Giants roared overhead. Shrieking pierced your tympanic membrane. Pounding footfalls shook the ground. Caustic clouds reached down with ghostly hands. Caressing pain into everything they touched. Dragons breath seared the air to a bloody mess. Lapping hungrily at anything remotely nutritious; flesh and metal alike succumbed to the fiery death.

Frantic hands slapped and banged against the hull, trying in vain to offer help. Though it was only a matter of time before the burning soul of liquid ice turned against you. Shaking your head to clear the consistent buzzing, your eyes land on your Lieutenant. Face torn away by savage rabid claws, nothing left just crimson stained bone. Bone that glistened in the half-light. The rest of your team had been blown high into the bruised sky, mercifully they never felt a thing.

Alone. You shouldn’t feel such penetrating desolation or bleakness on a battle cruiser. Yet you did, even her flanks had lost all hope fading to a deathly grey. That’s when you saw it, a mighty enemy ship baring down on you. Panic clawed at the remaining tatters of your tunic. Begging silently the gun towers along the port side would burst to life… Nothing. Where was everyone?

Gripping a shell awkwardly you managed to ram it into the breach. Time slowed almost to a standstill, whilst the mighty enemy gained momentum. Out of depth and out of options you stumbled through the motions. Pleading with your muscles to remember each vital step. At last the gun belched, recoiled and hurled out the foreign body. Clapping your hands over your ruined ears, every cell in your body visibly flinched. Shock waves rippled through your boots a personal hell for firing without order.

Your weary eyes lit up as you caught the other ship leap sharply. That was the only thing that spurred you onwards. Even when crystallised beads formed on your grimy slick skin, you kept firing. With every roar of fury your heart leapt. Determination and loyalty held you firmly at your post, uncaring that hell rained down. Elation flooded your fragile bones as a sudden explosion tore the night apart.

Just as she turned to broadside one of your lashing arms struck a deadly blow. Punching a hole through the thick skin, unfazed by the shear effort required. All the grief your ship owned simmered dangerously driving home the revenge.

No one moved. No one did anything. A breath grazing the lips yet never passing. Waiting. Anticipating. Knowing.

Then it happened. The inner demons caught a whiff of freedom on the gentle sea breeze. A fatal kiss of salty tang and they craved for more. Tearing, shredding and plundering their home. Slithers of metal hung suspended like serrated stars. A fanfare of swirling ruby, scathing orange and sickly yolk collided and burned. Sulphur stuck her rancid hands down your gullet, seeking out the acidic gastric juices. With a final whimper she sunk wearily beneath the oily sheen. Her last gasp frothed on the shallow surface.

Gone. You had eliminated the threat. Casting your eyes to the heavens you were greeting with a blank stare. Amongst the spilt ink there was no winking diamond treasure. A flicker of pain cavorted around your knee. The adrenaline mask wearing off. Dragging trembling worms across the area, a tacky viscous substance coated the pale creatures. At some point you had been bitten by a venomous cockroach invader.

Murmuring your thanks you ripped a strip of fabric from your Lieutenant’s tattered uniform. Tying it tightly around your thigh, you gritted your teeth against the sparks of fire.

With dragging clumping steps you made slow progress across the deck; turned into a treacherous scrap yard littered with fragmented bodies. The Angel of Death’s wings stretched wide sheltering the floundering ship. In the lull of the action she plowed on through listlessly rolling waves.

Up the rumbling growling steps you heaved yourself. Limbs trembling and quaking. Morally defeated boots slipped mutinously. At last you crawled through the bridge door. Before you a scene indescribable. Crimson, vermillion and scarlet lazily decorated the sharp white walls. Condescension dripped down upon you, sneers stretched wide and clown-like. Once buoyant bodies filled with life were now scattered deflated and mutilated across the room. You could swear there was one of the Captain’s fingers still wedged in the wheel.

Hauling yourself across the marred metal floor, you listened to the rhythmic rasp of your uniform. Feeling the cool soothing casing you smiled. Shuffling onto your knees you pressed the wireless telegraphy machine into action. Rapping out a desperate message, a plea begging for help.

You felt it in your soul. People were still alive on this ship. There was nothing more you could do, than hope the message had been received. As the engines stuttered and shuddered, causing a groan of discomfort to wrack the vessel, you toppled to the unforgiving floor.

With the final flickering of the lights, you took a deep breath, knowing you had done everything you could to save us.