[center][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTI7u-2I-wI[/youtube][/center]

William could hardly take it all in, the organized chaos of the command bridge as everyone relayed information from one station to another. This was why these people, were chosen. The future legends of humanity in the face of impossible odds performing duties few men would dare to try, giving up everything to give others a chance. He looked down at the clock on his console, and there [i]he[/i] was, watching the time count down until they left the rest of humanity behind. Even if the Devastators were somehow defeated, no-one would be following them. That much was certain. He watched as the swarm of red was intercepted by weapons fire, refusing to slow as ships were torn apart, a group of fifty or so fighters pulling ahead of the others.

"Have the fighter escorts standby to engage, if those fighters pass that minefield they're free game. Though remind them not to stray too far as we aren't going to have that much time for fighter recovery." He turned back to the clock. [i]Fifteen minutes[/i], looking back up at their projected flight plan it currently read ten minutes until they reached the Eye, which would then take a further three minutes to dock and enter hyperspace. There really was no margin for error. He walked over to Andersons station, placing his hand on his shoulder. "Keep her going at max speed, you need to bring your A-game to docking with the Eye as there isn't a lot of time. That means a manual procedure." He gave the mans shoulder a pat as he walked back away from his station. This was turning out to be a more exciting day than it was supposed to be. "Order fighters to engage anything that makes it past the minefield, though they need to be sure not to stray past the recovery line, it's going to be close."

[hr]

[i]"BRACE FOR IMPACT!" The entire ship shook as the lights flickered, electrical systems flared and flashed. "Bulkheads A-29 to D-6 are compromised and venting atmosphere, and we've lost life support in engineering. Your orders commander?" William looked up, currently kneeling over an ensign who had been knocked to his feet. His hands covered in electrical burns, he was out cold and he was in pain but he was going to live... if any of them survived this. He gave him a re-assuring pat on the back before returning to the center of the bridge. 

"Evacuate the affected areas then seal them off, have as many breathers as possible sent down to engineering and all available medics prioritize engineering personnel." This battle wasn't going well for, the [b]Nightfury[/b] while state of the art was a stealth ship. Designed for taking out patrols or performing hit and run attacks. They had managed to sneak round to the Devastators flank with a small fleet of ships but they were once again into the thick of it. The Devastators living up to the name the media had given them. Especially that now a ship bigger than them, and obviously more powerful was singling them off bearing down upon them. The ship curved, William had to lean to remain standing upright due to so much power being diverted from systems like the inertia dampeners. "Bring us in hot, launch all weapons. Prepare to go in hard."

There was little more they could do at this point, other than to go down swinging. "Full thrust."
[/i]

[hr]

The [i]Vitae[/i] cut through space as the swarm pursued, flashes of light as the first of the fighters struck the mines. More pushed through the hole as they followed those that went before them in an effort to reach the [i]Vitae[/i], their only goal. Those not currently occupied with working on systems looked up at the hologram as the large blip appeared behind them breaking out of Earths atmosphere. The Devastator vessel had finished with the shipyard in Africa and had come after them. The speed at which it progressed was worrying to say the least, if it continued on it's current speed the calculations Noah was presenting indicated it would take a mere seven minutes to catch up with them. That wasn't enough time.

"Weapons."

"Sir."

"Prepare Launch Tube A-1, keying in my authorization code into the system now." He turned his attention back to his keyboard, keying in the code elsewhere in the ship a [url=http://no-turning-back.wikia.com/wiki/Genesis_Ark#Missile_Systems]Viper[/url] missile was primed and moved by machinery into it's launch tube. Arguably the most powerful weapon humanity had in it's arsenal he never expected that he'd ever need to use one. Let alone before they even left the Sol system. He doubted it would stop a Devastator ship of that size, but at the very least he had to slow it down. "Have Noah scan for any structural weaknesses, lock on to the locations he pinpoints and be ready to fire on my command." With all due hope this would even give the fighters chasing them something to think about. His console lit up green. "Fire."

He watched the screen as the missile, easily as large as a T-22 launched out of the top of the Ark, drifting before it turned and the main engine kicked in propelling it out towards the Devastator vessel picking up speed, it sped past the fighter squadrons now in a skirmish with the Devastator fighters. Some of the enemy fighters tried to intercept but the missile proved to be just too fast for them. Beams of plasma erupted from the target as it closed, as one shot was about to hit the nose of the missile detached. Eight warheads launched separating and branching out, before that section disconnected and launched eight more. A final section was revealed and launched the final eight, 16 warheads in total and eight decoys. There was no telling which war which until the point of impact, at least not by human technology. The warheads all branched out as beams of energy were shot towards them, explosions erupted as some of the warheads were intercepted. The decoys disappearing as some of them were hit. Within a minute explosions rocked the surface of the Devastator ship as the remaining warheads made contact.

