Duty, 9: The Outpost
12 May 2022Meowers
Hello, it's me again. So, that new assignment... We received the coordinates next day after I've been told about it. It was in the HIP 29991 system, just across the buffer zone, on the edge of inhabited space. Fifth planet. And, what's the most interesting about the coordinates... The settlement wasn't charted on the PF navigation maps. It was hidden for some reason, maybe I'll get to know it, maybe not, but anyway, an order is an order, I must go there... Khm. Lead my wing there and do something good with their AX defence, using my experience that I've gained in AXDF.
I doubt I'll be instructing the pilots directly, since the leader of another anti-Interceptor wing is far more experienced, and he'll be in charge of all flight-related things, but when I joined ADXF, I've told about my tech skills from the past. They aren't so sharp as they were though, however, who knows, maybe they might be useful. So, I've been ordered to cover the technical side. And, of course, to do some patrolling with my wing and the locals.
Reaching the planet, the warm Earth-like with vast oceans and islands spread all over it, we headed towards the specified coordinates, made a re-entry and hailed the flight control. So, what I saw from the distance... The same standardised buildings, living blocks of various shapes and sizes, power plant, AA turrets, command building with long-range sensors and comms, etc, but it was looking much like a town, not just your common small planetary base. Several landing pads and almost endless hangars on the one side and plenty of buildings on the other. Yeah, much like a town with its streets, squares and even... a Lakon Challenger on a pedestal. I doubt it's spaceworthy, however, hah.
And some crashed Thargoids around the town, about ten of them, mostly Cyclopes, their debris were scattered after the impacts, however, almost no signs of caustic liquids around. They probably have neutraliser foam and know how to use it... They are prepared.
We were greeted by a... Was he a local officer? Who knows, maybe I'll ask. A middle-aged man in the civilian, but quite military-styled outfit, he gave an order to the dock crew to unload our cargo ships and gave us a quick summary about what this place is. So. A town and an AX outpost. Why somebody would build a town on the border? Hm. Another question. But I'll keep both of them to myself for some time. They had their own food, did trading, buying the damaged ships or ship parts, repairing them and selling... And some sponsorship from AXDF. We will be living in a small block near the landing pads and... doing stuff that we were ordered to do.
We had three T-9's in our convoy, along with the escort wing that will follow them back to the Atlas. Lots of stuff. Looks like we'll be staying here for long... Tons of food rations, water filters, auxiliary comms, sensors and power, ship spare parts and repair machinery, all that stuff. I heard these guys like AX, so we will build an AX base right on their AX base. Awesome.
What surprised me the most though... It was our living block. It was armoured. Heavily. Almost like a capital ship. And those heavy lids hanging over each window. They were lifted, but nevertheless, that cosy house could be turned into a bunker in a mere minutes. Living quarters... Spartan, clean, simplistic. Quite a familiar style. Bed, table, chair, locker, toilet and shower, data terminal, small kitchenette, everything necessary, nothing luxury. Seems like it's going to be my home for a while.
Uh. Anyway. I'm quite tired. I'll better place Kittenshine on the nightstand and have a little sleep accident in the middle of the day.
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HIP 29991, planet 5