The New Holland Incident

Rolling him over once again, Vas noticed that he seemed to be breathing a little easier. She must have plugged a hole in a lung or something with the gel. Vas ran a hand over her right ear tubes, (a motion she did subconsciously when stressed) immediately pulling back when she felt something wet and sticky now on them. Looking at her hand she noticed it was covered in her alien patients blood, and by association, so now too were her ear tubes. She let out a small nervous laugh. At least it wasn't her blood. She began rooting around in the spilled medical supplies for a wipe or something to clean herself up with. There didn't seem to be any on the floor she decided to check some of the rooms crates instead. Having no luck with the first few, Vas moved onto a small cupboard near the front of the room. Pretty much just beside the door.

She had remembered to close it this time. However in what Vas would later decide was the stupidest oversight she had ever made, she had forgotten to lock it. Finding nothing she could use in the cupboard she began to move to the opposite side of the room. She was no more than a couple of steps in front of the door when it opened. Vas turned and froze. Now standing in the doorway was an armored Breten Hvas Siven pirate. It wore no helmet and Vas could see the moment of mutual surprise in the beings four eyes. It's rifle was pointing towards the floor, obviously not having enough time to ready it before the door opened. It wouldn't have really mattered though as Vas was far too close to be shot at effectively anyways. Obviously noticing this, the armored Siven decided it would definitely more effective to simply hit the woman and knock her down instead of attempting a shot.

In one swift moment the pirate brought up it's rifle and hit Vas with it, catching her square in the jaw. The blow had the Lohi seeing stars. Before she could really process what had just happened, she was on the cold metal floor, staring up at the barrel of a rifle pointed directly in her face. Vas let out a squeak and laid there, frozen. Too scared to cry. All she could think to do was simply stay there and stare into the face of her imminent death. The Siven was yelling something at her, but her brain didn't seem to want to process it. The yelling increased and the barrel of the rifle was now pointed so close to her face she could smell it. The weapon began to make a hissing sound, prompting Vas to tightly shut her eyes. There waiting for her were her mothers, once again telling her not to leave. The whole lecture seemed to be replaying itself in head.

Mother Galiy was the most vocal. She always had been. Not that her other mothers were really any quieter though. Vas could start to feel the fear and anxiety of the conversation gripping her chest. And the anger. That was the loudest one of them all. She had been furious at them. Their ancestors had taken a chance and left the homeworld to found the colony they lived in. Just because they had grown fearful of the outside world didn't mean Vas had. She loved to adventure, push how far she could explore outside of the commune. Being accepted to flight school was the ultimate adventure and they just couldn't see that! They didn't understand! Or at least that was what she had thought. But now, laying on the floor of a medical storage room with a rifle to her head, that adventurers spirit was no where to be found.

She'd take it all back if she could. Every mean word, every defiant gesture, all of it. All she wanted was a chance. Tears began to flow out of her eyes and down her cheeks. The rifle barrel was being pushed into her forehead now, the pirate still shouting, obviously displeased at the woman crying on the floor. Vas almost didn't notice when the rifle barrel was no longer pushing into her skull. Something forced her to open her eyes however. She was vaguely aware of another voice in the room. When her eyes cleared and she looked up, she could see the pirate was now pointing his rifle off to the side. The other voice was weak, but it was defiant. It was egging the Siven on. Daring it. Vas turned her head to the side, wanting to get a better idea of just what was happening. Within an instant a mix of fear and joy flooded her.

There was the man she had saved, half sitting up, one arm behind him with his other elbow propping him up. Vas could see the pain in his eyes, but she could also see a fire of hate and defiance. He told the pirate to come closer, to fight him face to face. The pirate let out a chirping noise which Vas associated was a laugh. The pirate did take a few steps closer however. His back was nearly turned to her. The man she had fixed up continued to spew fiery words. Amusingly the only thoughts that Vas was able to manage was, 'Please stop, I just fixed you'. The pirate was now nearly on top of the man, lording over him despite it's fairly compact size. When it started to bend over to put it's rifle to his head, the same way it had to Vas, the reptilian quickly jerked it's hidden arm and pushed off.

