Ours Are The Furies: Bound By Blood

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

Last time (http://theholo.net/forum/showthread.php?56003-Erinyes) on Star Wars: Jovan Station. And now, the conclusion...

"HOLD ON!!!"

Cirrsseeto's eyes watered against the gale as thousands of cubic meters of atmosphere blasted past and through the severed artery of Jovan Station. He averted his eyes forward, again turning back to T'yeellaa, holding on for dear life. In the distance, he could see the form of Novgorod drifting away from the station in the ether as her mooring had been severed in the explosion. His crew were on their own. Something terrible had happened, and he didn't have the luxury to be introspective about it as he teetered upon the event horizon. Motion in his peripheral vision made him look up as he saw the emergency bulkhead in the umbilical begin to fall. From where it deployed, he could see that it would seal the breech right about where T'yeellaa held on for her life. Gritting his teeth, Cirrsseeto pulled with all his might. T'yeellaa, seeing the imminent threat of bisection coming down fast, also redoubled her effort, throwing her other arm at her brother and hooking claws into the fabric of his jacket, finding skin below. Painful, certainly, but the alternatives were worse. Together, the two siblings gave one last screaming effort before they fell to the ground as the bulkhead sealed ahead of them, returning equilibrium to the air around them.

Cirrsseeto lay on the deck dazed and bleeing, with the ghosts of a tempest ringing in his ears. He turned to look at where his sister lay.

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

T'yeellaa likewise was wrapped by the disconcerting cocoon of tinnitus, her ears singing foreign songs as she struggled to find her bearings. A deep ache in her right hand made her eyes track down to it. Her hand was gored and clawed, with deep lacerations freely leaking from where her brother had held fast to her. This was more than a simple bandage would take care of, she was going to need medical treatment at some point. Cirrsseeto likewise shared the same manner of wounds at his point of contact, but these were small matters in the face of the tsunami of chaos that had crashed their beachhead. There had been a severe structural failure in the umbilical, and the K'ohta'rrou had seen at least four people cast to their deaths in deep space. Still in a daze, T'yeellaa struggled to regain control of the situation. Her left hand pulled free her vox, and she activated it.

"Meorrrei to Akjiena."

Her own words came out soft and muffled against through her traumatized ears. She couldn't hear a reply. T'yeellaa held the comm close to her left ear, straining to pick up anything. She switched bands.

"Meorrrei to command deck."

It wasn't her ears. The soft rushing white noise was beginning to diminish in her head, but the lines she called were the same as before. Dead.

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

"Quez to Novgorrod. Quez to Luka. Rrespond!"

Cirr drew himself up into a sitting position, wiping the pooling blood on his left hand against his pants. He glanced at the brutal state of T'yeellaa's hand and quickly averted his eyes. His wasn't great, but hers was worse.

"We've got to get you to the jinfjirrmarry."

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

T'yeellaa retreated from his attention, stiffening. He wasn't about to tell her what to do. Not here.

"What we've got to do jiss to fjigurre out what'ss happenjing. Nejitherr of uss can rrajisse anjyone, aboarrd the sstatjion orr the sshjips. Thjiss jissn't an accjident!"

As an afterthought, T'yeellaa noticed the wash of red from the running lamps above. They were at condition one. Grunting, the K'ohta'rrou clamored to her feet, letting her mauled hand drip crimson to the deck. She drew her pistol with her good hand as her eyes moved down the entryway of the umbilical and back to the station.

"Cirrsseeto!"

He was still sitting there. Livid, T'yeella shook him with her bloodied hand. Chain of command be damned, she was his older sister, and he was going to respect that.

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

She shook him out of his thoughts, and spurred him to action. Rising to his feet, Cirr reached to his side, lamenting the lack of a sidearm on his jacket. It just wasn't something that was carried on a navy ship by an officer unless times were bleak.

Well, now they sure seem to be.

Ahead, a few people ran past the intersection from the umbilical egress. In a flash, Cirrsseeto saw her Alliance uniform.

"Crrewman!"

She paused, turned, and approached the two Cizerack, eyes moving between their injuries and the sealed bulkhead beyond them.

"It's condition one. We're trying to raise command, sir."

Cirr's hand tightened around his useless vox, plugging it back into the pouch at his belt.

"jI thjink the entjirre comm arrray jis out. jI can't rreach my shjip. The umbjiljical blew."

He'd been avoiding the ronto in the room, and the Captain glanced to his sister.

"jI thjink jit's a bomb."

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

"jI agrree."

