Warped 3

Barking, ear-piercing and panicked, was what Donovan regained consciousness to.

"ARC - status report!"

He was bleeding from his nose, and his ears were still ringing. A lack of physical pain and relative freedom of motion suggested that the worst case scenario, violent impact with the nearby heavy paneling, had not happened. The screaming headache and urge to vomit led him to believe he might have been subjected to a concussion, the likely candidate for which being his headrest.

The regret of not wearing a helmet was only momentary. Having performed a rapid assessment of his own body and determined there was nothing life threatening, his attention shifted to the condition of the Noah.

He could tell from the gentle resistance on his butt and back that the artificial gravity was still operable, but the numerous flashing indicators on the panels indicated that just about everything else was damaged to some degree. ARC, focusing its processing power on more pressing matters gave its report in the form of text.

'The vast majority of the sensors indicated that they are either inoperable or in dire need of recalibration. Light spectrum receivers are the only exceptions.

The communications array isn't responding to the status request, extensive damage expected.

Only basic life support is operating optimally, disease scrubbers and waste reclaimers are offline. Several subsystems expected to be malfunctioning

My computer and data cores are unharmed.

All weapon systems are fully functional.

Hull integrity appears to be unaffected.

Reactor Core is experiencing slight destabilization and efficiency loss, no significant danger of breech.

Heat sink is still properly insulated, Heat Dump system unaffected.

Split shield has experienced a spike in power draw.

Mobility systems unaffected.

Are you OK?'

It was comforting to know that there was SOMEONE out there who was actively looking out for his wellbeing, even if that someone happened to be a computer unable to properly experience pain.

"Yeah, I should be, slight headache and ringing ears. Don't mind the blood, not bad enough to warrant attention right now."

'I will perform a scan once all systems have been repaired. Which should I prioritize?'

Don's response was immediate. He had undergone training for a similar scenario, albeit this was in charge of a ship with a crew instead of a sapient AI, though they served the same purpose.

"Sensors take priority, but only if they are a one minute fix. After that focus on the reactor. Standard priority from there. What happened?"

'The hull was subjected to a large impact force of unknown origin seven minutes ago while we were in transit. Lack of hull deformation or record of nearby objects suggests it was not a physical object. I suspect Split may be the culprit but I cannot be certain.'

Don couldn't help but curse at this. This could have been an attack and he would be none the wiser.

"We are headed home. I can't say for sure whether or not this was an attack and chances are I'm concussed. Show the Sun vector." A purple arrow appeared, pointing towards the sun. Don whipped the Noah around and pushed the acceleration to a level that was only barely uncomfortable.

He was fed up with this living hell of a mission. Central would have to live with the information what little information he gathered.

- - - - - - - - - -

"Five minutes to drop Captain." The stout man gave his commanding officer the proper warning before they entered combat.

"Thank you." The captain's complexion, while no mean's healthy, was far better than before. Evidently, he had gotten the requisite amount of food and rest necessary for day to day life. He turned to his bridge crew, preparing to remind them of their objectives and priorities in the coming fight.

"Well, ladies and gentlemen, this is it. We have been on this fruitless voyage for what feels like an eternity by now, and finally its time to do something. As I'm sure you are aware at this point, through either my warnings or those of our diviners, this fight is sure to be more difficult than any other we have faced in the past. The star will be at the maximum strength it is possible of.

Under normal circumstances, we would prioritize offence. That is simply not an option this time around. If we do not focus on defense, we will find ourselves unable to ward off the attacks that are sure to find their way towards us. We need to wait for the star to wear itself out. The opportunity will present itself eventually.

At the same time, we have another objective. We need to secure the life raft of the native civilization. I have received assurances that it will be in the general area of our drop point, however here is no saying how close it will be. We were unable to precisely coordinate more than in relation to the nearest large planets. The fact that this point is beyond the orbit of their furthest major planet only made this harder."

The helmsman, a younger member of the veteran crew but in no way less talented raised his hand. "I have a question sir. How far will I have to move the Oberlux in order to secure it?"

"Focus your attention on evading the incoming attacks. I have seen, albeit through the eyes, what that little ship is capable of. It would not be an overstatement to say that it is their grandest achievement. I was told it has become that much more capable in the hands of its pilot. It will be able to fend for itself.

You need to work towards assuring the Oberlux stays aloft. An strike that has missed is a strike that has done no damage. Just do your best to dodge, I can ask no more from you."

The young man saluted and returned to his post, visibly invigorated to perform his duty perfectly.

Content with this the Captain turned to those in charge of the weapons and shields.

"When we engage in combat, we will start with the usual barrage of attacks. We need to deal damage while we can of course, so it is imperative that this barrage hits, but we also need to make our presence known to the Life Raft. Once the star begins to properly return our attacks, we will focus every bit of energy we have on defense, leaving the spare energy to reload our heaviest weapons."

He then took his seat, signaling that he had now fully assumed command.

"With that, I have nothing left to say. To battle stations."