HRP reboot - Chapter 2: On the Run

Quote :

It had been a month. One month since we ran away, since we turned out backs on that which we were raised to believe and uphold. We were now most likely considered Innies, Rebels, those who wished to destabilize the government and bring ruin to everything humanity had done so far. To be fair, I can't blame them for seeing us that way. Living your life in war often makes you see enemies in those that turn their backs to you. I just hope we live long enough to prove that belief wrong.

Jaryd walked about the Long and Dark December, contemplating. He wasn't thinking of going back on what they had done, just thinking on the ramifications of it. What would happen should he be captured, or the others. What would happen to the ship, to Requiem, what about his gear? His inventions? Would they be taken and held in some warehouse to never be used, or would they be copied and distributed amongst the UNSC's armies? He leaned upon a wall, unintentionally the wall leading to the crew quarters, and thought more and more upon what they had done, sure it was the right thing to do for himself, but unsure of what the results would be. Blaze squad was somewhere on board, but he didn't know where, and he didn't feel the need to call them up and ask for a status update. He'd save that for Rika.

=walks up from the beach and heads to the small porch overlooking it=

yo dan you gotta try surfing bro

Apollo XI
Capital, Troy
Heinlen Gentlemen's Club


As Siri bent over, she felt the eyes of the entire room on her. As her bra dropped, more and more money was thrown her way.
As her dance ended and her money collected, she backed down the catwalk and into the backstage area to count her earnings.

Hundred bucks this round. Add that to her usual salary, she made a cool five hundred for the week. Which was perfect. She could buy groceries and buy the next part for the December.

Taking a swig of water, Siri got dressed for her next dance.
"Maid? Really?" She sighed. Job was a job.
Looking at the picture of her and Lin, taken the week before the escape. Siri was in her nightgown, Lin hugging her from the side. The older one, with Lin hugging from behind, was right beside it.
"Forgive me. Please Lin." was all she said before she got ready.

Apollo XI
Valley two kilos east of Troy
Rika, meanwhile, was asleep. Ren was by her side, awake and staring at the ceiling. He was worried about Saoirse, but he knew the woman was a fighter.
But unlike him...she left her lover behind.
And probably now, her lover was chasing her.

How did it all go wrong? How did we end up here? These were the questions Dragon Squad was forced to ask as they traveled, one month later, through slip-space. They were on the trail of the traitors, those that ran and left with a high value UNSC asset. The brass had chewed them out over that, and given them one chance to make it right. Bring them back, and they wouldn't be punished. Lin took it hard. So much so she tore up her picture of Siri. She seemed different, colder and more distant. Like the life in her was gone. Chris did what she could, but it was a bandaid. There was nothing that could be done by her team to heal the wound.

Jaryd plodded his way down the hallway, shaking his head to clear his mind of thoughts. His boots were loud and clanging on the metal of the ship, and he just wandered. His trusty pistol was on his hip, it's scythe-like blade curved down along the trigger guard with it's pointed hooked back slightly and pointed at the magazine. On his back was his MA5B assault rifle, the numerical counter on it changed to show each individual round as a line, so a simple check of the brightness of the screen from the corner of his eye would give him a a good idea of how much ammo he had left in his magazine. The compass on the top was thus promptly removed, and under that was a hastily made jerry-rigged screen with a simple representation of what ammo was currently loaded. It wasn't automatic, but Jaryd was working on that. He just needed a few more parts, hopefully Siri would get the right ones. As he thought, he realized that he wasn't sure if he told her, or if he did, if she remembered. A quick flash of anger and then he calmed down.

Wolf had taken the loss as a huge blow to their ego, Marcus in particular. He had been given the runaround by SPARTANS. For an ODST, getting beat out by someone else hurt. And Marcus was more than willing to tear their asses a new one.

Of course, Lily tried to make amends with Lin, but the gulf between them had widened even more. Marcus was happy that Lily wasn't rubbing it in, but being a professional. It had been a full month, and Both Wolf and Dragon needed to make it up to the UNSC. Marcus just hoped that if it came down to it, Daniel could convince Lin to take the shot and end the doctor's life if it was needed.

