The New Holland Incident

Vas walked swiftly over to the hatch. She placed her hand, palm down, in a small alcove in the bulkhead next to the door, turning it palm up once she was confident that the unlock system had registered her command. The hatch slid upwards with a slight whine before disappearing into the ceiling. Vas let out a breath she hadn't realize she'd been holding in. She had been half afraid that the hatch wouldn't work and that she would look like a fool in front of the Marines. Or perhaps it had been more that she was afraid that it would work, that they would continue on into an inevitable confrontation with the Breten Hvas. Regardless of what it was there was no going back now. Leftenant Southers moved in next to her and began sweeping the opening with his rifle.

"Careful." The Lohi attempted to warn. "Access shafts are in micro-gravity. There are handholds to move with, though I not sure if the automated system is still working."

"I appreciate the warning." Southers replied.

Without another word he entered the shaft, carefully turning as he floated. Making sure to check every possible angle with his rifle before hooking a foot on an immobile handhold and orienting himself downwards towards the lower deck.

"Clear!" His words rang out from the shaft, prompting the other two Marines to enter as well.

Vas didn't really have an affinity for micro-gravity like some of her co-workers, although she really didn't have a problem with it either. It was just something you had to deal with when working in space. The charter company had given all their new employees fairly extensive zero gravity training. Mostly what to do in emergencies. Those were all in controlled environments however. Even though she had used these shafts countless times in her short career, now it felt dangerous, claustrophobic... vulnerable. Regardless she followed the Marines. It was a short float to the next deck. Southers stayed on point, attempting to open the new access hatch in the same way he had seen Vas do only moments before. Nothing happened the first time, nor the second time, nor the third time.

"Miss Hitael, would you mind opening this door?" Leftenant Southers not so much asked and commanded .

Vas had begun to notice that it was really just how his voice was. A tone of authority no matter what he was talking about. She did what he said floating over to the wall alcove and turning her hand. Again nothing. Almost immediately Vas could see what the problem was.

"There's no power to this door." The Lohi pilot explained, hoping that her revelation wouldn't anger their leader. "There is an emergency release somewhere around here, but I'm not sure where." She made sure to quickly add in.

"No need." Southers replied. He made a quick gesture with one of the digits on his hand and Lynn floated over, producing a rectangular looking block seemingly from nowhere. He placed it on the hatch and stuck a small piece of metal to the side of it. The Marines quickly pushed off away from the door.

"Cover your uhh... ears." She could hear Edan tell her moments before grabbing and covered her body with his. Vas quickly did as she was told and covered her ear tubes as best she could. Moments later a deafening boom ripped its way through the shaft. Vas cried out in pain as she felt the concussive force of the blast wash over her exposed body. She hadn't expected them to use an explosive to open the door! The vibrations in the closed air of the shaft assailed her ear tubes, causing a pressure in her head that made them feel like they were surely going to pop. Her translator implant added it's hissing discontent to the cacophony of assaulting sound waves, popping on its own several times before finally calming itself. Eyes slammed shut, she curled up into a floating ball. Tears stuck to her cheeks as they failed to break free and float away.

She felt the grip of the Human Marine holding her lessen, eventually letting go completely. She still refused to open her eyes, the stinging sensation in her ear tubes now replacing the pressure from before. She felt a hard hand grab her and spin her around. She felt like her translator was trying to tell her something, but it just came out as a muffled jumble of words. The words got more frantic and she felt another hand grab her. This time she opened her eyes to see Edan staring directly at her, helmet thrown off to the side and floating from a tether attached to his armor. She could see the concern in his face, but the words still couldn't come to her. Vas shook her head in an attempt to break free of the tears that continued to stick to her face and eyes, providing her a blotchy picture of the world around her. The Human Marine was talking slower now, mouthing out the words to her.

It was a bit of a futile gesture. Vas couldn't read lips even when they were in her own language, let alone an alien one. Thankfully her hearing was starting to return. It was spotty and interrupted by stinging pain and throbbing, but clearing nonetheless. Slowly she removed her hands, once again exposing the tubes to the confined and somewhat smokey environment of the shaft. Her right hand came away with a red smear. It would appear that one of her tubes did blow out after all. Before she realized it, Edan was pressing something to the side of her head. She winced and let out a yelp at the stinging sensation that was being pushed into her fresh wound.

