Welcome to the 150th round of stories so quick you'll be finished before you started them. At a size of 100 words each they really do have marvellous power to weight ratios.
MaxAcceleration was the winner of last week, but he didn't show to take his bows and provide us with a new topic. We got the inspiration for this week's topic by yelling his name into the ether.
Psykokow hosts the Abraka-Drabble live reading show and comedy hour at 7pm GMT, Fridays on...
HUTTON ORBITAL RADIO! http://streaming.radionomy.com/HuttonOrbitalRadio (audio only)
LAVE RADIO! http://laveradio.com/ (audio only)
TWITCH! http://www.twitch.tv/psykokow/ (audio & visual)
and will also be uploaded to his You-tube channel & anywhere else he can inflict the world with our drabblings!
Make sure you come back on Sunday night to see how well your Drabble has done. At least come back before Monday 15:00 to check if you're the one that has to provide us with a topic.
Please vote. And a warning to all of the contestants don't vote for yourselves. Anyone caught voting for themselves shall be forced to drive behind a tractor with a stream of cars coming the opposite way so you can't overtake.
01 - moose666 - Instant potato cannon, just add cutter engines.
As Psykokow took off from Hutton orbital, he noticed his cobra felt a little heavier than normal.
"Ok, good joke Simoof, did you fit B-class modules again?"
"No, I had a visiting engineer do some upgrades to the boosters!"
Kow hit the boosters, and was pinned to the chair as the two bolted on cutter engines propelled the cobra to silly meters per second.
"Simoooooofffffff!, was th-th-this engneeeeeeeer called sss-sss-ssss-ssssssteeeeve by aananananananannaananyy
chaaance?" Kow tried to speak as his face was being peeled by immense g-forces.
"Maayayayayayayayayayaybeeeeeeee?" Simoof replied, equally pinned down.
The engine roar gave way to rending metal.
02 - frostypaw - Breakthrough
The handle felt alive in my sweaty grip.
"Ready?"
I nodded and tried to remember to breathe.
"3"
Restraints, check. Suit check.
"2"
Our eyes met across the Cobra cockpit.
"1"
My heart thumped into my ribs.
"Engage!"
I pulled and the drive lurched into ear-shattering life as the galaxy outside turned to so much liquid and smoke hurtling past.
"Oh good lord..." was all I could hear from beside me as the handle seemed so very far away my hand desperately reaching for it with every fibre stretching until just fingertips grazing and…
…suddenly stillness and stars, then laughter.
03 - Simoof - A twist in the posterior
George Lucas turned its attention to the Cobra docked in bay 17.
Behind it sat the steaming pile of mess that was Psykokows pink Orca.
Commander Aitshen had a lucrative business. Profiteering off fearful pilots. The traders and explorers. The non-combatants. Fighter always stood their ground until complete and utter destruction of one ship.
The others, well they turned and fled. The fronts of the ship pristine and new. The rears, well they looked like they'd be knocked in more times than Winnards Hole.
Psykokow looked at the backend of his ship. He would need to call Ass Seller Aitshen.
04 - Frank - Costs an arm and a leg
The salesman placed a 100 credit note on the dashboard of the Cobra. He turned to the patsy in the passenger chair "Let's play a game. I'm going to count to ten, and if you can reach out and take that money while I'm counting, you can have it."
"One.. Two..." The acceleration was amazing. Pinned to the chair he watched helplessly as the punter deftly took the money.
"Thanks for showing me the Cobra, but I can't afford one on a miner's pension. I don't know why they retired me after the accident. My prosthetic limbs work well enough."
05 - RoyalHankey - Captains need a new computer application
Captain Psykokow decided to invest in a new computer application.
His old one had broken years ago.
His ship was that old, that he had more scoops than waypoints.
He was always having trouble doing his account figures, as he only had 10 fingers and 10 toes.
He thought it would save him time.
This would give him time to make his important conference calls.
Make funny sounds from his computer in his important calls
That is providing his kittens don't mute him on his computer.
