No Survivors

Klaxons blare across the hangar. Seven terrified people huddle by the escape craft's open hatch, bracing against the wind cutting through the open hangar bay doors.

"You're not leaving me behind!" an engineer shouts. He holds a young man hostage, arm like a vice around his neck. Pistol wavering.

The last security officer looks down at his counterpart, long dead and bleeding out on the floor. He isn't sure how many rounds are left in his gun. His hands are shaking from the cold. From the reverberations of explosions shuddering through the superstructure.

"Let me on! Make room for me! Move!" the engineer demands, motioning to the side with his gun. The security officer takes the opportunity and fires. He's not steady, hits the engineer and his hostage. Both crumple to the ground. The crowd behind him is screaming.

The security officer curses, hurrying over to save the hostage. He hears a hatch door close behind him, turns to see the escape craft take off. He screams something, but it's cut short—the engineer was still alive. He doesn't even feel the bullet enter his spine before he hits the ground.

From where he lies on the freezing cold floor, he can see the escape craft outside the hangar bay. Tears well up in his eyes. The last thing he sees is a beam of fire descending from the sky.

His chest stills as the escape craft disintegrates, shot down by a Warsat.