[1231 hrs October 26th, 2525 [i]Devils Advocate[/i]] Captain Night stood on the bridge with a tablet reading reports as they neared the asteroid field. Chief Thorton approached Night with a calm look but in the mans eyes he looked sad." Sir i need you for a moment at the plot."Captain Night Walked over as they looked at the plot Together. A Voice spoke to them from the plot. " Captain as you can see the alien ships seem to be much faster. The few bits recovered show they are using some sort of plasma tech for power and weapons." Night turned his eyes to the images on the plot that showed red ship signatures of alien craft quietly listening. Chief Engineer Brandon Colt giving his report." Sir as you can see on the plot the ship leaving the planet. Will give chase to us. They will arrive in Six hours after we have entered the field, according to my calculations. Unknown is how good there scans will be but rest assured it will be difficult leaving the system undetected normally." Captain Night sighed knowing nothing could be easy." There has to be a way Colt. We need to prepare for entering the asteroid field. Find us a large Asteroid to hide in so we can work on trying to get out of this mess. I don't want the old girl getting hit so keep eyes open and i want damage control parties ready when we enter." Night feared being struck then stranded out here as no help will come. -------------------------------------------------------- Few hours later Ensign Redwolf eased the [i]Devils Advocate[/i] into the asteroid field. Smaller strikes impacted on the armors outer frame. It could be felt inside the ship when strikes size of car hit. Bridge was silent as Captain Night stood looking over everything. Captain knew that silent dread. It also can lead to mistakes as people get jumpy ending up like the little boy who cried wolf. Silence was deafening except critical communications that Com Tech Allers whispered into her headset with reply's. Captain Night knew he had to act fast or else the crews fears might come to life and they turn on each other like a pack of wolves." Did i ever tell you all about the spring break i spent on Reach at a Bluegrass Festival from Earth with live blues musicians ? I was dating a young nurse at the time." " Jonny"Willow" Hancock had me come on stage as i could play the harp. Dressed in my UNSC Cadet uniform we played together, some locals mentioned i was good but i was not going to argue. He gave me some good advice that day." If you love something do it well and do it right. Let all the other stuff work its self out." Crew had been listening to him and relaxed a bit more. Even Ensign Redwolf was sitting less straight. Walking over he hit a few buttons on a empty console. He keyed it to the ships P.A. it was not loud nor low it was just right so some one could talk over it if needed. Song came in strong with a guitar playing. Unmistakably Sgt. Eric"Smooth" O'Kife" My baby left me today..i have lost my way...into the deep dark place...she said i am married to outer space...Just a soldier who left by Sundays grace...I seen the look on her face...Baby we can work this out one day i am due back at the base." "She left me anyways...Tired of me being a waste of space....Baby..i love you every day..it does not have to be this way.." Harmonica plays a long solo here. The music faded as Captain Night dialed it down low as the crew seemed more alert and most of all relaxed. They approached a large asteroid with a few bumps on the way. He was grateful getting this far. Problem was what was next ? He would be planning a exit out of system. If they got lucky they could escape then report back to Fleet.Com. He could only hope the ground team could hold out that long.