"Captain Nox the Cardianon ship is preparing to attack" "How dare they" growled Captain Nox standing from her seat "Try to hail them if they ignore us then we will treat it as a declaration of war" the crewman nodded and began typing away on his console, the whole flight deck seemed to wait with baited breath. Whirling round in his seat the crewman shook his head sadly "They are ignoring all our transmissions" nodding in reply Nox retook her seat in the Captain's chair "It is an honour to serve with you and I intend to do it for many more years so let us show the Cardianon they can not declare war upon the Esper Empire without consequences…everyone to battle stations let us show them what we are made of" the whole crew cheered around her readying the weapon systems as the first blast hit shaking the whole ship almost knocking Nox from her chair "Divert none essential power to the shields and get the Thanix Cannons powered up keep them busy with energy blasts in the mean time" she commanded "Yes Captain!" came the chorus of replies, she smiled she had a good crew, they were loyal and would follow her into hell itself and she was damn proud to call them hers, there was no way she was going to let a bunch of lizards take them away from her. Another blast hit the hull of the ship causing it to rock again "Shields at 60% power Captain I have no idea where they got such powerful weapons from but a few more hits and the ship is history" came her pilots deep voice, clenching her fists in anger she stood from her chair and came round to his station "How much longer on the Thanix cannon Kyrik?" she demanded from the crewman "Something seems to be affecting the energy draw I don't think it's going to be online in time" Kyrik replied, "OK the direct approach is going to cut it…Valix evasive manoeuvres see if we can evade long enough to get an opening while the cannons come online" he smiled up at her his dark blue eyes alight with excitement "Of course Captain …I would suggest getting back to your seat and buckling up" she nodded and hurried back activating the com "Attention crew we have a problem getting the cannons online so we need to let Valix do his famous evasive manoeuvres until we can get them powered up so I suggest even one buckle up Nox out" she closed the com and nodded to Valix. The ship began sway this way and that as the young man at the helm made the ship do incredible acrobatics that should not have been possible in the Lunaria class ship, unfortunately the Cardianon ship's superior targeting system allowed them a few more hits cutting through the last of their shields setting alarms blaring through the ship.
"Captain their through the shields one more hit and we will sustain serious damage" Valix shouted to her his face screwed up in concentration as he tried to keep the ship moving quickly enough to avoid another blast "How are their shields holding up?" "A direct hit from the Thanix cannon would cut through the remaining shields and destroy the ship Captain" replied a young red headed crewman next to her as he furiously typed away on his console "Kyrik! We need the cannons now!" she shouted down the com the red flashing emergency lights making her look enraged "Just another minuet and they will be online" came he quick reply "We might not have another minuet" she sighed, her mind racing through every possible scenario, activating the com she spoke in her most commanding tone "Attention crew…the LC 001 Eclipse may not survive the next blast from the Cardianon ship and as your Captain I am ordering a full evacuation I want every crew member in the escape pods within the next 45seconds…it has been an honour to serve with all of you and I am sorry that I was not able to lead us to victory here but I will make sure you all get away safe, the cannons will be online by the time the evacuation is complete and I will remain aboard until I can fire them" shouts of protest came from all the crew currently on the flight deck "Captain Nox don't do this" pleaded Valix "It is the only course in which you will all survive…the cannons may come on in time for me to escape but that does not matter as your Captain it is my duty to protect you and I shall and if you argue you are only dishonouring me and you know how I feel about that" the flight deck fell silent and she smiled at her beloved crew "Now once the rest of the crew have gotten out you will evacuate and leave the ship on auto pilot so I can man the cannons and if I have time I will use the escape pod just off the flight deck…I promise you I will not throw my life away if I can see you all to safety and escape I shall" with that she stood from her chair her arms spread wide with a huge smile upon her face "I have been truly blessed to have you as my crew" "Not as blessed as us to have a Captain like you" replied Valix a chorus of agreement came from the rest of the crew.
"Captain all the rest of the crew are safely off the ship and heading home" "Good now all of you go and I shall keep them distracted long enough for you to get out" she commanded with that they left the fight deck rather dejectedly Valix staying to grab one of her armour clad hands "Stay safe Nox" he whispered as he pressed a feather light kiss to the corner of her mouth and left before she could say anything to him. She watched as the last escape pod blasted off through the sea of stars, retuning her attention to the Cardianon ship she jumped into the gunnery chief's vacant chair and aimed the Thanix cannon straight at the attacking ship, the cannons reached 100% just as another energy blast ripped its way through the hull of the ship, it shook violently causing her to almost lose her death grip on the cannon controls, finally the electromagnetic cannon flared to life, Nox smiled knowing she was going to be able to save her crew as she hit the fire button she felt relief flood through her as she watched the blast head straight for the Cardianon ship. Seconds later it impacted and blew a hole straight through the hull of the ship, smiling Nox jumped from her seat and headed to the last escape pod, just as she climbed inside a final blast from the Cardianon ship tore through the flight deck, the impact sending her flying into the wall of the pod her head bashing harshly onto the metal she smiled though knowing that at least she took those damn lizards with her and her crew was safe with those thoughts she slipped into unconsciousness.
The ship was rapidly losing altitude as it began crashing through the atmosphere of Lemuris, by some miracle as the ship neared the surface in a flaming ball of metal the escape pod containing Captain Nox launched itself landing a safe distance away from the destroyed ship, Nox lay unmoving on the floor of the escape pod, the violet tumble through the atmosphere had thrown her about the pod like a rag doll as she hadn't had the chance to strap herself in, at least six of her ribs were broken along with her left leg and arm in three places, most of her visible skin was now marred with dark purple bruises and angry looking deep welts where impact had tore her skin against usually harmless objects. She wasn't sure how long she lay in blissful unconsciousness before she could sense someone nearby, trying her best to roll over without injuring herself further she gazed up into innocence filled chocolate eyes "I'll get help kay!" came her child like tone as she rushed out the broken door of the pod leaving Nox to wonder if she was starting to hallucinate.
Before anyone tells me off I am aware I stole the Thanix cannon from Mass Effect2, I couldn't help myself I love that particular ship mounted gun in the game and thought it would make a nice addition.
Sadly I do not own Star Ocean only Captain Nox and her crew, hope you all enjoy