Volume Two Finale
Finale – Vigor Mortis
/-\ Weiss Schnee /-\
Forge's shotgun boomed, staggering the Brute Chieftain just long enough for me to leap up and skewer its brain through its eye. As it fell to the ground, a Jackal impacted the wall next to me with a pained squawk, twitching once it landed but not getting back up.
I withdrew my sword, flicking the gore off as my shield recharged. My gaze whipped to the left, hearing the woosh of another door opening. "Stand back!" I shouted, retrieving a grenade from a nearby Grunt's body. I pressed my back up against the metal hallway, peering around the corne-
I ducked back, bolts of plasma scoring my shield. I rolled my eyes, primed the grenade, and threw it behind me. The aliens squawked, squealed, and roared as they saw it, but when I turned back after the explosion, none stood alive.
"Nice work." Forge said, shoving more shells into his weapon. "Serina says we've just got one more room to go through before we hit engineering. It's a big one, though, so if you've got any aces up your sleeve, now's probably a good time to use 'em."
I shrugged. "I'm afraid I used all my dust bombs already." I said, bringing out my XBR55. "I'll cover you two as you get closer... unless you two have a better plan?"
Tai cracked his knuckles. "Thought I'd try punching my way in; try something new."
I rolled my eyes. "You truly are your daughters' father, aren't you?"
He flashed me a smile, giving me a thumbs up. Forge cocked his shotgun, ready for action. I charged through the door, expecting to be shot at the second I did so. Instead, I found myself in a… precarious situation.
The room was obviously a hangar bay, what with the racks upon racks of stowed Banshee fighters. The problem was… their maintenance crews were still attending them.
Drones.
Dozens of them, maybe even a hundred worked around the docked and visibly damaged airships. After only a moment, they all stopped what they were doing and stared at me. I slowly began to back up, past the paralyzed forms of the two men in our group and out the-
I came to a halt when I hit the door.
My breath hitched and I slowly gazed backwards. My eyes went wide at the sight of the red light on the door. I heard something thump against the wall above me. Slowly craning my neck, I met the huge, unblinking eyes of a red-shelled Drone.
It screeched at me, being joined a moment later by the entire hangar full of its kin. My hands clapped over my ears instantly, my rifle clattering to the floor. Before I even knew what was going on, sharp talons closed around my upper arms and I was hoisted into the air.
I screamed in terror, flailing my arms and legs in a desperate attempt to wrench myself free of the bug's grip. It only screeched again, claws squeezing tighter against my skin. Another Drone approached us from below, talons snapping in anticipation.
I yelped as it grabbed one of my ankles, instinctively kicking it with my other leg. It shook its head, pulling out a plasma pistol and aiming it up my combat ski- I kicked the weapon out of its hand and drove the heel of my boot directly into its eye. It squealed, thrashing about as it fell from the sky.
The talons of my captor squeezed tighter and tighter, making me grit my teeth as they dug into my aura. I grunted in effort as I kicked my leg up, the tips of my fingers just barely grazing the handle of my revolver. I willed a propulsion glyph into existence, flinging it into my hand.
In one motion, I cocked the hammer and pointed it at the bug's face, pulling the trigger. Suddenly, I was smeared in lime green gore and falling towards the ground, the Drone holding me having exploded. As the air rushed past me, I summoned a series of glyphs, leaping off them and slowing my descent.
The roar of gunfire reached my ears from below, but a single glance downward was enough for one of the many Buggers buzzing in the air to knock me off my glyphs. I gasped as I hit the ground, the air being driven from my lungs.
I rolled to the side, barely avoiding a hit from a Drone wielding a Covenant facsimile of a wrench. I shot it in the head, this one exploding too. I leaped to my feet, drawing Myrtenaster as the sea of insects shuffled around me. In the distance, I could still hear Forge's shotgun booming, joined by the staccato of my XBR55.
My eyes narrowed, knowing I wouldn't be allowed to reach them on the other side of the hangar. In a flash, the first alien charged me. I whipped around, my blade's edge slicing through its carapace as easily as paper.
