Dendrite
Knocked out
You stand on the bridge of the Constant Wind, sirens blaring in your ears. Crew rush to and forth, from console to console, where operators are all screaming out results. Among the cacophony you can make out snatches of phrases: "unknown ship"; "do we raise shields"; "fighters launching"; "what the hell is it?".
No wait, that was you.
Several nearby crew fall silent as the head science officer looks at you and the Captain. "We don't know sir. It's not one of ours, but that's all I know right now."
"XO", the Captain says, "ready shields and weapons, I'll handle..."
You wake up in a blur, body stiff and immovable. You blink to clear your eyes and realise you've been put inside a life pod. Outside the glass partition you can see crew members running towards more pods, but the ship lurches, tears open, and they get sucked out into the void.
"Automatic launch sequence initiated", you hear the computer chime, and like that you are enveloped by the great dark. Craning your neck you can see the ship as it drifts away. Thrusters engage, tugging your stomach up to your throat, and pushing you away from the listing ship. You can see atmosphere leaking from several locations, and behind the Constant Wind the giant ship readies a weapon, and fires again. And again, and again. Until nothing remains of your home.
"Calculating best course for survival...", the computer chimes. "Three options available:"
- Hypersleep and drift to the core systems
- Emergency landfall on nearby habitable planetoid
- Engage FTL distress beacon
By Neil