Elias sat quietly in the cradle of his ship's cockpit.
Under the dim white console lights, his breath fogged and vanished.
This is taking longer than it should.
He looked at one of his cracked auxiliary screens.
[CONTRACT: 47219]
[OBJECTIVE: DRIFT FLEET NEUTRALIZATION]
[SECTOR: GAMMA-01]
[MISSION TIME: 74:34:09+]
No movement.
He exhaled through his nose and leaned back into the restraints.
"Just a little longer."
The hunt brought him to an asteroid belt on the edge of the sector, where he waited with the generator as low as possible to avoid detection.
The shuttle was big enough to live in. Small enough to be forgotten.
He was reminded of that fact as he watched the mural of stars and asteroids around him as they bathed in dim blood-red light from the distant star of this system, blurred through the glass that was now frosting at the edges.
~PING~
He looked down at his radar, as it shook him from the train of thought.
[CONTACT: LIGHT CRUISER]
[IFF: CORRUPTED]
[SPEED: MODERATE]
[GENERATOR OUTPUT: CRUISE BAND]
"Corrupted."
It passed his viewing, but was still visible on radar. Slowly, pulling his doser out of his field jacket's breast pocket, he watched the blip move through the asteroids.
Something's off.
~click~clack~tsst~
The familiar sound filled the silence of the cockpit. Not taking his bloodshot eyes off the blip, he took a long pull from the device.
The sickly crimson vapors left his cracked and dry lips.
His throat burned, vision sharpened, colors separated, chest calmed.
Gripping the controls and bringing the generator to a low idle, filling the silent ship with a low hum and mild warmth.
The shuttle crept forward.
His nearby query showed no signs of change. He slowly brought it into view, maneuvering behind an asteroid. Letting the generator die down.
Elias was sure now. Based on the markings, battle damage, haphazard repairs that wouldn't fly for professional in a registered port, and the clearly visible armaments on the ship, this was a Drifter.
Why is it alone?
Bringing his ship out from the cover, he activated the torpedoes.
[COMMAND OVERRIDE: RECEIVED]
[TORPEDO GUIDANCE: DISABLED]
[MANUAL FIRE: ACTIVE]
[FIRING]
Three torpedoesstreaked with bright blue towards the cruiser in a patterned spread.
The cruiser slowed to turn around an asteroid formation, leaving the port side wide open.
Generator readings began rising to combat levels, but they took notice too late.
All three connected with the ship; the surplus warheads in those torpedoes made quick work of the unshielded ship in a bright purple burst, followed by rings of gold and white.
The flash bloomed and died, leaving a mangled hull arcing with electricity. He jerked the controls to find a new position.
Two more blips appeared behind him.
[CONTACT: LIGHT CRUISER]
[IFF: CORRUPTED]
[SPEED: RISING]
[GENERATOR OUTPUT: COMBAT BAND]
[CONTACT: HEAVY CRUISER]
[IFF: SOLARAN-EMPIRE]
[SPEED: RISING]
[GENERATOR OUTPUT: COMBAT BAND]
Reclaimed heavy.
He spun around and released flares, making it harder for them to lock on. Instead, they released a volley of flak fire. Crude, but effective. Darting the shuttle between asteroids and the flak, he maneuvered under the light cruiser.
[SHIELD INTEGRITY: 15%]
[POWER DIVERTED: WEAPONS]
[M-LANCE: CHARGING]
[M-LANCE: READY]
The shuttle's rear housing split open. A skeletonized turret rotated into place, thick cables hanging loose.
The micro lance ripped, screens dimmed, and a bright light filled the cockpit.
The target soaked up the white beam of condensed energy until its shields gave out under the sudden, immense load, leaving a glowing dot burned into its side.
Not fatal—yet.
Elias followed up with six torpedoes that were locked and ready.
The thick flak took three off course, but the others connected with that same bright purple light.
Moving targets to the heavy cruiser, he pushed the throttle forward to get behind the 600-meter beast. The others were small fry compared to this one.
The flak thinned as he ducked behind an asteroid using a slingshot maneuver to get himself behind the enemy.
He locked all targeting onto the bridge.
One controlled squeeze…
~CRASH~
His surroundings deteriorated into a violent spin. Alarms blared in his ears, lights flickered, and the air had a sudden pressure change.
~smack~tss~
Activating the glass visor on his suit's helmet, he sealed himself from the ship's compromised atmosphere.
[O2 RESERVE: 59:00]
Elias pulled himself out of the spin and dived rapidly downward to find a fixed railgun on an asteroid below him.
The auto cannon chewed into the railgun mount, sparks fountaining.
Then the belt-fed weapon seized. Something snapped.
He wrenched the controls upwards to peel away from the asteroid—servos groaning under the load. Pulling into a rightward climb to evade the range of the heavy cruiser.
The shuttle's guttural vibrations testified that she was dying.
A dizzying display of damage alerts cycled through Elias's HUD and screens as he cleared them away.
[WARNING: SHIELD FAILURE]
[WARNING: HULL FAILURE]
[WARNING: GENERATOR OUTPUT FAILING]
[WARNING: LIFE SUPPORT OFFLINE]
He decelerated around an asteroid as he approached the wall-like formation, slowing the throttle down when the control sticks lost all resistance.
[ERROR: INPUT NOT RECOGNIZED]
The screens went black.
"Shit."