Achilles squad had gotten the yelling of a life time from the captain, saying how useless and how disoriented they have really become. After a month, the Hornet followed the Hammer Time, so they could catch the stolen frigate, and bring back the Spartans.

John also yelled at his men, because he knew the Captain was right all along. Of course, knowing this time that there could be a firefight happen where ever the December was going to port. Not all things were bad though, John had gotten word that the other two squads they had met on Demeter were, well, trying to work things out. Which is good, but Kyle was still an asshole.

So as they sat waiting for confirmation on finding the December, John contacted Marcus. Via messaging.

Hey Marcus, I was wondering. I know you're more of a hard ass then myself, and all of your squad respect you. Would you mind giving Sargent Graham a little, 'smack upside the head' for me? It would be most appreciated.
John
Achilles

Marcus heard his pad beeeep a few minutes later, and saw the message on his pad. He gave a smirk as he read the contents of the message:

Code:

Hey Marcus, I was wondering. I know you're more of a hard ass then myself, and all of your squad respect you. Would you mind giving Sargent Graham a little, 'smack upside the head' for me? It would be most appreciated.
John
Achilles

Marcus gave the man a message back,

John, I did manage to get the message. I'll see what I can do about giving the man a 'Refocusing session', as I so put it. If that man thinks you're not a hard ass, I'll make the boy wet his pants and his eyes water. If we ever meet up again, drinks are on me.

Marcus
Wolf

John opened the message;

Code:

John, I did manage to get the message. I'll see what I can do about giving the man a 'Refocusing session', as I so put it. If that man thinks you're not a hard ass, I'll make the boy wet his pants and his eyes water. If we ever meet up again, drinks are on me.

Marcus
Wolf

He chuckled a bit, and nodded.

Much appreciated Marcus, and I'm pretty sure we will meet. Probably in different circumstances. Also, how's everything between Wolf, and Dragon? I heard you guys had a little disagreement between your squad mates.
John
Achilles

As John sent the message; Doc, Kyle, Gerry, and Barnes, were all waiting in their bunks. None of them could believe that some Spartans took a prototype Frigate, right under their noses. They were even on guard when it happened. Of course it wasn't so bad, considering they were still alive.

Marcus eyed the message with a weary stare. It wasn't something he wanted brought up. Well...we can't avoid it, can we? He just read each line, and remembered that night...and it seemed forever ago as his memories were brought up:

Code:

Much appreciated Marcus, and I'm pretty sure we will meet. Probably in different circumstances. Also, how's everything between Wolf, and Dragon? I heard you guys had a little disagreement between your squad mates.
John
Achilles

Marcus gave a heavy sigh and typed his message:

Yeah, there was a small disagreement with the two, John. And the relations aren't any better. The rest of the squads are on speaking terms, which is good in my book. The two snipers, however, aren't really speaking to each other. Lin in Dragon took the escape especially hard. She's like a different person now. She was once lively, but now she's...cold and distant, her fire snuffed out. Even Inomura is trying to get back onto speaking terms with her. So...things could be better. Now I'm just sitting here, a month later, wondering who will snap when. Oh, and Jose sends Doc his regards.

Marcus
Wolf

Meanwhile, Lily tried one more time to try and make amends to Lin. Because, much as she didn't want to admit it, she had been jealous. Lily cautiously moved forward, knocked on the door and asked, "Lin...could you spare a minute? I...want talk. Just the two of us." She added tentatively, "Please?"

John raised his eyebrow, Doc? What happened to Doc?. He looked over to the others, confused for second, then started typing once more,

I think he means Barnes, but anyway. I will, no worries. And best of luck with that, I hope they can come to terms.

John thought for a second and chuckled a bit thinking about it, and typed it anyway,

Well if you want, you can have Kyle come over, and start his shit. That might make your sniper, and Daniel's sniper get along.

He couldn't hold it in any longer, he laughed. The other four looked at him,

Doc- "Ummm... Sarge, what's up? What's so funny?"

Kyle- "I don't think I've ever seen him laugh this hard... Should... Should we talk to someone about this?"

Gerry- "I agree with Kyle... and Doc."

