Episode 74, It's what you don't see.
25 Jun 2024Xochitl Khae
Episodes 74, It's what you don't see.
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The Coterie had watched me work, and now it was my turn to watch them. Nyx Voss’s Diamondback Scout ship was engineered to perfection. With everything running, the ship generated less heat than what was required by scanners to detect. My own engineered scanners did not detect its presence until he was within two hundred meters, as he flew past towards the settlement below. The ship’s ultraviolet absorbent paint scheme and small size allowed it to vanish within the shadows cast by the terrain near the facility.
So this is how he managed to sneak by Tara, I thought.
Off to my starboard side were Corvus in his Vulture and Avariel in her Viper Mk IV. Once Nyx gave the word, they would begin to wagon-wheel around the installation, removing any ships that posed a threat. Lysandra was above them. Her Cobra Mk IV had impressive firepower and defenses but was tailored towards pirating a targeted ship and relieving it of its cargo. Above me was Raven in his Krait Phantom. His ship was designed to create pure chaos in situations where a raid might turn sour. Otherwise, his ship would augment the Cobra Mk IV, allowing for 72 more tons of storage space.
I looked at their formations, noting that each was far enough back that neither the settlement nor nearby ships could detect them on scanners, but close enough where each could support the other in less than a standard minute.
I studied the data information provided by Nyx on this particular settlement. It was a research facility owned and operated by a local pirate clan. Staffed by scientists and doctors captured from who knows where, it was in the furthest remote regions of the system, meaning no stray ships would accidentally find their way here. Their electromagnetic transmissions were also muted, meaning no signals were being broadcast that would give away their existence.
A text message appeared on the communications panel, sent by Nyx on a directed beam transmission that would not be detected by the settlement’s security below unless they were between us and him.
“Subjects confirmed. Additional: two anti-ship turrets, one anti-personnel, and a point defense system, plus twelve external guards.”
Now came the waiting game. Instead of a straightforward bombardment attack that Nyx had used against the settlement where I had been bounced around, this one required stealth. An arena I was assured Nyx was an expert in.
Tara used her superior engineered vision in an attempt to survey the events taking place below.
“He’s good. I do not see Nyx, but I can follow his progress by the bodies he is leaving behind.”
Hopefully, my spiel the other day about no prey, no pay, and corpses don’t make a profit was in his mindset somewhere, but a shrug was all that could be mustered; this wasn’t my show.
It was easier to be patient when it was my mission, but waiting on that of another was almost unbearable.
“All external guards neutralized and both the turrets and alarms have been turned off.”
Lysandra descended in her Cobra Mk IV with Raven holding position while Avariel and Corvus began a slow 360-high orbit, ready to pounce on any ships that appeared and drew close. As remote as the facility was, it was unlikely anyone would visit, but that they were maintaining their pattern showed they were disciplined.
Since there was no need for me to do any cutting, I decided to wear my dominator suit. I forgot the last time I had worn it, as its engineering and loadout were more suited to heavy combat situations, the types I never involved myself in since my days with the pirate clan. Still, it was good to put the credits and time spent on it to use, even if I didn’t anticipate doing anything other than loading cargo.
Lysandra landed on the facility's small pad while Tara parked us off to one side on the lunar surface. Lianna dropped down in the Scarab vehicle in case there were any large items that needed to be moved, while Tara, in her Maverick suit, joined me as we made our way to the science building's entrance. Lysandra was already out of her ship, wearing her own Maverick suit, as she began a low gravity bounding movement towards a nearby external data panel to check the station's manifest.
Something felt off about the place as we neared the entrance door. The fusion reactor was operating, and all of the lights were on, but the external shutters were closed. The entrance door panel looked to have been burnt by a plasma discharge. It was still functional, but parts of it were melted. There were what looked like heel drag marks and booted footprints leading from the door back to the outside.
Tara looked at me with a weird expression. While she did not have the evolved sixth sense, she could tell that something wasn’t right, as we entered.
There was dried frozen blood inside the entrance, with more drag marks going back outside.
Nyx was waiting inside with a group of scientists, technicians, researchers, and a couple of the local security. Each was grouped and on their knees, with their hands clasped behind their heads.
“Something is weird about them,” Nyx said, with Tara and I noticing it too. They were all wide-eyed and looked partially emaciated. While the eyes and the shivering looked like a standard case of nerves, the half-starved appearance was not right.
“What’s the story here?” I asked, looking around at the shivering gaunt faces.
Nyx shrugged, looking down at them. “No idea… it’s weird. The first one I saw started crying and begging. More soon appeared, hiding behind various pieces of equipment in here. Everyone had a piece of equipment or piping in their hands. There are some hand weapons over in the corner, but they are all out of ammunition. Looks like they were fighting off someone with their crude weapons.”
