Cocytus Gulf, Damocles Sector
14:00 hours
The world was spinning and time seemed to slow to a crawl as Sage Dael staggered to her knees to grip her console. There had been a bright flash and the feeling of a sudden earthquake which had left everyone laying on the deck, stunned and blinded from where they stood. The Yellow Ranger blinked her eyes several times and regained her vision while her ears felt like they had been stuffed with cotton for the moment. All the sound around her seemed temporarily muffled as she made out some of the sounds of her comrades shouting or moaning in pain. Several computer consoles had been blown out along with some bulkhead paneling causing the circuits to intermittently spark and puff smoke. To her relief, she saw her Ranger friends all seemed to be rising to their feet, but several other crewmen like the helmsman and another female science officer now lay unconscious from their injuries.
Qua'lia and Keith were the first to hurry over and pick up the wounded before radioing Rin, "Crewman Niall, notify Sickbay. We have some injured here."
Sage felt a pair of hands help her up and gently steady her by the arms. Aaron had come over with a look of concern, "Sage? Are you all right?"
"I'm okay," she nodded in relief seeing that he was relatively unharmed as well. She looked across the way and saw that her fellow Ensign and Ranger was also safe, "Geo?"
"Fine. Just a little shaken up," the Blue Ranger winced as he gave a weak thumbs up.
At the center of the damaged bridge, Captain Raines grunted and picked himself up from the deck. He had been thrown down hard from the blast and both his cheek and his side had taken a hit. He was sure he probably had a broken rib and black eye, but those could wait. "Ensign Corrina... report."
Geordi hunched over his computer screen and watched in dread as he saw several warning signals light up along with red markings on several points of the Odyssey. "Shields are down but I can try a quick recharge to get us back to 15 percent. There is severe damage from recoil and energy feedback. Weapon systems are down, along with sensors and warp drive."
From the Engineering deck, Tiah and Amira also reported in sounding unnerved, "Engineering to Bridge, we're reading multiple hull breaches on several decks and we're venting some atmosphere. A couple of the force-fields are holding for now, but the main reactor's been damaged and we're slowly bleeding power. I can't say how long it will hold out."
Meanwhile, Aaron looked on in horror from his few intact monitors at the Tactical station and gave his report to add to the bad news, "My God... our fleet's been decimated. The Imperial 3rd Fleet is in ruins and... oh no..."
Hawa crawled up to her seat with a groan, "What is it Lieutenant? Let's have it."
Aaron felt like was going to throw up in fear, "Ma'am... our entire right flank. The Korinthians, the Hoplon, and Prince Benedict... they've all been destroyed. Nothing is left."
There was a long silence on the bridge as the Rangers exchanged stupefied looks before a broken transmission came in from the Albion. It was the ship's Eltarian First Officer, Commander Talos. "Captain Raines? Thank Zordon you survived."
"Barely," Dominic answered, "What's your status? Where is Captain Regan?"
Talos grimaced, "The Albion was taken moderate damage and we're recalling Zephyr Squadron along with the rest of our fighters. Captain Regan has been injured and I'm assuming command for now. We need to withdraw but we saw the damage to the Odyssey and..."
"And knew what you had to do," Raines supplied grimly, "Please help get my people to safety?"
Talos gave a nod, "Of course. We'll be standing by."
The line cut out and another silence fell over the bridge as brief showers of sparks spurted from ruined spots in the ceiling. Sage hesitated before speaking, "Captain?"
Raines reached for the comm and did his best to keep his voice level and calm, "All hands... this is the captain. Proceed to escape pods and abandon ship. Repeat, abandon ship."
He turned to his startled bridge crew and waved them toward the turbolift, "Hawa? Rangers? You have your orders. Go now!"
"What about you?" Aaron protested as Hawa nodded in agreement.
"We're not going to leave you behind either."
Raines shook his head and fixed them with a hard look, "If we're going to stop Xerxes, there's something I need to stay and do. Hawa. Rangers. I'm giving you a direct order. Your job is to get the rest of our crew to safety."
Commander Jakende gave a pained look before leading the evacuation with a loud bark, "You heard the captain everyone! Let's get going! Move!"
