Duty, 38: No Fear, No Pain
23 Apr 2023Meowers
Living like this, you'll eventually get used to waking up from alarm signals and following voice broadcasts or orders that you have to carry out immediately. Jumping into the uniform and flipping a coffee cup upside down over your opened mouth in a minute or two and then rushing into the cockpit to kick more arse that asked for a good kicking. But that one, sounded early in the morning, was special indeed. This is it. The second evacuation wave. That alarm meant transports were on their way here, about to jump into the system soon, roughly in an hour.
We made our way through the empty town, and I struggle to imagine, struggled at that moment, and still find it difficult to wrap my mind around, what Mion felt. But, I guess, it was something quite close to... My own things. Things that I don't want to remember, things that my mind keeps blocking away when I'm awake. She's been silent all the way, just holding my hand tightly. For me, the town was a set of buildings, a group of people, that I, an AXDF pilot, had been ordered to protect from the Thargoid threat. But for her, this place means home. A home, found when she desperately needed one, more than ten years ago. The place where she lives, the place she cares for, the place she valiantly protects. Something that played, and continued to play, a significant role in her own personality, her entire life. And the home she had to leave in order to stay alive. Running away, leaving everything behind, against her own will, being unable to change the course of events, being helpless despite all her strength, again. And I still can't accurately conceptualise, using my own mental patterns, what the 'home' is. Feels like I've never had one. But I knew the magnitude, the importance it has for her, all my logical chains were leading to it. So, at that moment, for me, the town meant more than just a set of buildings and a bunch of people. And I couldn't change anything significantly either. No matter how much I wanted to.
We both dropped off our backpacks to be carried to the transports, onto the cargo carts, and proceeded to the briefing room. The setup I've made was close to that during the first wave: a small group of pilots, namely me, Hans, a pilot from Matthew's wing, and two locals, were a welcoming party, we had to meet the transports near the entry point and return here, if it's safe to go. Or otherwise, signal them to retreat and call for backup to clear the area, or retreat to the planet as well, depending on the severity. All remaining local ships and anti-Scout wings should've been at full readiness on the ground. Mere eleven ships in total, dammit. At least the escorts survived and they were going to add up to this number...
We had to make it really quick. And, also, I was concerned about the ground forces. An engineer approached me, telling me that remaining turrets were put into the automatic mode, it was better than nothing, but, being in auto, they couldn't prioritise the targets properly, follow commands, concentrate the fire where it's needed and other tactical things skilled gunners can do. And the troops were stationed around the landing area, in order to board the ships too, so we'll be on our own during the last few minutes, in case of attack.
And I was damn sure that a large group of human ships appearing in the system will pique the interest of our green bastards.
I decided not to waste our time and ammo on clearing the beacon area. The beacon itself was destroyed a long time ago, and those Thargoids we saw on our sensors there weren't a threat at all. They may be stupid in general, but they won't attack being badly outnumbered, and, being attacked, they tend to send alerts to their friends within the system, and we didn't want that to happen. We met the ships, exchanged our coordinates, they sent us their approach vectors and that's all. Damn mercenaries though, two of them left after what they saw during the first wave, they grabbed the half of the payment and went to... I didn't care. Of course it's easier to whack stray Cyclopes close to more populated areas than to be here, with a handful of ships to help you and an endless wave of Thargoids to get you killed.
Thankfully, the run itself was safe, though... Yeah, I did grip the sticks a bit more strongly than usual, and kept my eyes on the sensors even if we had those Eagles on the orbit, dispatched especially to scan the whole system and watch the movements. So... We had a chance to land, top up our fuel tanks and leave our ships for a moment, watching thousands of people boarding the transports.
Then... Shit. I knew it was going to happen. A message on my suit comms, from the recon group.
"Commander, we have a large group incoming, ETA fifteen to seventeen minutes."
"Scan the group, I need to know their numbers and composition. Scan and be ready to run, they've seen you already no doubt."
I've gathered the pilots around me and pulled my datapad out of its pocket to see the live feed from the Eagles. And, shit... It did look unsettling, for sure. A couple of Medusas, about ten Basilisks and none less than twenty Cyclopes. And the signals all over the system were moving in a kind of... Was it a pattern? The rest of them weren't closing in, though there was something... Eerily disturbing about all that, they moved... In an order that I couldn't figure out, instead of their usual chaotic dashes or them being attracted to something in particular.
Damn... I couldn't figure out a damn thing. I'm, kind of, okay with wing tactics, actual battles and piloting, but a war strategy and managing several wings? We've had officers in the HQ to do the analysis, but they were evacuating at the moment, we've had Matthew to command the whole bulk of ships and plan flights, but... Yeah. I was on his place. The plan I've made for the first wave worked... Maybe not in the best way possible, nonetheless it worked. However, at that day, during the first wave, they weren't acting oddly like that... I've had an idea about the reason, though just in a few minutes it turned out to be right even if I didn't voice it out.