T'yeellaa nodded at her brother's suspicion, even as her ears laid back somewhat at the way he'd pushed into the driver's seat. This wasn't his station. The K'ohta'rrou glanced back to the crew woman. Petty Officer...what was her name...

"Kentha, we need to make contact the old fasshjioned wajy. Do the ljiftss worrk?"

The human brunette turned her eyes down the corridor, an unsure expression on her face.

"I don't know, ma'am. The tubes might be operational, but if there's an obstruction or any bomb damage..."

T'yeellaa was already moving on.

"Then we lock down thjiss deck. Head to sspjirre A and get everrjy able bodjy jyou can on the ssame page. We'll head to sspjirre G and do the ssame. Meet at junctjion fourr-sseven jin fjifteen mjinutess."

The K'ohta'rrou was already moving a few steps ahead. They needed a network of people that could move as a unit and identify any medical emergencies or tend to fire suppression if there was any to tend to. Right now there were too many unknowns. T'yeellaa glanced back to her younger brother.

"Captajin, therre jiss a computerr node at junctjion fourr-sseven. We need to accesss jit and fjind asss much jinforrmatjion asss we can get. Rrjight now, we'rre bljind."

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

She presented him with one hell of a quandary. She was his older sister, and this was her station, but they both knew that he was a Captain and she was a K'ohta'rrou. Few things in the military were as inviolate as the chain of command.

"K'ohta'rrou..."

They moved out of earshot of Petty Officer Kentha, picking up the pace to reach Spire G. So far they were alone, save for the ominous glow of red lights above.

"jI'm assumjing command untjil we ljiajise wjith Commanderr Akjiena."

His eyes were forward on the objective. He didn't have time for the look she was no-doubt giving him.

"Arre we clearr?"

He needed her affirmative, and right now, he just didn't have time for all of the personal conflict this would no-doubt ignite.

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

Clear as a slap in the face. T'yeellaa burned a glare at her little brother as he pushed on, intent on imperiously moving past the point of contention. She knew he'd changed, but seeing the extent of it close and personal felt like watching a murder. He didn't need T'yeellaa.

She was slowing him down.

"jYesss ssjirr..." she pressed through a taut jaw as they arrived at junction 47. The walkway broke momentarily, a crossing corridor headed along a radial direction that would lead toward the inner hull sections. It didn't lead direct to the concourse, command deck, and other areas, but it moved into the residential apartments and a few other decentralized service points. One of these was a computer kiosk. These served as fixed points for crew to access the central computer and to coordinate with the rest of the station.

Until he countermanded her, she knew this station better than he did. K'ohta'rrou Meorrrei pushed ahead to the kiosk.

"Logjin, authorrjize Meorrrei tau'drrai'fei'zua'fai."

Acknowledged. Welcome, K'ohta'rrou_

The Alliance star phoenix screen saver melted away into an interface, and T'yeellaa brought up a map of their present grid. A few quick taps on the screen gave her a better view of their surroundings.

"Doessn't appearr to be anjy damage to the ljiftss..."

Which meant they could traverse to other decks, at least in this sector.

"Ssomethjing'ss wrrong though. jI'm locked out of centrral."

Each computer node served as an oasis in the desert. Though they were hard-wired and not hobbled by something like central communications being disabled or destroyed, they could certainly be frozen out of central access, were one inclined to do such a thing. It meant that instead of getting a whole view of Jovan Station, at best T'yeellaa could manage a partial view of maybe a fourth of it.

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

Cirr rummaged in a nearby supply locker, glancing back at the bad news with a pause.

"That means ejitherr Command has locked out the centrral computerr jintentjionally..."

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

"...orrr ssomeone elsse hass taken contrrol" came the converse observation, darkly.

Too many unknowns. Too many questions hanging over them, obfuscating the next step. They needed to secure this sector. They needed to find any wounded and tend to them. They needed to ascertain if there was a more life-threatening problem they'd need to deal with, such as a cascading hull breach. Apart from finding a window they had no idea what was happening with the ships beyond.

"We need to make contact wjith command. That sshould be prrjiorrjitjy."

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

"Agrreed."

Finding what he was looking for, Cirrsseeto pulled free a white and red case from the supply locker. He crossed the walkway back to the kiosk, dropping it on the service desk adjacent to the computer and flicking the latches. The medical kit opened, and the Captain took his bearings while eyeing his sister's lacerated hand.

"Gjive me yourr hand."

