Returning to Svarogich
04 Feb 2022Rixses
I left early the next morning in Splice before The Bar got busy again. Not sure when (or if) I'd be back, I didn't want any goodbyes. I knew that I'd be radio silent once we left Houser's until after we were done in Svarogich. Now that I know what we did, and that I'm carrying a bounty from the last attempt, I now have a sense of dred about that place. Even the name makes my short hairs stand up. But I didn't want anyone to worry about the fact I just up and disappeared again, so I spent most of my morning bouncing messages around with the regulars. I was almost to Houser's when the GalNet post came up. "HELP NEEDED TO CRACK THE NMLA’S NETWORK"
Beebbs... What have you gotten us into... I thought as I approached to dock.
Setting down Splice I told the pad crew to prep it for storage and headed into Inter Astra.
I wanted to make some changes before I headed out on this suicide run. Heh... Guess I don't have much hope in this right now. But I do trust Beebbs, which is the only reason I'm going through with this. I called up my personal ship management and initiated the storage protocol for Splice and recalled She'dre. Then I switched to the outfitting management and put in a store order for my two SRVs and a buy on another two. The handler at the desk gave me such a funny look for that one. But my SRVs are painted and vividly identifiable. I wanted raw stock, non-descript, boring for this run. That'll take them a while to get everything moved and prepped, which gives me some time.
I headed out to the main concourse and went looking for Beebbs. Didn't take a moment to find them over at Pioneer Supplies. I stopped in there for a brief moment and grabbed some ammo. Didn't really need it but I wanted to signal Beebbs that I was around. Then headed to the local bar and cafeteria for a quick meal.
Mmm... Rehydrated synth eggs and processed protein synth bacon... Got to love this cheap station food. I ate it like it was the best breakfast ever. Due to the size of She'dre all I ever keep in there is CMPs (condensed meal paste). Horrible little things. I hate the thought of dying having that been my last meal... But they are efficient and minimize waste production. And there will be two of us in there.
I took a short stroll to stretch my legs after I finished my meal. Walked through some of the station corridors. Stopped in some of the shops and looked around. Then made my way back to the docks. Beebbs was already on the ship by the time I got there. Why I ever gave them my access code is beyond me. But I did.
I setup and request departure. Leaving the station, I signal my all clear and then proceed to shutdown the comms. That will stay off until we're done now.
As soon as the comms drop Beebbs starts reviewing the plan while I navigate to Svarogich. It's pretty simple. Assuming it goes to plan...
The jumps are quick as I have no reason to linger in any system, and the faster I'm out, the less of a chance I'll get scanned.
After entering atmo, I set down 2500 out from the installation. I do not want to be noticed and my ship is not going anywhere near anything with a scanner on it. I shutdown all non-essential systems prior to dropping from glide to ensure nothing was going to see us until I was on top of it. No scans. So far, so good.
We each get out in an SRV and head toward the installation. She'dre gets sent back to auto-orbit. At that low power nothing will see it just floating up there.
The drive is uneventful. Just as planned. Nothing and no one around. A secure installation hidden in a frozen desert. We stop and shutdown the SRVs about 550 out. Just outside the skimmer patrol zone. It's on foot from here.
Avoiding the main installation we head straight to one of the array cluster. Skimmers are about but since no alert has been raised their default protocol is looking for larger heat signatures than a couple of people in low power, shieldless flight suits can produce. Then again... If we trigger and alarm, we're done. There's no way we could make it out of here like this.
Once we hit the array node Beebbs goes to work. I climb up on the relay station to get a better view and watch for any signs of an alert. It's been a while since I had to climb anything manually. Having boosters on all of the suits eliminates that need. But it is nice to do things the old fashioned way once in a while. And since I don't want to be noticed, no boosters. No boosters, no heat.
A quick snap from the visor cam. That's the next node over. These things are massive. I could drive the SRV through the inside of that conduit and have plenty of room to spare. I wish I had anything to mark scale with.
My wristband beeps. Beebbs is done. Still no sign of any activity around.
I climb back down and tap Beebbs on the shoulder. With a nod, we start moving out.
We make it back to the SRVs before anything goes wrong. I guess one of the skimmers caught the startup cycle of the SRVs and made us.
Luckly I'm not on foot anymore. If we had been, we'd be dead in an instant with no shield. I yell at Beebbs over the comm to floor it. Beebbs knows the SecCom procedures better than I. Now that the alert has sounded, we'll need to clear 4km before we have a chance. Beebbs takes off and I have to scuttle about to take out the first three skimmers before I can focus on putting on distance.
DAMN! I've got three more contacts on the radar following. Not good. I'm already at full throttle and not gaining any distance. Beebbs is well in front of me so I signal to be ready. We won't get any new company after 4k but we'll have to deal with the three on us. DAMNIT The contact screen reads a skimmer and two wardens.
As I approach the 4k mark I start to slow. Letting the bogies catch up and get within firing range before returning to full speed to hold distance. They are taking pot shots that I now must avoid but I'm in a better position for what's about to happen.
About 100m after clearing the 4k mark I slam reverse. I can hear the drive train stripping gears and the struts creaking as the supports strain under the extreme stress. All three bogies go zipping past, unable to slow that fast. "NOW!" I scream through the comms as I slam back into full throttle and open fire.
Beebbs had already found a roost ahead and setup in the turret. Everything between us turned into a shooting gallery.
"Beebbs... Let's not do that again anytime soon, okay?"