Tisis

The darkest day (N)

I don't know how much time passed since Thaxlamsho'm has fallensilent, likely sent to face judgment before Garkla by the hands ofthe wrathful vermin.

For the xth time I look at my personal stun gun, checking theremaining charge, the setting, anything really to keep me distractedfrom my situation.

Did the vermin feel like this too when we locked them up?
Butwe had to do it. They had long since proven, that they are incapableof maintaining peace among their own...even wrecked their home worldwith their petty quarrels over the resources of their planet.

But then again, what else to expect of the children of Ede?
Fromdarkness, only darkness can be born.
Destruction only begets moredestruction.
Pain only brings about more pain.

I let out a long sigh and curse my ancestors for their mercytowards these wretched creatures.
If only they hadn't intervened,these fools would all have killed themselves by now instead ofslaughtering my kin now.
I wonder if it's the same on Asmodeus bynow.
We may well have invited disaster upon our world when ourancestors set out to save a species, that was clearly meant to vanishfrom the grand void.

I shake my head, pushing the thought 'We might well be the lastAsmodei alive.' to the side.
This isn't the time to be moping.
Itcannot be much longer until my father enacts the purge protocol tosave our people...he just has to do it.

Just as I think that however, the ship quakes violently and theemergency sirens start blaring, finally shutting up the stupid song.

I want to yell out what happened, but bite my tongue before doingso.
There is nobody out there who would answer me anyway.
Onlydeath is lurking beyond this door.

I sigh again and close my eyes, when I suddenly feel my connectionto the ship systems being restored.

"Greetings, Jom Lushomagans," the AI greets me politelyand fear strikes my heart.
The AI has never spoken to me, unlessspoken to.
"...m-my father...i-is he...?" I stutterdespite my best efforts to remain steady as a flood of emotions runsamok in my body.
"Jor Lushomagans has unfortunately passedfrom this world into Garkla's embrace. You are registered as the nextin line to succeed him. What are your orders, captain?"

Right, tell me my father is dead and then ask me to suck it up anddo a job I never wanted. Way to go, you stupid machine.

I take a deep breath and ask with tears in my eyes, "G-giveme a status update. W-what is going on? What was that quake?"
"Therehave been multiple impacts to the hull. Ship integrity is partiallycompromised, there are breaches in the compartments..."
"Impacts?!Are we under attack?!"
"Negative. The ship has entered aasteroid zone."
"Stop the engines then, before wecollide with any more rocks!"
"The engines have alreadybeen brought to zero thrust prior to the impact, Jom. However apreviously undetected gravitational anomaly has set the asteroids inmotion, turning the area into an asteroid storm."
"Thebridge! What is the status of the bridge?"
"I haveregistered a large impact in the bridge compartment before loosingcontact to the primary processing unit. I have to assume, that thebridge has been destroyed completely."
"W-what about theshields?! Shouldn't they protect us from impacts?!"
"Theenergy shields are suitable for deflecting impacts up to 500Gigajoule. The registered kinetic energy of the first impact in thebridge compartment..."
"Stuff it!" I snap at theAI, immediately feeling stupid.

"...what are my options?" I ask after a few seconds oftrying to process all the information.
"The suggested courseof action is the evacuation of the ship. Otherwise I expect afatality rate of 100 % by the end of the hour."
"Isthere...any way to save the ship?"
"Unlikely. I amcurrently registering multiple thousands of small impacts against theshield systems caused by moving debris. Sensor data is unavailable,but judging by the amount and speed of the impacts, it is only amatter of time before something large enough to overload the shieldshits us again, causing even more severe damage."
"...canwe turn the engines on and back out of the danger zone?"
"Withall due respect, there is no 'reverse thrust'. Furthermore my sensorarray has been destroyed, so it is impossible for me to determineobstacles. Even if we divert energy from the shields to the engines,chances of escaping without severe additional damage areapproximately 1 %."

I look down, noticing a puddle of water to my feet.
I reach upto my soaked cheeks and wonder when I started crying so hard.
Itfeels like I'm currently two persons in one body...one of me isgrieving the loss of my family and everything I've known whileanother is trying desperately to save whatever is left to be saved.

I look up again, clenching my fist, "This...this is all theirfault! These rotten vermin, if they...if only they would have obeyed,none...none of this would be happening! AI! E-engage the purgeprotocol!"
"...unable to comply, captain."
"What?!Why?!" I hear myself yell.
"As previously established,contact with the central unit has been lost. Authorization therebycannot be verified."
"...what are you talking about?!I'm the bloody captain and I just authorized you to do it, so do italready!"
"Negative, Jom. You are clearly emotional. Myprogramming demands, that all orders need to comply with rationalreasoning."
"Oh, I am rational! I'm so damn rational,I'll rip out your core and smash it into the next asteroid if youdon't do what I'm telling you!"
"Unable to comply. Itseems you are currently unable to serve as captain. Seeking second incommand."

My eyes grow wide as the AI says that.
If I allow the controlof the ship to slip away from me, the bastard who really is to blamefor all of this may well get what he wants.
I cannot let thathappen. Under no circumstances.

I take a deep breath, calm my raging mind like my mother taught meto and say with the firmest voice I can muster, "Holdon...you...you were right, I...I was a little...emotional. Howevernow is not the time...now...now I must do what is best for ourpeople. D-disconnect the compartments and enable the rescue capsules.Send out a broadcast to all remaining personnel to...abandon ship."

I close my eyes, trying to keep the tears from falling, but to noavail.
"Affirmative. Sending out broadcast. Contactingremaining compartments with your orders. Rescue capsules will beready for use within 5 minutes."
"Oh and enable accessto the ship communication systems again and open all doors.Many...may not know where to find the rescue capsules with them.

The AI acknowledges my order and the familiar buzz of a hundredvoices echoes in the back of my mind, but sadly it is but a whispercompared to the noise I knew from past days.
I wonder how many ofus were already slain. And how many will still die before this day isdone.

Now the AI declares: "This is an emergency broadcast. Allpersonnel are required to abandon ship. The use of rescue capsuleshas been authorized. I repeat, all personnel are required to abandonship."

I open my eyes again as the door to my prison finally opens.
Ipeer outside, but cannot see anyone but the bloody corpse of the manI had once considered to be family.

I wipe off another tear, grip my stun gun firmly and head towardsthe nearest emergency capsule.
I am not going to die here.