AlterVerse: A Day in the Life Series
Chapter 1 Episode 1 — Breach
Magellan Disrupter Ship: 25th Cycle, 6 AM AVT
He awoke with a jolt, his mind replaying the events of the previous day. The crew had spent eight long hours in the ancient silver mines on the moon of Mythriel. They had made a tidy haul but the gargoyles that inhabited the mines were in a nasty mood.
Pete Jackson, a fellow crewman and a friend, had been mauled by a fast moving beast in the dark, losing an arm before crewman Laura Starr could level her plasma blaster to its head. He was taken under sedation to the Med Lab to have his limb regenerated. All’s well that ends well, but it was brutal.
CR-21, that was the number of the crew room he had asked the Captain for and, fortunately, he got it. It was portside up on Deck 3 — Sector 3. He liked the sound of that. It seemed lucky in some mystical way. It was also right next to the Training Center where he spent most of his time. The noise was a bit too much at times, especially when he was trying to get some shut-eye, but he loved the smell of the gunpowder mixed with plasma. Target practice as an art form.
His crew room was nice, one of only thirty-two on the big ship. Better than that dump he left back on Earth he thought, as he quickly got dressed. He had his own wall-sized monitor where he could scan the net or watch vid-feeds from back home. He didn’t spend much time there but it was good to have a place to call his own. His name was on the door. Yeah, it was nice.
Crewman Robert Vann pulled on his boots and headed for the Bridge to report for duty.
Magellan Disrupter Ship: 25th Cycle, 6:15 AM AVT
It was strangely quiet in the hallway; there was an unusual tension in the air. He saw two XR75 fighter ships patrolling past his crew room window earlier but hadn’t given it much thought.
“‘Good morning Lieutenant.” Lieut. Lopez was doing her morning run. They exchanged salutes and he quickly pressed the elevator button for Deck 2 to the Bridge. Lopez could be chatty.
The crew of the Magellan stood on the Bridge; all eyes on the planet below, some were ANDI’s, and some human. The greenish nebulae of the Solone system gave the hull of the ship an ethereal, otherworldly appearance.
The ship’s hold was overflowing with silver now. Not a safe state to be in. Raiders had a nose for these things. The Magellan was still orbiting Mythriel; the team had been hauling silver down to the planet to sell for Aces. Aces, that’s what they called the tokens in the AlterVerse Crypto Economic System. Everyone had some, everyone wanted more.
Captain Jalen Blade was waiting — waiting for tactical to call out an all clear after they had scanned the ship’s defense systems, waiting for Commander Riley to declare that the silver cargo had all been delivered. The XR75 fighters were now patrolling diligently out front.
But the crew was silent, and so was the Captain. For a few moments, he even closed his eyes, feeling the low thrum of the ships engines vibrating the floor panels, the whirring of the huge Disruption field generator. The crew looked on in something approaching a worried reverence — they had seen him like this before, and knew not to disturb.
Suddenly, electrified, he snapped his eyes open.
Magellan Disrupter Ship: 25th Cycle, 6:18 AM VRT — T-minus 3 Minutes to Breach
Without warning, it happened. The sound of the Raid alarms rang out across the ship. Someone had hacked the Teleport system and was boarding the ship! Crewman Vann drew his pistol.
With an index finger gnarled from years of battle, the Captain found the button on the tap-link on his chest, “All hands on deck!” he ordered. The message was broadcast to everyone on the ship. “Helm crew! Bring us up to half-throttle and take us 25 degrees starboard. Engineers! Stand by to engage primary shields.”
The Captain stood tall as he barked orders, weathered hands pointing, pitch-dark hair blending into the top of his uniform jacket. The flak shell he wore underneath was reinforced with blaster-resistant nano-polymers. He took a step forward as if to engage the enemy.
Most of the crew were planet-side for a little R&R, only a few ANDI’s and a handful of humans remained to man the ship, but the Captain was combat-ready as always, a cold, hard expression on his pale, angular features.