Several of them began sobbing again, with one inching his way forward on his knees. “Please sir… ma'am… please save us. Get us out of here before it starts again!”
Tara looked at me with an expression I had not seen before, like a weirdness that did not compute to her statistical algorithms. “Who’s in charge?”
One of the security men looked up with swollen red-rimmed eyes. “The doctor. He’s back in the reactor room with another technician.”
Tara looked at me as I looked up at Nyx. “Forget someone?”
Nyx shook his head. “No, I saw them and they saw me. They started babbling something, then fled behind the reactor. I thought about cutting the panel, but I had these to deal with, and they were armed the same as these.”
“Alright. We are on the clock and can play twenty questions later. Let’s clean it out quick and get them secured in my ship’s cargo hold. We can chit-chat later…”
“Hey guys… something isn’t right here.”
It was Lysandra, who was still outside, going over the manifest.
There was no atmosphere on the moon to carry sound, but the pulsing light meant that someone was firing. Tara and I both bounded back towards the entrance as the captives began to plead loudly behind us.
Lysandra’s voice came back over the comms as we exited the building. “I’m retreating!” she yelled, in a panicked voice. She was firing her laser carbine wildly at a group of recovered security personnel who were bounding after her.
Unlike my Maverick suit, my Dominator suit was designed for combat and had jump assist as part of its engineering. I triggered the suit’s jump jets, selecting a three-shot handheld micro-rocket launcher that was part of its weaponry.
Tara drew her plasma pistol and began a low gravity hop in Lysandra’s direction as I boosted up and towards her, taking aim from on high at a group of security personnel. As their booted feet touched the lunar surface, I fired two rockets, both impacting one next to the other in between them, sending them cartwheeling away by the low gravity.
I saw Lysandra’s laser make contact with another, but the attacker continued their bounce toward her as Tara gained ground, took aim with her plasma pistol, and struck the attacker in the back. The security guard crumpled onto the loosely powdered ground.
As my boots touched the surface, Raven’s voice sounded over the comms. “Incoming,” he warned as a series of explosive cannon shells impacted a hundred meters away at a group of security personnel who had previously been disabled by Nyx.
With the last security guard down that we could see, Lysandra stopped her retreat. I ended my jump and began walking up to her, reloading my rocket launcher. She was shivering and wide-eyed as I placed my gloved hand on her shoulder. “They’re down,” I said, as she shook her head.
“Hey guys,” came Raven’s voice again. “The others on the other side of the facility are back up. Engaging them now.”
“Something bad is happening here,” Tara said as I nodded, keying my suit’s communications.
It was my turn to wear a weird expression as Raven’s voice came over the comms. “Guys and gals, they are babbling something about the only way to keep them down is to turn the defenses back on.”
Back down? Tara mouthed as Lysandra took a step back, raising her laser carbine again.
“Ryuko!” Tara yelled, firing another plasma bolt, striking one of the guards I had sent cartwheeling with my rockets. He was already back up and attempting to bound back to us as Tara’s plasma shot struck him in the center chest of his suit, sending him into the powdered surface.
The impact of my rockets so close to them, even if it didn’t kill them outright, should have caused enough trauma to keep them down and out, but apparently not.
Stowing my rocket launcher, I keyed my suit’s communicator. “Alright everyone, listen up. Corvus and Avariel, reduce your orbit for direct support. Raven, keep knocking them down. Tara, get back to Nyx and either cut or blast that doctor and technician out of the reactor room, then get everyone ready to move. Lysandra,” I turned to look at her as she stared at the body in the dust, “maintain your
position here with me and we will guard the landing pad…”
A series of rapid pulses flashed past, striking another of the security, as Lianna in the Scarab raced up, its twin plasma repeaters glowing.
Damn, I forgot about her.
Tara was already bounding back as I looked over at Lianna in the Scarab. “Lianna, stay here with us and provide security… alright, everyone’s got their job, get to it,” I commanded, pulling out my own plasma pistol from the holster attached to my suit and checking its charge.
Several minutes passed as I watched Raven in his Krait Phantom firing his cannon at random intervals on one side of the facility, and Corvus in his Vulture firing its large burst laser at other targets I could not see.
“Come on, guys and gals, the clock's ticking. Get them out and let’s get moving…”
Lysandra raised her laser carbine again as Lianna fired the Scarab’s twin plasma cannons at the security guard Tara had dropped not too long ago. The rapid plasma burst enveloped the figure, melting their armor in several places as it sent them flying backward into a stack of crates that crumbled on top of them.
