Chapter 4

Another Warning Because They Can Help.

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The house was small. People who lived here numbered to about five at least. If they were home that would be his best guess. There was a closet on the side, made of wood like the door that was now on the floor and the table that held five sets of dishes. Whoever these people that lived here were, they left in a hurry. He could still see the heat rising off the dish.

It wasn't until Brahk snapped out of it from the shouting did he realize that his guess was almost correct. They didn't leave the home, just under it. A small hatch opening and him being pushed to the side of the house started a small shouting match. Well no one was winning and it was completely one sided.

Iremagren and his team continued their one sided shouting match while the inhabitants of this household moved their way into the open. Getting down on their knees, a few of them put their hands up. Two older men, one older than the other; an older woman holding a baby in her hands, but she never put her hands up just holding the baby close to her chest; then three boys getting younger than the last and a girl about ten years old being the youngest next to the baby. Two of the older boys looked ready to fight and angry while the parents were hesitant and fearful.

There were pillows and cloth where they were sitting or kneeling on at the moment while being completely silent. Suddenly the younger of the two old men shouted. It seemed like the rest of the younger ones looked at him as he spoke. It seemed to be a command. Implying that they listen and abide.

Woph walked to the front and the shouting from Iremagren's team stopped. She was now speaking with them in a separate language. Well Iremagren kept shouting something closer to that language over and over again mixed with the language he normally speaks.

While in that dazed state, he knew why they were in this house in the first place. That pilot was having trouble breathing again. It was getting worse. He wouldn't last much longer. That man needed medical attention real quick and so Brahk took action. He didn't think, not really. He was more on autopilot at this point. Letting his ship, his body, take over.

Taking out his case, typing commands into his data pad, Brahk injected the pilot with Avartseeble. The nanites would do their job, he knew that. His helmet was still on his head and he just noticed that it wasn't working. Probably due to the hole in his helmet. But that wasn't the only thing he just noticed. Out of the five in his case, two were missing and he just used one.

---

Maybe it was the hostility presented by the soldiers or the nanites, but Brahk felt distracted. He knew it was important to pay attention and at first when he woke up here he did. Now he was dealing with an intense situation and he just couldn't focus.

Roush sent him an angry look and shouted towards Iremagren. Iremagren ran over towards Roush and the pilot, looked at him and then shouted. He quickly looked back to Roush who just looked at Brahk. Brahk was looking back, but suddenly the room got swirly. Roush… had a twin. They were rushing towards him as he fell over.

Brahk screamed in pain.

---

That scream followed him as he woke up again. This time his brain was functional and had seemingly processed everything that just happened a moment ago in a second. He could see Thevhei running towards him. It wasn't his scream that woke him up either, it was hers.

The gravity on the ship shifted and she was sent flying towards the wall. Without hesitation tried to jump after her. The only issue was that he was strapped in. He knew the release button was just on the side of the table he was on. His fingers tried to reach for it until he stopped.

He needed to- Thevhei was in danger. Brahk needed to- "No!"

Thankfully he watched her grab onto the drawer next to her. It opened as the gravity shifted again towards the other side of the room and she was now hanging from it with a strong will and luck. Many items and resources hit the other side while leaving her unharmed from any sharp objects. The problem was his point of view was limited being to her right.

Another large shift and a sudden loss of moment sent her flying towards him and threw a glass wall. Alarms blared, pipes shunted across the room through the wall with all the supplies, and he was fine if slightly injured from the massive changes in gravity. It would heal, he would. But he could also see Thevhei on the ground behind him bleeding.

The ship was clearly not moving. His guess was a crash on an asteroid or planet. He hoped it was a planet considering the holes the ship has now. It would be terrible if they were still in a vacuum.

---

The only reason he was even standing right now was whatever had strapped him down. With the mess in front of him and his crew in terrible danger, the material didn't matter to him.

