The Captain

Log Entry 3162.10.31 Situation Summary: The ISS Vigilant Dawn remains in critical condition, with Hive Bio Weapons actively hunting surviving crew members. The Captain [REDACTED] is tracking Hive activity directly, moving through damaged corridors, using her wits, advanced weaponry, and ship systems to evade and counter threats. The Hive Hunter has become a primary target, closing in with relentless pursuit. --- Chapter XLVII — Captain [REDACTED] The corridors echoed with a deep, unnatural hum. Sparks flickered from exposed conduits, casting fractured light across the walls. She could feel it before she saw it—the Hunter, massive and relentless, moving with predatory precision through the ship’s shadows. Every instinct screamed to act carefully; every step forward was a gamble. Energy gun charged, sword at her side, she manipulated nearby panels, triggering magnetic locks and short pulses of plasma energy. The ship itself became a tool, each system she could override bought her precious seconds. A movement ahead caught her attention—a figure limping from the smoke and debris. Heart stuttered. It was Orlen Vance. She had thought him lost, claimed by the Hive, yet here he was, alive and breathing, wounds patched with makeshift bindings. “Orlen… you’re—” Her voice faltered, disbelief and relief mingling. “Not for long if we don’t end this,” he rasped, stepping into the fray. Together, they advanced cautiously, the Hunter’s eyes—or whatever passed for its sensory perception—tracking them. Every approach, every flicker of movement, was met with the creature’s lightning-quick lunge. She dodged, rolled, fired, cut—but the Hunter adapted with every strike. Orlen’s presence gave her leverage. He threw himself into attacks, drawing the Hunter’s attention, baiting it, keeping it just long enough for her to manipulate the environment. They moved through corridors using the ship’s damaged state to create barriers and ambush points.