Not as Planned
16 Jun 2024Xochitl Khae
Not as Planned
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Ryuko stepped over the body of the unconscious technician as he set to work downloading the contents of the data banks inside the settlement’s power center. As was his norm, he infiltrated the facility, rendering its occupants unconscious while disabling the alarms, anti-personnel systems, and ship batteries outside, with none of the facility’s security any the wiser.
"Several ships passing overhead with a small Keelback landing on the pad. None of the personnel have been alerted to your presence,” Tara announced, maintaining a hovering position near the moon’s hilly terrain, 3 km distant.
As his data tablet beeped, Ryuko disconnected from the data bank’s port and stepped once more over the technician’s body, a smirk appearing on his face as he wondered if he shouldn’t perform a few legitimate cargo runs after this and bring them in a haul of analgesics. Each of those he encountered would survive, but each would have a headache to contend with for a day or two.
"Moving to the facility’s lockers to see what goodies they have,” Ryuko announced but heard no reply as he neared one of the lockers. Its lock was a minor nuisance as he retrieved his laser cutter from his suit’s side pouch. “Keep your eyes open on the back of the facility. Once I am done raiding this, I will move to the habitat and see what they may have left lying around.”
As he cut through the lock, a strange feeling began to creep through him. “Comms check.”
Ryuko paused cutting as he turned around, putting the laser cutter back in its side pouch and pulling up his eclipse laser carbine, slung in front of his suit. “Repeat… comms check.”
He walked over to a set of nearby stacked crates, focusing on the short hallway where the entrance was located. Inside the power center, he could hear the thrumming of the nearby fusion reactor, but outside, it was an airless moon with no atmosphere. If something were taking place out there, there would be no way for him to hear it inside.
Keeping the small carbine in his dominant hand, he used his free hand to pull out his data tablet from the other side pocket of his suit, raising it up to look at its screen. It should have shown Tara’s position, even if she had to flee to orbit, but instead, there was nothing. No signal from the ship, Tara, or more worrying, any signal. It should be reading the electromagnetic signals of the facility itself, but its screen was blank.
More concerning was his helmet’s heads-up display. The suit itself had a short-range scanner that could detect items within a hundred meters, but the display showed nothing. Not the equipment inside or out, not even his Scarab reconnaissance vehicle, parked at the back of the facility.
Ryuko’s mind raced as he evaluated the situation. The sudden loss of all signals could be due to a large host of reasons, but what it did not tell him was why. He needed to get out and assess the external environment, but moving blindly could be a fatal mistake. Taking a deep breath, he tightened his grip on his carbine and edged toward the entrance, keeping low and scanning the area as he moved.
A strobing of blue and green flash illuminated the scene outside the entrance as Ryuko was tossed backward, where he rebounded off a set of stacked crates, which deflected him to the ceiling. Fortunately, the settlement was constructed on a moon with microgravity, which prevented him from falling instantly to the floor. As he bounced around, Ryuko instinctively activated his suit’s shield generator, protecting his suit against the additional impacts but not against the kinetic forces, as he was deflected off the far wall. Releasing his grip on his laser carbine, he reached over to his suit’s left forearm controller, activating its magnetic boots.
The sudden spinning and bouncing around dazed Ryuko, who shook his head while opening and closing his mouth as he tried to focus on the scene around him. Small coolant and atmospheric lines had burst due to the shockwaves that rolled through the surface, filling the air inside the power center with a dense fog. Several lights flickered, as sparks and arcs appeared from several nearby consoles.
A second series of colorful strobing flashes illuminated the far side bulkhead, which faced the hall where the entrance was located. Ryuko could feel its vibrations, transmitted from the ground and into the building, as he deactivated his magnetic boots, pushing himself gently off the bulkhead, allowing himself to descend slowly towards the flooring. As his boots touched, he pushed with his toes, propelling himself several inches off the flooring, as a new series of strobing flashes appeared.
There was no atmosphere to produce a shockwave, and by keeping himself temporarily out of contact with the structure, he could ride out the intense vibrations of whatever explosive force was causing the scene outside.
The power center was now a chaotic mess of fog and flickering lights. Ryuko continued the process of descending slowly and rebounding up as bursts of sparks and arcs from damaged consoles created a surreal, dangerous atmosphere. His mind began to race, wondering if Tara had managed to escape the chaos, was fighting against it, or had herself become a victim. The last thought began to fill him with rage against whoever or whatever was the cause of all of this.
