Wiphas
I run from the med-center to the bridge, dodging crewmember on their way to the lifepods as protocol states it.
"Suri Report," I say breathlessly when I reach the bridge.
"Three ships are chasing us. From what we gather, they are bounty hunters. Two are Fighter type C, and the biggest is a Hybrid type B. We are outnumbered," Suri somberly states.
"There is no chance we can outrun the Hybrid type B, let's drop out of hyperspace are there any asteroid fields near we could hide?"
Hybrid type B is a hybrid between speed vessels and fight vessels. The only weakness both types have are weaker shields than a Defense type B like ours. Our Weapons are outmatched by the fighter types, but against the hybrid alone, we could stand a chance the only advantage they have is they are faster so out running is impossible if their engine is ok.
"None, we are near the Triangulum Galaxy, there are three planets that could support life. But there is no indication of intelligent lifeforms. But there is only one that produces the right ratio of nitrogen to oxygen to carbon dioxide. The Planet in question is NRX-54873, or as by federation called Tikitu, it has 45% Oceans and 55% landmass, and of that landmass is 50% hot damp forests or in short rainforests," Orin reports.
"Hmm, that would give us lots of places to hide, change course to it as a precaution, Krelak aim at their engines."
Connecting to our engine room,
"Mahli, we need all the power we can afford to cut to fuel our shield integrity."
"Aye, Captain."
"Evasive action epsilon 13, Krelak aim first at the fighter type C nearest to us."
Our two pilots comply with my order flying our evasive action to protect our engine and give us a shoot at theirs. Still, some of their weapons hit our shields, they use a mix of lasers and different types of torpedos. I check my display our shields are holding at 98%. So far, so good, but space battles can turn around in seconds. One mistake can destroy your ship.
"Attack action alpha 42," I say as an opportunity strikes as one of the fighter type c flew out of formation.
"We successfully hit their engine," Krelak shouts,
"Two more to go, come on my baby you can do it."
This action costs us, our shields are now at 69%.
"Captain, we lose atmosphere on deck 5. No crew was there. It's sealed off now."
The last fighter ships try to get under us to hit our engine.
"Evasive action epsilon 11, defense action delta 28, attack action alpha 47," I rapidly command.
We fly a helix around the hybrid ship, trying to hit their engine while dodging the fighter type. A massive explosion behind us and the shock wave afterward destroy our shields, and the rest of the electronic shuts off after flickering weakly.
"Report. Get our ship's system online and our shields up."
"The fighter type used antimatter torpedos, and one hit the hybrid after one of our lasers hit the shield, it was weakened for those milliseconds and the torpedo breached the shield and exploded. The engine got a direct hit that destroyed the ship. The shockwave was electromagnetically charged. The reason we no longer have any systems besides life support. That was all I could read before it hit us. We are blind, but the fighter was slightly behind us and should have similar issues," Orin reports.
Dammit, every electronic is fried because of the electromagnetic pulse. The life supports only online because it's in a separate protected field, a Faraday cage that can survive electromagnetic pulses. We are sitting ducks.
"Suri, will the lifepods still be operational?"
"Yes, Captain, they will be. As with our life support system, they have protection against it. Our shuttles are not protected and useless. The medical equipment, our short distance com-devices, laser guns, laser sabers, and the universal translator are protected too."
Looking at my com-device, I can see that it is still operational. I open our common used channel,
"All crew needs to evacuate the ship, we were hit by an electromagnetic pulse. All ships systems are fried. Our only option is the lifepods. There is a suitable planet near. Coordinates will be sent by our first Officer. Everybody get medical equipment and weapons on board. The survival kits will be enough for three. Each lifepod will be boarded by three crewmembers. All ten lifepods will simultaneously eject from the ship. I can only hope our attackers have the same issues."
Standing up, everybody makes their way to the life pods.
"Davac, I will join you and Shane," I say when my com-device connects privately with his.
"Yes, Captain, we will be waiting."
I run to the lifepods near the med-center. Meeting Doc, Shuu, and Halam. With them, I reach the pods. I board the one with Shane and Davac.
"Confirm the coordinates with first Officer Suri," I tell Davac, he nods,
I open the common channel,
"Everybody ready?"
