A control panel lights up around you, the light bathes everything a calm blue. The dome over your head flickers to life, projecting the surroundings around the ship onto the inside of the doem like a window. The launch bay around your ship bustles with activity. You can see other pilts strapping into their ships and engineers running around like ants. As your ship begins to move into the launch tunnel a buttons begins blinking on your control panel. [[Press Button|Introduce Hestia]] A voice sounds over the comm system. "Captain Oyseu, glad you could make it." Major Renken greets you. "You'll be training with the greenies today. They could use a seasoned pilot like you to learn from out there in the black." You can hear movement from behind you, back in the navigator seat. In a small screen on your H.U.D. you can see your trainee nav-pilot seated behind you. She looks young but determined. Major Renken's voice comes over the comm; "Private Siobia Pelsor will be navigating for you today." Private Pelsor perks up in the screen, "You can call me "Hestia". That's my call sign." She goes back to prepping her own control screen. [[Introduce Yourself]] [[Stay Silent]]5 "Artemis." You say by way of greeting. "It's such an honor to fly with you, Captain Oyseu - I mean Artemis. I've followed your career since I decided to join the Armada. Three-times decorated pilot in your third year, been in more dog fights than any other pilot in the history of the Armada-" That's enough of the history lesson, private." Major Renken's voice interrupts, " Standard training today, Artemis. Take the birds up, stay in formation, and eliminate the targets." "Aye, sir." Hestia intones, settling back into her seat for launch as the ship slides into the buffers of the launch tube. They kick back, ready to push the ship into space. "Hestia, please run through the logistics of the training." As she begins to explain the use of EM blasts instead of live plasma and the best formations to hold you grasp the handles of the steering rig and prepare to launch. [[Launch Ship]]You say nothing in response and there is an awkward pause as Hestia fidgets. "Well. I-it's great to fly with you today, sir. I've followed your career for a long time now." Major Renken's voice interrupts, "Standard training today, Artemis. Take the birds up, stay in formation, and eliminate the targets." "Aye, sir." Hestia intones, settling back into her seat for launch as the ship slides into the buffers of the launch tube. They kick back, ready to push the ship into space." "Hestia, please run through the logistics of the training." As she begins to explain the use of EM blasts instead of live plasma and the best formations to hold you grasp the handles of the steering rig and prepare to launch. [[Launch Ship]] The launch bay doors slide open above you, revealing your glorious glimpse of space. Excitement thrills through you as the thrusters engage and the buffers kick in to boost you up into the expansive black. "Fly high, Artemis." The feminine voice of Demeter's AI gives you the common blessing of the Armada pilots. The ship rockets up into space, clearing the silver walls of the launch tube, and settles into the cosmos. "As long as everyone holds formation, we should pass this training with flying colors." Hestia continues on, but you barely hear her as the adrenaline of flying kicks in. “About time you joined up up here, Ari.” A familiar voice came over the comm. “We may be late, Helios, but we’ll still beat your ass at battle maneuvers.” “Now, now children. Play nice.” Major Renken’s voice cut through the banter. “Form up. Artemis, take point.” The ships already up in the black gracefully fall into place behind you. "Alright, Kids. Let's do this once and do it right. First we'll go with..." [[X Formation]] [[Y Formation]]+5 "...X formation." You watch as Starship Demeter's forward array charges up its batteries, prepping to fire electromagnetic blasts at the squad. You've been through this hundreds of times but with the Resistance recently bolstering their raids, the newbies need to stay on point. “Ready when you are, sir.” You say into the comm. There is a flash as the first EM charge is fired. You dive while the team breaks off. Juno and Helios barrel roll to the right, Hera and Persephone roll left, while Apollo and Athena dive at your tail. The goal of the maneuver is to hit a pod suspended above each battery on the Demeter with your own EM charges. As the squad breaks into teams, you swarm the ship, making it nearly impossible for the batteries to target any one ship. "Helios, you and Juno swing left around the hull and come up." Hestia directs while you execute a series of twists and rolls to avoid a sudden barrage of blasts. "Distract them while we mark our target." In your HUD you see Hestia, mark one of the pods and you give her the okay to take the shot. She whoops with triumph as the pod's glow fizzles out and goes dark. “Don’t get too excited, Hestia. That’s your only one of the day, the rest are mine!” Hera goads. [[Next Formation|Blips on Radar]] “...Y Formation.” You watch as Starship Demeter's forward array charges up its batteries, prepping to fire electromagnetic blasts at the squad. You've been through this hundreds of times but with the Resistance recently bolstering their raids, the newbies need to stay on point. “Ready when you are, sir.” You say into the comm. There is a flash as the first EM charge is fired. You dive while the team breaks off. Juno and Helios barrel roll to the right, Hera and Persephone roll left, while Apollo and Athena dive at your tail. The goal of the maneuver is to hit a pod suspended above each battery on the Demeter with your own EM charges. As the squad breaks into teams, you