Sometimes, wishes do come true. The embodiment of hope arrived at the last possible moment and clashed with her attacker. Phoebe didn’t even register what happened until the monstrous reptile’s weight lifted with that roar, finally giving her some breathing room. She noticed the cut, the other woman, all while simmering in maddening erotic heat. Soaked nethers ached for attention while her chest heaved with heated breaths, throbbing nubs tingling against the colder air now that the alien had abandoned her flesh. He sure groomed her good for what’s to come and mustering much of a coherent thought took time.

When it dawned on her that she could move again, Phoebe rolled off the table back on trembling legs that were equal parts putty and desperate to move. Thighs rubbed together, smearing them with her own liquid shame. Trails of glistening nectar marked them with the evidence of her lust. Her dripping flower screamed for attention in their midst as every move brought more sweet stimuli to those puffed up petals. She gasped in frustration with the world being more fever dream than anything else, a world stacked against her as the young blonde struggled to move further.

Moving was a nightmare, but giving in seemed worse. Likewise, the humiliation her current state brought couldn’t be allowed to be a distraction from her goal. She’d not let that creature use her, let alone Hope. Whatever happened to Viryon, Phoebe had to figure that out as well. A similar fate, maybe? Something more horrifying? Whichever the case, standing around doing nothing wouldn’t solve the problem and there’s only so much the armored marine could do on her own.

Glassy eyes scanned the room from her latest position though it proved difficult to focus. The plan was simple. Secure a weapon, aim and fire. If Hope couldn’t outlast or kill him outright, that’d be their only shot. She never had the chance to check whether that’d even work, but she had to do something. Unlike Hope, Phoebe wouldn’t be taking chances either. That thing was going down as soon as there was an opening that’d put the other woman at minimum risk.

Whether the fallen droids or her own dropped weapon were closer dictated where she’d be headed, scrambling in that general direction with the aid of tables that’d support her lead like limbs. All Hope had to do now was hold out until she snatched one of those rifles and could take a shot. With any luck this part of the game would soon be over.

That deadly dance continued while Phoebe had been ignored in the face of the new threat. Claws came close to scoring a hit, that blade caused the reptile to react. As things carried on Phoebe would notice thin cuts along his forearms that blocked the blade.

The sword was unable to bite deep it seemed. An annoyance it appeared. Yet if there was more strength behind the blade or if it struck a vulnerable spot it could do some significant damage. Hope came to this conclusion as well. She had to get closer than she'd like given the reach of her opponent. He was quick and far taller to the point that the feint she made against his eyes or perhaps throat hadn't fooled it as she shifted her attention to the engorged cock attempting to slice it off.

The reptile intercepted the blade with a forearm taking another shallow cut while back handing the agent with the other. Delivering a blow strong enough to send the agent tumbling. Hope lost her sword smashing against a wall. This, however, left her clear of the reptile allowing Phoebe to get a clear shot with the droid energy weapon she acquired.

A splash of energy against the barrel chest of the reptile got his attention. Yet the weapon had little effect that she saw. She was the threat now and as he moved toward her Phoebe saw that his pace was slower as if he were walking against the flow of a fire hose gradually gaining ground against that resistance. So there was an effect even if she was unaware of it. Perhaps the shots felt like fists slamming into the creature. Perhaps more was happening than she could see even if those scales were holding up.

It all happened so fast. Yet it felt as if time itself slowed down. She processed those movements, saw that the reptile was closing fast. Shifting her aim she almost hit his junk. Seeing her eyes shift he brought a hand down in time to catch a blast. He was not fast enough to react to her aim going to his eyes roaring out. A hand clasped over his eyes a moment later so she was unable to see the damage she dealt.

Now he was effectively blind heading toward her last know direction. She easily evaded him. The reptile growled. His excitement dwindled now that he was hurt and eventually his cock returned to his body allowing him to make blind swipes. Though she was never there. On occasion he peaked through his fingers to orientate himself but she never had a real shot.

Hope had recovered. Crawling over to her sword and using it to get up. She had been rattled but recovered quick enough. Patting her arm to grab her attention Hope pointed toward the door.

“Tractor beam's are down. Viryon's back in our hanger. The target is still loose.”

Hope whispered as she aimed with a blaster pistol. She fired as the reptile peaked. Not connecting with the eye but reminding the creature they were still present. They were able to shift and as long as they didn't stumble over any of the droids they were able to stay relatively safe.

