Knight�s Pride

Chapter 6: A-Missions, Getting to Know Commander KaLee Akira

It was a normal day on board the Nemesis. The commander had just finished up her morning run. As she was walking back to her quarters to get dressed a large form rumbled down the hall.

"Commander." His voice rolled along. "Commander Akira."

KaLee turned to see Charade lolloping down towards her. "Yes?" She asked.

He came to a halt in front of her stood up and saluted. She gave an informal salute back and he dropped back to all four, his dark brown fur tousling slightly.

"I found some strange readings coming from the asteroid belt while doing some routine scans." He was agitated; his fur was slightly bristling as he spoke to her.

With a lightly furrowed brow KaLee asked about it. "Show me." He handed her the report. She quickly scanned over the readings and her concern started to rise.

"You double checked these?" Her voice remained level, but she knew these readings were not normal.

"I triple checked." Charade said as they both started to walk. The epion levels in the asteroid field were elevated and the gas levels were down. "This normally indicates epion drive engine activity." He said to her.

They were walking towards KaLee�s quarters, she needed a shower and fresh cloths. Shower will have to wait, fresh clothes can�t.

"You know the only group of people who have epion engines." He spoke.

KaLee could almost hear the edge coming into his voice. He needs to stay calm or everyone is going to panic.

"I am aware of the possibilities but also know that an over production of epion can be caused by the interaction of multiple gases that are naturally produced in the asteroid belt." She heard the intake of breath to continue the argument but cut him off by continuing. "See if you can get some more definitive readings on these and contact the Crane. See what they have for readings over the last few hours." She handed the report back to him and continued to talk. "Once you have done that head up to the Captain. This should at least be brought to his attention. I will be there too."

Charade nodded the tension was still there but now he seemed to have a focus. He was young for a Kaven off home world but he was one of the best engineers she had ever seen.

As he lollopped off down the corridor KaLee gave a mental sigh. She did know the only group of ships to have epion engines and they were not people she wanted to deal with. With quick steps she moved in to her room and slipped out of her dirty cloths and into a clean uniform.

She was one of the youngest Commanders on record and the youngest ever to achieve second in command. This was a responsibility to tell the Captain and it was hers. Charade had come to her for that reason. Next to them being friends he knew this was not necessarily something you brought directly to the Captain, but he would not have brought it to her if his superior in engineering had not told him to.

Her communicator chirped and she picked it off of the table. Flipping it open she responded. "Commander Akira."

"Commander, this is Lieutenant Dorson. You wanted a report on ships in the area?" His voice came thorough the line.

"Go ahead."

"There is a civilian transport just off the Secar Nebula. They have sent a communications letting us know they were there."

"Thank you Lieutenant. Was there anything else?" She held her breath; maybe they were able to pick something up in the asteroid belt.

"No ma�am. Nothing on our scopes, but it is a little difficult with the asteroid belt near by."

"Thank you again Lieutenant. Akira out." She flipped her communicator closed and slipped it to her belt.

They had known the Asteroid belt was going to mess with the instruments, but they were not sure how much it would. It was dangerous here; she had emphasized that to the Captain on numerous occasions.

"Paranoia is not going to get us any further than where we are now, Commander. But I will keep your edge in mind." He had told her calmly.

She knew he was right but it was her job to point things like that out to him.

Her boots tapped the floor with purpose as she moved towards the lift. Her mind ran through how they might be able to detect anything in the asteroid belt with out overly doing so. If it was Drule ships she did not need to alert them.

Technically not Drule. Her mind scolded her. Technically they are just raiders, pirates out for a profit. It has never been proven that they actually are Drule commanded ships. She sighed. It would be a prize indeed to prove that. They were made by the Drule Empire but bought by others. That was the official statement by the Drule government. There was even a couple used by some reputable merchants. Modified of course.

Stepping on to the lift she ran through the list of other possibilities of what this could be. She had been right that a natural over production of gases could make epion but she was not sure if it created the lack of the other gases in the process.

The lift moved its way up to the command deck and KaLee stepped off.

"Commander on deck."

