| Author |
Countdown |
Doran
Chief Marshal
Galactic Navy
Joined: March 29, 2003
Posts: 4032
From: The Gideon Unit
|  Posted: 2007-11-01 15:55
Ten.
There were ten left. So be it, that was enough.
Captain Nathan Corbett looked back over his shoulder, a slider on the helmsman's monitor moved, and Captain Corbett nodded approvingly. The captain turned back towards the bridge window, red emergency lighting dimly cast him in a faint silhouette, barely visible on a thin film of dust and grime. One hand he placed on the window, other other against a bulkhead. Outside, staccato weapon fire danced in the darkness, brilliant lances of coherent light laced the void. The stars spun slowly, the ship's relative list hardly noticeable from the bridge.
Nathan stared out and watched the violence play out, nearly a kilometer distant, there was nothing he could do, though the distance was falling off in good order. In silence the captain was lost in thought, pondering his position within this sphere of death around him, a of war raging since before he was born. He thought of the synthetic cocoon in which he found himself, his first command, a new destroyer, built for assault. This ship had been his home for the past six months, since he'd graduated from the naval academy. So here he stood, at the spear point of 360 meters of death and destruction, and he pondered all these things and more.
A squadron of fighters orbited near the ship, pilots waiting for rescue after their carrier was lost, destroyed minutes ago by an enemy dreadnought. More ships, friend and foe alike, flared into incandescence and then nothingness. That didn't matter anymore. There were five left. A noise from behind brought the captain out of his reverie. A squad of infantry stood just inside the bridge doors, clad in the slate-gray armor of the Confederation's shock troops, rifles held to their shoulders, under slung lights darted around the darkness. Their commander, taller than the rest and with a broad blue stripe running diagonally from shoulder to hip, started forward towards the captain. He never made it. There were zero left.
The Assault Destroyer Halcon Amber glided through space, pitched battle raged beyond, around, and reverberated in her hull. Halcon Amber's sensor operator looked up. “Sir, new fighter group, more F-29s by their profile. Thirty degrees port, two kilometers out, sir.” The captain acknowledged this news with a nod of his head. “Very well Lieutenant Batav. Defense, status report.” Another officer consulted his screen for a moment “All facings in the green, just scratches so far. Armor holding, sir.”
Small ships darted around and between the larger ones, wheeling about like a flock of sparrows. Squadrons of A-34s chased F-29s, swarming around cruisers and dreadnoughts like a plague of gnats. Interceptors dove in and out of the furball, vanishing in the blink of an eye, some permanently. A transport lumbered across a far edge of the battlefield, hoping to slip through enemy lines unnoticed in the chaos. Fighters shoot past, arcing in towards the newest arrival, the destroyer Halcon Amber.
“Torus Leader to transport , need any help?”
“Torus, this is Black Jethon, would be appreciated. We're aiming for that destroyer out there, but he's got friends. Carrier just launched another interceptor flight and we'll have our hands full here.” The twelve fighters of Torus Squadron spits into six pairs and fans out, oncoming interceptors are now close enough to pick out amongst the stars. A quick message in pilot's shorthand was all Torus' commander needed. “Eyes, flitters in, racks four, blow through. Clear to dessie, on mark. (Look alive, we've got Interceptors inbound, arm four missiles and fire as you pass. Once clear, head in at the destroyer. Fire on my mark)”
On the Halcon Amber’s bridge, the sensor officer double checked his data. “Captain, multiple warhead contacts incoming, I count 16, 30, no, 48 inbound missiles!” The captain turned and stepped away from the bridge windows. “Guns, lasers on point defense, target warheads. Helm, ninety to starboard, accelerate to flank speed!” The communications officer stands up from his station, one hand on his headset. “Sir, carrier Mystic Leap reports she's directed a pair of interceptor squadrons our way, but...” “What happened to the interceptors?,” the captain asked. “First squadron, four losses, is currently engaging F-29s. Second squadron is… destroyed, sir.” Faint blue trails fly in at Halcon Amber’s aft port side, a few are picked off by lasers but not nearly enough. The missiles detonate against the hull causing noticeable damage. The fighters of Torus squadron close to gun range and starts raking over the Halcon Amber's engines. On the Halcon Amber’s bridge lights flicker sporadically as power from the engines fails, and the destroyer begins to roll and turn back to port in an effort to present her undamaged side towards the battlefront.
From three kilometers away, the combat dreadnought Dragon's Flare executes a precision point-jump across the arena and exits dead ahead of the harried Halcon Amber. The Dragon's Flare's lasers vaporize armor, rail guns pierce holes and torpedoes tear great gashes in Halcon Amber's hull. Black Jethon seizes the opportunity and swings in close, launching several infantry drop pods as Halcon Amber retaliates against the Dragon's Flare, full salvos directly into the dreadnought's shields at point blank range.