"...stop the bleeding... hold..."

The words trickled into her head. They were spotty and incomplete, but Vas understood the gist of it. The young woman held herself as still as she could in the zero gravity environment. The Human medic fished a foil covered package out of one of his side pockets and with a speed and dexterity that seemed impossible for his bulky gloved hands tore it open and spilled the contents in front of her. It looked like a wrap of white cloth. He uncoiled part of it and began wrapping it around her head, gently passing it over her damaged ear tube for several rotations. It felt damp, a sensation that quickly faded however as the cloth began to compress around her. It wasn't exactly comfortable, but the pain in the side of her head was beginning to fade.

"Vas, can you hear me? I need you to say something." The Marine medic asked, hands once again gripping her shoulders, a concerning tone in his voice.

"Edan, I..." Vas began to stammer out, her head felt fuzzy. "I feel odd, what did you do?"

"I gave you a local painkiller while the clotting agent works. It should wear off shortly." The man replied, the same concerned voice and (what she assumed) expression still with him. "I'm sorry, I should have given you more warning. I forgot you weren't wearing any protection." The Human barred his teeth and shook his head in an angry fashion before turning around and shouting to his comrades. "Leftenant!" The Marine began. "Vas need medical extraction. Requesting permission to take her to the shuttle."

Back to the shuttle, to safety. Back to where Rent was no doubt waiting to be taken off this nightmare of a ship. There she could no doubt curl up and hide, wait for her rescuers to take her away. She could finally shrug off the duty of helping these aliens rescue her shipmates. Wipe her hands clean of all responsibility. She would be a fool to resist an offer like this. Although if that was the case, how come it felt wrong? The Vas of just a few hours ago wouldn't have given it a second thought. Running away was a perfectly reasonable strategy. But now... now it didn't feel right. Contrary to what her logical mind was telling her, she had survived. She had escaped the guns of the Breten Hvas, even killed one in self defense. Rent, her first ever patient, was still alive because of her. She had refused to give up and give in when the odds had been innumerably stacked against her. Quitting now just didn't seem right. Southers was now floating next to them, one large hand gripping a handhold on the side of the shaft to keep himself steady. Vas hadn't even realized he was there until she heard the Marine leader talk.

"What are the extent of her injuries?" Southers inquired, broadcasting his voice out of his helmet.

"Concussive head injury. The shock wave from the blast seems to have ruptured the membrane of what is essentially her ear on the side of her head." Vas heard the Marine medic explain. "I believe she might have internal injuries as well. The sooner we can get her back for examination the better."

"No." Vas simply stated.

"Miss Hiteal?" Leftenant Southers asked in a curious tone.

"No I won't go." She said with a confident defiance. "You still need my help. I refuse to be taken back."

"Miss Hiteal, you have a head injury. You require medical attention." Vas couldn't be sure but by the sound of Southers voice, he seemed amused.

"It's not that bad. It's only the one tube that hurts. I have three others." Vas stated with as much forced confidence as she could muster. "Also Edan can look after me."

"Vas, I don't think you understand." Edan began to say. "I don't know enough about your biology to tell if your injury is life threatening or not."

"I'll be fine Edan." Vas assured the man, giving him a bit of a pained smile. "I've known of Lohi who only have one functioning tube and they live just fine."

It was only a bit of a lie. Vas did know of people who had only one functioning ear tube, but that was also primarily due to old age and not an explosive head injury. She did try to make it sound as convincing as possible though. Before anyone else could object, Vas braced herself against the side of the shaft and retrieved her terminal from its bag. A quick check confirmed that the corridor they had opened a hole into was still clear. She turned it and showed it to Southers and Edan.

"The Breten Hvas no doubt heard your explosion. We should get moving while the area is still safe." As an extra show of bravado, Vas unslung her rifle and pushed off towards the opening in the door, making sure to grab onto a handhold rung before she floated out into the hallway and flat onto her face. "Mister Lynn, if you wouldn't mind going first." The Lohi said (copying the title she had heard Southers call the man), motioning towards the hallway.