Hope's pistol did little. Yet she seemed to have a plan. Focusing more on their opponent than Phoebe she didn't notice anything amiss yet. It seemed that she was moving deeper into the room rather than away, Phoebe noticing that she was heading toward the door on the opposite side of the room that lead into the kitchen. She would notice that their was minimal damage of the chest of the reptile, some of the scales blackened, others were red as if they were heated metal.

With the tractor beams down they had the option of destroying the ship if their target was still onboard. Of course there was dealing with the apparent threat too. For the moment the threat was minimal but soon the reptile would take more risks. Even if they left he was likely to realize that they were not there after a time and end up pursuing them once more. Of course they would have a head start too.

It’s no use. The enemy not only survived, but barely slowed down, no matter what both women threw at him. Just that one specimen, not even his comrades, inhibited their progress far longer than preferable. It was only when the two of them got some distance between the alien and themselves that the blonde thought how fucked they would’ve been without at least one of them being able to flank him from a distance.

Yet not all news were bad. Viryon seemed fine, despite her worst fears. “Oh, thank God.” Phoebe exhaled pure relief at that point. Splitting up earlier appeared to have been the right idea. Not even Hope’s sword pierced the reptile’s natural armor. She didn’t want to think about what could’ve been had she and Viryon been captured together. The constant reminder of captivity tormented her from within, the evidence of which was all that moisture, blood and a more than shredded uniform.

It didn’t help that they had to keep moving. The woman fired whenever the creature peaked from cover, taking over for Hope at times though focusing on the matter at hand remained difficult. Phoebe ached all over, more so from neglect that those stinging wounds. She trembled against her will, threatening to collapse on jello like limbs, doing her best to suppress the most cruel state of denial that thing forced her to endure. Worse, if they couldn’t get out of here, it was only a matter of time before her former captor advanced on them.

Still, they headed for the kitchen. Was there anything that could help them dispatch of the reptile? Or had she passed up on an escape route back there? Truth be told, Phoebe never caught up on where Hope actually came from. That might actually be the case.

She didn’t ask about it, not yet, but followed directly on the female marine’s heels. It was a bit of a silent understanding between them. Hope’s whisper indicated it’d be best to keep current developments on the down low and she wasn’t about to let those minor secrets slip, assuming he wouldn’t figure it out in time. Then again, would he? Something about the shuttles, about getting to the Orion .. Wasn’t there a point to running away but winding up in the mess hall by accident?

A comms terminal had been the least of her problems, of course. For now, she’d accompany Hope, get away from this vile scum or eliminate him, then take it from there. The game was still on, and as long as the others weren’t thinking of quitting, Phoebe wouldn’t abandon them despite her current state.

The thing just wouldn't die.

Hope worked back towards the kitchen. Grabbing the reptile's attention along the way. She ceased making any disturbance once they were at the door as if bracing herself. When ready she used hand signals to Phoebe for the former agent to move. Either to hide or get cover by one of the carts.

Once that had been done she hit the controls of the door then crept off in the opposite direction. As the door opened it grabbed the attention of the reptile his head jerked in that direction. He peeked out between fingers seeing the door close. His hand dropped away from those vulnerable eyes. A crocodilian hiss of pleasure followed as he moved toward the door knowing that the room was a dead end.

Once there after a quick scan of the room he unleashed the magnetic clamps of a cart then entered the kitchen hurling the cart in before him. Expecting some fire coming his way he charged in. His second thought was that the girls were hiding in here or the other room. His plan if not detecting them here would have been to go back out into the mess hall and search there.

The crash of the cart masked the sound of the bouncing grenade that was tossed into the back of the room. Hope rushed away, the reptile spun around. The door closed. An explosion. The door opened only for the reptile to go flying across the room landing in a heap. Still alive he attempted to get up then collapsed.

His back charred and full of jagged metal. Shrapnel from the cart and whatever else the kitchen kicked up. Finally dead Hope looked toward Phoebe, relief on her hidden features due to the helmet of her armor.

“We have to get off this ship.” Whether their objective had been completed or not the scenario did not end. Perhaps their fate was wrapped up in the ordeal as well as executing the mission. “Viryon and some of the others have already left I think it's time we did the same.”

They were hardly given any rest with the difficulty level. The special force team she had already encountered had been back. Returning before the grenade took care of their foe. It was time to go, they received their orders and had been dispatched to retrieve the reptile only to hear the explosion while on route.