Barnes sat there quietly, looked up from his pad, then smirked, and looked back at it. The other three were a bit surprised at seeing John like this.

A maid outfit. A fucking maid outfit.
That was what Saorse was wearing as she sprinted down the street, bag swinging wildly. She had to get the right part, or tge December was fucked sideways.
"There!"
Saoirse slid into the store. "I have the money!"
The proprieter raised an eyebrow, but handed the part she had ordered over. Ahe threw down the money, and then some. She wasn't paying attention.
"Thanks! Keep the tip!"
Saoirse sprinted out and towards the dock areas...as the sounds of Hornets filled the air.

"Fuckfuckfuck." She keyed her com. "Requiem! Start the ship up! Head on course two two five! Ready autocannons! Get tye Peregrine ready! I got ONI all over the city!"
She hadn't even dropped her top before two ONI agents had entered the club. The taller one had worked at November briefly. That was a fucking lucky break.
Which led her to running. Damning her paranoia once, she had grabbed her bag and ran.

Dressed as a french maid, she ran past four wolf whistling hobos, then threw money down. They pounced on it, blocking two marines. The jarheads muscled past, guns raised, but she turned the corner.
"Seven....seven...Seven!"

Ducking in, she ran up the ramp. Pelican, sweet pelican.
Keying the ramp up, the engines roared to life. Banging on the ramp was heard, and she rose up.
She blasted the door with the chingun, then just rammed through.
"Jaryd is gonna kill me."

Meanwhile...Requiem pushed off from the ground, the massive frigate rising into the air.
"Saoirse is in trouble. Man your stations. Expect heavy resistance."
Requiem contacted the Pelican.
"Bishop to E5."
"Rook to C6."
"Handshake protocol established. Heading confirmed Doctor. Status."
"Siri did a barrel roll, because why the fuck not. Hornets would be confused too, like the people reading this. "Four Hornets with snipers on the wings, six Falcons loaded with ONI assassins. I expect a Stalwart is up there...nope, right there. It's coming in from ten o'clock. Tell Jaryd he can do his Sulu impression, and if needed, target the engines."

Diving close to the water...the ONI idiots followed.
Like she'd actually hide it underwater for the first time? Hello? Sheesh. She was a scientist dammit.


Meanwhile...the Stalwart-Class frigate Monetzuma sent a message to Hammer Time and Hornet.
"Target confirmed. Apollo XI. In pursuit. Coordinates sent."
The frigate descended lower, guns turning to bear on the Pelican.

think we should head to the ship and make sure everything is in still running order

=puts the things away and heads to the ship with dan and starts it up engaging the cloaking before leaving atmo and holding up a considerable distance from the planet=

Captain Yang got the message, looked at his pilot, "Alright Monetzuma, we are plugging in the coordinates, we are entering the planets orbit... now!"

The Hornet came to a slow down when it came into view of the planet below. "Where's the Hammer Time? We must've gotten here before them. Lt, keep watch of the planet, make sure no Frigate gets out of here. Understood?"

The Pilot nodded, and looked back towards the front. Yang went to the inter-comm and called his gunners, "I need all gunners mates to be on high alert. Do not fire upon that ship unless fire on. If I see one of our cannons go off and hit that Frigate, I will have their ass. Understood?"

The Gunners looked at up, "Understood Skip!" Then went to their stations.

Daniel strolled down the hall of B Deck, looking for Lin. Last anyone saw of her, she was headed for the armory, something about checking on the rifles. Like a brother, he was worried. Someone in her position shouldn't be around all those guns and ammo without supervision. Turning the corner and into the armor, he found her, assembling her personal sniper rifle. "Lin, hey," he said, walking on. She looked up, her gaze somewhere between distant and cold. "Hey Daniel."

As the Pelican skimmed the water, gunfire started tearing up the sea around her.
"Doctor Saoirse Monroe. Give up. The Montezuma will blast the December before it even rises from the sea. You have no where to run."
So, Siri did something smart. She slowed down.
"Daddy taught me one thing. Follow your heart. My heart led me from boarding school to strip dance school, then to university. Then finally, to the DECEMBER class. And right now, my heart is saying flip you off. So, you ONI fuckers, kindly go choke on a hotdog."