swarm the ship, making it nearly impossible for the batteries to target any one ship. "Helios, you and Juno swing left around the hull and come up." Hestia directs while you execute a series of twists and rolls to avoid a sudden barrage of blasts. "Distract them while we mark our target." In your HUD you see Hestia, mark one of the pods and you give her the okay to take the shot. Her shot flies wide and Athena quickly picks up the slack and knocks the pod out. The light flickers and goes out. Hestia smacks her hand down on her console in frustration. “You’ll get the next one.” [[Try Again]] The squad continues swarming the ship, each pilot taking a chance to knock out a pod. Several of the others nail their shots until there are only two pods left. Hestia takes a deep breath, centering herself. She marks another target as you swing around again for another approach. To your surprise she marks the second pod too, a gutsy move as the targets are on opposite ends of the battery array. Her firing window is narrowing as you speed closer to the Demeter; at the last second she takes the shot. Her whoop of triumph reverberates over the comm system and in the small space of your ship. Both pods flicker and go dark. “Good job, pilots.” Major Renken ends radio silence, having monitored the entire training from the command deck. “We’re preparing for the second round now.” “Contacts!” Hestia interrupts, “north 5 o’clock.” [[Blips on Radar]] “Keep your head in the game, boys and girls, things just got serious.” You watch as the blips show up on your radar, seven total. “It must be Beta squad, what a nice surprise.” Now, instead of just the batteries, you have other fighters to contend with. This was a common surprise tactic of the Armada. “Scatter.” The squad scatters, keeping very loose formation, enough to make sure that everyone is covered. One of the contacts catches your tail and you try to shake him. You barely manage to dodge a few blasts. “Artemis, those aren’t EMs...” Hestia comments, tapping away at her console. “I noticed. Let’s see what’s really going on here.” You dodge again before you flip and roll, reversing sublight thrusters so you fly backwards, facing your target. “Shit...” “Alpha squad! Battle formations, now! Demeter, we’ve got Resistance raiders out here!” As soon as the call goes out your radar goes nuts, contacts everywhere. You fire EM charges at the radar tailing you, hitting one of their engines and sending them into an uncontrolled spin. At least you can knock a few out. “Good hit, Lieutenant.” Hestia cheers, “Eighteen contacts and counting. They must have been cloaked on their approach.” “Resistance with cloaking tech? They don’t have those kind of resources.” You say as you maneuver around the battlefield. “They must now.” [[Take On Resistance]] [[Run For Cover]] "Alright, Alpha. Let's give Demeter time to switch weapons." “Perhaps we can help with that.” Another voice chimed in. Loki, Prime Lt. of Beta squad. “Loki, we need to switch weapons-” “Take your time, princess. We can handle them.” You can practically hear the smirk in his voice. An explosion rocks the ship as you dodge around a raider. “Starship Odin is here with Beta Squad!” Hestia informs you. A small window pops up in your HUD showing the approaching Beta squad. “They’re taking our raiders left and right but there just seems to be more!” Your private comm channel indicator flickers on your screen. “Artemis.” You swerve to avoid some wreckage. The major sounds distressed, an unusual emotion for him. “Yes, sir?” “We’ve been sabotaged. If we try to charge weapons or spool up the jump drive, we’ll overload and blow up the engine core. I’ve got everyone I can work on it but- “Major Renken’s voice cuts off, the transmission breaking into static “Shit! Shit, shit, shit, Helios, on me. The rest of you, stay with Beta. “Watch yourself, Artemis.” There was a blinding flash, then a barrage of frantic cries on the radio. [[Contact Starship Demeter]] “Alpha squad, retreat to Demeter to regr-” “Hold positions.” The major interrupts, “We need time to switch over to batteries. Keep them busy!” There is a chorus of “Yes, sir!” from the comm. [[Take On Resistance]]“Inarian battleship just jumped in!” “-Locked down by Resistance raiders-” “-Can’t shake ‘em off-” “-Hera’s hit!” “-Demeter taking heavy damage! Shields down forty percent-” Through the chaos Hestia tries to reconnect with Demeter. “Major? Major!” “The connection won’t go through, Artemis. Their incoming comms must be jammed by the Inarians.” You take a deep breath, blocking out the chaos on the radio. “The Inarian’s are a new development,” Hestia continues. “The Resistance must have teamed up with them.” “Greedy, slimy, toad-huskers. They were probably cloaking the raiders!” Helios’ voice cuts through your thoughts and brings you back to the battlefield. “It is what they’re known for,” Hestia agrees. “Must have.” You dodge around an on coming raider and let Helios finish them off, quickly blowing them to bits of debris. A huge shockwave shakes your ship. The Inarian’s have charged up their plasma cannons and fired upon the Demeter, eating up what remains of the shields. [[Buy Demeter Time]] [[Race to Demeter]] The first section of shield went down fast and the plasma made quick work of the exterior, breaking a fighter-sized hole in the side of the ship. Horus and I dove in, “Aim for the canons. They’re the biggest threat right now.” As you swoop in an Inarian Wyvern crosses you path and blasts one of your engines away. The wing breaks off and smashes into Helios’ ship behind you. GAME OVER [[Checkpoint?