Duamta
10 Dec 2024Claude Lecardunoie
... Continued from Last flight out of Sol
My evacuation flight out of Sol turned into a disaster, as my ship got destroyed by a human pirate a few hundred light sec out of the Cornwallis Rescue Ship.
My escape pod had been picked up by Rescue Rangers and dropped in Tanner City.
I woke up in the station medical center 24 hours after.
I had the news from the medical team: Sol has fallen, victims by billions...
- "The evacuation operations are mostly over. Thanks for trying anyway", said one of the nurse, "Sadly, on top of that, piracy is quite frequent around the Cornwallis and your refugee ship is not the first one to be destroyed by these terrorists".
- "Where are the fights now?", I asked
- "Well, Sol is invaded by a Maelstrom, Alpha Centauri, Barnard's Star and Wolf 359 are lost, but Procyon is fighting back and they're calling for reinforcements in Duamta", explained the nurse, "If I were a pilot with a good AX ship, I would go to Luyten's Star. It's the AX defense HQ for this part of the front".
I did have a decent AX ship, the H.G. Wells, an Alliance Chieftain, partially engineered, armed with pre-engineered Azimuth Enhanced AX multi-cannons. I never used it, but it was time to have it transfered here and fly to Luyten's Star.
There, I reported to the Earth Defense Fleet strategic group in Ashby City. After I registered the H.G. Wells among the combat ships ready for service, I was shown into a conference room for a briefing. Here, I seated next to pilots from local squadrons such as Earth Defense Fleet, Sirius Free, Duamta Gold Creative Corp. but also many independants, like myself. The main objectives were to clear Thargoid main formations heading toward Polyakov Station and the Orunmilla, an Aegis Core megaship.
After the briefing, we all walked through the station corridors to reach the docks. You could recognize seasoned pilots from many AX combats, chatting and joking with each other; from the rookies, walking in silence. For the first ones, they had been there before and made it back. For the other ones, like myself, it was a jump in the unknown.
- "First timer, he!", said someone next to me, obviously a veteran fighter, "Ok, don't do anything stupid there, allright? Avoid main combat zones for now, we still need people to deal with smaller Thargoids skirmish groups here and there. Focus on these. Stay clear of the interceptors and try to get rid off the scouts. And above all, remain cool, both you and your ship. And well, if you feel that the engagement goes south, break combat and retreat: you'll have other chances at this only if you stay alive, ok? Good luck to you, Commander. Remember stay cool!"
First raid to Duamta. Unfortunately, I got hyperdicted on the way there. Caught off guard, I started to panic. My ship was taking too much damage, I decided to retreat.
On the second run there, my sensors detected an emergency beacon. I arrived too late, but around the ship wreck and in the mist of a caustic cloud, I picked up 5 escape pods. I was going for a sixth one when I heard the caracteristic sound of 'Goid vessels approaching. Again, I was not in a very good position to engage them, and again I retreated. "Stay cool!". This time, I activated a heat sink, ran in silent mode and turned my flight assist mode off. As a result, no damage taken while fleeing. Well, lesson learnt! And I also saved AX fighters lives who would be ready to get into the battle again.
On my third mission in Duamta, I finally spotted a small Thargoid squadron. And I would be engaging them in a more favorable position, if such thing exists against Xenos. I quickly targeted the first one. Again, I switched in silent run mode and fired my Azimuth AX multi-cannons. "Woow, they're efficient", as I was watching my ennemy hull taking hit after hit on my sensors screen. "Warning! temperature critical", a look on my thermic gauge: my weapons were generating too much heat while I was in furtive mode. "Remain cool!". "Ok, next time, activate a heat sink earlier", I thought. The ship cooled down, I carried on firing my opponent, which finally exploded. My first scout kill! As for my own ship, it was still ok damage wise. So, I locked on my second target, and down it went. I even received help from local a AX defense vessel, but sadly interceptors showed up too. "Stay clear of them!". I prefered to fly back in safety to Ashby City : "you'll have other chances at this only if you stay alive".
In Ashby City, after Sol collapse and days of terror and detruction, the optimism was finally back: Thargoids were loosing ground in Duamta. I did some other raids that day, some failed, but I had some more scouts down and rescued some other pilots. When I woke up in Ashby City, after a short rest, I consulted the newsfeed and checked the strategic reports : Duamta under control. Mankind will prevail!
It was the 7th of december 3310. I had my first Thargoid kills. But I had to fly to Algorab. The Ringed Quest of the Legend expedition was to leave the day after. With so many systems destroyed and no longer habitable in the Bubble and so many refugees packed in Rescue Ships and temporary planetary installations, may be it was time to seek for new systems, hoping of course, not to fall into and wake up a new Thargoid nest.
- I close here these logs about the war around Sol and wish, all brave AX fighters out there, a good Thargoid hunt -
To be continued in Ringed Quest of the Legend, part 4 - The logistic