This short story follows the backstory of Vitus Warthen, a character in the Boards RP The Battles of Some: Plains of Sivas . I highly recommend joining if you like to write.
“Get him away from there!”
Vitus opened his eyes as he felt himself being pried away. His mother remained in place, slowly turning in the cold, her visor clouded so thoroughly it was impossible to make out any features. There was a statement made to the effect that she was gone, and someone else strode forwards, quickly glancing at her visor for confirmation.
It was enough to bring the rest of Vitus’ mind into focus. The group of people which now laid their hands on him very quickly escorted him away from the remains of the bridge, seemingly impervious to his sudden determined effort to return. He cried and pleaded, striking angrily at the fingers which drew him away and attempting to twist out of their grip. But there were simply too many to contend with, and the minutes that passed as the writhing Vitus was handed down service shafts and ushered through hallways filled with flickering lights and the occasional tug of gravity felt like hours.
The hands that held him quickly relinquished control at that point, as two dark and powerful hands wrapped around his waist and moved him further into the vessel. Vitus could tell immediately they belonged to the chief engineer, as they were stained with grease and grime, and streaks of blood were smudged across his palms. Whereas Vitus had fought against the many hands that tore him from his mother, he could not find the strength to retaliate now.
Something gnawed at the back of his mind, cutting through the stupor of the moment. These muscular hands were exposed; the fellow carrying him had removed the gloves of his hardsuit. If he was still in the vacuum of space, this would have killed him instantly, meaning one of the passages he had been carried through before must have been an airlock.
As soon as this train of thought ended, the ship suddenly lurched, and the rush of gravity brought the engineer to his knees, Vitus hitting the floor hard. It shifted shortly after, sending equipment sliding across the hall and into the opposite doorway.
“Where am… I…?” Vitus weakly inquired, as if the entire sequence of events up to that point had been a bad dream and the situation now was finally waking him up.
“Generator wing, hall A2.” The head engineer replied, as quickly and as gravely as his voice seemed capable of doing. “Have to get to the escape pods; we’re about to enter the atmosphere.”
“HEY!!”
Vitus jumped nearly out of his skin. The chain railing rattled as he threatened to rip it out of the posts it was adhered to, and his grip around it quickly brought up the slack in the rest of the chain as he turned to meet the figure rapidly approaching him. His eyes glowed out of their ebony lids as they met Vitus’, a stern and unrelenting expression twisting his mouth into a frown. “What do you think you’re doing here without proper safety attire?”
“Uhh,” Vitus stalled, trying to somehow spot a way out while not breaking eye contact. Before his hesitation could continue, the ominous character suddenly covered his vision with a massive orange and white hardhat.
“There,” His mouth slipped into a wide grin as Vitus lifted the oversized headgear off of his nose and onto his scalp. “Now you fit in a little better around here.” His very muscular and calloused hand was extended. “I’m Sergeant Darshan, restricted line officer overseeing the installation and maintenance of drive systems in all fleet vessels outfitted for combat or currently under construction. Orbital vessel engines are my specialty; it’s why I’ve been hovering around here.”
“Vitus,” Vitus replied, shaking his hand after a pause to ensure he caught the entirety of Sergeant Darshan’s designation. “Vitus Warthen.”
“Warthen?” Darshan pretended to act surprised at the mention of his name, raising his eyebrows and dropping the smile. “The son of the new Commander? A pleasure to meet you, young sir. I hope you find all our equipment and personnel within the shipyard to be up to the enemy militia’s standards.”
Vitus awkwardly looked between each of Darshan’s eyeballs for some indication of what he meant by this; he couldn’t tell if it was meant as a joke, an actual comparison of the two fleets’ capabilities, a backhanded insult to the Sivas militia, or a dig at his father’s history in the Argon navy, and his face showed it. With a laugh Darshan lightly slapped him on the shoulder and turned him towards the railing, pointing down at a large casual vehicle clearly meant for sport and racing events, designated as such by its striking colors and excessive curves. There was a large hole through one of the stabilizing fins, and the metal covering it was twisted and blackened.