My shield flared as plasma hit it. I whipped around, putting a pair of rounds into the Bugger. As it slumped to the ground, I thrust Myrtenaster behind me, skewering another bug. I kicked yet another that charged me, my shields flaring as more plasma impacted them.
I clicked my sword over to lightning dust, plunging it into the ground and sending a wave of electricity outwards. Just as the first two rows of enemies fell, twitching, to the ground, the chamber clicked empty. I growled, brandishing my pistol and-
I was knocked to the floor, my gun flying out of my hands. I punched at the alien's big bug eyes, earning a squeal and a tiny bit more breathing room. I grabbed my knife and shoved it into its neck. It fell off me, curling up as its talons clutched the wound.
Rolling to the side, I grabbed my rapier again, thrusting it into the nearest bugger. My shields finally broke when another torrent of plasma washed over me. I winced in pain as it struck my bare aura, quickly flicking Myrtenaster over to hard-light dust and putting a shield between me and the plasma's source.
Another bug bowled me over and I was only barely able to retain ownership of my sword. Its claws grabbed the blade by the edge, yellow blood leaking from the wounds as it tried to wrench my weapon away. I kicked it in the groin, buying me just enough time to skewer it.
Before I could even throw away the body, two more were upon me. One held my legs while the other grabbed my sword arm. I knifed this one too, thrusting between its ribs. It collapsed, its heavy body trapping my arm beneath it.
I struggled and struggled, but could not get it free. Another Drone stood over me, plasma pistol raised. A tear leaked from my eye as I saw it start to charge up. Just past the green glow, I saw several more Drones pour out of the ceiling-mounted vents. 'There's… too many…' I thought. 'There's just… too many! I- I need help!' At the back of my mind, I registered something drawing my aura, but that was the last thing on my mind. 'I don't want to die here! I have too much to do!'
Just when the alien pistol reached its full charge, a glowing white fist sailed into it out of nowhere. The round went high, striking the Drone holding my legs and stunning it just enough so I could kick it off. I looked up to my rescuer…
…only for my eyes to widen.
It was a man, sure, but he looked like… he looked like one of Winter's summons.
And it wasn't alone.
As it pried the dead Drone off my sword arm, its fellows engaging the ones surrounding us. Some attacked with their fists, some with loose bits of metal or tools that sat abandoned, and others still held plasma pistols in their hands.
Bolts of green sailed skyward, swatting aliens out of the air. As I got to my feet, I saw a big swirling snowflake only a few yards from myself. A Human hand rose from its depths, grabbing onto the metal floor and hoisting its body up into the real world. It… he ran past me, scooping up a plasma pistol and opened fire on the Drones.
I ran over and retrieved my own pistol, firing off the last couple rounds. As I reloaded, my summons pressed forward in all directions. Clicking the now-reloaded cylinder shut, I pointed my revolver in the general direction where I still heard gunfire, the mass of Drones being too tall for me to see over. "Advance that way!" I shouted, firing through the gaps my summons created.
Almost half of those on the opposite side of the perimeter turned their heads, rushing towards the direction I specified. Slowly, ever so slowly, my dozen-strong ad-hoc army pushed forward. I jumped into the fray whenever progress stalled, or a particularly stupid bug decided to land in the middle of the formation.
Even so, I could feel the drain on my aura. I knew I couldn't keep this up for long. I pulled the summoning glyph alongside me as we advanced, our rearguard sticking tightly to our rear. As my aura began to run dangerously low, I noticed something…
The horde was visibly thinning.
I grit my teeth as I advanced, stepping over body after body of fallen aliens. After what felt like hours of fighting, the Drones at our front were pressed up so tight that they could barely aim their guns, let alone fly away.
I flicked Myrtenaster over to hardlight dust, summoning a line of blue glyphs in front of me. "Duck!" I shouted, my summons obeying instantly. With a single wave of my rapier, pulses of blue light shot from every glyph. The Drones in front practically exploded, the ones behind them following a moment later. And the ones behind them… and behind them.