Back across the battlefield, the equally crippled U'shan fleet limped back to try and regroup while the Akula moved to finish off the remaining Star League vessels which were damaged and straggling behind. Cepheus looked toward the Exarch and reported from his monitor, "My lord, our crew on the Typhon Cannon is reporting several power conduits were overloaded in the firing. It will not be able to fire again... at least not now."
Xerxes frowned in mild annoyance before giving a sigh, "No matter. We'll finish off their wounded fleet here and now."
He paused and noticed the Odyssey had been severely damaged and was beginning to jettison escape pods that were being collected by the Albion. Xerxes gave a predatory grin, "Captain? Move the Akula forward and bring it to bear against the survivors."
Ever so slowly, the large battle carrier Akula lumbered forward and began to fire on some of the wounded coalition ships. A Pavonian frigate and an Arcadian corvette were among the first to fall victim as they were obliterated in the counterattack. Back on the Odyssey, the rank and file crewmen scrambled to evacuate while the warning klaxons continued to blare loudly. To everyone's relief, Rin rejoined her friends and helped direct people to safety though she looked just as worried and confused.
"What the heck happened out there?" the Green Ranger asked. "There was a flash of light and then the next thing I know, the ship is turned upside down."
"Trust us. It's better we tell you later," Geordi told her.
"Okay... well, is our side at least winning?" Rin asked as she tried to keep calm and take her mind off the fact their ship was figuratively sinking.
The others exchanged a dubious look before Sage muttered, "Hmm... let's just say the answer is kind of up in the air right now."
As the evacuation continued, the Rangers paused when they saw Hawa reach for her earpiece and contort her features. Qua'lia tilted her head slightly, "Commander? Is everything okay?"
"No. No it is not," Hawa said as a group of crewmen passed by to reach the next group of escape pods. Among them was Thor. "I've just gotten word that there's an enemy boarding party trying to get into the ship. A shuttle full of Dragoons have latched on to our starboard aft and are making their way across Deck 6."
Keith furrowed his brow, "They're probably headed to Engineering. Maybe to capture the reactor core and choke our power source?"
"Whatever the case, I want you Rangers to cover the evacuation and repel the invaders," Hawa ordered them, "Be careful... I've been told there's a breach and most of the deck has been depressurized. I doubt the artificial grav plating will be working either."
Aaron tapped his morpher and waved his team on toward their next goal, "We're on it Commander. We won't let you down."
"Once you stop the boarding party, get clear of the ship yourselves," she said, "And don't worry about me. There's one more thing I have to take care of. Thor! Over here. I need your help!"
The six friends turned and began to sprint down the now emptier corridors of the ship as they headed toward the access point between Deck 6 and Engineering. Their boots echoed with metallic thuds until they reached one of the access hatches which had been sealed by an emergency bulkhead. It was meant to automatically seal in case of hull breaches and for now, it looked like it was holding. Qua'lia cracked her knuckles as they reached for their morphers, "All right everyone... time to suit up."
"Stellar Shift!"
The six Rangers emerged from the flash of light wearing their protective suits before opening the bulkhead door. One by one, they jumped through and found the conditions of this area of the ship had changed. Many of the lights had gone dark and several panels had been blown out exposing fried out electrical systems that were still sparking in the darkness. Here and there, bits of metal scraps floated in the now depressurized section signaling all the air and warmth had been sucked out from one of the resulting hull breaches. Despite having Ranger boots that could magnetize to the deck floor, the six opted to half glide through the corridors with long floating strides, using the reduced gravity to move faster.
Just as they rounded a corner, they halted as a hail of plasma rifle fire raked the bulkheads. A small platoon of invading Dragoons blocked their path and took up arms, hoping to pin down the Rangers from advancing any further. Keith activated his flail weapon and grumbled, "Crap! Now what? We can't go directly at them."
Geordi looked around and thought things over for a moment before drawing his bowgun. The Eltarian Ranger gave a grin, "Maybe not, but we can still attack them from above. We are almost in zero gravity after all."
"Great thinking Geo," Aaron nodded in approval as he pulled his blaster pistol, Geo you hit them high. Qua'lia and I will strike head on. Keith and Sage, you follow up with Rin."
