Project - Prometheus Ch. 21

"Well done, Commander! I can see that the ship is performing as expected! Maybe a little more so, with such a talented pilot at its helm," Alex said.

"Thank you, sir!" Inari replied. "Hey Nats, how's the reactor holding up?"

"Everything still in the green levels, captain! Pushing it like that barely registered a hiccup in the reactor core," Natalya responded.

"Time to test the sensors," Priya told her lover. Nodding in agreement, both women put their sensors to start a proper scan, also pinging the surrounding space. Everything came back with full identification markers and descriptions of every contact, including the other planets that hadn't been explored yet.

"Sensors are functioning normally. Testing Exploration Grid," Priya announced. She then tapped a series of switches, bringing the Grid online. Once it was, Priya set it for maximum distance, which was well over two parsecs! The level of detail they received was astounding, making both women go google eyed over this.

"What's the maximum distance at?" Taal'ani called out, as she was anxious to know if her program rewrite had been successful.

"Two-point-one-seven parsec distance, with full details of everything in range!" Inari called out, amazed at this development.

"Power levels spiked briefly but holding steady after the initial startup," Natalya reported.

"So, we keep the Grid off, unless we really need it then," Inari decided.

"Probably a good call, unless we're making a jump into Wild Space, which I would advise against doing," Nats responded.

"Unless it's an absolute emergency," Alex said, putting in his two cents.

"Agreed. Speaking of which, I think it's past time to test the hyperdrive. You have the co-ordinates Commander?" Alex called out.

"Yes, sir! Loading them now and they should be ready in a few seconds," Inari replied.

Inari then guided the ship to where they had arrived in the system and primed the hyperdrive.

"Ready down there, Nats?" Inari called out.

"Hyperdrive is primed and ready to make the jump! On your mark, Captain!" Natalya answered.

Hearing that, Inari flipped the safety switch and pulled the lever. The familiar thrum of the hyperdrive activating could be heard and star lines surrounded them, before they were taken in by the familiar blue vortex of hyperspace. The jump was seamless, and there was zero trouble with the hyperdrive.

"Holy shit!" Natalya said over the comms.

"What is it?" Inari called out. "Something go wrong?!?"

"Not at all, Captain! In fact, everything is going right! You remember those RS-X series of hyperdrives that cut down on the time needed before you could drop out of hyperspace?" Nats asked.

"Yeah. You said that the response time was just under a minute before the hyperdrive stabilized to enough to do an emergency hyper drop," Inari answered.

"This one is much better!" Natalya enthused.

"How much better?"

"Our current speed is at least two-and-a-half times faster than our old hyperdrive and we can do an emergency hyper drop, instantly!" the Trini-Rus woman gushed.

"Tell me you're shitting me!" Priya whispered, gawping at this news.

"Check your readouts! I'm not bullshitting!" Natalya replied.

The ladies in the cockpit brought up the information they sought, and their eyes nearly fell out of their heads. They were moving at more than twice their original speed and the readout showed that they were able to do an emergency hyper drop since the moment they entered hyperspace.

"Holy fuck! Because we are moving this fast, how long before we arrive at the engagement point, where we lost those pirates?" Priya asked. A steady beeping then sounded, which was the one minute warning signal for them to drop out of hyperspace.

"About that long!" Inari said as she turned back to the controls and prepared to drop out of hyperspace.

"Three... two... one, dropping out of hyperspace!" Inari announced, and the vortex gave way to star lines, which came back into focus as stars.

"Are we sure this is the spot?" Priya asked. In response, Inari sent out a radar ping, which pinged back several contacts. Inari then engaged the engines and flew towards the signals, eventually coming upon the wrecked fighters she had destroyed almost a month ago.

"Are those..." Priya started.

"Yup. The pirate fighters that tried to kill us. They're little more than frozen slabs of meat by now," Inari remarked.

"A fitting fate for pirates," Alex grunted over the line.

"Commodore Tomisic! You can hear at this distance sir?" Inari asked, surprised that communication wasn't cut off.

"Of course. The receiver that has been mounted on the Darkstrider allows us to receive and transmit signals, even while in hyperspace and over vast distances," Alex said matter-of-factly.

"Oh damn! Seems like what we have is a little pocket battle cruiser!" Inari grinned.

