Eeeeeeeerrrrrrp Eeeeeeeerrrrrrp Eeeeeeeeerrrrrrrp
"Abandon ship. Abandon ship. All crew abandon ship," Dylan's voice rang through the ship on the ship wide comm system. "Take every available escape pod and drop pod."
"Take all supplies and equipment at hand. Take all supplies and equipment at hand," Andromeda's voice sounded through the ship just behind Dylan's. She was encouraging crew to gather any supplies they could and take them with them when they abandoned ship. The Andromeda had dropped out of slipstream in a distant, foreign, desolate system. A quick scan of the system found one planet that might be capable of supporting life. Every little bit of supplies, equipment and food might make the difference between life and death.
"Shuttles available on hangar deck thirteen." Andromeda's voice droned on.
"Hangar deck thirteen overrun," a hurried voice managed over the comm system. The quick warning was followed by gunfire, screams and the shriek of the invading Magog.
"Hull breaches on deck eight, nine, twelve and fifteen," Andromeda continued to call out the areas of damage. The Andromeda had barely made it to slipstream after what could only be called a losing battle between the Commonwealth fleet, the Magog worldship and all of the entities that had aligned themselves with the Abyss.
"Sealing off lower decks," Andromeda named off the decks as she sealed them due to the hordes of Magog tearing through the ship. There were hundreds of swarm ships attached to the hull. There were hull breaches throughout the ship. Several PSP hits had torn gaping holes throughout the ship. All systems were compromised and failing fast.
They were lucky the ship held together during the turbulent transit in slipstream to escape the massacre that was happening in the system of Ne'Holland where the Commonwealth forces had met the Magog Worldship head on in an epic battle to save the Known worlds from extinction. Unfortunately, the Commonwealth had traitors in its midst. Those who were secretly loyal to the Abyss. When the battle began, it quickly became evident those who were with the Magog and those who were against. According to Dylan, it was like the Nietzschean betrayal all over again. However, this time, it was not just select Nietzscheans who betrayed the Commonwealth. The betrayal ran deep and varied throughout the Commonwealth member worlds.
"All crew abandon ship. All crew abandon ship," Andromeda voice continued the announcement as sparks flew from nearly every workstation on the bridge. The groan of the ship as it slowly started to break apart signaled the impending death of the valiant warship.
"Trance Gemini and Seamus Harper abandoning ship," Harper's voice came over the air. It was full of regret and apology and sadness as he reported to Command. "Sorry boss. Slipstream is offline. Slipstream core in inaccessible due to the Magog. Engines are offline. Defenses are all shot. The bots and nanites can't keep up with the repairs. We are breaking apart. There's nothing left to do."
"Acknowledged Mr Harper," Dylan spoke into the air as he hurried from station to station verifying all the information Harper had given him. "You and Trance get to the ground. Find Beka and round up the survivors. Good luck. Dylan out."
"Alllll crewwwwww," Andromeda's clipped voice began to slur as the lights flickered then the monitors flickered and her holographic image froze then disappeared.
"Andromeda … report," Dylan called into the air as the lights flickered then came back on.
"Life support failing. Engines offline. Decks seven, eight and nine filled with Magog," Andromeda's voice continued to report although her holographic image did not reappear.
Dylan turned and pointed his forcelance at the doors when they slid open. Beka, Tyr and Rommie all hurried through the door at the same time.
"Coordinates are set," Rommie informed Beka and Tyr as they started stashing bags of supplies into the few remaining escape pods located right off the bridge for the bridge crew who had all abandoned ship already or died in battle fighting the Magog, their allies and the Abyss. A quick scan of the system showed one planet that might support life and was close enough to the ship for the escape pods and drop pods to reach. By keeping her distance, it was hoped that the Magog would not be alerted to the pods and give chase. Thus far the Magog were focused on those trying to desperately to fight and save themselves in the lower decks of the ship. Andromeda had set coordinates in each pod to a fertile appearing valley in the upper hemisphere of the planet. It was a quick decision, made on the fly, with limited intel, all in hopes of saving the crew that managed to escape.
"Escape pods away," Tyr and Beka said as the same time as they hit the buttons on two of the three remaining pods. The doors closed up and the pods swooshed from the housings.
"Magog on decks five and six," Tyr informed Dylan as he moved over to one of the consoles. "In another two minutes, they will be at the Command door. We cannot hold them off any longer."
"Has the crew been evacuated?" Dylan asked Rommie since Andromeda was not responding at the moment.
"All that can, have," Rommie replied as she turned toward Dylan. "Your orders sir?"
"You three take the remaining escape pod," Dylan directed them as he tapped on his command console.
"Self destruct activated. Self destruct in two minutes," Rommie spoke into the air when Dylan typed in his codes.
"Us three?" Beka shook her head as she walked over to Dylan. "You're coming with us. I am not leaving you behind."
"That is an order First Officer Valentine," Dylan spoke sternly without turning to look at Beka.
"I know it is all honorable for the Captain to go down with his ship and all," Beka grabbed Dylan's arm when he tried to move by her. "But now is not the time for honorable heroics. We have no idea what is on that planet. We have no idea what we will face down there. The crew needs you Dylan."
Dylan paused as he looked down into Beka's near pleading eyes.
"I need you," Beka kept a hold on his arm when he tried to brush her off. "Dylan … please."
"Self destruct in one minute thirty seconds," Rommie informed them as she stood by Dylan.
"GO Rommie," Dylan turned toward Rommie. "Take them with you."
"I will not leave my Captain," Rommie shook her head.
"Captain Hunt," Tyr's voice was hard and stern when he spoke. "In little more than a minute, this ship will self destruct … blowing this ship and all of the creatures on board into a million tiny pieces. I prefer to not be on this ship when that happens. There is one escape pod. I intend on using it."
"Then go," Dylan turned his back on Tyr.
"Very well sir," Tyr nodded his head as he started to move by Dylan.
"If the Captain goes down with his ship," Beka crossed her arms over her chest as her gaze held Dylan's. "So do I. I may not be able to get to the Maru but my ship is going down with yours."
"Beka …"
Her name came out as a strangled sound when Dylan's words were cut off by Tyr's arm wrapping around his neck in a choke hold. There was a brief struggle but not long lived as Tyr quickly rendered the unsuspecting Captain unconscious.
"There," Tyr gestured to Dylan as he dropped to the floor. He leaned down and lifted Dylan over one shoulder before looking at Beka. "Now … can we can go?"
"For a minute there I thought you just might leave us all here," Beka said as she hurried by Tyr with Rommie by her side. The females climbed into the escape pod before Tyr shoved Dylan inside.
"My chances of survival increase with each of you on the planet," Tyr replied as he looked around the command deck of the Andromeda before hauling himself into the escape pod just before Beka hit the buttons to close the doors and launch their pod.
"Self destruct in thirty seconds."