Suro did his best to dodge contact with the vines, escaping from their location by heading through the open cavity of space that separated his vessel from the unknown craft. Small chunks of debris that appeared frozen in time bounced off his ship's external guard as Suro worked to dodge any larger debris. The closer he came upon the wreck the more he slowed down to increase his control and avoid any impact into larger objects. His guess proved to be right as coming upon the towering vessel the frozen graveyard became easier to see. Inside his defensive cockpit, he could see through the sensors that most of the ship's crew had been military from the uniform.
“Alrighty, you lecto slime filters get ready for contact. We are approaching the nearest opening. I want a clean breach and control.” Suro clicked his voice relay off as he wanted to focus on a clean docking procedure. Technology for generations had overcome much in the need of a flight captain's control of a craft but he always preferred to maintain the practice of his skills whenever possible by using manual controls.
Hatch readings began to blink on his display as both port and starboard opened up to the void of space. His crew jumping in the void lit barely lit by his external lights compared to the ambient light the tentacles gave off. The first team began breach procedures while the second squad spread out for cover in case of problems. A small plasma drill burrowed through the hull wall into the room behind, checking for a vacuum seal as it penetrated. The legs of the drill compressed confirming internal air pressure, and with that possible life, although Suro doubted it.
With the goal of maintaining internal air pressure, breach time summoned an emergency compression lock door. Its drone body disconnected from the farthest side of the ship since the Suro had failed to get a replacement for the opposing side after the last incident. “Breach team, be ready for hostiles. We don’t know who is in there.” Jacko’s voice could be heard through the mic as Suro switched more cameras to focus his observation around the compartment latch. The compression door locked on with a single operator manning it as it compressed against the existing latch door, starting its cutting process as its first compartment filled with oxygen pressure to match internal levels.
“Breach confirmed.” Toyda said across all channels. As head engineer he was well experienced in this procedure, dropping the internal drone through the new opening. “Immediate clear for entry. No life detected.” His words both comfort and concern to all involved. It was always nice to know there wasn’t going to be a risk of a fight, but often the unknown was far riskier. This was followed by two pairs from the assault team. Heaviest combat armor in the ship, biggest paycheck, and shortest job prospect. The consensus for the average life expectancy of assault members was 32EA years. First in and first down as the saying went.
“Clear. Clear.” A few minutes passed as the assault team cleared the room. “Engage lifeboat room protocols. We are critical on our fuel and energy. I would be surprised if we last a few weeks on conservative energy with our current remains.” Captain Suro’s command carried with it the heavy reality of the current situation to all members. This was followed up by three-quarters of both squads entering into the room to seal it as an emergency life support center for further control. The remaining external team split in half to gather debris and make an impromptu hanger, although floating hull pieces wouldn't last against a real barrage they would slow them down and hide the ship better.
“Captain. You're going to want to see this” Jacko relayed through a direct line. “What are we looking at?” Suro’s systems switched over to relay through Jacko’s suite and supporting systems. Connecting to the dead carrier's computers brought up several files that Jacko was staring at. A hologram was playing from the carrier's public captain records. “This is General Zurl Xiv, the date is 1530EP. Our fleet came under attack as we helped those evacuate planet Yurl. With command for each ship to jump to separate coordinates in hopes of increasing chances of survival due to overwhelming difference in forces. We have been inside this dark shell for several weeks now repairing damages, our ship locked into place by a small patch of tentacles that formed around the accompanying debris during the jump. We will be leaving this message on a connected node before we jump again. To any who may read this, we will be heading for the closest habitable planet when we find out where we are. May the empire bless our souls.”
“What do you make of it, Suro?” Jacko clearly had a good nose for sniffing out goods, which is also a big factor in why he was squad captain. “It makes me wonder why you got this message from the ship and not from a node here.” Suro replied as sifted through the files looking for the captain's tag transponder. “Let’s see if they actually left.” It wouldn't matter even if tag power failed, they were linked to a unique radiation signature to supplement this in case of prolonged identification. “Jacko, got a lock on the captain. Seems he never got to leave for that new home. On display.” Suro said as his sensors and cameras locked in on the location. A floating piece of debris slowly rotating in space pinged back.
The ship's lights locked on for better vision. The piece slowly continued to rotate. “Jacko I think you're going to have to go corpse hunting since he might still have keys to the house on him.” Suro’s jester was followed by laughter as he waited for the piece to finish. His readings show the captain on the other side. The glow from the other side allowed the ship's lights to dim as the piece finally rotated revealing a single tentacle coming out from what appeared to be a flattened escape pod. The Generals signal came strong and clear from within the wriggling tentacle.
