here we are then...
The world returned slowly to Erik, like an old radio gradually tuning in. his head was fuzzy, filled with fractured images of explosions and the dark forms of ships. Eriks eyes flickered open, and he found himself staring at a pure white ceiling. Gingerly, he turned his head, taking in his surroundings. He recognized this place. It was the Kalabesh starbase hospital, though how he had got here he had no idea.
‘good to see you’re awake, captain,’ a familiar gruff voice sounded. Erik, forgetting his tender head, whipped round to see sergeant Nash standing a few metres away from his bed. Nash appeared to be genuinely pleased erik was awake, but seemed to be hiding it.
Erik tried to speak, but a stabbing pain shot through his head as soon as his jaw twitched.
‘don’t try speaking, Spiro’, said Nash. ‘you’ve taken a hell of a beating. When you ejected, your pod took the full force of that explosion. It was a miracle you survived.’
In spite of the pain coursing through his skull, Erik managed to croak a sentence.
‘what…happened?’, he said weakly.
Nash gave another crooked smile.
‘after you almost killed yourself taking out that conquest ship, Hammers lost morale all across its fleet. We were able to sweep in and take down the main force as they went into disarray. The clan leaders surrendered eight hours ago, and their armada has been absorbed into our own defensive line.’
‘eight hours?’, croaked Erik. ‘ how…long have I…been out?’
‘almost twenty one hours, and you wont be flying any ships for a few more yet.’, replied Nash. ‘ you’ve broken three ribs, and suffered severe concussion. You need to rest for now.’
Erik sighed slowly, sinking into his pillow. Nash called for the nurse, and Eriks world slowly dissolved into a deep sleep as the sedative seeped into him.
*****
The next time Erik woke, three days later, he noticed something was different. The pain around his head was nowhere near as intense, so he gingerly got out of his bed, ignoring the doctors pleas for him to stay in the ward. Shakily, he inched towards the office of Sergeant Nash, wanting to know the situation of the current crisis.
Erik sounded the alert for Nash‘s door.
‘enter’, came the gruff reply. Erik walked in, registering the momentary look of shock on Nash’s face. It was gone in an instant, however, and replaced with a slight grin.
‘what a coincidence, Spiro’, said Nash evenly. ‘I was just about to pay you another visit. This time with some good news.’
‘good news, sir?’ asked Erik uncertainly. How could there be any good news at a time like this?
Nash looked quite pleased with himself.
‘I managed to get you another ship’, he said.
‘already?!’, spluttered Erik. He couldn’t believe Nash had arranged it so fast. Usually it took almost two weeks for a pilot to receive a replacement ship from the rebel leaders. They were not fond of losing warships, especially STAMs.
‘well, I called in a few favours, and pushed things around a little’, replied Nash. ‘now,’ whispered Nash, leaning forwards towards Erik over his desk,‘ do you want to see it?’
Erik thought about it for a fraction of a second. Then, slowly, he nodded.
*****
Nash and Erik walked out into the main hangar. The lights were on minimal power, and the cavernous room was very dark, yet Nash seemed to know exactly where he was going. The heavy sound of his boots on the steel floor echoed around the hangar, amplifying the size of it.
Erik was slightly confused. He looked round, taking in the whole of the room. There were less than 5 ships in the entire hangar.
‘where’ve all the ships gone, sir?’, he queried.
‘most of them got sent to colossus for maintenance and repairs’, said Nash. ‘that was one hell of a fight we were in , Spiro. Every ship took some kind of damage.’
Silence befell the two of them again as they walked. Erik was left to ponder in silence the consequences of the last battle. How many had they lost? What was the situation with the mantis fleet? Was…nattasia ok…?
Nash suddenly changed direction, bringing erik out of his thoughts. He started walking towards a maintenance room, that was swathed in darkness. Erik hesitated, then followed Nash into the dark.
‘computer…lights!’, called Nash from the black. Slowly, the lights of the small room came on. Erik’s eyes widened as the lights revealed the shape of a huge shape. It was a ship, but not like any ship erik had ever seen. It was larger than even his old vessel, and formed the shape of an X. on the front was a massive cannon, pulsing green and humming gently. Erik laughed weakly at the sight of it, trying to take it all in. The ship, though deactivated, seemed to emanate a kind of raw power. Erik knew a good ship when he saw one, and he was looking at one now.
Nash walked forward proudly. He placed a hand on the ship, and the hull around it glowed. Eriks eyes widened. He had never seen armour react like that before.
‘this, spiro, announced Nash, ‘is the STAM-X Shadow Sniper. it’s the most advanced warship we’ve ever created, and it was worth the money, let me tell you.’
‘I’m…speechless’, spluttered erik. ‘how the hell did you guys build this thing?’
‘oh you can thank the imperial scientists for the original design,’ replied Nash wryly. ‘but we built upon the blueprints and improved it further. This for example’- Nash touched the hull again- ‘is a film of vatistinoid, combined with exofomic ore built into the armour. It deflects pretty much anything thrown at it, giving it high defensive capabilities.’
Nash continued with the tour of the ship, listing the various new features of the Sniper. He gestured to the large cannon on the nose.
‘this is a new weapon called a sniper laser. It fires a highly concentrated beryllium beam at a target, and its extremely accurate. On top of this, we’ve integrated an attack charge, that diverts emergency power to weapons and increases their power by about 15%.’
Nash then pointed to a small metal object attached to the underside.
‘this thing is an attack droid. It detaches from the ship and launches its own attacks on whatever you shoot.’
Erik took a step back, taking in the whole ship.
‘and you…want me to have this ship, sir?,’ he asked nervously. The thought of him flying this craft, soaring amongst the stars with it… was incredible.
Nash smiled.
‘like I said…I called in a few favours.’
