28. Between a rock and a hard place

[Dome]

"Stay and get shot. Got it," Flip says with a smile. When the lockdown alarm sounds he says, "Uh... so is it ok if i give her wiggle when he does shoot so that maybe not all the bullets hit, or you want me to try and catch them all," he asks.

[Renekin Skywalker]

Bridge

"Nothing gets through," Tawfeek said. As he spoke, there was a glint of light as part of the other ship morphed. "And McKenna, if we did need the trauma kit, I expect we would not need it for very long. Brace yourselves."

Asteroid

Mensk found a little crater that would do the trick.

"I don't want to rush you," Jessica said. "No, wait, I'm pretty sure I do. Hurry the hell up, we're out of time."

Mensk could see she was bracing herself, and her guns were pointing at a growing EVA vehicle.

[dakota]

"Sir," McKenna tried not to sound worried," if I brace any harder I may never go to the head again."

[kurff]

"I'm on it." he grinned as he worked, "And no pressure. really none at all." He as per usual checked his work as the beacon was installed and hit the switch. They have a smaller craft? Why don't we have one?

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[Dome]

Flip takes a deep breath as he watches the ship in front of them. He grits his teeth and holds the controls. "Hey Boss, I know you don't like this sort of thing, but in this situation well I'm gonna do it anyway."

"Hey MJ, I'm gonna make sure anything they shoot hits the ship... so umm in case I don't get a chance to say anything later, I really like you, pretty much since we met. Sorry I didn't do more about it..." Flip says as he waits for what may happen and prepares to make sure the ship catches all the shots. "I know I got crap timing but it is what it is."

[Renekin Skywalker]

Generally
A number of things then happen, pretty much simultaneously and in slow motion. All in the dramatic silence of space.

Bridge
Foreman confesses his feelings.

Rock Fragment
Mensk plants and activates the beacon.

Beacon flash.

Bridge
Beacon flash.

Pooh Jihad
Muzzle flash.

Jessica
Muzzle Flash

EVA vehicle
Explosion of hull fragments near a booster, venting fuel.

Galaxy from the outside
(Not visible to Mensk and Jessica)

Explosive decompression of the galley window.

Sparks fly on the bridge, Foreman is on the ground Star Trek style and red lights are flashing.

The ship then starts to list from the decompression and a lack of pilot.

Bridge in a more real time.
Over the noise light and smoke, Tawfeek stood up from Foreman.

"He's alive McKenna," he said, moving her out of her console and calling up backup pilot controls. "Get what you need and get back. Now."

Fragment
Jessica looked over at their listing ship.

"Well, shit."

[dakota]

McKenna was shaken but unhurt as the ship was hit. She had been stunned a bit, but she was unsure if it was the impact or Flip's confession that struck her. She started towards Foreman, but Tawfeek's words stirred her back to her senses and she bolted for the doorway, hesitating in the doorway, "Can I get to medical? If we're decompressing, are the compartments sealed that I can't get through?"

[Dome]

Flip can't do much with the ship according to captains orders as the shots are fired and seconds later hit. He used all his breath on telling MJ his feelings in front of the captain so had no time to say anything else as the sparks fly and then suddenly he feels nothing as the blackness of unconciousness envelopes him.

[kurff]

We should take some cover...If any debris flies out it might hit our suits.." he looked around for a good spot go to.

[Renekin Skywalker]

Bridge
With Foreman's outstanding dramatic portrayal of unconsciousness, Tawfeek was focused on the controls.

"You'll have to go compartment by compartment," Tawfeek said as the ship's drift slowed. "If you don't know, Knock on the door first."

On the fragment

Jessica's pistol never lost sight of the EVA vehicle. It was puttering off.

"Take your time," she says. "Until the ships sort things out, we're stuck here."

[dakota]

"Got it." McKenna nodded, and headed for medical to grab her bag and get back as fast as possible. She hurried, but took her time to sound each door, having learned in her training that if there was a vacuum it would sound different.

[Dome]

Flip continued to be unconscious. Flip thought about possibly engaging in an elaborate dream sequence to watch and live through while being unconscious, but he couldn't really have an elaborate dream sequence being unconscious and all. At least he didn't think he could have one, so instead he just lay their unconscious.

[Renekin Skywalker]

Bridge

"Lieutennant Foreman!" screamed the com as Flip flipped his shuttle, dreaming about that thing that got him drummed out of the armed forces. "What the hell?"

He could see the atmospheric friction glowing hotter on the hull in front of him.

Whomever it was was important enough to not bother with an "over."

Deck 1 Starboard Stairwell
It was slow going getting anywhere. Tawfeek had depressurized most of the ship. While it saved the vessel from decompression damage, it meant McKenna had to wait for each chamber to repressurize as she moved forwards.

Eventually Tawfeek helped her pick a route, and she was going to make progress as the next door opened.

[Dome]

Flip, apparently now slipping into an elaborate dream sequence caused by him being unconscious, cringes as he hears the comms crackles to life.

He glances down at the comm button as he holds the ship through the maneuver he had initiated. He reaches over and toggles the button, "this is Foreman, go ahead," he says biting back a grin as the ship shudders through its turn.

This wasn't the first ship he flipped in atmosphere, although it was one of the biggest. He had performed a similar maneuver with the ship in space, but with no gravity or atmosphere to play with, it just simply wasn't the same thing. He knew he was probably gonna get an NJP(non judicial punishment) for his actions, but it wouldn't be his first one.

Even with the hull flaring up, he kept the ship moving through the manuever knowing pulling out too soon could just make things worse.

[Renekin Skywalker]

Foreman’s Dream
"I said to bring it down for scrap," the voice barked. "I will court martial your dispersed atoms if you do not right that ship!"

A couple of the lights on the indicator panel suggested that the atom thing was not so much threat as the reality in which the court-martial threat would be carried out.