Stars in the Storm, 2: The Mist
24 Dec 2023Meowers
A moment of vacant staring as Mion tapped my shoulder. Looking at a coffee cup through the sleepy haze. Mion, getting into her armour suit. Then my turn. Hurrying together to the hangars. The cockpit. The takeoff, initial instructions and route plotting. Like bright flashes in my memory. I woke up completely three jumps away from the camp already. Takeoff and initial formation were honed to being almost automatic. System after system, star after star, we traced our path to the rally point. Koleti system, rescue ship Cavell. Aegis transports should've been preparing already and any volunteers were on their way. Traversing the space, in silence, watching the stars slowly swimming through the void as we proceeded, system after system, jump after jump, tunnel after tunnel. It was almost... Mesmerising. If, for a moment, you would forget about what waited for us at the end of that route.
I took my two strongest wings. First, with which I fly my own shifts, and second. Seven Alliance Challengers, heavy beasts that can wreak havoc on the Thargoids, in the hands of my best pilots. Mion took two strongest resistance forces wings. Four Kraits, two Challengers, two Chieftains, including hers, with every pilot being as skilled as our AXDF pilots.
Silently. Star after star, system after system. Breathing in, breathing out.
Last jump and we arrived. Other ships were on the standby with their engines warmed up, ground service teams rushed to our sixteen as soon as we descended to the inner decks. Refuelling, rearming, an hour of rest for our pilots. Without leaving the cockpits, listening to my first orders and assignments. I knew that AXDF and militia forces would follow them perfectly, they've been flying under my command for half a year already, they knew what to expect and what to do. Aegis pilots were skilled, they could evade and outrun Thargoids even on their transport ships. But I knew nothing about the volunteers. Except for the fact that most of them weren't from any active anti-xeno groups. Effectively, civilians, almost. Volunteering combatants of various proficiency levels. And I wanted to keep them safe... Relatively, at least. They responded to the call, good, I couldn't have asked for more, but they shouldn't be in the thick of it. If that's even applicable to our operation.
I ran through the list of ships and their specs... Aegis gave us ten specialised rescue vessels with identical loadouts, that's really good. Ten combat ships from the group of volunteers... Good. Three wings, one full, two triples. Five transports... Four, dammit.
"Ben, on a Python... Is your name Ben? Do you copy? Ina Muir speaking, head of the operation. Sorry, I can't take you with us... Why? We have a lowest speed requirement of 400 for transports and 420 for combat ships, in boost. Yours can barely reach 340... I know. I know you're a good pilot, but... Yes. Listen to me. Your ship will be full of people. You can't keep up the speed, you're going to lag behind. Some combat ships would have to leave the main formation to cover you, weakening it. You'd be swarmed in minutes. Or we all end up doing more fight than we have to. I'm not taking any chances here."
Stubborn guy. Kept telling me how good he is at defending his cargo from the bugs. But it won't be a lifeless cargo today. Hopefully. Have to give him credit for his eagerness... However, how did his ship pass Aegis checks anyway? Pfff. And, those Pythons... Honestly, a good example of 'do-it-all' while being average, even mediocre in every aspect. And utterly boring. A ship for those without a single idea what to do. Ah, nevermind, one of the volunteer fighters took him onboard as a co-pilot, radio and systems operator. So, the fighters... No formed wings, no order, just a random bunch... Only names with photos. Okay. I'll just assign them numbers and sort into more or less even wings, nothing new in it for me. One, Marcus, two, Caitlyn, three, Hans, four, Jana... Wait a minute. This face... Is this the same Jana? Ah, okay, I'll send her a private message after that.
Yup. She replied, it's her. Can't see her ship from here, but my records tell me she's in a Krait, mark-two. With an adequate loadout. Nothing over the top, but good. Uhhh... That's going to be a long day. And this hour, it feels... At one moment, if I think of the operation, it feels like eternity. Then, while I'm actually doing something... It just evaporates. Pre-flight checks, refuelling, rearming to those clown guns, installing all sorts of fancy new tech, those scanners, caustic sinks, pulse neutralisers, assigning them to controls... Dammit. Leaves little room for heatsinks. Will have to improvise... At least those pew pew sticks don't generate so much heat.
The last ground team signalled. We are ready. A quick smoke'n'coffee blast and off we go. Forty ships. Can't remember the last time when I led such a force at once. Started the jumping sequence, AXDF ships first, then transports, militia and volunteers covering our backs. Seven jumps to go. Some people say that's a lucky number.
System after system, star after star, jump after jump. In silence. Breathing in, breathing out.
"Here we are. HIP 30377, go for B8. If interdicted, all jump in and nail the bastard ASAP. Stick close to each other, the less dots they see the better. Let's move."