They scrambled into position, one peeking into the room seeing that the reptile was down. It was just a quick look, the motion catching Phoebe's attention. Yet the men didn't storm into the room. Using hand signals to prepare? Retreating or waiting for them to come out it was hard to say what was on their agenda. Phoebe only knew that she had seen one of them.

That detestable reptile had it coming. There’d be no tears lost among the victims for even as a mere creation of the simulation, Phoebe utterly despised that thing. Watching it collapse and struggle, only to die, brought a certain relief and satisfaction to her senses. Still, the damage was done.

It was more than pain, more than wounds that were starting to heal. Whether Hope noticed or not, the petite blonde was in a poor state. Milky thighs trembled and glistened with unchained desire. Her liquid shame dripped to the metal floor while crouched, her nethers and engorged pearl on full display. Swollen mounds heaved with her every heated breath. It got harder and harder to focus on anything but cells screaming for attention, and it only became worse every waking moment.

“Wha .. What about the target?” They couldn’t stay, that much was clear. She considered dropping the idea of reaching a terminal to send out a message about those shuttles completely. There’s no way she’d make it on her own and Hope seemed determined to get out. Everyone else had, at least those that were still alive. Swallowing hard, that hurt her pride a little, but it seemed for the best. If that didn’t count as a win, then Luna got to tease her over it, but she’d just have to endure that as well. “Ahh .. A-Alright, well .. There’s a stripped droid fighter with room for two, as well as a number of shuttles carrying shielded components in a nearby hangar. I’m thinking it’s closer than the one we originally landed in, but we’ll face greater resistance there.”

Her head spun about at the first sign of company. She spotted the one peeking in and immediately tensed up. “Fuck me .. Marines, by the doorway. They’ve seen the body. As far as I’m aware, they’ve got flashbangs. What else, I’m not sure.” They wouldn’t just leave, would they? Yellow eyes flickered to Hope, wondering where they stood in terms of equipment. “You haven’t got any more grenades, have you?”

With the mess hall and kitchen being a dead end, they had to get out through that door. It seemed foolish to brute force it, even though Phoebe was unaware of any alternative routes. They had to act quickly lest those marines dumped another one of those flashbangs on them. The helmet might protect Hope, but not the pilot’s still ringing ears. Suffering one of those blasts was more than enough.

Scanning the room for vents, crawl spaces, anything, perhaps they had a shot at making it out without direct confrontation. Or, perhaps they could blow something up, like a gas tank though Phoebe hadn’t seen anything of the sort and didn’t expect to find any in the first place. Worse, all she had was a scavenged blaster rifle against an entire squad.

She briefly wondered whether psychic powers worked in here, but then again her focus would be too far off to even think of utilizing them, not that they were potent enough to begin with.

Hope absorbed all that she said. She made a nod at the mention of the fighter. “Sounds good as long as you're flying.” Her skills were adequate but not the best in that department. Hers had been more on the martial side given her life with the Nagi.

Oddly whatever scans that the game made translated equivalent skills. Had Phoebe attempted it she would find that she could access her physic abilities. To a lesser extend the game recorded much of her experiences or at least whatever was found to be relevant. Past experiences altered the scenario without her possible knowledge and whatever the natives had in the way of tech was exceptional at recording traits that one might not even realize as would be proven soon enough.

Hope glanced to the doorway to glimpse their company but saw nothing. Still her grip tightened on her sword, her gaze remained locked in place even as Phoebe looked about. No vents or solutions to their dilemma had been apparent. Nothing to blow up either. At least there was a fire extinguisher for what good that would do. There was a system to deploy a fire suppressant foam. The kitchen was coated in it looking like a wash machine that had too much detergent added to it. Not even the scorch marks would be seen given the plethora of suds.

“Last one and this is only a smoke grenade.” Hope held up the last grenade she had with her off hand. That was when it happened. Something was tossed into the room, likely another flash bang. Yet the game factored in Hope's traits as well. The marine didn't even realize that she had it … extraordinary luck … as bad as a situation was things sort of worked out for her. They were never as bad as they could have been. A rotten situation tended to still be bad but not as horrid. It didn't make her invincible but more often than not things tended to go her way without her being aware of it.

