â€œFuck!â€  Troy swore the ship was, once again, blaring with alarms. â€œCan we not get a fucking break!â€ the anger and bitterness in her voice evident enough to silence the bridge crew. Sighing and massaging her temples, Troy took a moment to collect herself. â€œAlright. We know Nekan thanks to our alien friend, but I wish that for once people would stop bringing trouble to our front doorâ€ After a final deep breath to compose herself she focused on the task at hand, raising her head and opening her eyes the look of calm determination is a familiar one that put her crew at ease.<br/><br/>â€œFull alert! I want all non combative crew to be placed into the inner hulls of the ship! Divert all power from the empty decks to the shields and the engines! We are going to have to fight again while our engines are powered up and hope to God we can get a good enough jump in to get us the hell out of here!â€<br/><br/>In a flurry the crew rushed to work, even with the extra power the shields were only going to be at 80%. Needless to say many were not too hopeful of being able to make it out of this alive, but they knew that they had to try.<br/><br/>â€œVeronica...â€ Troy speaks directly to her, using her first name and waiting till she had her full attention.<br/><br/>â€œYes, Captain?â€ Veronica answered, her stomach a nervous rush of butterflies at being so personally addressed in front of the rest of the crew.<br/><br/>â€œI need you to make this ship dance. You understand me?â€<br/><br/>Veronica smiled and nodded, â€œI am a leaf on the wind, Captainâ€ she replied with confidence as she turned back to her station her fingers flying over the controls as she prepared to move this ship with all of the skill that she had. A hand resting on her stomach she rubbed it slightly, â€œI am not going to let you down,â€ she whispered softly to her unborn child, before her focus was back on the battle at hand.<br/><br/>â€œAll Pilots! To the hangers! We are going to be flying somewhat<a class="postlink" href="http://www.kent.net/robotech/mecha/rdf/vf-1-guardian.gif">oldschool</a>but I know you guys can handle it!â€ Captain Troy continued to give orders to her crew before finally addressing the Nekan ship.<br/><br/>â€œThis is Captain Meredith Troy of the United Mankind Forces. I wish this was under better circumstances that we were to be meeting, I do hope you forgive me when I say, go fuck yourself for bringing this down on my crew!â€ the bitterness in her voice there was genuine and many of the crew kind of snickered at how vulgar she was with the alien ship. â€œAlright. Now, that the pleasantries are out of the way and I have gotten that off my chest. We are going to need time before our engines are ready to jump. I hope you can help buy us that time...â€<br/><br/>--------------------<br/>Meanwhile down in the hanger Angela was suiting up, â€œHurry up, Dren!â€ pulling on the helmet she climbed up the body of the rather outdated but still functional mech. â€œLt. Jones beginning flight preparationsâ€ she said over her com to the flight crew as she made herself at home in the cockpit and began to power the mech on.<br/><br/>*I can only just connect to the mech, Angela* Krato informs her, *If you thought flying Jared's mech was a pain.... * he huffed which made Angela smile.<br/><br/>â€œI have faith in you and your skills. Just watch my back and I will do the restâ€ she informed him as the systems for the outdated mech began the slow process of powering up.<br/><br/>----------------<br/>â€œETA on enemy ships?â€ Captain Troy asked.<br/><br/>â€œLess than 5 minutes. It is hard to tell exactly but we are sensing several ships as if they are all converging on this one part, Ma'am.â€ came the officer at the sensors.<br/><br/>Troy sighed but held her tongue as she focused on the currently blank screen, â€œThe moment they are in range I want a visualâ€ she said after a moment.<br/><br/>â€œYes, Ma'amâ€<br/><br/>-------------------------------<br/>Michael sat on the bridge of his ship a brilliant smile on his face, â€œFilthy alien abominations, thinking that they are better than me. Better than my ship....â€ he scoffs, the smile on his face merely deepening as he stared intently at his screen.<br/><br/>â€œSir, we are getting reading of another ship,â€ came one of the officers.<br/><br/>â€œWhat's the signature?â€ he asked, eerily in a good mood.<br/><br/>â€œIt is known. It is the Elyandra, Sirâ€<br/><br/>â€œPerfect,â€ the cold and yet pleased tone of Michaelâ€™s voice had several of the crewmen swallowing back the lump of fear that had found its way into their throats suddenly. â€œI want all pilots to launch the moment we exit hyperspace. I want a straight course to be made for that ship, shields at maximum and weapons freeâ€ he chuckled, â€œThey are not going to escape me this timeâ€<br/><br/>----------------------------<br/><br/>â€œ5...4...3...2...1â€ Angela gripped the controls tightly as she is launched into the vastness of space, the rush getting her heart pumping as it always did. â€œAlright....time to make a standâ€ she said to Krato as they positioned themselves and waited. Unfortunately or fortunately, their wait was not long before the crackle of power and the shimmering of space itself became apparent as a large war ship appeared.<br/><br/>â€œFor the future!â€ Angela cried out before gunning her engines to meet the enemy head on, prepared to do whatever she had to in order to give the ship enough time to escape.