"In order to make that kind of claim, we'll have to perform a weapons test. Come on back to the Perseus. Jaesa has cobbled together some basic but intelligent drones for you to test those weapons on," Alex told her.

"Making the calculations for the jump to hyperspace. Should be back in a few minutes!" Inari said happily, eager to test out the Darkstrider's new weapons compliment. They jumped back into hyperspace, heading back to the Artucian system. A small signal light ignited, which Inari knew as a private call coming in. She tapped the pick up button and popped on a set of earbuds, curious who was calling.

"Cap, can you hear me?" Natalya's voice asked.

"Loud and clear. What's up?" Inari sub-vocalized.

"I have an idea. An additional test for our systems. Once we drop in, activate the stealth drive. Let's see if we can get the drop on those drones," Nats giggled.

"Oooh! I like it!" Inari whispered. She then communicated to Priya in gestures that they would be going to stealth mode once they arrived. Pree just grinned and nodded, eager to enact their little plan. They arrived in the system a few minutes later and a moment after they had dropped in, Inari activated the stealth drive.

"Commander? Where did you go?" Alex asked, a little confused.

"Testing out the stealth drive, sir. Find us if you can!" she cackled before cutting the line.

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"Well, it seems that the game is afoot," Alex chuckled. "Jaesa, increase the drones combat programming to Expert."

"Yes, sir! Do you believe that the Darkstrider will overcome such aggressive and tactically set drones?" Jaesa wondered.

"We shall see."

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Inari kept on moving through the system, keeping the scanners on minimal power, so as not to attract any attention. They glided right past several drone squads and they didn't even notice they were there!

"Damn Nats! You've really outdone yourself this time!" Inari gushed as they drew near the Perseus.

"Thank you! I try my best!" Natalya replied.

"I'd say that we've been successful with the stealth test! Let's prime weapons and get the drop on these drones!" Inari said with a grin.

"Yes! Let's!" Priya smirked.

"Pree, you have the Darkstrider. I'm going up in the Banshee!" Inari told her as she stood up.

"Pincer attack?" Priya wondered.

"We'll start with that and go into a Fan Spray tactic, depending on how the drones are programmed," Inari responded as she hurried back to the fighter.

She stepped in the fighter ready room and geared herself up, via a nanite flight suit. Once she was attired, she took her new helmet, slid it on and stepped onto the lift platform. In seconds, it moved straight up and into the rear hold of the Banshee. Inari then dashed forward and slid into the cockpit seat, strapping in. She then sealed the bulkheads of the fighter, before detaching it, drifting away from the frigate.

"You OK there, love?" Priya's voice popped over the comms.

"Yup. Engage that squad just ahead of you. I'll pop in overtop and catch them off guard," Inari ordered.

"Roger that. Engaging!" Priya replied. Seconds later, she shut down the stealth drive and put all available power to shields and weapons.

"Nats, we need full power!" the East Indian called out.

"You got it!"

The engines thrummed as the Darkstrider surged forward, bowling right through the drones with her guns blazing. Inari powered up the Banshee and tore right after Priya, coming up right behind the drones as they gave chase. Squeezing the trigger, her pulsar cannons fired, instantly annihilating most of the remaining drone squad. The Darkstrider banked hard right and came about, its cannons firing, vaporizing the final two drones.

"Well done, babes!" Inari enthused, glad to see that Priya still had it.

"Thanks hon!" came the happy reply.

"Nicely played," came Alex's voice over the comms. "But let's see how you handle these guys when the difficulty is amped up. Jaesa set drone combat programming to Ace."

"Oh, it's on!" Inari growled happily.

She hadn't had a decent test to her fighter pilot capabilities since her days in the Federation Navy. Now, she was going to get the test she had wanted for so very long! There were still four other squadrons left, and they were all bearing down on their position, moving fast.

"Looks like we got the test we were looking for, eh love?" Priya asked.

"Let's do this!" Inari replied as she gunned the Banshee, intercepting the first squad.

She pulled off several rolling maneuvers, dodging incoming fire before she was close enough to shoot back. Her opening salvo clipped several drones, sending them careening out of control. After she had passed the squad, Inari hit full reverse on one thruster, turning her around instantly. The drones were busy trying to turn about, but they moved too slowly and were atomized before they could bring their weapons to bear.

