Entry by Harriet Ablian: War.

[sdtwbaj]

 

I got drawn in the work lottery to be the Research Director. After the boring ass flight, we arrive, and the first thing I do is I check out my office, get to know my staff. It's going fine, great, a normal start to a shift.

 

And then we hear the station-wide intercoms give off a shrill alert beep, and a jumble of words, saying...

 

"NorthGate has declared their intention to completely and utterly annihalate the NSS Cyberiad with a nuclear device, all crew are to prepare to defend the station."

 

And then all hell breaks loose.

 

Command channel is freaking, I'm freaking, we're all freaking. Nuclear Operatives have announced that they are boarding the station, and we go from a normal shift to a doomsday-style preparation. Cargo begins ordering weapons, I tell my staff to research weapons as fast as possible. Everyone is given a gun, everyone starts flipping tables, everyone prepares for the end. The station is suddenly fully united in this comraderie. We all get ready. We get ready for war.

 

I, being me, rush to the Bridge as fast as I can. I ended up grabbing the tracking beacon, and dragging it to maint. I start rushing around, running to the Brig. Gamma is declared. It's a bustle. Everyone is getting ready. I get a combat shotgun tossed at me, and when I catch it, I instantly feel the weight of the weapon in my hand. This deadly device is only useful for killing. That and a box of ammo. I load up, put the box away, and go over to get some armor. I'm glad I put those on, or else I may not be writing this today. I take cover behind a table, next to the captain. Fucker shot me in the chest, said it was a misfire. I think that's some bullshit, to be perfectly honest. I had the idea of getting the nuke disc implanted in my chest. It didn't work, but the captain gave me a medal of exceptional bravery. Nice.

 

Time passes. We wait in the Brig, waiting for the explosions, the calls, the AI telling us we're fucked. Finally, the AI announces three mechs, a cyborg, and an operative all heading out of Engineering. We all brace. The Captain and some others go out to take the fight to them. Me and this girl, Lea something, go out behind them. We go through the hallway, I was just petrified of what we'd find. What we found was a giant war mech in Robotics. It killed a Security officer. I remember his screams, his equipment burning and crackling, his skin crisping, crackling, burning under the fiery laser. I high-tail it toward Escape, the shuttle just arrived. An operative is fucking waiting for me, of course. We exchange some shots, before running fully out of ammunition on both sides. I'm throw into Red. I stumble toward the shuttle, but lo and behold the fucking entry was destroyed. I feel my skin forming icicles, my body depressurizing, expanding.

 

I trot toward the Medbay weakly and deafened. I feel like hell, I'm probably thinking that I'm dead. I just collapse in medical, staring at the doors longingly. A few weak cries for help over the radio. I'm crit, my vision is going.

 

But something...miraculous happened. I managed to stand up. I could speak again, hear again. It's like...divine intervention. I heard over the intercoms that the shuttle had arrived at CentComm with the disk onboard. I let out a resounding cheer on the radio, before I collapse. I woke up in a CC medical ward, and that's where I'm writing this.