Also giving him time to fight with his kittens.
The application was called excelleration.
06 - Galactic Midden - The Hive Beneath the Twins
Daniels felt peculiar. Limbs appearing almost translucent as the double blue giants exploded into view. Instinctively Daniels rolled the cracked canopy away.
It had been 4 days... 4 days since the mysterious ships had reduced Daniels' home to a broken shell, 4 days since pursuit started, 4 days since glowing beams had cooked the crew.
The ships entered sensor range. Heartbeat accelerating Daniels vomited.
"Danger!" Daniels screamed mentally, ignoring his coagulating mass of vital fluids. Humanity was close, but home was closer. "Danger!"
"Warning received" the voices answered as massive planetary plasma accelerators fired up.
Daniels wept; home was safe.
07 - Erik Marcaigh - When the Drabble Mirrors my Last Stock Trade
"Trading without actually traveling? How is that possible," asked the old merchant, eating at the hot dog stand.
Resplendent in his business suit, the broker smiled haughtily and replied, "It's a throwback to old Earth. We call it GalStock. I'm currently buying stock in foodstuffs according to a few tips I received about an upcoming war with the Federation over the Shon system. The 'O Rations' are used by soldiers."
"War in Shon? Ain't going to be no war there. I just came through, didn't see no warships."
Panicked, the broker opened his communicator and screamed, "Ack! Sell O Rations!"
08 - Philip Coutts - Can We Still Be Friends?
The ship juddered, as it accelerated rapidly towards its target, you could almost feel the tired old Eagle straining it’s every sinew as the pilot urged it forward.
The pilot picked out the target in the distance. The Eagle’s two cannons and pulse laser deployed, his finger eagerly stabbed the trigger and the Eagle spat hot lead and burning laser towards its target.
He craned his neck to survey the damage, letting out a guttural scream when he saw the building ripped in two.
The separation had not been amicable, if she wanted half his assets, she could have it.
09 - FelixBast - Got Wood
Planet Pinus, in the Sylvestris system, has so many forests that almost every continent is covered in trees.
Wood cut from these trees has a unique dappled star pattern that is in great demand throughout colonised space.
So great is this demand, that most of the citizens of Pinus are lumber jacks.
When a child of Pinus grows up and starts a lumber jack career, a special ceremonial axe is presented to them.
These axes are purchased from the only continent on Pinus not covered in trees.
The large community living there are commonly known as the Axe Seller Nation.
10 - Listeri69 - Rares Today : A Report From Dongkum
Welcome to Rares Today, With me is Farmer Willie Fiddler, Willie, tell me how a good batch of Thermal Paste is made..
'oo-arr well's first we need a crop of the finest slaves,
as you can see here we have several hundred male free range slaves
then we hooks them to the milking machine each one produces 15ml four times a day
we then mix it with the polymer and we leaves it in the sun to dry.
of course we can accelerate the process if the demand is really high.
But the quality goes as it gets very watery..
11 - DaddyHoggy - The Bran Tub
The Bran Tub, an old trader ship, retrofitted for scientific research, held station, just out of reach of the massive pull of the black hole. It was in the final stages of devouring its neighbour, a Sol like G2.
When the rupture in star occurred and the wave of energetic cosmic rays fired out into space, the Bran Tub was too close. Shields flared and collapsed and many of the delicate electronic control systems died instantly. When they restored power to the engines they’d drifted too close, no amount of acceleration could save them from the black hole’s deathly grip.
12 - insanephoton - A Question of Gravity
A blue flash presaged the sickening jolt of the railgun slug smashing into her ship. Sparks and smoke filled the cockpit as warnings flashed and blared. Selena steeled herself for the inevitable follow up attack but it didn't happen.
Instead of another salvo of weapon fire, just laughter and the words 'so long, sucker' over the comms, and then her assailant was gone.
Selena's relief turned to horror as she slowly grasped her situation. Thrusters knocked out while in the planet's gravity well. Her ship was slowly accelerating towards the ground. Did she have enough time to restart her thrusters?
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