Inari checked her tactical readout and saw that the Darkstrider had already slagged one squad and was busy engaging the second. Inari burned her engines to full, seeing that Priya had jumped into the midst of the third group, not seeing the trap they had laid. A full third of the squad had hung back, waiting for Priya to engage the rest.

Moments after she had traded fire with the initial drones, the others then pounced, peppering her with laser fire. Inari came up on their flank, scrapping three drones in a single pass, catching the attention of half the remaining squad. The Darkstrider quickly moved away from the cluster of drones and debris, regenerating its depleted shields.

"Didn't see that trap until the last second!" Priya groused. "Took out a quarter of the squad in the first blitz though."

"As long as your shields held," Inari replied, keeping her focus on destroying the drones.

"A little over eighty percent, which is surprising, with the amounts of hits we took," Natalya broke in over the comms.

"Damn! I'd say the shields have proven themselves!" Inari stated.

"Still have one more squad to beat ladies, and I've amped up the difficulty level on this final squad to maximum," Alex said, catching their attention.

The fifth and final squad was inbound, their engines screaming as they made a beeline for the Darkstrider and the Banshee. Their weapons opened up, trying to catch the fighter and frigate, but most of the shots sailed wide. Unlike the previous squads, these drones weren't slowing down, heading straight for them at ramming speed.

"Shit! Evasive action! We've got kamikazes!" Inari called out as she made the Banshee dance around each drone, while trying to shoot them down. The drones jinked and shifted, avoiding their fire, while keeping their speed at maximum. The Darkstrider wasn't as lucky, suffering a few direct hits, but most of the drones sailed right past them.

Inari then went vertical and did another flat spin, before coming down on the drones from above. Several drones adapted to the tactic and split off their attack, but those that didn't, were reduced to garbage. The remaining drones circled back to engage, but there were fewer than half a dozen of them left.

Following their programming, they launched one final attack on the pair of ships. They came down in a claw formation, before splitting off to try different attack angles. They destroyed four of the drones, with only two of them peeling off successfully. Inari chased down one, while Priya went after the other and they soon were little more than space junk, floating along in the cold vacuum.

"Consider me impressed Commander! Few pilots could take on so many targets and walk away with so little shield damage! Your callsign of Starwitch is well earned!" Alex responded.

"Thank you, sir! I think that just about wraps up our test of the Darkstrider and Banshee," Inari grinned, as she moved the fighter back into docking position with the Darkstrider.

"There is one final test to be performed, before we can call it successful," Alex said mischievously.

"Oh? What would that be?"

"Atmospheric re-entry. Fancy going for a joyride, Commander?" Alex wondered with a snicker.

"Like you really need to ask, sir!" Inari laughed as the Banshee finished docking.

Inari was then out of her seat like a shot and back aboard the Darkstrider in seconds. She headed back to the fighter ready room and removed her suit and helmet, before stepping back into her standard clothes. Inari rushed back down to the cockpit where a giggling Priya was waiting.

"Ready to go, Cap?" she asked.

"Oh yeah! Let's ride!" Inari grinned as she hit the thrusters to maximum and headed straight for Talemkha. They hit the upper atmosphere and broke through relatively easily, the re-entry giving them almost no trouble. They flew across the sky, soaring above the snow and ice, enjoying the clear day.

"Perfect day for flying. Nats, you might want to strap in. I'm looking to do some showboating!" Inari said over the comms.

"Copy that!" Natalya replied. It was a few seconds before the reply came through, but Natalya was locked into her seat. Priya had similarly locked in her harness and tightened the straps.

"Tally ho!" Priya grinned.

Needing no further encouragement, Inari dove straight down, heading for the surface. She cackled at how fast the Darkstrider responded to her commands and pulled up at the last second. They were maybe a dozen feet over the snow and ice, with the ship racing past at full throttle. It moved so fast that it kicked up a massive wake of snow and ice as it passed over the landscape.

"Keep up this speed, you might just start your own snowstorm!" Priya joked.

"Maybe that's the idea!" Inari giggled as she kept the Darkstrider low and fast, buzzing past and avoiding every obstacle. Priya checked the readouts and saw where they were heading, before firing a glance back at her lover.

"Buzzing the settlement?" Priya asked.

