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that station interiors have a day/night cycle mimicking planets? (p. 88)

Author Topic: You are not the hunter  (Read 933 times)

BloodBird

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You are not the hunter
« on: 01 Apr 2013, 17:36 »

This is a piece of a short story I worked out the essentials for years ago, but never wrote. I have done some changes to it's sequence of events and written it in a new manner I felt like trying out. Written in a couple short hours. It might be okay, it might be shit, I will let you folks decide.

***

The warp-tunnel expanded and came into being before her, with it's usual thundering sound, accompanied by the ever familiar ward drive active from Aura, the ship-board A.I.

Life-support engaged, oxygen pumps at full capacity, gravity generator active. Fusion reactor online. Oscillator Capacitor Units powering up, ten percent and rising.

Closing with the Matari station before her, deep in the Republic's heart - in Pator itself - she could not help but be exited, and terrified at the same time. The status-updates from her crew intensified these feelings, despite the fact she knew this would inevitably happen one day. She had prepared, after all.

Capacitors powering, thirty-six percent and rising. Ion Engines online. Pulse Shield Emitters active. Magnetometric Sensor Clusters online. Scanners online. Camera drone magazine loaded, camera drone launcher ready.

Dock-Control cleared her request and her ship was magnetically towed inside the massive station, then sent on the controlled, ever-familiar path in and down to be secured inside her personal hanger.

Capacitors powering, sixty percent and rising. Energized resistance plating online and powered. Combat drone hanger online and ready for launch.

A ten-man crew, four of them android-operators, scrambled to prepare one of her newest ships for her arrival, and imminent action. Of course, they could only do so much without her onboard.

Capacitors powering, eighty-four percent and rising. Damage control online. After-burner online. Warp-Disruption generator online.

This was it. The first time she would do battle, intentionally and aggressively. Exciting. With a click and a hiss, the capsule detached from it's connections inside her familiar Exhumer, drifting out of the industrial vessel's gentle embrace.

Capacitors ready, steady at ninety-eight point three percent. Stasis webification battery online. Railgun batteries one-through-three online.

In her agitated state, the few moments she were severed from the world outside the capsule felt like an eternity. No internal or external sensors, no camera-drones, no free control.

"Isonami" ready, all systems optimal. Awaiting pilot integration.

Moments like these, passing between ships without anything to look at but the dark, gloomy interior of her hydrostatic capsule, always reminded her that, though she may technically be Post-Human at this stage, she was still merely a privileged woman with a job. It was earned, but not only on her own merits, and it could be lost, easily. She had always valued those who reminded her of this fact, such as her brother, and always pitied those among her fellow Capsuleers who forgot this. People like her self-declared enemy, waiting for her in the asteroid-belt even now. He had stolen from her, hoping that by acquiring CONCORD's criminal flagging on himself, the hapless industrial ship he stole from would retaliate instantly. After all, she only had 15 minutes to do so. It would not go as he had hoped.

Capsule integration commencing, secure seals ready, awaiting mind/ship link.

With another klick and hiss, her capsule secured itself inside her Incursus and she was assaulted by the wealth of sensory-information. A considerably smaller vessel than her Hulk, but the most powerful warship she could muster at this point.

Mind/ship link established. Capsule integration complete, security seals active, entry hatch sealed. Pilot control optimal.

True, it was a down-graded civilian version and not military-grade hardware like, say, a Federation Navy Comet, but it would do. She was a capsuleer in an Incursus, and as such she was more lethal than a well-trained non-capsuleer crew flying the newest and greatest.

Docking control, Incursus-class "Isonami" requesting permission to undock.

Her only problem was, out there was another Capsuleer, just like her.

Permission granted.

His problem was, she was not going to fight him in an industrial like he hoped, and she had 5 more minutes to go.

Warp drive. Target: Jettison container "Arivana one-eight-zero-five" at ten kilometers.

The warp-tunnel expanded and came into being before her, with it's usual thundering sound, accompanied by the ever familiar ward drive active from Aura.

« Last Edit: 07 Apr 2013, 10:44 by BloodBird »
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ArtOfLight

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Re: You are not the hunter
« Reply #1 on: 02 Apr 2013, 04:22 »

I like the way it expresses the feeling of emptiness/nakedness outside of the ship even while in the capsule, it's an interesting dynamic.

Overall, I'd say it's a pretty good read and I'm fond of the way it open and closes on the same statement.
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"A man's courage can be measured by what he does, his wisdom by what he chooses not to do and his character by the sum of both."

Sepherim

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Re: You are not the hunter
« Reply #2 on: 03 Apr 2013, 19:36 »

I like it indeed, though I'm not sure it is possible to actually move a pod through a ship into anotherone inside it.
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BloodBird

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Re: You are not the hunter
« Reply #3 on: 03 Apr 2013, 21:08 »

I like it indeed, though I'm not sure it is possible to actually move a pod through a ship into anotherone inside it.

Not sure why you got that impression.

In short, she warped to station, docked, ejected from the ship she just docked (Hulk) and instantly transfered into another that was assembled and waiting in the hanger, (Incursus.) then undocked and warped again.

I am not entirely happy with this story, and my biggest problem is I can't rightly identify exactly what it is that I don't like. Maybe it will become clear if/when I write the next part, I don't know.
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Sepherim

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Re: You are not the hunter
« Reply #4 on: 04 Apr 2013, 19:36 »

Oh, then that makes a lot more sense, and improves the story a lot! :D
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