Pulling the stick back, the Pelican shot up, the Hornets overshooting. As she rose skywards, the Montezuma turned to...avoid the missiles.
From the sky came the Long and Dark December, playing the IFF of a different UNSC frigate. Which, if the crew had paid attention to, would have been the UNSC Tenebris...destroyed last year.

As the ship turned, it was pelted with a few autocannon shots. The Montezuma had to cease the chase; it was dead to rights, and both ships knew it.

As the Pelican neared the Long and Dark December, the pursing snubs had to pull back, or risk dying.


The Montezuma sent another message.
"Long and Dark December spotted. We're dead to rights, but it's not firing the heavy gun just yet. I repeat, prepare to intercept it."

Walking up to her, where she sat at a workbench, he leaned against a nearby counter. "So......how ar-" She cut him off in a stern voice. "If you ask me how I'm doing, I swear to god I'll hurt you." Daniel blinked, surprised. But then again, he shouldn't have been. "Sorry," he said. "Look, we're all worried about you Lin. It's been a month and you've still.....well, you're not our Lin anymore." Exhaling through her nose, she attached another piece of her rifle a bit more harshly than she intended. "Well how the fuck am I supposed to act sir? My girlfriend not only up and leaves me, but she becomes a fugitive of the UNSC, in the middle of a war for the survival of THE.....FUCKING.....HUMAN.....RACE!!!!" As she screamed the last four words, she lost it and slammed her rifle down, again and again, on the table, her eyes wide in fury and teeth bared. Her knuckles were white, clenching the rifle. Daniel remained calm though, unfazed by the outburst. This wasn't the first time he'd seen a squadmate angry. Hell, she wasn't even close to being the angriest he'd ever seen.

Yang heard the message, and relayed back, "Copy Monte. We're going to intercept the December. Lt! Get this ship in front of the December, and step on it!"

Lt- "Right away sir!"

Achilles squad was hearing all of the commotion, and began to put on their gear. Getting ready for combat. "Remember, when we're told to get into our pods, we do it. Understood, numbskulls?"

"Yeah Sarge"

As the 5 of them were getting ready, the Hornet tried its best to get to where the Captain told the pilot where to go. Moving the Paris- Class heavy Frigate to intercept the December was going to be a challenge all its own.

Marcus then gave Daniel a holler on the pad, knowing that he had to deal with a very emotionally damaged ODST. He phrased the message as tersely as possible, hoping his timing wasn't to bad:

Sgt. Daniel,

The captain has diverted course. Says a ship found good Dr. Monroe and the December. Get your squad ready. And don't say a word about Monroe to Lin, because I know how she'll take it.

Regards,
MsSgt. Marcus Murand

He thought about what Lin was at this point, Hell...emotionally damaged might be an understatement. She's about lost it.

Jaryd was doing his best sitting in the navigation station of the frigate. "Requiem! Give me a position that will let us keep guns on the Monte and the other ships." "Position impossible." "Fuck. Alright. Then give me a course that will let us scoop us Siri and get out of here." "Course impossible." "Well give me something!" "I can charge the Slipspace engines" "That'll do pig. Now raise a comm to Siri if you would." "Done." Jaryd keyed in another command. "Siri you better hurry we can only hold them at arms length for so long!" Another long command. "Rika! Ren! Where are you!"

Rika and Ren had been having sex in their room for the first time in a month when the ship ended up throwing them onto the floor.
The two had barely gotten dressed when Jaryd called them.
"Getting dressed. We're on the way."

Michael and Lina were in the hangar. They keyed their comm.
"Hey! Jaryd! Requiem! We got that Longsword we jacked during the escape." Lina already was running up the ramp. "We got the OK to launch it man? We can clear Siri's tail and give her an opening."

Requiem was going over the manifest. Peregrine Falcon, Hornet. Longsword, pelican...few Warthogs...a small arsenal gathered over two weeks.
He continued calculations.

Jaryd hit the button to respond to Lina. "You get it done fast and you get her in here fast, even if you have to get out and push. They probably won't take too kindly to us launching forces. Requiem, what are those other ships doing? I can't see them as well as you can right now. Ren! Rika! Hurry up! Forget your belts and move!"