Such as toss the smoke grenade in her off hand. She didn't have time to activate it. Yet there were so many things that could have been different that just weren't. Like that grenade being rolled into the room rather than tossed in around the corner. Hope simply acted. Her grenade hitting the incoming one knocking it into the wall in the hall at such an angle it ricocheted just right instead of bouncing back into the room.

She was already up and heading toward the door by the time the flash bang went off. Instead of a team storming into the room the group of four had been caught in their own weapon leaving them vulnerable. If this wasn't a game maybe Hope wouldn't have been so brutal.

She was quick having dispatched the four men by the time Phoebe made it to the hall. “What were the odds?” Hope was surprised by all that as well. She flicked the blood off her blade. The team had better equipment. Side arms, blaster rifles, more of the flash bang grenades as well as ionic ones designed to take out droids. Two of them had knives and binders. All had body armor too, vests that could absorb some energy damage. Though they probably did nothing against kinetic energy. Definitely not as she saw that one was run through. Nor did it protect against the flash bangs.

Each had helmets but they were nothing special outside of having coms built into them. They too protected against energy damage to some degree.

If Phoebe played around with them there was a feature that augmented sounds were one could hear whispered conversations with clarity. They muffled some sound too, such as blaster shots but not so much that they offered much protection against the grenades. Maybe they had, maybe it was the flash that did them in. She would have to test it to be certain.

For the first time Hope noticed her disarray. “What the – sorry. It didn't did it?” Hope sounded a little flustered peeling her gaze away to cover down the hall and allow Phoebe to gather what gear she wanted. She would then follow her towards that hanger electing to come up with a plan on route.

“Impossible ..” The word never even passed her lips, and certainly wouldn’t even begin to describe the likelihood of the encounter’s conclusion. As a matter of fact, Phoebe had no words for what just transpired. She sped after Hope, but by the time they were both standing in the hall, there was no one left to fight. The sheer bafflement that assailed her temporarily eliminated those maddening desires from the woman’s mind, but only for a time.

As humiliating as it was to finally have her current state noticed, there were far worse fates out there. In the end, it didn’t bother her much. She’d endured more outside of the game than most possibly could without losing themselves completely. Without allies, and a little less compliance, her life would’ve ended months ago, modified and bound like those agents turned cows that served some of Vespira’s subordinates.

“Don’t worry .. It didn’t, thanks to you.” Hope got a light smile out of her for being flustered. It showed a sense of decency none of her fellow slaves truly had back at the club. “You’ve arrived just on time.” If only she’d have had the fortune of being rescued sooner in real life as well.

Phoebe turned her focus to the bodies soon thereafter. All things considered, their lifeless forms were hardly horrifying anymore. Their equipment could aid in the final stretch of their escape, too. Anything would’ve been better than one tattered flightsuit, after all.

She claimed one of the helmets and strapped a vest to herself on top of it. Fumbling around with the former and enabling certain features should, in theory, allow them to discern even the quietest of conversations. If they ran into more resistance further down the line and their adversaries relied on verbal communication, perhaps that’d allow them to maneuver around whatever tactics were going to be used against them. The blonde picked up one of their sidearms, a knife and, most importantly, however many grenades her ruined outfit could accommodate. She recalled there could be other droids up ahead, hence the ionic type could come in handy, and the flash bangs took good care of these marines which is why taking those only made sense when tackling a vast array of enemies.

Afterwards, the two women were off to the hangar. Though they had to backtrack and hope those same barriers from when Phoebe came this way earlier weren’t going to be too much of a bother, the path could be traced easily enough. All the while, the former agent paid no mind to bare flesh and muscle playing unto her comrade’s eyes in perfect unison, displaying comely contours and desire in a place otherwise known for anything but.

The plan was simple. Get to the stripped droid fighter and take off though one could only hope no one messed around with it in their absence. The number of hostiles couldn’t exactly be relied upon as some time had passed since she and Viryon got out of that hangar. Unless the shuttles had already taken off, they’d be in for company. There’d be unarmed droid pilots, at least Phoebe thought of that as their primary function, on top of potentially two more reptiles similar to the first. A few security droids, unarmed humans loading the ship. She couldn’t think of more though they’d find out soon enough just what else they’d be facing on their way to an exit of their own.

Hope snagged a grenade herself. She didn't even look as to what type simply clipping it to her belt. Unseen she smiled back at her comment. “I'll try not to cut it so close if there's a next time.”

