The New Holland Incident

"Yes Mister Sheppard. What can I do for you?" The captain asked.

"Sir, we're receiving a general transmission from an alien transport." Sheppard explained. "They're broadcasting that they would like clearance to detour through the system to avoid a gas cloud. Also that they would like to discharge their capacitors at the gas giant on the edge of the system."

"Seems a reasonable request." Llewellyn said after a seconds thought. "Where are they headed?"

Sub-lieutenant Sheppard took a moment to look at his consoles terminal before replying.

"They're a civilian transport with a company called Trivate Charters. They appear to be heading to the Seya system with a load of passengers. The computer doesn't recognize the ship ID codes but it does say that Trivate Charters is a company registered in the Seya system. Flight plan checks out as well." Sheppard said after a moment of reading.

"No sense in refusing them then." The Captain said. "Let them know that they are cleared for passage through the system and if they need any assistance to let us know."

"Aye sir, I'll send them the general response." Sheppard replied back. "They're about five light minutes out."

Llewellyn nodded and returned his focus to his terminal. It wasn't terribly uncommon for them to see the occasional alien ship passing near by. The New Holland system sat right on the edge of a large almost nebula like gas cloud which tended to play havoc on ships passing through it. The cloud itself was clear and easy enough to navigate. The only issue happened to be the friction generated from the particles rubbing against the hull.

If not kept in check, it was likely to manifest into a potentially quite deadly static electric charge. The New Holland system was also quite advantageous to have a gas giant, about three fifths the size of Jupiter, right in the outer most orbit. An ideal spot for 'grounding' a ship and discharging the unwanted electricity into the atmosphere. The Battleaxe would do the same every so often as well, although they usually didn't build up much of a charge just floating around the solar system.

The Captain didn't know how it used to be, but ever since the Commonwealth staked a claim to the system there had seemed to be a slight uptick in general traffic around the area. Although they had only relatively recently started tracking movement around the outskirts of the system. And since none of the neighbors seemed to care when the Humans had put up the buoys stating their claim, they had assumed it didn't really mean much. Most of the contacts had stayed well outside the systems perimeter anyways. Either not bothering or not caring about its new inhabitants.

That was fair enough, he supposed. There wasn't really anything very interesting here anyways. He skimmed over the reports for another few minutes before deciding he had had enough for now. With as much of a dignified looking stretch that he could manage, the Captain rose from his command chair and headed towards the bridges rear access, releasing the command of the ship to Haynes as he did so. At some point during his report reading Llewellyn had decided he needed a pick-me-up. Once again he could have simply headed to his office but decided instead to take a walk to the nearby commissary, opting for stretching his legs with a walk in the false gravity.

The officer had always thought that it seemed a bit light, no matter how many times his engineers told him that it was set to the 1G standard. He supposed that maybe it was just a trick of the mind. A decent part of his earlier career had been spent aboard the old linear thrust gravity style ships, one of which coincidentally the Battleaxe was. That was well before artificial gravity had truly become a viable and somewhat efficient technology however. As opposed to the massive, expensive power hogs they had been just a scant twenty years previous. Llewellyn supposed that his body was still expecting to be thrown into a gut dropping point of null gravity at any moment as the ship maneuvered. But that had yet to happen, and in all reality most likely wouldn't. The AG stood solid and the inertial dampeners made the ship a rock of internal stability.

He entered the commissary and grabbed himself a cup of coffee out of the dispenser, sitting down at a nearby table. He stretched out and took a sip of the still yet too hot liquid, allowing himself to sink into the padded plastic of the securely bolted to the floor chair. The ability to leave his post and take a walk for a dink was a nice small perk of being the captain. Perhaps a little on the unprofessional side, but he had let his crew indulge in some not strictly professional activities from time to time while aboard his ship. Strictly as a bit of relief from the tedium of their posting. So there was some give and take.