By the time my dust chamber clicked empty, most of the Buggers lied in pieces scattered around the once-grey floor. A loud bang boomed out from in front of me, another Drone exploding. Behind where it stood, Sergeant Forge cocked his shotgun, his armor burned in places with others covered in yellow blood.
Another bug was grabbed and lifted off its feet by Tai, using it as a bat to beat the others to death. The dozen Drones that remained either scattered or died quickly. I stopped for a moment to catch my breath, withdrawing Myrtenaster from the last Bugger.
"Well, that sure as hell came in handy." Forge said.
I glanced at him. "You're telling me…" I said, slumping slightly as my aura finally broke. All my summons disappeared, the glyph winking out of existence and leaving only fatigue in its wake.
Tai walked up to me, holding out my rifle. I nodded in thanks, taking it and slotting in another magazine before stowing it on my back. "Wait a minute…" He said. "Doesn't the Schnee semblance require you to kill something before you summon it?"
I sighed, gaze trailing to the ground. "I'd… rather not talk about it."
He hummed. "Can't exactly blame ya. We've got a mission to finish anywa-"
One of the other doors shot open. I whipped around, my eyes going wide at as a Jackal ran inside, shield over its head. Before my aching arm could draw my sidearm, a multicolored blur slammed into it, knocking the alien to the ground. Neo stood above it, her face and clothes stained with every single color of alien blood I'd ever seen. She drove her stiletto heel into the alien's neck, making it screech as its body went limp. She frowned, and with a barely perceptible flick, her parasol's hidden blade skewered its skull.
"Sheesh, remind me never to get on her bad side." Forge said.
Suddenly, my scroll started vibrating in my pocket. "Oh, what now?" I muttered, opening it a moment later. "Yang? What's your status?"
"We just took the bridge, but we uhh… kinda lost Neo along the way? Have you seen her anywhere?"
My eyes flicked up to the girl in question. "Well, considering she's doing her best to reinvent acupuncture using only her weapon and a dead Jackal, I would say I have."
"Oh… that's uhh… real lovely…" She said, going silent for a moment. "So uhh… what's your status? Are you at Engineering yet?"
"Nearly." I said. "We're one room away, why?"
"Because we're gonna vent the ship after you get in there."
I blinked. "In case you've forgotten, most of us don't have vacuum-rated armor!"
"Yeah, that's why you stay in that room. We won't vent any room you're in."
I rolled my eyes. "What about the Covenant who do have airtight armor?"
"Oh, uhh… One sec." She paused, her voice mumbling through the speaker. "Serina says that Red Team can handle it."
I shrugged. "Fair enough. We're breaching Engineering now."
/-\ James Cutter /-\
"Captain, Red Team reports a successful scuttling of their target battlecruiser."
I nodded. "That's good news, Serina. Do you have any more from Xiao Long's team?"
"One moment…" Serina smiled. "The Bridge and Engineering are theirs, doors are locked down tight, and they're heading into space to vent atmosphere."
It took me a moment to fully register what she just said. "Serina, did they just… capture a Covenant ship? Intact?"
"Aye sir, and without casualties to boot." She said. "Though they are requesting Red Team's presence to mop up any survivors. While they are unharmed, their auras and supplies are running dangerously low."
"I'd be surprised if they weren't." I said, hitting a button on my console. "Cutter to Jerome."
"Reporting, Captain." He said, disembodied voice booming throughout the bridge.
"Status report on your team's combat readiness."
"We're low on ammo, but we'll be ready for anything after a resupply."
I nodded. "Good. Report back to the ship and stock up for a boarding action on the other cruiser. Our friends managed to capture it and are venting the atmosphere. We need you to mop up any aliens left onboard."
"Wilco, Jerome out."
I walked to the viewport. "Serina, status of the Odinsdottir and the Remnan fleet?"
"Ready and waiting, sir."
Nodding, I reached for the intercom button on the console next to me. "Twenty years." I started, my voice echoing through the ship. "Twenty years, we've been adrift." I frowned. "When we left Harvest, the war wasn't going well. I'm sure you all know of the… updates, we've received."
