Project Terra

A Dwarven Titan

Kiri entered the bridge, filled with the cacophony of a few dozen officers and interfaces working together to keep the ship running smoothly. She was approached by one of the officers, a 1st Lieutenant by the stripes on his sleeve, who saluted her.

"The jump drive's activation was successful, all systems stable, Sir," Kiri reported, returning their salute.

"Excellent work, engi-" The officer was interrupted by a blaring alarm, which was accompanied by a flashing red light. Outside the ship, Kiri saw a blinding light from the void trying to punch through the shields.

"Shielding at: 92%" an automated voice called out from a loudspeaker. The Lieutenant in front of her ordered Kiri to her battle station, and she quickly departed.

The Striker Hangar was bustling when Kiri arrived. Hundreds of crew worked to get as many strikers operational as quickly as possible. There was a chaotic order to the scene, people and machines working in clockwork tandem.

Kiri walked up to one of the strikers that hadn't launched yet, being held in place by two triangular arms. A few engineers like her were running some final maintenance as she climbed inside and closed the glass cockpit.

"It's about time, Kiri," came a voice from behind her. It was Nova, her co-pilot. Kiri checked over the striker's systems as the cockpit sealed. She flicked a switch and the two arms began moving the striker closer to the airlock.

"Yeah yeah, don't be a bitch about it, Nova," Kiri replied, irritated. Their striker began to descend towards the infinite abyss below them. One arm let go and retracted back inside, and the other one spit the striker into space before doing the same.

Kiri took a few seconds to adjust to zero-g. The only reason she was still in her seat was because there were multiple straps keeping her in place. Kiri was pushed into her seat by inertia as she enabled the engines. She checked the tracking systems. A few other strikers, and of course her home rapidly withdrawing, but nothing else.

Kiri and the rest of the squadron followed the weapon fire, which had diversified to include missiles, plasma bolts, and lasers. The squadron pressed on through, as their numbers dwindled as strikers were rendered inoperable by weapon fire. By the time they could acquire visuals, Kiri and Nova were one of the few left in the void.

Despite having once been a dwarf planet, it didn't feel very "dwarf" to either of them. The large array of weapons suggested it had been mined out and converted into an artillery platform. Amidst the various instruments of death stood its crown jewel, a tachyon lance.

"Stationary Artillery, sending data and turning back now," Kiri said to herself and she used her dash to send back the information.

"Don't turn back, I got an idea," Nova interjected.

"Nova, now's not a time for one of your ideas-"
"Our striker has a cannon, let's not waste it"

"That's a fucking suicide mission!"

Kiri and Nova's discourse was interrupted by a volley of plasma bolts, which would have fried them both alive if Kiri didn't execute evasive maneuvers. Instead, one of the wings had gotten fried, causing the striker to slowly spiral out of a stable path. Kiri took the controls and aimed them on a direct collision course with the artillery.

Instead of shattering or exploding on impact, the striker had acted like a wedge, splitting apart outer layers of material before meeting a violent and turbulent stop. Kiri woke up from an alert, dazed. Her head pounded with pain as she pulled up a damage report. Shields were offline, weapons were offline, and the air would become deadly in 15 minutes. Kiri pulled up an atmospheric scan and let it run.