I keyed my comms again, looking around for additional targets. “Time’s up, everyone. It’s getting spicy out here. Time to move!”
“We got the doctor and the technician and are headed out,” Tara replied as Lianna fired another burst at another security guard I had sent flying earlier.
“What the hell,” Lianna said over the comms. “Do they have some special armor on those suits or what?”
“Cut the chatter and drop anything that moves,” I fired back, watching Corvus and Raven continue to fire at random targets.
The door to the facility opened as Nyx and Tara began filing out the personnel.
“Lianna, move forward and support,” I commanded, turning around to look at Lysandra. “Get back in your ship and get it off the pad. Prepare to support from your position until we are all aboard the Python.”
“Movement!” Lysandra yelled as I turned to see the security guard Lianna had originally hit was already attempting to get back up. Taking careful aim, I let go of a shot with my plasma pistol, striking them in the helmet.
“Come on, come on, people, move your asses!”
“What the hell,” Lianna said over the comms as the group moved past her while the collapsed crates began to tumble as the one she had shot and sent into them was attempting to get back up.
“Fry them!” I yelled as Lianna let go of a long burst into the crates, striking the security guard and the crates, catching several on fire.
“Shit!” Raven said as I saw him firing more cannon rounds on his side of the facility. “They’re getting back up again!”
“Same here,” Corvus said as his Vulture’s burst laser fired in an almost continual fashion.
Lysandra lifted off in her Cobra Mk IV, hovering a dozen meters above the pad with its weapons bays open as the crowd raced past me, headed towards our Python.
I was startled a little as the three small fragmentation cannons on Lysandra’s Cobra Mk IV fired towards the crates. Dozens of incendiary buckshot, meant for ships, impacted the area already in flames, slicing open containers and igniting their contents. Inside of the maelstrom, I saw a suited body attempting to right itself within as she fired another burst of superheated fragments into the building inferno.
The thought that maybe these were suited androids and not humans crossed my mind, but androids didn’t need suits, and no human could have survived all of the punishment these suited figures had received. Regardless, it made no sense to suit up androids.
Tara’s voice came over the comms as Lianna reversed the Scarab towards the Python’s open vehicle hangar. “Ryuko, fall back!”
Whatever these things were, the micro-rockets had at least sent the first ones flying a ways, and getting some distance between us and them would give me enough time to get back aboard. I holstered my plasma pistol so I could wield my rocket launcher.
I watched the Scarab lift up into the Python’s hangar as I stood at the bottom of the entrance ramp. I could see more movement near the flaming debris, sending three rockets in rapid order in that direction before bounding up the steps. “I’m in, lift off!”
As I strapped into the seat, Tara looked out the left cockpit window as she began to circle the facility. “We’ve got Nyx with us,” she said. “He’s down in the cargo hold with Lianna, seeing to our guests.”
Shit.
“Nyx, you still on comms?”
“My ship is 1 kilometer south of the facility,” came the reply back. “I’ve remotely activated its transponder. You should be able to home in on that.”
“Got it,” Tara said, banking the Python onto its new heading.
“What the hell were those things?” Raven asked with his accented drawl. “My cannon has high-yield shells, and it was tearing them apart and they were still trying to get up.”
“Same,” Corvus replied. “My burst laser was punching straight through their armored suits and it only seemed to stun them.”
Tara and I shared a brief look as I rolled my eyes before heading back off the bridge, making my way down to the cargo hold. “Nyx, we should be landing shortly. Lianna, I’m coming down to help you.”
I entered the cargo bay at the same moment we landed, feeling the gear compress as the cargo doors opened.
“I’m going to take these people back to the carrier for proper medical attention and a little Q&A on what the hell just happened. You’re welcome to fall into line and join in.”
Nyx nodded in confirmation as he slid down the cargo ramp; his eyes showed no emotion, even after everything we had been through.
I watched him bound out of eyesight as I activated the cargo doors' controls from inside the hold.
I keyed my suit’s communicator as the cargo doors shut and sealed. “Nyx is out. Head back to the carrier so we can get these people looked after.”
Their clothing looked like they had lived in them for an extended period. Their faces were all pale and gaunt, and each had haunted, puffy, red-rimmed eyes from lack of nutrition and severe fatigue. Accessing my suit’s communicator, I called ahead to the carrier, informing them to be prepared for a mass casualty event. My transmission was acknowledged as we broke the moon's orbit, headed away from it towards the jump point. Something about all of this really bothered me, and it wasn’t the brief combat. As an afterthought, I contacted the ship again, informing them that we might need to quarantine our guests until we knew more.