"Andrea! Kev! What the hell is going on?"

"Lass! Tha' latest blast was from th' bridge! Git down t' the engine room, backup controls are 'ere an' ready! Ah'm on damage control! Doc, meet me t'ere! Everyone else, stand clear!"

Ansgar had pulled on his full attire, including carrying the rebreather in one hand and damage control kit in the other. One could call it a tool box, but there were also supplies for sealing small breaches to the outside, locking down damaged components, putting out fires, as well as actual repair work. When it came to damage control, the man always tended to take the lead since, well, he was pretty much the best equipped person on board to actually go about being able to respond and prevent the situation from getting even more out of hand than it already was. The captain would likely want to have words with him later since, well, he hadn't told anyone that there was a backup set of controls in the engine room that'd he'd installed shortly after his hiring on. He'd opened them up the moment the next explosion had happened, and given his intimate understanding of the ship's layout, he was painfully aware of where the blast came from.

Moving at full sprint, Ansgar was in his element, though when he rounded the corner and spotted the crumpled, unmoving form of Andrea on the wall opposite of the bridge. Kevej was there as well, and he looked far better off. Given the blast doors were sealed, well, that only confirmed his suspicions. A small miracle the blast doors worked, and he ignored the pilot's body as he hooked up an analysis device to the panel next to the blast doors, cursing under his breath. Completely ruined, there wasn't a snowball's chance in hell of even beginning to salvage or get the bridge back up and running without berthing or docking at all. He opened a direct comm to the Captain, not broadcasting this information over the ship wide comms. No need to get people panicked more than they possibly were already.

"Lass, th' bridge is shot. Complete loss without dry dockin' th' boat. Andrea's down, reckon fer good. We'll know w'en doc gets 'ere. I'm movin' back t' t'e engine room after doc gets up 'ere. Ain' nothin' I can do 'bout this rig't now."

The mechanic was compartmentalizing and locking away useless responses, including the panic that wanted to break out at the sight of the dead pilot. Sure, the captain could do the job and, sure, they didn't see eye to eye, but that didn't mean the man wished ill on the woman. Well, not seriously. Still, responding to death of crewmembers would come later, right now he was doing diagnostics on the rest of the ship systems while waiting for the closest this bucket of bolts had to a medical professional to arrive. He didn't attempt to interfere with the still form of the, now likely former, pilot. Even if she was alive somehow, he knew enough about serious injury that moving her would be a bad idea. How Kevej looked, well, he couldn't spare a glance right now. Too much information to process, too many problems to worry about. Like not getting shot out of the sky. He had half a hope the bastards would try to board them, oh he would get his pound of flesh out of these pirate bastards for undoing all this damn work he'd done getting this heap up and running proper.

---

Teg felt the heat of the explosion as it rocked the ship. She heard Maria's shouts over the ship comms. She had no time to react when fire from the enemy ship smashed into the turret she was manning. Paneling shattered from the force of the blow and glass rained over her. Her hands were fast enough. They always were. She'd covered her eyes. She needed to be able to see. She needed to be able to fight.

"Fuck," Teg groaned, pushing off a loose panel of sheet metal that had fallen against her. She shifted her fingers. Her hands still worked. Sighting the enemy ship and placing it in her sights she squeezed again. Nothing. The gun was silent. The gun remained silent even when she hit it with an angry fist.

"Fuck," Teg swore once more, before centering herself. She could still fight. She keyed the intercom.

"Turret is damaged. It's done for. Enemy ship is closing fast. Preparing for boarding action." Teg said. Her voice had shifted, gone serious in a fleeting moment. She was focused. She was ready. She was serious. Old memories, old habits had taken hold. She didn't feel panic. There was no point in panicking. She was the muscle. She was the guns. She had a job to do. She'd make them pay for every step they took into the ship. Uninvited guests were rude. Very rude. And bullets were the cure for rudeness.

She needed guns. Firepower. She need firepower. Sliding a hand over the pistol she kept on her hip, Teg considered that she needed a bigger gun. Kicking her way out of the shattered cockpit, Teg sent glass and scraps of plastic flying in her wake. She felt a trail of blood slowly rolling down the side of her face. Brushing her hand over the wound, she felt a sudden needling burst of pain. It hurt, but she was alive. The cut wasn't deep and it wouldn't slow her down. Steadying herself, the mercenary bolted down the corridor, practically crashing into the door of her quarters.

Throwing open the metal door to her quarters with a stiff shoulder, Teg pushed over several boxes that had been stacked atop of a another larger box. Sprawled across the large case, she took a moment to breath before flipping open the heavy latches. Grunting she retrieved a large, brutal firearm. Metallic chitin had been shaped into a jagged weapon that spoke only of grim efficiency and killing power. Stamped with an impressive array of alien symbols and handles where there should have been none, it was clear at a quick glance that the weapon had not been designed by or for any humans. A Glaos special, Teg had no idea what it was called. But she understood it. She knew what it was capable of. She knew how to use it. Loading a heavy drum of ammunition into the weapon, Teg couldn't help but smile.

She'd have another dance, one way or another, she'd have another dance.

---

---

An Ithlo's intuition about people and situations was fairly spot on, having a keen sense of reading others through empathic sensory and body language. It's what not only aided them academically -especially in the field of physical and psychological therapy and medicine- but, also within the realm of combat. Anticipating an opponent's next move was key to succeeding where others might fail. But, in the case of the human woman, Teg, she was what Kai would consider a wild card. Hard to read. Hard to predict. Going from one extreme to the other along the spectrum of life.

Kai's only real concern were the narcotics, specifically those that Teg claimed were to "dull the pain". He wanted to bring it up to her several times in the past, but at the same time didn't want to pry. Regardless, Teg's performance within the crew hasn't wavered from what he's seen, so it hasn't become a problem. Yet.

The ship suddenly rocked from the external blast, almost knocking Kai off balance, as he entered into Medbay. Just as he was about to contact the Captain regarding the situation, Ansgar's thick accent wailed over the comms, and amongst the barrage of words, urged Kai to the bridge.

"On my way." The Ithlo's voice was cool and determined, and without hesitation, he grabbed the fully loaded medical rucksack, and bolted into the main corridor.

Another blast shook the ship, this time causing him to stumble and slam shoulder-first into the hard angle of a nearby bulkhead. Kai allowed a low grunt, as the pain ran its course. He didn't have time to worry about himself, not when the life of another was in jeopardy. Not on his watch.

The bridge was a mess, and the smoke emanating from the control panels and other areas made it harder to get a good look around. Kai grabbed a small hand cloth from his bag and placed it to his mouth and nose to filter out any toxins. Anything else, his own respiratory system would take care of, neutralizing anything harmful for a short amount of time. Ithlo weren't immune to poisons, but resistances were much higher than average. He noticed Kevej at the helm, then turned to see Ansgar kneeled next to a prostrate Andrea, and hustled to their side, assessing the situation as efficiently as possible. The small pool of blood behind her head wasn't reassuring, as he slipped a large gauze underneath to stop the bleeding.

"Are you okay?" He asked the mechanic, while checking Andrea's pulse.

"It's weak." He said to the other, unlatching the rucksack and pulling a small defibrillator pack, which was immediately activated to charge. "No consciousness though from a blow to the head. Hopefully I can jump start her heart, but even then, there's no guarantee." Kai shook his head, pulling the paddles out and prepping them. "The head trauma alone, and elapsed time, may be against us."