The commissary itself was fairly deserted. Only a couple of maintenance crew sat on the far end of the room, chatting quietly and trying to keep out of sight as best they could. An impossible feat when the room was itself essentially deserted. Llewellyn paid them no mind and simply enjoyed his own coffee. No sense in making their time any more awkward than he was sure his presence had already made it. His cup was nearly empty when he heard the beeping of the ships intercom playing overhead.

"Captain Llewellyn, you're needed on the bridge." The intercom repeated.

He recognized the voice as belonging to Commander Haynes. The captain stood up and walked over to a nearby wall mounted comm panel, depositing his mostly depleted cup in a recycler along the way. When he reached the panel he keyed in his identification code and then signaled the bridge. He waited for the green light of an established connection before speaking.

"Llewellyn here. What's your status?" He asked the wall unit.

"Captain, we've just been able to confirm three additional contacts entering the edge of the system." Haynes explained. "They appear to be on an intercept course for the civilian transport."

Llewellyn furrowed his brow. It was curious that they were just now picking up additional radar contacts. The possibilities began floating around the captains head. It looked as if it was shaping up to be an interesting day.

"Have they broadcast anything?" The captain asked.

"No sir, nothing that we can pick up. They appear to be running without any kind of transponder, but not making much of an effort to stay hidden." The Commander replied.

Llewellyn tapped the wall with his free hand a few times thinking over the information before responding.

"Alright, I'm on my way back up." He said not long after.

"Acknowledged." Haynes said before the panel read as having dropped the connection.

Llewellyn began his short walk back to the bridge. He made sure to try and make better time than he had to the commissary. As he hit the door control and walked back onto the bridge, the captain could tell the atmosphere had changed. No longer was it as relaxed as when he had left. His various officers and crew were now more visibly engrossed in their particular duties. The captain had barely walked more than ten steps back onto the bridge when Commander Haynes rose from the command chair and turned to him. Irene Haynes was a fairly big woman. In the way that she was more tall than large. Llewllyn supposed that was just due to her upbringing in Armstrong City on Luna.

The reduced gravity hadn't put the same stresses on her body as it would have on Earth. So much so that she had to go through bone and muscle strengthening therapy before she was allowed to join the Royal Navy. Haynes had told him all this years ago while they were both serving on the HMS Ardent, He a second watch officer and she his pilot. All that therapy certainly hadn't hurt her figure however, Llewellyn had always thought. Haynes had a very pale complexion, accented by green eyes and short cut blonde hair. Faint wrinkles flanked her jaw bones, giving her round head just a hint of her age.

And it was those years spent together which made Llewellyn choose her as his XO all these years later. There was a time where he would have considered a more... personal relationship with Haynes, and god knows she hadn't been thinking the same thing. However both of them were career sailors, and the risk of being caught while the Navy had it's no fraternization policies was just too big of a risk for either of them to want to take. The result had been instead a very comfortable and friendly working relationship.

"Status." Llewellyn ordered, directing the request at his XO.

"We've just received a new broadcast from the civilian transport." Haynes replied to him, a serious look crossing her face. "We were only able to pick it up for a few seconds before it was cut off."

Llewellyn continued on his course to his command terminal, brushing lightly past Haynes on the way and retaking his seat.

"Show me." He demanded.

A new window popped up not more than a second later on his terminal's display. He skimmed over the technical numbers and telemetry before finally arriving at the base of the message. Llewellyn's breath caught momentarily in his chest. He inhaled deeply to clear it and then hit the shipwide intercom button on his terminal. The intercom beeped as it had before and then went silent and awaited the captains words.

"All hands, this is the Captain. Proceed to battle stations. I repeat, all hands to battle stations. This is not a drill. Repeat, not a drill. Llewellyn out."

The Captains words were followed up by an alarm klaxon blaring throughout the ship. The air on the bridge had now become more frantic. All around he could hear and see his crew preparing their stations. Terminals were activated and straps were buckled to seats. Llewellyn had yet to do his own, there was time however. He turned himself in his chair to face outwards.

"Helm, take us to the last position of the transport, best possible speed." He commanded.

