Unexpected Kinetic Adjustment
15 Dec 2021Creamy Goodness III
Flexing his fingers started a chain reaction in Creamys’ body. Soon his back was arched with his head pushed back and his hands stretching towards the deck. It had been long shift, but there were still plenty of evacuees that need to get off the station. Putting his hands back on the sticks, he hit the auto launch and opened coms.“E O M 7 making another run; have you got me a window control?” asked Creamy keeping the fatigue out of his voice.
“Received E O M 7, there’s a cue of E M O’s already waiting. Join the back of the line and the emergency crew will get you a bay as soon as you’re at the front”
There was a lot of background chatter in the Rescue vessel’s coms room because there were a lot of independent commanders coming to help. On the other hand, there were also a fair few carriers showing up to profiteer off the good will of other pilots. Good willed or self-serving, the space around Donar’s Oak was thick with crafts that need coordinating.
Creamy had arrived aboard one of the liner company’s emergency response carriers, Errand of Mercy Prime. They had brought ten evacuation Anacondas, a few wings of salvage phantoms, and the same again in support Asp Exs. While every helping hand was welcome, without coordination, it would be counterproductive chaos out there.
The seconds long supercruise from the rescue ship to the devastated station barely gave Creamy time to align his ship with the front of the station, but his awkward approach angel did afford him a view of the cue waiting to dock with the ravaged station. Joining the back of the line, Creamy waited for his turn to land. He was watching the support Asps zip about assisting commanders that hadn’t managed to exit the station undamaged when he got a com alert from the company MD.
Suzi was usually tied to headquarters back in Robigo, but she always jumped at a chance to take one of the emergency response carriers out. Not wishing to keep a lady waiting, Creamy opened the channel.
“Little cub responding to mummer bear, your go for Creamy” he said with all the brightness of the midday sun.
“Leave it out knob end. Weren’t you supposed to be off duty this shift? I’m pretty sure I had you on first evacuation wing and we’re on the third now” answered Suzi with a friendly but serious tone in her voice.
Suzi had been with the company from the first days when they only had one liner and endless trouble with the local Cartel. She, like Creamy were just a jobbing pilots back then, but they both knew the company’s owner very well. Suzi had intervened on her behalf when the Cartel were violently demanding an interest in the fledgling venture, and Creamys’ family owned crown-decreed estates next to the CEOs holdings back on Cubeo.
While Creamy would come and go, using the company to earn some credits when he’d managed lose everything he owned again, Suzi had made a life for herself in Robigo, and a trusted friend of the owner. That meant Suzi and Creamy knew each other very well, they had been co-pilot to each other many times over the years.
“Well yes, that IS true Suzi, but I’m good for a few hours yet, and I haven’t had the ship above sixty-two percent heat; well below the safety inspection limit. Old seven and I are still ship shape, and eager to go” He answered as the docking line drifted forwards one Anacondas length.
That was quite a claim, most of the first wing were back on the carrier having heat damage, or slow collision dents repaired. Suzi knew the man was not too bright, but he could put any ship down on anything like a feather drifting to the ground. In this situation, a pilot like Creamy was perfect.
“Look Cream, you ca…” she started before Creamy interrupted.
“That’s Kalvin, or Mr Hobbs to you my dear”
Suzi had to fire Creamy from his last engagement with the company because he had an underworld bounty on him. The people after Creamy wouldn’t think twice about attacking a Passenger Liner just to get their mark, so Suzi had to let him go. For this task, he was worth the risk. They had quickly set him up a false name that wouldn’t stand up to even casual scrutiny, but Suzi didn’t imagine anyone would look for an Imperial lord that aspired to be an all singing, all dancing entertainer on a rescue run.
“Yes right, Kalvin” She continued “Make this you’re last run and get some rest. We’re moving out once everyone has docked with the Prime”
The cue waiting to dock with the burning station moved along, leaving E O M 7, Creamys’ ship next to go.
“Anti-Xenos Initiative have turned up on-force. They are taking this attack personally, and we’ll just be in their way with the fleet they are deploying”
Suzi took a moment and checked her coordination channel report. Each ship in the area had its affiliation in a column on the list, and Anti-Xenos Initiative would soon outnumber everyone else combined.
