Wing Commander Welcome
11 Apr 2016TheDarkLord
Leopold Heckmann Ring, Malaikudi. Imperial Courier “TDL ComebackKid”.February 3302.
Our Wing Commander Nathan de Verne was on his way back from the neutron fields some 20-ish thousand light years away, and one of our Operations Officers had suggested forming an Imperial Ship welcoming party for him. But unlike most welcoming parties in this universe, a key aim would be that the recipient survived…
I was 55 light years away, in the Fer-de-Lance TDL PhotonFlinger, running in the rings of Kokobii hoovering up bounty cheques on the day before CMDR de Verne's arrival. I cashed in my bounty cheques and headed back to Malaikudi before getting some rest.
The next day, I was ready for flight and checked the Galaxy Map. As the only Imperial ship in my fleet, TDL ComebackKid had been returned from storage and awakened. CMDR de Verne was still some 3,700Ly away, which would give me time to complete a mission or two in direct service of the local agents of The 9th Legion.
An activist called Jeremy Springfield had gone rogue. Enjoying the celebrity lifestyle, and drinking too much of his own Kool-Aid, he had become tiresome, gone off-message, and needed to be forcibly retired. Seemed like a job I could deliver.
One jump to the target system, and I prepped myself for the fight. It was nice to be back in the Courier. It’s a tremendously agile ship, responding to my commands in ways that are sometimes beyond the capabilities of the Fer-de-Lance. There was, however, a critical flaw in my plan.
In refitting TDL ComebackKid for local duties, I had descoped the FSD Interdictor. And I was going to need it. Shit! It meant I needed to head back to Malaikudi, swap back into TDL PhotonFlinger, complete the mission, head back to Malaikudi again, and swap back into TDL ComebackKid, all before CMDR de Verne made it home.
I checked the map again. 3,400Ly. Although other members of the 9th Legion were already forming up on station, I figured there was loads of time. I boosted out of the station’s mass lock in TDL PhotonFlinger, and high waked, acknowledging the hails of my legion-mates as I went. “I’ll be back soon,” I promised.
I dropped into the target system, fired up the scanners, and executed lazy racetracks round the star in supercruise. Springfield arrived several minutes later, bombarding the local comms with his inane chatter. No wonder my bosses wanted him dead, I could see in seconds that he was a significant threat to our organisational credibility. His was an Imperial Clipper, wing of 3, but both wingmates were in Sidewinders.
My interdictor pulled Springfield’s Clipper into normal space. His wingmates dropped too, but I focussed on the Clipper and the battle was over in under three minutes. With the lead down, the escort ships high-waked. They had not earned their keep this day. I charged my FSD and returned to Leopold Heckmann Ring.
There were 8 commanders from The 9th Legion hanging around outside the station. Each enjoying the view, and the opportunity to inspect each other’s rides at close quarters. The atmosphere was jovial, the chatter irreverent. There was a level of banter even one step up from the Officer’s Mess. With no battle stress elevating the pilots’ hormone levels, we seemed more like a group of student friends than covert agents who deal excessive quantities of death in dangerous situations at the behest of the Emperor.
My long-held belief is that the senior commanders sometimes cede a yard in outright pace and reaction to the youngsters fresh out of the pilot training academy, but gain that advantage back with an unnatural skill in precision flying. Our Legion – which is almost entirely consistent of such seasoned pilots – was displaying this, as we ducked and weaved around each other. Setting up and taking photographs. Getting in really close. They seemed to appreciate the new Vibrant Blue on the Fer-de-Lance. Or at least didn’t slag me off about it, which is about as close as they get to appreciation. After some time, I broke formation and docked to switch into the specified Imperial ship.
As more Legionnaires arrived on station, we experimented with formations to greet our returning commander. The position of the star precluded anything too elaborate, so we surrounded the mailslot with Imperial hardware
Eventually, Wing Commander de Verne arrived in-system, escorted by Commanders PeachslicesV and Ziva Tevar. Their progress towards the station was interrupted by ill-mannered Federals, but CMDR de Verne’s escort performed its duty admirably. He skilfully and determinedly piloted his exhausted Asp through the fusillade of Imperial Hammer fire that we laid on for him, docking safely.
Our formation broke up almost immediately. I changed back into TDL PhotonFlinger and headed to a classified battleground with two other commanders. Levity over, it was back to discharging weapons in the name of the Emperor.