The Last Wink of the Cat
18 Aug 2023Naomii
3308With the arrival of the Titans following Salvations attempted genocide of the Thargoids, seeing the devastation that was unleashed on the Bubble. Naomi brought the Heart of Gold to Shinrarta Dezhra for a complete refit. Now a rescue vessel, She set to work evacuating civilians and injured from invaded systems. Her ship was unarmed. She didn't want to contribute to a war that she felt humanity was at fault for, but it was her duty to save as many lives as she could.
"FRAMESHIFT DRIVE CHARGING"
She'd done it dozens of times already. Her crew now ran the rescue ops with clockwork precision. But she still felt the tension, the fear, each time she initiated a jump into the front line systems. An alarm began to beep on her instrument panel. Align with target destination. She was an Elite Pilot. A Commander. But even Commanders still sometimes missed little details. Big ones too. She'd been saved by the Rescue Rangers and Fuel Rats more times than she'd like to admit.
"FOUR. THREE. TWO. ONE."
No turning back now. The Heart of Gold was committed. Either they would return as saviors, or not at all.
"WARNING! HYPERSPACE CONDUIT UNSTABLE!"
A moment of panic quickly repressed by veteran instincts. Green Alert! Damage control teams on standby.
The 200 meter long ship careened out of hyperspace like a sky scraper that was being used as a bowling pin by the gods. Haunting roars echoed throughout the ship, generated by the Thargoid interceptor that had pulled them out. This one was glowing red and angry. No more friendly scanning. If the Heart of Gold was not able to outrun it, they would be toast.
"Full power to engines! Number One, engage Silent Running protocols!"
Her executive officer flipped a few switches on his console. There was a brief blue flash as the shields dropped. Then they all were thrown back into their seats as the ship boosted forward. Without the protective cushion of the acceleration gel, their bodies would have been crushed by the incredible g-forces that it took to accelerate a multi kilo-ton starship.
Why does she insist on calling me that nickname from a 1000 year old 2d entertainment program???
They had reacted quickly enough to escape the Interceptor's sensor range before it could react. Thargoid ships had trouble detecting vessels that were not emitting a heat signature, but it was a careful tradeoff between evading the Interceptor and damaging one's own ship from the heat buildup.
"WARNING! TEMPERATURE CRITICAL!"
The COVASS almost sounded indignant as it reminded the crew of the dangerous circumstance that was occurring while the drive charged. It was over in a few seconds. The ship was back in hyperspace. Safe for another 30 seconds.
The impressive orange glow of the K class star filled up most of the Beluga's remarkably large forward viewport. The pilot quickly turned the ship and set the course for Wakata Station. Full Throttle, using supercruise assist left too much time for them to be interdicted by Thargoid Scouts. They were fortunate this time. Able to reach the station without further trouble.
Dropping out of supercruise at Starport was always a shock. The Coriolis station was truly the pinnacle of human engineering. The massive, kilometers-wide bulk, was capable of housing millions in its simulated gravity environment. It made the Beluga liner look more like an anchovy.
Dropping onto a Coriolis Starport embroiled in a battle was truly a sight to behold. The firepower it can bring to bear on a target is truly terrifying.
Considering this, the fact that the station was on fire and displaying severe damage should be, at least, mildly concerning.
Number One's voice snapped everyone back into action. "Signal Wakata ATC. Request priority landing for civilian evac."
The reply from the station sounded both exhausted and fueled by adrenaline.
"Saud-Kruger November Alpha Oscar. You are cleared for emergency evacuation priority landing. Proceed to landing pad four zero."
The Heart of Gold's engines reverberated loudly throughout the docking chamber as the far end of the ship crossed the inner threshold of the mail slot. Amidst the fog from venting cooling systems and the many spinning alert lights, Naomi spotted several damaged combat ships on the pads, maintenance crews scurrying about triaging damaged systems. An extra minute of turnaround time for repairs could be the difference between victory and defeat. They were mostly Lakon military models. Designed for the Alliance Defense force, but sold with an open license to anyone with the credits to pay. Though she did spy the occasional Krait, and one Anaconda that looked like it had almost melted as if it had been heated to an inferno temperature from the inside. Odd. What could have done that?
The Beluga came to a halt with an audible Ka-chunk that propagated through the ships superstructure as the docking clamps secured the ship. She heard the acceleration gel in her seat make a subtle squelching sound as the feeling of weight took over her body from the centripetal acceleration of the station. She felt a sudden drop in her stomach as the landing pad started to descend into the berth below deck. Then a series of lurches. One to the side, then forwards, then backwards as the pad rotated and then reversed into it's final resting place.
