Caliburnus
Inactive Member
Bomana Prime, Bomana System...
He could hear the EDLCs hum to life as he sat in the heavy fighter. The artificial intelligence started to run checks. "Welcome pilot," said the synthesized female voice. "Begin systems check. Navigation systems online." The HUD came up. "Weapons online." He could hear a number of clicks. "Engines online." The craft's engines briefly roared to life but the fighter didn't go anywhere. Magnetic catapult initiated." The craft lifted slightly and he felt the familiar sensation of weightlessness. "Hold on tight. We're ready to deploy," said a different female voice. He knew it was Lieutenant Cavick. The fighter groaned. 'Fly safe,' flashed across the HUD. "Launching in 3... 2... 1..." The ribs of the catapult flashed by and the fighter shot into space along with seven others.
"Fifty *metre spread. Align on vector..." The lieutenant spouted of a string of numbers. The AI marked the vector on his HUD. He lifted the fighter yoke and then turned. "Easy newbie," said a male voice on the channel. It was Ensign Killian. He switched his secondary subspace radio channel. There was some fleet chatter. The biggest ith fleet ever assembled was in orbit. The eight fighters buzzed by the traffic control tower and through some of the conchobar and some old target buoys. They made their way closer and closer to the dirty brown globe that was Bomana Prime, forth planet orbiting around a yellow star.
High Altitude, Low Orbit, Bomana System...
Iarann Scuid is the most highly trained unit of the military. These soldiers were drilled and are now commanded by the few survivors of the units originally deployed to evacuate the Toirmiscthe Zone. The initial assault would need to secure and fortify a base of operations just north of the ruins of Cathair na Gaineamh's city center. There was reason to believe that one of Gaineamh's vaults still sheltered survivors even twenty years later.
These fortifications were meant for extended sieges but were not self sustaining decades after their doors had closed. If there were still survivors in Gaineamh they would be running out of supplies.
Satellite images showed that the primary entrance into the vaults under the city bore some promise of being intact and negotiable once some heavy equipment was deployed. This initial assault of nearly eight-hundred soldiers, four company sized elements that make up one of the four battalions of Iarann Scuid would be the first on the ground. These soldiers were deployed with full loads from low orbit out the back of multiple transports.
Their descent was tracked by the Mac Tíre and Iarann fleets who waited ready in geosynchronous orbit. Flights of heavy fighters, including Cavick's squadron entered the atmosphere with another group of transports on a long approach to avoid the soldiers as they plummeted. Flashes of light were already starting to illuminate the ground under the choking black cloud-cover.
Petty Officer Second Class Finian Allmhurán hearts pounded as he plummeted head long into the brown dust of his father's birth planet, threatening to burst from his chest and through his armor. They were drums in his ears. That sound and his ragged breathing were the only sounds he was permitted. His body, an arrow as water condensed on the pane of his helmet and the ground rushed up to meet him.
He moved his arms slightly to adjust his decent, taking ques from the HUD within his helmet as the altimeter's numbers wound down. They cleared the lowest cloud layer then and the burnt surfaced stretched out under them. Rally points started to alight in his HUD and projected landing locations were desplayed. He adjusted his body, turning in the air before nosing down again and the spreading his arms and legs out to cup the torrents of whipping wind with his four fingered hands. There was no sign of the enemy.
Cosaint, Bomana Prime, Bomana System...
Captain Ailbe Byrnes sat in a padmasana, the lotus pose upon a small padded mat in his quarters. There were no beds on-board Ith starships. Why would they need beds? The Ith did not sleep, only needing a few hours of rest and meditation to recover fully from a day of duty or hard labor. The commander of the ship was the only Ith that had their own quarters. He was dictating to a touch device that lay on the floor beside him.
He was interrupted by the shipboard communication system. The executive officer requested his presence on the bridge. "That first line eludes me," he said to himself. He stood, placed the device on a nearby table and exited his quarters.