Thevhei had internal hemorrhaging in her brain. Much worse than what he had. She was in a coma lying in the same bed he was in twelve hours ago. All things considered, the medical bay was in the best condition. It was the center of the ship and the mess in there was nothing compared to the rest of the ship.

He wanted to feel sorry for himself. Brahk wanted to retreat to his dreams, that other world, but he couldn't. He was needed here and since he was the only one conscious at the moment, he wouldn't abandon them. His crew, his children.

Now compared to Thevhei who was in the worst condition, the others would be fine. Sidarce had shrapnel close to her heart when he found her. He carried her to the medical bay and laid her on the floor. Using medical foam, nanites and Avartseeble, she would be fine given time.

Glex wasn't any better and he was the next one he grabbed. He was in danger of losing his right arm. There was a large gash that went deep into the bone. Tendons and muscles were stripped and the bone was scarred. The same as Sidarce and Thevhei, he used what he had to heal them up. Thankfully most of the equipment still worked and he was able to attend to them.

Now from what he could tell, Mystreioj was the luckiest. Whiplash and bruises like the rest from where they had been strapped in their seats on the bridge. He probably was closer to Mystreioj in injuries, but since he was already being healed by Avartseeble, it wasn't that big of a problem. He checked himself out just in case too and he was right. At least with his limited knowledge.

A groan alerted him that Mystreioj was walking slowly. Brahk had spent the time doing whatever he could for their injuries. After that he went to make sure they were comfortable. After that he moved to looking over the ship and its condition. The last bit he scavenged supplies for all of them.

"Don't move. Here's some water." Everyone was already connected to an IV, but he thought that it would be best in this situation. "How do you feel?"

"Capt- Brahk… What… Attack! We were attacked again."

"I know. Don't worry, it is fine."

Brahk had already learned this. He was fast and efficient when he could be. It was the only way he could laze around all day. Well he could before all this started. He had read through and watched the logs detailing what happened in the events prior to his waking. As Mystreioj stated they were attacked by aliens near a planet. The engines were blasted as they had got to max speed. The blast from a plasma-thermic explosion dropped them off course. Instead of using the planet like a slingshot, like they did on the moon, they ended up crashing into the planet itself.

Checking the sensors since the crash, which was a miracle they still worked, he found that they had left the atmosphere. Not even orbiting the planet. Maybe they thought they were dead. Obviously this wasn't a fighter ship. They could have easily entered the atmosphere, which was thankfully breathable, and destroyed them as they were stuck.

He told Mystreioj to just rest, but since he refused and commanded Brahk to drop that line of thought he instead told him the information he gathered.

"You should get sleep, Brahk. You are still healing from earlier injuries and this isn't helping you."

He had a point. Being healthy to look over the others was important and he already mentioned that to Mystreioj. So it did frustrate him internally that he thought he was going to sleep when their lives were still in danger. To keep things civil he spoke calmly.

"Neither of us are in good shape. For now I can still keep going and I intend to do that. The others need us both here helping them."

"Alright Captain."

Brahk didn't want to push Mystreioj at all, but he knew that wouldn't be best for the whole crew.

"For now just scavenge anything you can from our rooms. Any hidden food, clothing and fabrics." While he wanted to be the one to go out himself, he knew Mystreioj wouldn't agree to that. He was quite reliable as he was. Especially in this situation.

---

Seven hours passed before Glex woke up. Brahk was there and informed him of the situation. He had called Mystreioj back from his supply run just in case any unforeseen injuries were hidden and flared from his waking.

"I told you, I'm fine." The wince from his arm was enough to tell him what he already knew. Also the fact that it hurt that much when he had pumped him full of numbing agents was a testament to their power. Or the fact all his nerves were destroyed. Since he couldn't move his arm either right now due to the medical foam, it didn't matter.

