How I Got Here: "Lost In The Dark"
08 Sep 2022Columbuss
Commander Justin Estok. Stardate 7-SEP-3308."...put it down... we'll figure this out..."
Finn stands off to the side, barely in my view, with a panicked look in his eyes. His hands are up and he's pleading with me to calm down. A handful of other ragged looking pilot's watch on, trying to not get between my revolver and the woman in the Crimson Life commanders jacket who's staring down the barrel of it.
"Justin, calm... down... This is nobody's fault!" Finn pleads some more, taking a step toward me slowly.
"Cydni ordered the retreat... didn't she?!" I ask, thumbing at the raised pistol hammer.
"To conserve what ships we had left you maniac," Cydni says with sweat starting to bead on her forehead. "John would have given the order himself if..."
"Dont... fucking... say it..." I interrupt.
"Nobody knows anything yet... alright?! He could still be out there," Finn pleads.
Lets jump back a bit. A few hours ago things were different. A few hours ago we had momentum. A few hours ago, The Dynasty Fleet jumped into orbit over Al Mina B1 in anticipation of finding a crippled resistance fleet. Instead, they found a fully reinforced armada, thanks to one very unhappy gangster on the surface. Resistance and Dynasty capital ships exchanged volleys from their rail guns, periodically venting heat into space in large plumes of steam. All about, Asps, Cobra's and Vipers danced in the dark between flickers of gold, tracer rounds darting in packs like wolves and beams cutting their way through the void. The resistance fighters concentrated their fire on the Dynasty Anaconda destroyers who attempted to repel them with turret fire, but proved largely unsuccessful as the fighter wings swarmed like bees.
The tide of the fight began to turn for the resistance as the number of Dynasty Anaconda support ships began to dwindle. Enemy fighter craft began to take more defensive posture, falling back to the safety of the point defense cannons of the capital ships who, themselves, were starting to wain from heat exhaustion. I lost contact with John but just as the battle looked like it was starting to turn, when the enemy was on their heels, wing leader Cydni Scott gave the order for a full retreat.
Resistance ships began to fall back to Gilleken Terminal as I hammered at the comm trying to signal John's Cobra with no answer. Between the sea of debris and burning wreckage, the enemy ships began to reclaim the ground we'd given up, so I powered up my frame shift and jumped for Gilleken. Once on the Gilleken flight deck I made a straight line for Cydni's Eagle, stopping as she dismounted and sticking the barrel of my revolver into her cheek...
...that pretty much brings us up to speed.
"Just... put it down... we'll figure this out..." Finn continues to plead with me.
"You figure it out," I say, lowering the hammer and sliding the weapon back into the holster below my chest. "I'm going back out there."
"But the Dynasty! They're still..." Finn yells at my back as I head for my ship.
"John's out there Finn! He's out there and he's alive... and I'm going to bring him back."