She gave an acknowledgement to the crew there and walked to the door of the Captain's office. She was fairly certain he was in there, still having his morning coffee. He invited her on occasion but normally had it alone, allowing himself to "process the on-coming day." She knocked and waited.

"Come in." She heard him say and entered.

The room was always comfortable, it was his space. Captain Gerald Racer, a relaxed man, in his mid-thirties, with brown, graying hair and soft round features. He sat slightly turned from the door in his chair, a report in one hand and a mug that read: �sometimes you are just nuts.� He had quite the collection of cups, the coffee fanatic that he was. The Commander had given him one herself, an icebreaker of sorts, for getting such a young second in command. She loved coffee as well. Something both her mother and father enjoyed.

Steam still rose from the cup and the aroma of coffee filled KaLee�s nostrils. She stood waiting for him to acknowledge her again.

"Have a seat Commander." He said then took a sip from the cup. "Can I get you anything to drink?" He was always polite to her whenever she came in here in the mornings like this.

"No thank you sir. I don�t need anything."

He gave a nod then spoke again and glanced to her. "All ready had your cup this morning?" She nodded with a smile. "Well then, what can I do for you?" He still did not put the report that he held down or turn to face her fully, fortunately she was used to this.

"There have been some odd readings coming from the asteroid belt. It was just brought to my attention this morning by Chief Engineer Leeash Charade." She watched him as he took another sip. He stooped reading, must have caught his interest.

"What type of readings?" He asked.

"Elevated epion levels with lower gas levels." She responded. "I told him to contact the Crane and see what they have been picking up. Their instruments are more for scanning asteroid belts, ours are still having some trouble distinguishing readings and origins of radiation levels." She kept it simple but with the underlying implications of needing to have an up grade done soon.

The Captain nodded and looked up at her. "We knew going in to this that the asteroid belt would mess with the systems of the Nemesis." He said with almost a tired voice. They had been over this more than a couple of times. "And we can�t exactly upgrade now. But there is something Astronavigation might be able to do. They have wanted to test out some new scanning capabilities for months now. Contact them and let them know they can scan the asteroid belt to chart it." He nodded at that. "Do it as quietly as possible. What do you think it might be?"

"Well�" she started just as there was a knock on the door and she stopped.

"Come." The Captain spoke.

The door opened and Charade walked into the room. "Sir." He saluted.

The Captain looked at him then gave a salute himself. "What is it Chief?" He asked.

Charade moved up to the desk. "I have some readings here that both Commander KaLee and I thought you might like to have a look at."

He held out the report to Captain Racer who took it from him casually. With almost casual movements he looked through it.

"And the Crane?" Was the next question from the Captain.

"I contacted them and they will be sending over the last twenty four hours of readings with in the next four hours. It takes them some time to get that all together. There are several different computers doing that job continually." He gave the explanation before even asked.

The Captain nodded. "Good. Get that information together once it is received and get it to Commander KaLee right away. I am going to let her handle this matter." He set the report down on the desk. "Thank you for this, Chief. Dismissed."

Charade looked slightly at KaLee before saluting the Captain and leaving. Once the door had shut the Captain turned back to KaLee. "He seems a little anxious for a Kaven?"

KaLee could not help but smile. "He is young for an outside Kaven too, but he is very good at what he does." The Captain nodded.

She lifted an eyebrow at the Captain. "You are having me handle this?" She asked. The Captain trusted her but she did not know asteroid belts as well as he did, he even admitted being around them more than she had.

"Yes," He said almost casually. "I know you are good and won�t let anything slip by you."

He handed her the report that Charade had given him. With cautionary hands KaLee took it.

"I intend to go over to the Delta in a few hours. I have not had a chance to meet with her Captain yet." He spoke casually as he picked up his cup of coffee back up. "Captain Thorne. From what I here he is a good officer."

"Well received in the science community sir." KaLee chimed in. "Not overly familiar with what though." She tried to remain honest with her commanding officer.

He nodded as he spoke again. "To be expected. He isn't researching anything really interesting for a pilot. Mainly mining projects in asteroid fields." He chuckled. "That is why he chose to come here and work with the Crane."