“Bowen! Arm the defense drones!” Bowen was an ANDI. Autonomous Non-Defense Idiot, Vann thought. Anything that couldn’t fire a weapon was a waste of space. Every ship had a Bowen.
“Aye Aye Sir!” Bowen replied with the customary phrase straight out of the regulations handbook, fastidious and obedient as all ANDIs. A second later a holoscreen appeared in the air in front of the Captain, an interactive map of the ship only he could see. 1–2–3…7 raiders were materializing in the Teleport Center, armed to the teeth.
As the seconds ticked by, the Magellan crew scrambled into strategic positions to greet the hostile invaders. Crewman Starr didn’t speak, nor did any of her fellow crewmen, standing inside the Ship’s hold with their shotguns and plasma blasters in hand, waiting to defend their precious cargo.
The fission generators were at full capacity as the gargantuan battleship, shields on full, anti-missile gunners scanning readouts, tactical crew targeting key locations, went on high alert.
They didn’t have long to wait.
Magellan Disrupter Ship: 25th Cycle, 6:20 AM VRT — T-minus 1 Minute to Breach
In the Launch Bay, XR75 fighter pilots were strapping themselves into their narrow cockpits in the event this was an air-raid. Checking and rechecking buckles and flying instruments, they were injecting neural stimulants and beta blockers to enhance reflexes and counteract the effects of nausea, adrenaline, and fear.
In contrast to the minimalist, high-tech interiors, many of them had religious scripts, family keepsakes, mantras, photographs, and superstitious talismans adorning the inside of their fighters, in total defiance of the Chief Petty Officer’s regulations, as usual. Their job was a risky one — the Magellan probably launched more fighters than any other battleship in the system, and perhaps lost more pilots too, such was the nature of their work.
Cold and focused, they sat with their gloved hands clenched on the controls.
At twenty seconds to go, the doors to the Launch Bay opened, depressurizing the hangar bay and revealing the target less than a click out, glimmering in the starlight like a precious stone in a black lake. Ten seconds to go, and the magnetic clamps disengaged from the hull of all six fighter ships, and the pilots primed their engines.
The fearsome gunnery sergeant was carrying out the final inspection, roaring through his graffiti-covered shock helmet at the stoney-faced marauders dressed in everything under the sun.
Some stood to attention in alliance-issued exoskeleton armor and nano-polymerized flak suits, others paced back and forth shirtless or in tight-fitting leathers, bandoleers of concussion grenades strapped around their torsos, Plasma Blasters slung over their broad shoulders.
Magellan Disrupter Ship: 25th Cycle, 6:21 AM VRT — Breach
From the Bridge, the Captain’s voice sprang up from the speakers in the tap-links of all personnel, strangely calm and quiet compared to his earlier orders.
“Attention Magellan Crew, seven intruders on Deck 2, you know what to do…”
The crack of shotgun fire broke the silence. Like a kicked hornets’ nest, the Magellan crew swarmed out of hiding. Plasma Blasters slammed liquefied ammo against the walls of the ship the impulse sending killer drones sailing in all directions. The clash of cold steel, the pounding of leather soles, and the smell of scorched paint filled the air.
One of the raiders was foolishly racing down the utility shaft they call “the Gauntlet” towards the ship’s hold. AI defenders were already there waiting.
The Gauntlet was ablaze with gunfire, incredibly loud in the confined space, streaks of light whizzing past Jackson’s face and heating his cheeks. Jackson missed on the first shot; the second knocked a raider right off his feet. Crewman Starr was pumping out shotgun slugs beside him.
Two more raiders were cut short on Deck 1 near the supply room.
Crewman Vann splattered one in a jump tube. “That’s gotta hurt,” he chuckled.
The Captain’s voice rang out once more.
“Magellan Crew, take them out, take them ALL out!”
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