"Thanks for sticking around. I know you need to go." He nodded to Ansgar, while placing both charged paddles against Andrea's chest, the Ithlo adjusted the dial just above normal voltage, and with a signal to "clear", he pressed the buttons, which caused her back to arch a few inches off the floor.

"No pulse." He grumbled, placing the paddles in the same spots and repeating.

No response.

Kai placed both hands on the center of the woman's chest and started compressions, which after a half minute of stopping and repeating, ended with the same result. He allowed a sigh to escape as he exhaled in slight frustration. Life and death was inevitable, and he had his fill of bringing in new life, as well as sending off those into the after, but it was never any easier.

Kai quieted his mind for a moment, even amongst the chaos presently surrounding him, to utter a few words of prayer as he closed the eyes of the cold corpse who had been a brave member of the Lux. If survival of ship and crew is the outcome of this ordeal, Andrea Malkis would need a proper send-off.

Another blast quickly brought him back to the present and he had to move, however Andrea’s body would have to stay put for now as there was no way to maneuver through the chaos efficiently. Decisions. Quickly packing up the rucksack and standing to his feet, Kai hustle over to Kevej’s position. “What may I do to assist, Mister Vin'Akali?” Kai said in an urgent yet tone. “Ms Malkis has passed, and it appears we may have guests sooner than later.”

Things were spiraling out of control. From explosions and hull breaches, to crewmembers getting injured, to the appearance of a second potentially threatening ship, frankly with this kind of disaster the Judge wondered how these people managed to get anything done - let alone how any of them were still alive.
He didn't really like the idea of going down without a fight. Something had to be done, but nothing was being done. Not to retaliate, anyway. The Captain was at the now only functional turret, but they had no shields and for some reason the Lux was dead in the water. Whatever happened with the fuel line being repaired?

Either way, the ship wasn't going to last long like this.
He drew his swords, moving to leave the galley in preparation for assault. Seeing Teg, he strode up to her, since she seemed to be of the same mind with her ghastly machine of a weapon.
Aligning the blunt edges of his blades, they snapped together, forming what one could guess was a body shield. It was heavy, certainly, but if the point of it rested on the ground, he could manage it with one hand. With the other, he drew a sidearm.
In the event that they should be boarded, he could use his shield-blade like one of the phalanx - protecting not only himself but the person next to him as well.
Seeing as Teg had to operate her weapon with both arms, he assumed, she could probably benefit from a little extra protection.

He saw the beam out of the window, or at least it's glare, and time seemed to slow down. Kevej's eyes crawled down to the monitor, his fingers lifted up to the screen and flicked through a few notices with what seemed like relative ease in this weird half-speed parody of life even though his pulse raced like a damned drum. The light in the cockpit glowed brighter, and suddenly everywhere grew scalding hot within a moment. The last thing he saw before the panic set in was:



He'd just popped off the harness when Andrea picked him up out of his seat and practically threw him from the bridge when the explosion hit. Kevej was thrown to the floor, hit square on the shoulder by something solid and weighty. He tumbled down the stairs with a series of clangs that he didn't feel or hear. He fell onto his front with his head facing the cockpit and passed out when he hit the bottom for what felt like an eternity, but was awoken by a terrible crunch from further in the ship.

From the shudder and shake of the ship they were still embattled, so he figured he couldn't have been out that long. He also figured he couldn't well just sit here. His hearing was on the edge of returning, but he could tell the comms were abuzz. He tried to rise and respond but his right arm refused to move. He cursed, and it was at that moment the pain hit him like a freight train. His field of vision exploded into colour, his hearing flipped around to sensory overload and he might have even screamed for all he knew.

It took a few moments, but the colours faded, his hearing returned and he started to hear his own strained breathing. Blood was running down his face and filling up his mouth. He tried to move his arms again and was once more overwhelmed, but this time he felt the pain in his right arm and shoulder. He vaguely remembered using that one to brace his fall initially, and how his shoulder was hit by the explosion first. Andrea was behind him, and he hoped she was alright.

The wires of memory connected in his head. He'd been hit in the back by her, she'd flown down the corridor and then...

...crunch...

The pain was coming back under control, and he needed to see if she was alright. He wedged his left hand under his body to prop himself up slightly, giving his head enough room to look right and further into the ship. He saw her lying prone, he saw the blood and he knew. She'd sacrificed herself to save him.

He couldn't process this now.

Every instinct was telling him to get up, which seemed like a good starting point. He was relieved to look back left again, where he noticed ice forming on the porthole to the bridge. Hull Breach. He waved the thought away mentally, reached out to the Bannister on the stairs, using it to pull his still unresponsive body along and pulling his weight up. He tried to get a knee underneath him to keep him upright, but ended up smashing his kneecap into the ground and did a half-spin into the wall, smashing his right arm into it.

Something grated and he screamed as the shock overwhelmed everything. He refused to look down at it.

He pushed against the wall with his left arm, rotating him so his back was against the wall and he sat. The blood started flowing down his face now, and he felt better. He became aware of Angsar at the comms, before walking off. Kevej thought about shouting after him, but saved his breath, staring at the wall and not down the corridor seemed like a much better option right now.

It wasn't long before the doctor arrived and began to treat Andrea, and unfortunately Kevej became more and more aware of what he was saying as the scene progressed. It wasn't good, so instead Kevej focused on the pain slowly blossoming across his self. His back felt like smashed glass, he guessed from burns and/or shrapnel. He figured he had concussion from how everything seemed to be... swirling. He was aware he was making a lot of mess.

The time had come, he looked down at his right arm. It looked surprisingly fine, concealed by his bloodied sleeve. He'd leave the doctor to take a closer look. Speaking of which.

Kai moved into Kevej's field of view. _{“What may I do to assist, Mister Vin'Akali?”} Kai said like he was a hundred miles away, in a voice that almost angered Kevej at how calm it was. _{“Ms Malkis has passed, and it appears we may have guests sooner than later.”}

Oh I'm fine, doc, really.
Just get me a lollipop and I'll be on my way, doctor.
I'm in agony!
Help me up, we need to go
Andrea isn't dead, she's too damned stubborn to die
ANDREA
It's my arm doc, I fell on it
Get the captain!

Kevej's head hurt with a thousand words. He smacked his head backwards into the wall in an attempt to focus and felt a worrying lack of impact when he did.

_"Yeah," was all he ended up muttering, and nodded, he tried to breathe deeply but instead cried out. His chest set itself aflame. He spat some blood off to his side, he'd bitten his tongue hard at some point.

Captain Maria Thorne

---

"Lass! Tha' latest blast was from th' bridge! Git down t' the engine room, backup controls are 'ere an' ready! Ah'm on damage control! Doc, meet me t'ere! Everyone else, stand clear!"

Maria cursed loudly, quickly setting the turret on automatic firing and literally sliding down the ladder, barely touching the ground before she started bolting through the ship. Automatic wasn't nearly as accurate as having an actual person man the gun, but it would keep the pirates busy until she got down to the engine room. Every fiber of her being wanted to run in the opposite direction to the bridge. Kev and Andrea had been up there, and to say she was worried was an understatement. Your crew was the closest thing you had to family out here in the black. They were the ones who patched you up when you got shot, who kept you fed, watched your back, and gave you a hand when you needed it. They were the few people that Maria trusted, and if anything happened to them, it would break her heart.