From their covered position behind some collapsed bulkheads and girders, the Dragoons waited but were surprised when they saw the Blue Odyssey Ranger seemingly fly toward them along the ceiling after having been given a push by his friends. As Geordi surprised them from above and continued to cruise overhead, he aimed his bowgun down on them and fired, causing chaos and confusion while flushing them from cover. Once the U'shan invaders were out in the open, the Red and Pink Rangers glided forward in near zero-G firing their blaster pistols taking down a couple more enemies. Once they neared, the two used their boots to push off each other and spin clear sideways while Keith and Sage came at them next. Each of them flew forward with the inertia of the low gravity while holding both ends of the flail and using it to clothesline more Dragoons in midair who were caught out of position.
Amid the chaos, Rin moved next and used her Delphinus Defender to bat several enemies aside, then she used the the ends of her polearm to push off the walls and change direction. The unusual tactic allowed her to use the momentum of zero-G to now attack from different angles. As she pushed off the corner of a ceiling and dropped a powerful flying kick to the head of a foe, she didn't see one of the last Dragoons coming up from behind preparing to throw a plasma grenade at her. Just as she turned, she was surprised as the end of Keith's energy flail lashed out and snared the soldier's forearm. Before the Dragoon could release the explosive, the Chrome Ranger floated over and braced himself against a wall whipping the enemy away in a new direction. The helpless Dragoon was hurled right through a large breach in the hull nearby and flung into open space. The soldier floated for several seconds before the grenade went off and detonated clear of the ship leaving the other Rangers unharmed.
"Nice move, Petty Officer!" Sage called giving a thumbs up while Rin gave a more subdued nod of amazement at him saving her.
"Uh... yeah. Thanks."
With the enemy boarding party now defeated, the Rangers regrouped in the center of the deck and locked hands in a ring. As the six weightless Rangers floated together, Sage looked about the dark ruins of the deck and the large gaping hull breach which was barely held in place by a force field. "Okay… so what now?"
"I think we should follow Commander Jakende's orders and get clear of the ship," Keith suggested, "Who knows how much longer the ship's core reactor will be able to supply power."
"If the Odyssey is a sitting duck, I'm more worried about another U'shan ship picking us off," Aaron agreed as he pulled the group over toward the large opening of the breach which had been scorched and torn away from the side of the ship, "All right gang… let's do this together."
"Are you sure about this?" Rin asked nervously, "You're seriouosly asking us to jump out of the ship… into open space."
"Don't worry," Geordi offered, "Our suits will protect us from the cold and the vacuum. They're already doing it."
"Even so, we're leaping out of a hole in the side of the ship!" Rin protested, "That's a little crazy... even for us."
"We'd be crazier to stick around," Qua'lia pointed out as they all braced themselves by the opening, "The Albion will be nearby and they're going to pick us up."
Aaron took a deep breath as he looked out of the hole and nodded, "All right… here goes nothing. Let's go!"
The six pushed off together and their human ring drifted out past the Odyssey's forcefield before passing through into the wide-open plane of outer space. As they floated out of the breach and into the open, the entire nebula and the scope of the battlefield now opened up before them, making of the six feel that much smaller outside the safety of their cruiser. The six friends clung to each other letting the momentum of their push carry them further and further away, all the while giving them a better look at the exterior of the ship. The Typhon Cannon's glancing shot had done significant damage and it broke the Ranger's hearts seeing the scorches and deep gashes along the entire starboard dorsal section of their once proud cruiser.
From their vantage point, they watched as the large U'shan flagship Akula approached from the nebula's gloom like a predatory shark, waiting to kill its wounded prey. Off to one side, they saw the damaged ANS Albion hurrying to recover the Odyssey's escape pods but they wondered if they'd even be able to make it into range without the aid of rocket thrusters.
Before anyone could raise the point, they were surprised as a new ship suddenly appeared on the battlefield and dropped out of warpspace. As it neared, they could see it was the Acropolis meaning Princess Sera had come after all! Before they could say another word, the Rangers were all beamed directly aboard the carrier and reunited with their friends.
On the bridge of the Acropolis, both Sera and Skyler looked in wide eyed shock at the five Rangers recovering to their feet and then to the battlefield in front of them. There was wreckage from several destroyed ships scattered everywhere and stretches of the nebula gases which were seemingly combusting. To their horror, their scanners picked up the Albion limping along while the Odyssey floated with severe damage registered to it. Skyler muttered in dread, "Bugger... what happened here?"
