Something wasn’t right. Twitch could feel the ship as it strained and fought to break free of Owerth II’s gravity. He could feel the humming pulse of her engine like another heartbeat. But something about it nagged at the back of his mind. In his mind he replayed the last few minutes, and considered every variable he could think of. He had re-routed some power from a minor system, a regulator circuit for the hull that instead fluxed the polarity of the hull to remove the magnetic build up that had seized the tethers. But as the hull heated the same circuit might still try to compensate to keep the outer plates thermally stable.
Twitch closed his eyes and focused all the concentration his brilliant little mind could muster. For one single instant he could be seen completely still, not even a hint of a twitch or jerk present. His mind raced and calculated, and somewhere in the corner of his mind he could hear the ship whispering to him. And in those whispers he could hear the answer; the ship was building up a subtle charge along it’s exterior that was growing exponentially. If they tried to activate the Fold Drive it could discharge affecting the fold in any number of ways.
The ADU pursuit unit was closing in fast as Noble Steed broke free from orbit and was just clearing gravity. Ace’s hand was already resting on the button to engage the Fold Drive, ready to activate it the second they cleared gravity. Grizzly shouted a warning, the ADU were firing, Twitch had to act fast. He clicked his Torch on in a quick pulse and severed a small connection on the circuit, with it open the power being fed to hull was cut off causing the building charge to stop.
With a shudder the ship rumbled from a glancing impact, the pursuit unit had almost managed a dead on hit. Twitch could feel the ship moan from the foreign energy that collided with it. Hoping the collision had been enough to discharge the hull Twitch closed his eyes and braced himself as Ace activated the Fold Drive.
The Drive crackled and buzzed as it reached out to fold the very fabric of space to relocate the ship from one point to another. It’s familiar blue-white glow making Noble Steed seem like some twinkling star against the contrasting back-drop of space. With a start Twitch’s eyes flew open and he cried aloud: “N-N-Not G-G-ood!”
Intuition warned him only nanoseconds before the ship violently rocked in protest, a nova-like wave pulse emanating from Noble Steed.
A lone ADU pursuit unit was left to report unusual phenomenon from the fleeing vessel prior to it vanishing before them. Now they would have to turn their focus from pursuit to determining possible fold destinations, or if the ship even survived the bizarre event.
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