Dimension

Chapter 5

Hey look, it's chapter five! 

HERE - GOES - NOTHING.exe

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The largest hangar bay built into the equator of the Lexian harbored a cruiser that operated as the puddlejumper's shuttle. It was inaccessible by normal means- the only way in was the tram network which ran through the entirety of the Lexian's hull.

Tram 4 was built into the rear wall of the hangar bay. The steel doors dropped down into the lower compartment of the tram car and Jarik stumbled out into the hangar, supporting an unconscious Filion over his shoulder with Lyise only a few meters behind. 

"Get those clamps off!" Jarik shouted, pointing at a pair of magnetic clamps that anchored the cruiser to the hangar bay walls.

"I'm locked out of controls." Lyise replied, her voice modulated by the helmet she wore to sound flat and robotic. She threw down her PDA in frustration and steadied her rifle. "Dammit. Stand back." 

Jarik obliged, unceremoniously dragging Filion's limp body with him. 

Lyise fired a stream of blasts at the airlock of the cruiser, melting a hole through the outer and inner doors.

"C'mon, copper." She ordered, swiveling 180 degrees around and dropping to one knee with the pulse rifle ready to eliminate anyone who tried to follow. 

"What? The clamps are still-"

An armored figure rolled out of the leftmost tram door, quickly regaining composure and firing a bolt of electricity at Jarik. The thunderbolt careened into the hull armor of the cruiser, showering Jarik and Lyise with sparks. Before the attacker could send another bolt, Lyise returned fire and the invader scrambled behind a stack of crates for use as cover. 

"Shut up and move!" she shouted. 

Jarik quickly forgot the clamps and sprinted into the cruiser with Filion in tow. Lyise followed close behind, unleashing a constant stream of fire to pin down the enemy trooper. 

Atmospheric shielding activated over both airlock doors as soon as Lyise fully entered the cruiser. She skipped the detox process and ran to the tactical console while Jarik started up the vessel. 

"Shit. We've got a problem." Jarik said.

Lyise glanced up at the holoscreen. Three more armored figures had entered the hangar, one with a massive dumb-fire rocket launcher slung over his back. 

That launcher would shred through the cruiser's armor- or at least, the rocket it fired was certainly big enough to. "C'mon, dammit," Lyise muttered, her hands flying over the tactical console. 

A point-defense turret sprouted from the hull of the cruiser, swiveling around in less than a second and vaporizing the trio of soldiers with a single blast. Two more blasts destroyed each of the magnetic clamps, leaving the cruiser free-floating in the hangar bay.

"Ha! Yes!"

"Nice work," Jarik said. "My turn."

A small hatch on the dorsal side of the vessel slid open and two plasma torpedoes drifted out, quickly igniting their thrusters and vaporizing a portion of the bay doors. The cruiser's correctional thrusters flared to life, directing the nose of the craft towards the newly created entrance.  

A trio of sublight engines activated at full strength, glowing a deep red as they slowly accelerated the cruiser up to maximum speed.

"We need to FTL out!" Lyise shouted, securing Filion into a medical chair at the very rear of the bridge.

Jarik glanced over his shoulder. "You've got to be kidding me, woman. We'd be atomized if we hit anything-"

"We'll be atomized by Lexian's torps if we leave at sublight!"

She wasn't wrong, Jarik realized. 

There was no way this old bucket of a cruiser could survive a puddlejumper's arsenal.

"Fuck me," Jarik muttered, flipping on the warp drive and swiping a new readout onto his navigational console. 

The red glare of the sublight engines was replaced by a deep blue as the warp drive took over.

Jarik took a deep breath and let it out slowly, placing his right hand on the activation lever for the warp drive. If the cruiser hit anything -- even just a stray piece of rebar from the magnetic clamps -- the vessel would be pulverized instantly, along with himself, Lyise, Filion and Lexian. 

Taking a deep breath, Jarik pushed the lever forward. 

The cruiser flashed out of the hangar, leaving nothing behind except the floating remains of the clamps and a forest of blue particles that quickly dissipated away.

Lyise glanced at Filion's body. Every few minutes, he would have a seizure- the stasis medications were beginning to wear off. 

"I'm getting Sam down to the medbay," Lyise said, uncoupling the buckle on the bridge's emergency medical chair and pulling an expandable stretcher out from underneath. Jarik nodded in reply, staring blankly at the pitch black holoscreen viewport. 

Why was there any value in taking the Lexian? She was of no military or scientific importance. She operated as a cargo hauler, for crying out loud. 

There was an easy answer. They - whoever they were - were hiding something and didn't want the Lexian to find out.

A sharp jolt broke Jarik out of his thought process. The Axion dropped out of warp, morphing into reality a thousand meters out from Isilon Station.

The holoscreen activated, and Jarik dropped the ceramic mud he held in his hands.

Two flotillas were in station keeping above Isilon, blowing each other apart. The distinct black and gold color scheme of UPRN vessels comprised a small portion of the battle, desperately fighting an overwhelming number of warships painted in purple and gray. 

Prythian warships. 

As Jarik called Lyise up to the bridge via the intercom, the Republic warships stopped firing and deactivated their weapons. A near-universally accepted signal of surrender and there was little doubt the Prythians knew of it.

And ignored it.

Jarik watched in horror as the Prythian warships tore the Republic flotilla apart.

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Hello! It's future me again! 

Continuing my glorious crusade to eliminate all inconsistencies, typos and bad writing in my story! (In the name of the God-Emperor, of course)