Flight of the Frightened
08 Dec 2022Ember Lacson
The Morningstar is parked in Meene right now, which is on the edge of Maelstrom 3's mini bubble. I spent several hours over the last two days evacuating civilians from Massimino Sanctuary in Ildano and one damaged outpost whose name I can't remember. I experienced my first hyperdiction. Three of them, in fact, all hostile. The first time I almost crapped my pants. After that, it was more of an "Ah shit, here we go again" moment. Nicole accompanied me on the first two missions, then I dropped her off at the carrier for her beauty sleep. She got a couple hours, but only once I got back, and only with me holding her. Meanwhile, I haven't gotten more than a couple naps in the last forty-eight or so hours.I got up to check for new developments a few minutes ago. Massimino Sanctuary was safe just hours ago. Under threat, but no bugs in the sky around it. Not anymore. It's under active attack now, according to the galaxy map. There are still thousands of civilians there, listening to the sounds of their city crumbling around them. I'm still not convinced I'm equipped to get them out, but I can't just leave them there to die. Nicole doesn't want me to go. She wants me to pick another system, a safer one with no active attacks. But I've seen too many faces in the waiting areas. People desperate for a seat but unwilling or unable to peel off from their groups to fill one of the handful of extras I had on my runs. I don't blame them. If I die, I'd rather it be with the people I know and love than apart from them.
Last time I wondered if we stood a chance against this threat. I still ask that question. And I'm still unconvinced we have a hope of beating it back. The timers on the galaxy map seem to count down in days instead of weeks, and it's not going to be long before these bastards overwhelm us and drive us out of our homes. I stand by what I said before; their current goal is clearly extermination. So, for once, the AXI is focusing on humanitarian efforts instead of combat, shifting primary target to HIP 20485 after HIP 23716 is in active invasion. I'm planning to take two more groups from Ildano before heading to Eurybia to help the weapon development effort, then heading toward HIP 20485 and helping there now that I know what I'm up against. It breaks my heart knowing that I'll only be able to take a couple hundred more people with me, but I only have so much of myself to give. My body is starting to shut down without adequate sleep, so as soon as I post this I'm going straight back to bed. This time it's Nicole's turn to hold me.