|Launch Ship]]With so much going on around you, it is simple to maneuver closer to the Resistance ship. Docking on it is another matter entirely, but you manage with the use of minuet bursts of sublight. “Artemis, they’re spooling up to jump.” “Just a few feet left...” You close the gap carefully and engage the maglocks. Thankfully they made it out unscathed. “Hang on, Hestia. This is going to be a bumpy ride.” It’s not often that one has to ride attached to a ship during a faster-than-light jump, and it’s certainly not ideal but it can be done. Next thing you know, you’re lurching through space, the galaxy a streaky blur around you. Then, just as sudden, you drop out. “Larger ships have inertia dampeners to help with the force of slowing down after a jump.” You clarify as Hestia slumps over in her seat and vomits on the floor. “Its a little hard to adjust to your first time.” Her complexion is a little green but she wipes her mouth and goes back to her screen, checking the state of the ship. [[Check Damage]] You swoop in low towards the Inarian battleship. “Helios, aim for the canons. They’re the biggest threat right now.” “Artemis, report.” Second Lt. Fife’s voice breaks through the noise. “Helios and I broke off from the squad. We’re targeting the Inarian plasma cannons now.” “The major is MIA. He went down to help with the core but we lost contact along the way. He was last in one of the sections now venting atmosphere...” Fife paused and you can picture him shaking himself. “Until we find him, you’re the next ranking officer. What are your orders?” You freeze for only a second, “Patch Chief through.” A minute later a new voice comes over the comm link. “What you want, girl?” Chief’s gruff voice sounds harried and annoyed as always. “What’s the status on the core?” “I’ve patched her up with spit and sheer force o’ will.” “Can she take a jump?” “Maybe one. Nah more than dat.” “We can give them five minutes. We won’t have enough fuel after that.” Hestia says. “Five minutes, Chief. Then we have to scoot.” He grunts approval and the line cuts off. Another shockwave violently rocks your ship; a warning alarm starts to sound. “We’re too close, Artemis. That one took out part of our nav system.” [[Take Out Canons]] “Engine two is completely shot. Nav systems are non-operational. Fuel is low...” Hestia taps at the console a bit more. “So what you’re saying is this ship won’t be taking us back?” “Basically.” Thankfully your HUD is still working. You look around the Resistance ship. A ways down the side of the ship is a hatch that appears to be slightly damaged. “There’s a damaged hatch down there,” You point to the hatch. “We have enough oxygen for a short space walk and I see two viable paths. One leads up along the top edge of the ship, but goes past several windows.” You indicate the windows in question. “There’s a better chance of someone seeing us if we head that way.” “And the other path?” “It’s a straight shot, but we’d have to jump a gap.” “I’ve only done one space walk. And there was no jumping.” [[Take Jump]] [[Go Past Windows]] “I can guide you through it.” You ensure that your helmet is latched properly as Hestia does the same. You have to jettison the canopy in order to get out. The force of the atmosphere rocks you both in your seats and the canopy shoots out into space. You carefully unstrap yourself from your seats and climb out of the ship. “Don’t let go of the handholds and follow my lead.” Hestia nods in her helmet and you slowly make your way across the side of the ship. You get to the gap, it’s wider than you had judged but you should be able to manage it. “Alright, it’s not so much a jump as it is just pushing yourself off the edge. Don’t flail and just let your inertia carry you across the jump. Watch me.” You scoot forward to the edge and then gently push off the edge, aiming for the other side as you glide through space. You skid as you land but grab a handle and pull yourself to a halt. Hestia copies you exactly, but she pushes too hard when she jumps. “Artemis!” She reaches for you as she soars past, spinning out into space. You think quickly, you can either try to catch her or stay safe and let her go... [[Jump After Her]] [[Let Her Go]] 5 “Let’s take the safer route and go past the windows.” Hestia looks relieved. You ensure that your helmet is latched properly as Hestia does the same. You have to jettison the canopy in order to get out. The force of the atmosphere rocks you both in your seats and the canopy shoots out into space. You carefully unstrap yourself from your seats and climb out of the ship. “Don’t let go of the handholds and follow my lead.” Hestia nods in her helmet and you slowly make your way across the side of the ship. You both duck as you near the windows, but thankfully no one walks past as you carefully crawl along. It takes longer, but you make it to the hatch with no mishaps. It appears that the hatch was damaged in the fight and has been smashed in. A smoldering hole along the edge is just large enough for you to pry the hatch open further. [[Open Hatch]] 10 You quickly hook your belt lead around the brace near you and launch yourself after her, praying the line is long enough to reach her. You rocket towards her. Luckily her panicked flailing has slowed her progression. She reaches for you as you near and latches onto you. You reach back and grab your line to slow yourself before you reach the end and snap it. “Breathe.” You tell her, “You’re going to burn through your oxygen if you keep hyperventilating. I’ve got you.” You drift in space for a bit as she composes herself. You grab her lead and wrap it around your waist, hooking it back onto her belt. Then you begin to pull your selves back in. [[Pull Her Back In]] "Artemis! Nooooooo!" You watch as she spins off into space. GAME OVER [[Checkpoint?