"Well sir," she said making segway to leaving. "I should get working on this and checking the duty rosters."

"Of course Commander." The Captain said, with a humored smile. "I will talk to you when I get back." He looked up a moment. "Dismissed."

She nodded to him before turning and leaving the room. She had a lot to do but the busyness was great, something she thrived on. Her feet resonated on the deck as she crossed it to the command seat. She could go over the reports there for right now. The duty roster for the next couple of days needed to be set up; she had been putting it off a bit, hoping that they would be on their way soon. The Captain knew that which is why he smiled at her.

Leaving soon was not looking to happen; most likely they would be here at least another two days. KaLee could deal with that. She did not have to like it, to deal with it. Taking a deep breath she began to work.

* * * * * * * * * *

"So you just went about your business?" Cole voiced his question.

"Yes," KaLee responded. "It was all I could do. The information was coming to me as fast as it could. There was nothing I could do to change that."

"What happened next?" It was Lillian; her voice was still tense.

"Well, it wasn�t until the Captain had headed over to the Delta that things started to move."

* * * * * * * * * *

"Commander." Charade lollopped up to KaLee as she walked towards Astronavigation.

"Chief." She said. "What do you have for me?"

"I have been working though what the Crane has sent us." He said. "It doesn�t look like this is anything that could happen naturally but they can�t be sure with out a good reading of the asteroid belt for engine signatures and that isn�t possible with the equipment we have right now."

KaLee nodded as she looked at the report she had managed to snag from him. "Actually that might not be true anymore. Astronavigation has something that might be able to cut through the problems we are having with the sensors." She reached the door to the Astronavigation area as they had been walking that whole time.

"I hope so, otherwise I just might fly a shuttle in to the field myself to find out." Charade said it with a smile but KaLee knew he would do it if it came down to it. That was something she was trying to avoid. They walked in.

"Commander." A younger looking gentleman walked up. His dark brown eyes looked directly into hers. "It is good of you to come Commander. I am Lieutenant Evans. I think we might have found out how to cut through the interference of the belt. It has not been easy but it is possible." He turned and walked back towards a console on one of the far walls. Both KaLee and Charade followed. This was going to be interesting. If they were able to cut though the interference of the asteroid belt they should be able to figure out what was causing the high-level epion readings.

As they stepped up to the panel he started to talk again. "We managed to get the necessary boost to the bi-panels on the port and starboard sides of the ship. With the reflector array on line we should be able to get a clear map of the belt itself." He smiled triumphantly. "And if we have a map of the asteroid belt we would have a map of what is in the asteroid belt."

KaLee smiled. "Good work, Lieutenant. Good work." She continued to look over the readings.

"The only problem is that it is very invasive." Lieutenant Evans interjected. "We can really only do it once and if there is anyone in there they would know that they are being scanned."

Charade shook his head. "That isn�t good. We don�t want them to know we know."

KaLee looked at the panel in front of her. "They would be ready to fly at a moments notice. We would be sitting ducks. The Nemesis is the only battle capable ship here." She gave a sigh. "How long before Argos is in range should anything happen?"

The Argos was another battle ready Garrison Ship that was escorting the survey ship Er�complir here.

Lieutenant Evans looked at the charts on another panel. "In about an hour." He said. "They are however in communication range." She nodded.

"We should contact them and tell them they need to hurry." Charade spoke anxiously.

KaLee shook her head. "No. We do anything but an open channel and IF there is something in the belt they will know." She stared unseeing at the panel in front of her before she spoke again. "Is there anyway to use the belt to our advantage? Someway to disable ships that might be in there?" She made it a general question posing it to both Evans and Charade.

Why am I so suspicious that something is in there? Her mind raced. How can I be sure of my gut instincts? It isn�t just me being paranoid; there is more to it than that.

"There might be but it could take some time." Charade said. KaLee saw his fur shiver all the way down. He wanted action to take care of the potential problem now but she was stalling making sure everything was what it seemed.