Getting nine affirmative I order,
"Eject in 10 seconds, may Shayla be with you all."
We get ready for ejection, putting on the straps to keep us safe. Programming the coordinates, the countdown reaches zero, and every lifepod ejects. When we eject, we can see the remains of the hybrid as debris flying everywhere. Davac maneuvers us throughout the wreckage. The fighter type ship behind us doesn't move. Floating without energy in space. The second one must be gotten destroyed when the hybrid exploded. All ten pods make it out of the debris field. But then all of a sudden, the first three to the left of us explode, getting hit by lasers.
"Shit, a fourth ship arrived. They are shooting at us," Davac says stressed while trying to evade being hit.
We fly as fast as we can in the direction of the planet. Four more gets shot out of space. They show us no mercy. I look to Shane, his face is ashen, tears are trailing down his cheeks. I grip his hand holding it secure. We reach the atmosphere of the planet together with the other two pods left. Inside the atmosphere, we are protected by the noble gas clouds that interfere with their sensors. We fall through the clouds, descending fast. Davac breaks our fall with the stabilizers.
"This will be a hard landing, everybody prepares for impact."
I pull Shane's head between his knees and do the same. We hit the ground hard and start to slide throughout trees tumbling. Then finally stop against a giant tree.
I look around both are alive, Shane looks like he tries to hold in vomit. I lost my grip on his head while we tumbled. Getting out of the straps, I collect our survival kit while Davac grabs our weapons. Handing me a gun and saber. Shane still sits like a statue.
"We need to move in case they will follow us," I tell him and he snaps out of it, with shaking hands he removes his straps.
Trying to stand on his legs, he falls over. I catch him before he can fall to the ground. He is in no condition to move, yet it seems. So I haul him over my shoulder and move out of the lifepod after Davac.
"Do we know the location where the others came down?"
"Both should be east of us."
I turn east and start to jog, Davac is beside me in seconds. Surveying the area around us. There is plenty of flora and fauna. Big trees covering us from the sun. Creepers climbing the trees for the life-giving rays of the sun. On the grounds are moss and fern, they survive with less light. Some trees have mold, the air is heavy with humidity. We start to sweat lightly. We can hear small critters and animals all around us. My senses tell me that no predators near.
I try my com-device, but all I can get are interference. What feels like hours of jogging on uneven ground jumping over fallen trees, only actually took us like half an hour. We find the first sign of something crashing throughout the trees. We run in the direction the object was moving. Suddenly Davac grabs me. We nearly run off a cliff.
"Shayla, no."
"Captain, we are here look down," Orin shouts.
Looking down, I find both Orin and Suri hanging on the cliff with one arm while each of them grabs an unconscious Krelak. I put Shane down on the ground a few meters away from the cliff. Surveying the cliff, there is no way we can reach them in shifted form without hitting the cliff with our wings. Opening the survival pack, I get out my rope, while Davac copies me getting his. Checking for a sturdy tree that can hold our weighs, I put on climbing equipment. Grabbing the loop, I say to Davac,
"I will bring Krelak first. You will secure me. Bind your climbing gear on the rope I will give it to one of them so they can help me bringing Krelak up. I'm coming down."
Turning around with the back to the cliff, I jump and give rope. Lowering myself fast to their level. Orin helps me secure Krelak. While Suri gets on the climbing gear. When Krelak is secure, I shout to Davac,
"Get us up slowly."
With tremendous effort, Davac drags the rope up while I help with my feet. Having a deadweight on the sling isn't an easy climb. Suri helps to support Krelak from the other side. We both do the climb, drenched in sweat. We collapse on our knees, breathing hard.
"Hey, don't forget me, just throw me the rope."
His brother climbs to his feet, removing his gear he looks over the cliff and throws it down,
"Rope, incoming brother."
Freeing Krelak from the loop, I lay him down on his back. Checking him for injuries. He has a minor head wound. His pulse is steady, so I try to wake him. Getting no response, I about to get up to get our first aid kit. But Shane stays before me with it. Smiling, he places it in my hands,
"Here."
"Thank you, Shane."
Getting out of the scanner, I check his vitals. He has a concussion and sprained his right wrist, I compress the wrist with a cooling bandage. That should help, in the meantime, Orin climbs up.
