We had such extreme bad luck that day. Ordinary pirates would have been bad enough, they usually just take what they can and escape. Using small and agile crafts they can easily sneak past sentries and rob ordinary citizens on their possessions. Usually they got away, but rarely killed nor injured anyone.
But that seemed to not be the case that day. Either it was only bad timing or a navigation error on our part when we entered a system unknown to us. Taking that route seemed like the logical choice at the time, saving us both time and fuel.
Unbeknownst to us, that particular system was a certain pirate faction’s territory.
We didn’t notice anything strange at first. The gravitational pull of the local star made us unable to enter warp and we were forced to move out of its reach before we could continue. That in itself wasn’t unusual; it was the same for every ship in our Empire. No one had yet invented a warp drive with the capability to enter warp near a celestial object as big as a star.
While moving away from the pull at full speed, we received an encrypted message. It told us we were being watched and that we soon would be facing the consequences of ever entering their territory.
We didn’t know what to make out of it at first, it could after all had been an automated signal, as old as the first ship entering the system.
As unlikely that it was to even receive such a message, we readied the ship for assault anyway. Better to be safe than sorry, as our captain used to say.
It took a quarter of an hour before anything else happened. When it did, we didn’t stand a chance.
First, a very small craft appeared in front of us, its shape resembling that of an egg with small, razor-sharp wings on its side. Pulsing from it was disturbance beams, designed to wreak havoc on our weapon system.
To add to our misery, a second spacecraft appeared, having the exact same appearance as the first. This time, our control system went offline and we were unable to do anything other than just observe as another craft seemed to getting closer to us from behind.
I was stationed at the scanner station and I got the first look at this newcomer. I was horrified of what I saw. At that very moment I knew our already slim chances of survival had ran out.
The spacecraft that approached us was smooth and doubled us in size. It had no easily recognizable features and I had not seen anything like it. From its weapon bays, huge machinery made itself visible, moving into position to aim at us.
I had no great knowledge of weaponry, but these I knew I had seen before. The features of magnetic propulsion cannons was known to many and feared in battle for its huge damage and accuracy potential.
I remember I was drawn out of my thoughts by the intercom crackling to life. Instead of opening fire right away, the bastards had decided to contact us before deciding our fate. Our captain had a very brief conversation with them, pleading for our lives, offering everything we had.
As it didn’t prove enough for them, they cut the connection and everything went still for a few minutes.
Then, the assault began. The first volleys of projectiles hit our armor and shook the entire ship’s structure. The alarm began to ring, signaling us to run for the evacuation vessels in the cargo bay. I left my chair as fast as I could and ran, leaving all my work behind me, months of effort wasted.
I swore under my breath, cursing them.
As I ran through the narrow corridors towards the service elevator, the second volley arrived. This time it broke our armor and the ship once again shook like an enraged animal. The control room had probably been destroyed and whoever was left behind had probably gone with it.
Arriving at the elevator, I decided to access a control panel to check the status of the rest of the ship. Working quickly, I got an overview of the situation, which to add to my misery was worse than I had first thought.
Over half of the crew was dead, our engines near their critical limit and most of the elevators had stopped working, blocking the way to the cargo bay. I was the only one in that particular section of the ship, but I didn’t know how many was left in the other ones. Maybe I was the only one left. I didn’t know at the time.
My time from military school returned to my mind, survival training kicking in. I disconnected my pad from the panel, jumped into the elevator and made sure the doors closed accordingly. Then the way down began. It seemed far longer than it usually was, probably because of the adrenaline and implants, making me react far faster than normal.
From every hit our ship sustained, the elevator I was riding shook, throwing me around inside its flat walls.
After what seemed like an eternity, the doors opened. I had arrived at the cargo bay, but what met my eyes was not promising. Fires had broken out almost everywhere and many of the vessels on stand-by had been destroyed by debris or explosions. To my disappointment I saw no other person in the bay, but I continued searching for a useable vessel.
Finally, I saw it. It was partially hidden behind another, burning, vessel, but it looked undamaged enough. It took some time for me to get around all the junk and fires before I reached it and jumped onto its hull. The heat made me flimsy and unstable on my feet, but I still managed to get the door open enough to allow me slipping through it.
Inside the small compartment, I tried to calm down, telling myself that I had made it to some sort of safety.
That feeling was short lived as a most powerful volley managed to hit the cargo bay doors. They exploded with such force that everything inside the bay got tossed around, including my own vessel. I had not managed to restrain myself into the seat and I was launched out of it, hitting my head on the control board, then on the side of the compartment.
For a moment, I didn’t know what had happened. My eyes were watery and blurry, I tasted blood on my tongue and everything was dark. I rose up from where I lay furthest back in the vessel and supported myself against the wall until I reached the seat. I let my body fall into it and secured myself.
I put a hand to my temple and felt something moist. I pulled it back and saw red color splashed across my palm. I took my other hand and drew it across my face. More blood covered it.
Ignoring my injuries for just a moment, I took a peek outside.
Somehow, during the blast that destroyed the cargo bay, my vessel had squeezed through the debris and had emerged unscathed in space, although without power. All around me other vessels were floating, dead, with holes and lights flickering on and off. Small pieces of debris got in contact with the hull of my vessel and made low, metallic noises.
In the distance I saw the ship I had served on for the last month. As rigid as it had been, it now looked like a wreck, its armor gone and internal structure entangled, bent with heat and outside force.
The pirates had stopped shooting, probably because they had deemed the ship dead, its crew now floating silently in space.
The scanner on my ship picked up a new signal. It seemed to be the pirates again, but now they were talking with each other on open channels. I heard them laugh heartily, patting their backs in their minds. I bit my lip and clenched my fists at their on-going feast of the weak.
Now, when I everything was over, the aftermath overcame me. I began to shake ever so slowly before tears rained down my cheeks. I tried to wipe them away but they kept coming. I yelled out in frustration and hit whatever I could get my hands on. I had been so helpless, my life depending of these monsters’ decisions.
I finally calmed down and tried to get most of the salt water out of my face, when I catched a glimpse of myself in a small window. It was a pity sight to behold. My long hair that usually was tied in a knot hang in rags, clotted with blood and other substances. I had scars, open wounds and blood all over me. I was in dire need of medical assistance, but compared to the rest of the crew, those I once knew as friends, I had been lucky to have escaped such an ordeal. Extremely lucky.
I told the vessel to open the sleep pod, hoping it wasn’t damaged. To my relief, the backup battery was unharmed and I began to undress to enter it. My clothes were, similar to my hair, smeared in blood and now also showed more wounds on the rest of my body when they were removed.
Before entering the pod, I took a last glance at the control board, looking for a name. There, in its yellow glow, I found the name of the people I would, somehow, have my revenge on. ‘The Wolverines’ they had named themselves. I put that name into my mind, swearing to never forget it and entered the pod.
Now, as I lay here, writing about what happened, inside this pod akin to a coffin, I wonder how long it will take until someone finds me. Days seems not likely, neither does weeks. Maybe it will be months, even years before someone picks me up, especially with these monsters nearby. But mark my words I will return your actions that you have made. Just wait, ‘Wolverines’, for I shall return.