“By the time you wake up, we’ll be on the other side of the bubble helping out there. They haven’t got as much support as the people here”
Creamy got clearance from the brave people on board the station directing the evacuation effort. He started heading for the slot, dodging salvage vessels and their robotic limpets darting to and fro, grabbing escape pods.
“That’s a good distance from where I need to be old girl” replied Creamy not relishing the idea of telling Suzi he didn’t want to go that far away from the space knew since he didn't have a ship of his own.
Another thought entered his mind that also needed addressing.
“I say, won't that mean we’ll be travelling through Imperial space? You know, I’m not allowed with in two hundred light years of Cubeo; I do believe we’ed at least be skirting my enforced exclusion zone”
Suzi watched Creamy slip the Conda into the slot at an angle to let a Cobra fly out at full throttle dropping heat sinks as it fled the station.
“Look Kalvin, I want you on the team over there. We’ll by pass your excommunication zone, and if you can keep ya gob shut, I’ll let you BORROW one of the support Asps. That’s borrow Cre.. Kalvin, and if SHE finds out you got it, or anything happens to it, I’ll tell her you took it without me know. That sould help you out right? We got a deal?
Creamy was already bringing the evacuation Conda down for a landing. With one of the companies Support Asps, he’d have a ship stocked with everything thing he needed make a real attempt at getting his stranded mining vessel back into space.
“That’s very generous of you Suzi, excuse me a moment please” Creamy changed channels and contacted evacuation control “E O M 7 confirming platform lock. Bring us down and line up one hundred and fifty six for evacuation please”
The ship could take thirty more, but the E M Os’ carried medical staff and security officers to help, and control the panicked evacuees. A little extra space, and spare seating was sometimes needed.
“Sorry about that Suzi” said Creamy reconnecting to the Chairwomans’ salvage Phantom. “I will gladly accept your offer, and return the 7 to the carrier after this run. Thank you old girl”
The docking pad locked above the ship and Creamy deployed the boarding ramps. He watched the people of the station shepherded onto the ship expertly, and waited for the ok from the deck master before he started launch protocols. After checking the ships systems, Creamy got the greenlight and requested the pad be moved to the hell-like surface.
Creamy unlocked the landing clamps before the pad finished raising, letting the momentum push the Conda clear. A large section of the inner transport ring was floating free inside the station slowly rotating. Right now it was blocking the slot, so Creamy gave his ship a breath of forward thrust waiting for a clear run at leaving the furnace that was once Donar’s Oak.
Some smaller ships weaved around the large transport ring, but Creamy waited patiently checking the movement of the rest of the traffic inside the station. The E O Ms’ were tailored for high temp environments, so there was no need to rush. After a very short time, it was safe to move and the other people waiting to leave were giving the Conda the space it needed to exit.
Creamy gave the ship a quick but generous burst of thrust and let the momentum carry the heavy vessel forwards. Just as he brought the throttle back to the zero point, the whole ship jerked to the right. He got his hands back on the controls as the Condas' nose hit the station before a wave of fire washed over the canopy. Something had exploded right next to his ship. The shields had gone down over fifty percent, but held. It wasn't until the fiery tempest outside had cleared did Creamy realise he was drifting towards the other side of the station fast.
The force of the detonation and collision had taken the forward momentum out of his ship, he pulled the throttle back to reverse and changed his mind because the radar was distorted, and he didn't know if other ships were behind. Zeroing again, Creamy tried to make a choice. Another slam whiplashed Creamy again, this time the other way. Warning alarms sounded, and the deck officers' voice fort with the claxton, asking unceremoniously what was going on. The Conda had hit the other side of the station thanks to the powerful explosion from the breach.
Finely, Creamy got a grip on the situation and pulled his ship back under control; he set about re-aliening for exit. E O M 7 still boasted six percent shields and the armour had rebuffed any structural damage. Taking a calming breath, he answered the deck officers’ oath filled enquires.
“We were caught in a detonation and pushed across the station. There are no breeches and we still have a little shielding. Are there any casualties down there?”
Being told no one had been harmed didn’t make Creamy feel much better. He was relieved to learn no one was hurt, but that was purely down to the well put together ship, not his piloting skill. If he wasn’t so tired, Creamy would have reacted faster and stopped the second impact. Creamy would not ignore Suzis’ shift assignments again, after all the path to hell did tend to be paved with good intentions.