"Check it out." She said. "Show me in an hour." With that said she turned. "I will be up on the bridge if you need me."

She left Astronavigation, her mind deep in thought.

What the hell was wrong with the universe? She knew that pirate raids were up. They had not been this high since before Voltron was decommissioned. The question was, was it Lotor and the Drule Empire or was it someone else.

"The raiders were too organized to be separate groups, or just out for one hit." She muttered. "But who? Who is running the show?"

"Ma'am?" A voice next to her spoke bringing her out of the interior thoughts.

It was an Ensign. KaLee gave a slight smile. "Sorry talking to myself."

The young man nodded not expecting her to say more but she did. "Have you ever had problem that you could not get out of your head, Ensign�?" She waited for a response to the unasked question, as well as the asked.

"McLoy, Ma'am. Trevor McLoy." He responded with a shaky nod. "And yes I have."

She spoke again. "Go on."

He visibly swallowed, never expecting to have a conversation with the second in command of this ship. "Well I always approach my big problems like a really big puzzle. You look for similar looking pieces, and put a few together at a time. Then when you have the bigger sections done you figure out how they fit together."

She nodded and said. "Thank you Ensign McLoy. For some reason that helped."

KaLee realized now that she had stopped walking. "Carry on Ensign." She moved off towards the lift.

Once I get the other options from Charade I will contact the Captain. We need to figure this out.

It was an hour after they had talked that Charade entered the bridge bringing Lieutenant Evans with him. The Captain of the Argos had contacted her and let her know they were with in range and would assist with research there for the next day.

KaLee looked up from the reports she was working on to the two men as they entered the bridge.

"Commander." Lieutenant Evans saluted her as he spoke. Charade gave his salute as he moved towards her as well. "Is there some place we can talk?" Evans asked.

"We can use the Captain's office." She said as she rose from the chair and moved toward the door. Evans and Charade followed a step or two behind. "You have the bridge Commander Ankins." She said to the ranking officer.

"Yes ma'am." Was almost the automated response.

Once they entered the room she went to the desk. "So what do you have for me?"

Charade spoke first, "Well, we have the bi-panels and array almost calibrated and should be able to get a clean scan into the field soon."

Evans smiled at him but KaLee could tell there was some caution around him. "There is only one problem." His voice was steady as he interrupted Charade. "We don't want any of the other ships near us in direct line of scan. The intensity with which we are scanning would fry the computer systems on anything that crosses the center path acting like an EM pulse."

KaLee nodded. "What about the probes in the asteroid belt?" It was an honest question, those probes were expensive pieces of equipment, and to loose even one was not something she wanted to think about.

"The probes in the belt have more shielding than a normal ship protecting the data inside. It is possible that the propulsion systems would be damaged but that would be it." Lieutenant Evans said.

She shook her head. That could be a problem. She knew the Captain would want them fully functional. Not to mention what the other Captains' would have to say after all it was their equipment and research.

There was a beep of her communicator.

"Akira." She said.

"Sorry to bother you Commander." It was Ankins. "But the Captain is on the com. And would like to speak with you."

"Thank you." She responded, and then looked to the two in front of her. "I will be down once I am done talking to the Captain. Dismissed."

Both Evans and Charade saluted and left the room. KaLee moved to the other side of the desk and sat down facing the video screen there. With a flip of a switch Captain Racer appeared before her.

"Commander how is the research going?" It was a half-veiled question, in case someone was listening.

"Going well. We think we have passed the problem but have come up with another one." She said.

He nodded. "Okay. I am heading back now and should be able to look over what you have then."

"Yes sir." She responded. "I will have everything ready and meet you in the docking bay."

Again the Captain nodded. "Good. I will see you in fifteen. Racer out."

The image flickered off and KaLee rose from her chair. I need to get all the information in hand. I only hope it works. She moved out of the office and on to the bridge.

"Commander Ankins I am heading to meet the Captain keep me informed of any unusual movement in the belt." She spoke as she moved to the lift.

"Yes ma'am." He responded.

Once on the lift KaLee began to doubt her self. One of her down falls, something she knew she needed to stop. She had one place to go before reaching the docking bay.