Lynn turned his helmeted head to face his leader, and with a silent nod of approval pushed off towards the opening, landing on his feet with a soft 'thunk' as the artificial gravity tugged his armored mass down as he crossed the threshold. Vas didn't transition as gracefully. Without the conveyor system of the shaft to safely and smoothly deposit her onto the deck, she had to brace herself against the wall and shimmy her way out of the micro-gravity environment. As the artificial gravity took hold of her once more, the Lohi woman couldn't stop herself from stumbling and unceremoniously falling straight to the floor.

Whatever fluid had been suspended inside of her head came crashing back down as soon as it encountered that there was once again a down. The result; a sudden lightheaded feeling followed by a severe loss of personal balance. It was an incredibly nauseating sensation that thankfully passed quickly. Vas was able to be back on her feet with a regained sense of her bearings before Edan had inevitably rushed over to her to ask if she was alright. She gave him a dismissing wave, determined to keep up her new found tough-girl persona, as 'Leftenant' Southers pushed by them, giving a directed gesture for the group to keep moving forward.

They crept forward in the same way Vas had become accustomed to. Stopping only temporarily to check cameras when they were informed of another Marine team requiring a look. Team 'Charlie' had now made it to the first cargo bay where hostages were being held. The Lohi/Human team fell effortlessly back into their routine. Scouting the area for the advancing Marines revealed that the Breten Hvas had only stationed a lone guard inside the bay to watch over their prisoners. A change from the three that had been there previously. Apparently this was a tactical error that Edan mused as being 'too easy'. Further examination revealed that this was the cargo bay where all of the male passengers and crew were being held, herded and penned into a corner with the watchful rifle of their Siven guard staring them down from across the room. Vas felt an ever so slight relieving weight lift off her mind when she recognized one of the prisoners as Matha.

She unconsciously let out a sigh that she didn't know she had been holding in. Matha was probably the closest thing she had to a genuinely good friend in all the transport ships crew. The rest, the Commander included, Vas had never gotten close enough to really get to know them as people and not just co-workers. The time she had spent with Matha learning to operate and fly the ship had facilitated that closer personal connection. That was probably why as she examined him closer that weight came back down again. The senior pilot's flight suit was stained a dark green. Something she immediately recognized as being blood, Kai'ani blood. It seemed to be more heavily favored down his leg and abdomen than anywhere else. By the way he was laying on the deck, Vas couldn't tell if he was injured or simply resting.

She tried to refocus herself on her job, but failed. Finding that she couldn't stop staring at her friends bloodied body. There was a puff of smoke on the camera, startling her as she realized she had just missed Edan giving the other Marines the go ahead to breach into the cargo bay. Matha jumped to his feet, tripping over a fellow hostage as he jerked himself back towards the bulkhead, obviously trying to put as much distance between him and the explosion as possible. Vas barely registered watching the lone Siven guard attempt to raise its rifle before being knocked over backwards as several splashes of red fluid seemed to explode from its body. Two of the Marines approached the downed pirate, rifles still raised and tracking it the whole way. They removed its rifle and seemed to check to confirm its fate. Appearing satisfied that it was indeed dead they joined one of the other Marines in searching the rest of the hold.

The last member of the team seemed to be talking to the hostages. Vas witnessed an almost collective sigh of relief from the group when they realized that these newcomers were friendly, or at the very least not overtly hostile. With the search of the cargo bay not yielding any extra unwelcome surprises, the Marines began to usher the hostage group towards the door. The extraction process had begun. Vas counted thirty males in all. That number was a few shorter than it should have been. The Lohi woman wanted to feel surprised but couldn't. After what she had seen their captors do to that one Kai'ani and how she found Rent, she was almost surprised that there were as many survivors as there were. A terrible thought really. A small nudge to her shoulder caused her to drop her current thoughts. She turned in the direction in which it had come from to see Edan staring at her, helmet clipped to the side of his armor. His deep brown eyes seemed to betray his concern.