The move must have been excruciatingly painful, but the man had managed to fling himself nearly on top of the pirate. The hidden arm quickly came down on the Siven's head, causing it to scream. She could now see why. Just below one of the alien's upper eyes was a cauterizing scalpel, the same one Vas had used to cut open the man's gown. It stuck out at an odd angle and was now producing the slightest smell of burning flesh. The Siven reeled back in pain as the reptilian fell to the floor. Something inside Vas told her she had to move, that she wouldn't get another chance like this. Quickly she rolled herself over and pushed up. When she was solidly on her feet she bolted at the pirate, tackling it with all the strength she could muster, taking them both to the deck.

The alien's rifle fell from its hands and clattered on the floor. Vas quickly rolled off and scooped it up, steadying the weapon as best she could. Without a second thought she pointed it at the fallen pirate and depressed the trigger. A hail of concussive shots thundered through the room. Vas had never fired a rifle before and had trouble keeping the weapons violent movements steadied. Nevertheless a majority of the weapons projectiles hit the pirate, causing small splashes of red blood to fly out where they had managed to pierce it's armor. A few hit the Siven in it's exposed and un-shielded head, carving away bits of skull where they impacted. The previously writhing and screaming alien jerked suddenly still. Vas kept the trigger depressed. A blinding mixture of rage and fear consumed her. When the rifle finally did stop firing, it wasn't because she had stopped.

The weapon seemed to have run out of ammunition with her fingers still heavily depressing the trigger. Next thing she knew the rifle was out of her hands and she was vomiting all over the floor in front of her. Her throat was sore. The Lohi realized she had been yelling the whole time she'd been shooting. Vas stole another look at the Siven's bloodied and projectile riddled corpse and vomited again. She finally stopped when she was heaving up nothing but air. A dizziness caught her and she slumped down to the metal floor. The young woman found herself trying to control her breathing which had become fast and heavy, her heart wildly thumping in her chest. In was finally in that moment which it processed in her brain that her first ever patient was now seemingly conscious and had just helped her take down a violent criminal. She frantically looked to where she had last seen him and had no sooner found him laying with his back towards her.

She scrambled over to him, praying that he was alright, nearly tripping over the rifle in the process. Flashes of panic jabbed her chest when she saw splashes of red blood on his back. In her furry did she accidentally shoot him? Oh god she hoped not. She ran her hands over the red spots on the gown and was relieved to find that it was just splatter from the pirate. Returning her attention to the man, she put her hands on him and gently rolled him over onto his back. He was breathing heavily. The surprise attack must have been incredibly taxing on his already weakened body. His eyes were open and for the first time Vas got a good look at them. They were brown with a horizontal oval slit black pupil. They looked at her.

"I think I hurt myself." The man said in a flat voice that Vas thought was not very masculine sounding.

She couldn't help letting out a laugh at the absurdity of the statement. A sharp toothed smile crept across the laying mans face.

"My predicament amuses you does it?" The man's words translated into Vas's head.

"I thought you were dead!" She exclaimed, quite happy in the fact that he wasn't. "You've been shot! And then I fixed you! And then you stabbed a Breten Hvas in the eye with a scalpel!"

The man looked at her quizzically and then put a clawed hand to one of his ears in a motion that Vas could see was painful. The man's smile faded to a frown.

"Damn to Orina, my translator is missing." The man said with a sigh. "I can't understand a word you just said."

It was Vas's turn to frown. She started to crane her neck to look around the room. The only thing she could see was blood, gore and various spilled medical supplies. She took a few moments to search the storage room a little closer but was still unable to find anything that looked like it might be a translator. She returned to the man, who was now sitting up, with her hands open. A signal that she hoped he understood as she couldn't find it. The man sighed a painful looking sigh.

"This might be problematic." He said.

Vas agreed. She knew that they should have some extra translators somewhere in storage. However with the presence very hostile intruders roaming the ship, it was still a better idea to just make a beeline straight to the shuttlebay. Her previous plans had already changed with the introduction of her new and injured companion. So finding a proper way to communicate needed to be put pretty high on her to do list as well. After a moment of thought she decided to try something. It was obvious that the reptilian didn't understand her native tongue, but maybe he would understand another.

"You comprehend Tehek?" She asked, slightly struggling with the words.

