(Solar System)
Just beyond the orbit of Saturn, there was a bright flash as the RIMCS Spire of Winter dropped out of hyperspace. The starship itself was utterly massive - 8.7 square miles in area. It was more like a spacegoing city than a starship. It parked in a stable orbit around the planet and deployed gas miners to harvest hydrogen from the planet's atmosphere. The starship's massive palladium-hydrogen cold fusion reactor and four VASIMR ion drives were very efficient but they still consumed substantial amounts of hydrogen, never mind the fact that hydrogen was also needed for its onboard factories and life support systems.
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(Phoenix)
Dr. Kerzach was busy washing the dishes in the kitchen. The chefs around him were busy cooking assorted dishes.
Suddenly, an announcement came over the ship's PA system. "Warning! Hostile activity has been detected! Please seek shelter immediately, this is not a drill!"
"S---!" Dr. Kerzach muttered. He then immediately hit the emergency shutdown button on the kitchen wall, immediately shutting off all power, water and gas to the appliances.
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Outside, several pirates had set up and ambush to try and take the seemingly defenseless ship.
Luckily, the twenty laser cannons mounted on the Phoenix were quite effective in shooting down the various missiles and fighters that assailed the it.
Silent explosions flashed around the ship as the invisible beams of death lanced towards their target.
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Luckily, the USSA frigates Mercury Storm, Northernlight and Solar Tempest were able to receive the automatic distress signal. Unfortunately, it would take them several hours to reach the Phoenix.