Number One's voice again. This time on the ship's intercom. "DING. Ok everyone! You know what to do! Triple R, load up the passengers. The less time we spend in this deathtrap the more lives we can save."
As soon as the barricade lowered, the crowd surged forward. Naomi activated her com-link. "Attention citizens of Wakata Station. We are here to save as many of you as we can, but you gotta let us lower the fucking ramp! You see that laser outline? Everyone back up at least 3 meters!"
The Belugas main passenger gantry-way slowly lowered with the hiss of decompressing hydraulics, coming to a perfectly level stop just inside the bright red laser perimeter that was being projected from just above the door frame, which then changed color to green. The airlock doors slid open and two crew members emerged to begin directing the boarding process.
Things proceeded smoothly for a few minutes. Naomi's manifest panel displaying the passenger cabins slowly filling up. Just as the last group was about to board the comms crackled, "Commander, We have a bit of a-- What the?" The sound of a weapon discharge cut off her crew member. She sprung out of her seat and ran to the elevator. Drew her sidearm just as the doors opened out onto the embarkation deck. She proceeded cautiously towards the gantry.
A man's voice rose above the screams and whimpering of the rest of the crowd.
"I don't care who you have to leave behind! Just get me on that ship or it's your life you forfeit!"
She rounded the final corner, now able to assess the situation. One crew member was on the ground, clutching a wound in his thigh, the floor around him slick with blood. The other crew member had his back against a cargo container, his hands raised above his head. The civilians were all cowering on the floor, save one, a man dressed in what Naomi could identify as some of the most luxurious vestments available to persons of import in the Empire. He was brandishing a blue and white Takada Zenith. He turned his weapon on her as she stepped closer.
"Do not move one step closer or I will shoot!" She could see his hand shaking slightly as he gripped the pistol. His knuckles white from the pressure he was applying. Time seemed to slow down. Everything standing still save for the glint of the amber alarm lights reflecting off of the obsidian surface of her Manticore Tormentor.
An automated announcement broke the silence, “THIS IS A STATION WIDE ALERT. DO NOT BE ALARMED. LEAVE ALL PERSONAL POSSESSIONS BEHIND AND PROCEED TO YOUR NEAREST EMERGENCY MUSTER POINT. STATION PERSONNEL WILL BE ON HAND TO SEE YOU TO YOUR EVACUATION VESSEL.”
"I don't want to hurt you," Naomi spoke calmly, "but I will if you don't put that down."
"Do you have any idea who I am?! I am Baron Otto Claudius Raphael! I order you to--" Naomi interrupted him, "I don't give a fuck if you are the Emperor herself, jackass! You aren’t more important than the rest of the people here. Children and injured first. Wait your fucking turn!"
“How dare you talk to me like that! I order you to let me on your ship!” He was essentially snarling now. Whelp no reasoning with this guy. If I activate my personal shields I should be able to tank a couple laser hits. One plasma round to the head is all this should take.
At that moment the roar of a Type-10 Defender coming through the mail slot filled the room. Even though they were on the level below, the sound was still deafening. The Baron looked up and Naomi took her shot. The purple bolt from the plasma pistol left a smoldering hole where his face used to be.
“Alright. Let’s load up the last passengers.” She activated her comlink. “Bridge this is Heart of Gold Actual. Send a med team to the embarkation deck. We have an injured crew member.”
Naomi slammed the button to retract the gantry as soon as the last evacuee was aboard then made her way back to the bridge.
The Heart of Gold shot out of the mail slot at a velocity that would have normally earned Commander Naomi a hefty fine. “Maximum thrust! Silent running. Let’s get the fuck out of here!”
It was strangely calm outside of the station. A lull in the battle. Naomi activated the external camera drone and looked back at the station. It always gave her an odd feeling, seeing a burning station full of pain and fear but with no accompanying sound.
A verbal notification from the ship's COVAS, “FRAME SHIFT ANOMALY DETECTED.”
A message came in over the comms, “It’s a Hydra! Hit it with everything you’ve got!”
Naomi’s attention snapped back. “Evasive maneuvers! Full power to auxiliary systems! Spool up SF countermeasures!”
“ENERGY SURGE DETECTED!"
The Ops officer activated the shutdown field neutralizer just in time. The green wave washed over the ship harmlessly. Naomi breathed a sigh of relief. Just a few more seconds and they would clear the mass lock from the station that was preventing them from jumping.
“Merde! Now there are two of them!” The tactical officer shouted just before a second surge hit the ship. The instrument panels and holographic HUD flickered briefly before the whole ship went dark. “Putain!”