As she stepped into Astronavigation the ship rocked and alarms started to go off.

"What the�" KaLee pulled out her communicator. "Ankins report." She spoke.

"There is a swarm of raider scout ships flooding from the belt. The Captain is in the middle of them. They are attacking his ship." Ankins voice was tense but focused.

"Get all pilots to their ships get them out and start targeting opponents." She focused on what needed to be done. "Send an escort to the Captain's shuttle we need to get him inside. Also�" Another explosion rocked the ship and flung KaLee against a wall, knocking the wind out of her.

"Prep the turrets, get the torpedoes ready." Ankins was yelling to the bridge crew. "Commander they have boarding pods, at least six. Two are heading our way. Watch you�" More explosions hit and power flickered.

"Ankins� Ankins� Shit." There was no response from the communicator. "Charade, we need to get to the bridge." KaLee scanned her surroundings. There was flickering of lights and shaken people. For most this was their first combat. "Evans, get me a visual of what is going on out there." She commanded looking directly at the Lieutenant.

He seemed to pause a moment as though not comprehending her words.

"Lieutenant Evans. Visual� NOW!" She snapped at him. There was not time for niceties; she needed her crew in working order.

He snapped out of it. "Yes ma'am."

With two steps he was to a panel, punching buttons and flipping switches. The center of the room lit up and a three dimensional chart appeared. Wow. Her interior mind was impressed but kept a cool exterior, taking in all of what she was seeing.

There were at least seven battle ships coming out of the belt. Different sizes and shapes but all well armed, not to mention the multitude of fighters that were there and the boarding pods. She counted five. Shit. This is not good.

"Evans get that scanner ready. We might have to use it as an EM pulse. Keep feeding this information to the bridge. I don't know what will be left up there." KaLee's eyes scanned the chaos in front of her. "Where is the Captain's shuttle?" She could not make it out.

Evans again pushed buttons and flipped switches. "I can't� wait found him." One blip in the middle of the battle was highlighted.

"Can you open a channel?" Her heart was pounding fast and the adrenaline was on high. This was not her first combat but it was her first on this ship. The fighters around his shuttle were trying to protect him.

Damn it. She mentally swore.

"There is a channel here ma'am." Evans said, stepping away from the panel he had been working on. Tearing her eyes away from the scene she moved quickly over.

"Captain." She said standing looking down at the grainy image.

"Commander. You need to get the main ships down. That is where the fighters are reloading." He immediately went to battle command mode. "Also take out the boarding pods heading to the other ships. We can handle a boarding party better than anyone else." The image jostled in front of her.

"We are working on that sir. We have pilots trying to get you back here. I am going to keep lines of communication open to all ships, see if we can get a full offensive working here and figure out what they are after." The truth was she did know what they were after but she did not want to say so over an open line.

"Good work Commander. I will be in�" There was another jostling of the image and it went totally bank. Behind her KaLee heard gasps and small cries of dismay.

Shit no.

It seemed to take forever for her to turn around. But finally she did. The map had focused in on where the Captain's shuttle should have been. What she saw now was a fireball slowly dissipating into the vacuum of space.

"Evans get me a line of communication open to the bridge then work on ones to the other ships. Keep feeding the information up to the bridge. Arm yourselves and be prepared for boarding parties." KaLee turned to the group around her. "Charade, you are with me we are heading to the bridge."

She turned and began out of the room. There was a lot of ground to cover and the possibly of boarding parties.

"Commander." Evans voice caught her right before she left. With a quick turn back she looked at him. "The main route to the bridge has been blocked. Seems some structural damage was done to a main support. Lucky shot. You will have to take another route." With a quick nod KaLee turned and left.

The alarms were going off all down the corridor, people moving quickly running to their locations. It was organized chaos.

"Commander I have the bridge." Evans spoke over her communicator.

"This is Commander Akira, what is happening up there?" She listened intently hoping someone would respond.

"This is Ensign Reed ma'am." A young female voice responded. "There is one boarding pod almost attached to our starboard side and one that is moving to our port side. They will be boarding with in minuets."