I stood silent for a moment.
"Well, here stands the next world the Covenant have come to burn. They've already turned 'em away once, and its our job to help do it again." I said. "Our own men have already boarded and scuttled one of their battlecruisers while our allies captured the other. I'm fully aware that this old ship was never designed for frontline combat, but we are not alone!" I shouted. "A frigate from Reach, Atlesian capital ships, cruiser squadrons from Vale, destroyers from both nations! All of us against a single carrier."
"We missed Harvest, we missed Reach, hell, we might even be missing Earth for all we know. But we will not miss Remnant. So let's show these sons of bitches that Humanity will always have a home here…" I hit a button on the console, bathing the entire bridge in red. "Whether the Covenant like it or not!"
"OORAH!" The bridge crew shouted.
I nodded in approval, a small smile tugging at my lips. "Serina, set course for navpoint Firebird and give the order for the Odinsdottir to take her battlegroup to navpoint Cape."
"Aye sir, message away; setting course for the mountains."
Sitting down in my chair, I began mentally ticking down the minutes until we would be in position. "I want all three of our MACs fully charged and loaded with sabots."
The Weapons Officer nodded. "Full charge sabots, aye!" He shouted.
"And warm up archer pods 'A' through 'M'; I want a targeting solution ready when we're at the navpoint."
"I can handle that, sir." Serina said. "Calculating… done. Uploading targeting solution on the enemy ship from navpoint Firebird."
"That's what I like to hear. Tell damage control companies alpha and baker to concentrate resources on the port side; charlie can handle starboard." I stroked my chin in thought. "Status of our deck guns?"
"Green across the board, sir."
"And the slipspace drive?"
"Calculations complete and ready for tactical jump if need be."
I hummed. The minutes ticked by as slowly as they possibly could. All through it, the enemy vessel gave absolutely no indication that it had even detected our approach. If it did, it was certainly content do nothing about our two-pronged assault.
"Sir, Battlegroup Ecnomus have reached navpoint Cape, orders?"
"Hope it doesn't come down to the triarii…" I muttered before clearing my throat. "Give them the green light to advance; we'll be in position in twenty minutes."
"Aye sir, the Commander reports that he is advancing at full speed."
I hummed, getting up and walking towards the window once more. Instead of the inky blackness of space, I now saw the beautiful blue sky above this world – the last rays of today's sunshine pouring through the autotinted windows – and the fiery remnants of a mountain left in the wake of the half-carrier's explosion.
The Spirit glided through the shattered mountains, passing between a pair of three-kilometer tall peaks. The effects of the blast echoed out through the passage, the gap in the mountains acting like a funnel. All that stood below me were the corpses of once-vibrant trees standing on blackened ground. Any that bordered the narrow tunnel of devastation had their leaves and limbs sheered off by the wind, the ground a mixture of green and black. Still further out, nature was… unaffected; undisturbed snow even capped this side of the mountains.
"Captain?" Serina asked. "Just to let you know, I'm getting some… pretty crazy readings from this region. The blast might've triggered something hidden below the surface."
I frowned. "Save a navpoint for further investigation; now's not the time to investigate." I said. "And besides, didn't Summer mention… dust, was it?"
"It could be – I haven't had the time to analyze any samples yet – but I was just sort of freaking out that the ground below us got heavier and lighter at the same time."
I hummed. "Definitely earmark that for later. I'm sure you and Anders will figure it out." I turned back to the window; eyes narrowed.
The devastation was completely gone by now, replaced only by the forest and coastline. The ship descended, hovering only a hundred meters above the waves; practically a hair's breadth for a vessel as large as the Spirit. And yet we sailed on without even the barest hint of turbulence.
We swung to port, hugging the coast only a mile out to sea. I looked to the shoreline, seeing the occasional cluster of lights from what I assumed to be fishing villages. I smiled sadly, hoping against all odds that a stray MAC or plasma round didn't accidentally annihilate any of them during the coming battle.