"Princess! Skyler! Thank the gods you're here!" Sage and Rin cried as they pulled off their helmets and hugged their friends.
"We didn't expect to see you here... but we're glad you came. Thank you," Qua'lia added in gratitude to the Princess.
Sera looked about, "Everyone... I'm glad you're safe, but what happened here? What's become of the Odyssey? Where is the Hoplon?
Aaron tightened his features and tried to keep everyone focused, "We'll explain later Princess. The Odyssey was too damaged and everyone is getting clear. Have you gotten any word from Commander Jakende?"
Sera blinked in confusion, "Hawa? No. I haven't spoken to her, but we can try to patch you through to her."
Geordi hurried over the comm station, "Thanks. We don't have any time to waste."
With most of the escape pods being launched from the Odyssey, Hawa and Thor made their way back toward the turbolift when they ran into Tiah and Amira who were now evacuating. Hawa was surprised when the doctor caught her arm and stopped her a moment, "Commander? Where are you going? The escape pods are this way."
"I know. I'm headed to the bridge. There's something I have to do."
Amira glanced toward Thor a moment and made a deduction, "It's Dominic, isn't it?"
"I'm not going to leave him to die. At least not without trying," Hawa admitted, "What kind of second-in-command would I be, right?"
Amira smiled and nodded, "He's lucky to have such a loyal friend. Please bring him home safe, Commander?"
"We won't let you down," Hawa answered before waving the two on, "Get going you two! Grab a pod while you can. We're running out of time."
Amid the ruins of the Odyssey's empty bridge, Captain Raines stood bravely at the helm controls watching as his mortally wounded cruiser powered its sublight engines and closed the distance with the Akula. He had polarized the hull and directed all the remaining power he could spare to reinforce the forward shields against the onslaught. The Akula fired quickly in desperation as Cepheus and Xerxes soon realized what Raines was doing. The Odyssey's shields buckled and began to give way under several more direct hits from the Akula's energy cannons but still it pushed forward suffering more hull damage.
"The absolute madman!" Xerxes snarled watching in dread as the scorched and ruined Odyssey barreled forward into point blank range. "He wouldn't!"
"Evasive maneuvers! Brace for impact!" Cepheus shouted to his crew as the Akula tried in futility to avoid the suicidal enemy cruiser.
The Odyssey's engines flared once more as the bow impacted the Akula's superstructure and plunged deeply into it. There were several minor explosions followed by the screeching sounds of tearing steel as the Odyssey completely buried its forward prow into the enemy flagship, ripping gaping holes though several decks. For a long moment, the large super carrier Akula appeared to float like a harpooned whale after having been physically impaled by the Odyssey. Amid the resulting cloud of wreckage and steel, the two ships seemingly locked in a death grapple while the crew of the Akula scrambled to recover their senses.
Captain Cepheus looked on in dismay as reports of catastrophic damage began flooding in while Xerxes wiped away an unnerved expression from his face. He attempted to radio the Alliance ship now buried in their hull, hoping he could demoralize them. "What a useless gesture. What did you hope to accomplish by doing that? You've only doomed yourself."
He was surprised when Captain Raines's steely voice answered over a crackling comm line, "I've got you right where I want you, you blue skinned bastards. If I go down, I'm going to take you and your superweapon with us. Computer, initiate self destruct sequence and prepare to overload the reactor core. Set timer to five minutes. Authorization code: Raines. Omega Protocol. 3-3-5. Execute."
The U'shan crewmen of the Akula began to panic as they heard the Odyssey's bridge computer verify the code and activate the self destruct protocol. Xerxes gave a furious shout and cut the line before moving to depart the vessel, "All hands abandon ship! Get me out of here, now!"
As the crew of the Akula began to panic and flee to the escape pods, Dominic directed the last ounces of power from his dying ship toward the engines. Ever so slowly, it began to push the U'shan flagship closer toward the Typhon Cannon so that when the ships exploded it would take the superweapon out as well. In the dark ruins of the empty bridge, Raines gave a forlorn look at the blown-out consoles, the wrecked bulkheads, and the torn apart stations before giving a nod. "Thank you Odyssey. I wish I could apologize to my crew and tell them I'm sorry... but I couldn't let you do this alone either. If we both have to die here, then let's do it well."
