she commanded of it. As Korsa took Priya back to the med bay, she laid her out on the table and applied a salve onto the most severe of Priya's burns. The salve would alleviate the pain and restore the skin's moisture for a time, negating the worst effects of the burns.

"Damn it!" Inari swore from up in the cockpit.

"What is it?" Korsa called out.

"The gravity of this planet is too strong. I'm going to have to take her down, try to use its gravity to slingshot us free!" Inari replied, her voice concerned, but confident that her plan would work.

"OK, do what you have to!" Korsa replied.

"Hold on to something!" Inari said as she stopped fighting the planet's gravity and went with it instead.

As the ship descended into the ice blue planet, they broke through the cloud cover into the dark of night. It was clear at first, but there were large gusts of snow and ice being thrown about by the high winds that were currently buffeting the landscape. The winds were picking up to higher velocities, the beginnings of a massive blizzard already on its way. Inari did everything she could to maintain a stable flight path, but the power of the winds threatened to throw the Darkstrider down to the icy tundra.

Starwitch did everything she could but was unprepared for what came next. The cloud cover solidified, with large pellets of ice coming down on the ship like miniature meteors. Each hit was felt in the reverberations of the ship, but the armor held. For a moment, it felt like they'd pull through this, but then an explosion rocked the ship. Several chunks of hail had struck the thrusters of the ship simultaneously. Alarms wailed as the engines sputtered out and the Darkstrider could no longer keep her altitude.

"SHIT! Engine thrusters are offline and we're going down! Brace for impact!" Inari shouted as she buckled herself into her seat and set the landing gear, trying her best to soften their landing. In the med bay, Korsa strapped Priya down as best as she could, then covered her body with her own, protecting her friend and patient.

Inari steered her ship, fighting against the storm that had downed them. Gritting her teeth, she turned them to what looked like a snowbank, hoping that they'd survive this mess. The nose of the Darkstrider hit the ground, leaving a large furrow in the ground as the hard-packed snow and ice slowed its momentum. The rest of the ship clonked down into the icy tundra, the landing gear doing little to ease its momentum.

A snow bank loomed over them and the ship slammed into it, sending snow and debris flying on impact. Inside the ship, everything that wasn't bolted down went flying, as both Inari and Korsa were knocked unconscious from the impact. The thrusters at the rear of the ship were a flaming mess. The fire was soon put out by the falling snow as it soon coated the ship.

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And that is where I will be stopping chapter three! I know, I'm being evil right now, but what fun is it if you're being good all the time? What will happen to the ladies that have crashed on the planet's surface? What about the crew of the Darkstrider left behind on the Perseus? Well, you'll just have to wait and see what's going to happen next!

Anyway, thank you for taking the time to read my work and I hope that you've enjoyed it! I'm open to constructive criticism and will seriously consider any suggestions made about various story arcs. Please feel free to rate and comment on my work down below. If you like what I write, don't be afraid to follow and share, though your views, ratings and comments are quite enough for me.

In the meantime, this is C.H. Darkstrider, signing off to grab a beer and some quality time with the wife! ;) You will attain whatever you most desire, as long as you believe in yourself. Cheers!