"We should search for the other survivors."
"No need, we found you first, sorry it took us so long to reach you. But I had to treat Shuu here first," Doc says while he, Shuu, and Halam stumble into sight,
"Shuu broke his right leg, I had to set it before we could try to move to you guys."
"That's okay, Krelak has a concussion and a sprained wrist. I just finished treating him. If you want to check him yourself, be my guest."
Three lifepods made it. 7 of my 28 remaining crew survived. I hit the ground in anger, damn you, bounty hunters. I lost formidable men today.
"We need to move away from the lifepods. We got everything we could salvage out of ours."
"We did too, Captain," Halam offers.
"We couldn't obviously," Orin remarks.
"Ok, let's move, we are currently northeast. We should head west inside the country. Orin, Suri, you will carry Krelak. Doc and Shane will support Shuu on each side, Davac, Halam, and I will watch and secure our trek."
All move to comply. Checking the weapons, we distribute them between us three.
I take the front while Davac and Halam secure the back and sides.
We trek throughout the forest until the sun starts to sink. Only taking small breaks for water and some energy bars. Krelak wakes on the second break, and Doc checks him over. Now that he is awake, Doc can give him the right medicine to help him recover faster. Krelak wants to walk alone and help secure our group. But I deny him and let the twins keep watch over him.
-------
Before the sun is entirely down, we search for a good place to camp for the night.
"We should get off grounds, we don't know what predators roam in the night, and fire will only tell our pursuers were we are. Besides, everything is too humid to even burn."
Lifting my Bodysuit, which is glued to my chest a bit. Shanes is one sweaty mess. Doc had to order him to drink enough. He didn't want to use our limited supply. But Doc put his foot down telling him, he would be useless if he was too dehydrated to move. Looking for the right tree, we find one big enough to hold us all. Climbing its enormous stem is tricky, but takes less energy than flying everybody up. I finally manage the climb together with Halam. We build a makeshift lift. Out of the rope, we carry and a sturdy timber. Before night falls, everybody is up in the tree. It's not much space, but it will keep us all warm when we sleep close together.
We eat some more energy bars and drink water. Krelak fumbles with one of our tools to help purify freshwater sources. Which we still need to find.
"Without water, the purifiers will be useless."
"But there is water all around us," he says while spreading his arms,
"Captain, you forget we can absorb the water in the air. Condense it inside our bottles with those cubes of the polymer. We let the empty bottles open overnight with one cube hooked to each. On the polymer, the water gets absorbed and builds bigger and bigger drops till it's big enough it will drip down into the bottle. With this much humidity, it should be easy to refill our water resources. In the morning, I will purify them. I just needed to repair some minor damage to it."
"I forget that you are a survival specialist, too. I didn't know we had those cubes in the kit."
"Well, I put them there after purchasing them. They are expensive, but as long as you don't lose them, they will not expire."
"Good investment, that will give us an advantage our pursuers will search for us near water sources."
Krelak just nods and gets back to work. Halam, Davac, and I will each take one guarding shift of two hours. The days are a bit longer on this planet than the federation standard time. The wounded are in the middle, followed by Doc, Shane, Orin. On the outside of the ring, Suri, Halam, and Davac sleep while I take over the first shift. Surveying the night, I can feel something big roaming the forests. Everything went silent, occasional you can hear a rustle of the foliage. But otherwise, it stays quiet.
Checking with my night vision in partly shifted form. I get the first glimpse of the predator roaming these forests. It was an excellent idea to hide as high as possible. The predator roaming is enormous, at least 40 feet tall and 28 feet in width from head to tail. It's a reptile of some sort, standing on two legs, stabilized by his tail for balance. His front arms are short, looking out of place on such a creature. He has three hideous claws on each appendage. It is from a massive build you can feel the slight vibration its cause when he gets near our tree. It has scaled dark green to black skin, but I bet our scales are harder.
Luckily for us, the tree we climbed is around 77 feet tall. It looks up with its big snout, it has small eyes in comparison. It starts to sniff the air, pulling it into its big nostrils. So it hunts by smell. I can see rows of teeth inside its mouth. It makes strange clicking noises, and two more join it. Great, they hunt in packs. But then they hear some big commotion a bit farther east. The first one looks up one more time then makes some clicking noise again, and they sprint in the direction of the sound.
