All available pilots were rostered to Naha. These phantoms are surely cunning. They must know by now that if the Guild is scattered then the entire economy of Sirius suffers a blow. All the major houses are stockpiling H-Fuel. Bretonia and Kusari for their heated war, Liberty and Rhineland for the cold war that brews between them.
Even people who dont buy from us are placing great demand on whatever sources they have, in preparation for a massive rise in price.
By the Crap Nebula! The lecture from our Guild Trade Master was so boring! I endured four hours of this before my patrol started?
And Sigma was the usual blend of scurrilous activity and chaos. Then comms chatter died off. It happens sometimes but not like this.
Father, it is like your tales of trekking in the forests of Kyushu. When the predator appears, all the animals would quieten down.
And so with this it was, Father. Very soon one of my colleagues detected the same scanner readings at Naha as before at Aomori. They were coming to finish what they had started, to scatter us as ashes into the wind.
My colleagues and commanders from different patrol wings all gathered in space. I remember Lt Taro and Jin'ko being there, I think there was Katsumi-san, Imazu, Naomi and myself. I cant remember if Guild Master Marieka came later.
What I remember about the battle was this: There would be no retreat this time. The phantom ships did not have heavy gunboats with them, it was just fighters. Maybe they did not want to assault Naha, but thin down our numbers even more? Who can say with the minds of the mad?
I remember we flew out to meet them, then the storm of battle enveloped us. I remember mines, a lot of them, and with the inevitable space-time distortions that plague such large battles I did my best to clear a fighting radius with the firing of disruptors.
I remember the small things, anyone who has seen space combat knows what it is like. The endless loops and whirling as ships pass, ships moving in jagged dance of localised space-time rifts as their graviton shields are hit.
At one point I remember being stretched like a rubber band - my ships time-dilation alarm flashing red for an agonisingly long time. Relative to my own perspective I was nearly three thousand kilometers from the battle - yet my enemies could have me right on target! Then with a SNAP I was back in the fight!
And fight we did, the battle drifted right near Naha, and as always the first thing to go haywire is the local IFF calibration. I am used to it now.
I dont remember who ejected, but one of us did. I began to get a hollow feeling, a 'blue' feeling as the Libertarians say.
Then Lt Taro ordered us to concentrate our fire on another enemy ship. Apparantly we had all been targeting a phantom fighter with all its guns blown off! I just had to laugh!
The pace quickened after this. We soon wore down another phantom and I can hardly believe it! There is surely some hope to be salvaged among the debris! They retreated!
They may still hold our Aomori, but we held the line this day. Soon the time will come for payment in kind, and I will be there to claim my dividend...
Orin sat in the a dark metal room. The walls were closing in again, his mind was spinning. These memories. These false, crippling memories. They were all he could bear these days. The time in the field; the time doing what should have been doing; was falling to nothing. He couldn't help his friends anymore. He couldn't even help himself.
The GMG proved to be a new life, another distraction. Something he could envelop himself in and get lost in. The only scrap of identity remaining was the name. A name that wasn't even his own. But what did it matter anymore? The past was gone, and now the future was following suit. The haunting memories were more than enough for him to deal with, how could he throw himself into combat with... these demons?
He shook his head, uttering a voice command to bring the illumination in his temporary Ogashawa quarters online. The dark thoughts vanished, and he almost felt normal. He couldn't feel sorry himself. Not now, not ever. Self pity hadn't done anything for him in the past, it wasn't going to now. He stood up, letting his hands slide across the stiff vapid sheets as he did. He wasn't down, not yet. Taro was in command, where he should be. Orin couldn't do it anymore, that was clear in his mind. But that wasn't going to do anything to him. Pride was a useless emotion, something most of the GMG failed to realize. Even at his lowest of lows, he could still get out there and do what he did best. Fly.
"Docking control, ready my Taiidan. Keep the Viper on standby." He instructed, flipping on the comm system on the wall. "It's time to give those bastards what they deserve. Hell."
Scout duty. Never before have I performed this duty with focus, with such longing.
Even now I sit on the edge of the XXX CENSORED BY GUILD COMMAND XXX and can see my Aomori at maximum magnification. My orders are to scan for any ships passing by - the phantoms of course, but anyone else too.
I am surprised at the number of ships that still do pass! No-one docks. The official Kusari story is that Aomori is under quarantine lockdown until further notice. They say this is so as not to panic the population of Honshu. I know it is so as not to panic the H-Fuel speculators on New Tokyo!
And I know why the phantoms stay inside, why they dont cut the tradelanes. They WANT ships to pass by, they WANT people to act as though nothing is happening. This way they stay in control, they can spread fear slowly, like ice placed into the warmth of the crib by an unspeakable act.
But I also have other orders. I am to place infra-red detectors at XXX CENSORED BY GUILD COMMAND XXX
There are several of us doing this. If there is anyone alive on Aomori of even first level engineering or aerospace, then they will know to attempt a laser comms linkup.
We are getting some faint readings. I hope we can triangulate them to a positive source on Aomori soon.
