Kaelen Di Korbel opened her eyes, the pain was intense but she was breathing.

Captain? Are you Alright?  Allana hovered nearby just out of view.

"What was that?" Kaelen grunted. She touched her forehead and her hand came away wet. 

Allana's voice echoed in her mind, a soft but steady presence in the chaos. The AI orb floated into view, perfectly unharmed amidst the wreckage. Kaelen couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy. The last thing she remembered was the ship veering wildly, a series of explosions, then... this.

Kaelen grunted, her fingers pressing against her forehead. Blood smeared her hand, but she didn't have time to check the wound. The crash was bad, but not fatal. Not yet.

"I'm functional," Allana replied, her voice calm. "We've sustained significant damage, but the core systems are intact. The ship is still mostly operational."

Kaelen blinked, confused. Mostly operational? She tried to move but found herself wincing from pain in her side. Her body armor had done its job, but it felt like she'd hit by a freight train. 

"You are mostly functional as well," Allana hovered. "I took the liberty of running diagnostics. Your organics are working - you will incur bruises but that shouldn't impede overall functi--"

"Got it," Kaelen snapped.

The AI used to Kaelen's brashness went silent.

"Status?"

"Weapons offline."

Great, there would be no return fire. She stood, momentarily dizzied. Her amor was assessing the damage, already she felt the cooling sensation as the nanites in her system went to work. 

"Location?"

"Hyphernia Southern Locus, near the equator - Federation logs indicate the area is known as Cherica, the seat of the High Counsel. Oh.... Oh no..."

"Oh no?"

Kaelen swung her head around to look at the floating AI bot. Allana hovered, her silence uncharacteristic.

"What have we done, Captain?"

Kaelen through a hand in the air in frustration. "You tell me?"

"We... we've crashed into the Counselor's meeting room... it seems..." Allana continued scanning. "We've effectively killed their government body."

"What?" Kaelen immediately went into defensive mode. The ship wherever it had landed was already in hostile territory. But apparently the middle of their government. Just great.

"Not like I asked to be shot down," she muttered. "Hostiles?"

"I... I'm detecting movement outside, Captain. Numerous heat signatures. They're coming closer."

"Great," Kaelen muttered, glancing out through the cracked viewport. The sight wasn't reassuring. Through the haze, the dark silhouettes of figures were approaching fast. She could make out the shapes of armored troops, their weapons raised. 

The Hypherni. She was about to get a first person encounter with them.

"We're literally inside their government building?"

"Yes, Captain."

Allana's voice softened, filled with something resembling hesitation. "They might not understand what happened here. They might think we attacked them intentionally."

"Well, they're right about that." Kaelen clenched her fists. "But they won't be getting an apology. Again I didn't ask to be shot down. I never even engaged with them."

"I'll put it all in the report, Captain."

 Kaelen could almost feel its presence bristle with concern. Allana was used to Kaelen's bluntness—but in a situation like this, the AI would move to protect her and Kaelen needed her to follow orders.

"How much time do we have?" Kaelen demanded, already moving to the hatch. Her mind was already spinning. She could hear the hum of her engines, and with the ship still intact—mostly—she knew she had one option.

"You'll need to act quickly. You're in the heart of Hyphernia's government territory. If you don't escape soon, you'll be... overrun."

Kaelen stepped out of the wreckage, the familiar weight of her armor expanding over her body was comforting.  She was a soldier, trained to deal with hostile situations, but this? This was something different.

Allana hovered behind her over her shoulder.

Words were shouted at her as the reptilian Hypherni came closer, their robes a blend of practicality and beauty against a hostile sun.

She didn't want to fight, she was supposed to be observing in passing. But the Hypherni had put her in this situation. And she was damn sure going to make them wish they hadn't shot a federation ship out of the sky. They hadn't just shot her down. They'd made sure she dropped on what passed for their parliament.

"Allana, tell me everything you can about this place." Kaelen snapped, hoping her next move could buy her time.

"Southern Locus, seat of the High Counsel," Allana continued. "The government has a tight grip on this area. Well it had a tight grip..."

"Had?" Kaelen paused as the Hypherni slowed their advance.

"Well - all indcations, you hit their counsel, while it was in session. You could not have made a better shot if you wanted to, Captain."

Kaelen turned to look at the floating orb. 

"Allana," Kaelen said, as her fingers danced over a nearby control panel, accessing the last working systems. "Give me a way to... distract them. I need a diversion."

I can initiate an EMP burst. It won't last long, but it should be enough to disable their electronics for a short while."

They could see her, their faces grim.

"Do it."

Allana moved forward at Kaelen's direction and an EMP pulse burst out from the orb in front of them both. 

The burst of energy came in a sharp flash, cascading outward in waves. Kaelen winced as the electric pulse sent a surge of static through the air, crackling like thunder. She watched the Hypherni staggered in confusion, shouting in their language which sounded guttural to her ears, their weapons flickering and falling silent. Their communications blinked out, leaving them disoriented. It was brief—but it was enough.

The disorientated Hypherni took a few more steps forward before their weapons dropped uselessly to the ground.

And then one by one they dropped to their knees and bowed low. 

Kaelen stopped. "Allana - what the hell is happening?"

Allana's holographic display flickered briefly as the Hypherni continued to kneel in unison, their clawed hands pressed against the ground, heads lowered in reverence. The AI's voice hummed, analyzing the situation.

"I'm not entirely certain, Captain. Your presence, they think you have command of lightning," Allana explained, sounding slightly peeved. "But--"

"Don't tell them otherwise!" It was an advantage even if it was a strange one. "What are they saying?"

"The... The destroyer has come." Allana hummed as she moved back closer to Kaelen's shoulder. "They think I am your weapon, as if I---"

"Just hold that thought!"

One of the locals stood and approached keeping low. "Rydych chi wedi ein achub ni oddi wrthyn nhw."

"Allana? Translation?" Kaelen snapped whipping her head around to the orb. 

"You saved us from them," the orb answered.

"Maen nhw'n oppreswyr, fe'u dysgodd y byddai dinistrwyr yn dod o'r awyr, ond mewn gwirionedd mae'n achubwyr," the Hypherni continued. 

"They are oppressors, they taught destroyers would come from the sky, but it's actually saviors," Allana continued. "They are interpreting this as the fulfillment of a prophecy."

"No shit," Kaelen snapped. "I guess we can power down?"

Around them the Hypherni began to hoot and cheer, the sounds oddly reminded her of a human celebration. Their thick reptilian skin was all they had in common with a Terran reptile. Bipedal and upright - they were no different than many being she had encountered. Except they were the first to call her a savior.

"Achubwr! Achubwr! Achubwr!"

The roar grew louder. It was celebratory in nature but Kaelen couldn't help but shake off the feeling that something wasn't right. They Hyphernian government had steadily refused to join the Federation. Joining meant giving their citizens the freedom to travel offworld - access to the net. The Hypherni ruling class simply wasn't ready to give that up. 

And yet, she was here - at the right time their counsel was meeting?

Something was up.

Allana's voice chirped in her ear, through their private connection. "Captain, call from Command. They want to know what the hell is going on?"

Kaelen shrugged. "I think someone just handed the Hypherni over to the Federation?"

The cheering Hypherni continued to shout, "Achubwr!" as they lifted her on their shoulders. "Savior," Allana sent privately.

"Got that," Kaelen said. She wasn't relaxed in any form of the word. Fear etched through her.  There was no way that she just randomly fell out of the sky freeing a bunch of people from their political overlords.

"Allana, privately run a comms check on the ship. I want to know who shot us down and from where. Something is going on. I don't like being someone's pawn."