Katrina really had two jobs aboard the cruise liner Triumphant. One of them was working as a nurse in one of the medical bays. The other was bartending at the lounge nearby. The result was that she got paid for both jobs, but had very little free time, or time to sleep for that matter. It was a sacrifice she was willing to make though. Bartending was fun, and hardly counted as work. She made drinks, joked with the patrons, and fended off people's attempts to "get to know you better". Plus, she needed the money so she could get out there on her own and make someting of herself.
Katrina woke up, realized it was the last day of this cruise tour, and was suddenly very happy. After today, she got a nice fat paycheck, a week off, and plans for her free time. There wasn't anything that could ruin her mood today! Changing into her uniform, she was already thinking of all the hours of sleep she was going to get. After checking for any new messages that might have come for her, Katrina stepped out of her room and practically skipped towards the closest dining area. After a quick breakfast, she was ready for her shift in the med bay. She didn't anticipate much activity today, there usually wasn't much to deal with on the last day of every cruise. Even so, she still checked all the supplies and made sure everything was in the right place, in case something came up.
Halfway through her shift, Katrina was reading the news when the lights suddenly flickered. That wouldn't be a cause for alarm in most places in the ship, but in the med bay, it meant bad news. Scant seconds later, her suspicions were confirmed when red emergency lights turned on. Main power had been cut, and they were now running on backup power and emergency generators. Katrina turned to her friend across the room, and was just about to ask a question, when she heard blaster fire outside, and the screaming of frightened passengers and wounded. Katrina hit the energency alarm, which would call security, and said aloud "What's going on?"
Her friend shrugged and said "No idea, but it can't be good..."
-----
Five hours later, Katrina was still in the same med bay, but there were many people there, and her uniform was significantly bloodier. The surgical tools in her hands were similarly blood-covered, and there was a sheet pulled over a now-dead security officer on the operating table. A nearby monitor was flashing red and beeping. Katrina hit a button and the monitor turned off. Sighing, She rinsed the blood off her tools, peeled off the surgical apron and gloves, and washed her hands. She said to her partner, "Record the time of death, 13:27 ship time. And clean yourself up, you look like a mess."
Murmurs spread through the crowd of spectators as they realized their friend had just died. Someone sobbed once, then was silent. The only sounds were the sink running, and some people quietly talking in a corner.
The silence was brken by an announcement on the shipwide PA system. "Attention passengers and crew of the Triumphant, this cruise ship is now under the control of the Black Phantom pirates! Do not resist, or you will be shot. Those who cooperate will be allowed to live."
Like hell we will... Who do they think they're kidding anyways?
In the hours since the cruise liner had been boarded, the security crews had been steadily pushed further and further into the core of the ship. Katrina had been lucky enough to join up with a group of them, and patched up some of their wounded. Others weren't so lucky, and as far as they knew, they were the last group of armed resistors on the ship. The pirates had been very effective in dividing the ship into sections and securing a small section at a time. It was only a matter of time before they swept through here, which meant that this improptu breakout needed to happen fast.
The leader of the group, a tough old security officer with many years and operations under his belt, looked over his troops. They didn't appear to be the most motivated group, but he could see a hardness settling over the group, a grim determination that one has when they're backed into a corner. They needed to escape, and they would, or die trying. He said to them all, "You all know what we're fighting for here, so I expect nothing less than that of you. Our plan is simple. We make a dash for the escape pods as fast as possible. If you see a pirate, don't stop to shoot them, just keep running and spray some blaster bolts their way. We're not here to fight pirates, we're here to get off the ship. Everyone understand?"
A chorus of affirmative responses greeted him, and he said "Alright, let's do this!"
-----
"Everyone get into the escape pods! One person in each pod, it'll make swatting them harder before we jump to hyperspace."
The breakout was proceeding as planned. The twenty escapers spread themselves out among the escape pods, following the instructions of one to each pod. The escape pods were programmed to jump to the nearest large station or planet. Currently it was programmed to jump to the station Astral Astoria, the starting point of the current cruise.