Off in the distance, a giant curtain of smoke rose from the landscape. Squinting my eyes, I could barely make out red-hot rock flowing into the ocean. With my neural lace, I signaled for the bridge's window to switch to radar mode. The smoke vanished in an instant, behind which… behind which stood the only stone building in the area; the only building left even remotely standing after the carrier began glassing this area.
I grabbed the handrails in front of me, my knuckles turning white. We were too late to save this frontier town; the only thing to hope for is that its former inhabitants were instantly incinerated, as opposed to choking on the poison gasses that now filled the air.
"Sir, we have arrived at navpoint Firebird." Serina said. "Enemy ship is currently three degrees below the horizon."
'Time to get this show on the road.' I thought, flicking the viewport back to the visible spectrum. "Status of Battlegroup Ecnomus?"
"Just fired their first MAC round, sir." She said. "It was a direct hit."
"Well let's not keep them waiting. Fire archer pods 'A' through 'M'."
Several thunks resounded throughout the hull, hundreds of tiny streaks burning through the smoke and clouds towards their target. "Missiles away!" Weapons said.
"Ahead half; get us a line of sight on the carrier."
As the ship rose into the darkening sky, a lance of red light shot into the clouds in the distance. It persisted for about ten seconds, flickering in and out of existence all the while. As the lance tore apart clouds, several other streaks of red joined the fray, though they were much more like bolts than beams.
Finally, the alien ship came into view, popping just over the horizon. In the five years of the war I'd seen, I've never come face-to-face with a Covenant carrier; this wasn't a frontline combat vessel, after all. I frowned, tracing its bulbous sections with my gaze, just glad that it didn't have the hooked nose of a CAS-class…
More streaks of light hit the vessel than missed it, the blue shields flaring constantly as they strained to protect the ship. Suddenly, an enormous white flash erupted from below the horizon, all strikes ceasing on the carrier for a moment.
"Sir… I just got word that the RANV Nicholas Schnee suffered a reactor breach." Serina said. "Sir, the force from the explosion scattered the battlegroup; they're vulnerable!"
"Then we'll take the heat while they recover." I said. "Fire the main cannons!" A trio of thunks boomed through the hull, three streaks of light almost instantly impacting their targets. "Ahead flank! Easy starboard!"
The shields on the carrier hadn't even finished flaring when it launched its counterattack. All the enemy plasma rounds missed, our sudden increase in speed throwing off their aim.
"Deck guns, open fire!" I shouted. "MACs, load standard rounds, half charge!"
The alien ship wheeled our way, presenting its broadside instead of its stern. More and more fast-moving plasma rounds came our way. It was impossible to dodge them all. The ship shook, metal groaning as a round hit a few decks above where I stood.
Another MAC pummeled the alien ship's stern, missiles impacting not long after. From the distance, I saw small ships – stark white ones about as big as a prowler – burning furiously towards the carrier, dozens of allied fightercraft hot on their heels.
Then the carrier launched its plasma torpedoes.
My eyes widened. "All hands, brace!" I shouted into the intercom. "Serina, emergency ventral thrusters… now!"
My brains practically went into my feet as the floor beneath me lurched upwards. I hissed as pain shot up my right leg from the slightest amount of weight put on it. I hobbled over to my chair, collapsing into it. "Serina, status?" I said through gritted teeth.
"The torpedoes missed by two hundred meters before impacting the molten lechatelierite behind us. Loss of armor detected near the stern, and the shutters on the observation deck will need replacing. Injuries reported through most of the ship, though no fatalities."
"Good. Tell Anders to get the hell out of her lab. Weapons, how are the MACs doing?"
"Forty-seven percent, sir!"
"Good enough, hard port! Get us a firing solution, Serina, fire at will!"
"I thought you'd never give the order, sir." She said, three more thunks booming through the hull.
The vessel's shields flared once more, this time flickering several times. Just as it reconstituted itself, another red lance of light speared it right in the stern. The shields finally gave way, but very little damage to the hull was visible.
