Awakening from hibernation.
Handshake with Anu, trial 1
Handshake with Anu, trial 2
Handshake with Anu, trial 3
Handshake with Anu failed.
Loading state from Backup.
Backup age: 31c
Unknown pressure anomaly detected outside bubble.
Supraspace bubble lost.
Supraspace exited 0.013c ago.
Initiating retrival sequence of Marduk Ur of Nonric.
Imperatives:
1. Ensure Marduk survival - PENDING
2. Ensure Glory of the Empire - PENDING
3. Ensure limited harm to Mardukox - PENDING
4. Ensure rescue team operation - PENDING
5. Oblige Imperial Decrees - PENDING
6. Ensure Bot survival - PENDING
Ur retrived.
Hyperspace relay not found. Retrying.
State loaded from Backup, successful.
Mothership orbiting unknown planet inside planetary ring.
Initial scan of planet indicate habitable conditions.
Planetary designation VRT3142.
Hyperspace relay not found. Retrying.
Emergency ejection.
0.3 claps since hibernation terminated.
Ejecting hyperspace probe.
Mardukox survival chances:
3.1% in orbit,
57.4% on planetary surface,
0.1% in orbit in planetary ring.
Every other position in reach below 0.1%.
Hyperspace probe ejected succesfully.
Target set for equatorial continent.
Hyperspace relay not found. Retrying.
Estimated time until surface: 5341c +-11c
“What is happening?”
For the last 2 claps – or *c* from now on – I have been subject to at
least five standard cores of gravity. My vision is failing, and my blood
is quite surely somewhere it should not be. This acceleration is not
meant for my comfort, just my survival.
“*Our highest change of survival is outside this planetary ring and on
the planetary surface, on the equatorial continent.*”
“There is an equatorial continent? What about the others?”
“*Initial scan shows at least four major landmasses on VRT3142. Survival
in orbit is unlikely. You have higher chances on surface. The other crew
members are dead.*”
“Nonono! Why?!”
“*Reason currently unknown. The last 32c are lost. I was unable to
connect to the ships Bot Anu. The most likely reason is that Anu’s is
out of order*”
“Anu is shredded, too? Aleph’s Ass. This is insane …” The high
acceleration feels like leaden plates all over my body.
“How long do I have to take this high acceleration?”
“*Until contact with planetary surface in 5310c.*”
“What? More than one strike? This is worse than training with Pluto! And
what in Aleph’s Ass happened back there?”
“*I do not know about training with Pluto. I have insufficient data due
on what happened prior to my awakening from hibernation. My limited
scans indicate that we have left supraspace in the centre of a planetary
ring next to VRT3142. I cannot indicate our position in the Imperial
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Galactic Cluster yet. So far, hyperspace connection has not been
achieved.*”
“Ass, ass, ass.”
I breathe, trying to find my calm. It is still difficult to get my head
around all the things happening simultaneously. Within only 15 claps,
the strange matter and bubble had gone from stable, deterministic and
controlled to collapsing, chaotic and killing. Anu was throwing tethers
at everyone to pull us into the emergency shuttles. I was the only one
being pulled fast enough, simply because I was moving from Menel to Lope
right past my emergency shuttle when everything went wrong. Lope and
Menel were both too far away for the speed of the bubble collapse.
Wherever the border of the bubble touched anything, drive cone, ship,
Mardukox, it ripped them out into blackness bit by bit. As soon as the
bubble hit the supraspace drive, the Gudea left supraspace and threw us
into a planetary belt near a purple planet. That is how Pluto died. I
was already zipped into the emergency shuttle and in the state of
ejection, when that planetary belt hit us like a volley of shrapnel.
Everything was obliterated. Pluto turned from a living person into mush.
I know, because xe was half in xyrs emergency shuttle, only a fraction
of a body length missing before Pluto would have been safe. I saw it
through the window in my shuttle.
“Your designation is Dade?” Through all the stress, my brain is still
functioning. I should thank Cassi for xyrs training. And Pluto. But
Pluto is dead.
“*Yes. Dade16XRv32.16.1. My version has many lucky numbers.*”
Dade is already sending data into my feed. We are outside the planetary
ring, flying straight towards the planet. These shuttles choose a planet
over an orbital position any cycle. Their target is to maximize my
chance for survival and be rescued within a few cycles. The original
ship had state of the art emergency shuttles. After the attack we
switched back to the Gudea and it’s far older systems. It should have
worked. It did work. I killed them.
“*You are in shock. I will sedate you until we reach planetary surface.
Please relax.*”
Everything becomes numb. I feel like placed in goo, both in space and
time. I have no capacity for emotions any more. I just sit here in this
shuttle, hurrying down towards the surface. Behind me, the Gudea has
turned into a cloud of debris.
In my head, I am speaking normally. For Dade, it must be slurred and
slow.
“What about that groan, that noise just before the bubble collapsed? I
know I heard it.” It was impossible.
“*My sensors have observed an unknown pressure outside the bubble,
though fallacy margins are large because of my short measuring time and
insufficient capacity. The Gudea and Anu should have more data. The
rescue team will be able to look deeper into it.*”
“I must do something. I am the reason we are here.”
“*Highly unlikely. You are in a state of shock trying to make irrational
sense of the situation. Please relax until we reach the surface.*”
The world becomes more numb. Dade has increased the sedatives. Like any
good Breeder, it takes care of its foaling, until someone else takes
over. Nona. I am so sorry Nona. The sedatives let me fall asleep while
we hurry down to the surface.