"Shit, what are these big fuckers," Davac murmurs beside me.
Just when I want to answer him, we can hear blood-curling screams and a mighty raw and then silence.
"Well, I think our pursuers no longer are a problem."
"Shayla I'm not sure I want to leave the safety of the trees ever again. Captain, it's my turn now, you should rest."
I give him my post and snuggle near Shane, who has his eyes open, expand in fright,
"Sleep little one, nothing can get us up here."
He looks dubious but nods, closing his eyes.
-------
Waking up to something small cuddled to my chest, I slowly open my eyes. Shane lies plastered to my chest. My right arm his pillow. I can see little puffs of his even breath as he sleeps, his legs are entangled with mine. I hear some rustling behind Shane and lookup. Doc grins at me and winks. He slowly sits up, turning around to check his two patients.
"How are they?"
"Krelak's head should be fine, two more days of rest for his wrist, and he will be as good as new. You alphas heal a lot faster than us. Shuu will need more time to heal. It was a bad break with bones sticking out of his leg. If I had to guess up to two weeks if he stays off it."
"In the night some big predators were sniffing around. Then went east, we could hear screams. Together with Davac, I will go and investigate when everyone is up," I tell Doc and Halam, who is on guard behind me,
"We will shift and fly there. I have no idea if those predators only hunt at night, so we must be extra careful."
"Ugh, I don't want to imagine what they have done to our pursuers," Davac shudders and then stretch his limbs and sits up.
"I'm sure that was only one group of several. But maybe their shuttle or whatever they used to come down is still there, and they didn't just get dropped off."
The rest starts to wake up. I can feel Shane shift against me and then stiffen. He opens his eyes fast, blinking against the light, trying to adjust. Humans are more sensible than us. One more reason we need to try to leave this planet as soon as possible. He gets away from his cuddle to my chest and sits up, looking around.
"Are those predators still near us?"
"I don't think so, my Xerxerus isn't sensing anything, and the forest is rather loud this morning."
I finally sit up too. I grab my survival pack looking for something to eat. Grabbing a few of the energy bars, I throw two to Davac. He catches them and places them inside his pocket.
"Let's go and check out what those predators are capable of and if we find anything useable."
We both stand up.
"Wait, you want to go there? Are you insane? What if others are checking on their friends?"
"We go there in shifted form and will be careful. We need to get all the information we can get. We maybe even find an operational shuttle."
He doesn't look happy.
"Sure, go and get yourself killed," He says snarkily and turns around, no longer looking at me.
I can see him tremble.
"Hey, little one, everything will be fine. We will scout by air, and only when we know it's safe, we drop to the ground looking around," I whisper in Shane's ear while grabbing his right shoulder lightly.
He sniffs and turns around, I can see he is trying to hold tears in,
"Try to stay safe please, I can't bear more dying because of me."
"It's not your fault. But we will not take unnecessary risks. Happy?"
He nods and then stands up, hugging me.
"Please come back to me, I don't know what I do without you," he says while shyly looking down after breaking the hug.
I kiss him on his forehead and promise him.
"I will, Shane, see you later. You guys stay safe too."
Shane blushing again turns to Doc and sits down.
"Wait, Captain, before you go, I found a functional frequency working on this planet, So we can stay over com in contact, turn your coms to frequency 547 MHz," Orin informs me.
Changing the frequency of my com, I nod to Davac. Going to the edge of the tree. Looking down, I calculate in my head.
I jump down and shift. Shanes screams, following me to the edge looking down. Halfway down, I finished my complete shift and beat my wings to get air currents under them. Two powerful beats of my wings later, I'm back near the crown of the tree. Shane looks to me, shocked.
"You Idiot, I thought you wouldn't make it."
Davac, besides me, laughs. I give Shane a wave and pump my wings to fly higher. Davac following seconds later.
Together we fly east. The air current is steady higher up, we glide throughout the air. Shayla, how I missed the feel of the wind running under my wings. Nothing as the air around me. We feel truly free. We pick up speed. It doesn't take long to reach their camp or what's left of it.