39 thousand... 35... 30... Lone Glaive grabbed one of the volunteers and lasted for less than a minute, eviscerated by twenty ships at once. It's fast, but not bullet fast. Hope it didn't raise any alerts. For them, we're just a bunch of human ships flying... Shit, another one. Enjoyed the same fate, ripped to shreds, spilled its insides all over the place. 25... 15... And a third one, deleted immediately. Poor idiot should've been quite surprised, twenty six combat ships around one transport in a blink of an eye. 10... 5... Yeah, they weren't that angry. Maybe because the transports are still empty... Closing in. Damn this thing is huge and looks like a giant blob of Thargoid goop, which it actually is. But, the brown goop, not the green one. Disgusting nonetheless. Dropped from the cruise, continuing our approach.
Got the first electronics interference, about one hundred kilometres, maybe a little more. Annoying. Told to double our comm chatter for clarity and keep closer to each other, visibility is getting a bit shitty. Shouted at one of the volunteer pilots, if he wants to gasp in awe, he should use his personal recorder. Still, this area is relatively safe. Annoying, unnerving, telling you shouldn't be here, but safe. Not more dangerous than the rest of this system. I've told the pilots about it before the takeoff, kind of, 'be prepared, this shit is big and nasty'... But, seeing it with your very eyes is a completely different story, not to mention flying straight into it, I have to admit. Takes some nerve.
It didn't stay relatively safe for long.
"Entering the caustic area, watch your sinks, all combat ships move forward, form a cone after me and blast those mines out of the way. Keep your eyes open for patrols."
Damn these guns are shit. And the visibility is shit. And the sensors are going mad. And that brown mist is disgusting. We're literally covered in that belch. I swear looking left and right I see my pilots gripping the sticks as strong as they can. Threading forty ships through that vomit... Isn't something you'd like to do daily. Or at all. And that caustic goop is getting thicker and thicker, like it's not space anymore but some kind of jelly... Or a godsdamned snot. Shit, that's so foul. I swear I'm going to hit the shower... Feels like that stench is even getting inside, creeping through the space between the atoms, pouring out of air vents, sticking onto my cockpit glass, like I can even get the smell and it's unbearable. Why do the Thargoids have to be so obnoxious... Shit, a Cyclops. Two o-clock lower.
Doomed little bastard lived a short life but scratched us a bit. It seemed like it was shocked and didn't know where to aim, phah. Stupidly sprayed his rounds left and right and then popped like a balloon. Thankfully the transports are sticking behind. Glad to see folks deleting the prick as confidently as they did the same in the clear space, more than a hundred of these autocannons is certainly better than four. Looks like a crazy firework. Last time I saw so many tracers converging in one spot... Well, we were on the receiving end of it.
"Clearing the caustic zone, ready your neutralisers, all power to systems, group around me, activate on my mark. Wait... Wait... Here it goes. Three... Two... One... Go!"
Thing looked like a cyanish wave, like your usual Thargoid energy blast, but... Damn size of an asteroid and flying straight into your face. And your electronic stuff is going totally mad, screens flashing and buzzers screaming, your entire ship shaking, temps soaring and all that hideous screeching and whirring... Ugh. A few volunteers and one Mion's ship couldn't get through the repulsion field and were thrown back... Quite badly far away. Can't blame them.
"Power to the drives, boost hard, don't let the second wave appear! Reach thirty kilometres, halt, form a defensive perimeter and get those repair limpets rolling! Silver 1-1, take the lead, I'll bring those folks back!"
Yeah, those operation callsigns... With Gold being AXDF ships, Silver for Mion's, Bronze for volunteer fighters and Platinum for transports. Sometimes my imagination doesn't work as sharp as I want it to, phah.
Like, that inner zone, after the repulsor, is more or less safe, none of your dirty big bug tricks like heatseeker mines or everything around being caustic as heck. Except patrols from time to time. But yeah, precautions... At least those separated pilots were close to each other. Told them to follow and look at my guns, charging the neutralisers as soon as I fire a burst as a signal. Interference is damn horrible, I set my stuff to double my commands but it doesn't work with time-critical. Gun show went well though. Those ancient techniques... Never hurts to know them. Hells, they're lucky ones, I don't want to end up stranded in that barf and I guess that idea was close to their hearts as well. The rest of the group have been waiting already... Next to a steaming pile of what was recently a Cyclops, but now it looked more like a sieve smashed with a sledgehammer.
"Phah. You didn't waste any time. Same formation, fighters in cone after me, clear the way. Transports behind us. Keep your eyes open. We're nearly there."
Damn that thing is huge...