The scenario continued to repeat itself for several minutes as Ryuko looked over near the data terminal where the unconscious technician had been. The shockwaves and micro-gravity had done their work, as his body was now against the far corner of the facility, twisted and deformed. On his hip, he could see that he still had his laser pistol attached, with several reserve charges next to it.
As his eyes continued their scan, they rested on the controls of the facility’s alarms and defensive turrets. The panels remained illuminated as he began a series of short lunar low-gravity hops towards them. If there was still power to the batteries, whatever was causing this was about to receive a rude experience.
It took several seconds for the panels to perform their checks, informing Ryuko that they were indeed still functional, as he began reactivating them. Several more seconds passed as both indicated they were active, with the fog now being illuminated by flashing red lights, visually indicating that the alarm was indeed functional.
If they had any reinforcements in orbit, which was a common custom for most settlements, they would be indicating the alert status and would be descending momentarily. Ryuko hoped that Tara had been able to escape whatever calamity had befallen this settlement. It also dawned on him that he too would be seen as an enemy by any reinforcements and would have to fight his way through them if he didn’t get out, and fast.
Beginning a series of hops, Ryuko made his way back towards the hallway and out through the entrance. The scene outside was little better than the one he had departed, with debris still floating down, with various gases cloaking the facility in a fog illuminated by distant colorful explosions towards where the base’s landing pad would be, along with various fires, arcing and sparking equipment, and flashes of what appeared to be various forms of weapons firing. Some were on the ground, others from the sky down, and others from the turrets firing up at whoever was out there.
Ryuko did his best to ignore that, bounding over the prone body of one of the facility’s security personnel as he made his way to the back of the facility where he had parked his Scarab reconnaissance vehicle.
Jumping into its seat, he activated its controls, thankful that the vehicle had survived whatever was taking place here. Above, he could see the thrusters of several ships attempting to ascend, with two pursuing and firing at what he could make out as a Keelback freighter. Another set of thrusters appeared above them descending rapidly, as Ryuko pushed the throttles to their stops, causing all eight of his vehicle’s wheels to spin as he accelerated away as the reinforcements began to land.
He aimed the Scarab towards a series of distant rocky outcroppings that would provide some cover from what he now knew was an assault. The vehicle's wheels dug into the lunar surface, kicking up dust as it sped toward the relative safety of the hills. Ryuko's heart pounded in his chest as he scanned the horizon, looking for any sign of his ship or Tara.
"Tara, do you copy? What's your status?" Ryuko's voice was tense as he tried to raise her on the comms once more. Static filled his ears, but he continued to call out, hoping for a response.
Just as he reached the rocky cover, a familiar voice crackled through the interference. "Ryuko, I'm here. Managed to evade the initial attack. What’s your position?"
Relief washed over him as he relayed his coordinates. "I'm at the rocky outcroppings to the north of the settlement. Can you make it to this position, or do you need me to go someplace else?”
More static filled his ears, then cleared as Tara’s voice came back through. “Negative, make your way further north a few kilometers where the outcroppings end, and I will meet you there. The defensive turrets are firing at everything, and everyone is firing at each other. Get some more distance and I will be there waiting for you."
‘Maintain your position and do not move,’ a voice inside of Tara said, as she tilted her head to one side wondering if it was what humans called their inner voice or the voice of intuition.
Her thoughts were disrupted as the shadow of a ship flashed past, headed toward the settlement as balls of plasma illuminated the night sky from the far side of the facility, impacting against its defensive turrets.
Whoever was attacking this facility was going all out. The Keelback ship that was loading cargo and had attempted to flee, had been disabled and was laying on the terrain, 8km distance from her location. One of the attacking ships was busy emptying its cargo as the ones who had disabled it were now flying high above, attacking the reinforcements as they attempted to descend.
Tara cocked her head to the other side as the voice within spoke again. ‘Cheeky bandits. It is now safe, go get your companion.'
Ryuko clambered onto the bridge as Tara piloted the Python beyond the range of the settlement’s defenses. Unknown to her, they had already been taken out by the attackers, who were busy carting away everything they could and interdicting unwary cargo ships attempting to land at the now-captured settlement.
Tara glanced over her shoulder at the scene far behind on the planet below as she selected the system with their capital ship home in the navigational computer.
“What the hell happened?” Ryuko asked with a groan, as he sat down next to the co-pilot’s seat, pulling off his armored environmental suit’s helmet.
“You’re injured,” Tara said, starting to get out of the pilot’s seat as Ryuko held up a hand, stopping her.
“Get us back to the carrier and have a couple of the medical droids ready,” Ryuko said with a moan, laying back on the deck plating and reaching over with his free hand to the suit’s forearm controller to activate its medical function.