Reluctantly, T'yeellaa allowed him to administer first aid. A topical numbing and disinfectant spray was applied, causing T'yeellaa's fingers to twitch from initial stinging pain before the sensation deadened slightly. Then came the thin clear sheets of kolto-infused synthflesh, which shrank to conform to the contours of her hand when applied. It was a temporary fix until bacta could be applied, but it would stop the bleeding. Cirrsseeto spun a few passes of gauze over and under her palm, anchoring it around the thumb at the wrist before tearing the excess with his teeth.

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

He just kept going, pushing on from one thing to the next. When he said anything, he said so little. T'yeellaa wouldn't bat an eye at anyone else acting like this, but this was Cirrsseeto. They used to stay up all night and she would color in his books with him. She told him stories.

"Now jyou." T'yeellaa insisted, pointing out Cirr's lesser injury. It wasn't as bad, but he still shouldn't ignore cuts that deep. The Captain gave her a cagy look, and eventually surrendered his hand for her to tend to. It was large and broad. He'd truly become a man, hadn't he?

"jI rrememberr dojing thjiss when jyou werre ljittle..."

T'yeellaa cleaned his wounds, a part of her still holding on to when his hand was smaller than her own. She applied the synthflesh and the gauze, stealing a glance up at his expression. He wasn't looking at her at all, but rather the computer screen. How many times had she cleaned a scraped knee on him? Seen those limpid blue eyes looking up, struggling to hold in painful tears. Whatever she was hoping to see in there, it just wasn't. T'yeellaa finished her work, neatly tearing the trailing gauze.

"Done."

In so many ways.

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

He glanced down to his hand, tightening his grip gingerly and releasing it to test the confines of the bandage work. Just enough to hold together and not too tight. He nodded to T'yeellaa. Had she said something? Cirr returned to looking to the schematic, tapping more items of interest.

"Therre's an arrmorry up two decks. jIt's on the way to the centrral junctjion. We need to head therre fjirrst."

The sound of footfalls behind them caused Cirr to turn in time to see Petty Officer Kentha returning on time. She'd found friends. Six Alliance officers, a Cizerack officer, three Cizerack marines, and nearly a dozen civilians. Civilians. Another wild card that was going to need dealing with. Cirrsseeto squared to face the group, tugging down at the hem of his bloodied jacket.

"Seems you found frrjiends." Cirrsseeto nodded at the junior enlisted crewer "So herre's the sjituatjion. We have no communjicatjion and only ljimjited computerr access. The ljifts worrk, but we don't have much to go on jin terrms of whateverr jis happenjing out therre. The fjirrst thjing we have to do jis establjish contact wjith command. jI need thrree volunteerrs to go to the arrmorry on deck ejighty wjith me. We arrm ourrselves, and we push towarrd statjion centerr."

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

All three Jaani'saarri stepped clear from the group in unison. No surprise there. T'yeellaa was already waiting for them, making it known that she too wanted to put herself into danger. That left her brother with a decision to make. With dismaying insecurity, T'yeellaa pleaded her own case.

"jI'm the executjive offjicerr aboarrd Jovan. jI'm gojing..."

T'yeellaa tensed her jaw as she stood tall, even against the much larger marines.

"...ssjirr."

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

The way in which she framed the matter left Cirrsseeto little choice. The simple matter of her command expertise outweighed both the tactical compromise and Cirrsseeto's own conflicted feelings about throwing his sister into harm's way. He cleared his throat a bit by coughing into a fist, then relented.

"K'ohta'rrou, you'rre wjith me. And you and you."

He pointed out the two nearest Jaani'saarri, who looked eager to take to battle, but hesitant at who was leading them.

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

T'yeellaa picked up the hesitation in her peripheral vision, and she crossed the threshold to stand at her brother's side.

"Leekta! Marrjiness, thjiss jiss Captajin Cirrsseeto Quez of the Novgorrod, and untjil we know otherrwjisse, he jiss the ssenjiorr offjicerr on the deck. jYou have taken an oath to obejy jin sserrvjice, and jyou wjill obejy hjim."

She paused, letting the Jaani'saarri know that if they had any misgivings about the social conventions they would be breaking, that their obligation to the Pride Mother was by far greater.

The tallest of the pair, a severe-faced Meera'in with a shaved head suddenly clapped a fist to his breast.

"Ya Ve, Captajin. Lead me to battle."

The shorter marine with a more caramel skin and black ponytail reluctantly repeated the salute, a reluctantly eager smile forming that showed teeth.

"Ya Ve. Herr Grrace wjitness me."

