Bad_Skeelz
Cadet
Joined: October 18, 2002
Posts: 359
From: The Lobby
|  Posted: 2003-07-01 12:15
February 16, 2260 CE.
On the Bridge of the ST-211 Heavy Transport Onager
Luyten System
““Join the Navy,” they said. “See the universe!” they said. Just my luck to get stuck transporting toiletries…” Lieutenant Riose, of the UGTO Navy, Transport Branch, 43rd Squadron, was not very happy with his career so far. “Put a torpedo into a speeding transport and I get transferred to this hulk…”
“Please stop muttering to yourself, lieutenant. It is quite distracting…” Commander Junkers’s high, nasal voice jerked Riose out of his sulk. “What is our ETA at Mycopia?”
“13 minutes, 45 seconds and dropping.” These long-haul missions out of Sol were the epitome of dullness. Junkers didn’t help much either. He followed orders to the letter and anything distracting him from his mission, such as talking, accidental weapons discharge or careening into the path of a dreadnaught was ignored.
*BEEP*
“Lieutenant what was that?”
“A beep, sir. More specifically an acknowledgement beep, something is in range of our scanners. It should come up on the screen momentar-HOLY CHRIST!”
“I will have no swearing on my ship lieutenant!” The object of Riose’s outburst happened to the Elite Assault Dreadnaught Typhon, with accompanying escorts. In the distance a second battle group could be seen. All 30 ships were moving under normal IE drives.
“Hmm… the briefing mentioned the possibility of an engagement. Looks like the ICC scum have gone on the offensive. Commander, shall we offer our assistance to the Typhon?”
“Absolutely NOT! Our orders clearly state we our to only fire in self-defense, and that is only if we are unable to avoid confrontation in the first place. It’s the Gung-ho captains in the fighting branches job to destroy the enemy, not ours. We will proceed with our mis-oof!” The Onager, gripped by an ICC interdiction field, came to an abrupt stop; its 2 passengers, despite their seat straps were not so fortunate.
“Damn, wish they would stick a few grav-generators in these things.”
“What did I tell you about swearing lieutenant? Apparently we are closer to the conflict than I might have hoped. How far are we from our destination?”
“2000.gu from Mycopia, sir.”
“Excellent, proceed under normal drives. If were lucky we can reach Mycopia before the conflict begins and land for the duration. Lieutenant, engage point defense, bring us up to full power and avoid I repeat AVOID any hostile ships. Head straight for Mycopia, I shall hail them once we are in range.”
“Yes sir…” “Mycopia…nice planet if I recall.” Thought Riose to himself. “Heard they just finished terraforming it. Supposed to be a major food producer for the system. Will be interesting to see how they did-”
*BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEEEEEEEEE*
“Multiple contacts dead ahead, commander!”
“I see them lieutenant. Engage point defense and proceed to Mycopia.”
Directly ahead of the Onager an entire ICC fleet had emerged from jump and was already targeting the UGTO fleet. The ICC ignored the Onager as it sped in, they were concentrated on the Typhon as the ship punched through the destroyer screen and engaged the ICC’s own flagship. Riose began to twitch involuntarily as they neared the two assault-class dreadnaughts. “You can’t possibly expect us to survive a direct flight through there, commander! One of the torpedoes is bound to hit us, or we’ll be smashed between them!”
Junkers seemed unperturbed. “I have complete faith in this ship’s armor, lieutenant. We are only 600gu away from Mycopia, so unless you do something foolish we are going to make it.”
The Onager sped underneath the ICC dreadnaught, barely dodging a torpedo volley as it did so. The torpedoes slammed into the bridge of the Typhon, killing everyone there and venting the decks directly above and below to space. A second volley swooped under the ship and slammed into the engines. The onboard computer, attempting to advert a catastrophic explosion, shut down the engines. Unfortunately the computer had not taken into account the gravitational pull of Mycopia, and the Typhon slowly began to sink towards the planet.
Riose saw none of this, as he was concentrated on the Velocity Meter in front of him. “6 velocity and dropping…5…4…3…2…stabilizing nozzles engaged….we are in orbit sir.” Letting out a sigh of relief, Riose sank into his seat.
“Well done, lieutenant. I am hailing the Port Authority and requesting permission to dock.” Junkers opened the channel and prepared to request permission, but never got the chance.
“Heavy transport Onager this is Mycopian Port Authority were warning you to divert course! It’s right behiigghzhzrt-” the comlink fizzled out as Junkers sat in his seat, puzzled.
“Divert course… Lieutenant, bring up the rear scanners.”
“Yes, sir.” Riose dutifully brought up the rear view screen and sat in disbelief. Behind them, steadily gaining speed was the burning wreck of the Typhon, escape pods ejecting in all directions. Riose made an attempt to reach the controls, but the dreadnaught was on them to fast. Slamming into the Onager’s engines the Typhon drove the transport in front of it as it plummeted toward the planet surface. The cabin rapidly depressurized and Riose and Junkers soon asphyxiated.
The planet surface was engulfed in chaos. People on the soon-to-be collision side were either hysterical, loading their families into ground cars in a desperate attempt to flee, or sitting on the ground, staring at the man-made comet bearing down on them. A few tried to phone friends or relatives on the far side of the planet, but satellite-based phones had been knocked out.
The Typhon impacted with Mycopia’s atmosphere at 2:03 local time. The ship was later believed to be traveling at roughly Mach 20 when it exploded 30 miles up. Pieces of wreckage nearly 200 meters long hurtled into the planet surface, causing explosions equivalent to those of thermonuclear weapons. Mass fires erupted, covering the planet with smoke. Dust from debris impacts joined the smoke, and within a month Mycopia was gripped by a nuclear winter. Even to this day the planet surface is covered in snow and ice, and is expected to remain so into the foreseeable future.
[ This Message was edited by: Bad_Skeelz on 2004-05-15 23:24 ]
_________________
I didn't say they were lobsters, I said they reminded me of lobsters.
-Excerpt from Vice Admiral Skeelz's court-martial regarding the malignant boiling and eating of K'luth prisoners of war.
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