But they didn't have time for sentiment right now. The captain knew that Ansgar would update her on anything important, so she just focused on keeping them all alive. She reached the backup controls as quickly as humanly possible, and almost immediately the ship lurched, dodging a bolt fired from the opposing ship. The Veritas was back in motion. Without the aid of the glass shield of the bridge, Maria was having to rely completely on sensors and radar as the eyes and ears to the battle outside. It was different, but she adapted quickly, and soon had them firing shots back at the pirates from the Veritas' canons.


"Lass, th' bridge is shot. Complete loss without dry dockin' th' boat. Andrea's down, reckon fer good. We'll know w'en doc gets 'ere. I'm movin' back t' t'e engine room after doc gets up 'ere. Ain' nothin' I can do 'bout this rig't now."

Well, that answered that. Maria clung to a small whisper of hope that maybe Andrea would be fine once Kai tended to her, but Ansgar was no fool, and no doubt had a realistic assessment of things. With no hope of having the bridge back in time to finish the battle, Maria decided it would be best to get familiar with the backup controls real fast. They were going to need all the skill and precision the crew had to offer if they were going to survive this.

"Understood," she replied simply. Hopefully Ansgar would be able to do something to get their shields up and running again once he got down here, but for now she was going to have to do her best to keep them from taking any more damage. They already had one hull breach; they didn't need another to worry about. Not to mention the opposing ship was moving to board them.

Maria abruptly remembered the small fighter that had dropped into the battle before all hell broke loose, and searched on the scanners to see where they were. If the pirates had a fighter, it was possible they had more ships standing by as well, which was a thought that Maria rather wished she didn't have since it practically doubled her current stress level. They couldn't survive anymore ships. They were barely going to survive these two. It took her a couple of moments, but she did eventually manage to spot the tiny dot that indicated the fighter. Much to the captain's surprise, it wasn't circling the Veritas. It was circling the pirates, and as Maria watched, it began to fire on their canons, draining their shields and managing to take out one canon. She took this opportunity to fire the Veritas' canons, aiming for the pirates' remaining big gun. Maria also simultaneously hailed the fighter.

"Unidentified vessel, this is captain Maria Thorne of the Veritas Lux Mea. Please respond."

A moment passed, and then a female voice crackled over the link.

"Hiya captain!" the voice said. "This is the Bygul. I was passing by, heard some chatter, recognized the name of the ship, and noticed you seemed to be in a bit of a predicament. I thought I'd lend a hand."

"Glad to hear that you're friendly," Maria answered. That was the understatement of the century. "We've taken quite a beating so far. How's that tiny fighter of yours holdin' up?"

"Oh... You know. It's a bucket of bolts, but it hasn't fallen apart yet. Imma try and take out their docking clamps for you guys, since it looks like they're trying to board. Some cover fire would be nice, if you don't mind."

"I've gotcha."

Maria did her best to keep her promise, firing heavily on the enemy and trying to miss the Bygul. Thankfully, the pilot of the Bygul seemed to be fairly experienced, and did a good job of keeping out of the way of the canons while still getting her part of the job done too. The turret too was doing better than expected. Now that the pirates' shields were down, the playing field was leveled, and the fighter being on their side was starting to change the balance of this battle. The captain wasn't exactly optimistic, since their new "friend" could easily turn on them any second if the pirates bargained with her, but they definitely stood a better chance now than they had a few moments ago. Slowly but surely, the Veritas was starting to win.

"Ah'll live. Anyt'ing ah got 'it with can wait. Walkin' wounded an all t'at. Ah don't even know if ah'm injured."

Ansgar responded briefly to the medic, before hauling ass back to the engine room, moving full sprint with the kind of experience that came from working damage control in a rapidly failing situation. With the Lass moving back to the engine room controls, he could focus on the next most pressing matter. Get their damned shields back up and running. The Captain would find the secondary controls, while they lacked a natural bridge view, were repurposed from old ships that couldn't afford having a vision port. It used well placed cameras across the hull, located in hardened casemates and in sub optimal positions for being targeted. It would take getting used to, but it would work. Ansgar would burst into the engine room, locking down the hatch leading into the engine room. It would take either the Captain, Ansgar, or a cutting torch to get through now. He had a plan for the shields, though it would not be pretty long term.

"Lass! Ah'm rerouting power from t'e old bridge t' the shields. Cannae promise it'll last long, but ah can boost t'e refresh doin' it..."

Ansgar had sprinted into the center of the engine room, zipping up his attire from the way it had been, tied around the waist, as it would insulate him against shock, and he hauled the deckplate up, a belch of smoke rose up, likely trapped from something else giving out. These bastards better be ready to pay for the work he was going to have to do to repair the damned ship. Dropping down, he pulled his kit out and started working, sparks flying impotently against his thick attire, pulling cables and rerouting others, and a rather notable shudder would shake the ship as the shields suddenly flared, the power dump from the now ruined bridge snapping it back online in time to intercept the next barrage, the overclocked shield capacitors requiring constant attention to keep them from exploding.

"Hope yer damned friend can drive em off, Lass, yer lucky ah know m' way around t'is ships blasted equipment!"

---

Teg nodded towards the Judge as he joined her with an amused grin,"Glad to see someone else was spoiling for a proper fight."

As she waited the mercenary felt the familiar thud of docking clamps clamping down on the hull of the damaged ship. Their ship. The only thing keeping them safe from the void of space. Teg was uncertain how her employer, the erstwhile Captain Maria, would manage to pay her if she didn't have a ship anymore. The thought troubled her until she felt another, unexpected shudder and a small explosion on the other side of the hull. Whoever the suspected space scallywags were, they didn't quite seem to understand how boarding actions worked. You didn't blow up your own docking clamps. That was stupid. Very stupid.

Not that pirates were ever the smartest bunch in her experience. Villainous vultures and junkyard jackals, they weren't ready for a real fight. Cowards. They were all such cowards.

Observing sparks as the probable pirates began to cut into the bulkhead, Teg braced the heavy Glaos machine gun against a piece of support beam that ran from the floor the ceiling of the corridor. The Glaos weren't known for their discretion, but they were known for producing some of the finest killing machines that Teg had ever had the pleasure of using.

The sudden explosive sound of a significant piece of bulkhead exploding to the side Teg shouted at the armored figure next to her, "Hey Judge, do you mind if I have the first dance?"

Teg didn't wait for a reply before she squeezed the the trigger of her murder machine. The first space scoundrel had barely managed to steps into the corridor of the Veritas Lux Mea before the heavy Glaos rounds slammed into him. Teg assumed it was a him. There wasn't really a way to tell anymore. The Glaos rounds tore through the whatever passed as armor for a pirate and then exploded in a small shower of beautiful high explosive. Not that it mattered. In death, everyone was equal. Man, woman, cursed Glaos. It was all the same.

Counting loudly to herself, keeping track of every burst she sent down towards the opening in the hull, Teg maintained a steady stream of fire. Teg grinned as another pirate found his or her way to the great space locker of the damned. Several rounds of fire had managed to tag him in his leg and the pirate had time to let out a pained scream before the round detonated. It was not enough. Of course it was not enough. Teg knew it wouldn't be enough. There were more pirates. They had time to move. She would run out of ammo eventually. She had to steady herself to aim in between bursts. She watched with irritation as at least one pirate dove onto the ship, ducking behind cover before she could tear him to pieces.

A loud equally irritating click followed as Teg's gun ran dry. Diving behind the metal support beam, she yelled at the Judge,"Reloading! You're turn to dance, Judge."

