EVE Fiction

Undock

Myrmidon Class Battlecruiser “Queen of the Swarm”
1700 Shipboard time
September 5th, YC 115

“All crew to stations, prepare to undock”

Klaxons blared out across the Myrmidon class battlecruiser as its reactors spun up and tractor beams pushed the tall ship out of its berth in the Republic Security station. The ship’s interior rapidly became a hive of activity, as crew members stowed their gear and hurried to the inertial harnesses. While they were given a warning by the ship, all knew that it was mostly a procedural thing, and that the capsuleer in command would have disabled it if he could so he had one less thing to think about on undock.

Amidst the controlled chaos of the undock, a few were already working full tilt. The engineers, for one, moved through the low-grav reactor areas using magento-boots, which would save them from the worst of the warp whiplash while still enabling them to do their jobs. On the higher decks, some command staff gave orders or plotted jump routes. A few who still had not completed the entirety of their pre-flights worked hurriedly, hoping to avoid being caught in the impending warp. One man was trapped in the head, and would soon be learning the ineffectiveness of traditional plumbing systems in warp.

Throughout the ship a sense of feverish excitement prevailed – sure there was the danger involved, but most kept their eyes firmly planted on the ISK that stood to be made. Many had served before on dozens of different ships, and rarely got to know the ship they served on very well. What was the point after all – they weren’t tied to the ship like some poor Matari slave in the Empire, and could leave whenever the ship reached port. So as they ran to their stations, the veterans would point and chuckle at the argument that was ongoing (as usual) in the drone hangar, commonly referred to as the stables by the crew.

“For fucks sake, can they not give me a little more time with the poor little bastards?”

“Come on Dalgaard, Hob 4 is fine, you ain’t gonna make much difference at this point”

“Hey, it’s my say when he’s done Herriot, not that damn fool in the egg!”

“Oh for the love of - “

The ship slammed in to warp, and both men were thrown against a nearby bulkhead, blowing the air out of their lungs and leaving them crumpled on the floor. As the ship settled in to warp, they quickly rose, and the tall Gallente continued the argument.

“For the love of all that is holy, can we please strap in now and not lose anymore brain cells?” asked Petty Officer 2nd rank Aingeru Herriot angrily. “I mean this is the 4th time this month we’ve been caught in a warp. I’m beginning to think you actually enjoy the sensation of metal on skull.”

He started towards the door pad, waiting on some indignant response from the stockier Deteis. Hearing none, he glanced back, and was not surprised to see him already buried in the drone.

“Fine dumbass, it’s not my place to decree who lives and who spends their life drooling with the help of an IV!”

And with that, he headed off towards Drone Command, one deck up.

Chief Drone Technician Gregor Dalgaard never heard him though, already lost in the innards of a particularly long lived Hobgoblin Mark II combat drone, muttering to himself about weapon calibration and the distinct lack of appreciation he felt.

Soon, the sirens blared again – “All stations, prepare for gate jump”

Dalgaard cursed, and quickly separated himself from the drone. While he hated to lose any time working on it, there were some nasty stories about drones and people getting merged during jumps. Dalgaard didn’t hold much faith in them (particularly the stories that involved them living and somehow co-existing) but jumps could do funny things to a man, and he felt no need to become a statistic.

There was one final warning of imminent jump, and then time and space were bent and the Myrmidon was blasted through the gap in to another system. Once his atoms had been reassembled, and after he was sure his fingers were working properly, Dalgaard promptly dove right back in to the drone – though this time, he was sure to power up his inertial harness located next to the door.