Chaos reigned aboard the small but advanced cruiser. Crewman moved around, on lining critical systems, the soft skitter of footsteps across the flood drew attention to the small group of technicians huddled around the most advanced of the technology two equipment that filled the ship. Their banter was technical, but their task of the utmost importance. This was the last section of the new cruiser that needed to be connected. Their as of yet unseen captain had only sent word to bring the ship on line. Nobody wanted to be the first to disappoint.
A tall gaunt Sebiestor walked among the crew unnoticed. Checking systems here and there, touching all parts of his new ship as he moved. Slowly making his way towards the group of huddled technicians, this is the way a ship was supposed to run. As a team, not just a tool to be used by the captain. He slipped into the group of men, unnoticed. They huddled around the archaic manuals and guides of how to hook up the system, making their best guesses, the tall captain giving soft suggestions, letting them figure it out, as he watched. The last lead was connected and the technicians turned to congratulate their new help, but found him already gone. A shrug was all he got, obviously another technician from a separate part of the ship, just trying to help.
The captain strode through the otherwise cramped interior, ducking slightly to avoid the overhead in places. A short scan of his ice blue eyes all that it took to enter the eject room that contained his pod. His clothes shed, he stepped into the pod, the cold silvery liquid moved up his naked body the short sharp pangs of fear moving deep in the pit of his stomach as the liquid covered his mouth and then nose. The captain's eyes fluttering shut just before the liquid reached them. Short moments panic before the systems kicked in, interfacing with his brain, his eyes now seeing as the camera drone would. His ship still docked at the station, floating weightlessly in the zero gravity area before space. The cloaking device lit green first, followed by every other major system. It took only a slight touch of will to move the ship into space.
Cleared for publication by: Ander
Green trails of superheated gases pressed the ship forward further into space, picking up speed as it went. The captain already knew the destination, the ship turning slightly before plunging into the warp tunnel it made. The cloaking field was the next thing to activate, the cruiser shimmering slightly before disappearing, much like the natural field that covered ships as they exited jump points. Light bending and reforming around the ship every five seconds, renewing the cloak. Even the roar of the engines seemed muted by the cloak, the shaking less severe as the cruiser exited warp. Empty space around the warp gate added to the eerie silence, careful piloting allowed the cruiser to jump without uncloaking. the empty star gate mute witness to their passing.
Disorientation followed shortly, as the computer swapped communication channels on the camera drone's overlay. A likely planet then chosen from the system to start the hunt for targets. Just as the ship began to come out of cloak around the gate, it's cloaking generator kicked back in, shielding the ship once again. A inhabited belt of two Apocalypse class battleships seemed the likely target. With barely a whisper of thought the hidden cruiser slid towards them.
The two battleships sat relaxed in the belt, ten drones orbiting them in a tight circle as if asking for a fight. Unaware of the shark sitting just a few thousand meters to their side, the cruise slid in closer, heading towards the jet-can that the two ships were using as a mining depository. in a second the cruiser uncloaked, already close to their jet-can, transferring it's contents into a new can created by the cruiser, nearly twenty three thousand meters cubed moved from one place to another in a second. The empty container imploding as the captain turned the cruiser away from the new can, and entered warp to the nearest planet before the apocalypse battleships could gain a lock if they were indeed looking for one. The roar of the engines was back, harsher now that the ship was not cloaked, but by the time it emerged from warp, it was quiet again, not even a shimmer belying the position of the cruiser as it turned to head back to the battleships.
Once again back at the belt, the cruiser slid to just outside it's optimal from the two battleships. The can was still sitting there, undisturbed but for a few minutes ago and neither of the battleships were showing hostile intent. Their drones happily flying around them without a care. Each battleship dropped a can next to them to deposit their ore. A moment passed, then another, the cruiser sensing the distress of the two miners. Should they take the can? they knew the trap. It was no matter, it was not them the Captain was actually after, but the industrial ship that did that transporting.
