Auto destruct sequence engaged. One minute countdown. -- The Cat Chase Part IV (Final) --
25 Jan 2016iModar
January 17, 3302. 05:01I was standing before General Scoot, who was planning to use my Cobra III to effectively destroy the entire mainframe of Saunders's Dive using several terabytes of Unknown Artifact data he installed onto my main computer. The ship was set to automatically jump to Wolf 1301 and dock, and the navigation system was locked out of my control. I had to stop this, but there was only one thing I could do...
"Computer," I said in anticipation for the acknowledgement chime. "Activate the auto destruct system. Authorization code Alpha zero zero four nine nine two three three. Sequence Gamma."
Scoot became worried and asked, "What are you doing? What are you trying to pull?"
AUTO DESTRUCT SEQUENCE ENGAGED. WAITING FINAL CODE FOR ONE MINUTE COUNTDOWN
With a smirk, I answered his questions. "Every ship registered to an EXO officer has certain security protocols. Although this is a trade ship, I'm still a (Wingman) in EXO's forces; therefore, this ship has countermeasures for hostile takeover." I spoke the final code, "Sigma Alpha Delta. Echo X-ray Omega."
DESTRUCT SEQUENCE GAMMA ARMED
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I felt the need to take a couple seconds to explain something to Scoot.
"Sequence Gamma is specially programmed for intruder alerts and to prevent ships from being captured by enemies. It also transmits the last 5 hours of flight data to every EXO controlled station; they'll know what happened here."
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"I should also add that all airlocks are sealed. There's no escape for you, so accept your fate, General."
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Scoot's ships moved away from my Cobra. They didn't want to be caught in the blast. The scarred face of his showed horror. He was going to die and he knew it. Unfortunately, my fate was also in the balance. I had only a few seconds to reach the escape pod and clear the area before the explosion takes it out too, and I didn't want him to get near it. I was beginning to feel the effects of my injuries and notice the blood loss taking place. I could've tried to grab my pistol and shoot him, but I wanted him conscious for the explosion. He seemed too worried about his fate to notice me half limping/half crawling towards the bow of the ship.
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It all came down to this; the UAs, Saunders's fate, the Space Cat...mysteries that I tried to solve, but was completely unprepared for what would happen. Even if the black holes supposedly cured my friends, what if instead they were merely stabilized? What if they went near another Artifact? This supposed Space Cat has to be out there. Is it human, is it alien, or the madness caused by exposure to the alien-like devices?
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My chase came to an end.
The end...?