The Hornet was on the move to intercept the December. Captain Yang was sweating a bit, hoping that they weren't to late.

Cpt. Y- "Monte! What is your status on the December?"

He waited for an answer, then the pilot started talking, "Captain! the December is charging her slipspace engines! We might lose her!"

"Damn it... keep the course! Do not let her out of your sites, you understand?"

He got on the comm, "All personnel, this is not a drill, report to your battlestations, immediately! I repeat this is not a drill!"

People aboard the ship were running around, it was a like a bee hive inside the whole ship. People moving every which way, and rushing to their stations. Achilles Squad reported to the landing zone, along with some more ODSTs and Marines. Pelicans were being prep'ed for launch, btu were to remain on stand-by.

"Lt, how much longer?"

"5 mikes, sir. Not sure about the Decembers engines though..."

The two were already sprinting towards the bridge.
"This is what happens when we avoid each other!" Ren said.
"So we should have fucked every day? I'm sorry, I was busy leading the escape!"
"I didn't mean that!"
"Why are we talking about sex at a time like this?!"
Ren shrugged as he rounded the corner. "'I don't know. Seemed like a good way to get you -"
"I AM GOING TO KILL YOU REN!" Rika screamed at him as the two arrived at the bridge. Ren took the Radar station as Rika slid into the captain's chair.
"Lina. Michael. Bring mama home."

The Longsword lifted off and turned around, then blasted out of the side. Diving down, it cut the VTOLs off, causing them to veer away. The massive fighter-bomber came back, continually cutting them off.
"Alright, we got her." The Longsword then turned and let loose a one second burst, causing the pursuers to retreat for the Frigate.

Safe, the two ships landed separate hangars on the December.
"They've landed!"


The Long and Dark December angled up and powered for the atmosphere at full burn, as Siri and the other spartans ran for the bridge.

Jaryd get keying in commands. to get the ships moving. "Where we going, people? I need directions here." Jaryd all but yelled in stress, trying to keep it down now that other people were around.

"Jaryd, aim us towards the moon." Siri said. "We'll use it as a shield, then slingshot around the other way using the planet. Slipspace coordinates..." She mused. "Two hours away is Chi Cheti Sigma. Go there, then change course to Scorpius Rho. There is a single planet, Athera, but it's mainly agriculture. Very little in the way of Military...except for an underwater ONI base. We can hide in the sea to the north." Siri frowned. "First...Requiem."
"The Hornet and Hammer Time have exited Slipspace."
"If they get close, fire some missiles. Conserve ammunition."

She was starting to hyperventilate, her breath coming out in short, rapid gasps. "I.....I don't even.....I don't even know, what I'm going to do. When I see her. If I see her." She was shaking, hands still gripping her rifle. "I was in love with her. Goddammit, I was.....I was going to...." she stopped talking the moment she felt a firm hand on her shoulder. Daniel spoke in a calm, but confident voice. "It's okay Lin. Whatever reason she had to leave, I'm sure she didn't want to leave you, or put you in so much pain. But the time for explanations, for this anger, isn't now. Right now, is the time for Lin Tanaka, one of the best sharpshooters in the ODST's, that I've ever seen. The cool, calm, and level headed soldier, I've been honored to call my friend."

The Hornet was almost in front of the December. "Alright, I want all guns pointed at that Frigate, do not fire... I repeat! Do not fire!"

The pilot was beginning to stress out over the fact that he might die, being hit by a slipspace jump, and kill 100,000 men and women aboard his ship. "Captain! Permission to set a different course!"

'Negative Lt! Stay course! We have a mission, and we must stop that ship... now!"

"Roger sir"
The pilot was sweating, and breathing heavily. He didn't know if he could do this... He knew to follow command but what if... what if they were to be hit, "1 mike sir!" 1 minute till they got to their destination. 1 minute till everyone's death... or not. Who knows.

"Keep me updated Lt... And don't worry, I'll be right here for you. I'll guide you through this. No need to get worked up. They wouldn't dare jump into us, killing themselves, and all of us. They're trying to escape, not become terrorists."

