S1, 03 Freebuild 2 (March 3, 2015)

Date: February 3rd, 2095.

The Onyx. The hum of it's engines reverberates through my bones. I think back to my time on my home planet Soateria. It seems like so long ago when I was told I was the heir to my family's power. My family line was here before the shift. An ancient ancestor of my house found a way to travel through space and time. Our family had prophesied the shift for a millennium. I was part of a prophesy as well. I was foretold to be the messiah to the human race. I would one day show our race how to become more. There will be no more conflict, pain, despair, death... We will live forever in peace... A voice interrupts my thoughts.

Arvil: "Zog, do you have a plan ready? Our long range sensors are picking up the pirate vessel."

I take a deep breath. I'm good at multitasking. I've been running calculations in my head while daydreaming. The split in my mind makes it easier. I can put my full attention on a task at hand while thinking of other things. The key is not to think about it. Let my instincts take control.

Me: "Yes. You said we got new orders from upstairs? We're to infiltrate this vessel and try to find out as much information on the pirates amassing over Etrion?"

He nods. Captain Arvil is the gentlest and most intimidating man I've ever met. I don't trust him, but I know that when the stress of my position gets overbearing he's always there to make sure his crew makes it out alive. I glance over and notice Sergeant Grendon T. Plancer sulking at his computer station.

He gingerly holds his broken wrist, and I can sense the animosity from over here. My brain, sensing a possible threat, automatically starts calculating his future.

I feel a buzz at the back of my head. A rush... A chill... I see a hallway... it's hazy... a fist is thrown at my face...

Officer: "Sir, their engines are powering up. If we're gonna make a move it's now or never."

I snap out of it. Pirates. This is all part of my plan. Time it so they think it's just an equipment failure. That short amount of time they're drifting is our window of opportunity to send an infiltration and recovery team onto their ship. The GI really wants to know what's going on. The pirates are becoming a bigger threat. They won't take failure. I won't take failure.

Me: "Set a course at 85 degrees. We swing by them staying clear of their scanners. Then we send the short pulse EMP and knock out their engines."

Grendon: "And how are they not gonna expect it's the Galactic Imperium when they find out they've been hit by an EMP?"

Arvil: "It's a short pulse EMP. It'll only make 'em go dark for a minute or two. Now you heard him. Fire up the thrusters."

1.6897031 minutes to be exact. The tactical team is ready. They'll be launched out of Boarding Tubes. The GI designed the tubes to launch personnel onto other vessels. It has many uses, evac, sabotage, infiltration, but it's very dangerous. If it's not timed perfectly the personnel boarding the other ship can splatter all over their hull, or worse they could miss the ship entirely, and because of our tac team's infiltration suits we could not pick them up on our scanners and lose them to the void. I feel the Onyx begin to move. The control AIs only respond to Captain Arvil's voice patterns. The GI developed them to make ships smaller and more maneuverable due to the fact 65.1568% of the personnel on a mid-sized destroyer class GI ship were no longer needed. Obviously like all good ideas the Onyx was the only vessel made because of the cost. All the other officers on the deck besides the Captain are only here to make sure the tech runs properly and to advise Arvil.

Me: "Get ready to fire the EMP."

Ship AI: "I calculate the path of travel for the tactical team is clear. There are no obstructions on the scanners."

Good. I have all the equations done. My math is never wrong. I can sense the time going by by the milliseconds.

Me: "Fire the boarding tubes in three... two... one."

Arvil: "launch the tac team."

Ship AI: "Firing boarding tubes."

A video feed of the tac team flying through space comes on screen. They have a small directional charge ready to detonate before impacting with the pirate vessel. It'll slow them down enough to keep them from breaking anything. It impresses me how exact the charges are. The scientists who developed them put just the right amount of explosive power in them. Too much and they would be blown back or to a stand still. Too little and they would be severely hurt by the impact. Preciseness. I was always trained to not make estimates. Be exact. Be spot on. Never leave any variable out.

Ship AI: "Captain, my sensors are picking up debris in the path of the infiltration team."

Arvil: "Can we get a visual of that???"

Officer: "There! It's on screen now."

At first there's nothing to see, but if you look closely enough there's definitely something between our ship and the pirate's. How did I miss this? My mind races. I need to fire the EMP in 2.012538 seconds. The tac team will collide with the debris in 5.79101 seconds. Judging by what I can see of the debris the team will be split up. Team member 1 will be put off course by 78 degrees and team member 2 by 87 degrees when they collide with the obstacles.

Ship AI: "It appears the pirates were releasing their garbage. I calculate that the team will not make it to the pirate vessel."

Me: "Fire the EMP!"

Ship AI: "I advise mission abort."

Me: "Captain! Fire! I can fix this..."

He hesitates for 0.8175483271 seconds. I add that to my equation.

Arvil: "Fire the EMP."

I start running.

Ship AI: "Firing."

Arvil: "What are you doing???"

BONUS:

Had a lot of fun building and writing this. The rest of this is already written out, I just need to make an MOC to go with it. :)