The ship was still in combat. Every once in a while it rocked or trembled as it unleashed it's own weapons. They were still moving though it was hard to tell if such movement was restricted. As it were even if the drives were destroyed the ship would continue on in a straight line if nothing acted upon it.

With her helmet Phoebe detected danger a few times as they approached the hanger. This allowed them to avoid two out of three patrols with them able to take care of the last patrol rather than stumble into it blindly. These patrols consisted of the security droids.

She was able to hear organics rushing here and there but it seemed that they had better things to do than hunt them down. Once at the hanger Phoebe found that it had changed a great deal. The gutted out droid fighter was still present but all the shuttles save for one were gone.

The ramp was lowered and there were a few droids here along with one human. She wasn't sure as to the ranking insignia he wore but it didn't strike her as being high. He didn't even have a weapon. Constantly he was checking a wrist chrono and glancing out into space. Flashes and explosions could been seen out there but little else save for stars.

Once a few fighters streaked by. Close enough to see anyway. These ships were well away from each other for the most part. Weapons designed to hit targets thousands of kilometers away.

“Where the fuck is he? It's bad enough we don't have the screen of shuttles now.”

YOU SHOULD UNDERGO DIAGNOSTICS. THE ANSWER IS THE SAME AS THE LAST SIX TIMES YOU HAVE ASKED. SOMEWHERE THAT IS NOT HERE.

“I wish he'd hurry up already.”

YOU HAVE YOUR ORDERS.

“Fucking droids. You don't have to worry about flying off into that shit. It would be a miracle to fly through that. We should just leave that deviant.”

The man was clearly agitated. The droid commander seemed impassive while the rest she could see paid more attention to their surroundings but had not been overly alert. There were fewer places to hide now but enough maintenance equipment to get even closer. The helmet picked up the conversing pair with ease from where they were ass it was. From what she could see there were four droids outside of the commander and the human. Each scattered far enough apart where a single grenade wouldn't take all of them out but close enough that two should do the trick unless there were any inside the ship itself.

They had a much easier time with the helmet than Phoebe had on the way into that mess. Still in hiding, they were able to listen in on the remaining hostiles in the hangar as well. The pilot counted six of them. Five droids and an unarmed human. For better or for worse, most shuttles and those other two reptiles appeared to have departed already. Whatever plans they made were probably well underway by now. Not that there was much for her to go on at that moment in time.

Something about that anxious man having his orders. Not that it mattered much. Their ship was still here, and that’d be it. She hoped so at least. Since the two women were getting out of here, the game was bound to come to an end anyway. Or, was it? Phoebe figured she might’ve just been worrying too much about what could be little more than insignificant set pieces in the grand scheme of things.

Unless Hope had checked out the situation herself, Phoebe gestured both direction and amount of potential combatants to her comrade. There was no need to risk detection, let alone injuries that could be avoided, this close to their ship. She went a bit more into detail as to their robotic adversaries with a brief show of an EMP grenade and five fingers total.

She took out a second grenade of the same type as well, which was all she managed to carry, and took a deep breath. They might be too spaced out for just one to take care of all the droids. She had to do this right though alarms were less of a concern than being fired upon at this point. When it was time to act, Phoebe glanced from cover, then activated the device, whether it be by pulling a pin or otherwise.

With the first grenade she banked on hitting stationary targets, catching them by surprise. The second one would follow with the slightest of delays and a new target, as those not caught by the first might’ve moved this way and that. For those left standing, she’d have to resort to her blaster.

As for the lone human among them, Phoebe had no plans to kill him outright though this close to the end incapacitation should suffice. They had to get to the ship and be on their way. Still, if he put up a fight he had to be dealt with accordingly.

Hope having scouted off in a different direction than Phoebe confirmed her findings with a nod. She had not seen anyone else. Nor could she tell what, if anything, was in the shuttle. For the first time she checked the grenade she took determining it's type. A frag grenade was just as good as an EMP since alarms wouldn't be an issue. The only factor was whether they wanted the human alive or not. Or if she had a smoke grenade. She didn't know if it would hamper the droids at all. What were their sensors like? Did they have infrared? The droids struck her as a cheap model but she didn't know much about robotics, sensors and such things.

It was clear that trying to sneak to the gutted droid fighter probably wouldn't work too well. Someone was likely to see them and while she was not worried about an alarm someone supplying detailed information could hinder their efforts. Hope took the scene all in then moved away from the pilot using what little cover remained.

