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"All ships, prepare for transwarp in three, two, one...warp!"

It was a dark time for the Earth Federation. Standing aboard the bridge of the [i]Andromeda[/i], Captain Yamanami was faced with the gravity of the situation. The Comet Empire was still on the advance, the fleet had been decimated, and Earth was directly on the firing line. All they had bought was time, and that was something they would not have for long.

Perhaps he would have been more confident if he hadn't been at Saturn, hadn't seen their ships swiped aside with ease. Certainly high command still seemed fairly confident that they could work something out, which was why they were currently en route to the Time Fault in order to effect repairs and prepare for the next coming battle. At least he didn't have to worry about missing that fight. 

It was one of the advantages of the Time Fault, cutting down the period that it would take to fix this battle damage from potentially months to mere days or weeks. And the [i]Andromeda[/i] had taken a pounding. The Wave Motion Guns were inoperable, courtesy of the hit that had pretty much caved in the bow of the ship. There was lesser damage all over from weapons fire and collision damage, and even their warp system was offline. That was why they were currently being towed by the two Dreadnaughts attached to the hull on either side of them.

"Continue patching up what we can. I need to go make a report for command," Yamanami said before turning tio depart the bridge. "XO has the conn."

"Aye aye sir, I have the conn," replied Kenshirou as he took over the main seat. Metal shone with the hiss of automatic doors as Yamanami moved to leave the bridge. he was confident in the crew that he had established here, meaning that he was already thinking about the report that he had in mind with each step. They needed to know about what had gone wrong so a new plan could be formulated, one that would hopefully work this time. 

He had almost made it out of the room when a shudder ran through the ship, the tunnel of light visible through the viewscreen flaring in an eye catching way. Before he could ask a report came in, causing him to turn from what he had been doing. "We're getting warp fluctuations," Reynolds reported from his station. "It's destabilizing our travel."

Returning to his seat, Yamanami glanced at his viewscreens to begin reading what reports were passed to him. "Accumulated battle damage?" Given the state they were in, that was the most likely reason for any difficulties. 

"No, it's not anything we're doing," Renyold assured him quickly, running analyses and diagnostics. "It...looks like it's coming from an outside source." 

Before he could say anything else the ship visibly shook, a sharp jolt that had them rocking in their seats. "[i]Yorktown[/i]'s connections are snapping. She's falling out of warp!" The report was quick, and closer to panic now. This shouldn't be happening and they all knew that, as far as any of them knew. Was it another Gatlantean weapon? If it was, there wasn't much they could do. 

The warp field rippled, visibly twisting and weakening to mark the departing of the vessel beside them. Which only made things worse as the process began again on the other side. "Is there anything we can do? I need options." He was not about to lose the ship when Earth was in danger.

"It's no good," Kenshirou replied after a few moments. "Our Wave Motion system isn't able to compensate with the damage we've taken. We're losing the [i]Paris[/i] too."

Frowning, Yamanami accepted the inevitable as he activated the internal comm system. "All hands, brace for sudden deceleration," he warned through the alert system, which had been going since the [i]Yorktown[/i] had separated. Crewmembers scrambled all over the ship, prepared for what was likely to be a violent stop. Just in time as well, as the other accompanying ship was pulled away from them in Warp. They would continue for a few seconds longer before transitioning back to real space, left floating in the dark void between stars. 

They were quick to spring to action, confirming that this did not seem to be an ambush, while also beginning to work out exactly where they had landed. Hopefully they weren't too far off the beaten path to contact the Navy and get this mess sorted out. Head were going to roll for this, of that there was no doubt. 

"We're being hailed on an open broadcast," Kenshirou reported, before confusion crossed his features as he glanced back at the captain. "It's something about...Atlantis?"h

"What, like the city that sunk in the ocean?" asked Lieutenant Kolkhov from his position at the tactical station with a skeptical look. What kind of nonsense was that?

Needless to say, Yamanami was not pleased. They were on a clock here, and every minute wasted was the closer that Gatlantis got to Earth and all of its people. They had already been subjected to near extinction once, he would not allow it again. "Hail them," he told his XO, who nodded and did just that. "Unknown vessel, this is the United Nations Cosmos Navy Ship Andromeda. I don't know what kind of joke this is, but it isn't a funny one. We are on urgent military business, and if you are responsible for this then there will be consequences. Heave to and prepare to be boarded." 

Face gazing out the windows to the star field beyond, he wore a determined look as he waited for a response. They would get this sorted out, then get back to Earth to prepare for their defense. The less time was spent here, the better. 

Though, this probably would have been more intimidating if the Wave Motion Guns weren't a bunch of twisted metal on the front bow. Oh well, they would make do anyway. 

[@Sep]