The hologram flickered slightly as the radiation interfered with the sensors. He wasn't the only one watching it with baited breath, they hadn't had time to really analyze the sensor data from Earth yet but that ship had appeared in Earth orbit with little warning and proceeded to tear through Arks like they were sheets of paper, it now chasing them meant that all the Arks there must have either fled or be destroyed. He was sticking with optimism and presumed they fled, despite the fact nobody really knew what the effects would be of jumping a ship while in atmosphere would be, let alone in such close proximity to other ships and all the scaffolding. The picture cleared showing the outline of the Devastator flagship. "Status report?" He didn't direct the question directly at anyone, the people who had the answers would know that the question was for them. That was the benefit of everyone in this crew being a veteran.

"We're detecting-" the officer paused, no doubt double checking their findings. Good, he'd rather have the facts [i]right[/i] than fast. That was a good quality in an officer and a sign of someone who could go far. "-minimal damage. Some minor hull breaches, though their pace has considerably slowed." William wanted to swear under his breath, with more missiles they could inflict more damage sure but if they used them all now what would happen in the unlikely event that they needed them down the line and didn't have any left? From now on every decision had lasting effects, not just on him and his crew but on the survival of the very human race.

He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could the officer raised his voice. "New contact!"

[hr]

[i]"We're detecting new contacts!" William turned to the nearest screen, switching it over the sensor scan of the nearby area. Swearing as he saw it fill up with new contacts. "Wait, we're reading IFF! They're human!" The screen refreshed showing tags on all of the vessels that had just jumped into orbit, he recognized the markers. Those from the Nagasaki Conglomerate and the Roslin Federation, they had jumped in to save their sister planet side by side. It was unheard off, it was unprecedented. It was exactly what they needed right now in order to save their planet.

"Bring us around, break current course." The ship swerved breaking from it's run straight at the Devastator ship. "Bring us around behind the-" He struggled to think of the right word, when he realized the right word was the easiest one. "-allied fleet. Telling engineering they have till we're in firing range again to get some form of shielding operational. If they need additional help find them it. It's time to finish this fight." He looked out the viewport as missiles and projectiles began launching from the new arrivals, the Devastators already split between two fronts delayed to react, the combined initial firepower of the human fleet tearing through several ships in seconds before the enemy ships appeared to regain their bearings. "Let's show these Earthers how Martians get stuff done."[/i]

[hr]

"It's the [url=http://www.igorstshirts.com/blog/conceptships/2012/john_liberto/john_07.jpg][i]Judicator[/i]![/url]" The [i]Judicator[/i], that meant that Admiral Constantine had once again risked everything on a rag tag rescue mission possibly against orders. Projectiles flew forth from the Devastator ship as it turned itself in order to fire broadside, while the [i]Judicator[/i] merely sat there for a couple of seconds, before railguns activated spraying fire at the incoming projectiles in order to stop them before they hit their mark. It was an impressive display to say the least. "Incoming transmission."

The image of Constantine appeared as a hologram before William. "Admiral, thanks for the save." The image of Constantine just flickered.

"No problem William - - - - to help. Yo - - - - out of here - - - still can." 

William raised his hand in a crisp salute, as Constantine did the same. As the hologram turned to static as they reached the flux of energy surrounding the Eye of Thea he saw a powerful beam erupt from the Devastator ship crashing into the [i]Judicator.[/i] "Commander!" He turned to Joanne. "If they aren't already, get those fighters on board and secure now." The image of Noah appeared.

"Admiral, automated subroutines engaged. Hyperspace jump commencing in thirty... twenty nine..." Everyone stopped what they were doing as they turned to whatever sensor reading they could get their eyes on. Still covered in static the signatures of the fighters could barely be seen as they all rushed towards the [i]Vitae[/i] "Twenty three... twenty two... twenty one..." There was no stopping it now, if those fighters were to slow then there was nothing that could be done for them. "Sixteen... fifteen. Activating Eye of Thea self destruct as per Exodus Protocol." The sensors were rendered completely useless as the Eye of Thea began to put out even more energy than before. The PA system was activated as Noahs voice was cast throughout the ship.

"All hands, prepare for hyperspace jump. In five... four... three... two... one..." There was a blinding light throughout the ship, William himself felt the ship shake slightly as they were cast into hyperspace. When William regained his sight everything was silent throughout the bridge, as the hologram reactivated showing only the [i]Vitae.[/i] There was a brief moment of applause before William spoke up over the din.

"All stations, report in. I want to see a diagnostic from every station within ten minutes. Once all maintenance is performed the relief crew will take over stations and we enter standard rotation, which means you are all off duty." He leaned against the console. "Patch me through to ship wide." There was a buzz indicating that he was through. "This is the Admiral. I am pleased to inform you all that the hyperspace jump was a success, and we are successfully in hyperspace. We will remain here for two days, so get comfortable, regular functions of the ship have been restored. If you have any questions feel free to contact Noah, a shipwide update will be released at 1900 Hours ship time. Until then, have a pleasant day."

He rubbed some sweat of his brow that he didn't even know was pooling there, he must have been more nervous than he thought he had been. "Noah."

"Yes Admiral."

"Inform Kevin Ford, Karen Anderson and Erik Karlson that I would like to see them tomorrow at 0900Hours in my study."

"At once Admiral."

William nodded. "Good job everyone, we did it."