“Those fancy speedsters are perfect for hit-and-run missions. I won’t insult your intelligence by mentioning how your father used one to take out that great monster of a ship up there,” Darshan jabbed a thumb at the sky, where a tiny dot could be seen ever so slowly making its way towards the horizon. “But they’ve got a whole number of uses where high speed is concerned. This one, she got herself right in front of an anti-air system right as it fired; luckier than Labrenz it was a solid round and not an actual missile. Damage like this shouldn’t be too hard to repair, although parts for this model are very pricey, so it’s more than likely to be a modification of the whole wing when all is said and done.”
“Learning about our grand armada, Vitus?” Belos’ voice cut through the sound of grinding metal and chatter which dominated the shipyard, prompting both Darshan and the young Warthen to quickly turn and greet his approach. “Everything okay here?”
“Yes, sir.” Vitus and Darshan spoke in almost perfect unison, then looking at each other in surprise, wonder in the former’s eyes and an amused grin across the latter’s wide jaw.
“Alright, alright.” Belos smiled, laying his hand on Vitus’ shoulder. “Your mother is by the loading bay; she wants to introduce you to someone who’s got a very similar hobby to your cobbling gun parts together. I’ll be right along,” He trailed off as Vitus dutifully strode away before breaking into a jog in excitement.
“Thanks for going easy on him, sergeant.” He mumbled, not bothering to turn and look at Darshan as he spoke. “He’s so young, he has no familiarity with these sorts of things.”
“With your permission, sir,” Darshan folded his hands behind his back. “And with some context as well. I was very happy to hear you were keeping the rank of commander after defecting to Sivas’ fleet, and I’m honored to serve under your command when you captain the Kinilada. And I think Vitus is a fine young man, willing and capable, who will do well both in his service here and in the future.”
“You disapprove of me bringing my wife and my son into combat aboard the Kinilada.” Belos turned, his eyes locking onto the somewhat shorter Darshan’s pupils. “You haven’t been in the higher ranks, sergeant. I can feel the hatred radiating off of every one of my fellow officers. The Sivas militia loves my son; the Sivas commanders would abandon him the first chance they get. I represent everything they’ve chosen to fight against, and they resent me and my appointment just as much as the enemy. If I was appointed even one rank closer to my rank when I was in Argon, there would be infighting and conflict that could tear Sivas’ faith in the military to shreds.”
“Well, perhaps I’ll be able to find a way.” He turned towards the ship bay, his voice cutting through the noise despite how quietly he spoke. “Somehow get my wife and son back to Sivas before we get within enemy range. But if it doesn’t work out,” His eyes spun back towards Darshan, a determination in them glowing hotter than the stars. “I know what may occur. They will never die before I do.”
“I have always pledged to defend my family, my people, and my home, no matter what it costs me. And I’m glad to have you by my side, sergeant, because as I know I would lay down my life for you or any other brother in arms, I know the life of my son is safe in your hands.”
Vitus was holding himself up on Darshan’s shoulder now, having regained more and more of his strength as his focus returned. The head engineer stumbled briefly, but threw his hand to grip around a pipe as another wave of gravitational force turned the ship further. The hole through its middle was causing the ship to teeter back and forth as it got closer to the planet’s surface, being too unwieldly to him terminal velocity and constantly reshifting itself.
As he paused, Vitus got a good look at the visor of his helmet. It was fogging over quite heavily now, with each staggered breath coating it in more condensation. The hand which gripped the pipe was sweating a waterfall. Vitus’ hardsuit had prevented him from noticing what Darshan was taking full force; the air in the ship had grown dangerously hot.
“Status!” A voice behind Vitus’ vision suddenly spoke. Gravity insisted the ship was now upside down, but Darshan’s magnetic boots kept him secured to the floor. As Vitus looked in what was now the direction of up, he saw several upside-down soldiers and personnel making their way over as quickly as their boots would allow.
