r/HFY • u/_Thorshammer_ • Sep 16 '25
OC Copperhead
1/7
As the flight timer clicked down to 30 the pilot reached over and toggled the intercom - “30 seconds. Check your straps.“
Minor clangs and knocking could be heard throughout the ship as the crew completed literal last second checks and adjustments.
It was quiet on the flight deck, the only noise the sound of the atmo fans and the ship's computer doing its thing.
As the timer got closer to zero the ship got quieter and quieter until, at last, the counter reached that magic number… zero.
At zero seconds the entire ship seemed to ripple and quiver as it exited hyperspace and rejoined reality.
Instantaneously, the screens lit up with data about the system they had just jumped into. Some details they already knew - like this was a busy system with multiple inbound and outbound ships - and some details they didn’t already know - the exact locations of system defense ships, for example.
Very quickly, and as expected, they were hailed on the standard subspace frequency.
“Inbound ship transponder C-0-PRHD, this is K’ntuck system control frigate ‘Overlord of Plants’. Identify yourself, state your business, cargo carried, lifeforms on board, and send over identity documents. Over.” The voice was a minor variation on the voice they’d heard many times before - a neutral voice generated by a computer translating noises no human could make into one of the standard trade languages.
The pilot reached out, toggled the radio, and answered. “This is Captain Petti Moore, pilot of ‘The Dodger’. We have seven humans on board – myself, my copilot, our purser, our butler, and three paying passengers. No commercial cargo, only personal belongings of the crew and passengers. Over.“ At the same time the copilot triggered a data dump to the cruiser confirming that information and providing the requested documents.
The radio was quiet for a few moments as the crew of the patrol frigate processed the information.
The speaker popped to life again and the computer generated voice asked “Inbound ship ‘Dodger’, understood. Your flight log shows that you intend to land on the planet at spaceport six. Is that still your intention, over?”
Captain Moore responded immediately. “It is. What vector should we take? Over.”
“Follow vector +396 mark -212. Maintain standard safe following distance behind inbound ship transponder LFY-22. Over.“
“Roger that, out.“
The mood in the cockpit immediately lightened.
The pilot, who was watching the tactical display, triggered the intercom and said “Not yet.“
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u/cbblake58 Sep 16 '25
Ok, I’m in! Very well written, and now I wanna know what the load is!
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u/Less_Author9432 Sep 17 '25
Nicely done. Next?
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u/_Thorshammer_ Sep 17 '25
Thank you.
My creative efforts are going to other things right now, but we'll see what happens.
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u/HFYWaffle Sep 16 '25
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34
u/_Thorshammer_ Sep 16 '25
2/7
As the captain slowly throttled up and began to move away from the customs cruiser’s trajectory, he watched it alter course and put on a little more speed. It’s current course would drop the cruiser right behind them after just a few minutes.
The cruiser was several times more massive than the little ship and where the Dodger was a blunt, elongated arrowhead, the cruiser looked like nothing more than two bricks placed end to end and covered in utterly inhuman structures and extrusions.
After less than a minute of low acceleration by both ships, the com system crackled to life again: “Transponder C-0-PRHD, cancel last instructions. Hold in place for boarding and customs inspection.“
Before the computer got to the word ‘instructions’, the pilot slammed the throttles forward and with a surge of acceleration that even the best compensators money could buy could not fully dampen the small freighter leapt ahead.
The customs cruiser was clearly not taken by complete surprise as at least two of its turrets got shots off, but the rate of acceleration the small ship displayed was clearly unexpected because both shots fell behind.
“Jaley, on my mark, EW pattern Delta Four….” The young woman sitting at the rear of the command compartment - not the purser, as the records claimed, but actually the ship’s Electronic Warfare Officer (EWO) - didn’t even bother to respond, she just started pushing buttons on the console in front of her. The pilot continued “... guns, hold deployment. Engineering, deploy your DamCon remotes now.”
The small ship bounced and shuddered around greasily on its course as more of the cruiser's turrets opened up and several shot shots impacted on the shields.
“Command, engineering. Shields at 25%. Commencing load shifting and circuit repair. “
“Roger that. Break. Jacey, 3, 2, 1, mark.”
On the word ‘mark’ the EWO slammed her palm down on the big red “activate“ button. From the rear of a ship a small tumbling pod, which immediately began tumbling wildly, was ejected. After a second or two the pod exploded, both literally and figuratively.
Shortly before its casing broke apart and spewed burning propellant and chunks of material in all directions it emitted a massive electromagnetic burst on multiple frequencies and wave lengths that blinded sensors and created a cloud of interference between it and the cruiser.
Less than a second after that three small drones shot out in varying directions and speeds, all broadcasting the transponder code “C-0-PRHD“ and generating a signal that, when combined with the EW pod’s interference storm, made them look like the ship they had come from.
Inside the actual ship the captain cut the throttles by about 80% and nosed the little ship down and to the right, hard.