"All crew members, remember your training, remember why you joined. Remember, these Spartans have betrayed all of human kind for their own interests. Not caring about their fellow troops, and Naval personnel."

The Hornet made it to the intercept point. Hopefully they would stop.

"Shit!" Jaryd nosed the Frigate down hard. "This will get bumpy people! Hold on to something!" If Jaryd's reaction time was fast they wouldn't impact the Hornet, if not, there there was going to be some major tearing along the spine of the December.

"SIR! PERMISSION TO MOVE!"

"Negative! They're headed down... under us! Dammit... we need the Hammer Time to give us some support or something! We're sitting ducks right now... Hammer Time! This is the Hornet, do you read?"

Achilles Squad was in the bay, waiting orders.

Doc- "So, why are we waiting here? Shouldn't we be trying to get aboard the December or something?"

Kyle- "Don't be stupid, Doc! The ships are trying to stop it. Apparently, this ship has ONI specs... which means it has Forunner tech... Of course-"

John- "Kyle, shut your trap. Stop filling everyone with this shit, understood? Good. Doc, we're waiting for the go to get onto the pelicans, and take the December down. Right now, I'm guessing we don't have shot to take it down."

The Hammer Time dropped out of slip-space a few minutes after the Hornet, and the captain soon got on the horn. "All hands report to battle stations! ODST teams prepare to drop,mew have reached the target!"

Inside the armory, Lin stood up, rifle in hand. "Looks like today was a bad day for that speech sir. Lets go." And with that, she left. Daniel sighed, and got up to follow her. The rest of Dragon was down in the HEV bay.

The December accelerated. Requiem took a moment, calculating.
"Aiming autocannons. Targeting the radar array."
As the December closed in, chemical rockets fired, blasting the December downwards. Autocannons fired, shredding the sensor unit on the Hornet as it dove under.
"Montezuma coming back around." Ren reported. Requiem angled the ship up.
"Aiming for the moon Helios. We will slingshot around and keep it behind us. Hang on."

Jaryd let out his breath that he had been holding and brought up schematics of the ship as best he could, trying to see what, if any, damage was done. "Remind me to never do that again!" He said as they started burning out.

One of the technicians turned to the Captain, "SIR! Radars down! We can't spot the December!"

"Dammit... looks like we're going to have to use the front windows... Turn us towards the planets moon!"

"Roger sir!"

The men and women in the bay felt and heard a loud bang from under the frigate, "Holy shit! What the fuck was that Sarge?"

"I don't know Gerry... but I didn't like the sound of it. Hopefully Captain Yang has got this under control."

As the Hornet flew blindly, fire crews were going towards where the damage was dealt. Some electrical wires had been blown off, but nothing to serious.

As the ship accelerated towards the planet, MC analyzed the pattern of the December, and plotted a course for an intercept.

When Lin and Daniel got to the HEV bay, the rest of Dragon was suited up. They both had to suit up, donning their armor and helmets, and entering the pods. "What's the word?" Daniel asked over the radio, hoping the captain had a plan. MC responded instead. "We tracked down the December, already engaged by the Hornet. We're going to attempt an intercept, and fire the main gun. I'm working on a targeting solution for their engines."

The December accelerated more and more.
"Hammer Time coming in!"
"Missile or MAC. Which one..." Requiem began running it all. "Either or Doctor. At best, I can send all power we can to the engines."
"Do it. If we can't outrun them now, we're sunk." She threw the parts to Jaryd. "Jaryd. Get those installed now."

Jaryd spun and caught the parts in one motion as he got out of his chair. He took them and ran out of the bridge and down the hall a little until he got to an access junction, not ideal for this to work but it would have to do until they could have some spare time. "5 Minutes!" He screamed down the hallway, already beginning to open the hatch and wire everything together, yanking out the loose wires and cables he needed.

MC noted how the ship began to move faster, and he was forced to adjust. Sending new calculations to both the navigations and weapons officer, the ship then moved on a head on course for the December. The biggest game of chicken yet.

" Direct the Defense Guns towards the December, fire at them, now!"

"Roger sir!"