|Dock on Resistance]]You’re back at the ship in no time. You unhook your leads and continue making your way down the side of the ship to the hatch. It appears that the hatch was damaged in the fight and has been smashed in. A smoldering hole along the edge is just large enough for you to pry the hatch open further. [[Open Hatch]] With effort the hatch grinds open enough for each of you to slip inside. An alarm is sounding due to the loss of pressure in the room. Someone is sure to be on the way down to check the area. You force the hatch closed again behind you. “When the hatch blew the pressure door automatically engaged. There should be a way for us to manually override it from this side, pry it open enough to get in, and then slam it shut again once we’re through.” She floats over to the small control panel on the wall. “From here I can disengage the maglocks and you can pry the door open.” It takes a minute or two before you feel the locks click back and you can slide the door open. Atmosphere from the pressurized room vents out, forcing you to cling to the door but it equalizes quickly and you both drift through. As soon as the pressure door slides shut behind you the maglocks engage again and the room floods with air. You pry off your helmets just as the oxygen warning sounds. There is a terminal is the corner of the room. Hestia moves towards the inner door. “I can hear footsteps approaching.” [[Check Terminal]] [[Leave Area]] You check the terminal but it doesn’t appear to be working. You find a key card stuck in one of the access slots. "This could be useful later..." You say as you pull the card out and stow it in your utility belt. “We should go.” [[Leave Area]] The inner door slides open and you peak out into the hallway. It appears to be deserted but you can indeed hear footsteps approaching from a distance. [[Go Towards Footsteps]] [[Head Away From Footsteps]] You head left, towards the footsteps. “This is a bad idea. We need to figure out where we are in relation to the launch bay.” Hestia lingers behind you, paranoid. “We’ll be fine. Come on.” As you continue down the narrow hall the sound of footsteps grow louder and you realize there are multiple sets. “Seriously, Artemis. We should get out of here. Come on.” You round a corner and can see shadows on the wall. The footsteps are very close. Just down the hall is a doorway marked ‘storage’. You hesitate; do you confront the guards, weaponless, or duck into the storage room? [[Confront Guards]] [[Duck Into Storage]]You head away from the footsteps, looking for another working terminal. “We need to figure out where we are.” You tell Hestia, sneaking through the narrow hallways. You come across a door labeled ‘storage’, “Maybe we can find some weapons in here.” Hestia nods and you push open the door. Inside are shelves of supplies and even a small armory selection. [[Rummage For Supplies]] You decide to confront the guards, as they round the corner and spot the two of you they funmble to quickly draw their weapons. You manage to disarm the first one but the other three overwhelm you and take you out. GAME OVER [[Checkpoint?|Open Hatch]]You duck into the storage room before the guards round the corner. You both freeze, listening as they pass the door and head further into the maze of hallways. Hestia lets out a breath as you begin looking around. The room is full of shelves of supplies and a small armory. [[Rummage For Supplies]] You both rummage through the shelves. You find a couple of plasma pistols, some stun sticks, and a portable EM charge. Hestia finds two guard uniforms, a medi pack, and a plasma torch. You both change into the guard uniforms. Hestia takes one of the plasma pistols and finds a bag to pack the rest of the supplies in while you strap on a gun belt and take some extra ammo. [[Leave Storage Room]] You slip back out of the storage room with Hestia close behind. The hallway is quiet; the footsteps seem to have left the area. Nevertheless you remain stealthy as you make your way through the halls. A short ways away you find another terminal, nearby is a hatch labeled ‘ladder’. “Should we check this terminal? Maybe it will give us some more information.” Hestia asks quietly. [[Check Terminal|Hallway]] [[Wing It]] “Let’s wing it, I’m sure we can find something.” You breeze past the hatch and the terminal to continue down the hallway. Hestia follows behind hesitantly. You don’t encounter anyone, but you soon come to a dead end. On either side of the hall are doors. You try to open them but they are both locked. “We should go back and take the hatch.” [[Take Hatch]] 5 “Let’s see where we are.” You both step up to the terminal and the screen flickers to life. <<Insert Keycard. You pull the keycard you grabbed from the broken terminal and slip it into the access slot. The terminal screen opens up to the ship menu. “This should be it.” Hestia says, touching a small silhouette of a ship in the corner of the screen. A profile map of the ship takes up half of the screen while a top-down view of the current floor occupies the other half. The terminal you are using is indicated on the top-down view and the floor you are on is highlighted on the ship. “It looks like we’re in engineering.” You say, noticing the core and engines labeled on your current floor. “And the launch bay is here, two floor below us.” Hestia blows up a view of the launch bay. “We should be able to take this hatch here and get straight down there. “Let’s go then.” [[Take Hatch]] You climb into the ladder tube with Hestia and shut the hatch behind you. Letters painted on the wall point up to ‘Command Deck’ and down for ‘Launch Bay’ and ‘Medical’. You both head down the ladder with Hestia in the lead. You try to stay as quiet as possible, sound carries through the tube