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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Capellan" data-source="post: 2033832" data-attributes="member: 6294">"The Targ Totality" - Part 14The crew of the Pathfinder brace themselves for the assault of the Targ -- and the bulkhead beside the onrushing soliders bursts inwards.With a bellowing roar, the Shintrak storms into the hangar, ribbons of metal wall trailing from its claws.  The mighty beast charges into the midst of the Targ soldiers, sending them flying in all directions.  Onle a few of the aliens are still; on their feet.  One raises his disruptor and puts a bolt straight into the creature's chest.  The Shintrak snarls its anger and smashes the back of its claw into his face.  The Targ flies bonelessly through the air and crashes down into a pile of crates and barrels."Run!" Fury's keen tactical mind immediately senses the best strategy.No-one needs a second invitation.  All three ambulatory crew members turn and bolt in unison, boots pounding as they race across the floor and up the Pathfinder's ramp.  Archie, his remains cradled in Gustav's arms, comes along by default.  S'Ondra, racing lithely with her long-legged stride, is the first into the ship.  Gustav, puffing and blowing, is next, with Fury at the rear.  The Captain is actually a champion sprinter, but there are certain ... perquisites ... to letting S'Ondra take the lead.As Fury enters the ship, he skids to a halt and slaps the button to raise the ramp."Doc, get to the lab and see what you can do for Archie."he instructs, "Princess, I'll need your help on the bridge."Gustav scurries off down the ship's corridor, while Fury and S'Ondra head forward."What do you need me for?""Someone has to monitor the drive systems and shields while I prep us for launch." Fury answers, swinging himself into the pilot's chair, "Doc's busy and Archie's not feeling himself, right now, so you're it.""But I don't know anything about this stuff!" the Princess protests, staring at the huge array of gauges before her."Relax, a trained monkey could do it, remember?" Fury grins at S'Ondra's sour expression.  The Princess is not amused to have her own words turned against her."Emphasis on trained." she retorts, sharply.Fury's grin changes to a reassuring smile,"Just watch the three large gauges in the middle of the console.  If any of them go red, tell me which one, straight away."S'Ondra looks suspicious,"That's all?""Normally, no." Fury hands are busy on the ship's controls as he makes his answer, "The systems tech is supposed to fix those problems, not just report them.  But we'd need a monkey with an engineering degree for that.  How's everything look?""All green." S'Ondra reports, "But the one on the left is getting a little high.""Thought it sounded like the Xenon flow was a little off." Fury nods, and makes some adjustments. "How about now?""All good."Fury toggles the ship's intercom,"Hold onto your microscope, Doc, we're getting out of here."The Captain pushes forward on a lever and the low hum of the engines rapidly builds to a high-pitched whine.  The entire ship starts to vibrate, rattling the crew in their launch seats.  Just as the noise becomes unbearable, Fury slaps the main throttle to full, and the Pathfinder leaps forward, the thrust pressing everyone back into their chairs.The ship rockets out of the hangar, flames blasting from the engines as it roars into the blackness of space."Hold tight, people!  Things are about to get a bit bumpy!" Fury flings the ship sideways and down, then wrenches it back upwards again.  Bursts of light flash through the cockpit viewscreen as the gun turrets on the Targ ship open up.  Dozens of disruptor blasts tear the space around the Pathfinder, buffeting the ship like the explosions of missiles.  Then the genuine missiles come snaking through the void, seeking out the white-hot flare of the Pathfinder's engines.Fury is up to the task.  He flips the ship end-over-end, masking the heat of the engines with the ship's bulk.  The missiles lose tracking and speed by, detonating harmlessly as they strike the outer edge of Venus' atmosphere.The Pathfinder corkscrews down after them, heat flaring off her gravitic shields as the Captain pushes his piloting skills to the limit.And then, suddenly, the barrage of explosions end, and the ship is swooping down through the atmosphere, before levelling out only a hundred feet above the surface.  Maintaining control with only one hand, Fury palms the intercom button,"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Venus!""Vell done, Captain." Gustav answers over the intercom, "Vell done indeed.""Father." S'Ondra leans over Fury to speak into the intercom, and the Pathfinder's course wobbles noticeably for a second, "How is Archie?""I haf managed to attach his cerebral cortex to the ship's power systems." Gustav responds, "Just a moment and I vill patch his voice synthesiser into ze computer ... like so ...""I'm filthy!" Archie's voice wails from the intercom, "Covered in sweat and flakes of skin and -" he is interrupted by a loud pop."As you can hear, he is quite fine." Gustav resumes, "I vill see what can be done about manufacturing a new body for him, as soon as we are able to set down somewhere safe.  Do you have a landing site picked out, Captain?""Huh?" Fury's attention is split between the business of flying and the pleasure of S'Ondra's proximity.  He has little to spare for the Doctor's question, "Uh ... yeah, Doc.  There are some caves about forty miles north of this position.  I'm going to put the Pathfinder down outside the largest and then taxi her in.  That'll give us cover from any air sweeps the Targe might -" he stops abruptly. "Oh, hell.""What's the matter, Captain?" S'Ondra asks, staring uncomprehendingly at the ship's flight instruments."I've got multiple shuttle launches from the Targ mother ship on radar." Fury answers, "Fourteen ... no, eighteen ... twenty ... twenty three confirmed launches.""Are zey coming after us?""I doubt it, Doc." Fury shakes his head, "Given the size of their shuttles, that's enough ships to bring down over two thousand men.  That's far more than they need for us.  We're looking at a full-scale invasion of Venus."Roll credits.Next time, on "Q-Ship" ..."The crew of the Pathfinder have secured the formula to defeat the space mould, but they now find themselves on a Venus that is swarming with Targ troops.  As the natives are forced into concentration camps for re-education and enslavement, the four inter-dimensional travellers must embark on their most difficult assignment yet ..."The screen dissolves into a montage of images, with a soft tune playing over it. Duh duh, Duh Darr Da-duh duh, Duh Duh, Duh Duh Duh, Duh Darr.A large camp, surrounded by wire fences and ringed with watch towers.  Vacant-eyed Venusians shamble around within the confines.S'Ondra - daubed with the same designer dirt as her savage counterpart had in the opening episode - crouches beside a building along with a handsome young Venusian male.  He is offering her a small flower.A Targ scientist, fully clad in an encounter suit but obviously female for all that, stalks toward Doctor Gustav, who is manacled to a strange machine.Fury sits in a featureless grey room, bouncing a small rubber ball against the opposite wall.S'Ondra is caught in the glare of a spotlight as neon green disruptor blasts spray out of the darkness."Join us next time, on Q-Ship, when the crew of the Pathfinder must achieve:  Total Escape."</blockquote>

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