“Capt- Commander Warthen is dead.” Darshan breathed, struggling against the heat. “The bridge is down. Vitus Warthen is priority one.” He gestured with his head to the child whose waist was securely pinned to his side by his entire arm.
The hastened movements of the other soldiers slowed to a crawl. There was a determination behind their reflective visors which carried a dreadful intent, and one Vitus could very easily read. “Escape pod shutter was jammed shut, but it has been forced open by ejecting one of the pods. There are seven more, but… It’s one past midnight.”
“Blast!” Darshan spat, grinding his teeth as his chest rose and fell more dramatically. “We get him out, then we follow. Move.” He stalked forwards, almost pushing past the other soldiers only for them to immediately match his stride. The escape pod chamber was partially on fire; it seemed a small aside in comparison to everything else.
“Vitus, listen.” Darshan set him down on his feet, upside-down, with enough force to guarantee his magnetic boots adhered. “You move to the wall furthest from the door, you strap yourself in on the wall. As soon as the pod is away, use the internal shortwave radio system to contact emergency response teams. We’ll be away soon as we can.”
“You…” Vitus looked back at the escape pods for a moment. He knew they were designed to house several people, and there were plenty available, which seemed to invalidate any reason why Darshan wouldn’t just enter alongside him.
“Because,” He replied, knowing perfectly well what Dolphus was thinking. “We have to make sure the others on board can get away as well. I’m going to hang back until I’m sure everyone’s gotten out. You have to go, Vitus; wait any longer and the escape pod won’t be able to stay in orbit.”
Vitus stared at Darshan for a moment before throwing his arms around his stomach, pressing his helmet into him hard enough for Darshan to flinch at the temperature of his hardsuit lining. “Goodbye.” Vitus whimpered, the undertones in his voice making it painfully clear what he knew Darshan was trying to hide.
“Don’t say that.” Darshan gently pushed him out of the hug, patting his shoulders with as much grace as the situation could allow for. “You’ve got the world ahead of you. Just try not to look at it on the way down.”
“Ready.” One of the soldiers grunted, finally forcing the latch down and the door of the escape pod to open. Vitus was almost thrown inside, his boots barely able to save him from smashing into the opposite wall. Five other men climbed in with him, leaving Darshan and two other officers standing in the hall, their faces perfectly reflecting the gravity of the situation. The door slammed shut, and all communications with his hardsuit were severed.
After a moment his co-passengers collectively saluted the door, and one of the soldiers threw a lever to jettison the pod. But a horrible screeching noise revealed the system had manfunctioned, and the pod slowly drifted out of the shaft it was contained in, towards the planet’s edge.
Until the ship turned. The pod was hit by the atmosphere, sending it back along the track and through the external pod door, smashing into the hall and sliding upwards along the ceiling, gaining speed as gravity finally took its took and ripped the Kinilada in two.
Tumbling out, Vitus’ pod scraped along part of the twisted hull and drifted away from the plummeting wreck, losing its spin from contact with the ruined ship. His position strapped to the wall of the pod did not allow him a good view of the planet, but the side window presented him with a fantastic view of the vessel, the break in its frame red hot and glowing, as fires raged rampant throughout numerous compartments including, to his great concern, the missile salvos.
Sure enough, they exploded a moment later, rocking the escape pod and forcing Vitus to grip the sides of his helmet in pain. The built-in protection the hardsuit provided was more than to sufficient to save his eardrums, but the blast was still incredibly loud, and the shock of it sent the pod into a tailspin which grew more and more extreme as it neared the surface.
Vitus could feel the nerves in his hand trying to reach out and drag Darshan into the pod with him just before he dropped unconscious. He gripped a hand that was not really there, and heard a voice that said hello a hundred times before finally say goodbye.
Cold Embrace
Red Horizon
