Prelude to Ascension (//Story//)

Prelude to Ascension (//Story//) - Printable Version

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Prelude to Ascension (//Story//) - Tenacity - 10-27-2018

Matias Velez sat in a darkened cockpit, powered down and surrounded by sensor-masking debris. Every few seconds a flash of lightning would illuminate the interior of his Rapier fighter. The effect was largely disorienting, and had been ongoing for days now; only minimal power provided to life support systems while he sat, waiting, for a sign. Other scouts had come back from this assignment completely mad, and some not at all, though it was unknown if they had perished to enemy patrols, fallen into the gravity well of Knossos, or been drawn in by the bewitching, radioactive emissions of the wrecked alien structure, like a siren's call.

He opened up another tube of synth paste to stave off his hunger while he waited. His entire body ached and cramped from being in the confines of a cockpit for such a long period of time, and his hygiene left much to be desired. Worse, he was only given a minimal supply of Cardamine to hold him over on the assignment, and it had to be rationed sparingly. Every cell in his body cried out in withdrawal at the worst of times.

Another flash of lightning from the atmosphere of Knossos blinded him, and he was left blinking spots out of his eyes afterwards. Through those blinks, he saw something new, something that didn't belong; the faintest line of bronze-colored dots breaching through the upper atmosphere. At first, Matias wasn't sure if he was hallucinating or not, the flashes and radiation and stress could have been doing him in, but over the next few minutes the dots became larger shapes, and then became clearly visible ships. He switched on power to passive scanning systems and started recording sensor data, trying to gather as much information as possible without giving himself away. The faint voice of his ship's computer thrummed, breaking the silence he had grown accustomed to.

... Contacts Registered...
...Multiple transport-class vessels outfitted with survey and collection equipment...
...Multiple armed escort craft, ranging from fighters to gunships...
...All vessels broadcasting Corsair IFF signals...
...Target course plotted...

Powering up his HUD, Matias went over the computer's calculations. This was it, what he had been assigned here for: the Corsairs were about to begin collecting artifacts from the ruins for the black market, and this was a truly massive convoy to be sure. He prepared to spool up his drive systems and, when the next volley of lightning bolts lit the sky, sent his ship reeling away from the convoy to break atmo. The lightning strikes would give off enough infrared and electromagnetic interference to mask the blast of his engine, allowing him to escape unnoticed.

As the last wisps of purple atmospheric gasses dissipated and he breached into the green-backed starscape of Omicron Xi, Matias engaged cruise engines and set course for the Beta Jump. Timing was imperative, he had to get back to his fleet before the Corsairs finished filling their holds, and hopefully their response would be quick enough to plan a proper ambush. Matias breathed deep the last of his Cardamine reserve and put his engines into overdrive.

RE: Prelude to Ascension (//Story//) - Tenacity - 10-27-2018

An orange flash followed the Rapier as it departed the jump tunnel into Omicron Beta. Matias quickly started a broadcast to the fleet:

"MNS-Aspic this is Rapier 7, con-code Alpha seven-five Tango Alpha Six, requesting immediate docking clearance on priority assignment"

Docking clearance came back through on an automated channel, and he set course for the Aspic, a Storta-Class Maltese Destroyer stationed just beyond sensor range of the Omicron Xi jump.

As he approached, two more Rapiers formed up on his wings, one of them linking squadron comms, "Matias, how'd you enjoy the assignment? You haven't gone crazy yet have you?"

The voice was that of Isabella Suarez, one of his squadron's wingmen. The two had a running rivalry, always trying to best one another in confirmed kills on their patrols. Matias flipped his voice-link on, "We've got 'em, Suarez. Time to rally the fleet, we're going hunting."

"No shit? About time the 'Sairs made their move. We're going to be rich." She broke formation as he squared up on the Aspic's docking bay, resuming her patrol.

As soon as the docking bay closed and air pressure equalized, Matias opened his cockpit and scrambled out, awkwardly stumbling over the side of the ship and onto the docking bay floor as he struggled to remember how to use his legs. The deck commander was already approaching, flanked by the usual pair of security guards, with a stern and serious face, "Velez, your assignment was scheduled to run another day, you'd better have a good reason for the early return."

Matias saluted, "I do, Sir. This morning at 0900 hours a Corsair convoy arrived at the structure. Several transports with escorts; gunships and fighters."

The deck officer's expression lightened, "Good work, get yourself a shower and a hot meal and prep your squad, we're heading to Knossos immediately."

RE: Prelude to Ascension (//Story//) - Tenacity - 10-27-2018

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This story will be continued through a series of events. The first event has been posted/scheduled here:
https://discoverygc.com/forums/showthread.php?tid=165457&pid=2039546#pid2039546

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