like crazy and you don’t want anyone to overhear you. You pass the hatch for medical first, then Hestia reaches the hatch marked ‘Launch Bay’. She presses the keypad but nothing happens. “What’s going on?” You ask, climbing down along the side of the ladder so you’re level with her. She’s working at the small screen above the pad. “It’s locked. Security protocol...they must know we’re here.” You think quickly, you could climb back up to engineering and try to find another way down, or you could go up to medical and try to cut through there. [[Go Back To Engineering]] [[Go Up To Medical]] You both climb back up to engineering but as you near the hatch you can hear voices and people moving around on the other side in the hallway. You motion to Hestia to climb back down. [[Go Down to Medical|Go Up To Medical]] Hestia opens the door to Medical and you both slip in when she indicates the coast is clear. You find yourselves in a short hallway. There is a door on either side of the hall, inset with frosted glass. “Must be exam rooms,” Hestia whispers. [[Check Door On The Right]] [[Check Door On The Left]] You each flank the sides of the door on the right side of the hallway, drawing your plasma pistols. You slide your hand over the keypad and as the door slides open, Hestia swings around the corner, weapon drawn. The room is empty and she lowers her pistol. You come in behind her and you each begin rummaging through the storage cupboards. You find a box of food supplements, but not much else. “I found some stim suppressors. We could use these to knock out any guards we come across.” Hestia says, coming over and showing you the vials she found with a quick inject syringe. “That could be useful! Let’s check the other door before we head deeper into this level.” [[Check Door On The Left]] You repeat the routine for the door on the left, except Hestia opens the door this time. You swing in and find a med tech in the room putting away gear. He fumbles but gets his stun blaster out quick enough. You stand off against one another and Hestia comes in behind you. “Who are you?” He asks, voice shaky. He seems young, but you don’t underestimate him. He’s holding a weapon and that’s all that matters. [[Bargain With Him]] [[Knock Him Out]] [[Kill Him]] “We’re just a couple of girls trying to get off this ship. Let us go and you won’t get hurt.” “They’re looking for you. They know you’re here.” You sidle along the side of the room so that Hestia can step into the doorway and have a clearer shot. The tech keeps his blaster trained on you, first mistake. “They won’t know you saw us if you don’t tell them.” “I have to turn you in.” You sigh with false exasperation, “Well this just won’t do.” [[Kill Him]] [[Knock Him Out]] 5 “You don’t have to turn us in. We could help you out, make you a hero among the Resistance.” Hestia chimes in. The tech looks at her, you take an extra step to the side, but his eyes dart back to you and you freeze. “Seriously, we’re with the Armada. If you agree to let us go we can give you information.” He turns back toward her, and she presses on. “Ships, locations, plans, we can give you everything we know.” You can see him weighing the options. You carefully skirt further along the wall until you’re out of his peripheral. “I’m a Prime Lt. in the Armada, I have all sorts of information passed to me.” He lowers his blaster slightly. At that moment you strike. You hit him from behind with the butt of your pistol and he hits the floor like a ton of bricks. He’s unconscious but still breathing. Hestia stares at him for a moment before looking up at you. “Good job,” you say. “That was quick thinking.” Hestia manages a small smile. “Come on, we’re not out of this yet. We have to hide him somewhere.” [[Hide The Body]] “Sorry, mate.” You shoot him before he can even utter a sound. The shot reverberates through the small room, Hestia curses and ducks inside. You can hear the scramble and thump of running footsteps from close by. The tech hits the floor, dead, with Hestia crouched over him. She looks up at you, “You didn’t have to kill him!” You feel little as she glares at you, “It was him or us.” The boots are getting closer. “Now it’s none of us.” Guards flood into the hallway outside the door; three of them are arranged in the doorway, rifles trained on you and Hestia. You have no option but to surrender. GAME OVER [[Checkpoint?|Take Hatch]]You both check the closets and cupboards around the room. They are all full. “There was a closet in that room across the hall that was mostly empty. We could stash him in there.” You grab his shoulders and Hestia picks up his feet; you take him across the hall as quietly as you can and stick him in the closet next to a pair of crutches and some boxes. It’s a tight fit and he’ll probably wake up with cramps but at least he’s still alive. [[Go Down The Hallway]] You head back out into the hall and continue deeper into the ship. It appears that the sleeping quarters are also on this floor. “Wonderful.” Hestia mutters under her breath, she’s close enough behind you that you can just make it out. As you pass silently through the area you don’t see a soul. “Nobody is here...” You whisper to her. All of the bunks are neatly made and empty. You can’t even hear anyone moving further into the maze of rooms. You stick to what you deem one side of the ship, trying to make a circle of the floor. There has to be another way down to the launch bay somewhere on this floor. You find another hallway that leads out the other side of the sleeping quarters. There are a few doors leading off of the hall but at the end of it you can see another ladder hatch. You pick up the pace and head down the hall towards the hatch. Hestia gasps from behind you. You