The man perked up. It seemed that he understood at least some of what she had just said. A small moment of hope filtered into her. Teheki was the most widely used language among the Kai'ani. Vas had learned some of the basics during her younger education. Although she had forgotten most of it over the years, some of the basics remained. Teheki was a popular trade language in her native sector. Mostly due to the dominance of Kai'ani trade and industry. The Kai'ani were able to almost outproduce the Lohi in everything three to one, and her people had become extremely reliant of their goods because of it. Favoring Kai'ani products over nearly all others. On top of all that since Vas was working for a Kai'ani charter company, she had been given basic language refresher courses. In the age of modern personal translators two individuals knowing the same language was nearly never needed anymore. However her employers had insisted that all Trivate Charters employees understand a common language for emergencies where language translators were not available. An understandable policy. Vas was now starting to mentally chastise herself for opting out of those advanced classes they offered.

"Yes I speak Teheki." The man replied with a slightly confused look.

"Affirmative. I say Teheki little parts. Have basic communicate?" Vas said more as a statement. She could sense by the slight confusing in his look that she was getting some of the words wrong. It would have to suffice.

"Yes, I can basically understand what you're saying." The man said and the smile returned. "It's better than nothing."

Vas returned the smile. A small bit in the back of her mind was nagging at her to ask how the reptilian man knew how to speak a Kai'ani language. However with her rudimentary grip on the language herself it would probably be like trying to explain calculus to an infant. So she settled on kneeling over and checking the bandages she had set on him. Everything appeared intact with no blood seeping though. Although it was the internal injuries they she should really be worrying about. His violent previous movement, however helpful, had probably shifted some of the foam loose. Internal bleeding was her biggest fear for him right now. Well, other fears not withstanding. She was still very aware they were both in mortal danger. The man must have noticed her concern for him as he spoke up.

"This your work?" He said, pointing at the bandages on his chest.

Vas jerked in a nodding motion. "Affirmative."

He smiled and made a painful sounding cough. Vas could see a small membrane above his eyes release liquid onto them. His species way of producing tears?

"Thank you, I appreciate it." He said, lightly running a hand over the bandages and wincing slightly before looking back at Vas. "Are you a doctor?"

Vas waved her arms in a 'no' gesture. "Negative. Pilot." She replied afterwards.

"Well thank you all the same."

He attempted to stand. Vas caught him before he could fall and propped him up under his arms. She figured she would have to carry him, thank goodness he was relatively light now that she didn't have to drag him.

"My name is Rent, by the way." He said as Vas steadied him. "I'm the General Secretary for the Itica Republic's embassy on Kai."

Vas supposed that made sense why he knew Teheki then. It was a little odd that a government official was traveling with a public charter instead of something from his own government. Budget cuts maybe?

"Vas." She said, briefly pointing to herself.

After a moment of experimentation, Vas found a good position that was able to take most of the weight off of him and on to herself. It was a little uncomfortable, but she wasn't going to leave him so she would just have to deal with it. The Lohi pilot supposed this is what she got for skipping out of her exercise times.

"Pleasure to meet you Vas." Rent said while giving her the warmest smile he could through what was very obviously a painful position for him. "I hate to be a burden since you saved me and everything, but you wouldn't happen to have a plan to get out of here do you?" His smile faded slightly as he asked.

"Shutlebay." Vas replied, quite pleased with herself that she remembered the word. "Pilot out."

A small kind of frown looking facial expression formed on Rents mouth.

"Aren't we surrounded by Breten Hvas ships?" The man asked. "I don't think we'll make it very far."

"British ships arriving." Vas replied, realizing afterwards that it probably didn't make a whole lot of sense. Her thoughts were confirmed after a moment.

"British? What's a British?" Rent inquired, sounding a little puzzled at the word.

Vas helped him over to the nearest bulkhead and sat him up. Once he was ready she retrieved the terminal screen and showed him the exact same external camera feed that she had watched to reach her hypothesis. The brightness of the two drive plumes were much larger now. The ships themselves were still too far off to be seen, but the plumes were evidence enough. She showed him the orientation of the system they were in and tried to explain as best she could that the British lived here and were coming to help. At first Vas could sense disbelief in Rent, however as she continued to show him that disbelief quickly vanished as he came to the same conclusion.