The pilot responded with an 'Aye aye' and Llewellyn could feel as the ship started to change it's course and pick up speed. His eyes became drawn back to the message from the transport on his screen. He read over it again. 'GENERAL DISTRESS CALL. WE ARE UNDER ATTACK'.

Trivate Charters Transport Ship Hyande Val-Askanse

British Commonwealth Claimed System of 'New Holland'

It had all gone to hell so fast. Vas Hiteal almost couldn't believe it. It seemed surreal. Like a cruel joke being played at her expense. But here she was, hiding in a locker with her literal tail between her legs. The thin, rubbery, scaled appendage that she normally wore around her waist had found itself coming loose and now formed an involuntarily death grip around her right thigh. It probably would have hurt had she not been terrified. She supposed it was funny, in a cosmic sort of way. Her first flight on the job, and her first time taking the pilots seat they get attacked by pirates. She let out a sharp breath that sounded like a 'yip'. A laugh that tried to form and failed.

Everything had been looking up too. She had taken them out of FTL to avoid the gas cloud, quite smoothly she might add. The senior pilot, a little older than middle aged male Kai'ani (an upright, two armed, single headed, bipedal, mammalian species not unlike her own abet much taller) by the name of Matha, had said that they were going to drop into the nearby star system because they needed to discharge the ship. Normally they would have just gone around the cloud the long way and avoid the system altogether. A new species, the 'British' and their Commonwealth, had recently laid claim to the system and set up a presence there. Now while their claim broadcast never said 'Alien's keep out', Matha and their Commander had always agreed that it was best to just leave them alone.

However this time they had run through a rather large particle cloud on their normal flight path. And while they didn't have to discharge immediately, the longer the capacitors held the growing static charge, the more likely it could overfill and end up frying everyone and everything on board. Not wanting to risk it, Matha had instructed her to drop into the system and send a message to the British asking them if they could use their gas giant to ground their capacitors. They had prepped for a warp transition just in case the British didn't want them around, but that hadn't seemed to have been the case. The message they had received from the ship 'HMS Battleaxe' seemed more like a rehearsed response than anything else. A general 'Welcome to Commonwealth space, go ahead and do whatever you're going to do and let us know if you need help'.

They seemed friendly enough, if not a little un-creative. Almost no sooner had they received the message and were heading on their way to the gas giant when their flight radar had started to pick up movement from inside the gas cloud. It was curious at first. Three sets of objects seemingly heading out of the cloud in their general direction. It wasn't until she had made a course correction to avoid their trajectories, and they moved with them, that Matha started to get concerned. He had called in the commander, another Kai'ani, a female this time by the name of Ki'hael, and the two of them started having a quiet and fairly concerning conversation. With Vas being the Lohi that she was, she couldn't exactly make out what the two were talking about, but the tone was unmistakable.

The Lohi ears were different than Kai'ani ears, being a series of four small hollow tubes running along each side of her skull. She was able to feel out the vibrations in the air, but the words attached to them were lost to her. Vas knew a little of the shared Kai'ani language but was unable to decipher anything she recognized. The translator she had surgically embedded in them didn't seem to be helping either.

Her worst fears were realized when Matha ushered her out of the pilots chair to take over for himself, only having just sat down when the cockpits collision alarms started blaring. She barely had time to steady herself before the hits rocked the ship. The transports inertial dampening was unable to keep her from being thrown out the side of the cockpit. New alarms started to sound. Depressurization alarms. Vas could hear Matha talking as calmly as he could to the ships computer, telling it to send out a general distress before the ship was once again rocked.

Vas had been able to maintain her balance this time however, clinging to the side of computer console for stability. She managed a glance at its readout. It was informing her that the engines and communications were disabled and that their were hull breaches forming in large areas of the ship. No, not just regular breaches, Vas could see. Something was actively cutting into the hull. Pirates. It was the only explanation she could think of. They had been waiting in the gas cloud. Probably waiting for the next ship to drop out to avoid it to strike. And now they had them.