whirl around to find her being held from behind by a tall, rugged man. He isn’t dressed like any of the other guards, and your eyes take him in quickly. He’s built, holding Hestia with a toned arm around her throat and a pistol to her head. He smirks at you over Hestia’s head. “Careless of you...and you were doing so well.” “Let her go.” “And why would I do that when she’s so nice right where she is, Lt.?” “That seems unfair, you know me and I don’t know you?” “Kail Rison, Captain of this fine vessel that you’ve stowed away on. Cute trick with the busted hatch by the way.” He makes a small flourish with his pistol but never moves it very far away from Hestia’s head. She’s quiet, staring at you pleadingly, but too afraid to move. You settle into a fighting stance, weighing your options. He’s bigger than you are and has a good leg up in weight but you guarantee you’re faster than he is. You could fight him, it’s a slim chance, but it’s still a chance. You could give yourself to save Hestia, or you can try to reason with him. [[Fight]] [[Give Yourself Up To Save Hestia]] [[Reason With Rison]] “Oh, you want to fight do you?” He knocks Hestia out and as you see him do it you lunge at him. She hits the floor unconscious as your first punch makes contact. You can see that he didn’t expect your speed and he staggers back as your punch connects with his jaw. He wipes his split lip and grins at you. You bounce back a few steps, readying yourself for the next move. He moves first, coming in fast and low. He’s faster than you had given him credit for, given his size and you almost don’t dodge the punch. He comes in again, high and aiming for your face. You duck out of the way, dancing around him and aiming a kick for his back. He rolls his hips to the side and your foot slides along his hip, throwing your balance off. You stumble past him and he snags the back of your shirt, hauling you back towards him. You move into the pull, bring your fist up suddenly under his chin. He let’s you go and steps back, holding his jaw. “You’re quite feisty. I like it.” You hear movement behind you and spin around to see two guards stepping out of one of the other rooms in the hall. They come at you all punches and elbows and knees. You dodge them easily, slamming one against the wall with a crack before he crumples to the floor. Just when you get the upper hand on the second one, Rison grabs you from behind in a chokehold. You claw at his arm, trying to pry it off with all your might, but his arm doesn’t budge. Your vision starts to blacken around the edges as you gasp for breath. All you can see is Hestia’s prone form lying motionless on the ground. “Sorry about this, princess.” Your vision goes black. [[Wake Up]] You carefully put your pistol on the floor and kick it over to Rison, raising your hands into the air. He nods, “Now that’s a good girl.” Two guards come out of one of the other rooms behind you and roughly take you captive. You don’t fight them. “Let her go. She’s a private, she hasn’t done anything.” “Ah, but that’s the beauty of it. You’ve done enough for both of you.” One of the guards hits you from behind and the world goes black. [[Wake Up]] You come to slowly, head pounding. The lights are too bright and you can feel the cable holding your wrists together cinching at your skin. The cold floor presses against your cheek as you try to get your bearings. You stay motionless, trying to gage your surroundings and weather or not anyone else is in the room. You can hear voices, quiet and muffled like they are in another room nearby. A minute or two goes by and you decide it’s safe to roll over and look around. They seem to have thrown you in a storage room in lieu of a brig. There is little more than crates and boxes strapped behind secure nets to hold everything in. Hestia is with you, still unconscious and also bound. Across the room from you is the only door. You can make out two guards through the small window in the door. They aren’t paying attention to the inside of the room. You could rouse Hestia and both figure out a way to get out, or you could lure the guards in and try to take them out yourself. [[Rouse Hestia]] [[Lure Guards Over]] You try and reason with the Captain while you slowly edge closer and get the jump on him. Able to get the gun away from the Captain’s hands, it seems you have the upper hand now. Demanding the Captain to put his hands on his head, you feel a cold steel touch the back of yours. The guards have guns pointing at both you and Hestia, and you’re both arrested. The guards knock you out. [[Wake Up]] “Hestia.” You hiss quietly while you quickly slip your bonds. She doesn’t respond. With a glance at the door (they still aren’t paying attention) you slide over to her and shake her awake. She blinks up at you, disoriented, before looking around. “There are two guards outside the door. We can lure them in and take them out at the same time. Do you think you can do that?” She nods, pushing herself up off the floor. “You stay along the side of the door and get them from behind, I’ll lure them in.” She moves to the right side of the door and presses herself up against the wall. You lay back down in the middle of the floor, and bit closer to the door than you were before and put your hands behind your back like they’re still tied. “Hey!” One of the guards glances back into the room and nudges the other before pushing the door open. “Where’s the other girl?” They march in without looking around much, rookie mistake. Hestia strikes from behind, taking down one guard. At the same time you swing around and knock the second one off of his feet. It’s quick business to dispatch him. Hestia peeks out the door while you get up. “It’s another empty storage room, but