---

---

Smoke from the smoldering circuitry was filling the expanse of the bridge rather quickly, outpacing the failing ventilation system which would normally push the toxic fumes through turbines and out into space. There was little time to think. The Ithlo’s quick assessment of Kevej’s condition made it clear that the First Mate needed to be triaged, as stopping massive blood loss from the fractured arm and torn flesh was priority.

“We need to get off the bridge.” He said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Without hesitation, a clear mind, and steady hand, Kai’mos pulled the hypo-syringe from his bag, lifted it to the other’s arm, and injected a good dose of what would be considered antibiotics and painkillers. Time was of the essence, and there was no way he could move the patient without first stabilizing the broken arm. Another injection, this time using solution that would slow down the flow of blood to the affected area, would prevent further blood loss as he went to work wrapping Kavej’s right forearm in a temporary splint. The smoke filling up the bridge was making it tougher to breath, and as another explosion rocked the ship -almost knocking both crew members over- the Ithlo knew it was time to get the hell out of there.

“Alright Mister Vin'Akali, I am going to slowly hoist you to your feet, placing your other arm around my neck for support.” The Ithlo said to the other, slinging his medical bag across his chest and doing his best to lift the First Mate from the other side. “Stay with me though, my friend. You have a concussion that will need to be mended. But not here.”

Kai’mos stood up straight, with his new patient’s half-limp body hanging on one side as they started towards the bridge exit, taking care to keep them both steady as another explosion caused the ship to shake uncontrollably. It had been a long while since the Ithlo was in a ship-to-ship battle situation, which was just another reason why he preferred to keep both feet firmly planted on solid ground.

Moments later found them outside the bridge entry and in the main corridor, with the door mostly closed behind them to keep any remaining smoke trapped on the other side. Staring down the corridor, it’s security lighting strobing from the ship-wise malfunctions, he needed to make it to MedBay, where Kevej could be secured on a surgical table, and the doors locked down. However, the facility itself was located mid ship, and their pace would be slower than a normal.

Either case, this was the way, and he would succeed, or die in the attempt.

"Right. I hope you can reload that quickly."
The Judge had been watching as Teg took down several of their pirating adversaries with that rather beastly machine she was carrying - until she had to reload. Not wanting to waste any precious time, he lifted his makeshift body-shield and advanced on the intruders, some of which futilely attempting to shoot through his blades. Some of the smarter ones, however, were making moves to flank him. Hopefully Teg wouldn't blast his head off once she got herself reloaded. However, the attention was drawn to him now, being the more immediate threat, so that should give her enough time to get situated.
There was a break in the shooting as the others were realizing they were wasting ammunition, and that was his moment to strike. The shield broke apart and he whirled, thrusting out his blades to crunch into the necks of two pirates trying to flank him. Immediately he had to dodge behind some debris for cover before the answering weapons-fire could hit him.

Kevej's hearing was becoming fuzzy again, and the smoke above was coalescing in such a pretty way he seemed to fixate on it. He blinked as his eyes stung, snapping him out of it. That can't be good the rapidly failing rational part of his brain told him.

“We need to get off the bridge.” Kai said in his usual professional tone.

"I wish we'd done that before the place exploded, Doctor." Kev was thankful for the distraction of conversation, though he couldn't muster up the will to laugh at his own joke given the circumstances.

Kai gave him an injection in his bad arm, which didn't make him feel any better, before splinting and strapping it up (which also didn't make him feel any better). There was an explosion, rocking the ship and causing shooting pains to go through Kevej's head, he tensed instinctively, holding onto Kai to keep him steady. Things were going from bad to worse, and he started to wonder if there was any point in the Doctor's efforts if they were all going to die anyways.

“Alright Mister Vin'Akali, I am going to slowly hoist you to your feet, placing your other arm around my neck for support. Stay with me though, my friend. You have a concussion that will need to be mended. But not here.” Kevej smiled to himself and almost giggled. Hah! He admitted to being my friend!. It took a moment for the seemingly ever distant rational part of his mind to realise that the painkillers were, in fact, kicking in.

"Okay, Doctor, you say when and I'll try not to scream." Kevej joked, but realised how stupid he sounded as his body unfurled and innumerable bruises and burn-lacerations unstuck themselves from his clothing. He didn't scream, but instead hissed and whimpered involuntarily. But Kai was deceptively strong, and hoisted the taller and heavier Naka up with little trouble.

Kevej spoke through gritted teeth as they took their first steps, "I think it's going to be a long walk, Doctor." The pain in his body was too severe to look back, to which Kevej was grateful. He wasn't ready to see her again, he wasn't sure if he'd ever be.

Captain Maria Thorne

---

"If we live through this, Ansgar, remind me to give you a raise," the captain remarked as she jerked the ship upwards and sideways, trying to break free of the docking clamps which were slowly starting to give way thanks to their new friend firing on them. This rough flying caused a few objects to tumble off shelves, but they didn't exactly have time for elegance and smooth flying at the moment. Their situation was desperate. Maria's only hope was in the little fighter helping them out, but if they lost her, then... Well... They were as good as dead. The captain could hear shots being fired down the hall, no doubt by scumbags invading her ship, trying to steal her cargo. Trying to take her ship. Trying to hurt her crew. She wanted nothing more than to storm out of the engine room and start ripping people's throats out, but she was sure that Teg had it handled. Besides, the Veritas needed a pilot right now more than it did an avenger.

"Veritas, this is the Bygul. I've almost got the docking clamps off, keep doing what you're doing!"

Maria did as she was asked, continuing to try and jerk the Veritas away from the pirates, doing her best to rip it away from the invaders that would butcher and scavenge everything inside. They would definitely lose a bit of hull plating, but Maria was confident they could take it. A hull was no good if they were all dead anyway.

---

Persephone

---

"No, no no. Azra, sweetie you've got it all wrong. See if Gol really wanted to be with you, would he really be running around bars stalking this Naka chick?"... "Yeah well I know you didn't say he was stalking her, but finding out her name, ID chip number, and then proceeding to randomly 'show up' wherever she is definitely sounds like stalking to me."... "Listen, you know I love you, but you gotta stop with all this nonsense. The guy is obviously trash, and if you want my advice I say to drop him like a bad of Gloaian-"

beep beep beep beep

A flashing red light in the cockpit of her small fighter made Persephone stop talking mid sentence, her mouth hanging open as she leaned forward in her seat, squinting at the little red light before flipping her comms back on.

"Yeah, Azra, hold on just a sec will you? I'm getting some sort of alert on the network."

There was a slightly muffled, upset voice coming from the other end of her headset, but Perse ignored it as she tapped on her controls, bringing up the settings and switching her comms over to the universal frequency. Things were a bit staticky at first, and she spent a good three or four minutes tweaking the channels to try and match up with what was going on. Whatever was happening, it was almost out of range.

"This is-....-tas -ux Mea-...-ostile-... sky."

Perse continued to mess with the settings, and also set her ship on auto-pilot in the direction of the transmission, going slowly so that she could get in range but still go without being detected. She kept replaying the message as they drew closer, and eventually after quite a bit of tweaking (and a little bit of hitting the screen), she finally understood everything.

"This is captain Maria Thorne of the cargo vessel Veritas Lux Mea. Please identify yourself immediately or we will be forced to assume you are hostile, and blow you out of the sky.”

