Hyperspace - Phoenix Hawk Med Bay

  Once Katrina dismissed the parade, John, Niki, and Tanya returned to the Phoenix Hawk through the docking tube, another thing John had not known existed. It wasn't anything special, just an accordion-like tube that connected the two ships between their exterior hatches, but it still surprised him. He had wanted to remain behind to chat with Katrina for a bit, but she wanted to return to the station to begin emergency repairs on a few of their ships.

  "If what you said is true, Captain, we don't have much time. Let's chat ter." She said, then started to turn away, then paused and leaned in close to him. "John, if what you said is true and the Javarians attack, I-" She started, then faltered. After collecting herself for a moment, she continued. "Just keep yourself safe, okay. I... I would still like to go out on that date with you at some point. That and you still need to meet my father."

  "Your father? Why?" He asked, confused. They were going on a date, maybe, not getting married.

  "You have catapulted his daughter's career by securing her multiple ndslide victories against the pirates and warned us of an impending Javarian invasion. Of course, he will want to meet you." She said, a small smile forming on her face. "Now get back to your ship and check in on Evelin for me. I hear she is still recovering in your medical bay."

  "Right."

  Which led John to this point. After the fleet entered Hyperspace, he went below decks to the Med Bay. Evelin herself was resting on the examination table, waiting to enter the Auto-Doc for another round of skin grafts. The beautiful dark-skinned woman was now bald, with missing chunks of skin and flesh on her face and hands. The damage was from when her skin had been exposed to a psma fireball that had engulfed her cockpit. She was lucky to be alive.

  Her fighter was one of the ones Niki had rescued while under fire, and though John had heard her condition was stable, he didn't realise the extent of her injuries until now.

  "Jesus, Evelin, are you...what am I saying, of course you're not okay. Give me a minute, and I will heal you." He said, making to grab her hand. She spped his arm away, then howled in pain at the movement. "Don't. Touch. Me!" She said through gritted teeth.

  "Seriously? What has your panties in a twist? What did I ever do to you?" He asked her.

  "Not. Falling. Under. Your. Spell. Leave. Me. Alone." She said in obvious pain.

  "My spell? What spell?" He asked, now confused. His healing magic? Wait, no, that isn't right. Back on Earth, that would mean something more along the lines of not falling for his tricks, but he didn't know what she was referring to. Once again, he activated his scouter skill to get to the bottom of this situation.

  'I cannot fall for him as my Lady has. Have to keep him at arm's length, to give my dy a sober second opinion on him.'

  That was the summary of the thoughts running through her head, but they were mixed in with a lot of pain and cursing. Sailors really did know a lot of unique curses.

  I am not going to leave her in pain just because she is trying not to get close to me. That is just dumb.

  "Enough, Lieutenant. You will receive medical treatment from me. That is an order from me as the Captain of this ship. Do you understand?" He said in his authoritative tone, not wanting to deal with her nonsense any longer.

  "Grrr. Yes. Sir." She said, then turned away from him, clearly not wanting this.

  "Middle Heal, Cure, Middle Heal!" He said, casting his spells in succession. The whole process took about five minutes, but in the end, he had regenerated all the skin and missing tissues on her hands and face. There was nothing he could do about her hair, but she could figure that out ter.

  She actually looked a lot like that actress from the movie Bck Panther right now. One of the warriors... he couldn't remember her name, but the look wasn't bad on her.

  Actually, she is oddly attractive bald... stop it!

  "There, you are healed. Get some food into you and go rest. We will be back in Parrax in ten hours." He said, then left the room before she could reply. He didn't want to hear her forced thank you.

  He made his way to the galley to check on the remaining INP pilots and crew. They had lost one of their own today, and he wanted to be there for the survivors.

  Evelin just watched him depart, an unreadable expression on her face.

  Karrax System - Outer Asteroid Belt

  Ash had shut down her ship to conserve fuel. She only had a few hours of operating time left, and needed to...

  "I need to do what? Keep running? Survive a bit longer? For what? I... I am going to die out here." She said, smming her fist into the side of her cockpit.

  After escaping the initial ambush, she and the remaining mercenaries started fighting a deying action while the miners began to evacuate. However, none of them had expected the Javarians to have a capital-sized ship capable of long-range interdiction.

  Unlike the Jellyfish-like bioships, the capital ship was a giant egg-shaped mass of purple flesh, easily the rgest ship she had ever seen in space. If it were hollow, fifteen transports like Tabernac would fit inside of it, the massive transport one of the rgest humanoid designs already.

  When it nded on the battlefield, it sent a beam of mana directly into the transport, preventing it from spooling up its lightdrive. Then the waves happened, the Javarians crashing into the mercenary line of ships with no regard for their own self-preservation.

  Hagar was one of the first to die, his less agile corvette overwhelmed by concentrated manabsts. Slowly, the mercenary line began to break, then the Tabernac exploded, stranding Ash and a few other mercs whose ships didn't have a hyperdrive.

  To his credit, Greg remained in the system longer than he should have, but eventually escaped. He messaged her that he would send help and that he was sorry. She didn't bother replying.

  Since then, the remaining mercenaries had all been pying cat and mouse games with the Javarians, running a deying action so the people of Parrax could be prepared for the invasion. From what she could tell, though, she was the only one remaining.

