Monday, March 09, 2009

Death's Lessons

Solar System: Uosusuokko
Region: Lonetrek

With a start, Selina snapped her eyes open and screamed. The searing heat in her head roared down her spine and through the rest of her body. She strained to sit up but only to find her body tightly strapped down. This caused panic to flow through her even further as she began to flair wildly in an attempt to free herself, screaming uncontrollably. Only when her head felt like it was spinning out of control did she begin to subside. Her eyes began to blur, the room appearing like liquid. All around her stood faces of whom she didn't recognize. She could see their mouths moving but the blood rushing through her head drowned out any words they spoke. And soon, consciousness left her entirely once again.
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"Fleet stand by. We have a Drake inbound. Bubble up. Tacklers in the ready. Weapons hot," called out the fleet commander.

Selina panned her camera drone around to watch the gate. Very shortly, as called, the gate activated, the white blaze of light tracing across the sky. She turned her attention to her overview in excitement, waiting for the battlecruiser to decloak and make its run. Holding its cloak for as long as possible, it eventually gave way and the ship turned about, determined to reach the gate before it met its demise. But almost as soon as it appeared, the interceptor was upon it, its webber slowing the Drake's momentum considerably.

Quickly Selina broke orbit from the gate. She knew if she wanted to be truly effective on this one, she was going to have to get closer, her blasters seriously limited in their range. Already her drones were deployed and rocketing towards the ship, their own guns blazing away at the Drake's shields. Somewhat unfortunate for her, the target went down considerably fast under the fleet's assault and she was only able to get off a couple shots before the ship erupted in a massive explosion.

It was enough however for her to break out in pure joy as she knew that was going to be her first real kill on the corporation's killboard. However, it was just as she was about to express this to her fleet members when suddenly the voices on the comms went absolutely berserk.
__________________________________________

Selina slowly opened her eyes. For a moment everything was a blur of colors but with a little effort, things began to take focus. She was in a clinic, that was for sure with all the medical gear lying about, the various monitors beeping away beside her. Slowly she attempted to raise herself up when a man in a lab coat appeared beside her.

"Don't get up. Lie still for a few more moments while I do some checks first, okay?"

His voice was soothing though firm.

She tried to speak, but managed what sounded more like a croak, her throat and mouth being so incredibly dry. He smiled and motioned to someone else in the room who quickly came forth carrying bearing a glass of water. Her first few attempts at drinking the liquid failed miserably as more of it ended up on her face and neck then it did her throat, but eventually the dryness subsided.

As soon as she was satiated, the tech stepped forward once again, checking her vitals and other readouts. Seemingly pleased with what he saw, he lightly patted her shoulder and smiled warmly to her. "Your going to be just fine. Just lay here and rest as long as you need. And there will always be someone right outside the door if you need anything. Okay?"

She nodded slowly, shifted a bit and before they had even left the room was out once again.
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"Tempest is primary! All hands, focus fire on that Tempest!"

"Taking heavy damage, warping out!"

"I'm being primaried! Need shields!"

"They've got 3 bubbles up, we're pinned down!"

"I'm being jammed! Anybody got that Falcon?!"

"I'm down. Oh shit! They're targeting my pod!"

Selina stared in near shock. Her mind continued to try and process all that was happening around her as the lights of lasers, guns and missile explosions illuminated the darkness of space. So far her Dominix had gone unscathed as she had yet to be primaried by the attacking fleet but the flight of neuting drones had already done there work and she knew it was only a matter of time before they turned their full attention on her now nearly defenseless battleship. She had already turned her ship about and was burning full power towards the edge of the warp bubbles but was already beginning to realize she was never going to make it.

Suddenly the ship rocked violently as an explosion pummelled the side of her ship. It was soon followed shortly after by jolts of blaster, laser and projectile fire. Her shields dropped fairly quick and soon her armor under the massive onslaught. Already she had ordered all hands to abandon ship. She only hoped that they would make it before the inevitable happened...and more importantly that their escape pods would make it out of the fray as well.

Suddenly the ship's computer started chiming, "Warning. Hull breach in Sections six, nine, and twelve. Warning hull breach in..."

"I know! I know! Just shut up and get us the hell out of here," she yelled back at it. However with no shields nor armor left to protect the ships fragile structure, the attackers weapons tore through the ship.

"Warning. Explosion Imminent. Jettisoning Capsule."

Though mentally detached for the most part from her body, she still felt the violent jolt of the capsule as it jettisoned from the ship, perhaps less than a second before the ship exploded like the grand finale of a fireworks display. Immediately she began spamming the warp command as her capsule blazed its way towards the edge of the warp bubble but before she reached it, she heard the warning pings of a ships target lock.

Selina silently cursed her killer, vowing her revenge as first one then a second shot ripped through her pod...
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Having finished dressing, Selina made her way down the corridor, stopping at the clerks desk to finalize the paperwork.

"Tech Chief Croden here will escort you to your ship ma'am," said the desk clerk as she signed the last form. "Hope we don't see you again too soon," the woman tried to lightly joke but Selina only snapped a look of venom at her before turning to follow the tech.

As they neared the hanger, the man glanced over his shoulder. "She ain't much Miss, but she'll do the job. I assume you have another ship prepared elsewhere?"

She only nodded in response as the door slid open and there sat the Velator rookie ship. Unfortunately, she had never taken the time to get the forms completed to have her clones moved to Solitude. Definitely something she was going to have to fix once she made the 40 odd jumps home....

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