I know in my heart you are still in there Father. We will see each other again.
The Eagle undocked from Rochester. Making its way through the jumphole network leading to Honshu, it flew straight and true.
The pilot, Reaper Moros, with a fixed grin on his face. One of the most human faces amongst the Phantoms, handy if he was to blend in with the humans infesting spacestations across Sirius. His red eyes gave it away slightly though. Still, he could walk among the weak and useless, and wouldn't be given a second glance. A Junker back on Rochester made the mistake of picking a fight with him. Moros laughed uncontrollably.
Setting the autopilot trajectory to the coordinates of Aomori, he exitted the cockpit of his Eagle and entered the cargobay. His power armour, bestowed upon him when he joined the Phantom Empire, still shone perfectly in the dim lighting inside the cargobay. That would change. He could imagine the smears of blood on it. He could smell it. He could taste it.
Donning the suit of power armour, Moros checked that everything was working as it should. Of course it was, but in truth, he just wanted to imagine pulling someone apart with it. He started some tests, checking that everything worked. Slicing apart blocks of scrap metal in his hold, he closed his eyes, and imagined. Women and children, the helpless, writhing on the floor as their guts spewed from their abdomen, and their cries falling silent as he ripped their heads from their bodies.
This would be his first true territorial engagement, and the Reaper had no intention of disappointing. He was looking forward to the killing, the blood and the horror. He could only hope that there was some left for him when he got there...
Gas Miner "Naha", Satoru Kanegi - personal quarters
Establashing Link... Accessing Aomori protocols... Access Denied... Link terminated... Link re-established... Accessing Aomori mainframe ... Access Denied... Link terminated...
Satoru was fuming at how he could not access the defence grid nor Aomori station itself. He had all the needed codes, but still couldn't reach the "damned station" as he had started calling it.
He looked down at the report on his desk, which said that they had lost all contacts with Aomori and that they were not able to get them back up.
As he finished re-reading the report, he remembered what the Head Of Security had told him before giving him the report that one of the rookies had filled out, the Guild Masters suspected a group of people who thought themselves above the law and the order of humanity to be at fault for the accident.
Kanegi had paled when Katsuo-san mentioned to him that it was the Phantoms, he had only heard stories about those monstrosities about how they loved to torture and even some times eat their own victims alive...
The Security Officer tried once again to access Aomori's mainframe, but was once again cut off .. by what he would never know...
Finally tired of trying to gain access he decided that it was of no use and headed to talk with the Head Of Security about what they intended to do.
"Alright turn on the power!" shouted Jin'ko Hayate to the technician.
"Powering up weapons," replied the technician, "weapons systems online!"
"Yatta! (I did it!)" cheered the exhuberant young bomber ace to her assistant, "It's about time. Alright bring up the diagnostics on the computer and keep an eye on the readings, I want to see if can give it some tweaks here."
~2 hours later~
Jin'ko pretty much skipped her way back to her quarters. She was in a light mood, yes the dreadful situation on Aomari reminded her of the seriousness of the situation, but she couldn't help but feel a giddiness of anticipation as the assault to reclaim Aomari drew so near. The forces they were to go up against were supposed to be strong and well organized with little known about their technology and motivations.
She couldn't wait.
She wasn't a part of Aomari's defence when these Phantoms struck. No, instead she was ordered to stay at her post at Naha.
`Sigma-13 needs at least one experienced pilot to keep an eye on things.' they told her.
*Damn bureaucrats and now look where we are.* she thought *at least I'll get a chance at these Phantoms*
Jin'ko was young but her many early victories in large scale battles against both Outcasts and Corsairs bolstered the young ace's confidence. She knew she could rise up and defeat this threat. Gone were her fears, gone were her worries, gone were her distractions......only the hungry gleam in her eye remained.
It is getting so hazy now Father, the memories. It is surely the Fog of War.
The usual conflicts and skirmishes around Sigma-13 now form the largest of barriers between us - the barrier of time. I have been so preoccupied with conflict I can scarcely remember a time we spoke as a family.
I am told I may be suffering from combat fatigue - and to think the battle hasn't really started yet! My superiors have ordered my back from the first wave, they tell me I shall be needed in reserve. It is a disgrace to be sure.
For the longest time I considered resigning my commission and joining the Marines. They have picked the best and most knowledgeable warriors for the first wave to land on Aomori. I wanted to be among them so badly, but I will be ready to fly as required by my Guild Masters.
I have a feeling I will be joining the battle, and it will be glorious!
It was 300 hours on stationary Gas Miner Naha. Isamu suddently woke up. He felt intense freeze in his limbs and chest. It wasn't an ordinary morning. The cold has woken him up. Isamu has already had three sheets on, but it wasn't enough. He felt fine, but cold. It felt as nothing could warm him up.
As a true Kusarian he wouldn't complain and hold his duties above anything else. It was the very same duty which dragged him into this situation only four hours ago. It happened on thursday to friday night at exactly 1100 hours. Red alarm would go off and all pilots would rendezevous on the dock and Isamu was one of the pilots.
