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As usual, I don't own the Teen Titans. I wish I did, though…
Chapter Nine: Abandon Ship

The airlock door opened onto pure chaos. Speedy handed Jinx off to Bumblebee as she passed into the crew quarters and moved quickly towards the command deck. A very relieved Aqualad slid from behind the helm and sat back in his chair. "Not a moment too soon."

Raven replied in her normal monotone. "Maybe too late. Shields are at thirty percent."

Aqualad let an Atlantian curse slip beneath his breath. "Terra, can you get me a visual of the north polar region of Tamaran?" The blonde nodded and soon the viewscreen ahead of them was filled with the mottled pink and white of the planet. The coloration was interrupted by a few dark spots, which were the Gordanian ships in position.

Aqualad squinted his eyes and counted. "Speedy, double check me here. Five ships, right?"

Speedy counted. "Yeah, five of them."

"Terra, overlay this view with the sensor data." There was a moment's pause and then a grid fell over the picture, with four red crosshairs corresponding to four of the Gordanian ships. Aqualad pointed to the fifth ship, the one without a crosshair. "That's it, that's the control ship."

Speedy was about to set course for the ship when he found himself hovering a few feet over his console with a horrible roaring sound in his ears. He landed just as quickly on the floor with a heavy thud. Klaxons began sounding from all the stations on the bridge. Raven had managed to hold herself in place using her powers and was the first to report. "Aft shields are down."

Terra pulled herself back up to her sensor panel. "And that shot took out our starboard engine."

Cyborg's voice filled the command deck. "She's right, the engine is completely totaled. Coolant flow is blocked, it's starting to overheat and will blow in a few minutes. We need to jettison it fast."

Aqualad had managed to stay in his chair at the cost of his left wrist, which was obviously broken and lay limply in his lap. The pain was evident in his eyes but not in his voice. "Understood, Cyborg. Blackfire, protect our aft. Shields are down back there."

The Tamaranian's normally smooth voice came back slightly rattled. "I'll do what I can, but I can't hold them off for long."

The bridge was quiet for a few moments while everyone contemplated their position and calculated their options. Finally, Speedy spoke up. "You guys go, abandon ship. Raven can form a good enough heat shield and fly you down to the surface. I'll pilot Titan One to the Gordanian control ship and disable it, then land." He looked to the ship's clock. "Starfire only has two hours left. We have to get her to the surface and to a hospital fast."

A weak, but still proud voice called from the door to the command deck. "Not so fast, tough guy." Jinx was leaning heavily against the bulkhead, still pale and shivering a little. "My helmet is totaled so I'm stuck on this ship. You're not doing this alone." She straightened up and smiled. "I don't want you to."

Aqualad considered the plan as Raven set his wrist and began to heal it as best she could. The Atlantian looked almost as pale as Jinx. "Okay, say we do abandon ship. What's to stop the Gordanians from targeting us once we leave the ship?"

Speedy smiled. "I'll jettison the starboard and port engines and release you guys from the cargo bay. The vacuum will pull out the cryogenic chamber in there. The two engines and the cryogenic chamber will give them some extra targets to consider. Plus, I'll maneuver us into the atmosphere, the ionization should help mask your escape. I'll still have two engines to get to the ship.

Aqualad nodded. "It's crazy, but it's the best thing we've got. Jinx and Speedy will stay with the ship." He pressed the communications button on his chair. "All hands, abandon ship. Report to the cargo hold immediately."

Speedy turned and punched some commands into the helm, the control flashed from blue to red. "Automatic pilot is engaged, it'll take us down into the atmosphere and hold us there."

Robin and Starfire, in the crew quarters, heard the call to abandon ship. Starfire, deathly pale and coughing bright red Tamaranian blood, looked confused. "Why does friend Aqualad wish to perform music at a time like this?"

Robin hurried to put on his helmet. "No, Starfire. Not a band on ship, abandon ship. I think we're going to try to descend to Tamaran without the ship." A low roar could be heard through the ship. "It sounds like we're entering the atmosphere. We have to get to the cargo bay."

Starfire nodded and tried to get up. She failed miserably, nearly falling down. Robin caught her easily and lifted her up into his arms. She fit into his arms perfectly as they moved through the battered halls of the ship. Starfire tried to catch a glimpse of a passing clock. "Love Robin, what is the time?"

The real meaning of her question was clear and Robin didn't need to look at a clock. "A little under two hours. You're going to be just fine." He smiled and kissed her scalding hot forehead. "Will you be okay in space?"

Starfire nodded, happy to not be a problem for once. "Oh yes, I can still fly and travel through space and everything. I might be sick, but I am still Tamaranian. Even sick, I am strong."