He could hear the EDLCs hum to life as he sat in the heavy fighter. The artificial intelligence started to run checks. "Welcome pilot," said the synthesized female voice. "Begin systems check. Navigation systems online." The HUD came up. "Weapons online." He could hear a number of clicks. "Engines online." The craft's engines briefly roared to life but the fighter didn't go anywhere. Magnetic catapult initiated." The craft lifted slightly and he felt the familiar sensation of weightlessness. "Hold on tight. We're ready to deploy," said a different female voice. He knew it was Lieutenant Cavick. The fighter groaned. 'Fly safe,' flashed across the HUD. "Launching in 3... 2... 1..." The ribs of the catapult flashed by and the fighter shot into space along with seven others.
"Fifty *metre spread. Align on vector..." The lieutenant spouted of a string of numbers. The AI marked the vector on his HUD. He lifted the fighter yoke and then turned. "Easy newbie," said a male voice on the channel. It was Ensign Killian. He switched his secondary subspace radio channel. There was some fleet chatter. The biggest ith fleet ever assembled was in orbit. The eight fighters buzzed by the traffic control tower and through some of the conchobar and some old target buoys. They made their way closer and closer to the dirty brown globe that was Bomana Prime, forth planet orbiting around a yellow star.
High Altitude, Low Orbit, Bomana System...
Iarann Scuid is the most highly trained unit of the military. These soldiers were drilled and are now commanded by the few survivors of the units originally deployed to evacuate the Toirmiscthe Zone. The initial assault would need to secure and fortify a base of operations just north of the ruins of Cathair na Gaineamh's city center. There was reason to believe that one of Gaineamh's vaults still sheltered survivors even twenty years later.
These fortifications were meant for extended sieges but were not self sustaining decades after their doors had closed. If there were still survivors in Gaineamh they would be running out of supplies.
Satellite images showed that the primary entrance into the vaults under the city bore some promise of being intact and negotiable once some heavy equipment was deployed. This initial assault of nearly eight-hundred soldiers, four company sized elements that make up one of the four battalions of Iarann Scuid would be the first on the ground. These soldiers were deployed with full loads from low orbit out the back of multiple transports.
Their descent was tracked by the Mac Tíre and Iarann fleets who waited ready in geosynchronous orbit. Flights of heavy fighters, including Cavick's squadron entered the atmosphere with another group of transports on a long approach to avoid the soldiers as they plummeted. Flashes of light were already starting to illuminate the ground under the choking black cloud-cover.
Petty Officer Second Class Finian Allmhurán hearts pounded as he plummeted head long into the brown dust of his father's birth planet, threatening to burst from his chest and through his armor. They were drums in his ears. That sound and his ragged breathing were the only sounds he was permitted. His body, an arrow as water condensed on the pane of his helmet and the ground rushed up to meet him.
He moved his arms slightly to adjust his decent, taking ques from the HUD within his helmet as the altimeter's numbers wound down. They cleared the lowest cloud layer then and the burnt surfaced stretched out under them. Rally points started to alight in his HUD and projected landing locations were desplayed. He adjusted his body, turning in the air before nosing down again and the spreading his arms and legs out to cup the torrents of whipping wind with his four fingered hands. There was no sign of the enemy.
Cosaint, Bomana Prime, Bomana System...
Captain Ailbe Byrnes sat in a padmasana, the lotus pose upon a small padded mat in his quarters. There were no beds on-board Ith starships. Why would they need beds? The Ith did not sleep, only needing a few hours of rest and meditation to recover fully from a day of duty or hard labor. The commander of the ship was the only Ith that had their own quarters. He was dictating to a touch device that lay on the floor beside him.
"And the world in the smile of the Chailís awoke,
And the empty realms of darkness and death
Were moved through their depths by his mighty breath,
And orbs of beauty and spheres of flame
From the void abyss by myriads came,--
In the joy of youth as they darted away,
Through the widening wastes of space to play,
Their silver voices in chorus rung,
And this was the song the Chailís sung.
Away, away, through the wide, wide..."
And the empty realms of darkness and death
Were moved through their depths by his mighty breath,
And orbs of beauty and spheres of flame
From the void abyss by myriads came,--
In the joy of youth as they darted away,
Through the widening wastes of space to play,
Their silver voices in chorus rung,
And this was the song the Chailís sung.
Away, away, through the wide, wide..."
He was interrupted by the shipboard communication system. The executive officer requested his presence on the bridge. "That first line eludes me," he said to himself. He stood, placed the device on a nearby table and exited his quarters.
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