our gear is there.” [[Escape]]It take you only a minute to slip your bonds, you had spent plenty of time practicing in Advanced Infiltration Training, you remain prone on the floor and call out to the guards. “Hey!” They don’t turn around. “Hello?!” One of them glances back through the glass and nudges the other one when he notices you’re awake. They open the door and enter, staying close to the door. They must have heard about the other guard you took out. “What?” The first guard asks. “I need to use the facilities.” They both just stare at you. “Or I could piss on the floor. I’m sure one of you would have to clean it up later.” They look at each other before the first one motions for you to get with his rifle. “That would be easier if my hands weren’t tied behind my back. Can’t you help a girl up?” They glance at each other again and the second guard walks over, bends down to grab your arm, and hoist you up. You whip your legs around and sweep him off his feet, pulling him into a chokehold as soon as he hits the ground. Using him as a shield, you scoot back and bit and stare down the first guard. He has his rifle trained on you but won’t take the shot. “Lesson number one, never trust your enemy.” Blocked by the guard’s body, you quietly unhook the stun blaster from his belt. “Lesson number two, don’t bring weapons to a prisoner.” The first shot has the guard on the floor writhing in pain; the second one knocks him out. A shot to your hostage at point blank range easily puts him out of commission. You shove him off you and scramble over to Hestia. “Come on, let’s go.” You shake her awake. Groggily, she takes in the scene around you. Her eyes widen at the two guards. “They’re just stunned, so we don’t have much time.” She pushes carefully to her feet and you both head out of the room. [[Escape]] You grab all your gear and peek out the second door. It dumps you right out into the launch bay. “Boy, they greatly underestimated us.” Hestia whispers from behind you. A few engineers work on ships here and there around the bay but they are all distracted. You notice two ships on the other side of the bay that no one is working on, a Cobra class fighters and a Jumper. The Cobra is faster and more maneuverable but is only built for close combat and flights, not for long hauls. But you could easily outrun anything but another Cobra. The Jumper is bulkier and a bit slower, but has more fuel and a mini jump drive for short distance jumps. You could get a few jumps between you and the Resistance ship and then radio the Armada for help. [[Take The Jumper]] [[Take The Cobra]] You decide on the Jumper and skirt around the outside of the bay, ducking behind crates and ships to make your way over to the Jumper. You get inside without a problem and slip into the pilot seat. Hestia takes a seat in the back in front of the onboard computer. You decide on the Jumper and skirt around the outside of the bay, ducking behind crates and ships to make your way over to the Jumper. You get inside without a problem and slip into the pilot seat. Hestia takes a seat in the back in front of the onboard computer. “Do you think you can override the launch doors from there?” You ask as she taps away, pulling up screen after screen. “Give me a minute before you fire up the engines. I should be able to crack it.” You prep what you can before ignition and wait for the okay. “I’m in! Just let me find the launch codes...” “You’re going to have to hurry that up.” You watch as a dozen guards enter from the far side of the bay and begin searching the area. “They’re looking for us.” “I almost have the codes.” A group of the guards break off and head in the direction of your newly acquired ship. “Now would be an even better time. I’m lighting this bird up.” You start the ship up and the guards move into action. “It’s time to go Hestia, tell me you have the codes!” “Almost....” She’s tapping furiously at the screens. You ease the Jumper up into the air and spin, facing the approaching guards. They take up positions, getting ready to fire on you before you can escape. You back the ship up towards the doors of the launch tube. “Come on, Hes. Come on.” She slams her hand down on the terminal, “GO!” The doors slide open behind the ship. [[Launch The Ship|Jumper]] You decide on the Cobra and skirt around the outside of the bay, ducking behind crates and ships to make your way over to the Cobra. You get inside without a problem and slip into the pilot seat. Hestia takes a seat behind you in the navigator seat.. You decide on the Cobra and skirt around the outside of the bay, ducking behind crates and ships to make your way over to the Cobra. You get inside without a problem and slip into the pilot seat. Hestia takes a seat behind you in the navigator seat.. “Do you think you can override the launch doors from there?” She taps away, pulling up screen after screen. “Give me a minute before you fire up the engines. I should be able to crack it.” You prep what you can before ignition and wait for the okay. “I’m in! Just let me find the launch codes...” “You’re going to have to hurry that up.” You watch as a dozen guards enter from the far side of the bay and begin searching the area. “They’re looking for us.” “I almost have the codes.” A group of the guards break off and head in the direction of your newly acquired ship. “Now would be an even better time. I’m lighting this bird up.” You start the ship up and the guards move into action. “It’s time to go Hestia, tell me you have the codes!” “Almost....” She’s tapping furiously at the screens. You ease the Cobra up into the air and spin, facing the approaching guards. They take up positions, getting ready to fire on you before you can escape. You back the ship up towards