Tahlia watched carefully as the two ships approached each other, the gravity waves coming off the closer of the two rocking her tiny pod, still grappled onto the relay. If they’d been any stronger she’d have had to disengage to prevent damage to critical systems, but as it was, she was merely knocked about the small cabin, shaking her head as she tried to clear it. Surely they would have responded by now. There had to be some kind of communication going on. It didn’t make sense for someone to be out here, even pirates. ITC ships like this one only contained the supplies to do basic emergency repairs. There wasn’t much of value on the small vessels. No reason for anyone to attack one. Not enough crew members for slavers, not enough supplies for pirates, and attacking one would bring the entire navy of the three largest systems down on your ass. They must be communicating. Nothing else made---<br/><br/>The young woman let out a scream, staring in shock as everything unfolded so quickly. One moment the ship she’d come in on was there, and the next it was torn apart in a vicious explosion. It took her far too long to register that the ear splitting sound was coming from her own lips, clamping her mouth shut as she tried to quell the shaking. “Why?” she cried out into open space, staring in disbelief at the ship that had just blasted the small ship to pieces. 36 crewmen and women. And they were leaving. “Why?” she whispered again, wrapping her arms around herself. “No….” it didn’t make any sense. People didn’t just use ITC ships for target practice and than leave. She let her head rest against the sides of the cushioned chair she was strapped into, the beeping of her completed tests not even registering.<br/><br/>And what was she going to do now? She didn’t have the oxygen or the fuel to even make it back to the standard shipping lane. These pods were not designed for long range travel. She had to get her act together. Maybe she could use the relay to blast a signal out… but her brain refused to function, trapped in the shock of what had just happened. It wasn’t until another vessel moved into sight that anything registered at all, lifting her heavy eyelids to scan through tear soaked lashes as several small shuttles deployed. Had there been two ships? Was this one coming in to make sure the job had been finished? Would they risk destroying the relay to make sure she was dead as well?