KaLee could hear the panic beginning to edge into the Ensigns voice. "Send security teams down to the locations where the boarding parties will be entering. Then have the gunners target the other boarding pods. We need to prevent them from boarding any other ships. I am on my way to the bridge right now." She left the line open hoping that the young woman would, if she needed to contact her.

"Yes ma'am." There was still panic but now things were focused.

Both she and Charade were moving quickly down the corridors, until they reached a lift. Charade punched the button, nothing happened.

"The ventilation ducts." KaLee spoke.

They were the only other way around the ship. There was one right next to the lift. Punching in the access code she opened the hatch. It was only a minute in their accent up the ladder there but it felt like an eternity.

"We will have to take another duct to get to the bridge. It is across level three." Charade spoke from behind her.

With efficient movements KaLee opened the hatch just as a blaster shot whizzed in front of it. She gasped and pulled her hand back.

"Shit." Charade swore softly behind her. A security officer crouched behind the new cover, as another stayed pinned across the hall.

"Commander. What are you�" The one across the hall started to ask.

"Trying to get to the bridge, lifts are out. Need to get to the other side of the ship." She interrupted him.

His gaze shifted to the battle in front of him. "We are kinda at a stand off her ma'am. You will have to find another way." He yelled, then shifted and fired several shots down the corridor.

"No time." She took a deep breath. "How many?" She indicated the direction where their opponents were.

�Can�t tell for sure, at least fifteen. The how many isn�t the big problem but what kind is. They have DruLam.� He said as he helped her out of the air ducts.

Then she heard it the lulling hissing of the Drule creatures. They were a no armed humanoid serpent, similar to the Greek Lamia. Vampiric in nature and loyal to the one whom would feed them. Their hissing was hypnotic to most races. The Drule fighting forces used them regularly in battle but they were known to be bought by the highest bidder.

�Great.� KaLee took a deep breath then looked across the corridor to the others firing shots around the corner. "Can you give us some cover?"

The officer next to her stared at her and he saw the determination on her face. "Yeah� how far do you have to go?" He knew he could argue, that he should argue, but also knew she would do it anyway.

"Just to the first turn. I want to try to get to the main lift." She responded.

He nodded and gave a glance around at the group he was with. There were eight of them. Two were dead; one barely conscious with a stomach wound and the rest had various injuries that were bleeding. "There is another group around that corner we need to let them know you are coming." He said.

KaLee yanked out her communicator and handed it to him.

"Benson, this is Lee. Commander Akira is heading your way."

There was a slight pause before a response. "Great." Sarcasm filled the line and Lee, the officer in front of her looked at her skeptically. "Okay fine. We'll try not to shoot her."

* * * * * * * * * *

"He actually said that?" Ryan's voice held amazement.

KaLee chuckled. "Yeah or something like it."

"Why..." Deida started but KaLee interrupted.

"Ten to twenty year veterans who have worked all over the universe now had the youngest second in command running the show. I was lucky he listened to me." She smiled and continued with the story.

* * * * * * * * * *

Lee tossed back the communicator and KaLee spoke. "You had better not Second Lieutenant Benson. You're the best shot on this ship." She let a little humor in her voice and was rewarded by a twitch of a smile from Lee.

"Yes ma'am." Benson replied from the other end.

"Okay." Lee said. There was another volley of shots from the boarding party. "Three� two� ONE." Lee and the others let go a hail of shots.

KaLee heard a few screams. "Go� NOW!"

She launched herself out of the vent and in to the corridor, Charade right at her heals. They had rounded the corner before any shots were fired at them. Then there was a group on top of them the hissing seemed to lull at her mind and a large tail began wrapping itself around her waist. She knew the head was coming her way. The fangs would be extended and he or she would be drawing blood. Or at least that was the plan. KaLee changed that plan. Her mind rebelled against the relaxation the hissing pushed on her and she moved. Those that watched her would have said she slid out of the grasp of the serpentine tail. For all intense and purposes she did. Then not really looking not really listening she reached up and grabbed the DuLam�s head and snapped it to one side. The crack resonated through the corridor and the body dropped limp to the floor.