The Veritas Lux Mea? The cyborg stared at her screen for a moment, replaying the words over and over again in her head. She'd heard little tales and whispers of the ship. Stories of a mysterious cargo vessel that was secretly running arms for the human rebellion, and had plans for great adventures. Supposedly it was filled with a heroic crew, dashing and bold, and was going to change the fate of the galaxy!... Supposedly. Persephone had her doubts, but it still sounded like fun. After checking her sensors, Perse found that the ship was in trouble from an unmarked vessel- pirates, no doubt -and jumped into action to help.

---

"Veritas, this is the Bygul. I've almost got the docking clamps off, keep doing what you're doing!" Persephone shouted over the comms, yanking her fighter towards one side as a turret fired at them. She had almost melted the last docking clamp, and if the Veritas could hold on for just a little longer, she'd have them free. During the majority of the battle Persephone had stayed out of it, trying to pinpoint the weak spots on the pirate's vessel before jumping in with her rickety bucket of bolts. Strategy over bravery, right? It seemed to be paying off. Things had been looking pretty grim a few minutes before she showed up, but now they were on the winning side, and if the pirates were smart they'd disengage and get the hell out of dodge before the Veritas got their feet back under them.

Which they did. When the Veritas gave one last pull, the last docking clamp gave way and the two ships were instantly separated, and the pirate ship started to retreat. Through the dust and debris, Persephone could swear she saw a few bodies sucked into space. She prayed none of the Veritas' crew was among them. Hopefully their ship had an automatic airlock and would have sealed it off as soon as the air pressure started dropping, but there was only one way to find out.

"This is the Bygul. How are things?"

---

Captain Maria Thorne

---

There were alerts blaring across the screens, angry red lights flashing on multiple different systems, and the ship herself seemed to be groaning from the strain of the battle. There was debris from various large and small explosions littering the floor, and pipes with god knew what kind of substances leaking from them, but the pirate ship was retreating. They had survived.

When the Veritas had finally managed to get free of the enemy ship, there had been a slight problem with the airlock closing, but Maria had quickly fixed it from her end and hopefully got it closed before anyone she liked had been sucked out. But they still weren't quite out of the woods. There were probably some pirates still on board (which Teg and the Judge could take care of), and if nothing else they had a hell of a clean up job waiting for them, and then of course there was their little friend the Bygul.

"This is the Bygul. How are things?" Speak of the devil.

Maria took a deep breath. Now that the biggest battle was over, she was starting to feel her own nerves, and her hands shook as she flipped on the comms to the Bygul. "We're still alive... As far as I know yet. What about you?"

"I'm okay over here, but... I hate to ask this, but my ship got damaged a bit in the fight- not as much as you guys obviously, but still -and if I could come on board to make some repairs, that'd be great."

Maria hesitated. She didn't exactly trust this chick, but she had helped them out, and they probably wouldn't be alive if it weren't for her. On the other hand, letting her on board would put them at risk, and it would give them yet another mouth to feed and another person to patch up. They weren't exactly thriving on resources, but she supposed they could also stock up on them when they got to the glao port. They did kind of owe the Bygul. Although her next problem was getting the cargo and everything stowed away in the cargo bay so that they could actually let her board the ship, which might take a while. Not to mention Maria needed to fix the airlock. They did have a place where she could just clamp onto the Veritas and come aboard, but that wouldn't allow her to make many of the repairs her ship would probably need, so the only other option was for her to bring her fighter into the cargo bay.

"Give us a few minutes to get our bearings over here and I'll see what we can do for you," She replied finally, and without waiting for a reply she opened the ship-wide comms, one of the few systems that was still working. "Attention all hands. The pirate ship is gone, so we're out of danger from them for now. Who isn't dead? Please check in immediately."

She turned and added to Ansgar. "What's broken and what's still working?"

"Careful lass, ah'll be holdin' ye to that!" The engineer barked from the under the deck plates, playing 'plug the socket' before the equipment exploded in his face and, likely, brought the ship down with it. All he readily could do right now was, well, keep the power flowing, shields online, and pray to whatever god came with humanity that they survived this whole fiasco. Help or no help, the jerking and wrenching to break the docking clamps free brought a bitter scowl onto the man's face. That was more work for him to deal with, more repairs, and he couldn't readily rely on any of these people to see it happen. That's another docking session with no leave, keeping this bucket of bolts floating was a gods damned nightmare. Eventually, he could tell they weren't under attack anymore, and after waiting just long enough to be sure the pirates weren't coming back, another red indicator that the shields were down again came online as Ansgar hauled himself up from beneath the deck plates.

"Ah swear, if we e'er find any o' t'em bastards again, ah'm stringin' em up by t'eir unmentionables!" The engineer was brushing off black splotches on his attire, where the rampant, uncontrolled power had tried to electrocute him and failed thanks to the protective attire, and considered the fact they were no longer under attack. Walking over to the bulkhead, he unlocked it, well after any further attackers would have been killed or, unfortunately, surrendered. Well, maybe fortunately, he would be taking a pound of flesh off the survivors for every hour of work he had to put into this ship to get it back up and running. The first thing he did was pull the heavy, top half of his working uniform off again, wrapping it around his waist and leaving the tank top on, sweat soaked as it was. He was already moving back to double check the fuel line patches when the captain's request on what was working and broken caused him to damn near trip over himself. What was working? It'd be faster to say that, all things considered, so he spun on heel and answered her flatly, clearly irritated more so than usual.

"Engines, fuel, life support, some weapons, backup navigation. Oh, an comms ah' reckon. E'erythin' else? Suspect ah best, completely bloody shot ah worst. An yes, ah'm still on mah feet, t'ank ye for askin'. Hope yer planned dockin' point has enoug' scrap fer this damn bucket..." Muttering under his breath, Ansgar double checked the fuel line and, once satisfied that it was up and running, promptly went about securing and rerouting the lines that had leaking fluids and seeing about minimizing the amount of damage that wold need repaired due to neglect on the damaged systems. This was definitely going to be a number of sleepless nights to get up and running in time for their next job, and he sure as fuck wasn't getting paid enough as it was. He'd suspect it couldn't get much worse, but his gods forsaken sister was out there somewhere, so it could very much get worse. Least the odds were slim she'd be showing up anytime soon...

---

The hiss of the automatic airlock as it saved all of the air from escaping was a welcome sound to the mercenary. They were alive. Somehow. More importantly there were pirates left alive. Pirates left on board the ship. And she had reloaded. She was ready to go.

Two pirates. Two pirates trapped on the Veritas Lux Mea without their shipboard cannons to back them up. Easy kills. Easy money.

Teg didn't waste time waiting for the Judge. He seemed the capable sort, she figured he'd back her play. Firing a hellish burst of molten metal in the direction of the remaining pirates, Teg bounded forward. Bracing against the exposed edge of a the ship's superstructure, Teg walked her fire across the closet pirate. A scream and a flash of red followed sparks as the thin metal plates the pirate had strapped across his chest were punched through.

She couldn't see the other pirate. So she waited. Time was on her side. The Judge was a big enough target. Her finger pulled slowly on the brutish trigger of her weapon and she almost sent a hail of Glaos bullets down the corridor before she noticed her target was a white cloth slowly waving in the air. She shifted her sights upwards and to the left. It would have been an easy shot. The pirates deserved it. But she was curious. She wanted answers. She wasn't mad. Death was part of the job. Personal grudges were not. The pirates would have answers. She was sure she could make them talk.

"What do you want, scumbag!" Teg shouted.

"W- We surrender!"