Either way he got checked out and they did a few tests just to see what kind of long term effects they were looking at. Brahk took a quick glance towards Thevhei who was on a table next to Sidarce. She had much more knowledge then the three of them combined, but they were trained to deal with most injuries and the equipment for this kind of situation. Though he wasn't the only one looking that way. Mystreioj was trying to hide it, but it was obvious to both him and Glex that he was worried about Sidarce.

"Glex, I understand that, but just rest right now."

"Captain give me something to do." Of course he was playing that card.

"Go over this data then. I need a comprehensive analysis of this as quickly as you can." It was a bunch of data on the hull sensors and how damaged they were before they stopped working. He had to cut power to the other parts of the ship for now.

---

Twenty-seven minutes after Glex had started his work, Brahk had gotten a call over comms. Since Glex could watch over the other two, he was helping Mystreioj with scavenging. With the medical bay as their base of operations now, and them two being the least uninjured, they were the ones to deal with Sidarce who had woken up.

It wasn't good. With the foam that hardened on her chest, it was tough to breath. Enough where they needed to insert a tube into her lungs and put her on a machine. The reason she was in that state was because she was scared. An increase in alertness and adrenalin at her current situation made her breathing labored. It got worse.

Thankfully he and Mystreioj, who probably weren't all too happy with him at the moment, got it under control. They had to put her under as her chest expanding was damaging the medical foam and the injury around her heart and now lungs.

---

It has been a total of… 'fifty hours… I need to rest.' Brahk looked over to Mystreioj and Glex who were still working hard. Even with one hand, Glex was a hard worker. He attributed that to the games he played. Mystreioj on the other hand was now changing the IV's hooked up to Thevhei and Sidarce and cleaning them up.

They had inventoried about half the ship at this point. Anything that worked was brought to the medical bay and the area around it. It was becoming too much so it needed to be sorted. They lost a lot in that attack, but for the most part the essentials were still there. They would have power as the reactor was intact.

A part of him was happy. Being stuck with them on this planet gave him the chance to live his life however he wanted. Complete freedom if he ignored his ever present implant. A world to explore and build on. The emergency beacon wasn't one due to the aliens around and the slipstream drive was damaged so they weren't getting out of here any time soon. Sure he worried for his crew and how they would react. He noticed that Glex and Mystreioj had probably already figured it out, but didn't say anything about it yet. It just wasn't the right time and he knew it himself.

The adrenalin and forcing himself awake through this ordeal had taken a lot out of him. He even noticed that he increased his intake of water. His thoughts were getting muddy at this point, but he kept himself calm believing it to be tea. A truly calming drink.

Quickly blinking he found his eyes shutting on their own. Just a little more and he could take a break. Weirdly his back started hurting. Blinking some more he found Glex and Mystreioj in front of him asking if he was alright.

"I… think I'm… just… just…tired."

---

Loud pops, shouts, explosions came from all around.

His head was touching a coarse pillow. Without his helmet on the smoke from the weapons stung his nose. The pilots were next to him and Roush were next to him with the older woman with the baby and younger boy and girl. He could see the family seemingly fighting with Iremagren against those who were outside. However a long time had passed here, it was enough to make friends with them.

The reason he had this view was because there was a giant hole in the floor where he could see through it. He was in that hiding hole when he saw the family come out of the other day. Which at that thought he was fully rested compared to the exhaustion he had felt moments ago.

His head still hurt and he knew there was nothing he could do. Observing was the only thing he could do.

The fight raged on. While he couldn't see outside from being down below, it seemed like a stalemate. Unless there were just so many people… That would be horrible. Why were they even fighting each other in the first place? From his guess those people outside shot the aircraft he was in down, but why did they? Who started this battle in the first place and why did it go on?

Even if he knew those answers he was just an outsider. There was no need to find out about a conflict considering his place in this world… Actually that was another thought. If he needs to sleep to cross over, does his body stay? It would seem like it because he has been moved. But that injury on his head transferred over. Then that would mean it is possible to transfer over materials? No that isn't right as the fabric on his head isn't the same as when he was on the ship.