The capacity for an escape pod was eight people. With only Katrina in this one, it looked practically cavernous. She closed the hatch, strapped in, and slammed the control that would send the escape pod shooting out of its berth and into open space. That button also readied the hyperdrives, which would activate as soon as the pod had positively located itself and aligned for the hyperspace jump. As her pod shot out, Katrina looked out the closest viewport. She could see several pirate ships close to the Triumphant, and shuttles going back and forth between them. She could also see the bright flashes of laser cannons as the ships fired on the fleeing escape pods. She winced as several explosions told her that they had hit her friends. As she continued looking, the stars in the background suddenly stretched into starlines, signalling that she was now safe in hyperspace.
-----
An escape pod was a fairly sophisticated piece of machinery. It was capable of keeping 8 people alive for about 4 days, and it housed a small ion engine, a Class 2 civillian hyperdrive, a shield generator, communications equipment, scanners, as well as a compartment full of survival gear. Everything in the pod was her property now, and she was curious to see what exactly there was. The survival compartment held an emergency beacon, some first aid supplies, wilderness survival gear, and a datapad with survival guides on it. She also had her backpack full of whatever she could stuff in it, a police-grade blaster rifle, a blaster pistol, extra ammo, and a vibroblade, the weapons that she had been given while planning in the med bay.
Finished with taking inventory, Katrina wrapped herself up in one of the blankets and went to sleep. This day had turned into a nightmare.
-----
A shrill alarm woke Katrina up, and she looked around for a few seconds before figuring out which button turned it off, as well as what it was telling her. The pod would drop out of hyperspace in 5 minutes. Looking at the navigation screen, she saw that she was going to arrive in the restricted section of space near Astral Astoria. If the cruise liner's crew had gotten a distress call out, the station would be expecting them. If not, well, today would have a nice little surprise for them. She watched the timer as the seconds ticked off, wondering if any of her friends had survived.
The timer hit zero, the screen beeped, and the starlines outside collapsed themselves back into points of light. The sensor screen showed no other escape pods outside. Katrina was alone.
Suddenly, another escape pod appeared on the sensor screen. Rushing over to the window, Katrina was relieved to see that she wasn't the only survivor from the cruise liner. One by one, more escape pods dropped out of hyperspace, until there were 12 total, floating in space. Several shuttles with fighter escort were on their way to the pods, undoubtedly to pick them up and take them to the station.
The interior speakers crackled with a transmission from the lead shuttle. It said, "Triumphant escape pods, we're here to pick you up. Just hold tight and we'll get you back to the station within half an hour."
Another ship dropped out of hyperspace, but it wasn't an escape pod. It was one of the pirate ships that had boarded the cruise liner. As soon as it dropped out of hyperspace, it started firing on the escape pods. Katrina watched in horror as 6 pods were quickly destroyed before the pods started evasive maneuvers. The escort fighters moved to engage the pirate corvette as it fled from the area. The corvette continued to fire on the escape pods and the fighters, before launching a huge volley of missiles and jumping back into hyperspace. The missiles tore through the fighters, destroying all of them. The rest of the missiles headed for the escape pods and the shuttles. The shuttles opened fire, swatting some missiles before they impacted, but it was too late. All the escape pods except Katrina's were destroyed, and one of the shuttles was destroyed as well.
The one remaining shuttle, heavily damaged, tractored Katrina's escape pod to it, and the two battered ships headed towards the station, as three new squads of fighters dropped into escort formation around them.
-----
The past few days had been exhausting. As soon as she had arrived on the station, local authorities took her into protective custody while they asked questions about what had happened. After the authorities were done, her employer, the cruise liner company, had questions as well. Once all the questioning was finished, Katrina was informed that they were providing an apartment for her to stay in until the investigation was completed. She was free to wander the station, but couldn't leave until then. Her employer had been generous enough to give her some money to buy new clothes, as well as give her the paycheck that she was supposed to have gotten at the end of the cruise tour.