"What? You surrender?" Teg replied, letting the word roll uncomfortably off of her tongue. "Since when do pirates surrender?"

"P- Please! You got Henders. Our ship is gone. You killed our friends. We surrender! Just let us live! Please!"

Rolling her eyes, Teg nodded towards the desperate pirates as she addressed the Judge, "You got any cuffs?"

---

---

"This is very true." Kai'mos responded to the other in a matter-of-fact tone, holding onto the First Mate's mostly limp body as the meds began to noticeably affect his movement as well as speech pattern. But the numbing would no doubt save Kevej the anguish of compounded pain in the long run, considering the excessive damage incurred earlier on the bridge.

"But you're in good hands, I assure you, sir." The doc's voice managed to stay calm in the most dire of situations, but that is what was needed. Cooler heads prevailed after all, and he wasn't about to lose a crew mate due to fear of death or the unknown. There just wasn't enough time to worry about such things, nor would it help the current struggle. And with that, Kai began moving at about half pace with Kevej's arm slung around his broad shoulders and supporting his weight with a free arm.

"Steady as we go, my friend."

The Ithlo could count on one hand who he may have called a friend over the many years of traveling to foreign planets, and yet Kevej proved to be one of them in the short time they had known one another. Was it any wonder the Captain trusted the First Mate with her ship and life?

While the lighting in the corridor continued to strobe, and smoke from loose wires and blown fuses carried throughout, making visibility lower than normal, the ship thankfully stopped shaking as though whatever was hitting it from the exterior finally ceased. Regardless, Kai continued on, realizing he had about a five to ten minute walk to reach MedBay, something that would normally take less than a minute at a brisk pace.

But, with enough strength left in his exhausted body, the Ithlo made it to the doors, which, unfortunately, were not responding to the motion sensor that would typically open the door. With Kevej still propped, Kai looked around for the small fuse panel near the door, and opened it, quickly feeling around for the manual bypass that would at least get the door open enough for him to force it the rest of the way. Within moments, he found the small handle that had to he cranked several times clockwise, thereby releasing the latching mechanism to the slider as the door opened just a few inches. Kai was then able to slowly push the door open, both slipping through the entry, and made their way toward the surgical table on the far side of the room.

It seemed only partial power was available, which kept most of the lights on, however the surgical and diagnostic machines and tools were non-operational, but Kai remembered a recent installation from the engineer himself.

“Thank you, Mister Staudinger.” He mumbled under his breath, reaching over to the wall console and flipping a reset button that cycled the backup power for the machines, and the surgical equipment sprung alive and immediately went through it’s boot-up phase.

Kai’mos lifted Kevej onto the metal table, taking care not to disrupt any current wounds, and began examining him properly. It helped to have all the tools needed to scan, diagnose, and mend the exterior as well as interior wounds that he had sustained. He made quick work of hooking up an IV drip as well as utilizing stored blood pouches for a transfer back into the First Mate’s body. The doctor applied a salve specifically for burn damage in the affected areas, which should take a few days to fully heal, but also promote new cellular growth for the skin.

As for the broken bones and various other bodily damage, it was the robotic surgical arm that was needed, which, once calibrated to Kevej’s biometric readings, promptly began working on the broken arm, which would need the most work. Kai kept tabs on his patient through a datapad, monitoring his vitals and administering meds and fluids as needed.

“Miss Malkis’ death will not be in vain, Mister Vin'Akali.” He said, injecting yet another dose of painkillers that will guarantee the patient won’t awaken in the middle of surgery. “Sleep well, my friend, and let’s hope you awaken to better news...”

... Down the other agonising stairs... Yep... That's... Done...

... Great.... Across the galley... Damn, the cupboard catch had come undone and the cans were all over...... Were.....

The shaking had stopped? And they were outside the medbay? He must have blacked out for most of the walk, which was a blessing

"The shaking's stopped, doc..." he mumbled, and realised he hadn't really stopped mumbling the whole way. Damn this stuff was strong, "You need to keep these drugs away from Teg, doc, or she'll use up your supply in an evening." was what he wanted to say, but instead it came out something unintelligible like "Bloo meeb moo breeb-" he stopped and thought better than trying to finish the sentence. But by the time the thought had processed he'd said the sentence anyway.

Kai was having trouble with the door it seemed. Kevej knew he'd be no help, and did his best to try and stand on his own. He supposed the one bonus to being senseless was that he had no idea how badly he'd done at that. Before Kev realised it he was lying down on the bed, which helped him swallow some of the excess fluid in his mouth nearly allowing speech.

"Damn, doc..."

Nope, he couldn't think of anything to say. Nothing. That was disappointing. "Oo's Mister Sloddigger?"

WAIT A MINUTE. Part of his brain shouted, YOU'RE IN A CRITICAL CONDITION AND DRUGGED TO HELL AND BACK HERE, MR. VIN, WHY THE HELL DO YOU FEEL THE NEED TO MAKE SMALL TALK?

The voice made him flinch, all the lights seemed too bright. The cans were spilled all over the floor in the galley...

“Miss Malkis’ death will not be in vain, Mister Vin'Akali.” Kai'mos said,

Oh yeah, and that happened. This really was the worst day of all time...

“Sleep well, my friend, and let’s hope you awaken to better news...”

...

...

...

Captain Maria Thorne

---

_{Collab with Redthorn Anvil}

"You're a damned fine mechanic, Ansgar," The captain stated, and she meant it. He was an irritable ass, yelled a lot, and wasn't the easiest person to get along with, but in spite of all of that he was the reason the Veritas was still running and they all owed him a lot. He was definitely irritated at the moment, but Maria was willing to overlook it. It was going to be a miracle if they made it to the glao port. At least most of their important main systems were still working, so they weren't completely dead in space.

"By the way, I'm completely serious about giving you that raise," She remarked. "I'll leave you to this mess. Comm me if you need anything."

Maria set the engines to full stop, then started up the catwalk to check on the rest of the ship herself. Now that they were out of immediate danger, she needed to actually lay eyes on everything (and everyone) for herself, and this was as good a place as any to stop for a moment and catch their breaths. It was unlikely the pirates would come back, as they were just as damaged as the Veritas. Maria would give Ansgar some time to figure everything out, move the stuff in the cargo bay around so Persephone could dock, check on everyone, and then they'd be on their way again. The gods willing, this day would end soon.

Maria was just entering the cargo bay when a flash of movement caught her eye. From behind a crate, a pirate was aiming a gun at Teg. Both she and Judge were facing away from him, and so neither had time to react before he pulled his trigger and a burst of energy rocketed towards the mercenary. At the same time Maria was drawing her pistol. However, it wasn't fast enough to save Teg, and the energy collided with her body, knocking the woman off of her feet and slamming her into a few of the other crates. Immediately after Maria pulled her trigger, taking down the pirate just as swiftly as he had done to her mercenary.

"Can you take care of these two by yourself?" Maria asked the Judge. He had whirled around upon hearing the blast, and was now holding his swords to the surviving pirates as Maria approached the fallen mercenary. Her pistol remained trained on the surrendering pirates.

"It would be my pleasure," he replied to her.
"I will enjoy seeing what you two will have to say to save your skins. Get a move on - and leave your weapons."