Vas went straight to panic mode. She could feel the blood rushing out of the tendrils that sprouted from the top of her head and lead down her back (a feature Kai'ani lacked), leaving a cool and uncomfortable feeling in their wake. She had thought she had heard the commander and Matha shouting something to her, but her fear had started to overrule her more basic judgments. It didn't help that not long after one of the doors to the command deck slid open, revealing a red and black armored Siven(a quadrupedal, two armed, single beaked headed species), spiked rifle raised at them. 'Oh,' Vas thought, a sense of dread now clenched in her gut, 'not just regular pirates but the Breten Hvas, I'm going to die.' It was such a calm thought that Vas almost started laughing. 'Not just die, but die slowly too, as a slave' her brain decided to remind her.

Vas could feel her legs give out from under her as she slumped to the deck. This apparently caught the Siven's attention, as it shifted it's view to her. In an almost surreal moment she watched as the armored being started to move closer to her, only to be suddenly brought down from behind as Matha tackled it. She watched dumbfounded for a moment as the older Kai'ani fought with the armored pirate. It almost didn't process in her head that she was hearing the senior pilot yelling at her to run. Commander Ki'hael had gotten in on the action now too. Attempting to restrain the invader with all her might. Vas had still yet to snap out of her stupor when the Siven managed to bring up one of it's bladed armor clad forearms, slicing her commander across the face.

A spray of green flying across the cockpit and her Commander falling while grabbing her face, screaming was what finally brought Vas back to her senses. With all the strength she could muster, the Lohi leaped off the deck and turned to a flat sprint, attempting to put as much distance between her and the cockpit as possible. Ki'hael's screaming, Matha yelling and the blare of the alarms seemed to all be drowned out by the sound of her own heart pounding in her ears. She started to cry hysterically as she ran. The tears clouding and stinging her eyes. A new sound joined the others as Vas cleared the command deck's side entrance. The sound of loud concussive whistling... and the sudden stopping of screaming. It barely registered to her at that moment.

She threw herself into a side corridor's storage room, and the realization started to dawn on her. As quickly as she could she found an empty locker and shoved herself inside, closing the door as tightly as she could behind her. She was shaking uncontrollably now, thankfully the insulation of the locker masked most of it. Vas sank down and wrapped her arms around herself. Tears streamed down her face. The weight of the last few minutes started to crash down upon her. This wasn't supposed to happen. This was supposed to be a safe route. The whole reason she had applied to work for Trivate was because they ran the shortest, safest, securest routes.

Her mothers had told her this would happen, that she shouldn't leave the commune and just become a caretaker like they were. Work with the young in the colony. Nice and safe. Maybe find a mate and have a clutch of her own. She shouldn't have listened to her one father. The ex-pilot who regaled her with tales of flying through the stars and seeing the galaxy. The one father who believed that she should go where she wanted to, do what she wanted to. Not what her mothers set out for her. Be her own woman.

Well, look where that had gotten her. Dozens of light-years from home and stuck on a ship where she was certainly going to die. Be it in this locker or as a slave to some rimworld baron, it didn't really matter. Her life was over before it barely began. Twenty-one Kai standard years and dead, like some kind of bad horror story. Vas had never been one to engage in her spiritual side, but the young woman couldn't help but find herself praying to something, someone, anyone. Pleading almost. She would even give up her firsts born, just for a chance to get out of here and be able to have firsts born.

She tried to control her breathing, which she was now acutely aware had become alarmingly rapid. Shivers started to ripple through her body, almost uncontrollably. Her tendrils pressing up against the cool material of the inside of the locker was sucking the heat out of her... either that or she was in shock. Probably a bit of both her mind decided. She continued to hide in the locker, sniffling and shivering. It seemed she had already cried all her tears out and her eyes were starting to become raw from the lack of lubrication.

Vas supposed she could add dehydration to the list of bad shit that was currently happening to her. She could feel as her core temperature continue to drop. Why was it so goddamn cold in here? Vas started to rub parts of herself against each other, trying to generate whatever heat she could. It all seemed to be in vain however as whatever heat she was able to create was distributed through her body and sucked right out through her tendrils.