Exhack
Inactive Member
ON, VSV Astarte
Deep Gardens
Bukor 17, 936
11:59, Commonwealth Standard Time
"Confirmed Vaytulri. I'll beacon the location using your sensor data for recovery at a later date." The missions operator seemed to be slightly disheartened at the news, but maintained the cool professionalism that Mu'Tasim had been familiar with. Famasir cooed responsively as it briefly highlighted the wreckage on his HUD and proceeded to send the data back. "No other casualties to confirm?"
"Vayshirin Chirimar has sustained minor damage to his unit, but we are well within operational conditions. Give my regards to Sixth Squadron, the assistance of their pilots were greatly appreciated." responded Mu'Tasim coolly, taking note of his N.I.'s quick response when it came to the marking of the waypoint. He scanned quickly over his squadron's status one more time, before looking over at Szemis' VANDR. "Command, forgive my lack of tact, but who sent that fool of a pilot." His unit locked on to the younger Storhan's VANDR, "Vayshirin Szemis Storhan."
"Vayshirin Storhan broke formation from his patrol group approximately eight minutes ago. Orders are to send him back... with escort, if you can spare someone from your wing."
"I will send Lanbalri Storhan with him, she will be more appropriate than anyone to regard the young pilots mistakes." commented Mu'Tasim, before sending the order to Zus privately.
"Thank you for your compliance, Vaytulri." The voice replied curtly, subtly pleased with Mu'Tasim's quick resolution of the issue.
"Orders have changed, for the moment." To Famasir's surprise, a new series of navpoints were strung up onto his HUD, which were quickly sifted through and passed out to the remainder of the Squadron. If he examined them for a moment, the Temple Guard would recognize these navpoints as being along the reconnaissance routes of another one of the Squadrons. "The Fifth Squadron has lost contact under similar circumstances as yours, but reported back successfully destroying one of the UFOs."
"It's suspected they ran into a pocket NVR forces or may have encountered another one of the objects. In either case we'd like you to investigate that area before resuming your own route."
"Understood, command. First Squadron will move to intercept." responded Mu'Tasim, before turning to the two sixth squadron natives. "Pho'tet, Nadev, you are with us for now, fall into formation and proceed with us." With that, Famasir blasted off, taking the lead of the squadron, "First Squadron, move out!"
----
Things had calmed down quite a bit on the bridge, since they had both a name and samples of the disruptive organism. The few casualties were unfortunate, but the majority of the Wing had pulled through, and most had managed to regroup. Ishtar's sudden outburst stirred things slightly, but most were simply too occupied poring over the new data to notice.
The Marranr gently grabbed the small-bodied NI by her left horn and gave her a stern stare, hoping to calm her down a little before he spoke to her. "Well, what is it?"
Instead of calming her, it seemed to encite her to more flailing as if the Marranr were not taking her seriously. "Bad things! Bad, Bad Things!" she squeaked in a harsh whisper. "The lifeforms we've encountered seem to contain infant Dream Eaters." Ishtar's voice went shrill. "I do not have enough data to confirm if it is an infestation, a form of gestation, or a transformation. All my data pertaining to the subject of Dream Eaters does not include behavior such as this. I think the squadrons should avoid contact with those... those... space whale things until I know for certain."
"...well." Mridula steepled her fingers, her skin paling somewhat as she chewed on her bottom lip. "That's... that's not good. At all. Should we kill them?"
"That would depend. Your reports earlier said that had nurturing habits and tended to form large families... and fled your shuttle when you approached them." Serhan adjusted his glasses slightly, and gestured over to Mridula to emphasize his words. "Perhaps... caution would be advisable for the moment. I'd like an in depth report once you've had the chance to analyze the samples." He actually seemed somewhat surprised by the revelation and a little intrigued.
"There could be more Dream Eaters within the Gardens, within the area. What the First Squadron fought was an infant, not fully grown, or combat capable. There is a high probability of there being mature Dream Eaters. If there are, and if they've had a chance to develop their combat capabilities it will be devistating if we are found." Ishtar pointed out.
"...shit, shit, shit." The biologist pressed her fingers to her temples and rubbed them in little circles. "Shit. I've seen this movie. We're going to forget all about them and save the day, then when we turn around to go home they'll all have gestated and we'll get eaten."
Ishtar looked toward Mridula, batting her golden eyes. "But the infant Dream Eaters only consume biomass to accelerate their growth and or to start the initial process. After that they merely destroy, adapt to better combat their opponent or incorporate the weaponry into a form of technorganic hybrid."