Judge secured their weapons, and now that she was satisfied that they were going to be properly handled, Maria turned her attention to Teg and attempted to assess just how bad off she was. There was a faint, barely noticeable rise and fall to her chest, and her pulse was... relatively normal. It was there. Maria was no medical expert, so she couldn't tell much more than that. There was also a rather nasty gash on her forehead. Maria assumed it was from the impact of hitting the crates, but it didn't really matter either way. She needed to get Teg down to the infirmary. Maria spent a moment hoisting Teg up, then proceeded to carry/drag her up the stairs and down the corridor to Kai's infirmary.

"Doc, I've got another one for you," She announced upon entering. Without waiting for much instruction, Maria put the mercenary on a vacant bed and left. On any other day, she would have been there helping in whatever way she could, but at the moment they were down by two crew members and couldn't exactly spare the manpower, so Kai would have to make do without her. He would probably be a little overwhelmed, but he'd be alright. Or so she hoped.

The cargo bay itself was a mess. Crates and containers had been broken and shattered, or at the very least thrown againd the walls, and their holdings had been strewn across the floor. Maria just prayed that most of the goods weren't horribly damaged. They needed the money from this shipment. Maria bent down and got to work, sifting through the rubble and finding wgat was salvageable and what needed to be tossed. She grabbed a few crates that were still intact, lined them up, and started to slowly clear the cargo bay so that their friend could dock.

Once the mechanic was left alone in the engine room, he paused for a few, scant moments to ensure there was no sudden turn around, then wearily leaned against the nearest sturdy piece of machinery that wasn't going to scald him and groaned under his breath. He ached all over, more so where the insulated clothing had been impacted by sparking equipment as it had been breaking down, and he desperately needed this scant few minutes of catching his breath. With a grunt he forced himself back to work, expression resettling to his usual, almost eternally semi irritated look that he had been wearing as of late. With the engines at full stop, he could at least implement some emergency patches and reworking, grumbling under his breath the whole time. First was patching the god forsaken electrical system that had nearly burnt out from that merry hell he'd done to it from the shield emergency, working on live wires was dangerous, but they really couldn't bring them offline right now. Not without risking pirates again.

Making sure he was grounded and properly dressed, Ansgar ducked back under the deckplates with a non conductive set of tools, grumbling and cursing amidst the sounds of sparks and other general indications that both electrical and mechanical systems were not in a good state of repair right now. They would remain functional, but functional and good repair were two completely different things. Anyone coming into the engine room looking for the mechanic would likely have to track the sounds of improvised repairs, cursing, and the like to wherever he was beneath the deck plates of the engine room floor. For the time being, that was the priority, then he would begin working from there. And that didn't even include the necessary repairs and such that would be required for the last leg of getting into port. Once there, then the real sleepless nights would begin.

Collab with Shiva

Even working diligently, it was taking Maria the better part of an hour to get the cargo bay completely cleaned up. She'd settled on at least shoving stuff out of the way so that Persephone could land, and then she'd sort through and figure out what went in which crate later. The crates she'd lined up were quickly becoming filled with odds and ends, random bits of cargo that she'd sort eventually. Closer to the airlock was where Teg had been shot. Maria had been putting off clearing that area, not particularly keen on seeing the blood of her crew staining the ship, but alas if Persephone was going to get in that needed to be cleared as well. Maria made her way over, spotting what looked like an arm in the rubble. Must be a shipment of cybernetic parts. The Glao were pretty big into body mods, so she wasn't really surprised. It looked to be in somewhat decent condition, at the very least. Maria bent down and picked it up- but it didn't budge from it's spot.
With a thoughtful scowl knitting her eyebrows, Maria pulled a little harder, and when that didn't work she shifted away some of the trash and debris, and discovered that the arm was in fact connected to something. A body. The body of what appeared to be a highly advanced robot - an android, an earth antique of some historical value.

This would have been one of the items the Veritas was smuggling off for a deal - though the contents of the now smashed crate the android had been shipped in had certainly been unknown to the crew before now.
The android itself was in surprisingly good condition - probably either meaning it was a later model or hadn't gotten to see much action before it'd been decommissioned, or killed.
It had a coat of matte black paint, save for a few scratches and a double stripe of purple down the middle of its head.
The android was essentially a solid chunk of heavy alloys and complex machinery, and would definitely be impossible for Maria to move by herself at this point.

"For the love of all that's good n' pure in this forsaken 'verse..." Maria muttered to herself as she came to this conclusion, continuing to clear as much of the debris as she could while working around the android. Why couldn't even the cleaning up go smooth? Now she'd have to get some of the crew to help her with this, and the gods knew they had enough work to do already. Two crew members down, a newbie coming on board, recovering from a battle, and trying to get cargo delivered. It had been one hell of a day.

As Maria was doing this, a zap of electricity from a loose wire nearby jumped across, striking the android in the eye - causing his whole body to flicker briefly with violet light.

After a moment or two, the bright purple glow returned, though slowly, seeming to illuminate the android from within, seeping between metal plates and wiring.
One of his eyes - the one that hadn't just been fried - blinked on with a vibrant blue.

All of a sudden moment, the android sat up with a shake of his head. With his right arm, he tapped the side of his head, and the dead eye blinked to life.
"Ugh, I feel like a bear just woke up from hibernation..."
His voice sounded peculiarly natural, for a complex piece of machinery.
Looking around at the cargo bay, he spotted Maria.
"Well hi!"

The captain stayed silent for a solid twenty seconds while staring at the hunk of metal that was, evidently, alive. She didn't even look surprised, just irritated and exhausted, and completely done with whatever crazy curse had apparently befallen her boat.
"What the hell are you? And why the hell are you alive?"

Several of the android's face plates adjusted to form a face of confusion as Maria asked both those questions.
"Well why wouldn't I be alive? You telling me you've never seen someone like me before? Cyrus Three. Uh..."
He paused to take another look around.
"Where am I anyway?"

"You're on my ship. You were a piece of cargo, but for some reason you're awake now. I reckon that flicker of electricity had something to do with it."
Maria also wondered if perhaps the energy blast that took out Teg might have had something to do with it, but it didn't really matter anyway.
"And no, I haven't seen someone like you before. Well I mean I've seen something like you in a museum, and the Ithlo have androids to assist them in all of their fancy medical nonsense, but nothing quite as... Animated, as you."
Cyrus looked shocked.
"Piece of cargo? Museum?"
"... How long was I out?"
"..." Maria regarded the android for a moment, heaving a sigh before deciding to put some effort into being understanding and her version of kind with him.
"What's the last date that you remember?"
"Well it was the year... 352. I think. My memory's a bit fuzzy."
He frowned.
"That's not really supposed to happen."

Finally the captain did look somewhat surprised. She'd expected a few decades perhaps, thinking that maybe he'd been booted up a couple of times for general software maintenance, but it had been hundreds of years since this android had last been conscious. Far, far before humanity was in this universe. It was no wonder that his memory was a bit fuzzy, his circuits were probably rusted beyond belief.
"The year is 526 AE, and you've been asleep for somewhere around 170 years."

The android looked like he wanted to say something, but then decided against it.
He stood up with a grunt, brushing off his clothes, again with his right hand.
"Well, uh... Since it looks like I'm not really going anywhere for now, d'you need help cleaning up around here? Looks to me like there was a right scuffle. I'll do what I can anyway! Seems my memory isn't the only malfunction I'm experiencing."
He grabbed his left arm with his right hand and shook it in a sort of limp wave. Dropping it with a visible shudder of several plates, he added, "seems my arm's dead. But uh, I can still carry some stuff."