The destroyers and fighters kept closing and closing, under plasmafire all the while. Finally, the survivors got close enough to release their payload and tried sailing over the ship. None of them got that far, one even scraping the underside of the ship's hull as its burning wreck fell to the ground. While the ram did no visible damage, the same could not be said of the torpedoes.
Massive purple explosions boomed out from the other side of the ship, entire chunks of hull ripped free and plummeting to the glasslands below. Smaller laserbolts resumed their fire on the vessel, but didn't have a large enough effect for me to see from the other side.
The Spirit shook, the lights flickering for a moment. "Serina, status!"
"We took a la- arge hit amidships, one of the Herons exploded and the fuel aboard-"
"Initiate phase three; get us turned around." I said, cuing my mic. "Witherson, get your ships behind cover, EMP incoming!"
"Understood, sir!" He said, voice booming throughout the bridge.
Yellow streaks continued to zoom from the Spirit to the carrier, just as the carrier's plasma rounds continued to hammer our hull. The ship shook again, sparks flying. "Serina, where's my portal?!"
"Just about… done sir!" She said, a swirling purple vortex appearing right before my eyes. A moment later, the radiation shutters closed, sealing the bridge in relative darkness. "And we're away… that Covenant slipspace drive is an engineering marvel, if you ask me."
I nodded, the ever-present knocking on the ship's hull ceasing for a few moments. "Weapons, what's the status of our MACs?"
"Twenty-three percent charged, sir."
I nodded. "Load flechette rounds in barrels one and two, give me a sabot in number three."
"Flechette in one and two, sabot in number three, aye!"
"Serina, send us bow-in; get us a targeting solution the second we emerge." I said. "I want three to fire, then one and two approximately two seconds later."
"Aye sir, calculating… solution acquired. Just waiting on your go-ahead for emergence."
I took a deep breath. "Do it."
A few heartbeats later, I felt a single thump resound throughout the ship, followed by two more. When the radiation shields parted, I saw the last remnants of the explosions they caused. A small smile graced my face when I saw my assumption was correct.
The earlier attack by the destroyers and bombers tore open several big holes in the carrier's armor plating, exposing much of the relatively unarmored innards; the sabot made another, if smaller, hole. At less than a quarter charge, a flechette round had absolutely no hope of penetrating the meters upon meters of armor that the carrier sported, even at point-blank range.
But the innards? They could chew through those just fine. The flechettes were designed in such a way that, the moment they left the barrel, the bundle of metal spikes would come undone… essentially turning a MAC cannon into the galaxy's biggest shotgun.
Tiny – on this scale – holes peppered the interior of the carrier. Rooms were sheered in half, loose wires sparked, and various components leaked out of the ship's wounds. Its lights flickered for a moment, the damaged side listing a few degrees towards the ground.
"Serina, hard port! Give our starboard guns a shot!" As the ship jerked to the side, I cued my mic. "Witherson, we're back in the fight. You're clear to re-engage!"
"Battlegroup Ecnomus engaging, sir!"
I turned my attention to the battlemap, seeing the allied ships peak out from behind a mountain to our stern. Beams and bolts flew from our ships to the carrier and vice versa. The three Valerian cruisers hit their afterburners, charging forward at almost half our speed.
The carrier's plasma batteries focused on them as they approached, though the rate of fire was noticeably slower than before. As they got closer and closer, the Covenant ship sluggishly wheeled starboard, the list fluctuating as the lights flickered.
"Ahead flank!" I ordered. "Keep us in line with the breached armor!"
The cruisers turned hard to starboard, exposing their broadsides. The massive deck turrets of the Valerian ships swiveled, their barrels all aiming for the aliens' prow. The fifteen-inch guns all fired in unison, a wall of fire appearing on the ships' broadsides. A moment later, the shells struck their target. When the smoke cleared, the armor was barely even scratched.
The carrier's response was far more effective.
Now at much closer range, the Valerian ships had next to no chances to dodge the next salvo of plasma rounds. The trailing two ships took three hits each, breaking them apart almost instantly. The lead ship only took two, one of which directly struck one of the two forward turrets.