When Phoebe's grenade went off a few of the droids sizzled with electrical arcs of energy before dropping to the deck. Others had their attention wheeled in to the spot reacting quicker than a human would under an attack. Her second grenade went off with a popping sound while she heard Hope's own grenade go off a fraction of a second later.

All the droids were down. The human unfroze from his stupor. First running to the closest down droid to retrieve a blaster rifle. He wasn't thinking. In panic mode he had not processed that the rifle would be fried. Unfortunately for Phoebe she missed. A blast hitting the deck between him and the blaster sent the man in the opposite direction.

Another shot missed him wide of the mark. Hope was only fair with her blaster and didn't have an angle on the man who rushed into the ship. He was so occupied with looking behind his shoulder that he ran into something at the top of the ramp bouncing back and tumbling down the ramp.

At the top of the ramp another droid appeared. A big blocky droid with numerous limbs. It had treads instead of legs. Each arm ended in some sort of clamp or tool. It's “head” was conical with numerous lights and sensors. The head could swivel in 360 degrees.

It was tough to figure out what sort of droid it was. It didn't appear to be a pilot or security model. A maintenance bot? It was quit large and an easy target as it made it's appearance. Even Hope couldn't miss as the two woman had no problem in turning it into a smoking husk.

“Don't shoot!” The human was covering his head peeking up from the deck. His lip split from the tumble, eyes wide in alarm as he attempted to process everything that happened in the last half a minute or so.

Shooting the final albeit unexpected droid from cover made short work of it. The human scrambled for something to defend himself with, but ended up being denied at every opportunity. When he finally stopped moving about in a panicked state and asked not to be shot, Phoebe breathed out in relief at having mastered another situation that could’ve gone bad, but hadn’t. Things were finally looking up, at least for the time being.

“Step away from the droids and their weapons, now!” She pointed at a metaphorical wall of nearby cargo. Still aiming at the lone survivor, the feisty blonde emerged from cover. A more thoughtful woman would’ve been aware that her clothes were nearly torn to the point of non-existence, hanging on by threads. What little adhered to her aching flesh could’ve hardly been described as functional clothing in the first place. Soaking wet, burning with lust, the nature of neglection made her put on more of a show than she might’ve wanted. Thankfully, that wouldn’t keep her from keeping him in her sights.

Had Hope not wasted him right then and there, there was the thought of doing a bit of intelligence gathering. Getting out of the ship asap seemed the most prudent course of action, but perhaps there was still something to be gained here. As it was, he appeared to be no threat, and didn’t even carry a weapon with him. She kept her distance, of course, wary of being disarmed though sadly that left searching him out of the question unless her comrade wanted to chip in on this.

“Tell me what you know about the shuttles and I might let you live.” Trigger discipline had gone out of the window long ago. All it’d take to end him would be a fairly gentle squeeze of her finger which should be enough of a threat to keep him on his toes. “What’s the plan with those shuttles, huh? What’s that big droid we just wasted for? Why the shielded components? What about those Saurians? What’s this ‘Orion’ they were trying to get to? A ship? Speak!”

She briefly thought about asking him about the scientist although someone that eager to abandon ship might not know anything about that, as much as Phoebe didn’t always know the true nature of past assignments that entailed dropping off other agents into a hot landing zone. If he turned out to be cooperative, however, they might have a shot at it although Hope seemed eager to get out of here like the others.

Their fighter and thus way out was still nearby. Escape seemed possible, if not imminent. She simply meant to receive some answers to her questions before booking it.

“Ok! OK!” The pilot scurried back. His eyes widening once he saw her disaray. He looked away trying not to look. His mind attempted to catch up with everything that was going on. Before he could a stream of questions came his way and he saw another figure clad in armor. It was clear that the figure with the sword was female as well.

“The shuttles?” He blinked. Confused as he glanced around at the nearly empty hanger. Then back. Remind of her state of undress as he did so he quickly found an interesting spot on the deck to look at. “The ships that were here? They were a screen of decoys. The bulk were suicide runs. One was to make for the Orion in all the confusion with that scientist and his sons.”

Prompted for more information the pilot was forthcoming with what he knew. “The saurian was the scientist. Well, one of them. The other two were his sons. The shuttles had shielded bombs. The droid pilots were suppose to ram enemy ships and detonate.