The emergency lighting was blue this time, but the fear was the same. Outside the canopy, Naomi could see the Hydra bearing down on them, pulsing with light and shrieking. She felt the ship quake as it opened fire. No alarms. Only the swearing of her panicked crew.
Now both Hydras were firing on them. Naomi unbuckled her harness.
“We need to get the passengers to the escape pods! With the computer down the auto-launch wont work. Someone has to do it manually.”
The bridge lit up a bright red and shook violently, sending Naomi bouncing off the ceiling. She had a split second to register the sound of cracks propagating across the canopy before explosive decompression sucked her out of the ship. She instinctively took a deep breath, even though her Remlock suit would provide life support for several minutes.
She managed to rotate back in the direction of the ship. The blast had ejected her at considerable velocity. She was already several hundred meters away. Even at this distance, The sheer size of the Beluga liner was a reminder of how insignificant a single human could ever be. The two Hydras flanking it were even more impressive. They had to be at least 150 meters in diameter. Both of them unleashing hellfire upon the helpless rescue vessel.
Naomi gasped as its transparent dorsal canopy shattered, decorating the space around the ship with a million glittering shards. Her stomach dropped as she spotted the bodies of her crew and passengers flying out of the now exposed observation deck. A blinding flash of light. The reactor had breached. The Heart of Gold was no more.
A piece of bulkhead from the explosion was rapidly growing in her vision.
Then everything went black.
The high pitched beeping of the hospital vitals monitors woke her up. Everything felt dull. They must have pumped her full of painkillers. She could feel her weight pressing against the bed. Definitely not a full g. But more than you would expect on a Federation or Independent megaship. Capitol had considerably higher gravity than Earth, Mars, or Alioth. As such, Imperial capital ships typically spun at a higher simulated gravity than their counterparts. She opened her eyes. The ornate decor of the infirmary confirmed that she was aboard an Imperial Interdictor.
She fumbled for the nurse call button. She heard muffled voices in the adjacent room. A few minutes later the doors swooshed open and a man wearing a smartly pressed Imperial Navy uniform walked through. The ornamentation on his shoulders and sleeves indicated that he was the commander of this vessel. The number of medals on his chest suggested that he had seen quite a bit of combat. He was followed into the room by a pair of aides.
“My lady. It is my esteemed honor to welcome you aboard the Imperial Interdictor, Sapphire Sphinx. I am commodore Alexander Solomon Burke, the 3rd, at your service.”
Naomi let out a pained sigh, “Whappen??” The Commodore faces briefly flashed with a hint of surprise at her hybrid accent.
“One of our ships had been sent to Wakata to retrieve the Baron Raphael, who had been stranded there. The Baron unfortunately met his demise in a scuffle over a spot on another rescue ship. It’s a shame that those independents don’t seem to be able to maintain security during what should have been an orderly evacuation. While our primary mission was not a success, we were quite fortunate that our ship was there the moment your vessel was destroyed. Our scanners flagged your ID chip as a Lady of the Empire. Not a moment too soon. Your helmet was cracked and you were almost out of oxygen.
If it is not out of place, my lady, I am quite curious to know, what was a lady of your stature doing in a war zone?”
Naomi knew that she was well within her rights as a member of the nobility to lecture the commodore on his nosiness, but she thought better of it. She had no great love for the Empire, but she was grateful to be alive. That was not her most pressing concern though.
“Commodore, the gallantry displayed by your men brings honor to your command. Thank you. Tell me, what of my crew and passengers?”
A frown crossed the Commodore’s face. “I’m so sorry my lady. The reactor breach that destroyed your ship left no other survivors. You were only spared because you had been thrown clear of the incineration radius well before the detonation.”
Naomi felt her throat tighten as she stifled a cry. “Did your men scan for animal lifesigns?”
“I’m afraid there were no lifesigns of any sort, my lady. No one aboard could have survived the blast.”
Any semblance of composure she was able to maintain evaporated. “BLUEBERRY NOOOO!!”
The officers left the infirmary, uncomfortable expressions on their faces while Naomi sobbed uncontrollably.
She had grown up feeling alienated from her family and her mother’s society. Her fathers people hadn’t been much better. Yes, she’d had a handful of boyfriends, girlfriends, and NB companions over the years, but it never got too serious. Blueberry the Cat had been her oldest friend. They’d been a family since she had adopted her as a kitten at age 8. That sassy Tianvian Short-Hair was the only being in this universe who she had ever felt sure that she loved, and now she was gone. Murdered by creatures that considered no difference between military and civilian targets. The Thargoids had killed and displaced millions of innocent people. Millions of those other people loved. People who had nothing to do with Salvation or his Proteus Wave. But now she understood why he did it. The aliens were a threat to all of us. They needed to pay.