Yes he got distracted and a bottle flew into the room. It was on fire so it quickly caught his attention. It hit the floor and slashed out flammable liquid that quickly caught fire.

A lot of things happened in quick succession that Brahk had to deal with. First was what he saw. Laeir had tried to grab it before it hit the floor and because he missed and he was close to it, it covered and spread to his feet. With the fabrics, dust and wood in this mud and stone building, it would quickly spread. Even into the wooden underbelly where he was located.

Now he didn't know if they had a way to deal with it and he knew he needed to be quick if he wanted to handle the flames. The best part was his implant that took all that information and quickly got him to his feet. Going through a pouch on his right hip, he found a canister. There he jumped up and out of the hole much to Roush attempting to grab him.

See Brahk and his implant knew that getting out of that hole was a terrible idea. With small metallic projectiles hitting the walls and floors he could easily be hit and killed like before. That in it of itself would prevent him from acting. His implant would remove those thoughts of protecting their lives from his head. Sure lingering feelings might stay and help him 'remember', but his implant would prevent him from acting.

The reason he was able to move was that based on the positions of people fighting to defend the home. All directions were being watched. That meant there was no escape and if the fire continued they would eventually be forced to leave which he would get killed or stay and hope that the fire didn't progress. With how the small home was built, it would be inevitable. Since his helmet had a hole in it, he wouldn't be able to sit there and breathe safely in his suit. Also he had nothing to block it out with either and even if he didn't asphyxiate, the heat might. Of course when the fires were out people might even come in and kill him then. So defending this home and everyone in it was for the best.

The cannister, like the one he used previously when he rescued his crew, would eliminate the oxygen in the area by giving the fires a denser gas to use as fuel and since it wouldn't work, they would go out. So he shouted the best he could and pinched his nose while making sure Iremagren saw him holding the canister in his hand.

As soon as he saw Iremagren shouting at everyone, he started spraying it all over. With a small home and one of his allies on fire, he needed to be quick and efficient. Once again he was thankful he was lazy.

---

It wasn't long after his battle with the fire that land and air vehicles came into the area spraying gas and metallic projectiles. The fighters outside quickly dispersed. Well he didn't see it right away, but the lack of attackers proved his point when he went outside.

There he and the family that was with them were moved to a safe location. Actually not all that far from the house. Possibly a few kilometers. He did notice that they had a positioning system in the vehicle that took them as he wiped his eyes. It seemed his guess with distance was pretty close to what they used which means they had a similar measuring system.

The place he was brought to wasn't a building. More like a collection of smaller buildings surrounded by a wall. Towers stood at the edges watching outward. Even if he didn't understand what each buildings' purpose was, it was clearly organized. Weapons and vehicles moved about past him.

While he was next to the family, he decided to help calm the children. He played a small video from Subhillaj. It was a children's entertainment show produced to help kids understand mathematical formulas. There was a reason he kept it on his data pad. While old, it was something he wanted to watch with his children. He never got the chance, so he would watch it every so often and pretend they were watching with him. He knew it all by heart. What he hoped the children in front of him would get out of it was a colorful distraction. Something away from the weapons and blood around them. Even with a language barrier their mother seemed hesitant, but quickly understood his intentions.

---

Iremagren stayed with him while he was separated from the group. There were two men escorting them. He wasn't sure at first, but when he entered the room he understood what they wanted him to do.

It was sterile, clean, and quickly reminded Brahk of where his exhausted body was. There was a metal table with wheels on it instead of being bolted down. A thin white sheet covered it and he was to sit down. Iremagren handed him clothing, which didn't help keeping heat in. Very thin and in such a weird green color. Even the outside was burning hot, this room was cool. It was uncomfortable.

The two that escorted him waited outside, while he changed with Iremagren in the room looking away from him. There was a drape separating him from Iremagren anyways so it wasn't too embarrassing.