“That droid,” he glanced to the large bulky droid. “Was the droid pilot of this ship. I was to take over from him and fly the other saurian over to the Orion once he got back if it's still out there. It's in better shape then this vessel. If it's gone I'm suppose to get out of system to a rendezvous point with his son.”

Hope groaned. Having thought that she had dealt with the scientist. She came across humans that seemed to fit that roll. Never had it occurred to her that a brutish creature was the scientist. “They should have given us that intel, don't you think?” Hope sarcastically said.

She was attentive to the prisoner. She sighed. “Well I guess we still have a job to do.” Or they could simply abort the scenario, retreat and fail.

The pilot hoped that was good enough since there wasn't much more that he knew outside of where this met up was to occur at and how long it would be viable. The game was either that real or this NPC was a PC being played by someone. It was hard to say but given the times he snuck peaks at her exposed legs made him seem too real.

As far as compliance went, they had someone who valued their life more than the information they wanted. The droids going on suicide runs was a bit of surprise though the fact they were decoys had been well established by now. Shocking, on the other hand, had been the fact their target happened to be one of those Saurians. Looking over their dwindling resources and manpower, the thought of taking on more of them made her feel painfully inadequate in the grand scheme of things.

“Yeah, tell me about it .. You’d think they’d try harder for such a valuable target,” Phoebe mused though the truth of the matter was they still had a job to do. Looking over to her comrade, face hidden behind the helmet, Hope could still tell her blonde partner was smiling at least a little bit. “We should give it a shot. We’re down on numbers, sure, but there’s no winning without trying.”

There was that dinner with Luna still at stake. Shame about Viryon not being around for what may very well be the climax of the whole scenario though it couldn’t be helped. Phoebe could only hope the woman was safe given the ongoing chaos of the battlefield around them. She’d make it up to her somehow, sometime. In the same vein she still hadn’t followed up on her promise to sing for Kurgan after their reunion, but that was for another time.

Weapon still trained on the human pilot, whatever glances he stole at her were simply ignored. Not to mention, from the right angle he could catch more than the thick, comely facade of thighs one would want wrapped around their head. At the time, however, that one rifle was as good enough an argument as any not to try anything.

“You’ve been cooperative enough. I won’t shoot you though you can’t leave either. We might need you depending on whom we’re dealing with in the foreseeable future.” Since he knew the rendezvous point, he could come in handy, assuming the Orion had already left. If not, they might still need him on the comms to avoid suspicion. Of course, without a live Saurian aboard, things would become quite suspicious in no time. Hope could always get a word in on how to handle the upcoming task considering piloting was more her skill than working intelligence these days.

Still, how in the hell were they going to capture one of those things? The Saurians were nothing short of overwhelming to any one agent. The scientist had to be the largest one seeing as the other two were his sons. Just taking one of those down required considerable effort from both women, and they probably weren’t in the business of killing their target unless there was no other option.

“You won't shoot me,” relief had been on the young man's features for a moment. It transformed into horror when she continued. He wouldn't be leaving any time soon.

Hope nodded from behind the man. Her eyes skimmed over what downed droids she could see from where she was at. In particular their weapons.

“You're right about that. We'll have to take this ship.” Seeing that they wouldn't all fit in the fighter. Seeing nothing interesting on the droids she had the captured pilot in front of her in the event he was tempted to try anything.

“Clear that droid off the ramp and let's go.” Hope gestured with her blaster rifle towards the boxy droid at the top of the ramp. She waited while it was cleared. It was heavy but after some struggling the pilot managed to roll it once. That was enough to start a chain reaction with the machine rolling down the ramp and into the hanger. Had not Hope's rifle been trained on the pilot he could have ducked out of the way and locked up the ship. Either he hadn't thought of that or not confident that he could get to cover before being shot. Little did he know that Hope was only a fair shot with blasters.

Once on board Phoebe found that there was no need for a pre-flight check. The ship was prepped and monitored by that droid. Ready to depart at a moment's notice. The pilot who didn't want to be blasted to bits accessed the sensors of the capital ship finding a time to depart when it was virtually clear outside the hanger.

Once they were out it was a race. Ducking between shots, debris and fighters they were in a race to get out of the vicinity. Most of the attention was on the ship they were fleeing. Whether dog fights or the bigger pursuing ships attempting to prevent it from fleeing. No one noticed them or if so they were well away before anyone reacted to them.