"More of them emerging from hyperspace on the orbit, right above you, the group is dense, we can't scan the... Shit! The comp shows highest threat level!"
Damn Hydra. Something was telling me it was the same blasted Hydra that killed Matthew and several more pilots. And it wasn't alone.
"Get your heatsinks ready, drop closer and send me a visual. Then run the heck out of there, maintain a safe distance and wait for the others, evac with the rest of the ships."
We still had good solid chances to slip away even with that horde pursuing us. Yeah, the transports still had their scars from the first wave, though all ships of the second group were patched up so that they could reach and maintain their top speeds before the jump. However, with that Thargoid mass being coordinated by a Hydra and reinforced by more higher-class Thargoids... We didn't stand a chance in a big open fight. Thankfully, even with their hyperspace tech, they weren't able to gather so many ships in one point in an instant, and throwing them one by one at us was pointless.
All that meant... I had to split our forces and hit the Hydra's group separately, before they get a chance to meet up and go at us en masse. To make the Hydra concerned more about its own survival rather than the strategies. And, well. I had to lead that group. And attack the Hydra personally. What else could I do? How else should that be done? With pilots still standing around me, I made an announcement.
Honestly, I wasn't very optimistic about our personal chances. The group itself should be fine, though we were certainly going into the very heat. We had to hold them off until the last ship jumps, sending us a confirmation message right before doing so, and then disengage and make our way to safety on our own. Nevertheless, it could take more than, to say, ten minutes, and... We actually had to engage, to fight them, not simply run circles around evading their fire, they should be kept on their edge, constantly trying to do something with us, with all their green gooey brainpower utilised in a fight. On the tactics, not on the strategy. So that the group that will attack the transports would be left without any guidance.
So, the announcement. I needed volunteers. No more than a half of our forces. Except anti-Scouts, we had to be fast. Except AXDF escorts, I needed them escorting the transports. And except Mion, I needed her to lead the evacuation and to command all planetary defence ships after the evac. And... I needed her alive. When she heard that I didn't include her, she opened her eyes wide in surprise. Though... What else could've been done? I guess the common practice of not having any personal attachments to your subordinates is a right thing. And at that moment we weren't casually blasting some idiots out of the sky or walking around the town, and I was her superior officer, even if by... Well, I wanted to say 'by accident', but those accidents seemed to be damn quite common in what we were doing.
My pilots, David and Peter, joined me. Also, Matthew's pilots, Hans and Pamela. One mercenary guy, the only one left, and that surprised me a little, I thought that maybe I should invite him to join AXDF after that. And three planetary defence pilots. Remaining forces, led by Mion, had to stick close to the transports and cover them. I split my group into two 'wings', with four ships with me and three with David. Yeah, he's young, but he wasn't that David from the training programme anymore, he had dozens of kills scored, he saw what I've been doing as a wing leader, and... I knew him. So... I couldn't help but make a short speech, addressing to all pilots around me. Hoping that maybe a little spark will appear in their weary eyes.
"People. Pilots. Friends. I can't say, and I can't know what might be happening far away now and why we ended up in this situation. However, in this system, in this fight, we're the best humanity has to offer. This place is home to many of you. And we're going to show them that, if they want to make us leave our homes, if they want to threaten us, they will have to pay the price. If they want to attack us, they will have to pay the price. Their own lives. Show them how high this price can possibly be. Make them know that we will return in force one day, and when we return, there will be more of us. Us, valiant, fierce, relentless. And, when we return, we will return to win."
I saw many eyes looking at me. I can't read people's minds, but I hope these were the words they wanted to hear. Needed to hear. Before leaving with my group, I asked Mion to come closer, to have some words in private, a few metres away from the pilots.
"Sorry, Mion. I had no other choice, you saw the data. I know that these people, both military and civilian, are important for you. And, what you might not know completely, but I believe in it, you are important for them. You mean a lot to them. They need someone to protect them, to lead the forces. Someone who deserve that position. And that someone should be one of them. They need you."
She nodded slowly and stood silent for a second, staring vacantly, before taking both my hands and looking into my eyes.
"Thank you. No matter what odds we're going to face today, I will do my best. I see no reason in doing anything other than my best. And, also. I might mean a lot to them, but... You mean a lot to me, remember it."
Feeling that... it was unnecessary to conceal what was between us anymore, we wrapped our arms around each other and kissed.
I received the visuals from our Eagles when we were on our way to the ships already. It was exactly that Hydra. Its limbs were... Regenerated, or repaired, I don't know, but a half of them seemed to be greener and a little less ragged. Although, the most disturbing sight was... Six Medusas around it. Getting into the cockpit and starting the engines, I opened the comm channel of my group, transmitted the picture and added:
"Let's go, people. Show them no fear. Show them no pain."