"And the Dead Snows! With a ship this nice, can't help but show off a little!" Inari grinned.

"If you must!"

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Tahral was up topside, playing with a group of kids while the daylight still burned. Though they had loads of space down in the dome, it would be a while before the ice melted enough to let light through. He was one of the adults charged with minding the children as they played out in the sunshine. Although his sister had wrangled him into this, he didn't mind, as he loved being around kids.

A weird sound then reached his ears, a sound he'd never heard before, but at the same time, was eerily familiar. It continued to get louder and louder until it was nearly a roar. The children cowered, fearing that it was a pack of Tashkuun beasts, but then the sound cracked right by them, much faster than any Tashkuun could move! His eyes snapped skywards, and he saw the Darkstrider race on by, before turning back to them.

Tahral was in awe at the ship that headed back to them. It was much more sleek in its design and far more fearsome looking than the Hermes or the Hephaestus. As it flew overhead, the ship executed a complex series of spins and flips, awing the crowd below. His four eyes widened as he saw the ship fly on down to them, circle around, before shooting past them, heading south.

"Is that... a ship from the big one?" a little girl name Tahreena asked.

"I would say that it is!" Tahral replied, still awed by the way the ship had moved up in the air. He didn't know that ships could do that!

"I want to go on that ship!" Tahreena replied, just as awestruck as he was.

"Me too little one! Me too!"

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Brahktem was just heading up the ramp out from beneath the cavern of the Ark. He and a group of other Artucian on patrol were grateful for the tunnel the Sentries had carved out. Many of them were more than a little unnerved, staying underground for such a long time. This ramp to the surface, where the sun still shone, was a welcome addition.

At least now, they didn't have to worry about seeing the sun or wondering what time it was. The one thing they were all grateful for was the flow of fresh air, as the air in the cavern was more than a little stifling. He and his patrol were enjoying the sun warming their faces, when a sound louder than they thought possible, startled them.

He didn't know where the booming sound had come from until he saw something move across the sun. Brahktem's eyes widened in shock at the sight of the Darkstrider flying overhead. It weaved and bobbed around the multitude of spires that poked up into the sky, almost like it was a game.

The man had been a veteran of many skirmishes and battles, having seen nearly everything he could have imagined. This however, forced him to conclude that what he imagined was small compared to how vast the galaxy was. He saw the ship take one more pass through the spires, before it circled around and headed back up, towards the massive ship that lay in orbit.

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"It's just fucking amazing to have my ship back!" Inari whooped. She was beyond happy that her ship was rebuilt and remade into something better than new.

"Sounds like someone had fun!" Alex commented over the comms.

"Sir, you have no idea!" Inari replied.

"I might have some idea," he chuckled. "Now that testing is complete, bring the Darkstrider back aboard so we can stock her with supplies. I have every intention of getting us out into the galaxy ASAP."

"Today?" Inari wondered.

"Yes. The sooner we get out into the galaxy, the sooner we can get the Perseus' hyperdrive repaired, and find some answers," he stated.

"Aye, sir! Headed for Hangar Bay seven!" Inari responded, happy to be getting back into the wider galaxy.

"Once you land, make your way to Hangar Bay nine. There are some... important matters that need attending to," he stated.

"Copy that, sir! Landing just now and we'll be on our way momentarily," Inari replied.

"Very good, Commander. See you there," Alex told her as the line went dead.

The Darkstrider coasted to a gentle landing inside the hangar, the massive doors closing behind them. Once the ship was powered down, the trio of women disembarked, making their way to Hangar Bay nine. They walked right past a veritable phalanx of Sentry-Bots, each one of them waiting for the women to clear the ship. Once they were on the deck, the Sentries sprang into action, carrying various boxes of supplies aboard.

"Alex wasn't joking around when he said he wanted to get out into the galaxy," Natalya commented as they watched the Sentries carry out their duties.

"With power like yours, wouldn't you want to get out there and find the answers you're looking for?" Inari asked with a sidelong glance.

"Point taken," Natalya replied with a smirk. Truth be told, Natalya was just as eager to learn about her power as Alex was. More so than him, in some ways, as such power was something she'd always dreamed of. Now that she had it, she needed to learn how to use it correctly, or risk hurting those she cared about most.