As the gravity of the black hole broke free from the control of the shield, it seemed like everything in the port suddenly shifted and strained against the new force. The shield parts around the newly formed hole turned red, and an alarm sounded inside TO’s helmet. A warning flashed across their visor.
== Warning; Shield Breach. Stay inside your anchored ship until the breach is contained. ==
Of course, TO and DH weren’t in their ship at all. DH was being held on by the wire between the two of them, and TO was only clinging to the ship thanks to the magnetic connections.
Enemy drones, many which had been hovering in rest mode, rushed towards the hole in the shield. Some went right in, but others smacked against the edges and broke before the pieces spiraled towards the black hole. Other ships which were moving tried to reverse their thrusters and get more distance, but all they did was crash against the shield, or against other ships and causing substantial damage.
The ships that were locked in the anchors thankfully didn’t move, though a few ships lost pieces as the drones crashed into them.
TO jolted as the wire around their waist pulled tight, and for a split second they thought they would lose their grip on the ship. They shifted, and one foot came loose, but they could regain their grip and secure their foot against the ship. They looked and saw that DH hadn’t grabbed onto anything to secure themself and was now being pulled towards the hole in the shield. All that was keeping them both from being pulled away to either fall through the hole or slam against the shield was the magnetic connections TO head to the ship.
TO had an Idea, that maybe if they could reach out and pull DH towards the ship, then it would be easier. They reached out, but the moment they pulled their hand from the edge of the ship they felt their grip loosening. They felt as though their heart had stopped for a moment and quickly slammed their hand back against the ship.
Ok… that wouldn’t work. TO would just have to hold on until the shield’s auto-repair mechanisms kicked in and created a temporary fix. Hopefully, it didn’t take long, and everything was working as it should.
TO glanced back at the shield, and felt a brief wave of relief as they saw the smaller circular bots zooming across the outside of the shield and towards the hole; the repair functions had already activated and were working to contain the breach.
Hurry… hurry up TO thought as they held on. THey could feel their grip slackening, the fight between the pull of gravity and the power of the magnets struggling against one another. They glanced back at DH, and saw that DH was working to try to pull themself back towards TO. Good; If DH could get to them, then they were certain they’d be ok. They just had to wait a little longer; wait for the shield to be fixed, wait for DH to reach them, or wait to be pulled away and to their death.
They felt something give, like a tear somewhere. When they looked down, they saw that the wire around their waist was giving; the cords under the tubing must have pulled too hard; maybe weakened by the makeshift loops and knots that they had tied. Whatever had caused it, that didn’t matter now. What mattered was that the tubing was straining and breaking just at TO’s waist.
Even if they couldn’t pull DH in, they had to grab the rope if they were to keep DH from spiraling off towards the black hole. Of course, if they removed a hand from the ship then the pull of gravity would pull them away! How were they supposed to do this! They had nothing to grab onto, just the magnets that were proving to be not strong enough! How do you hold on to a ship in space with all kinds of forces trying to pull you off!
TO remembered the void anemone. That thing had clung to the side of the ship for days! It actually was hard to pry off, and TO had to use their multi-gun to get the remains of the crystals off! Sure, they hadn’t been fighting the pull of a black hole, but they had been travelling through space!
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They looked around and thanked their one tiny sliver of luck that they were relatively close to an exhaust vent. They slowly slid over a little closer without losing their grip, though it was dangerous and there were some horrifying moments where they thought they felt their grip loosening more.
They didn’t know how long they’d have once they let go, so they’d have to act fast. They quickly took their hand from the ship and slammed it into the vent. The added force and strength that the suit provided. They could break and bend a few of the vents just enough to push in their hand past their elbow. They fumbled around, slipping from the ship just as they felt their hand touch something.
The pull of the unsecured black hole just about lifted them from the ship, but they hooked their arm around something and ended up getting their arm stuck at an awkward angle. While being stuck did at least keep them from being pulled away, the sudden yank and the unnatural angle made something give in their arm. They didn’t know what happened, but it felt like something tore and they cried out in pain as their arm spasmed and then burned with pain from the shoulder down.
They grit their teeth, and with tears of pain in their eyes, they did their best to ignore the pain in their arm. There was something more important than their arm; They had to make sure that DH was still ok. With their free arm, they reached out and grabbed at the wire just moments before it snapped. The movement made their hurt arm burn anew, and they nearly let go of the wire, but pure, stubborn will and determination kept them holding on.
Thankfully, DH was nearly there. They got close enough to reach out for the ship, and the magnets in their own hands and feet connected to the side. Once they were secure, they shifted and put half their body over TO’s, as though protecting them.
The pain in TO’s arm was excruciating now though, and TO worried they had done serious damage. They didn’t know what was wrong, but they hoped that whatever it was, DH could fix it. At least now that DH was holding them to the ship, and because they were also holding TO to the ship there was less strain on their arm.
At least it didn’t feel like the pull of gravity would rip off their arm.
The machines around the shield beeped. TO looked back and was just able to see the shield over DH’s wings, which were being pulled towards the hole. There were odd, purple strands of electricity crossing the hole like strings of lightning. The machines that surrounded the hole rose and expanded out to reveal a circle of bug-like legs.
Just before they got pulled through the hole, the machines linked by the legs and though they strained; they didn’t break. The lights around the hole went from red to yellow, the electric string disappeared, and the pull of gravity stopped.
TO still clung to the ship as though afraid that the shield might fail again. They were shaking inside their armor, and breathing in ragged and short breaths. The pain in their arm suddenly seemed to get worse, drawing a pained cry from TO which the armor silenced.
“TO, are you ok?” DH’s voice broke through, speaking through their communicator. TO took several long breaths and shook their head.
“My arm.” They said, “My arm-” Their voice cracked as they spoke, and the communicator cut off.
DH crawled to the other side of TO, and to the vent where their arm was. They took out their multi-gun and before TO could tell them to stop they had already set it to a lower setting and used quick, small shots to break away at the vents; it was much like what TO had done to get the crystals off the vent after scaring away the creature.
When the hole was big enough, DH put their arm in alongside TO’s, felt around. And felt where TO had hooked their arm under something.
“This will hurt.” DH said, “Ready?”
“Yeah.” TO whimpered.
“Alright… three, two… one.”
DH pulled the arm from out around where a metal bar hooked over it. TO cried out, but DH pulled the arm free. They pushed the arm up to TO’s chest and as they did, an alert flashed up before TO’s eyes.
“Damage detected; activating protection- area; left arm.”
The arm of the armor seized up and held the arm in place. Though their arm still throbbed with pain, TO felt they could manage the pain, at least for a little while. Maybe it was just because they still had adrenaline rushing through them; a mixture of rage and panic. They looked around, but didn’t see any other active drones in the area.
“Did it work?” TO asked, “Are they all gone?”
“Anything that didn’t get sucked through the hole must have gotten smashed against the shield.” DH said, “At any rate, I don’t see any enemy fire; I think we’re safe.”
They were safe; they had done it. TO hadn’t known if it would work and had even agreed that their plan had been a stupid one. That didn’t matter though; if it hadn’t worked they’d be dead, anyway; or worse. They had succeeded, and now all they wanted to do was go back to the ship and take a handful of painkillers to drive away the burning pain in their arm.
They couldn’t do that, though. Not now. Right now they had to work through the pain, they had to suffer through the pain and get to the main dock to see what had happened. They had to talk to the security and the dockmasters, and find out what had happened, and how a few dozen of drones got so far as to take over a portal dock.
TO wanted to rest, but they were a Synth in service to King Decon; their own pain could wait; they had work to do.