Katrina had found out she had gained a bit of fame, after all, she was the only non-captive survivor of a pirate attack on a cruise liner. Now entering a cantina near her new apartment, she saw heads turn and snippets of conversation about her, and rumors too, probably. Sitting down at the bar, she asked the bartender, "So what drinks have you got here?"
Katrina woke up, realized it was the last day of this cruise tour, and was suddenly very happy. After today, she got a nice fat paycheck, a week off, and plans for her free time. There wasn't anything that could ruin her mood today! Changing into her uniform, she was already thinking of all the hours of sleep she was going to get. After checking for any new messages that might have come for her, Katrina stepped out of her room and practically skipped towards the closest dining area. After a quick breakfast, she was ready for her shift in the med bay. She didn't anticipate much activity today, there usually wasn't much to deal with on the last day of every cruise. Even so, she still checked all the supplies and made sure everything was in the right place, in case something came up.
Halfway through her shift, Katrina was reading the news when the lights suddenly flickered. That wouldn't be a cause for alarm in most places in the ship, but in the med bay, it meant bad news. Scant seconds later, her suspicions were confirmed when red emergency lights turned on. Main power had been cut, and they were now running on backup power and emergency generators. Katrina turned to her friend across the room, and was just about to ask a question, when she heard blaster fire outside, and the screaming of frightened passengers and wounded. Katrina hit the energency alarm, which would call security, and said aloud "What's going on?"
Her friend shrugged and said "No idea, but it can't be good..."
-----
Five hours later, Katrina was still in the same med bay, but there were many people there, and her uniform was significantly bloodier. The surgical tools in her hands were similarly blood-covered, and there was a sheet pulled over a now-dead security officer on the operating table. A nearby monitor was flashing red and beeping. Katrina hit a button and the monitor turned off. Sighing, She rinsed the blood off her tools, peeled off the surgical apron and gloves, and washed her hands. She said to her partner, "Record the time of death, 13:27 ship time. And clean yourself up, you look like a mess."
Murmurs spread through the crowd of spectators as they realized their friend had just died. Someone sobbed once, then was silent. The only sounds were the sink running, and some people quietly talking in a corner.
The silence was brken by an announcement on the shipwide PA system. "Attention passengers and crew of the Triumphant, this cruise ship is now under the control of the Black Phantom pirates! Do not resist, or you will be shot. Those who cooperate will be allowed to live."
Like hell we will... Who do they think they're kidding anyways?
In the hours since the cruise liner had been boarded, the security crews had been steadily pushed further and further into the core of the ship. Katrina had been lucky enough to join up with a group of them, and patched up some of their wounded. Others weren't so lucky, and as far as they knew, they were the last group of armed resistors on the ship. The pirates had been very effective in dividing the ship into sections and securing a small section at a time. It was only a matter of time before they swept through here, which meant that this improptu breakout needed to happen fast.
The leader of the group, a tough old security officer with many years and operations under his belt, looked over his troops. They didn't appear to be the most motivated group, but he could see a hardness settling over the group, a grim determination that one has when they're backed into a corner. They needed to escape, and they would, or die trying. He said to them all, "You all know what we're fighting for here, so I expect nothing less than that of you. Our plan is simple. We make a dash for the escape pods as fast as possible. If you see a pirate, don't stop to shoot them, just keep running and spray some blaster bolts their way. We're not here to fight pirates, we're here to get off the ship. Everyone understand?"
A chorus of affirmative responses greeted him, and he said "Alright, let's do this!"
-----
"Everyone get into the escape pods! One person in each pod, it'll make swatting them harder before we jump to hyperspace."
The breakout was proceeding as planned. The twenty escapers spread themselves out among the escape pods, following the instructions of one to each pod. The escape pods were programmed to jump to the nearest large station or planet. Currently it was programmed to jump to the station Astral Astoria, the starting point of the current cruise.