"Praise Orina for small miracles!" Rent exclaimed, realizing now that they had an actual chance to get out alive. "The British are coming!"

Vas started nodding rapidly, agreeing with him.

"We better get going then." Rent stated.

Vas nodded once more and left the injured man temporarily to retrieve her first aid bag, now significantly lighter in supplies. She had just about turned back to return to Rent when he called out to her.

"We should probably take that rifle as well." He said, pointing to where Vas had left it during her vomiting episode. The Lohi woman waved her arms no.

"Why not?" He asked.

Vas walked over and picked up the rifle. She pointed it away from Rent and depressed the trigger. Nothing happened.

"Negative." She said.

Rent made the frown face again.

"It probably has a reload on it somewhere." He suggested, gesturing to the dead pirate.

Vas went over to the bloodied Siven corpse and took a look. At the bottom side of it's armor was a small pouch like compartment with a cylindrical tube in it. Vas fished it out and took a look at it. The object did look like it was supposed to go in something. She compared it with the rifle and discovered that there was an identical tube embedded in the rear lower part of the rifle. She fiddled with it for a few moments, attempting to try and find a way to tease the cylinder from the rifle. She eventually found a kind of switch or latch which when pressed caused the cylinder to detach with a small popping sound. The tube that came free of the rifle was significantly lighter than the one she had retrieved from the Siven's armor. Vas attempted to replace the cylinder, and after a few seconds of it not seeming to want to fit, it finally popped into place with a small click. It was now time for the final test. She pointed the rifle at the alien corpse and quickly depressed the trigger. A single concussive whistle shot from the weapon and a splash of red confirmed that the rifle was indeed now reloaded.

"Way to go Vas!" The words rang out from Rent who was once again smiling.

The rifle was a little heavy from Vas to hold in one hand, but with Rent being unable to properly walk on his own she forced herself to deal with it. So with weapon in one hand, bag around her neck and Rent being held up by the other, they were finally ready to head to the shuttlebay, and hopefully, freedom. For the second time that day Vas took a step out of that same storage room. She mumbled in her native language.

"Here goes again."

February 2nd, 2172 -- 1201 Hours Local Time

Commonwealth Patrol Ship HMS Battleaxe

Commonwealth Controlled Space, New Holland System

"Captain on deck!"

The statement was followed by a rhythmic thumping as the thirty-odd Royal Marines that filled the hangar bay snapped to attention.

"At ease." Llewellyn insisted as he walked up on the group of men who had just come aboard his ship.

The group, almost in unison, moved into a more relaxed stance. Legs shoulder length apart and hands clasped behind their backs. The majority of the group were already in their combat armor, with the others only missing a few pieces. One man stood out from the rest. Not in the sense that he looked really all that much different from the other armor clad Marines, but in the way that he actually stepped out of the group. A cursory glance confirmed suspicion that this was the man he was looking for. Lieutenant Brock Southers, commanding officer for the last six months of the New Holland colony's Royal Marine detachment, 43rd Commando Battalion. Llewellyn walk to the man and offered his hand. The Marine quickly snapped off a salute before taking it.

"Leftenant Southers, welcome aboard the Battleaxe." Llewellyn said, giving a firm shake.

"Thank you for having us." Southers replied, a slight Scottish accent lacing his words.

The handshake lasted for a few seconds more before both men released. Llewellyn gestured for Southers to follow him. After barking a couple additional orders at his men, Southers walked up and matched the Captain stride for stride as they exited the hangar into the adjoining corridor. Southers was a fairly imposing figure clad in his combat hardsuit. He stood tall, just a couple centimeters taller than Llewellyn, but the bulk of his suit made him look almost twice his size. Southers was a pale looking man, probably having spent most of the last six months inside as the weather in that particular part of New Holland rarely got much above freezing. He had lighter black hair and blue eyes. His face was all angles, clean shaven and well groomed, making him a fairly handsome looking man. The strength in his handshake and the grit in his voice gave Llewellyn the impression that this man could not be anything but a career soldier. And with a service record spanning fifteen years, a very successful one at that.