Snippet #2187382

Adriana

The area below decks where Adriana worked on the particle cannon was separated from the vacuum of space by a single layer of hull. Every little ping of an enemy shot echoed through the space. This is how Adriana knew the battle had ended: Everything grew silent but for her own breathing and her footsteps as she walked back and forth along the length of the ship checking for damage. She returned to the terminal.

"What's happening outside, ADAM?"

The blue face appeared, and his synthesized voice came across the speakers. "All fighting has ceased. The Salient is about to perform a slip-space jump, and there is no further purpose in the battle."

Adriana nodded and switched off the terminal. It was all over and the ship was still in working order. That was the good news. She was sure there would be bad, but nothing in particular that would be her inconvenience. At least, she hoped not.

Clyde

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Clyde steered the ship through the debris field, the ship canons blasting away obstruction. The enemy fleet cleared a path for the Salient's jump. They didn't want to be disintegrated by the jump any more than the Salients' crew did.

Clyde made the last minute checks- Was everything in working order? Not quite, but the ship would survive. Was everyone accounted for? A few fighter deaths, Thaddeus Jackson pronounced missing in action, everyone else returned. Except... Peter Davidson. Clyde took one look at his ship, drifting alone in space, and knew that it was not going to return.
There was a little blip on his screen. It was a text-only message, sent from an old radio. Sent from the dying ship.
Carry on Fighting, carry on crying, carry on smiling but for heaven's sake carry on living" - Unit Commander Peter Ray Davidson, deceased.

Clyde looked away as the ship exploded in a brilliant ball of energy, a small sun marking the death of a storied pilot.

What kind of launch was this? They had been in space hardly a day and already tragedy wracked the voyage. It did not bode well for the rest of the mission.

Clyde sighed and turned back to his terminal. The final stage of preparation for the the FTL jump came into affect automatically. The artificial gravity generator activated to its fullest potential, and froze everything on board the ship a split second before the jump occurred to protect it from the massive acceleration. Then the gravity shifted from null to a push opposite the acceleration, keeping everything from being crushed until the speed leveled out.

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