"And things just keep getting better," he breathed, tinkering around best he could as the comm went off. He admitted her idea was the best they had so he wasn't against it at all. They'd just need to be quick on their feet, and he had to hope Lonney wasn't going to give them a terrible reading. He hadn't explored the ship in its entirety so as far as he knew there was a hull breach somewhere, the only thing keeping them out of the void was one of the automated blast doors. 

He rerouted all of the central power sources to the AI's function. Except the life support systems. It was a miracle those still worked. He was glad for his forethought. When he first started messing with the ship, he made sure those would be the last on the list of utilities that would be shut down in case of a malfunction or a loss of power. It seemed to be working, though not at full capacity since it was bloody cold in the ship, and the air felt terribly thick. 

"[i]Alright, alright, alright, alright, alriiiiiiii[/i]- got it!" He said, hearing the audible 'snap' of the last router being set into place. He slipped his auto-tool into his utility belt. All they needed now was the power supply Sayeeda was getting, and they'd be underway. 

As if on cue, he heard Junebug on the comm. "Neil?" 

"Here."
 
"I have the core. Ready?" 

"Do you even need to ask?" 

"It's a go."

Suddenly, Neil felt a small warmth radiating from the power source, and he saw bits of static around the routers that suddenly began to flow with power from the fuel core. Neil looked around, using his small light source as if he expected to see something. He hesitated, eyebrow raised. Then he spoke. 

"Lonney?" 

"Aye sir?"

Neil fist pumped triumphantly. "Lonney, it's good to hear from you. Diagnostic of the ship, now." 

"Roight!" Lonney said, and it only took a moment for him to speak again. "Got th' R.I.P. drive shredded. Sublight engines migh' werk but only for short jumps, and tha's if there wis poower. Life Support is ok fer noa. Wee bit of damage. Hull breach in the compartment area, and hull damage along the aft and the stern, and well...many outer layers." 

"Show me." Neil said. He stepped back when one of the monitors in the station lowered. He shined the light on the monitor just in case, hoping to the Gods and Gideon that it was going to be minimal damage. With an obnoxious beep and the keen wailing of a signal, the monitor turned on to show the Highlander's outer hull.  

"Oh...holy shit." Neil said, blinking. 

The smuggling freighter's outside was completely wrenched, as if some large clawed beast had grabbed ahold of his and shaken it. He could see what looked like great claw marks along its underside, and one of the clawmarks had punctured the ship just where Lonney had warned Neil of the hull breach. The pilot shook his head, feeling his heart drop. It was unnerving to look at but, he knew what had caused this. 

A beast from the R.I.P. had attacked the ship. How long ago, Neil couldn't tell. But they had gotten off lucky. Most ships that were attacked were eaten, or blown to pieces within R.I.P. space.
[@Penny]