I have to get to the bridge. She knew where she had to go but not how she was going to get there. She continued to fight trying to reach the next lift.

"Shit." Benson was suddenly next to her helping her fight the men around her. "This is not good. I am not sure where they are all coming from." His voice was tense and she understood his frustration.

"A boarding pod can actually hold about thirty people for boarding purposes." KaLee rattled off. "The pilots are extra, not to mention the weaponry."

"GRAAR."

They both heard the snapping and tearing sound next to them. Benson gave a quick glance and she saw the wince he cross his face. Ducking under a raider's punch he fired point blank into the opponent�s gut. "He always that ferocious?" He asked as the body fell away.

She gave a slight shake of her head and shoved the knife she kept in her boot into another raider�s throat before responding. "He's young for a Kaven. They are a little more emotional."

Benson pushed on her shoulder. "Get moving. You need to get to the bridge."

She started down the hall once more, a few shots whizzing past her head.

Both Benson and Charade were with her.

Shit. How the hell am I going to do this?

When they reached the lift she automatically punched the button. The doors partially opened.

"Come on." She said under her breath.

Charade went at the doors pushing them open.

"Climb up the lift shoot." Benson said. "Good idea."

Just then another shot fired by their heads and as a raider jumped Benson.

"Ahgh." Benson yelled falling back against the wall with the weight.

Another raider was on top of KaLee. She managed to maneuver so that he went back into a wall over her shoulder. With delft movements she snapped his neck. She heard more coming. Yanking out her blaster and grabbing the knife on the raider's belt she prepared. This was going to be a fight.

Turning she fired three consecutive shots as she saw the raiders coming down the hall. Two were hit in the legs and one of those in the chest. All stumbled down. She heard the telltale sound of a snapping neck and heard Benson speaking in a gasp.

"Guess they couldn't hold them." He was referring to his team.

KaLee silently wondered how many they had lost or if any survived. She fired two move rounds before they were on top of them. Her training kicked in, both from the Academy and from her father. She worked at disposing of opponents. Blood was splattered across the corridor and herself. Charade was almost enraged barely managing to maintain his mind from bloodlust.

She saw Benson get hit point blank in the chest. The light faded from his eyes as he slammed back into the wall. Unfortunately that was enough to distract her and a raider took advantage of that.

The knife he held entered her left side just below the armpit. Only her years of training saved her life. She pulled back and away from him, the knife staying with her but the raider was put off balance. She took her own knife and slid it easily into his throat.

"Hisss ahh." It was a soft cry of pain from her as the raider went down, pulling the knife with him. The pain was excruciating but KaLee some how managed to stay conscious hitting the wall behind her. Charade saw this event and lost his control.

"Garagh." He shoved the raiders around him of, snapping or tarring limbs. He ripped a panel off the wall and slammed his fist into a button there. An emergency door slid down, blocking any more raiders.

With focus almost unheard of in a young Kaven after bloodlust, Charade was at her side with a med-kit.

"Come on KaLee stay with me." His voice was tight.

She was fully aware of what he was doing but she could not seem to feel any of it. He had placed his ranking sash over her wound and was slowly peeling it down. Using a small laser he was 'welding' her side back together.

"I'm here Chief." She said shifting her eyes. "I am not going anywhere."

Her hand tried to grasp the wall but found nothing. She was beginning to feel the pain, numbness of shock wearing off. It took a few minutes but Charade did it.

"You need proper medical attention." He said, stating the obvious.

"We need to get to the bridge." She focused her eyes on him and stood up, managing to ignore the pain slashing through her side. She hobbled over to the lift, Charade following her.

Once both of them were inside she pushed the button to go up. Nothing happened.

"Okay, open the top panel." She said. He looked at her unsure. "Don't make me order you Charade." Her voice was tired, it was taking all of her energy to keep going, and arguing now with him was not something she wanted to do.