"No one else is going to die Captain. Especially not you," came the voice of Hawa from behind. Dominic whirled around in shock only to see Hawa and Thor coming over to face him. Thor wore a grim look and shook his head.
"You can apologize to the rest of the crew later. We're going to get you out of here, sir."
Raines frowned, "What are you two doing here? I thought I told you to evacuate."
"My first duty is to protect the life of everyone on this ship," Thor said simply, "I'm not going to let the Odyssey lose another captain."
"You have lots of friends here who love you and care about you," Hawa added, "We can't ask you to sacrifice yourself... especially not now."
Dominic gave a frustrated look, "I'm not moving. Unless there are any other escape pods intact, I'm not climbing in one and not unless you two get to safety first."
"There will only be two working pods left in the launch bay," Thor answered stoically, "Your life has more value so you should take mine."
Dominic shook his head with a stern tone, "I'm giving you both a direct order. Leave me and get in those damn pods. Save yourselves."
"I figured you'd be stubborn about it." Hawa said shaking her head, "With all due respect Captain, you can take your direct order and shove it up your ass."
To the captain's shock, Hawa reached to her side and pulled out her blaster pistol. Before Raines could speak, Hawa shot him point blank with the stun setting and watched as Thor caught the limp captain in his arms. "I'm so sorry Dom. I hope you can forgive us later."
"You realize we disobeyed orders and just shot the captain, right?" Thor muttered while fighting through the pain his own injury to hoist the unconscious Dominic over his shoulder, "We might get court-martialed for this."
"Technically I shot him Lieutenant," Hawa corrected him as she holstered her sidearm, "If it means saving my best friend, then I'm willing to take my chances."
Suddenly, she heard something and reached for her comm bead, "I'm here. Yes."
Thor watched curiously as Hawa stood for a moment in complete surprise before nodding with a relieved smile, "Understood. Whenever you're ready."
She turned to the Caltarian and gave a wink, "Well Lieutenant, I guess we'll all live to see another day after all. Standby for transport."
Moments later, the three were beamed directly off the Odyssey's bridge and transported back to the safety of the Acropolis as the Odyssey continued to push the Akula toward the superweapon. No sooner had Xerxes docked with the Typhon Cannon, the timer on the Odyssey finally ran out causing the cruiser's reactor core to detonate. In a brilliant cloud of plasma, molten steel, and flames, the Odyssey exploded sending out a large shockwave of force. The death of the Odyssey carried down the length of the ship before it blasted a fatal gaping hole through the Akula as well. Chunks of the Imperial battlecarrier's hull was stripped away and melted before the stress on its superstructure caused the vessel to completely break in half. The remaining survivors on both sides watched in wide eyed wonder as the large halves of the Akula self-immolated, throwing more destructive gouts of fire and shrapnel at the Typhon Cannon nearby.
The superweapon shuddered as waves of flaming debris impacted the cannon, causing minor damage to several of its other systems. Xerxes snarled as he steadied himself and gave an order to his Dragoon escorts, "Damn them! We need to regroup. Take us to warp and get us out of here! Now!"
On the opposite end of the battlefield, the Odyssey Rangers watched the fiery spectacle in silent awe. They didn't speak a word and held in their anguish as they witnessed their starship sacrificed to destroy the rogue Exarch's flagship. It wasn't just their ship that was being destroyed... but it was a place they had called home as well. Amid the death blossoms of fire and mangled steel, they could see the damaged Typhon Cannon retreat into warp followed by the remainder of the Separatist fleet. Even in the moment, no one was certain if this felt more like a victory or a defeat.
At the helm controls, Skyler was unusually quiet and didn't offer any sort of joke or quip. She simply turned over her shoulder and looked to Sera, "Princess? Everyone is safely aboard. What's the plan?"
Sera watched the last of the flames consume the Odyssey and Akula while a cloud of wreckage floated across the nebula. Of the gas clouds circling the region that had been ignited by the Typhon Cannon, they continued to burn giving off an eerie orange red light. From the distance, it looked as if sections of outer space itself were still burning and smoldering in the aftermath of the destructive confrontation. Although her heart felt heavy from witnessing such destruction and loss, Sera exchanged a quiet nod with the Rangers before turning back toward the bridge, "Signal the rest of the fleet. We'll return to Arcadia... and try to make sense of this carnage today."
