[b][i]Natasha Zhang, Ashton and Flame[/i][/b]

"No problems, Nero - Do it," Natasha said before she turned towards Laurey, then considered what she felt. 

At the back of her mind was the notion that she was being inconsiderate, a voice in her head which told her she was being a fool. But this voice was out-shouted by the loud call for adrenaline, for some measure of revenge, and of course, putting the remnants of Berkerly's Butchers in their graves early. If Amy was still there, near the bridge, she'd be detecting something ugly and scary in the Captain's thoughts, but also a flash of something good and noble trying to fight back against this reckless streak.

At Laurey's words, Natasha breathed, trying to consider the other person's words sincerely. Then she said, "I do see where you're coming from - We're taking a big risk and one wrong move will lead to our deaths. However, I and the kids, or at least some of them... We're burning. Not just with a need for vengeance, but a need for [i]release[/i]. Catharsis. If we don't let these feelings out now, we'll be taking a bigger risk in the future and that would be more fatal."

Ashton and Flame, meanwhile, went to the turrets, prepared to shoot the Deilos Fleet's starfighters should/once they turned hostile. Should Iris and Samuel manage to restore communications in record time, something within their power and skill, Ashton and Flame would follow up by sending messages to Phi and Trajen, as well as each other.

[i]Phi, Trajen,[/i] Ashton said to the two, [i]Remember, our enemy isn't Kherol yet - I'd prefer to keep away from him until the very last moment, especially as he's in a position of strength. I will say this, though: If there is a chance we can demonstrate to him that we are not truly vile, then we should.[/i]

[i]Ashton here is too idealistic,[/i] Flame messaged to the two. [i]If those weird ECM starfighters come near us and Iris + Samuel are too strained to continue protecting the ship, [b]do[/b] shoot them. I may not be a Nero, but I am cynical enough to see that for all his merits, Kherol is still an Ascendancy Man and will have to be dealt with one way or another. That said, Natasha didn't tell us what sort of guns do these turrets fire - Hopefully, they are directed-energy weapons.[/i]

There was a traditional paper user's manual for emergencies, which indicated that yes, the turrets fired laser beams which were as fast as light, laser beams which ought to instantly fry even one of Kherol's advanced starfighters.

Either way, the Xuanzang flew closer to the Deilos Fleet's flagship, broadcasting a distress beacon that blinked in simple morse code from Earth's modern era. This distress beacon marked them as neutral, as accidental interlopers, albeit ones which had ended up in a battle they presumably didn't want. Hopefully, Kherol's starfighters would be chivalrous and fall back, while not suspecting that the 'freighter's' systems were functional. But the Delios Fleet might try to destroy the seemingly defenseless ship out of spite - Such were the minds of these deserters...

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