Madly Ecstatic Circular Hope Hungry Youkai !GGKI3UTr5s 2009/07/30 (Thu) 03:17 No. 21447 ▼ File 124892382230.jpg - (250.81KB, 975x702 , The Planet.jpg)
No bullshit alter-egos, no fucking about. Just me trying to get back in the groove. Probably a bit of a poor start, things will heat up in 2-3 updates time, I hope.
==
The first explosions are far-off, dull thumps as solid-slug munitions turn into metallic dust against the shields. A cheer turns to screams and vomiting as the concussive, gut-slamming shock-wave of total shield failure hits every deck. A thin stream of antimatter slides through the void a second time, no shields to stop it now. It carves away great sections of engine control, weapon systems, gunnery, and finally turns the bridge into a erupting molten boil of metal and flesh. Atmosphere and heat bleeds from the Han's Fist, hurling dead and dying crew-members into empty space to suffocate and freeze.
The cold, unnamed planet below watches silently. This was supposed to be deep recon, a desperate attempt to find some kind of weakness far behind the battlefronts. But instead, this place.
It was guarded.
==
Your eyes snap open as the second slap knocks your face sideways.
"Get up!" Somebody screams in your ear, hauling you to your feet. Ears ringing, head pounding, stomach rolling and the taste of bile on your tongue, you pick yourself up off the deck. Wind tugs at your clothing and hair, whipping your head around in confusion before firm hands grab you and push you forwards.
Everything is lit dark red by the emergency lighting, but you can barely see the face of the person dragging you towards the end of the corridor. A bulkhead slams down behind you, cutting off the roaring sound of decompression, stopping the wind. You gasp down great lungfulls of air, trying to clear your vision.
"Come on, come on." The voice mutters, not letting you stop to rest. "Fucking move."
"Uhh." You shake, feeling like you're going to vomit again. Memories and comprehension are coming back to you now as you stumble through the wreck that was once Internal Operations Control. The crew are in blind panic, most of them drooling stomach acid, curled up on the deck or shaking with the aftershock of the anti-matter beam. The few with their wits about them, or enough nanomachines in their blood to compensate, are desperately trying to contact the bridge or gunnery. Even fewer have already accepted that the Han's Fist is as good as dead.
You shake your head as the woman keeps dragging you on, into a long connecting corridor.
"Where- uhh-" You struggle with the urge to vomit, your voice coming out raw. "Where are we going?"
"Deployment launchers, fast as we can." She says, not sparing you a glance.
"Wha-why?" You try to rub your eyes. You ... you were on the bridge, she bundled you out before the shields imploded.
"They will have hit the shuttles and the escape pods already." She says, voice clear and crisp above the din of biological and mechanical pain all around you.
"Escape?" You mutter. "We can't, we're fucked."
"Shut up and move." She says. You obey, too weak and confused to do anything else. You blink and try to focus past the overpowering nausea. She's plain, tall, no uniform, just a jumpsuit with a cog symbol on the back.
"Who are-" You start.
A series of thumps, followed by screaming pulverising metal, interrupts you, makes you wince and cower. That was close, more solid munitions.
"Shit." The woman mutters, pausing. You frown for a moment, thoughts too fuzzy to think.
"Why don't they frag the fucking engines already, what are they doing?" You ask. This time, the woman does look at you, eyes thin and focused.
"Those were boarding torpedoes, not missiles. Makains always go for a boarding action if they can." She says. A cold feeling settles in the pit of your stomach.
"Shit." You echo her. You don't want that, you don't want to die like that.
"New plan. First armoury block we can find." She says.
"I hear that." You say, feeling more of your senses returning. "Who are you anyway?"
"Renko, civilian contractor, stellar cartography and cybernetics." She reels off. "No time now, come on."
==
There's an armoury block on the corner of the next corridor intersection.
"Security is still working. You are an officer, right? You can open it?" Renko asks you. You wipe the perspiration from your forehead as you peer at the gene-reader on the door. It's getting hot in here, fast, which means either life support got damaged and you're feeling the heat from the engines, or the engines got damaged and you've got less time left than you think.
"Think I can." You place your palm against the reader and the door opens with a click. Inside are racks of weaponry, ammunition, light body armour for on-board security and in sealed bays at the back of the room are five suits of full combat plate.
Renko grabs a pump-action shotgun and slumps against the wall to load it with shells.
"Cover the door." She says, eyes not leaving the doorway. You hesitate for a second before picking up a rifle and checking it's loaded.
"So." You say, training your gun on the door just in case. "You saved my ass on the bridge because you need an officer's clearance if you want to escape, right?"
"Exactly." Renko says without pause, slipping a small pistol into a pocket of her jumpsuit. Her fingers are short and stubby, you notice, but quick. She rummages through the room for a moment longer, pocketing spare nanomachine supply hypodermics, self-administering adrenaline packs and other things that escape your notice.
"Huh." You glance at her as she joins you at the door once more.
"Do you have a problem with my motivation?" She asks. "I'm not dying on this ship if I can help it, officer's clearance or no."
You shake your head. "Neither am I, fuck that. We getting out of here? You got a plan?"
"It's ... about 900 meters between here and the Deployment Launchers. We can make it if we're fast and quiet. The Makains will be too occupied with the first flesh they can find."
You shudder as she speaks, thankful for the weight of the rifle in your grip.
"We're going planetside? To that ... "
"It's a wasteland." Renko admits. "But there is no choice."
"It could teeming with them! They were guarding this fucking rock, Gods know what's down there!" You grit your teeth, feeling cornered panic start to creep over your heart.
"It won't be." Renko says, calmly working the action of the shotgun.
"Why are you so sure?" You ask.
"One ship." She says.
"What?"
"They only had one ship guarding the planet." She says quietly, eyeing the door. "That's not for protecting the planet, that's for making sure nothing leaves it."
Renko glances back at you. "Ready?" She asks.
[ ] Yes. Go.
[ ] Not yet, strap on some light body armour.
[ ] You can remember the training, you need all the protection you can get. Risk putting on the combat armour.