  As the temperature in her cockpit began to drop, her thoughts went to John. She wished she had made a different choice. She wished she wasn't scared of what he did to her, and the enjoyment she found in it. She still hadn't rubbed one out, listening to his orders about not touching herself despite no longer being imprinted.

  "John, I hope you are safe. Survive this invasion and live a good life, in this world and all those others." Ash said to him, the man she realized she had fallen for, who was now lightyears away.

  She felt dampness inside her helmet, and she wondered why water was leaking in there.

  Parrax DockyardThe INP fleet had arrived back in Parrax early that morning in retively high spirits despite their losses. They believed they had made a crippling blow to pirate operations in this sector; the numbers and quality of the pirate vessels they had destroyed were staggering. Only a few people were not in high spirits, those of them who had heard John's warning about the impending invasion of Parrax.

  John disembarked the INP personnel and ships, then sold the salvaged materials, netting him a tidy profit. He kept the three corvettes and the fighter Tanya had found, but otherwise emptied his cargo hold and hangar of anything extra. He then purchased a crap load of algae cartridges for the food synthesizers, in preparation for taking on civilians in the evacuation, and filled his balst tanks full of water.

  After refueling and reprovisioning his ship, he stepped off the Phoenix Hawk, pnning to head over to the Hospital to check on Doctor Estra. He wanted to ensure she was prepared for the evacuation, though he was sure the hospitals were probably high on the priority list. Tanya had left earlier, wanting to check on their shop and make sure Chris had indeed departed the station. Niki remained on board, saying she wanted to train some more.

  "John! JOHN!" Someone shouted at him from behind. He turned around, and Greg was running towards him, panting from exertion. Anger flooded into him, but he held it in check. Something told him this piece of shit had something important to say to him, else he wouldn't be running like his house was on fire.

  Greg stopped in front of him, then leaned over and held his knees as he caught his breath. "John... it is bad. It is really, really bad."

  "What is bad? What in the world could be as bad as gambling your sisters' lives away!" John growled, his mood now completely bck. He really didn't want to talk to this... worm... in front of him.

  "It's Ash. The Bugs have attacked! She... she..." He said, but couldn't get it out. John saw red.

  He grasped Greg by the colr and hoisted him into the air with one hand. "Where is she? What did you do?"

  "Karrax!" He gasped, his little legs kicking as he tried to pry John's hands off his colr. "She is in Karrax. We were ambushed while protecting miners. They destroyed the transport. She is... well... she was stuck there, and we had to leave her behind."

  "You left Ash to die?"

  "No! I came to get help! Can you do it, John! The INP says they can't, that it is too dangerous!"

  John began to growl, but before he could respond, another voice started to call out his name. He looked to the side, and Tanya was running up to him, a look of panic on her face. "John, it's Chris. Timur and Cami have captured her! They pn on selling her at auction if Greg doesn't pay up today!"

  He looked back at Greg. "How much do you owe them?"

  "F-Fifty million credits." The man stammered out.

  Using strength he didn't know he possessed, John hurled the Dwarf down the jetty. He smashed into some cargo boxes, then rolled a few more feet before coming to a stop, writhing on the ground in pain.Fifty Million? Even with my new earnings, I only have about eight million. Fuck this punk.

  "Get your ship onboard, Greg, we are leaving shortly. You are going to help me find Ash, either alive or her body." He ordered the prone dwarf, then turned to Tanya. "Where does Timur's gang operate?"

  "John, your eyes. Are you-" Tanya asked, looking concerned. He was touched, but they didn't have time.

  "Where do they operate, Tanya? She is your family, and by proxy, is now mine. They have taken my family from me, and nothing will stop me from taking her back!" He snapped at her, his voice cold.

  "I will show you." She said. Tears were coming down her cheeks for some reason, but John didn't care. He had two friends to rescue, two people he cared about. The time for tears was ter.

  John grabbed Tanya by the arm and started to walk to the dock exit, giving Greg a quick kick on his way past, causing the worm to groan in more pain. John didn't spare him another gnce, focusing on what was in front of him.

  First Chris, then Ash, then anyone else I can save!

  Parrax Station - INP Command Centre

  Katrina had just finished debriefing the admiral on the successful pirate hunting operation when the message came in. The message she had been hoping would never arrive since John had warned her. The message that their evacuation drill was based on, in case he wasn't lying.

  The Javarians were in the nearby Karrax system, a massive force being led by a gigantic ship. A small fleet of mercenaries had engaged them, but were quickly overwhelmed, the survivors returning to Parrax to warn them of the impending invasion.

  The INP didn't wait around and ordered the evacuation of the station to begin in earnest. While there was some degree of panic, the citizens moved about in an orderly manner, the rings being evacuated with haste. Hundreds of ships were being filled up and unched, the refugees all heading towards Uktek, a garden system near the western capital. In times of crisis, the agricultural world could easily support millions of extra mouths to feed with minimal impact on the residents' day-to-day lives. The two hundred thousand people in the Parrax system would be nothing for them.

  Katrina was about to head to another meeting before returning to her command ship when her Link beeped. It was a message from Tanya. She almost ignored it, but then remembered that despite how she normally behaved, she was part of the high nobility and shouldn't just be ignored.

  It’s probably important. I doubt she would send me a random social call at this time.

  She checked the message. She then checked the message again, her eyes not believing what she read at first. "What in the hell are you doing, John?!?"