Robin smiled, entering the cargo hold with his precious cargo in his arms. "You have no idea how right you are."

In the cargo hold of Titan One, the titans gathered with their suits on, pausing to activate them and run diagnostics. Raven was chanting in the center of the bay, glowing with her black energy and working on expanding her powers to create a large enough bubble for all ten of the titans to fit in. When she was ready, they all moved into position.

Raven stood at the head of the group with Aqualad off to her side. Beast Boy and Terra stood together, hugging each other tight. Cyborg stood protectively behind Bumblebee and Robin held the rapidly deteriorating Starfire in his arms. Below them all, Mas y Menos waited calmly and quietly for quite possibly the first time in their lives.

Jinx and Speedy stood by the door. Jinx called out to the other titans. "First we'll shut off the gravity, then we'll blow the seal on the bay door. You guys have a safe trip now."

Behind her, Speedy looked across the bay to Aqualad. He looked from the Atlantian to the witch and then back again. In unspoken understanding, Aqualad nodded and braced himself. The archer gave Jinx a quick kiss before he put a helmet on her head. He whispered as he closed the visor. "I'm sorry."

Before she could even think to ask what he was sorry for, she heard the suit voice, his suit voice. "Speedy, suit seals one hundred percent, suit oxygen one hundred percent." She turned quickly, hearing the shuddering sound of the gravity turning off.

Speedy grabbed her by the suit front and reached up, taking his mask off. He looked into her helmet with bright green eyes. She could hear him through her headset. "I have to keep you safe." With that he pushed her away, sending her across the cargo bay and into Aqualad's arms. Raven drew up a shield around them with her signature chant as Speedy closed the door from inside the ship and locked it.

There was total silence in the bay except for Jinx's screams. Then the bay exploded as the rear cargo door jettisoned, sending the titans into the flaming plasma of the high Tamaranian atmosphere.

Speedy kicked off the cargo bay door and flew quickly through the gravity free ship. He reached the command deck and strapped himself into his chair, returning the helm to manual and slaving all systems into his console. Sensors read that the hull temperature was a cool seven thousand degrees Celsius. He quickly jettisoned the starboard and port engines, and fired the two remaining engines to bring him out of the Tamaranian atmosphere.

To any Gordanian ship paying attention, the glowing red form of Titan One looked mildly frightening. But the armada was busy targeting the four objects in the ionization field of the upper atmosphere. One object blew up almost immediately and another two broke apart in midair. The fourth target was lost in the ionization as it sank down towards the planet surface.

Out of the ionizing interference, he opened communications. "Blackfire, Raven is carrying the crew down to the planet's surface. Go help her out. I'll be fine up here."

"Right, I'm going in." Speedy looked around for her and finally saw a purple flash streaking across his viewscreen towards the planet surface, headed down as he was headed up.

Ahead of him were the five Gordanian ships in polar orbit. He pulled up the old screen, the fifth ship hadn't moved. Right where it should be, hidden over the magnetic pole. He armed the plasma cannons and fusion torpedoes and fired as he approached. The shields on the Gordanian ship held against the onslaught.

Speedy sneered. "Stupid ship, stupid aliens, stupid stupid shields." He muttered on as he pulled up the engine control screen. It was a simple matter to shut down the coolant flow. He was pleased by the timeliness of the warning klaxons. "Just a minute more. Let's see how you can handle this."

Although the aft shields had been knocked out, the forward shields were still moderately intact. A good thing, considering Titan One was taking heat from all five ships as it approached the pole. Speedy did a good job of dodging most of the weapons fire, but with increasing frequency, a shot or two would land and cause the ship to shudder or sparks to fly from one console or another.

From the weapons system monitor, Speedy watched the distance to target shrink. He watched the engine monitor as the engine temperature increased steadily, nearing the red line. Finally, he reached the right distance. At one thousand kilometers the redhead spun the ship nose over teakettle and jettisoned the two remaining engines. He watched as they continued towards the Gordanian ships.

As the ship spun around again, he was pointed at the Gordanian control vessel, now very close. He fired all remaining fusion torpedoes, some striking the ship, others striking the jettisoned engines. The result was a stunning, silent fireball over Tamaran. The control ship was immediately disabled, quickly followed by the remainder of the fleet as their communication signal was lost.

The shockwave spread through space, broadsiding Titan One and pushing it down towards Tamaran, inexorably closer to the planet's atmosphere. The ship shook violently at the hit. Inside, the pilot was thrown forward, his head unceremoniously hitting his console and knocking him out.