Unexpected Oversight (Collab with Kezika)
16 Sep 2021KazukoHimura
When she heard rumors of a new weapon that could be used against the Thargoids, Kazuko immediately got to work on confirming them. Sure enough, there was indeed a megaship parked out in a system neighboring Cornsar, selling tons of basic medicines for rather cheap. To her, it was a win-win-win scenario. If there are weapon parts in the crates, then those would be given to Salvation, whoever that is. Any actual basic medicines can be used to help the survivors of the attacks aboard the rescue ship she’s delivering to. And finally, Kazuko makes a massive profit as a result, which was a tossup whether it went to ship related matters or food. Since she had plans, and was sure she wasn’t going to take long, Kazuko requested that her ship staff remain at Sitterly Orbital until her return. Now alone, she flew her Krait Phantom, Amaris, out to the system in question. It was only a few runs before some other tasks she needed to complete would be finished, hence why she took her exploration ship despite its relatively small cargo hold size.Upon seeing how many credits delivering just 32 tons of ‘medicine’ made her, Kazuko’s eyes widened a bit, and she immediately began to undertake more transport runs.
It was on one of those runs that everything turned sour.
The blaring of her ship’s COVAS that she was being interdicted was the first thing. The second was feeling the sudden ‘tether’ attaching to her ship. Tightly gripping her control stick, Kazuko began to fly in twists and turns, attempting to escape, but to no avail. A loud bang erupted as she dropped out of supercruise, and she immediately began looking around to see exactly who was behind this interdiction. Was it a random pirate after her cargo? Did a scout from the Raiders of StKM 1-442 tail her here and see an opportunity? Was she selected for an inspection from system security? Or was it something more sinister? Turned out to be close to the last answer-it was one of those pro-Thargoid nutjobs, armed with packhound missiles.
Before Kazuko could even get away, several missiles fired, immediately heading straight for her. She immediately pushed the throttle to max, and tightly gripped her ship’s control stick to attempt to maneuver away from them-only for it to be all for naught. Those missiles were seekers! The first wave completely took Kazuko’s shields out, only for another wave to follow suit. The first shot from the second wave hit, completely obliterating her unable-to-keep-up point defense turret, and sending an impact that knocked her ship partly off-kilter. Another hit Kazuko’s frame shift drive, causing it to malfunction. Several more blew holes in her hull, thankfully none compromising the cockpit. Emergency warnings were going off around Kazuko, slowly becoming more muffled as her seat became encased in a hard shell, everything fading to black.
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Kezika had her ship computer set in wing mode with Kazuko’s ship as she was also running the shipments between Salvation’s megaships and Cornsar. Both of them tended to run at the opposite pace from the other, one would be in Cornsar, while the other was at the megaship in the neighboring star system-as is the case currently.
“Wing member under attack!” Kezika’s COVAS alarm blared, catching her attention immediately.
“Aw, crap,” Kezika thought as she went to open the mic to ask what was happening.
“Wing member destroyed!” the COVAS blasted just as Kezika was about to open comms. Waves of worry washed over her after hearing that so suddenly, and before she could even contact Kazuko. Having been the first person that Kezika was really comfortable lowering her guard around, she had grown to care greatly for the thin woman. Her first thought was that a Thargoid had hyperdicted her exploration vessel and fired upon Kazuko afterwards. Pushing that thought aside, Kezika pressed a button on her ship’s control panel, activating the comms.
“Medical bay, prepare for emergency,” Kezika shouted over the comms as she made an abrupt turn, pointing her ship in the direction it came from. She then targeted the system that Kazuko was last reported in-specifically Cornsar, and initiated the procedure for hyperspace jump.
Upon the Cutter’s arrival in Cornsar, an acutely worried Kezika began to track down the SOS signal from Kazuko. Upon spotting it, she slammed the throttle to max and hastily maneuvered towards its location as noted on her HUD. The flight towards it felt like hours as multiple potential outcomes swarmed her mind, many of them not good. The Cutter dropping out of supercruise and the resulting bang that came with it jolted Kezika out of her thoughts.
The sight before Kezika was horrific. Bits and pieces of a now-destroyed Krait Phantom floated in the black, interspersed with dented storage containers, likely full of either the ‘basic medicines’ the two of them had set out to deliver, or the vast quantities of food stores Kazuko kept aboard her ship. What remained of Amaris was a large metal lump so filled with holes that it hardly even looked like a ship anymore-the damages in question looked to be from packhound missiles. The fact that someone deliberately did this to her closest friend made Kezika feel physically sick.
Fighting those feelings back, Kezika immediately checked the rest of her surroundings-and hit the jackpot. Slightly above the hole-filled shell of a Krait Phantom was a single escape pod. Even better, it was occupied and in good condition. Kezika carefully maneuvered around the wreckage to find a straight shot to the escape pod-the only one she could find was an incredibly narrow fit. Gingerly adjusting her controls, Kezika slid the massive ship in between what looked like two massive hull pieces, deftly scooping up the escape pod. With Kazuko’s pod secure, Kezika paged her ship’s butler, Xavier Hampton, to the bridge.
“Take the controls, I have to attend to this. Scoop any of the remaining intact cargo, too.” Kezika commanded.
With Xavier now at the ship’s helm, Kezika bolted towards the ship’s cargo bay, throwing the doors open once she reached it.
