Out of bounds

[Sombs]

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March 14th, 825 - Location unknown

Fire and smoke corrupted the air on the bridge. It was hardly breathable, yet the few people had no other option. Ezrael's lungs were hurting and he felt the desperate need to cough over and over again as he woke up. His eyes opened quickly, his head hurt, everything he saw was blurry. Flashing lights, sounds of fire. The smell was weird, and for a moment he thought he had to relive the vivid hell of being burned alive again, but he felt his flesh and bones. Everything was where it used to be. Nothing was burned, yet. He lay on the metal floor and it was hot, heating up further and further from the fire around him. What happened?

Something went horribly, horribly wrong.

There were voices. What was going on? It was hard to get a grip on the situation, but with each second, Ezrael regained his senses. "Damage report..." Ezrael sounded, barely with voice as the smoke in his body weakened it severely. How long was he laying on the ground? He looked around, still only blurred vision but he saw something approaching him. It was a human body.

"The Captain regained consciousness!" It was Sherry. Her voice was just as strained as his was, but still strong. "Aguilar to medical, the Captain is alive but needs help. Send a medical bot here for transport, I'll pull him to the corridor!" Just as she said that, he felt a pull at his arm, as she did as she said. He didn't understand what was happening but a few moments later, he found himself in the bridge deck corridor, close to the door to his own room. There were other people sitting on the ground, some unconscious, some awake.

Another few moments later, the air became easier to breathe. Finding himself sitting on the ground with the back to the wall, he felt clean oxygen entering his body as a medical robot placed a breathing mask on his face. He didn't even realize what had happened in that moment. But now it was getting better and he saw his bridge officers around him. The door to the bridge was closed and sealed and Commander Sherry Aguilar stood infront of it, looking at her PDA. Then Ezrael looked to the side and saw something that made him wonder. Three bodies covered by blankets. Entirely. The blankets were dirty. Bloody. "Are those..." He cought. Pointing with a finger in the direction of the blankets, he looked over to Sherry who gave him a firm, neutral look.

"Darrel, Veronica and Rafael. We also lost Boone, Wheeler, Bockmeyer and Vaughn. George, Tasha and Collin are in critical conditions in medical bay. Everyone else is suffering only minimal injuries." Ezrael looked at her hands. Her suit was covered in dust and blood, painting the black and blue into grey and red. Her hair was loosely tied up, single strands hanging stray around. Remains of blood and sweat and dust were on her face, though the blood was not her own. "Sensors are offline, shields are currently working. Weapons are destroyed, engines are offline. Life support is critical and damage control is at 90%. Hull breaches on multiple decks, fires and atmospheric leaks as well. And we don't know where we are."

"Did we lose the bridge?" he asked her quietly.

"Currently, yes. I ordered Apahanta to remove all air from the bridge to stop the fires and prevent them from spreading further. After that we can start with the repairs, and find out where we are right now. We need to return to the closest shipyard as soon as possible. How do you feel, though, Captain?" She stepped closer to him, kneeling down infront of him to push his eyelids open, to see his eyes. It slightly discomforted him since her gloves were dirty, smelling like ashes.

"Nothing serious, at least it seems like I didn't lose a limb or something," he returned, weakly pushing her hands away. "How much time did pass?"

"Just a few minutes," she answered, still looking at his eyes. Only now he realized she was shaking. "The crew needs the Captain now, Ezrael. It's a wonder we're not dead yet. You need to say something. Please."

Slightly weirded out by her words, he looked up into her eyes. She was shaking, her eyes were wet and her face covered in the blood of casualties. He never saw this before, but it was evident she was refering to herself as well when mentioning the crew. "Don't worry. The Captain is here."

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