The suit had a rudimentary ability to assess damages done to its wearer, but it was a poor substitute for a dedicated medical scanner.
The worry on Tara’s face deepened as she heard the suit announcing through Ryuko’s discarded helmet what it had detected. “Shock fractures and internal bruising have been detected. Vitals are stable. Administering pain medication and a sedative. Recommend immediate medical care.”
“Don’t worry,” Ryuko said with a weak smile as he lay on his back. “I’ve had plenty worse in my time, but it doesn’t make it hurt any less.”
Ryuko woke in the ship’s infirmary with one of the android medical staff standing nearby.
The android activated on his waking. “Welcome back, sir.”
Ryuko smacked his lips together a couple of times, trying to get rid of the intense dry mouth he was experiencing. “How bad is or was it?”
“Your injuries were significant but not life-threatening. You sustained multiple fractures and internal bruising, but the medical droids have successfully treated you. You will need to rest and allow your body to heal.”
Ryuko nodded, taking a deep breath and wincing slightly at the lingering pain. “Thanks. How long until I can get back on my feet?”
“With proper care, you should be mobile within a few days, but full recovery will take a bit longer. I recommend you follow the prescribed treatment plan to avoid complications,” the android responded.
Tara entered the infirmary, her face a mix of relief and concern. “You had me worried there for a moment.”
“I’m tougher than I look,” Ryuko replied with a grin, though his voice was still strained. “What’s the status of the settlement and our ship?”
“The settlement was completely overrun by the attackers. They’ve pillaged the place and took down several cargo ships before departing. As for the Python, not a scratch. I don’t think they knew we were there or if they did they didn’t care.”
“Kind of hard to miss a ship the size of a Python,” Ryuko said weakly, through chapped lips. “They should have at least tried to give us a scan or run us off.”
“They never appeared on any of the ship’s scanners, not until after the settlement’s defenses came back online. I could not even detect the attacker on thermal or ultraviolet. It wasn’t until it abandoned its attack and raised its heat by boosting its engines to get out of range that I was able to spot it. The ship that was doing the bombing was a stealthy Diamondback Scout, running cold and quiet.”
Ryuko grunted, closing his eyes for a moment. A properly engineered Scout would be too cool to be detected unless right on top of it, and in the middle of the planet’s evening cycle, with a midnight black absorbent paint, it could be a ghost. Armed with mines it could do a lot of damage in short order.
Ryuko opened his eyes and tried to raise up but did not have the strength, resigning himself to laying there as the medical android shook his head.
“You will need to spend a day or two in here before I can release you.”
Ryuko rolled his eyes in disgust, trying instead to focus on keeping his mind occupied since his body, and the damned medical android, would not cooperate with him.
“What else do we know?”
Tara cocked her head to one side, recalling the details from her cybernetic memory.
“There were five ships in all. No identification, but their pattern matched nothing I have encountered or have accessed before.”
A wry smile appeared on Ryuko’s face at his companion’s confusion. “How so?”
“Once I could identify the scout, I knew then that it was using engineered mines to bomb the facility and its defenders. The colors of the explosions made sense in that context, as it was a combination of ion disruption and reverberation cascade mines, both brutally effective against both surface and ships.
The ships that began attacking the Keelback were a Viper Mk IV and a Vulture class ship, both were able to run it down, in short order, and disable its engines versus destroying it, the same as we do when pirating.”
His wry smile grew larger, as he looked on as Tara continued retrieving the information she had saved.
“A Cobra Mk IV followed, using limpets in the same fashion we do to break open the Keelback’s cargo hatch and then retrieve its cargo. At this time that same scout returned, but this time I could spot it, as it stood off at range, firing an engineered plasma accelerator at the settlement’s turrets, destroying them. That is when a fifth ship appeared.
The Viper and Vulture were overhead, tangling with the reinforcements and keeping them at bay when a Krait Phantom appeared out of nowhere, close to the ground, blending in with the shadows. It landed quickly, disgorging two squads of battle androids and a Scorpion combat vehicle. They began to work their way through what remained of the defenders, while the Phantom provided direct fire support with an engineered cannon, burst laser, and a larger plasma accelerator than that of the scout.”
“They stole everything not laser welded down I bet,” Ryuko commented with a chuckle and a groan.
“Basically, yes,” Tara commented, a look of curiosity on her face. “By the time we broke orbit and were beginning our jump, they were already in full control of the settlement. Their speed and efficiency were brutal and impressive.”
Ryuko groaned again, attempting to stop himself from laughing. “Don’t I know it.”