He gave a small nod and stood up on his hind legs, reaching and pulling a panel down from the roof. With a little extra reach he pulled down the ladder. There was a scraping sound from the hall. They both looked. The emergency door started to move and the sounds of angry hissing came through.

"Shit." Charade swore softly next to her.

"Come on lets go." She reached for the ladder, expecting Charade to follow her lead. But instead he moved into the corridor.

"Good luck Commander. I will see you on the other side." He pushed the button on the outside, closing the door to the lift.

"Charade." KaLee yelled, moving to the door but not out. She pushed the button on her side. Nothing happened.

"No Charade." She heard muffled sounds, hissing, growling and shots being fired.

No time. I have to go now.

KaLee moved back to the ladder and managed to pull herself up it. With painstaking movements she climbed up to the bridge level and opened the lift door there.

"Commander!" Hands were there helping her out.

"Oh great mother of�"

"Report. What is going on out in the battle?" She asked, pushing aside the hands that were helping her.

She listened to the run down. All the other ships had been hit hard, but so far the Nemesis was the only one being boarded.

"There are more boarding pods coming. They are heading to the Argos." Ensign Reed was speaking to her.

With a curt nod she spoke. "Get me a live map of the battle. Then try and get the Argos up on communications. I want to know how badly they are damaged and if they can hold off a boarding party." She continued to rattle off orders as she observed the bridge crew.

Few of them had seen any type of combat, there had been little of it since the Drule Empire had come to a Peace Agreement with the Alliance and Lotor had stopped pursuing Queen Alura.

About twenty-two years ago. She thought.

Her presence was having the effect she hoped the crew was getting focused.

"Commander." Ensign Reed was speaking to her again. "We are unable to communicate with the Argos yet but we are getting an open transmission from them."

"Put it on speaker." She said as she sat in the command chair. With swift hands Reed did that.

"This is Captain Yonder. We have lost most of our internal power� unable to comply with�" The audio went to static.

KaLee's eyes shifted to Ensign Reed. "Sorry commander we lost it."

Damn it. I don't have time for this.

"What do their output readings look like?" She asked.

"Um� I can't tell." Reed looked confused at the screen.

Another Ensign came up and looked at the screen. "Minimum out put, no working weaponry, all capable escape pods have been launched, minimum crew. I don't think they can self destruct sir." He kept his focus on the screen. "Two boarding pods are with in range and connecting to the Argos's haul."

"Status of escape pods?"

"All are making minimum head way." The new Ensign said.

"Are they out of blast range?"

There was dead silence after that question.

"Ma'am?" Reed spoke up.

"Ensign, are the escape pods out of blast range of the Argos?" She focused on Reed. She knew the name and was able to connect with that.

"Most of them ma'am. Those that are not have lost engines and can not move any further." The color was draining from her face as she realized what her commanding officer was saying.

KaLee closed her eyes a moment before issuing the next set of orders. "Prepare to target the main engine coupling on the Argos."

"Commander?" The tone was shock all around the bridge.

"Do it, we don't have time to argue and I don't have time to explain." Her face was a mask of control she had to be in command; there was no other option she could see. All the fighters were involved in protecting the other ships and that left the Argos wide open.

"But..." Ensign Reed started.

"Ensign Reed. Get the targeting scopes set." Her tone remained commanding and even, despite the racing of her heart.

"Yes ma'am." Reed spoke up, seeming to go cold.

I am sorry. "Transfer firing control to the command chair." She said calmly. I am not going to let anyone else take the blame for this. It is my decision.

Another voice spoke up. "Targeting scope set, ma'am. Main turrets are powering up. They will be ready in a moment."

She could hear the shaking in their voices. What a way to start out. Most of them on the bridge now were young. She saw no one over a Second Ensign.

"Turrets powered. You can fire when ready." Ensign Reed said.

KaLee held her hand over the button and watched the map that had appeared in front of her. One of the raider ships was moving towards the Argos. KaLee started the count down in her head.

I have to be able to do this. There is no other choice�Five� four�three� What other options do I have? I would expect the same from any other commanding officer�two� Here we go�one�

On to Chapter 7

Back to Archives

Back to The Truck Stop