RESCUE PILOTS! Unsung Heroes of the War-Part 2 of 5 "A Family Affair" by Derek Radar
02 Feb 2024Jack Remiet
PART 2: A Family AffairOver the next six years, I’d come to know CMDR Jack Remiet a little bit. Anytime I’m covering a station or settlement under attack, chances are better than average that the Unrest will show up to help pull people to safety. We’ve caught up at the rescue ships’ bars a dozen times now, at least, often with his crew in tow. The Unrest is a family affair, led by CMDR Jack, who looks younger than his 58 years; daughter Bug, 28–ship’s engineer; and son Orion, 25–weapons and scans officer.
The crew has been rounded out by a rotating cast of comms officers over the years for which the family hires out. When I meet them today, the comms officer is an older man called Ham who’s served with them before. He’s the first to greet me upon my arrival at Federal Haven and escorts me to Unrest’s hangar. He asks how long it’s been since I’ve seen the ship. I surprise myself by recalling that I only ever saw it the one time. “Not for six years,” I say, “not since Titan's Daughter.”
Ham doesn’t say anything, but his smile tells me–you’re in a for a treat.
Today I am joining the Unrest bridge crew as we travel to the Vistnero system. 520ls from the main star lies Laval Terminal, currently under intermittent attack by Thargoid forces. Unrest’s mission is to fight its way to Laval Terminal and safely deliver as many civilians as possible to the Rescue Ship a few jumps away. Ever since that first experience on Titan’s Daughter, I’ve been fascinated with rescue pilots and what they’ve been doing for us in this war. Today, I get to see the danger first-hand.
Ham’s knowing smile wasn’t without merit. I arrive at the hangar and can scarcely believe my eyes. “This? This is Unrest?” I exclaim as Jack comes over to greet me. The vessel is painted midnight black, exterior reinforcements jut elegantly from its spaceframe. I see the Anti-Xeno scanning equipment. I count three AX Multicannons. Jack catches me staring.
“Those are the pre-engineered MCs. And the big ones,” he laughs.
“Guardian Gauss cannons?” I hazard at the other two exposed hardpoints.
Again Jack smiles. “The big ones.”
Inside the ship is even more different than I remembered it. Jack explains the extra hull reinforcements, the module reinforcements enhanced with Guardian technology to best counter the Thargoid “lightning” attack. “The hull and every reinforcement is deep-plated,” he explains. “Our power distributor is fully charge-enhanced, and Bug’s been all over that. You have to fight your way in nowadays. With the glaives being able to do what they do, we’ve found we’re better off just killing them and killing them fast rather than high-waking out.”
We arrive at the cockpit. Orion is already in his seat in front; Jack takes the seat to his left. Ham gestures me to a seat behind his comms station. “You have your helmet handy?” he asks. I do. I gesture to my pack. “Stow it there,” he says, indicating. My vantage point is excellent. I can see out the front canopy clearly, and every member of the cockpit crew.
Jack turns to me. Though we’d talked about it already, he goes back through the protocol–helmet on before we jump to the invasion system; my microphone will be muted once we jump in; follow all his instructions and do not move unless told to move. “We’re launching in twenty. It’s nine jumps. You ready?”
“I’m ready.” What else could I say?
Coming Soon…PART 3: Bug Hell