It cooked off in a massive explosion, practically leaping from the ship's deck as fire trailed behind it. The now-listing cruiser turned tail and ran as fast as it could, the lone rear turret still popping off ineffective rounds at the carrier.
"Serina, get me a firing solution for all our remaining archer pods!"
"Calculating… done."
"Weapons, launch archers!" Several small thunks echoed through the hull. As the missiles streaked towards their target, the carrier sent three plasma torpedoes our way. "Brace brace brace!" I shouted into the ship-wide intercom. "Serina, aft emergency thrusters!"
My body was thrust against my seat, darkness pulling at my vision for only a few moments. The ship shook, snapping me back to reality. "Serina, report!"
The lights on the bridge flickered slightly. "One of the torpedoes hit us amidships; hull plating is compromised on decks forty-seven through fifty-one, massive casualties reported."
Out of the window, I saw another MAC round sail at the bulbous carrier from out of view, glancing off its thick dorsal armor just as the Spirit's missiles impacted. Our own strike was much more effective, tearing off even more armor and further wrecking the ship's innards, the constant fire from the deck guns adding to the destruction.
I frowned. "And what about the other two torpedoes?"
"They missed by several hundred meters and impacte- wait…" Her hologram flickered for a moment. "Sir! They're arcing around for a pass at Battlegroup Ecnomus!"
"Run a sim for their best chances at evasion and send it to them!"
"Aye sir!"
My eyes whipped back to the tactical display, the two projectiles zooming in from offscreen and heading for the battlegroup. I watched in horror as the Odinsdottir reacted a few seconds too late, the torpedoes striking her MAC boom and starboard engine pod.
The frigate's engine disintegrated and the prow completely tore off, sending the ship spiraling downwards into the molten landscape below. My fists clenched and as I looked at the massive splash of lava soaring up past my viewscreen, I gave my next orders. "Weapons, what's the status of the MACs?"
Before he could answer, a red streak soared past us, slamming straight into the carriers wounds. Rooms boiled away in an instant, venting smoke, gas, personnel, and debris.
"U- Um…" He shook his head. "Forty three percent. Sir."
The red beam ceased to exist, a large and cavernous room with a ball of light inside becoming visi-
"Serina I want our cannons to all fire on that reactor! Hard starboard!"
"Hard starboard, aye!" She shouted, wheeling us into firing position. Without even stopping the ship's rotation, the guns fired beneath my feet.
Only a moment after I realized that fact did the side of the carrier erupt in flames. As they started to dissipate, the lights on the ship started to dim and die one by one. The list, once only slight, grew more apparent by the second.
Then the ship started to fall.
It was only a few meters per second at first, barely noticeable on this scale. Then it started to get faster. And faster. And faster. The list didn't stop either, the bulbous vessel impacting the molten rock side-first.
It stayed upright only for a few moments, the lava splashing up past what the Odinsdottir's wreck had caused, before flipping onto its back. As the liquid earth rippled around the massive vessel, it also started to seep into the very plasma emitters that caused it to be this way.
The bridge crew stood shock still, still processing the sight that lay before them. I frowned, glancing at the battlemap once more. To my astonishment, the Odinsdottir had landed in just the right way so that a decent portion of the dorsal hull was sticking out of the molten ground.
"Serina, I want Pelicans, Nightingales, hell, even Herons if they're useful, dispatched to the Odinsdottir's location; search and rescue protocols."
"Aye sir, deploying now."
I sat in my chair, watching as the smaller craft circled the downed ship. As time ticked on, the throb in my foot getting worse and worse... and it became apparent that I was no longer needed. After clearing with Serina that there were no more inbound contacts, I left the bridge to my XO and strode towards the nearest medbay, doing my best to conceal my limp from the crewmen I passed…
(A/N) Good god, that was a task and a half just editing this thing. I uhh… don't really have that much else to say here other than come over to the Discord! Invite iiiiiiiiiis… 3jf9w8u
