"We're going after Nexus," John explained. He squatted down next to the frail looking woman, who was still seated in the same cell they'd found her in an hour earlier. Looking remorseful he added, "We can't stay to give you aid, but the base is back under your control, and all the robots have been shut down. We'll call for relief to be sent immediately."
Lieutenant Commander Juliette Hawthorne nodded, staring at him intently as she said, "I understand, Commodore. You have to stop that psychotic AI from killing anyone else!"
John gave her a sharp salute, then quickly rose to his feet, and turned towards the door. The cell doors were all open now, unlocked by Irillith after shutting down the demented Nexus fragment. The freed prisoners gazed at him in awe, calling out to him, "Thank you, Commodore!" as he strode out of the prison. He nodded to them courteously on his way to rejoin Alyssa in the corridor outside.
The blonde girl fell into step at his side as they ran down the corridor to the stairwell, then used flight-mode to clear the wrecked robots that were blocking the stairs. Once they reached the top level, they rushed towards the broken doors at the base entrance. *Jade's prepping the Raptor,* she informed him as they sprinted outside.
Sure enough, he could see the green-skinned girl through the cockpit canopy of the gunship, and she waved to him as they ran towards the loading ramp. They darted up the ramp, and the moment they were inside, he hit the button to close it after them. Despite the Inertia negation device built into the Raptor, he still felt a slight movement beneath his feet as Jade rocketed them out of the Docking Bay.
By the time he and Alyssa had stepped into the grav-tube, levitated up to the top level, then walked into the cockpit, Jade was already manoeuvring them into position for her final approach to land in the Invictus.
John smiled at the girls seated in the cockpit, then placed his hand on Alyssa's shoulder, and said to her, "As soon as we land, let's get straight up to the Bridge, and plot a course in pursuit. We can have a proper debrief after we're on our way."
She nodded, then said confidently, "I've already got the course plotted out in my mind. It'll take us twenty-three hours, thirty-four minutes, and eight seconds, to reach the Sol System from here."
"Perfect, well done, honey," he said, giving her a wry smile as he remembered how she'd cheerfully announced she'd memorised this corner of the galaxy.
She smiled back at him, then said, "I might as well wait in the loading room below."
"I'll lower the ramp as soon as we clear the atmospheric shielding in the Hangar Bay," Jade called out to her. Alyssa gave her a wave over her shoulder in acknowledgement as she left the cockpit.
Turning to Dana, John frowned when he spotted the large purple bruise appearing on her forehead. She had been watching him as she waited in the cockpit, so when she saw his expression, she raised a hand to her head self-consciously. She had forgotten that she was still wearing her cracked Paragon helmet, so her gauntleted hand brushed the clear crystal faceplate instead. Dana blushed with embarrassment, but a sly smile suddenly appeared on her face, and she beamed at him happily.
"That looks like it hurts, so why so cheerful?" he asked, looking at her curiously.
Her sky blue eyes twinkled as she said, "I've seen that look of concern a few times before. I'll be getting my tummy stuffed full of cum within the hour, I guarantee it!"
He chuckled wryly, and said, "Yeah, you're not wrong." His expression turned serious a moment later as he added, "We'll be passing that big debris field as we head out of the Beta-Persei system, so scan as much of the debris as possible when we fly past it. We can't spare the time to stop and investigate properly, so we'll have to pick up any information we can."
"Of course," Dana replied immediately. "With our upgraded sensors we should still be able to get plenty of useful data."
He smiled at her in gratitude, then turned to look through the cockpit as Jade brought them in to land inside the Invictus. They passed through the shielding that protected the Hangar Bay, and as the Nymph glided into the Titanium plated interior of the ship, he saw Alyssa leap clear of the Raptor. She sprinted for the reinforced double doors that led out of the Hangar, and made a gesture with her hand, hitting the button to open them with a telekinetic push. She darted straight through the opening gap, then turned a sharp right and disappeared from view.
The Raptor touched down in the centre of the landing lights under Jade's skilful hands, barely making a sound as the gunship settled gently on the deck. "We're home!" the green-skinned Nymph informed them cheerfully.
"Nice flying," John complimented her, and she grinned at him over her shoulder as she powered down the engines.
Dana, Rachel, and Irillith stood and made their way out of the cockpit, but John waited patiently for Jade to finish her shutdown checklist. He removed his helmet while he was waiting, and as soon as the Nymph had risen from the pilot's seat, he pulled her into his arms. He leaned down and gave her a loving kiss, and she let out a happy sigh as she returned it enthusiastically.
"What was that for?" she asked him when they finally parted, looking absolutely delighted.
He smiled at her, and said, "Just relieved my fiancé's safe. It was horrible seeing you get hurt by that robot."
"I'm fine, honestly," she said, her voice calm and reassuring, as she reached up to trace her fingers along his jawline in an affectionate gesture. Her cat-like emerald eyes twinkled as she purred flirtatiously, "I wouldn't say no to sharing with Dana though..."
He grinned, and said, "We could use a good light show."
She giggled, then gave him one last smouldering kiss before he led her out of the cockpit.
*Course plotted and we're underway,* Alyssa thought to him from up on the Bridge.
*I'll be right there,* he replied, picking up the pace.
He and Jade jogged through the open doors into the corridor beyond, then stepped into the grav-tube and floated up in the soft blue glow of the anti-gravity field. When they reached the Command Deck, the Bridge was a hive of activity as the girls hurried to scan as much of the battlefield debris as possible while the Invictus raced past.
Jade glided down the ramp towards her Pilot Station, and he darted up the steps to the Command Podium before sitting in his chair. He was still fully armoured, so it was a little awkward to sit here like this, but he didn't want to go and remove his gear and risk missing anything. It took them less than a minute to move out of scanning range of the debris field, and during that time Calara had been rapidly reviewing the scan results.