Why did the alarm go off? He would only see it later after the launch of Gamma wing. Phantoms would continue assault GMG space. They had already captured most of the Chuyu Cloud and Aomori Station within it. It was but the remnants of full attack force posing a great threat to the restof GMG instalations. This time Naha could fall.
Isamu had no fear for the Phantoms. In his mind they wouldn't seperate much from any other adversaries. The two fighter wings would slash into each other.
The fight would last two more hours, but it was all over soon for Isamu. He has flown in the first line and by far has taken most of the heat and weapons fire. A missile would hit his ship and only a short moment of spinning and a bit of cheer luck would grant him a slim chance to eject.
He wasn't sure what happened later. The ejection pod would flow in disorderly manner and as the lights would go off Isamu would pass out out of cold.
How much time did he spend freezing in space? He did not know, he did not care. It wasn't a punishment for failure. It was karma. Isamu did not feel traumatised, he just wanted the cold to stop.
DAY 5 - Aomori Station, Deck 16 (H-Fuel processing and storage)
- "Almost done here..."
A man was kneeling down next to one of the broken terminals, holding a non standard PDA hotwired into the open circuitry below the keypads. He was surrounded by three armed GMG security carefully watching the surrounding area. One of them stood by a corner, peeking only slightly to see the grotesque shock troops slowly scanning through the large storage area.
- "They're sweeping the last tank, Guild Master."
Katsuo wiped the sweat off his forehead, then took his hands to the wires while whispering to the officer behind him.
- "How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that... Not until these gaijin are off the station."
A slight humm erupted from the terminal as the broken screen shed sparks from an apparent power surge.
- "Now to connect this... here... got it!" - he said enthusiastically while getting up from his crouch and hastily unplugging his PDA. He turned towards the security officers.
- "We got our access to the machinery back. I should be able to access the bulkhead security controls from there. Now lets get out of here before the 'hounds' find us."
The four men went behind the H-Fuel storage tanks nearby, and started sneaking towards one of the GMG strongpoints on this deck.
Katsuo had to take these trips to isolated terminals several times now, due to him being the only one on this deck skilled enough in electronics to be able to tap into damaged terminals. The Phantom hackers didn't waste any time either, constantly trying to deactivate the security measures on the station, terminal by terminal if necessary. Although the fact that most of the systems were never connected to the rest of the station comm net, and most of the automated security measures were controlled by specific terminals spread all across the station was a nuisance in times of peace, it certainly gave the GMG security an edge as they secured chokepoints and crucial locations with concentrated firepower. The fighting itself turned increasingly tactical ever since Okazaki's fighter crash-landed on Aomori during the initial Phantom attack. Both sides lost enough men to start coping with the losses, and the fighting has by now turned into a gruelling excersize at trench warfare.
The man in the front stopped suddenly, halting the others behind him. He raised his hand in a motion that would suggest caution. The others would hear a faint mechanical screeching, as several Phantom soldiers in their powered armour approached their location.
- "Gui - ... Okazaki-san? I think we were detected."
- "We will see about that..." - Okazaki whispered while activating something on his PDA. Within the space of a moment a loud humm filled the large storage rooms, as the giant robotic arms attached to the ceiling sprung to life and began loading up H-Fuel canisters to the now moving conveyor running through the middle of the deck. The noise became elevated, distracting the Phantom soldiers who were now carefully scanning the mechanical movers. The men used that to sneak by to the next row of H-Fuel tanks. They were now just one cargo bay away from the strongpoint. As they moved slowly towards the barricades in the dimly lit room, the front soldier took out his communicator from the pocket, whispered something into it and put it back in.
- "All right we have thirty seconds."
The men stood up and ran out towards the barricade in full sprint, moving from behind the tanks into the field of view of the barricade guards who kept their rifles trained on them. They made it to their own a few seconds later, and moved behind them as the guards then switched their standard issue Skysweeper energy rifles to full auto, anticipating a Phantom rush to follow.
A man came out from one of the rooms next to the barricade to meet the arriving party, clearly in a rush. He walked straight to Katsuo, as the three security men took their positions at the barricade.
- "How did it go?" - he asked. Katsuo pulled out his PDA.
- "With a little bit of luck we will have our security access back for this deck soon. I built a few communicators into the last few terminals so we should be able to keep control over all the cargo bay machinery until the Phantoms figure out what's going on."
- "And the main bulkhead control?"
- "Sorted. I have the access codes right here."
- "Perfect. I'll tell our forward men to start packing up and move the barricade to the next line."
The man looked up at Katsuo.
- "I should go thank those gaijin for having you crashland on this station, Guild Master."
- "Don't be too glad. I will be leaving you as soon our men secure the docking bays. The liberating fleet is going to need me in space for this one. You're going to be in charge of security down here on the supply decks."
Katsuo looked behind his shoulder at the barricade then back at the man.
- "I should go activate the laser cutters. We might need them should the Phantoms deploy their tin cans to come over. Tell your people to put all the floor and ceiling guns on standby, we're going to need the Skyblasts."