They were just in time to see the Orion wink out of the system. It was at the same time that fighters pulled away from that prior conflict. The allied ships noticing them and turning their attention to the enemy shuttle. Since shuttles were short range they may have guessed that they were fleeing one ship to the other hoping to make the jump with the Orion. Not caring if someone important or not was on board. Eliminate or capture. Looking from it by their perspective it was probably the later. Shuttles were slower, not as armored or as heavily armed.

This shuttle had been modified a little. It was a bit faster than the norm and capable of short ranged jumps.

“Hm. We can try to explain things to them before the shooting starts in about ...” Hope didn't know for sure as she glanced at the instruments.

“Three minutes.” The pilot nervously added.

“Right. Mission fail would be likely. We can't out run them.” Hope patted Phoebe on the shoulder. “And the longer we juke around the longer it will take to get out of the planet's gravity well. So … why not fly right at them? It will take them some time to turn around provided we're not blown to bits. That might give us time to make a jump of our own.

“Either we fail and get blown up or not. In any case capturing that scientist is out. One I don't think I can restrain him. He may not think much of this blaster. Or she … we've already had one surprise so I'm not assuming anything. No, it would be easier for a termination.” It wasn't as good but they had no support.

Hope glanced toward Phoebe then to the nervous pilot. She asked about weapons on the shuttle that could be of help. Not a surprise there were none.

“You could try to talk to them. Hell, we might even manage some back up if things go well. I'm not much of a talker though. Three fighters probably won't make much of a difference. Ship to ship just isn't my thing.”

“Not my kind of ship, but it’ll have to do.” Anything other than the shuttle would’ve blown their cover in an instant. Not that their cover was any good to begin with. If they were coming in for a landing, as soon as the ramp was down they were in for a fight or worse. Hope would have to keep an eye on the pilot as preparations to take off were underway before long.

Phoebe took the plunge back into that perpetual hell that was the raging battle around them. That smokescreen sure would’ve come in handy right then and there, but they had to do without. Somehow, they still managed to survive the initial onslaught with the focus being on the Pyro rather than one measly shuttle.

Fortune favors the bold, but no one ever asked how long. The Orion blinked out of sight, out of the system. If that wasn’t enough to make her heart sink, it had to be those other fighters homing in on their current flight path. Three minutes until they were within range. Adjusting their heading would’ve changed that for the worse. Hope was right though. Going right at them sounded more promising than flying in a more or less straight line right in front of faster and better equipped ships. The element of surprise and the need for their pursuers to turn around could stall matters long enough for them to make a jump. What the hell, she thought. It wouldn’t hurt to try.

There was no capturing that Saurian scientist, that much was certain. What wasn’t was the likelihood of being able to get close to eliminating him, or her. She knew there’d be no failsafe once they touched more or less solid ground aboard the Orion, not anymore. If they were captured rather than executed on the spot, they’d lack the means to escape or end the game prematurely. It really was an all or nothing situation.

“We’ll do both. Prepare for a jump and have a chat. Whichever works, works.” Phoebe announced to her comrade and their unfortunate traveling companion, then banked the ship into a quick turn while fumbling with their short range emitters. With any luck they let her establish comms establish comms via internal military frequencies which, while loaded with chatter, might add to the plausibility of their current situation despite their messages coming from an enemy shuttlecraft. Without weapons, they wouldn’t pose a threat regardless. Should they prove hostile anyway, this maneuver might buy them enough time to at the very least jump out of the system themselves.

Seconds went by before everything had been set up. Their drive was charging and, tapping into the comms, Phoebe hoped to settle for anything better than being blown to bits. “Attention, pursuing vessels. This is Cpl. Phoebe Denning of the Planetary Defence Force aboard the enemy shuttle Sanguinius. We’ve taken control of the vessel and are currently in pursuit of the Orion on a mission vital to the survival of our homeworld. Do not open fire, I repeat, do not open fire. We are your allies!”

Screw proper code. She was in a bit of a hurry, desperation undermining her efforts to sound calm and composed. Her heart couldn’t stop racing. While only a game, dying wasn’t her most favorite thought right now. Still, with any luck her name carried some weight among the aerial and space combat crowd. Hope wouldn’t have much of a reputation with anything other than marines, but Phoebe might. Needless to say, it’d truly be just luck that’d keep them from harm on this one.