"Are you alright?" The man asked, reaching to his side and pulling out his medical kit. "You keep fading out on me. Do you need more pain relievers?"

"I'm fine Edan." She replied after her translator appeared to have trouble with whatever word translated to 'fading' in her language. Probably some kind of localized slang term. She'd have to run an update for Human languages when she got a chance. The painkillers however did sound good. But as much as she wouldn't mind getting high off alien medical drugs she still had a mission to do, and that required as much unfiltered attention as she could muster.

"Are you sure?" The medic insisted once more. "I'm nearly positive that you have some kind of concussion."

"Yes, Edan, I'm okay. I just... recognize a few people in that bay." Vas admitted, although it probably didn't come as much of a surprise to him, seeing as how this was her ship and all. "And there are some people missing."

"I figured as much." Edan said. "We found some bodies before we found you and your friend." He put a gloved hand on her shoulder, it took up the entire length and then some. "We're going to rescue everyone we can, or die trying."

Vas would have preferred he not added that last part, but she understood the sentiment. She just needed to hold out a little longer. Vas watched as the last of the prisoners had been escorted out of the bay. The injured being held up and carried by others in the group as best they could manage. Before she had the chance to switch the camera to follow them down the hallway, Lynn tapped on Edan's shoulder and gave him a jerking head motion when he turned to look.

"Back to work." The medic said before slipping his helmet back on and reengaging the seal.

February 2nd, 2172 -- 1315 Hours Local Time

Commonwealth Patrol Ship HMS Battleaxe

Commonwealth Controlled Space, New Holland System

"Marine teams are redeploying towards engineering." Commander Haynes stated. "ETA five minutes."

"Status of the engineering crew?" Llewellyn inquired, fearing he already knew the answer.

"Trading fire with the intruders." His XO replied. "The outer doors have been breached. Casualties are being reported for both sides. They are holding however."

"Good, let them know help is on the way." Llewellyn said, an anxious tightness in his chest loosening only slightly.

They absolutely could not afford to lose the engineering bay. What little progress the engineering teams had been making in getting their ship operational again was now unceremoniously halted. Llewellyn was chastising himself for not stationing at least a few of his available Marines to cover the engineering sections. But with only ten of them to spare and an entire ship that needed protecting, they had been constantly redeployed to wherever they were needed most at the time. The Captain knew his sailors weren't absolutely defenseless, they had gone through the same self defense courses as he had.

That training paled in comparison to what the Royal Marines had gone through though. He knew he couldn't hold them to the same standards as professional gun fighters. But by God if he wasn't proud of what his crew had been able to accomplish in the face of this overwhelming adversity. They had not given an inch of ground that hadn't been ripped from them. Llewellyn was sure that if they survived the day he would personally pin a medal on each and every one of them.

"Captain!" Commander Haynes shouted across the command deck. "We're receiving confirmation that the first three Evac shuttles are prepped and ready for launch. Approximately thirty survivors. They are awaiting confirmation from the Churchill on how to proceed."

That was some of the first good news Llewellyn had heard in what seemed like hours. The sooner they could get the survivors and their people out, the sooner they could end this.

"What is Captain Hilton saying?" Llewellyn inquired, one part anxious and one part curious as to what his fellow Captain had planned.

"The Churchill is telling the shuttles to disengage and make a hard burn towards them. They are going to attempt a high speed pickup." The Commander relayed.

That was risky, Llewellyn thought. The Churchill would have to fly straight and true if they were going to pick up the shuttles. Any kind of evasive movements and they could miss, or worse collide with them. But the Churchill was much more maneuverable than his ship. As long as their pilot was up to snuff, they should be able to pull it off. Maybe even more so if they had a bit of a distraction to aid them. The Battleaxe had eased off on its constant barrage of PDC and missile fire. Partly to conserve ammunition, but mostly because the alien ships had determined the effective range of his weapons and were now opting to stay just far enough away to easily maneuver around any incoming fire. That had however put them at quite a decent distance away from the transport. A small plan was forming in Llewellyn's mind.