He sat on that table per gesture from Iremagren where he sat in silence. Looking around the room was organized in a similar fashion. He went over to grab his data pad to check something. He wasn't completely sure, but he saw vials within a glass casing. It would be nice to find out what was in them and their chemical composition. After all if they had any errors in their fabrication database he could attempt to memorize chemical compositions here to fabricate there. His attempts were met with Iremagren shouting his name.

"Brahk." Looking back he saw the man before him shaking his head. A part of him was interested if that really meant the same thing as he had been taking it that way. Made sense.

There was a knock at the door. Iremagren said something then two people stepped in. Roush and a woman. After Iremagren said something to Roush, he left, leaving the three of them together.

"Brahk… Heardisven." He gestured towards the woman next to him. Weirdly enough if he had to describe the woman it was like the female version of Glex was in front of him. A strange comparison if he accounted for the wild eyes she presented him with.

She put her hand out in front of her. Brahk looked towards Roush and then back to her. He quickly realized he was supposed to shake it. He was proven correct when she returned a smile. She says something which Brahk assumes to be a greeting so he tries to speak it back.

"Nice to meet you." He quickly noticed that what he heard and spoke were completely different, but they both smiled at him so at least it wasn't completely horrible.

---

They did tests on him and asked questions which another person had been brought in. Through of all the languages the man spoke, none of them were close to what Brahk knew. It would be best if he could learn their language to have an intelligent conversation.

They took his blood and tried asking him what was on his back. That would be the implant on his spine but he didn't have a way to explain that at the moment. It wasn't until later in the confusion that he remembered his data pad. There he showed them scans of his body and what it looked like. He smiled when he saw their horrified faces.

It would mean that they themselves didn't know of it or didn't do something like that to others. If this was indeed real and his body existed in two places simultaneously while his mind needed to be transferred over, then he might be able to receive aid from these people to help him save his crew from being stuck on that planet.

---

He was getting tired. Over the course of the day the tests they had done were non-invasive. That was nice of them to be respectful. He knew they wanted to do more, but the language barrier hampered that. Since they seemed to be waiting for him, he let them wait while he learned about them.

He had been brought to one other place for the tests, but there was one place he was truly thankful for. Over what he guessed to be less than a week, all he had was water and little bits of food here and there. Iremagren's squad was with him there in what he called the 'cafeteria'. Which at first didn't mean much until he understood what it was. Food., real food.

Now he was wearing similar clothing to Iremagren and his squad. Tans and browns mixed all over for camouflage. He had his data pad, but left his space suit in his room they gave him.

Sure the food he had gotten looked nothing like he expected, but the smell was amazing. There were many more people there around them sitting on nearby benches and tables. While they didn't all get what he did, Brahk did get the exact same as Iremagren.

"Cheeseburger?" Brahk repeated when Iremagren picked it up and before he took a bite of it. Getting a quick whiff it did smell great. From his earlier observations, the food he ate and those tests they conducted on him, he suspected that it was safe to eat.

"Good!"

---

It had been a hectic day there. From waking up under a home in combat to finishing his meals… 'I was really hungry.' Thinking about his digestion system he could already hear Thevhei-

"What's wrong?" Iremagren was with him in his room showing him around. Now he couldn't be sure what he was saying exactly. Since his mood dropped quickly at the thought of his crew, he wanted to go to sleep. Iremagren must had noticed and Brahk just guessed that was what he said. He decided to vent even if the man next to him couldn't understand.

"I'm enjoying delicious food while my crew suffers. I know they're strong without me, but I want to be there for them. This whole thing is like a dream come true. I can escape all my troubles, my past. But is it really worth it? To be happy here while they suffer? I don't know how long this will last or why it is even happening." He flopped onto the bed. "I also don't wish to tell them about this. Even if they believed that I didn't lose my mind, I don't want them to believe I would abandon them."

Iremagren's hand gripped his shoulder, tightly. It made him laugh as he had just done the same thing to Sidarce.

"Thank you."

"Your welcome."