The silence was broken again, just barely, a sigh as the can was popped by not one but both of the miners. There they sat, blinking black on the captains camera drones. Still mining, unafraid of the consequences. The cloak was off in a heartbeat, the cruiser coming into focus as already drones were flying from the drone bay. Targeting pings fell on the hull of the cruiser and two battleships alike. The Captain taking advantage of the slight edge in sensor strength to get the lock first, artilleries pumping tremor M rounds into the shields of one battleship while the other was held in place by a single twenty kilometer scrambler, it's twin warp scrambling the battleship under barrage. Then the battleships gained lock, ten drones flying towards the cruiser, Caldari drone pilots intent on the kill, like the Gurrista pirates they had fought before this, the deemed this cruiser to be an easy kill. The cruiser however was not still, it's Minmatar drones tearing into the shields of the first battleship, targeting sensors taking a long time to come up with solid locks on 4 drones at a time. The first one, instantly webbed and nearly stopped in it's tracks, the two light and three medium Minmatar drones doggedly striking back at the Caldari drone pilots, easily their equal. The Caldari drones began to fall, webbed and popped by other drones as fast as the targeting could move. The cruisers shields had taken a beating, but had barely held sitting at less than fifty percent, the artilleries pounding deep holes now into the first Apocalypse starting deep internal fires. The last drone was destroyed at the same time as the Apocalypse was destroyed, the glare from the explosion blinding the captain momentarily, guns already switching to the second battleship. Time was short now, help had to be on the way.
A new entry into the belt was a Ferox class battle cruiser. It had landed forty eight kilometers from the cruiser, but already it was targeting the Cruiser. The captain wasted no time targeting back, checking the aggression countdown to see if the battle cruiser could open fire, and indeed it could. The first missile barrage impacted heavily against the side of the Cruiser, shaking it and knocking the shields down to 40 percent as the Artilleries impacted on the armor of the second Apocalypse for the first time. Drones launched from the Ferox and charged towards the Cruiser, ready to eat the rest of it's shields and armor in conjunction with the Ferox missiles. Already they were being targeted, but there was only two of them. Already the Ferox was thirty eight kilometers away and closing, something had to be done. The Apocalypse was spewing fire now, casting a pale glow across to the hull of the cruiser as round after round shot into the structure, each time the captain hoping for a miracle, for the Apocalypse to be finished off faster. Another volley of missile impacted the side of the cruiser, it's shields dropping down now to ten percent, it's drones now targeted and also digging into the shield and armor of the cruiser.
A devious smile crept across the face of the captain, he knew what he had to do. The last module, unused until now sprang to life, a sensor dampener, it filled the targeting computer of the Ferox with a jumble of targets, instantly and irrevocably reducing it's targeting range to twenty five kilometers. The Ferox's lock blinked once and then was gone, the five Matari drones digging into the two drones of the battle cruiser. The last drone exploded as the Ferox crossed into twenty six kilometers from the cruiser. The five drones of the Captain's slinking back into their drone bay as the sensor dampener shut off and the lock dropped off the battle cruiser. The Ferox captain must have howled in joy, his targeting pings bouncing off the hull of the cruiser, two seconds till lock. The Cruiser was already at half armor, too damaged to continue to fight, but then suddenly, one second before it was locked, it was just gone.
Armor bloodied but otherwise unhurt, the now cloaked cruiser slid within four thousand meters of the Ferox, piping the stream of profanities to the crew compartments that the pilot was now rattling off in local. It left the system the same way it had entered. It was after all a short one jump to home, and it was time to celebrate. Uncloaking for only a second to dock, the crew left the Cruiser to be repaired by the teams of workers in the star base.
The bars were crowded that night. It was not the type of victory that they were celebrating, but instead that now they were a combat tested crew. The group of cloaking technicians had one addition, a man they would have bought a drink for because of his timely help to get the cloak on line, a tall Sebiestor. Why would they buy the drinks tho when the still unseen captain was paying?
2 Comments
That was well written! I hope you'll write more stories in the future.
Awesome stuff. Look forward to reading more of your work :)