Deep inside, the drop pods disgorge their contents, six armed and armored commandos, who move with a purpose towards their singular objective, the Halcon Amber's bridge. Leading to the bride is a corridor, roughly ten meters long, but not empty. A quartet of the ships own defenders guards the doors at the far end, and their captain beyond. Several seconds slide by in silence, as the invaders stare down those that would bar their way. One twitches and a hailstorm of weapons fire ricochets from one end of the hall to the other. Wisps of smoke waft into the ventilation system, rising from smoldering craters on the walls, the floor, the chests of the defending infantry. Inside, on the bridge, the captain reaches over the body of an officer, other human forms lie motionless in the crimson darkness. He presses a switch, pauses for only a heartbeat, and then presses it a second time.
Six marines jog down the corridor to the bridge.
There were ten seconds left.
_________________
|
LobbyZombie
2nd Rear Admiral
Sanity Assassins
Joined: August 06, 2007
Posts: 191
From: Sweden ftw
| Posted: 2007-11-01 15:59
Thats ..... so .... frakking ... NICE!! 10+ to you !
_________________
Old am i not but what are you?
|
Coeus
Grand Admiral
Sundered Weimeriners
Joined: March 22, 2006
Posts: 2815
From: Philly
| Posted: 2007-11-01 16:38
I approve 
_________________
Do I really look like a guy with a plan?
'I'm gonna go crazy, and I'm taking you with me!'
ICC Security Council Chief Enforcer
|
Leonide
Grand Admiral
Templar Knights
Joined: October 01, 2005
Posts: 1553
From: Newport News, Virginia
| Posted: 2007-11-01 16:50
nice one. 
_________________
captain of the ICC Assault Cruiser C.S.S. Sledgehammer
|
Fattierob
Vice Admiral
Joined: April 25, 2003
Posts: 4059
| Posted: 2007-11-01 17:39
Best. work of fiction. ever.
_________________
|
Enterprise
Chief Marshal
Joined: May 19, 2002
Posts: 2576
From: Hawthorne, Nevada
| Posted: 2007-11-01 17:55
Good god.
Give me more.
MORE.
-Ent
_________________
|
Sardaukar
Admiral
Raven Warriors
Joined: October 08, 2002
Posts: 1656
| Posted: 2007-11-01 18:26
Pretty mental scenery in there, painted with a colorful palette. Can't wait for more to see where this goes...
[ This Message was edited by: Sardaukar on 2007-11-01 18:46 ]
_________________
|
Diabo|ik
Grand Admiral
Joined: August 16, 2002
Posts: 327
From: Quebec, Canada
| Posted: 2007-11-01 21:25
Now that's the kind of thing I wanted to do with my own serie, to depict as many details as possible with the best possible vocabulary so as to light up the reader's imagination.
Alas, my mastery of english as a second language isn't up to my ideals yet.
Great work Doran, you're definately on the right track.
_________________
Mostly Retired.
|
Banshee
Grand Admiral
Raven Warriors
Joined: August 28, 2001
Posts: 2181
From: Philadelphia, PA
| Posted: 2007-11-01 22:47
Very very nice work Doran.
Keep that one coming!
_________________
|
GothThug {C?}
Fleet Admiral
Joined: June 29, 2005
Posts: 2932
| Posted: 2007-11-02 03:29
Doran best fiction ever! keep goin
_________________
|
Supertrooper
Marshal
Pitch Black
Joined: March 18, 2004
Posts: 1895
From: Maryland, U.S.A
| Posted: 2007-11-02 04:10
Is this...THE FINAL COUNTDOWN?!
[ This Message was edited by: Crim on 2007-11-02 14:00 ]
_________________
|
Fattierob
Vice Admiral
Joined: April 25, 2003
Posts: 4059
| Posted: 2007-11-02 07:11
Quote:
|
On 2007-11-02 04:10, Crim wrote:
Is this...[i]THE FINAL COUNTDOWN?!
|
|
fail.
_________________
|
Shigernafy
Admiral
Joined: May 29, 2001
Posts: 5726
From: The Land of Taxation without Representation
| Posted: 2007-11-02 07:55
Quote:
|
On 2007-11-01, A number of people wrote:
Can't wait for more to see where this goes...
|
|
Goes?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't everyone die at the end?
Unless Doran wants to go for Prequels, I don't think there's a lot left in this story.
That said, very engaging, Doran. I liked it.
_________________
* [S.W]AdmBito @55321 Sent \"I dunno; the French had a few missteps. But they're on the right track, one headbutt at a time.\"
|
Fattierob
Vice Admiral
Joined: April 25, 2003
Posts: 4059
| Posted: 2007-11-02 10:08
Quote:
|
On 2007-11-02 07:55, IamReallyJosef wrote:
Goes?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't everyone die at the end?
|
|
pfft, they bring them back in the sequel. they always do.
_________________
|
Sardaukar
Admiral
Raven Warriors
Joined: October 08, 2002
Posts: 1656
| Posted: 2007-11-02 12:15
Well, given the exposition of the captain in the beginning and the use of specific ship names, and the apparent temporal twist midways through the fiction, I'm guessing there will be more in that same back, forth, here, there, style of story-telling.
_________________
|
|
English
Deutsch
Nederlands
)