The capacity for an escape pod was eight people. With only Katrina in this one, it looked practically cavernous. She closed the hatch, strapped in, and slammed the control that would send the escape pod shooting out of its berth and into open space. That button also readied the hyperdrives, which would activate as soon as the pod had positively located itself and aligned for the hyperspace jump. As her pod shot out, Katrina looked out the closest viewport. She could see several pirate ships close to the Triumphant, and shuttles going back and forth between them. She could also see the bright flashes of laser cannons as the ships fired on the fleeing escape pods. She winced as several explosions told her that they had hit her friends. As she continued looking, the stars in the background suddenly stretched into starlines, signalling that she was now safe in hyperspace.
-----
An escape pod was a fairly sophisticated piece of machinery. It was capable of keeping 8 people alive for about 4 days, and it housed a small ion engine, a Class 2 civillian hyperdrive, a shield generator, communications equipment, scanners, as well as a compartment full of survival gear. Everything in the pod was her property now, and she was curious to see what exactly there was. The survival compartment held an emergency beacon, some first aid supplies, wilderness survival gear, and a datapad with survival guides on it. She also had her backpack full of whatever she could stuff in it, a police-grade blaster rifle, a blaster pistol, extra ammo, and a vibroblade, the weapons that she had been given while planning in the med bay.
Finished with taking inventory, Katrina wrapped herself up in one of the blankets and went to sleep. This day had turned into a nightmare.
-----
A shrill alarm woke Katrina up, and she looked around for a few seconds before figuring out which button turned it off, as well as what it was telling her. The pod would drop out of hyperspace in 5 minutes. Looking at the navigation screen, she saw that she was going to arrive in the restricted section of space near Astral Astoria. If the cruise liner's crew had gotten a distress call out, the station would be expecting them. If not, well, today would have a nice little surprise for them. She watched the timer as the seconds ticked off, wondering if any of her friends had survived.
The timer hit zero, the screen beeped, and the starlines outside collapsed themselves back into points of light. The sensor screen showed no other escape pods outside. Katrina was alone.
Suddenly, another escape pod appeared on the sensor screen. Rushing over to the window, Katrina was relieved to see that she wasn't the only survivor from the cruise liner. One by one, more escape pods dropped out of hyperspace, until there were 12 total, floating in space. Several shuttles with fighter escort were on their way to the pods, undoubtedly to pick them up and take them to the station.
The interior speakers crackled with a transmission from the lead shuttle. It said, "Triumphant escape pods, we're here to pick you up. Just hold tight and we'll get you back to the station within half an hour."
Another ship dropped out of hyperspace, but it wasn't an escape pod. It was one of the pirate ships that had boarded the cruise liner. As soon as it dropped out of hyperspace, it started firing on the escape pods. Katrina watched in horror as 6 pods were quickly destroyed before the pods started evasive maneuvers. The escort fighters moved to engage the pirate corvette as it fled from the area. The corvette continued to fire on the escape pods and the fighters, before launching a huge volley of missiles and jumping back into hyperspace. The missiles tore through the fighters, destroying all of them. The rest of the missiles headed for the escape pods and the shuttles. The shuttles opened fire, swatting some missiles before they impacted, but it was too late. All the escape pods except Katrina's were destroyed, and one of the shuttles was destroyed as well.
The one remaining shuttle, heavily damaged, tractored Katrina's escape pod to it, and the two battered ships headed towards the station, as three new squads of fighters dropped into escort formation around them.
-----
The past few days had been exhausting. As soon as she had arrived on the station, local authorities took her into protective custody while they asked questions about what had happened. After the authorities were done, her employer, the cruise liner company, had questions as well. Once all the questioning was finished, Katrina was informed that they were providing an apartment for her to stay in until the investigation was completed. She was free to wander the station, but couldn't leave until then. Her employer had been generous enough to give her some money to buy new clothes, as well as give her the paycheck that she was supposed to have gotten at the end of the cruise tour.
Katrina had found out she had gained a bit of fame, after all, she was the only non-captive survivor of a pirate attack on a cruise liner. Now entering a cantina near her new apartment, she saw heads turn and snippets of conversation about her, and rumors too, probably. Sitting down at the bar, she asked the bartender, "So what drinks have you got here?"