Nine enemies captured, one currently fleeing the scene, Lectes wanted to tear out his own nails. Odd numbers are equivalent to the grating of metal on ceramic.

“Let them go, pride will keep the Chridone away for a while.” Commander Nefaris called through the ship’s transmitter.

A battle was fought, a battle was lost, and Lectes swerved his ship. His commander’s orders fell on deaf ears as Lectes shot after the Chridonian. They opened a portal, darting through with Lectes crashing in after them; the transmitter cut loose of it’s former connection. He rear ended them, the force of the collision sending the Chridonian spinning forward a good seven meters, the back of their vessel sunken in where the ships had connected. Lectes grimaced, that hit surely left a dent.

Behind, the portal melted away, leaving behind nothing at all. Ahead, the Chridonian had regained control and came flying at Lectes, turrets blazing. Cli-clank, cli-clank, cli-clank, the bolts ricocheted off the ship’s metal skin. Thank the gods for shields, Lectes thought, returturing fire.

The Chridonian darted away like a startled fish, weaving around stray asteroids and leading Lectes in a hasty chase through psychedelic nebulas. Speeding at unfathomable speeds, Lectes nearly flew himself straight into the gaping maw of a nearly invisible black hole, the event horizon sinking stubborn claws into it’s prey. Had he not known any better, Lectes would have taken the natural pull for the grip of a famished stellar beast. The likes of which no longer felt the need to hide with a feast of fish to stalk now zipping through the abyss beside them. Luckily, they were more common among asteroid belts and star-ship graveyards, warning survivors of a formerly undiscovered danger zone where a nest of pure energy beings, impervious to the merciless vacuum of space, dwelt.

The Chridonian, for a brief moment, crossed Lectes’ targeting system. Bestowed with this opportunity, Lectes lit up their tail as they rode the orbit of a small moon. He chased them into the radiation zone of a freshly imploded star, dwarven with a seashell white aura. He was undaunted, breezing through the contaminated dust clouds, soon to be recycled in the birth of it’s future solar system, without a second thought. It wasn’t another blackhole after all.

The Chridonian wheeled again, leaving Lectes vulnerable while they blasted him between boulder-sized discarded rocks. One shot in particular rang out strangely, it preceded a hissing sound. Lectes found it negligible, for now at least, the skirmish demanded his attention. The Chridonian performed an elaborate maneuver, meant to distract. Lectes had been around long enough to recognize the move’s redundancy and calculated a retaliation in accordance to the expected attack. As they went to dive under him, he pulled up and rolled into a position where he could take out their shield’s system.

Through the two sheets of enforced glass, Lectes caught a gratifying glimpse of the Chridonian’s terror stricken expression at having lost her defense. Mouth twisted up, her quadrant of pupil-less eyes wide. He found himself hesitating, she was indeed young. She was no soldier, she was green and guileless, She was someone’s child. Yet another sin to add to the growing list of: “What makes the Chridonians so insidious?” list. A list that proved time and time again, it’s capability to be utterly infinite.

Her face changed, only slightly, and that was when Lectes heard it: Silence. Nothing, he heard nothing. The engine had died, the whole ship was dead. Shunk-pop, smoke filled the compartment, she’d got in a critical hit while Lectes was still reeling from his dilemma. She was still coming at him too. He punched some buttons and flicked some switches that should have restarted the engine regardless of the damage but it was no use, the vessel refused every command and, upon checking, the Portalite was utterly vaporized. Lectes swore, slamming his fists against the control panel, cracking it. He twisted in his seat to follow the enemy fighter’s orbit around him, the Pilot regarding him with a shark’s smile plastered on her face. Technical difficulties? She seemed to mock him.

She gave him an unsavory gesture, spawning a fresh portal in the process. Lectes helplessly watched the Chridone ship vanish through it. 

“No!” He wailed, pulling at his seat belts to press his hands to the glass despite his plea, the doorway had faded, swallowed by the void. Staring back was his own stricken blue-face.

He turned on the control panel again, noting the still flashing warning lights and waving at the wisps of smoke still spilling in from the engine. Before him spread a vast ocean of stars floating in a black abyss. An image he would normally have found comforting until now, where it promised nothing but cold uninviting-despair.