T'yeellaa turned her attention back to Cirrsseeto. They were all in.

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

"Alrrjight." The Captain nodded along at his small war party. There was still other business to attend to. He looked to the group of Alliance officers. A few midshipmen, a petty officer, an ensign, and a...

"Ljieutenant..."

He halted, as if missing a vital piece of information as the human Lieutenant made eye contact. On Novgorod he counted every soul, knew every name on his roster. Even the ones that didn't come back. Here, he might know Alliance protocol and procedure, but he didn't know these people.

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

"Hanneth." T'yeellaa filled in the blanks with the officer's name.

It was almost a surprise to her that she knew his name at all. Knew that he spent his off-duty hours at the gravity racquet court. Knew he was from Dantooine. Somehow, her transition into Jovan station's K'ohta'rrou had been more organic than she realized. She knew these people. Worked with them. They were her crew.

She watched Lieutenant Hanneth from across the divide, suddenly understanding why this meant so much to her. If only Cirrsseeto knew.

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

Captain Quez glanced to T'yeellaa at her interjection, turning his eyes back to the Lieutenant with a nod.

"Ljieutenant Hanneth. We need to hold thjis sectjion. Keep the cjivjiljians out of harrm's way, and trry to make contact with otherr sectjions."

Lieutenant Hanneth nodded, taking the order to heart as he considered options.

"We can send two man groups to adjacent sectors and decks. Maybe see about the computers. See if anyone is on the local grid. Get a message through that way."

Cirrsseeto nodded.

"Good plan."

It was a start, at least. Now came the loftier stuff.

"Rrjight now, we sjimply don't know what's happenjing beyond wherre we stand. Prreparre forr the worrst and hope forr the best. Don't take unnecessarry rrjisks."

He paused, as if wondering if there was more he could say or do. Speculation without more than they had was poison. Best to keep it neat. Cirrsseeto rapped on the wall with the flat of a hand, as if gavelling their impromptu meeting closed.

"That's jit then."

He turned to T'yeellaa.

"Let's go."

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

The small band set out, heading to the lift carefully. The situation was still delicate. If they found armed resistance, they were in no shape to engage. Four pairs of ears perked high, straining against the distant sounds beyond to ascertain any potential unseen threat. A few more junctions brought them to their target, and as quickly as the group could, they called on the nearest lift car, hiding out of sight of the main corridor until the sounds of a decelerating lift could be picked up. The group filed in as soon as the doors parted, and they selected their next objective, up two decks.

"Thjiss jissn't how jI hoped we'd meet, arr'uhai."

T'yeellaa looked up at her younger brother, but without enough time for a response. The lift was already coming to a stop. When the doors opened, all hell cut loose.

CHRAA! CHRAA-CHRAA!

"Get down!" T'yeellaa screamed as she pulled Cirr down prone to the deck to avoid the peppering fire from a droideka. The Marine behind Cirr took the shot intended for the Captain, getting stitched from belly to chin by blaster fire as he fell with a shriek. The other marine kissed the deck, following the two officers with as low a profile as possible. A few meters beyond, a battle raged.

"We're pinned down!"

"Heavjy drrojidss movjing left at the bjypasss! Thejy'rre movjing to flank!"

T'yeellaa crawled over the body of a Duros security trooper, pulling free his rifle from his blood-slicked grip. Her ears flicked wildly from the accoustic violence of heavy blaster fire in the enclosed space, and she drew a bead on the droideka that was pinning down half a dozen Jovan personnel in a standoff. Her finger curled around the trigger, then relaxed in despair. There was no way she was going to make a dent in the heavy weapon platform's shielding.

"K'ohta'rrou!" one of the Human midshipmen called out from behind cover as he shrunk back from another strafing, "what do we do, ma'am?"

One of the Jaani'saarri charged out of cover with a roar, spraying his blaster rifle in the direction of the shield-defended droid. The droideka's three red eyestalks locked on him immediately and cut him down in an energetic spray. Mortally wounded, the Cizerack pitched to the deck, letting his blaster fall from his hands. He crawled ahead with his last strength, reaching a hand out that only just cleared the droid's shielding. In his dying grip, he held a primed thermal detonator.

"Grrenade!"

It took only a second. T'yeellaa found her adrenaline, scrambling to her feet as she pulled Cirrsseeto along, followed by two other troopers as they reached high cover. Even from cover, the detonation was forceful enough to pitch her back to the deck, and send the world around her into a dull ringing that dampened everything else in her ears.