What was I thinking?
09 Feb 2024Zachariah "Zephyrus" Casterly
There was silence as the dull sage-coloured craft broke apart, its limbs floating aimlessly into the black. A quiet sigh of relief escaped the young commander. There were chunks of debris that pattered the canopy, bouncing off and twirling away. Strange yellowish haze wrapped around the wreckage and then dispersed into nothing."That was... Not in the reports." Zackariah uttered as he pulled his hair from his eyes, sweat dripping from his nose and chin. His hands shook as he laid back in the chair, only now remembering to breathe. Lights flickered across the panels with the small sparks that lit the cockpit intermittently. His eyes sunk, his face expressionless as he spaced out, all sounds and lights escaping him as he spiraled from himself. There was a stillness there. Silence as the clunky craft hung in the canvas of the space and stars. In a strange turn from the violent and the desperate, there was peace. As if everything was okay, that all would be well.
"WARNING CAUSTIC DAMAGE DETECTED!" The words broke the silence as it boomed across the lonely cockpit. Zack cried out as he jumped from his seat, the straps catching him and propelling him back with a heavy thud. His heart sank, the moment of silence after the storm was broken. He was left in the red and dark with his thoughts turning to what was to come next.
"Alright alright! Arthur. I hear you... So, uh... Is our AFM operational... No... No no no no!" He scrambled, his head suddenly filled with informational videos. All that knowledge that had been shoved down his throat on the Standard Operating Procedure when facing the Insects, it all came rushing in at once. "Okay. Can we program the limpets to decontaminate? Our hull integrity is almost nihil." He asked frantically, his voice almost drowned by the alarms pinging across the board.
"NO LIMPETS DETECTED IN THE CARGO HOLD, COMMANDER!" The ship-board assistant spoke in a flat tone, void of emotion. The words struck him like a fist to the gut.
He forgot them...
He forgot to buy them at the Mega Ship. All those hours in the flight sims and the training videos, and this is what he had to show for it. He had poured so much time mentally preparing himself for this very thing, and he forgot one of the most important aspects of Anti-Xeno combat... The Limpets.
There were no other voices that occupied the cabin. Zachariah knew now more than ever, he was completely and utterly alone. There would be no one who could save him now. Adrift in the deep space between systems, hyperdicted mid-jump, attacked by a Thargoid vessel completely unkown to him. His thoughts consumed him as panic began to set in, his ship was being eaten alive and he would be thrusted in the cold embrace of the void. it was only a matter of time.
His breaths grew heavy and quicker, his panic inducing hyperventilation. His eyes found the percentage at the edge of his HUD indicating the hull integrity. He watched with horror as it ticked down every second;
12%… 11%… 10%…
"VESSEL TAKING DAMAGE!" Arthur spoke out, a reminder to his commander that he had a job to do. The words were stern and direct. But in that moment it was as if the robotic voice was pleading to Zachariah, "Do something, you idiot!" The man shook his head, sweat falling to the floor. He pushed back against the closing walls of his mind, and in that space... Clarity.
Zachariah turned in his seat, spinning his body starboard and pressed his hands against the systems console. He scoured over the endless pages of info. "Come on... Come on... Where are you!" His words spoke sharply, angrily even. Fingertips danced over the pad, until the page before him showed a list of craftable devices, and within that list; his salvation... Limpet.
"Arthur, begin production of limpets!" The machine whirred in response, the dying ship fighting for its life to build its last lifeline. Then it came, purchase, the satisfying sound of a build completed. He had heard the sound so many times before, as a miner by trade, it wasn't uncommon to have to replenish limpets mid run. It was so simple, he cursed himself for forgetting. But he shrugged off the embarrassment and turned in his seat to the primary controls. "Begin decontamination of the hull and power plant. I want them repaired just enough to be stable. Then focus on life support systems. We only have four of these so make every one of them count!"
"AFFIRMATIVE, COMMANDER! BEGINNING DECONTAMINATION SEQUENCE!"
Zachariah watched as the limpets flew out and began to work their magic on the exterior of his ship. He was cutting it awfully close.
7%... 6%...
Panels off the bow of the vessel burst and broke away. Zack gripped his seat as all he could do was watch and hope he acted in time. The little minions danced across the hull etching with their lasers. He heard a crack in that instant.
"CANOPY INTERGRITY COMPROMISED!" Cracks grew from the edges of the viewport, splintering and bisecting. He flew from the seat, yet again being pulled back, met with the restraints keeping him. He cursed and pulled at them, freeing himself as he ran to the maintenance compartment. As it flew open, Zachariah quickly scanned among the many tools and devices. His eyes narrowed as he found his quarry; the pressure gel cannister. Without a second to waste, he tore at it and ran to the canopy. Clear paste oozed from the end of the nozzle as he pressed it against the cracks, and as the gel covered the glass Zachariah could see the cracks beginning to recede. The gel was working.
There was the smell of gunpowder that filled the room, a sharp tang that bit into the nostrils. Likelihood was the spent casing got lodged in one of his multicannons, causing the gun to malfunction. Zachariah could do nothing of the agitating smell as he worked away along the surface of the glass.
"DECONTAMINATION COMPLETE!" It was music in that instant, a sweet tune that meant survival. Zachariah stepped back as he viewed the cockpit. The lights were still flashing and the damage alarm was still rigging and jolting against his ears. He stepped over to his console.
14%... And holding. Zack lowered his temple to the pad, his hair hanging over the screen. His face contorted to a small smile as he began to chuckle softly to himself.
"Father's going to kill me..." He said with a shudder, his body slipping to the floor. He turned and leaned against the panel, legs outstretched. His eyes found an old photograph of he and his father standing before the Hyperion. He had used tape to hang it up and during the ensuing chaos it must have dislodged. His shaking fingers took the photo up and he laughed. "I got you beat up, old boy!" He looked up at the ship.
The Hyperion was an old Delcacy Anaconda, only recently retrofitted for Anti-Xeno operations. His father; Galliard Casterly had purchased the ship when he made Captain of Lembava Commodities Security. Galliard eventually transferred over to the Sirius Corporation's Security team. He worked the trade routes and would regularly use the old vessel in show of force for the company. After Captain Galliard had risen through the ranks, his work shifted away from active patrols. The Hyperion wouldn't see use until Zachariah purchased the ship off a loan to his father, promising to pay it in full when he made big as an Elite Trader.
"What was I thinking?" He thought to himself as he looked over the Hyperion's cockpit, it was a mess with papers and supplies all strewn about. "Whatever the hell that was, it got us good huh, Arthur?" Zachariah sighed as he looked out towards the wreckage, watching the bowels of the carapace vessel skirting off. The Assistant didn't say anything, not recognizing it to be relevant to the ship's operation. Zachariah was used to this, but still spoke to it, nonetheless. Perhaps it was his only way to stay sane during his long hauls.
Zach turned in his seat and punched in the course to the nearest safe system. "FRAMESHIFT DRIVE CHARGING!"
"Let's get fixed up, shall we?" He whispered and patted his console, a small thank you to his ship for keeping him alive.