The Story So Far -End of the Nymei Incident - (Continued from Off the station posts by Ao! Nerys Nymei, Jason Frimantle, Creamy Goodness III and Amata Liren)
08 Apr 2021Aeryn Airstryder
Voices...panicked clattering of tools on metal trays."BP is dropping...we're losing him!"
How did I get here? Ao wondered;
He tried to sit up, to open his eyes...nothing, it felt like he was adrift, suspended in a void of nothingness, slowly the memories of the last few days began to seep back into his mind...
Ao had been on Citi Gateway when due to his own foolish actions, he had become involved in a conspiracy to kidnap a young woman, Nerys.
He had arrived at the docks in time to assist Jason Frimantle in rescuing Doctor Nymei and Creamy Goodness who were under fire from an unknown faction attempting to capture the doctor.
The events that followed had taken them all over the station, from the warrens below the markets to Rose's sister, then to a seedy hotel where Creamy had gone his separate way and August, Ao's crazed brother, whom until recently had believed Ao was responsible for the death of their mother, had attacked, attempting to capture the Doctor.
Ao himself had been captured by August covering Jason, Nerys, Jason and an imperial woman, Amata's escape, as they fled to the freight elevators to the dock.
it had been during Ao's captivity that they had learned the truth, neither of the brothers had murdered their mother, it had been Tiberius, Ao's first officer and he had thought, closest friend.
The following events had happened so quickly that Ao was having trouble remembering them, there was a firefight between two landing pads, Ao and August had covered Amata, Jason and the Doctor as they headed for the Arstarte and fled the station...then...pain...why did he hurt so much?
Of course that was why, Ao's armour, a prototype had malfunctioned and overheated during the fight, causing the gel layers to melt and boil, slowly cooking him inside the suit, then when he had awoke aboard his ship, the Yamato-II, he had learned of the mutiny, and the deaths of so many of his crew.
He had fallen ill...the last thing he remembered was pain, exhaustion, and feeling like his entire body was ablaze...then...this...
It seemed to last an eternity, floating there in the dark...then...light came at last...
Ao tried to speak...he was thirsty, and the blinding lights hurt his eyes, he found he couldn't, there was something hard clamped to his face, keeping his mouth prised open and snaking down his throat, he tried to raise his right arm to pull the tube out...nothing happened, he tried his left, with a massive effort he saw his shaking, scarred hand come into view.
There was a gasp, a hand clasped his;
"Doctor he's awake!"
A face, out of focus came into view and placed his hand upon its cheek, the face moved closer blocking out the light and Rose's beautiful features swam into view.
Ao smiled and tried again to speak.
"Don't try to talk, you've been intubated to help you breath, we nearly lost you..." something wet pattered Ao's cheek, she was crying...
A Doctor came and sat beside Ao, and talked him through what had happened.
He had come down with an infection that attacked his body tissue causing sepsis, if it hadn't of been for the treatment provided by Doctor Nymei's nanomedicines, Ao would have died as a result of the infection.
However, even with the treatment, and repairing of much of the scar tissue across his body from the burns, Ao would be facing a life of pain and constant medication...also, due to Ao's own stupidity and refusal to seek help, the delay in treatment had left only one option where his right arm had been concerned...amputation, Doctor Nymei was good, but not brining a dead limb back good, Ao had been fitted with a prosthetic wired into his existing neural implants, but it would take time before he had full control and his brain adapted to the arm.
By the end of the day, the tube had been removed and Ao was on the road to recovery, dreading the rehab to come, he had been unconscious for a month, and was not surprised to learn that the Doctors had all advised Rose it was time to pull the plug when he had finally woken up.
Doctor Nymei, Amata and Jason had all left within hours of Ao's surgery, for the young Doctor's protection it had been deemed safer that she stay on the move, all traces of the Arstarte had been scrubbed from the records of the BWSF to prevent the data falling into unfriendly hands, wherever they were now, Ao hoped they were safe.
News of Ao's condition had spread, the Marrallang Empire Pact had spent the weeks the BWSF was stuck at a stand still very productively, they now, through force, had control of nearly half the system, many of the BWSF's assets had been captured or destroyed, the deathtoll, was in the thousands, many innocent, and non-combat personnel and their families had paid with their lives for the Pact's Greed.
First Ao would recover, then the BWSF would mourn their dead, the ceremony for those who died during the huntsman mutiny had been delayed awaiting his recovery, and then, the BWSF would take the fight back to the Pact!