A dream (or is it...)
21 Jul 2021Kartah
A fleet carrier hangs above a cool brown dwarf, illuminated by its eerie purple aura, unease permeating the vacuum. The carrier's silhouette etches a gorge into the L class star's surface, the scattered rays of light reflected and absorbed by its immense structure. The landing pads are all retracted with worn and patchy striped yellow and black paint stretching across the rims, providing connotations of police tape at a major crime scene. Scorched debris and frozen, icy corpses from Cobras, Cutters and Corvettes alike are scattered about around the 'airspace' that was once under the jurisdiction of the FNS Intrepid, drifting solemnly through space around the sad forlorn wreck. Burn marks carve the hull into thousands of pieces, with chunks missing as if a colossal beast had taken a bite out of the carrier. Everything is completely, utterly, silent. No comms chatter. No ring of the afterburner of a departing spacecraft. Nobody is warping. Total silence. Until...A lone Krait enters the system. Its movements are tight and robotic, each turn, each push of the throttle carefully regulated by its pilot. Its is almost as if... No. It can't be. FES-22T. The ship is covered in laser wounds much like the Intrepid, and has apparent external hull breaches, some of which have compromised the primary thruster pack. The craft stumbles its way towards the carrier, a trail of thick black smoke pursuing it closely behind as a painful reminder of the damage the ship has undergone.
The pilot of FES-22T coughs up blood. *I'm too old for this crap,* he thinks to himself. Even conjuring up words seems to hurt. His suit has numerous patched up gashes and cracks, each patched up with utility tape and painted with dry bloodstains, the name and unit barely legible amongst the damage, reading L̸̖̬͓̆T̶͇̏̈́C̴̠̻̄̀̒M̸͔̲̜̓̀͝Ḓ̵̢͙͊̄̚R̸̞̹̕ ̸̞̈́̓T̷̩͂͂́Ǒ̴̳̦̀͒Ţ̵̲̼̚A̶͍̐͘͝L̸̥̤̐L̸̩̫̣͐̾̾Y̷͉̍ ̶͎͋M̸͕̍Ǎ̸̼͙͙̒͘D̷͎̫̎̅͆Y̴͓͌̈́̚ . Shards of glass and splinters of metal float about the depressurised cockpit, each coated with a crystalline structure of blood, sweat and tears. The coffee machine has been ripped from its podium, the only remains being a few lone beans strewn about the area. The coffee beans were of the brand *Spacebux*.
NEW COFFEE FROM SPACE! POP OVER TO YOUR LOCAL SPACEBUX FOR A REFRESHING CAFFEINATED BEVERAGE! OR ORDER ON OUR GALNET WEBPAGE!!! (necessary product placement for increased revenue)
“Computer, bring us to a halt.” The pilot spoke in a raspy monotone voice.
“Ã̴͚I̶̳͐ ̷̩̓C̵͇̑o̷̳͂r̸̙̆e̶͖͠Ȧ̴̼I̸͓͝ ̵͉͠C̸̜̎o̶̳͝r̵̹͌e̷̳̊ ̷̺͝Ķ̴͗_̷̟̂1̷̰̀-̶̲̃ ̴̥͝ NEGATIVE, COMMANDER. LACANI SYSTEM COMPROMISED. NEGATIVE, COMMANDER. LACANI SYS-”
The pilot wrenched out the ancient speaker system’s cable. The COVAS fell silent. The wreckage of the FNS Intrepid rushed up towards the dinky spacecraft. *This is the end. After all that… guess this is how I go.*
Kartah awoke with a start. He was in the luxurious cabin of his Courier aboard the FNS Intrepid, on the floor, with a rather large bruise on his forehead. His heart was pounding like an engine in his chest, almost giving him a real concern it might punch a hole in his ribcage. This experience he would choose to forget.