Unexpected Encounter 24
14 Jan 2017Rebecca Hail
She exhaled, then her finger applied just enough force to overcome the resistance of the trigger. The Condor was jerked forward as the bullet tore a large hole into its rear exhaust, then it started to descend in a wide curve before he disappeared behind the treetops.Thoughts and possibilities shot through Rebecca’s brain as she analyzed the situation and tried to outline. Overall she had two possibilities: fight or flee. She could try to reach the crash site of the fighter to confirm that the leader of the survivors was dead or she could try to perform an emergency start with the Dark Runner to reach the orbit. Both scenarios bore non neglectable risks.
In case of a fight scenario she had to cross through terrain she didn't know, reach a site in a undefined distance, find and kill the leader, who most likely knew the terrain much better than her.
In case of a flee scenario she had to head back to the cockpit and perform the emergency start manually, thus giving time to the fighter to come back, if the damage wasn't as grave as she hoped it would be.
The two scenarios raced through her head, comparisons were made based on past combat experiences, her training and, on a deeper level, based on Ria’s and hers odds of survival. After several seconds of intense thinking, she put her gun on the ground and made a decision.
"Retract hardpoints."
As the floor under her feet began moving downwards and the flaps moved to cover the hardpoint, she activated her PSA and quickly scrolled through the menus.
"Ten minutes," she exclaimed with her finger over the arming switch.
- not far away
The old woman had witnessed everything.. When she'd seen the drones she knew that the "negotiations" her captain had planned were failed. She looked to the trail of smoke emerging where the Condor had gone down, maybe three or four hundred meters from her current whereabouts on the side of the hill she was on.
Slowly she stood up from the rock and went towards the trail of smoke.
A deep roaring sound stopped her when she was halfway there. From her current position she could still see the upper half of the huge ship. The main thrusters were now glowing brightly in their usual blue colour while the lateral thrusters were ignited in short bursts. Slowly the Anaconda lifted off the ground and climbed, while its nose rose steeper and steeper into the sky. She had seen this maneuver before. An emergency start of a large ship wasn't something to take lightly, even if one was a considerable distance away, so she cowered herself behind the next rock usable as cover while pressing both her hands on her ears.
In the next moment orange mixed into the blue glow of the main thrusters and the Dark Runner began its ascend back into space. Brushwood and stones flew through the air as the shockwave came. As she was able to leave her cover, she saw that the shockwave had been strong enough to knock down the sturdy withered alien trees next to its landing site. Quite a few of these trees were already set on fire by the emergency start.
She stood up and watched the Anaconda ascended on top of a giant column of exhaust gases and disappeared in a flash of light. A thick fog fell area as the exhaust gases began to spread out around the landing side and she made herself back on the way to the crashsite before it would disappear in the fog.
The Condor was in a horrible state. It laid in a long trench, destroyed trees to the left and the right. The front and what was left of the right wing were completely bent up and outwards. Coolant leaked from the destroyed plasma repeater and smoke rose from both its rear thrusters. The windows of the cockpit were completely shattered and the body of the pilot still hang in its safety belts. A long branch had pierced right through his lower abdomen, pinning him into his seat. His arms were horribly twisted and blood trickled slowly from his mouth.
But somehow he was still alive, when she arrived and his eyes were still gleaming with hate. He tried to talk, but the only thing coming out of his mouth was a large amount of blood. Wordlessly the old woman climbed over the remains of the Condor until she was directly in front of his face. His eyes became dimmer and the hateful glares he threw at her became weaker.
With a fast movement she reached down into her makeshift boot and pulled a sharpened stick made of hard alien wood.
“I should’ve done this long ago. When you started behaving like a tyrant, endangered the mission and got us trapped here. ”
With a sudden thrust she rammed the stick right into his hateful eye. His body convulsed in place, pinned by the tree and the wreckage. His head fell forward, his final breath gurgling from his mouth in a mixture of blood and spittle.
Afterwards she stared at him. She was still staring at the lifeless body that was once her captain when the countdown of the fusion bomb near the old Anaconda reached zero. The detonation annihilated killed her before her nerves could evenrelay the information to her brain.
As she sped away from the crashsite, Rebecca noticed the bright flash of light. She shielded her eyes against the glare and as the Conda entered a stable orbit she was able to look down upon the mushroom cloud visible amid the forested landscape.
She loosened her safety belts and pushed herself over the seat to drift through zero gravity towards the cockpit door. A lot of preparations had to be made-equipment to be replaced and injuries to be treated before she could even think of going home to the bubble.
It had been exhausting, but Ria had survived. Rebecca had completed her mission and the ship was still in usable condition. She allowed herself a short smile, then decided to go to the medical bay first. She was determined to bring Ria back home to her family. Where she was loved, and protected, and safe.
And maybe that’ll be me someday, she thought. The emptiness of space stretched out before her as images of faces and better times filled her vision. She clenched her fists, the strength inhibitors activating to prevent damage to her hands.
Maybe I’ll come home to a family. Maybe I’ll be happy. Maybe I’ll see myself as a person again, and not some killing machine.
Her thoughts drifted to the wars, the comrades, and the lies told to her from those she had trusted. She clenched her fist harder, the augmented muscles trembling. What was left of her natural bones wouldn’t be able to handle much more stress.
But for any of that to happen, I’ve got a past to overcome.