Oyed and Arsha circled each other, daring the other to make the first move. “Tell me, my dear,” mused Oyed, “how long have you been up?”
“Long enough!” replied Arsha.
“I somehow doubt that.” Oyed then fired a magic blast which Arsha batted away before slamming her fist into the ground. A stone spike erupted under Oyed’s feet, but he twirled out of the way. He then…cartwheeled towards her. Arsha then caught Oyed’s legs and spun around quickly until she let go. He went crashing into a building.
“Using cheap theater clichés!” she grunted. A shot from the Scorpion then hit the ground near her feet. “My ship!” She chanted a speed spell and took off for the Endeavor at high velocity!
Meanwhile, Oyed picked himself out of the building. He knocked some dirt out of his ears. “Sweet ME, that was painful!” He then looked around. “Where IS she?” His comms then chimed. He picked up the call. “Hello?”
“Lord Oyed,” remarked Scorpo on the other end, “I don’t know if it’s escaped your notice, (if it has, well, I can’t fault you), but ARSHA’S MAKING IT TO HER SHIP!” Oyed then saw Arsha running!
“OH NO, YOU DON’T, YOU WALKING CAT O’ NINE TAILS!” he roared. He charged after Arsha, flinging magic blasts all the while. Someone then threw a spear into Oyed’s body with enough strength to pierce the torso and pin him to the ground. He was stuck and in pain. Arsha tracked the spear’s trajectory to see her father joining her.
“Great to see you again after half a year!” he called. “Though I wish Oyed wasn’t involved!”
“Great to see you too, Daddy!” replied Arsha. She managed a quick kiss on his head. “Now RUN!” She grabbed his hand, and they took off. They soon made it into the Endeavor. She let Elgrad go as she continued running through the ship. She passed by Lardeth briefly. “Hi Princess! Bye Princess!” she called. She then made it to the bridge. The necessary crew was there. Shalvey then glanced at her.
“Captain on the bridge!” she called. Denstra quickly left the Captain’s chair and took her usual one while Arsha sat down.
“Nazay, has everyone made it?” called Arsha.
“Everyone that didn’t volunteer to cover the retreat!” replied Nazay.
“Damn!” growled Arsha. “Well, if they die, we WILL avenge them! Is there a destination in mind after this?”
“The Ralandren Plains!”
“Take us there!” Nazay’s fingers danced across the console and the Endeavor rose into the air. Unfortunately, the Scorpion was firing its weapons in a way that kept the Endeavor pinned to the ground.
Oyed freed himself from the spear and saw what the Scorpion was doing. “Very good,” he mused. He then teleported himself onto the bridge.
“Titan on the bridge!” called Scorpo.
“As you were,” replied Oyed. “Keep the Endeavor pinned. Once it’s scrapped, I want a kill squad here to destroy any survivors.”
“Understood, My Lord,” said Scorpo.
“Dammit! They shorted out navigation!” growled Nazay. “Malak, can you give me any visual cues, like the sun’s position?!”
“It’s still rising in the west!” called Malak. “Our bow’s pointing in that direction!”
“An Over-realm sunrise! Perfect!” declared Arsha. “Malak, can you target the array beneath the Scorpion?”
“Getting a target lock on it now!”
“Fire when ready!” Malak got his target and keyed in a firing pattern. The Endeavor’s shots then struck true, hitting the pecten-shaped array on the Scorpion’s keel. The enemy ship rocked and Nazay took the opportunity to get the Endeavor out of there! The ship went hard to port until the bow was facing the south and sped off. Once it was clear, the Endeavor and crew grew to their normal size.
“Report!” called Oyed.
“The shots hit the sensor array!” replied Dr. Borg. “They went straight to the engines! We’re going down!”
“Okay, no, that is NOT something I’m putting up with!” snarled Oyed. Black clouds surrounded his hands as Scorpo doubled over in pain. The treatment lasted a minute until Scorpo started gasping for air. Once done gasping, he noticed that his engines were fixed and the ruptures in his hull were gone. “After them, you fools!” ordered Oyed.
“The Scorpion’s fixed itself!” called Malak. Arsha pressed a button on her armrest.
“Bridge to Engineering! Give us every scrap of power for the weapons!”
“We’re consuming all the mana to outpace them!” replied Thangred. “If we spin up the weapons again, we’re never gonna evade them!”
“And if we don’t, we’ll get shot out of the sky before we get to the plains! Weapons power now!” She ended the call, and the Endeavor came about for an attack run.
“She…she can’t be serious!” chuckled Oyed as the Endeavor turned towards them.
“Come about!” called Dr. Borg.
“Nay! Belay that!” replied Oyed. “Let her fly straight and true! Full bore and into the abyss!”
“Are you mad?!” protested Dr. Borg.
“I’m not letting Arsha slip away again! I will do whatever it takes to get rid of her and avoid this embarrassment! Cannons to full power! Turn that vessel to scrap!”
“They’re charging weapons!” reported Malak
“How many drone fighters do we have?!” asked Arsha.
“A full complement!”
“Launch them all!”
“WHAT?!”
“Make them swarm the Scorpion! We need to make an escape!” Malak keyed in the commands.
“Launching!”
“DRONE FIGHTERS!” reported Scorpo as the drone fighters swarmed out of the Endeavor like bees defending their hive. “A FULL SQUADRON! I’M GETTING SWARMED!”
“YOU’RE LETTING THEM ESCAPE!” roared Oyed.
“The targeting sensors can’t get a lock on the Endeavor,” reported Dr. Borg, in a tone of calmness that belied the situation.
“THEN MAKE THEM DO SO!”
“The weapons can’t get a clear shot, whether we eyeball it or not. They’re draining power from the engines too rapidly. We don’t have a choice. We must break off pursuit.”
“WE’RE DOING NOTHING OF THE SORT!”
“That’s no longer your call to make! We won’t survive and the Scorpion is sure to be scrapped! That will set back your plans too far for you! We’re retreating, end of discussion! Scorpo, clear us a path and get us out of here.” The Scorpion’s tail weapon cleared a path and escaped the swarm. The ship then vanished in a black cloud.
“The enemy has brokne off pursuit!” cheered Malak.
“Recall our surviving drone fighters,” ordered Arsha as a smile crossed her face. “Nazay, stay on course.”
“Aye, aye, Captain!” replied Nazay. Arsha grinned. The Endeavor was still a well-oiled machine, even when she was absent.
“Denstra, I know you’ve had the Conn for some time, but I need you to take it back for a little longer. I need to see Marshii.”
“She’ll grumble at your recklessness,” chuckled Denstra, “but, like all of us, your lovers and parents included, she’ll be happy to see you again.”
“And I her, as well as all of you. You all did well in my absence. After my check up and whatever Marshii prescribes, I need all Senior Staff to meet in the Conference room with me, my lovers, and our parents. I need to be filled in on what happened.”
“We’ll be on standby for when you’re cleared for duty, Captain,” replied Shalvey. “It’s good to have you back.”
“Good to BE back.” Arsha then finally dismissed her armor and headed to Sick Bay.