No Countermeasures Deemed Effective
05 Mar 2017Tristan Pacheco
It's happened again, in almost the exact same fashion as the last time. Worse still the 50th FS was nearly deployed on this ill-fated mission. Command saw fit to add another newbie to our ranks (he seems promising), and I was showing him the ropes when one of my wingmen sent me a message from HQ."We're ready for round 2. This time we're sending a capital detachment with a full wing complement. Eickert says we're being looked at as the prime candidate."
At first I was excited. A capital detachment meant we were sending a Farragut Battlecruiser with an escort of an entire wing. That's 50-odd ships, not counting fighters. The aliens may have been able to best 6 Corvettes, but there's no way they could take what was essentially going to be a small war-fleet. Our protege had to be left in the dark, at least for now, so I sent him back to the naval shipyards in Eta Cassiopeia to retrieve some cargo and documents that I've been forgetting about for a month and a half, then I went back to Mars to meet with the remaining Black Angels. Upon arrival I was almost immediately informed that the information that my squadmate had acquired was on a need-to-know basis and we weren't on the list. Typical. But after some cajoling I convinced Admiral Eickert and his new (and attractive) assistant to fill me in.
HICOM had decided against using us, since they had "other plans" for us (probably to wash some dishes or do laundry/something else mediocre and unnecessary). We left, somewhat broken-hearted. We received orders to fast track our new recruit, so we went off to gather materials and cash for preparation purposes. I was with him scouting for materials when I received a video with no context. Turns out I didn't need any.
Gone. The battlecruiser and every single escort. I stopped moving and watched the clip 5 or 6 more times on repeat, trying to comprehend how this could be possible. This couldn't have been the work of a single vessel, could it? Could it?! If so, I can see the justification of destroying their race with a virus. Maybe this is revenge. All I can say for sure is that special operations missions aren't working. If it's possible to destroy these things we'll need full fleets, and the cooperation of all 3 superpowers...our entire race.
I haven't discussed the video with anyone outside my immediate squadmates. Now I'm thinking about making a visit to see my parents though. They need to at least know that all is not well in the galaxy. I've always considered myself an optimist, looking at health and wealth data to convince myself and my friends that the galaxy is slowly becoming a better place, and that humanity's future lies in the great black.
My optimism is running out.
Fast.
Until next time,
RADM Tristan Pacheco