Head Engineer Irwin McMillan

Sweat poured down my face as I looked up from the computer that I was typing at to watch the rest of the engineering team getting suited up in powered radiation suits. They still very much retained the tried-and-true shape and overall form of radiation suits that were made in the wake of humanity splitting the atom, but that didn’t mean that there were notable exceptions, however. There was a rather large oxygen tank strapped to the back of it, along with a wrist mounted device that showed various readouts of the suit’s systems. Wrapped around the rather fragile material that prevented lethal doses of radiation poisoning, were thick plates of armor that could easily stop any kind of debris that would be thrown off in the wake of an explosion. The faceplate of the oxygen masks was also an inch thick, for the same exact reason as the armor plating. All of this made the suit rather heavy and cumbersome to use, and that was why between the plating and the actual suit, there was a powered exoskeleton, that could handle all the extra weight in addition to enhancing the strength of the user. And boy, would we need it for this next task.

One of the engineers walked over to me with my suit in hand. “You’re probably going to need this, sir.”

I nodded at him before slipping on the armor-plated rough rubber suit, taking a deep breath as soon as the oxygen started to flow. “Alright people, listen up, because I’m not going to say this again! We have one last task that we must do before we get off this ship, and that’s overloading the reactor. Fortunately for us, I can do most of the work from here by shutting down all the safety features this beautiful piece of engineering has. That is going to take a minute or two, but while that is going on, the rest of you will be putting all the backup fissile material we have on this ship into the main reactor chamber via the airlock there. Hopefully by the time that you all do that, the safety measures will be deactivated.” I shook my head as the ship rocked from another enemy salvo. “The last thing that we need is the core being ejected before it can go critical.” I looked at the ticking clock. Two minutes and thirty seconds. I turned back to the engineers. “Now move!”

All my men started scattering like ants as they went to the various places where we kept the spare fuel rods for the reactor, while I started disabling the safety features. I would have liked to say that it was an easy task, but that would make me a liar to not only myself, but to everyone else as well. The sheer layers of protection that this system had was insane to a degree that, if I were not head engineer, I would have called gross overkill. I had to confirm my identity no less than five times and input my password another eight. Between the identity confirmations and password inputting, I would hazard a glance at the other engineers as access cards were used, passed to the next person, used again, abandoned in favor of a crowbar, picked back up, and used to open the outer door of the airlock to the main reactor room. I watched in fascination as the individual tubes for the rods were opened with exosuit strength and unceremoniously tossed in the airlock.

I heard the familiar clicking of the Geiger counter in the suit start to go off, only increasing in volume and frequency. After a minute of that, I shut the thing off with how much it was distracting me. Then the temperature gauge started to concern me. “It feels like a crime doing this to this ship. One last one,” I said to no one as I finally disabled the last of the safety mechanisms holding the ship together. I then turned to my men. “Is that the last of the rods?” There was a nod around the room as containers were double checked and I could hear the clicking of the Geiger counters in other people’s headsets. “Alright, we just need to push all of this into the main reactor room and head for the escape pods. Any volunteers?” I asked as I checked the timer I had set. Forty-five seconds.

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“Sir, the airlock takes thirty seconds to cycle, whoever goes in there to do that won’t make it out in time,” one of the engineers said.

I froze at that revelation. I already knew that; how could I be so stupid? I quickly pulled out my pad and forwarded a document to that engineer. “Make sure that gets home to my family,” I said as I prepared to enter the airlock.

“Sir, you can’t!” said another.

“I can and I will. It was an honor serving with you all, and I hope you don’t squander this opportunity. Live to fight another day,” I said as I walked into the airlock, stepping over fuel rods in my effort to cycle the damn thing. Even with the heat resistant materials this suit was made of, I could feel the heat coming from the rods under my feet. As the door closed, I looked back into the room to see that they all stood there solemnly before finally making the mad dash to the escape pods. Another salvo hit the ship, and I would have fallen over if it weren’t for the fact that the airlock was rather small.

I clung to the walls as I felt the artificial gravity start to diminish, until it gave out completely. They must have hit the gravity generators. I didn’t have time to contemplate this because the door finally cycled, and fuel rods started to aimlessly float into the room. I grabbed a couple and pushed my way into the center of the room, inserting the rods into the places they were ultimately meant to go.

Another salvo hit the ship, followed by dozens more and the lights dimmed, until they finally shut off completely. I was floating, unable to see anything. I went to turn on my flashlight when I saw a sudden spark. I closed my eyes and waited for the inevitable, humming an old Terran tune with a smile on my lips. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HtVYr9aKRM

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High Commander Thagath

I clicked my mandibles in satisfaction as I watched the Terran carrier get bombed more intensely as it limped its way closer to our lines. They must have realized the futility of their actions and will be signaling their surrender any second now. “What is the status of our boarding parties? Are they ready?”

“Yes, High Commander, the boarding parties are ready and awaiting your order,” replied a comms officer.

“Good,” I said as I continued to watch the carrier get closer to a cluster of our ships. “Have them start their boarding operations and give the Terrans the chance to surrender.”

“At your command, High Commander,” was the reply.

The orders were quickly disseminated, and I leaned back in my chair. I surveyed the rest of the battle. The two corvettes that were escorting the carrier were still firing salvo after salvo into the targets closest to them, seemingly more frenzied as they took more aggressive stances. These Terrans must be getting desperate.

“High Commander, we have received a transmission from the Strength Through Diplomacy.” The comms officer made a confused clicking. “I don’t think they are surrendering.”

I cocked my head over to get a better look at the young Yalayan. “What do you mean? What does it say?”

“It says, ‘Eat shit and die,’ High Commander.”

If I had eyes that could widen, they would have in this moment. “It’s a trap,” I quietly whispered.

“High Commander?” asked the officer, clearly confused.

“Have all guns in range fire on that carrier, don’t let it get any closer!” I shouted. Soon, every gun was firing on the Terran ship, but still it limped on. It was only until a shot to its engines finally crippled the vessel. I leaned back in my chair and sighed a sigh of relief, just as a flash of light tore apart the ship, leaving me stare at the ship that the Terrans had just made into a bomb.