Inhospitable Conditions (Part Two)

[Patches]

Morgan Halcyon stood on the bridge of the Plunder's Heart, silently regarding the chaos around them. Dane in his damaged mech and Graham in his depressed mech had opened a path through which the Ragnarok and the Heart Breaker passed, speeding off towards Io as quickly as they could.

He tried not to think about his wife and unborn child speeding off into certain danger. He tried not to think about his best friend, comatose in mysterious circumstances in the sick bay.

He failed miserably.

"Sir?" Cooke said. "You're...well..."

Morgan sighed loudly. "How did things get worse, Ensign?"

"I'm detecting something massive heading our way. Multiple missile launches. I think the whole fleet will hit us soon. I'm not sure we can stand up to it."

The massive man stayed silent for a few more moments before saying, "Jane, can you keep us afloat in atmo?"

"I'm insulted you had to ask." She replied confidently.

"Sir...isn't that kind of..." Xiao began. Morgan cut the helmsman off.

"Not a lot that ain't suicide right now. Just going to have to avoid the pressure and the storms as best we can and hope the magnetosphere hides us."

"We don't have a lot of thruster power." Jane called back. "I'm mean, I'm still amazing enough to do it, but it'll be hard."

"Fucking Ghost Viper. Make it so." Morgan then put out a ship-wide comm call, though not everyone on the ship received it.

"This is Acting Captain Halcyon. We're going to dive into Jupiter's atmosphere and try to use it to shield us from detection. Everyone on the outer levels, try to get inward, because the pressure's gonna fuck with the hull pretty damn quick, starmetal or not."

When the feed cut out, Cooke spoke up again. "You know, sir, this is pretty much exactly what Hart would do."

"I know, Ensign. That's what I was aiming for."

[Christian Monroe]

Christian let out a low snarl, one that was largely involuntary as he fought his way through the few passages of the alien ship still accessible. One arm was curled somewhat protectively around his flank and the still-painful gunshot wound there, the other hand clasping Isabella's in a near-death grip as he guided her further in toward the center of the vessel. Of which gave a sudden, especially violent shudder as it was guided into the turbulent--and often deadly--atmosphere of Jupiter.

Isabella let out a slight yelp of startled fear as they were nearly thrown off their feet from the force. Only Christian's super-human reflexes kept them from it, though the furred teen was still forced to throw himself back against the wall to avoid it. He caught the dark-haired girl to his chest with both arms then, absorbing most of the shock of the jarring blow himself. And letting out a hissing groan of pain right after, cursing under his breath as he felt the stitches in his wound start to tear through.

"Christian?" Bella immediately questioned at the noise, dark eyes wide and worried. "Are you--,"

"Fine," he forced out through clenched teeth. "C'mon, we have to get farther back." Training, determination and sheer stubbornness had him pushing off the bulkhead and catching her hand again, resuming their stumbling trek. The already confusing layout of the massive ship had become even more complicated due to the measures taken to lock out the Ghost Viper. Which meant he couldn't get her near far enough away from the outer edges that he'd really prefer.

Christian snarled again. Some Sanctuary this was turning out to be. Getting blown out of the stars by Mamba or ripped apart in Jupiter's gas storms were definitely not his idea of safety.

Soon they came to a dead-end corridor, which was as far inward as they could manage. A handful of other crew were clumped together in the same passage, and gave no more than a glance and an absent nod as he and Isabella approached. Now all he could do was wait. Feeling powerless and absolutely hating the sensation, Christian crouched down low to the floor to better keep his balance when the shuddering and bucking of the ship around them continued. He gently pulled Isabella down with him, his hold on her arms keeping her upright as best as he could as well.

"You're bleeding," she pointed out after a few moments of tense silence, staring down at the small dark stain spreading through his shirt. She started to reach for it, but he caught her hand instead, shaking his head.

"Leave it," he murmured low, "just a few torn stitches, nothing serious enough to worry about right now." That got him a faintly exasperated look, dark eyes narrowing. Christian just stared down at her face, suddenly feeling an uncomfortable lump in his throat. "I'm sorry," he suddenly felt compelled to heave, which caused Isabella to blink up at him in confusion.

"Sorry? Sorry for what?"

"For this," he growled, glaring, having to tense up and fight to keep them from sprawling across the floor like a couple of their fellows as the ship gave another violent shake. "I said I'd keep you safe, not torn apart in Jupiter's atmo or blown apart by Snake ships."

Instead of agree with his harsh assessment Isabella just snorted delicately and rolled her dark eyes heavenward. "Stars save me from melodramatic men." Christian blinked, somewhat stunned. Melodramatic?

"What?" Bella just shook her head, reaching down and suddenly tearing off a strip of her blouse before gently shoving his arm out of the way, tugging the hem of his shirt up to reveal the bleeding wound above his hip and then carefully press the wadded up make-shift bandage to it to try and staunch the blood.

"Someday soon, you're really going to have to accept the fact that the blame of the universe does not rest solely on your shoulders, Christian," was her quiet, confident assessment. "You saved me from a suicidal attack against Clara at the Bicentennial. You protected me from the other mages like Nathan for months and when that was no longer enough you risked your life and took a bullet to get me away from them. And then you agreed to offer up your services as a fighter to an infamously powerful pirate fleet just to keep me safe." She glanced up at him from her work, smiling as best she could under the circumstances. "Really, I think I can manage forgive you for not being able to see into the future and avoid this attack which you in no way instigated and had absolutely nothing to do with."

"You make it sound so simple," he grumbled, then tensed when she leaned in and gave him a quick--almost teasing--kiss.

"Maybe because it is."