Rotten to the Core

[Implosion]

Chapter 5: Implosion
823 A.S.

The Battleshark and the Outcast Dreadnought were going toe to toe, but the oversized Ranseur was dishing out double the pain. Daniels and Scarlet were at the bridge, coordinating the offense. Jessica was in charge of targeting, while Jack had to maneuver the agile battleship through the rocks. The Battleshark, being simple in design, was specifically adapted for a crew four times smaller than what was standard on a ship of her size. Daniels was never big on putting lives on the line, so he re-designed the vessel with that in mind. In turn, much less space was "wasted" for life support, bunks and storage. Extra fuel and ammo were used to fill the void.

"Duck."

-Braaaaaaaace! - Scarlet's voice echoed off the naked metal walls as a Razor cut through the bridge. - Decompression!

Within seconds, the entirety of the oxygen was vented out in space. As the crew gasped for air, Daniels engaged the manual overrides and the large blast shields sealed the breach. As breathable air was slowing making it's way back to the bridge, the man, still in his towel, was barking orders left and right.

-Price! Reroute all power to stern shield! Go to emergency power supply! Scarlet! Give me max yield firing solutions! I want the core flushed when I say the word! Everybody hold on!

With the Ransuer in pursuit, things were staring to look grim, Daniels steered the Battleshark around a large asteroid in an attempt to hide it.

"Oldest trick in the book, Danny? Do you really think they're going to fall for it?"


However, Jack had something different in mind. He violently engaged all retro-thrusters and turned the ship 180 degrees.

~Scarlet! Ready up! Danger close combat! Price! Full power to forward and starboard shields! Buckle up!

Fernando Halsey, commanding officer of the Ranseur, had given the order to intercept the Mako on the far side of the asteroid, assuming it was flanking them. Halsey had no idea that the bounty hunter he once rescued was in fact his target. The Maltese Dreadnought was dispatched when a distress signal was caught from an unknown vessel. Fernando was standing tall next to the massive illuminators, hands crossed behind his back. His uniform was looking as neat as if it was brand new. He was overseeing the monstrous vessel as it was slowly making it's way through the field while point-defense turrets were clearing any small rocks, leaving a cloud of dust and particles in it's wake. When they finally reached the destination, a torrent of explosions erupted from the rear of the ship.

The Core Mako had double-backed and unleashed it's full destructive potential upon the Outcasts, but that was just the beginning of their assault. The ‘shark was quickly catching up and when it finally did, two consecutive Mortar discharges found their way straight to the port side of the vessel. A large gaping hole was now directly underneath where the Ranseur's name was painted in dark orange: "Implosión II"

Halsey knew exactly how much the ship could take, so a full retreat order was issued. With whatever turrets they had left, the outcasts kept trying to contain the Battleshark. But Daniels was relentless and with Scarlet pulling the trigger, every shot was true. A few minutes later, both ships exited the jumphole and found themselves in Omicron Alpha. Planet Malta was just in sight. For a brief moment, Daniels found himself paralyzed. Maybe it was the cardamine in his system, maybe he hadn't fully recovered yet, whatever the issue was, another dose of the drug was promptly released in his system and he snapped back to reality.

-Daniels! Hey Scarlet! Do we have any missiles on this thing?! I want all available explosives to land in that hole we opened earlier! We might've crippled it's offensive capabilities, but with them in range, we'll never get away! We need to end it!

Jessica didn't even deem it necessary to answer him. She just launched every single missile with a capable warhead at the outcasts. The ordinance slowly but surely found it's way. One superbright explosion later and the Ranseur lost all power. The ship went into an uncontrolled re-entry inMalta's atmosphere and it disappeared. That was Daniels' chance to make a getaway.

-Price, on my mark, shut down every single system on this ship, including life support. Scarlet! Deploy all countermeasures and vent all excess heat when I tell you to! - As the crew was getting ready, Daniels accelerated the Battleshark. His plan was to drift it out of harm’s way, while leaving a massive heat signature as a decoy. -On three! One..two...three! Mark!

Surprisingly, the plan had worked. Either that, or someone or something wanted them to slip out. Daniels had ordered the nearest crew member to bring him a suit and a bottle of whiskey. Thirty minutes had passed and the man was now comfortably sitting in his chair, examining the damage reports. The Battleshark was holding, but just barely.
The frame was cracked in several different locations, the bridge was partially decimated and life support was at 24%. He knew this was most likely it's last combat mission and his beloved Mako would have to be turned into a immobile defense station somewhere in the deep Omicrons.

-Hey cowboy, check this out! - Scarlet smiled and threw a data tab at Jack. She had intercepted a news feed from Malta, retranslated by the nearby Freeport.

Breaking news! Outcast warship makes planetfall! Hundreds killed in crash! Accident or act of war?

Good day, ladies and gentlemen of the Borderworlds! I'm Tita Garcia, live from a crash site. It's unknown what brought the vessel down and naval command claims it's an "unforeseen malfunction in propulsion technology". Whatever the case maybe, the images we're about to display show traces of space warfare.




We've tried contacting Captain Fernando Halsey, who was in charge of the "Implosiòn II" but to no avail. The ship was headed towards a large residential area, but last moment adjustments in it's course saved hundreds of lives. We'd like to remind you that this is Halsey's second wrecked warship. The first one under his command, a Sarrisa class battleship, exploded. Again, upon re-entry. The ship was heavily damaged by Crayter forces and danger-close usage of warheads.

More info on that here.

We'll keep you posted as the situation progresses.
I have been Tita Garcia, live from Malta for Borderworlds Today. Stay safe, ladies and gentlemen.

Daniels didn't smile, he didn't laugh. He realized that he had just shot down an old friend and that left a rather bitter taste in his mouth. He threw the pad away and set course for Omicron Delta. Apparently, the Core was fresh out of a Guildmaster and Daniels had survived his own assassination. The fact someone wanted to stop him from claiming the spot motivated the man even more.

"One bad choice after another. Good work, Danny boy, you complete idiot."

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