The Hornet began to shoot the 50mm guns at the December, as they tried to reach them once more. "Keep them in range, no matter what!" The Hornet turned very slowly trying to reach the December to a semi-lethal range. "Shoot the engines, knock their power down as best as you can."

"Right away captain!"

"Stay alive for five minutes. How about we play some music over all frequencies?"
Requiem smirked, flipping a rook in his hand.

"All frequencies accessed. Blaring...ah...this will do."

Within ten seconds, the song 'Who Let the Dogs Out' started blasting out loudly. Perfect for confusion.
"Done."
"Prepaee to slingshot to slipspace."

Captain Oswald barked to his weapons officer. "Fire the Archer missiles, try and bring that ship to a stop!" Following the order, Archer pods A through C fired, missiles streaking through the void towards the December.

Lin heard it all over the radio, and she had doubts, despite her anger, about firing on Siri's ship.

"How...semi predicatble."
Calculating, Requiem smirked.
The began to curve away, and as they kept at the edge of the gravity well, the first volley arrived. One missed, and threewere show down...but one Iimpacted the lower decks.
"We lost two rooma. Empty."
Siri grimaced. "Requiem!"
"One minute to jump, if Jaryd is finished."

The Hornet was a bit closer now, the guns could do some damage now, "Fire the guns at the December, ASAP"

The guns turned towards the ship, and began firing upon it.

"Now I wish I could see this ship battle from a TV or something!"

"You'll get your chance to fight soon enough Kyle, just keep on your toes, and don't get to jumpy."

"Alright Sarge."

30 seconds later, Jaryd slammed the hatch shut amd started running back, yelling. "I've got it! It'll hold until I can get them in properly. let's go let's go let's go!" He felt the ship shudder slightly and twitched. Not at the fear of dying, as you would expect, but at the fear of having to repair those room and decks that were just hit and either damaged or destroyed.

"Can we fire the MAC yet?" Oswald yelled. "No sir, the gun wouldn't charge up in time. Diverting power to engines, perhaps we can intercept?" Oswald took a second to consider it. "Do it. We can't lose them." The Hammer then pushed forward, gaining speed as more power was sent to the engines. "Captain, engine nearing critical levels," MC stated. He was prepared to use the coolant though.

There.
The slingshot manuever threw them faster, clearing gravity but dangerously close.
But right now...damn it.
"Requiem! Now!"
As the bullets punched dents and holed the rear armor, and as three frigates bared down on them, the Long and Dark December entered slipspace.

Right as the December entered slip-space, the Hammer Time had the misfortune of being too close. When the portal opened, there was no time to move out of the way, and the ship plunged into slip-space along with the December. The next few minutes were nothing but chaos on the bridge

The bridge shuddered, enveloped in darkness as emergency lights activated. Every console was going wild, streaming all kinds of data. MC was loudest among all the other people. "Captain! Reactor is critical and nearing meltdown point. We are also no longer in normal space." Oswald, staggering about, yelled at the AI. "Dammit MC, find out where we are! Engineering, vent the reactor now!"

"We've lost the Hammer Time Captain!"

"I want someone to contact Oswald at once! No delays!"

The crew on the Hornet were trying to figure out what was going on.

"Establishing contact sir! The best we can do is send a brief message!"

Captain Oswald, this is Captain Yang of the Hornet, what is your location. I will try to get there as soon as possible!

"We better hope that message gets to him or they'll get to the December, and her 'temporary' crew."

As the December fled through Slipspace, the message was intercepted by Requiem.
"So, the pawns chased the queen and now is caught." he mused. "The Hammer Time has been caught in our wake."
"Drop from Slipspace!" Siri nearly screamed. "That's Lin's ship!"

The December wasted no time exiting Slipspace, hoping for the Hammer Time to hopefully be released from their wake and left. The frigate accelerated anyways, hoping to gain distance as the engines again charged.
"Five minutes." Requiem announced. "I've sent all power excluding bridge, engineering, life support, and communications. We're flying blind but we'll get out fast if we keep moving."

Jaryd started heading back towards the bridge. A few moments later he arrived. "How badly are we hurt? I want to know how much work I'll have when we reach paradise." He spoke up glancing around as he slumped back down into the navigation station.