She thought about arguing with him for a moment. After all, she had no idea what this android was, what his programming was, where he came from exactly, but then another voice in her head piped up and said he couldn't possibly be much of a threat. He'd been a piece of cargo for crying out loud, and wasn't exactly in shape to take out the entire ship. She was also beyond exhausted, and the offer of help was too much for her to pass up.
"Sure. Help me get this area around the airlock cleaned up. We have a friend who needs to dock their ship."
"Oh, friends are nice! ... Right?"
Putting his good arm over the top of a fallen crate, he lifted it without too much difficulty and stacked up and out of the way.
"... Sure."

The cleaning process went by much more quickly with Cyrus Three helping out, and before too much time had passed they had cleaned up the cargo bay to the point that Persephone could safely dock without breaking anything, and Maria gave her the okay. After a few minutes, Persephone had maneuvered her tiny fighter in through the airlock, the airlock pressurized again, and she was officially on the Veritas Lux Mea.
A piece of paneling on her ship popped out, evidently being the "door," and a head of pink hair quickly appeared as she shimmied herself out of her ship- though Maria was beginning to get the impression that the hunk of metal barely fit that classification.
"Do you not have a hatch?" She asked as the woman —evidently a pink Ithlo cyborg— stood up.
"Oh, I did, but I got into this bad fight a few weeks back and it kinda fused shut. I've been screwing and unscrewing that panel just until I could get to the point of fixing it. Most of my tools are shot, so..." The cyborg shrugged a little. "Hi by the way! Wow I love your hair. Also who is this guy?? Are you an android???? Oh my gosh that's so cool!"
"..."
"What?"
"Nothing."

"Yes I am! Though I'm starting to question the plausibility of my being alive..."
He made a sound of clearing his throat.
"You mentioned repairing your ship? Sorry this is sudden, but you don't think you might be able to have a look at my arm, do you? It's not listening to me."
Persephone looked like a giddy child at his request.
"I'd love to!" She went over and started inspecting where his arm should be, looking at the wiring and the way things worked together.

"Woah this is some super weird human stuff. Do you know if your parts were made to function more like cybernetics or traditional mechanics? It's not a huge difference, but it changes the types of tools I'll need to use."
"I have no idea. Isn't that the doc's job to know which parts go where? I mean I ain't a walking encyclopedia, I just shoot heads, yanno?"
Looking at the severed part of his arm with a genuinely disturbed expression, he added, "if I had to guess though, looks like a bit of both. The plates seem to be more cybernetic and the... Well, the "bones" and the rest of it... Seem mechanized to respond to computer data - that'd be my head."
He handed it back to her and looked away.
"Ugh, please don't make me look at that again, I feel queasy... I think I'm going to faint..."

"That's interesting..." Persephone commented, mostly focused on his arm and the parts. "You feel queasy? You're sentient? Sorry if that's an insensitive question, I've just frankly never seen anything like you before. Also humans aren't a very technologically advanced species, so it's surprising that they've managed to make sentient artificial intelligence when the pinnacle of technology in the galaxy hasn't. No offense, captain."
"None taken," Maria replied. It was true humans were on the bottom of the pile as far as technology was concerned, but from what little history Maria knew, that hadn't always been the case. Before they had stripped the universe of everything it produced, humanity had been a highly advanced society. But evidently not advanced enough, as evidenced by where they currently found themselves.
"If you need some tools, go down that catwalk to the right and look for an angry Scotsman in the engine room. He'll probably have a few things you can barrow. Name's Ansgar."
"Thanks captain! Will do, once I get things straight around here."

"Yeah, well, I think I'm sentient. What's the definition of sentience again? Free will? Reasoning? Emotion? As far as I'm aware of, you humans scrapped together our bodies and we just kinda... Woke up, and that was that. Far as I know, no one ever dug into my brain and rewired it. They just wound us up and let us run. I mean, sure, the Cyrus series were built for more tactical purposes in mind, but, I still made my own choices. They put me through the military academy, and in-between I went to school like everyone else. We ain't born knowing everything. Didn't take me long to figure out how to talk, though! Graduated college with a major in... I forget. Probably something to do with the Navy. I hope I'm not dying... What if I've got brain cancer?? Doc, you wouldn't know how to test me for that, would you?"

"Now don't panic," Persephone said, finally standing up straight. "Your circuits are probably all messed up from being asleep for so long. I mean all things considered, you're in fantastic condition, so you should be happy and proud! I'm gonna grab those tools, and then I'll come back and start looking you over, okay?"

"Okay, doc, I'll try to stay calm... I've just never been... Well... dead before... I don't know what's wrong with me."
He held his stomach with a grimace.
"Oh, that doesn't feel good..."

She nodded, smiling sympathetically at the poor android. "Don't worry, you're alright. Just sit down for a few minutes and I'll be back as soon as I can."
With that she dashed off, going in the direction that the captain had pointed her in. Meanwhile Maria went over to the ships comms and made a shipwide announcement.
" Attention all hands: We have two new members on board, so don't get spooked if you see a pink chick and an android running around. Get yourselves as stabilized as you can, and then come to the cargo bay so we can get a plan of action discussed and get on our way again."

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The medic did what he could on his own, pulling out countless shards of shrapnel embedded into various body parts, as well as realigning the dislocated shoulder. For the heavy surgical work, the robotic arm continued it's arduous task of repairing bone and tissue, straightening the forearm and wrapping it to help the break mend properly. With regard to the severe skin burns, luckily Kai had plenty of the balm he'd mixed for Maria earlier, which could be applied directly to the skin in order to promote new cell regeneration. It would be slow, but Kevej should have little scarring after a few weeks. He was in good hands, however, that despite the ship being as old as it is, the medical equipment was still of good quality and considered "leading edge" technology even after so many years. Kevej just needed time and plenty of monitoring of vitals. Most everything was automated, and if there was an issue during the surgery, Kai would be alerted.

The Captain rushed in with another, and Kai’s heart sunk several meters as he glanced at the unconscious woman laid up on the metal bed across from where he stood. Teg. Dammit. Maria was in a hurry, and had little time for words as she bolted back out through the MedBay doors, and Kai hesitated for a moment to walk over to the motionless body, hoping it could have been someone else. A stranger perhaps. Anyone else. But, with a deep breath, Kai'mos made his way over to the table and had to put his emotions aside as he did day-in and day-out in a profession such as his. It wasn't enough to deal with the dead and severely wounded, but those who held a special place in his heart had the possibility of making his job that much more difficult.

He leaned close to check for a pulse. It was still there but weak, her chest moving up and down at slow intervals. At a glance there were plasma burns to her upper chest -just shy of hitting her heart- where apparently an energy bolt made contact, and a shallow wound on her head from blunt force, where a thin line of blood ran down. He quickly hooked her up to the machine that would check her vitals, help her breath, and otherwise keep her stable for as long as possible while he fastened her jacket and cut through her shirt, exposing a battered chest. Kai gritted his teeth, partly wishing it had been him who was shot rather than her. She deserved better than the blast from a scumbag pirate. The Ithlo began cleaning the wound, scanning around the effected area for further damage.

It appeared that the plasma from the firearm had seeped into her bloodstream, and slightly tore into her heart, causing a poison that would need to be flushed, and fresh blood transfused before it infected her nervous system. Kai had to move quickly, and he hoped time was on his side for once, as he searched for the blood type in the freezers, until he came across Teg's, which had been stored for just such emergencies.

Based on her condition, however, there was a slim chance a full recovery would ever happen. He just hoped his own calculations were wrong.