The world returned slowly to Erik, like an old radio gradually tuning in. his head was fuzzy, filled with fractured images of explosions and the dark forms of ships. Eriks eyes flickered open, and he found himself staring at a pure white ceiling. Gingerly, he turned his head, taking in his surroundings. He recognized this place. It was the Kalabesh starbase hospital, though how he had got here he had no idea.
‘good to see you’re awake, captain,’ a familiar gruff voice sounded. Erik, forgetting his tender head, whipped round to see sergeant Nash standing a few metres away from his bed. Nash appeared to be genuinely pleased erik was awake, but seemed to be hiding it.
Erik tried to speak, but a stabbing pain shot through his head as soon as his jaw twitched.
‘don’t try speaking, Spiro’, said Nash. ‘you’ve taken a hell of a beating. When you ejected, your pod took the full force of that explosion. It was a miracle you survived.’
In spite of the pain coursing through his skull, Erik managed to croak a sentence.
‘what…happened?’, he said weakly.
Nash gave another crooked smile.
‘after you almost killed yourself taking out that conquest ship, Hammers lost morale all across its fleet. We were able to sweep in and take down the main force as they went into disarray. The clan leaders surrendered eight hours ago, and their armada has been absorbed into our own defensive line.’
‘eight hours?’, croaked Erik. ‘ how…long have I…been out?’
‘almost twenty one hours, and you wont be flying any ships for a few more yet.’, replied Nash. ‘ you’ve broken three ribs, and suffered severe concussion. You need to rest for now.’
Erik sighed slowly, sinking into his pillow. Nash called for the nurse, and Eriks world slowly dissolved into a deep sleep as the sedative seeped into him.
*****
The next time Erik woke, three days later, he noticed something was different. The pain around his head was nowhere near as intense, so he gingerly got out of his bed, ignoring the doctors pleas for him to stay in the ward. Shakily, he inched towards the office of Sergeant Nash, wanting to know the situation of the current crisis.
Erik sounded the alert for Nash‘s door.
‘enter’, came the gruff reply. Erik walked in, registering the momentary look of shock on Nash’s face. It was gone in an instant, however, and replaced with a slight grin.
‘what a coincidence, Spiro’, said Nash evenly. ‘I was just about to pay you another visit. This time with some good news.’
‘good news, sir?’ asked Erik uncertainly. How could there be any good news at a time like this?
Nash looked quite pleased with himself.
‘I managed to get you another ship’, he said.
‘already?!’, spluttered Erik. He couldn’t believe Nash had arranged it so fast. Usually it took almost two weeks for a pilot to receive a replacement ship from the rebel leaders. They were not fond of losing warships, especially STAMs.
‘well, I called in a few favours, and pushed things around a little’, replied Nash. ‘now,’ whispered Nash, leaning forwards towards Erik over his desk,‘ do you want to see it?’
Erik thought about it for a fraction of a second. Then, slowly, he nodded.
*****
Nash and Erik walked out into the main hangar. The lights were on minimal power, and the cavernous room was very dark, yet Nash seemed to know exactly where he was going. The heavy sound of his boots on the steel floor echoed around the hangar, amplifying the size of it.
Erik was slightly confused. He looked round, taking in the whole of the room. There were less than 5 ships in the entire hangar.
‘where’ve all the ships gone, sir?’, he queried.
‘most of them got sent to colossus for maintenance and repairs’, said Nash. ‘that was one hell of a fight we were in , Spiro. Every ship took some kind of damage.’
Silence befell the two of them again as they walked. Erik was left to ponder in silence the consequences of the last battle. How many had they lost? What was the situation with the mantis fleet? Was…nattasia ok…?
Nash suddenly changed direction, bringing erik out of his thoughts. He started walking towards a maintenance room, that was swathed in darkness. Erik hesitated, then followed Nash into the dark.
‘computer…lights!’, called Nash from the black. Slowly, the lights of the small room came on. Erik’s eyes widened as the lights revealed the shape of a huge shape. It was a ship, but not like any ship erik had ever seen. It was larger than even his old vessel, and formed the shape of an X. on the front was a massive cannon, pulsing green and humming gently. Erik laughed weakly at the sight of it, trying to take it all in. The ship, though deactivated, seemed to emanate a kind of raw power. Erik knew a good ship when he saw one, and he was looking at one now.
Nash walked forward proudly. He placed a hand on the ship, and the hull around it glowed. Eriks eyes widened. He had never seen armour react like that before.
‘this, spiro, announced Nash, ‘is the STAM-X Shadow Sniper. it’s the most advanced warship we’ve ever created, and it was worth the money, let me tell you.’
‘I’m…speechless’, spluttered erik. ‘how the hell did you guys build this thing?’
‘oh you can thank the imperial scientists for the original design,’ replied Nash wryly. ‘but we built upon the blueprints and improved it further. This for example’- Nash touched the hull again- ‘is a film of vatistinoid, combined with exofomic ore built into the armour. It deflects pretty much anything thrown at it, giving it high defensive capabilities.’
Nash continued with the tour of the ship, listing the various new features of the Sniper. He gestured to the large cannon on the nose.
‘this is a new weapon called a sniper laser. It fires a highly concentrated beryllium beam at a target, and its extremely accurate. On top of this, we’ve integrated an attack charge, that diverts emergency power to weapons and increases their power by about 15%.’
Nash then pointed to a small metal object attached to the underside.
‘this thing is an attack droid. It detaches from the ship and launches its own attacks on whatever you shoot.’
Erik took a step back, taking in the whole ship.
‘and you…want me to have this ship, sir?,’ he asked nervously. The thought of him flying this craft, soaring amongst the stars with it… was incredible.
Nash smiled.
‘like I said…I called in a few favours.’