the doors of the launch tube. “Come on, Hes. Come on.” She slams her hand down on the terminal, “GO!” The doors slide open behind the ship. [[Launch The Ship|Cobra]] You fly the ship through the doors as the guards open fire. They slam shut behind you and your ship shoots down the launch tube and out into space. “Let’s get a jump between us and them.” You say, settling into the rhythm of the ship. “Bad news on that front. The jump drive is down.” “Shit. Can you get it back up?” “I can try. I’ll try to get a message out to the Armada too. They’re jamming our signals right now and we have contacts. They’ve launched three ships and counting.” [[Outrun Them|Outrun Them Jumper]] [[Fight Back|Fight Back Jumper]] The raiders are hot on your tail. Luckily the shields are still operational so the ship can take some hits. “Hope you’re strapped in, Hes. Things could get a little bumpy.” [[Do A Barrel Roll!]] [[Lead Them Further]]Hestia continues to try and fix the jump drive and comm jamming while you try to outmaneuver the Raiders on your tail. You manage to swing around one of the raiders and get behind them. You hit the triggers to fire a pulse blast, but nothing happens. “Are you kidding me?! The weapon systems are down!” You call out. Hestia curses behind you and her typing becomes more furious. You can’t fight them so your only option is to outmaneuver and try to outrun them. [[Outrun Them Jumper]]Ships are closing in on you. Hestia whoops, "We got a message back! Demeter is close enough to jump to our coordinates!" [[Send Coordinates]] One of the raiders locks on your ship, at the last second you execute a barrel roll, clearing the blasts. The chase continues. [[Cross The Streams]] [[Run Away]]You try to lead them as far away from the Resistance ship as you can. Maybe if you get far enough away they'll turn back. An alarm goes starts to go off. [[Check Alarm]] You manuever yourself behind one of the raiders but two of the others are still on your tail and you can't shake them. They open fire but you dodge out of the way taking advantage of their blasts and blowing up the other raider. "I got it! I cleared the jamming signal!" [[Send Rescue Message]] You have an excellent head start, and you're putting more space between you and the raiders when an alarm starts to go off. [[Check Alarm]] The low fuel alarm is sounding. You didn't think to check it when you got on the ship. You know you won't make it much longer and you're trying to judge how much time you have before you need to stop to reserve fuel for essential systems. "I got it! I cleared the jamming signal!" [[Send Rescue Message]] "Good, cause we're almost out of fuel." The systems start to cut out. Hestia sends out your coordinates just before the engines cut out and the computers shut down. The ship drifts aimlessly in space and you can see the rest of the raiders closing in on you. There's a blinding flash and a booming shockwave shakes your ship. Starship Demeter fires upon the raiders, who scatter. You're rescued! Congratulations! You swing around and lock on one of the canons manually. Your aim is true but bright blue contact flashes reveal the shielding around them. “We’re never going to get through that with tiny pulse blasts like these!” “Inarian Wyverns closing in,” Hestia reports. “Break off, Helios.” You dive down the side of the battleship, two wyverns hot on your tail. Your Starhawk is lighter and more maneuverable than their sleek but bulky forms. It takes some maneuvering but you finally manage to flank them and take one out. The debris from the blast knocks into the second one, throwing it off course. It spirals out and crosses paths with one of the wyvern chasing Helios. The ship can’t dodge fast enough and the two collide in a brilliant flash. Helios cheers, but Chief’s voice comes back over the comm. “It’s shaky but she’ll hold.” “We’re on our way, spool up the jump. Alpha squad, fall back to Demeter, we’re jumping out of he-” Your ship rocks forward, jolting both of you against your restraints. “We’re hit! Engine two is failing! We’ll never make it back!” Hestia shouts, tapping on her console. “I can’t get it to respond!” “Reroute power to sublight.” “Artemis, what are you doing?” “Go Helios. Now!” You grasp the controls tightly and grit your teeth. “We’re docking.” “On the Inarian ship?!” You don’t reply, as your ship spun you noticed the smaller Resistance vessel hiding in the shadow of the battleship. It was big enough to carry its own squad but was dwarfed in comparison to the Inarian ship. That’s how they had remained cloaked. [[Dock on Resistance]] You fly the ship through the doors as the guards open fire. They slam shut behind you and you shoot down the launch tube and out into space. “Can we get a message out to the Armada?” “They’re blocking our signals, I can try and get through it but it might be faster to get out of range.” “Let’s put some space between us then.” You gun it, shooting off into space. “Contacts! They’ve launched two ships and counting!” [[Outrun Them|Outrun Them Cobra]] [[Fight Back|Fight Back Cobra]]Hestia continues to try and fix the comm jamming while you try to outmaneuver the Raiders on your tail. You manage to swing around one of the raiders and get behind them. You hit the triggers to fire a pulse blast, but nothing happens. “Are you kidding me?! The weapon systems are down!” You call out. Hestia curses behind you and her typing becomes more furious. You can’t fight them so your only option is to outmaneuver and outrun them. [[Outrun Them|Outrun Them Cobra]]The raiders are hot on your tail, but you've managed to dodge all of their plasma blasts. “Hope you’re strapped in, Hes. Things could get a little bumpy.” [[Do A Barrel Roll!]] [[Lead Them Further]]