Ship Doctor Niamh Masamba was ready in the cargo bay to receive Kazuko’s escape pod and was already working through the opening sequence.
“What’s the situation‽” Kezika urgently requested, her voice laced with worry.
“System statuses showing normal at the moment, we shall verify vitals as soon as she’s out of the pod,” Niamh assured.
Kezika immediately jumped in to assist Niamh with the pod’s opening procedure, allowing said procedure to be completed in a timely manner. Both doctor and executive lifted a still-in-cryosleep-Kazuko onto the awaiting stretcher, despite Kazuko’s light weight making assistance barely necessary. The two began to pull the stretcher through the zero-gravity halls of the Cutter, heading towards the medical bay. It was then when Kazuko began to stir.
The first thing Kazuko was aware of was the feel of the stretcher. The second thing she was aware of was the fluid in her lungs. Clapping a hand over her mouth, she began to violently cough in an attempt to expel the offending substance. Once she felt like she could breathe again, Kazuko wearily glanced around, her eyes briefly setting upon Kezika’s face-or what she thought was it. Everything blurred in front of her eyes, sounds not able to be easily connected to their proper sources, both forms of stimuli and even several others not able to be comprehended. The halls of the Cutter rushing by began to fade away, once more replaced by the blackness of unconsciousness.
“Kaz! Kaz!” Kezika shouted in the brief moment Kazuko was stirring.
“Oh no! She’s back out!” Kezika shouted to Niamh.
“Fairly standard just out of the pod,” replied Niamh matter-of-factly.
Niamh and Kezika pulled the stretcher around the corner, and into the official medical bay. The doctor then pulled over a diagnostic device, plugging it into a small interface on the back of Kazuko’s flight suit. An array of options showed up on the device’s screen, Niamh swiftly pressed through a menu before hitting a button labeled “vitals readings”. Whirring sounds could be heard in parts of Kazuko’s flight suit as a result.
Readings soon began flooding the screen, most of the highlighted green, considered normal acceptable values by the software. When the readings were complete, one value was yellow-considered a caution zone by the software. That specific value was for blood sugar.
“Little low on blood sugar, but otherwise fine.” Niamh explained upon looking at the reading. The doctor continued to speak while floating over to the cabinet. “You can calm down now, Kez, just make sure Kazuko tunes the nutrient intake settings on her next ship’s escape pods.”
“Thanks, I was worried for a bit there, will she be conscious soon?” Kezika asked, breathing a sigh of relief as she floated over to a nearby seat, strapping herself in.
“Indeed, just passed out from exhaustion, the ejection process, as I’m sure you’re aware, isn’t the most gentle thing in the world,” Niamh replied while preparing an IV bag for Kazuko.
“Point, point,” Kezika commented as Niamh brought over the IV, inserting it into Kazuko properly.
“Little low on blood sugar from the hypoglycemic effects of the parasite, should be in order with this soon.” Niamh explained. “I’ll be in my quarters across the hall if anything else is needed,”
Kezika nodded and waited patiently with Kazuko in the medical bay.
Kazuko eventually stirred, her eyes shooting open almost immediately. Frantically she glanced around, not sure where she is now, given being disoriented prior. Slowly, Kazuko pulled herself to a sitting position once she had at least a grasp of where she was at.
“Okay, this is the medical bay of a ship,” She thought. “Who brought me here?” She soon glanced over, noticing Kezika, prompting a small smile on her face.
“Kez…?”
“Got in a pickle with one of those crazies I presume?” Kez inquired.
“The pro-Thargoid people? Yep. Fucker had packhounds and everything.” Kazuko explained. “What the hell even happened? Last I remember was several hull breeches.”
“Critical damage, headed to scoop your escape pod as soon as the message popped up,” Kez informed her.
“Critical damage…? Shit, the food stores-!”
“Xavier’s flying the ship, scouring the wreckage for any salvageable items, anything else we can get replaced,” Kez replied.
“And for my… actual ship? We have to get to the base camp in a few days, after all.” Kazuko added.
“Pilot’s Federation shipyards are already working on a reconstruction with the insurance, that shouldn’t be an issue,” Kez reassured, “Might take a day or two for such a standard build exploration Phantom, very modular.”
“Whew, I’m sure I can make it back in time, then…” Kazuko trailed off. “I hate to ask, but do you have anything to eat?”
“Indeed, shall I pull you along to the mess?” Kez inquired.
“Oh, please do!” Kazuko exclaimed. “I only just realized how hungry I am.”
Kezika pulled herself around to the back of Kazuko’s stretcher, pushing it along the zero-gravity hallways towards the crew mess hall. Upon arrival, she parked the medical bed near a table, pressing a button so it would reconfigure into a seated position.
“Anything in particular?” Kez inquired.
“I’m not restricted to synthetic chicken broth, right?” Kazuko asked.
“Not at all, might want a little more sugar than normal though, you were a bit low on sugar,” Kez explained.
“It’s more complicated than that…” she trailed off, sighing in relief a bit at her first statement. “3 synth meat burgers then. And a slice of brownie cake.”
“Sounds good, oh by the way before I forget, Doctor Niamh said to make sure you adjust your escape pods’ nutrient supply settings for next time,” Kez suggested.
“Noted,” Kazuko chirped in response. “I’ll get to that when I get my ship back-AND on all my other ships when I get to them!”