"Well, that's a relief, Ishtar."
Ishtar just looked toward the deck plate.
"I am far more bothered by those resonance fields they generated." The Marranr said with a slight grunt, bringing up several layers of the waveform that creature generated onto the overhead display. "With what seemed to be a reflexive scream from an infant, it disabled sensors and communications and left all of our forces in the field running deaf and blind. Devising some means to compensate for this interference is going to be essential if we encounter more of them..."
"It generated an initial shockwave across the entire EM spectrum. And caught me by surprise." Ishtar huffed. "I've been diverting some of my processes to this subject... but all I have thought of is creating resonance fields of our own to cancel them out. Certain radio frequencies in the lower band could remain active and laser based communications did not not seem to go down. MASC based systems I would have to run tests on and see. My sensors are still fouled up across all ships because of the natural interference of the nebula."
"Redistribute power from the main batteries for now, until you can figure out more prescise ways of compensating for the disruption." Serhan instructed, crossing his arms as he attempted to make sense of the situation.
Ishtar poked at the hand still holding her horn. "Could you let me go then... please?" her eyes wide and pleading while she looked up at Serhan.
"My mistake." The faint outline of a smile formed in the corners of Serhan's mouth, as he realized he'd actually grabbed onto the NI and was now firmly holding her between his arms. He let out a small, pensive grunt and let go of her, casually ruffling the front fringe of her pink hair. "As you were. That data will be essential to our continued mission in this region."
Ishtar just went red in the cheeks as she gave a short awkward nod.
----
As First Squadron advanced to answer Command's orders for movement, Mu'Tasim felt it necessary to access the squad's cohesion as a whole before arrival. It had been a while since he had last led any sort of unit into combat, and the last time was on foot, in VAHINs. Still, they were people, only in much bigger VAHINs.
"Vayshirin Ragnar, if I am to understand, this is your first proper engagement." commented Mu'Tasim, Famasir's head turning back to look at Noblisse, "How are you holding up?"
Isha smiled inwardly and would have shook her head were she embodied. "Technically, sir, this is my second sortie, as I was present during the first engagement with the NVR. But I'm doing well, though a comrade dead is never a pleasant thing." She took on a slightly sour note with her final sentence, but nothing that sounded overly upset. She hadn't known Bahadur for more than a few hours.
"I see, my apologies, Ragnar. I will take note not to be so neglectful of my subordinates again. Still, death is persistent in war, but, as Mu'Klamal said so gloriously at the Battle of Kaz'Mohal, 'Death is temporary, glory is eternal, and memories are forever.' As long as we remember Shajahan and his glory, he is never dead." nodded Famasir as Mu'Tasim spoke in reply, "Chirimar, you've sustained damage, but I've got to applaud your valiance in attempting to free me from that Dream Eater."
Akjit perked up as Mu'Tasim's attention turned to him. He wasn't quite sure how to take this praise. Was it really praise? "Thank you sir. But I still made m-mistakes here. I'll do my best to get better." He replied. As far as he was concerned, he had already made a deal with a Nightmare. One's who's depths he did not understand.
"That is all Fanir asks of us in our decisions of haste, Chirimar. You are a better pilot for it, and will be for the rest of your days. I will rely on your valiance in the future." Mu'Tasim chuckled a moment before adding, "As long as you do not do it in such a sacrificial manner as that time before." Still, the assesment of his own squadron wasn't complete, he still had two new faces to account for. "Vayshirin Pho'tet! Vayshirin Nadev!" called the mighty Temple Guard, "Let me be the first to welcome you for your temporary flight with First Squadron. How long have you been flying with the Vanguard?"
"Thank you, sir," responded Kuzman Nadev, "I have been with the Vanguard around six months. I wish Pho'tet and myself had arrived earlier." He paused for a moment and decided now would be the best time, "I will warn you sir, I am slightly reckless on occasion; Pho'tet is more the tactician of two of us."
"I wouldn't say "flying" is my first choice, sir." A slight chuckle in the Vayshirin's voice carried over the comms. "I've been stationed on the VSV Astarte for six months now after my extra training ended. And I agree with Nadev, I wish we had arrived sooner." So it was with war, just as the Temple Guard had said earlier. Memories and stardust are the real tangibles after death.
"I welcome you all to First Squadron. Most of our original members are all, either gone, promoted, or dead." said Mu'Tasim grimly, looking on forward towards their fast approaching way-point. "In this squadron you either move up, down, or somewhere else, but in every case, you alway move. I wish I could have met you all more properly before this, but that is the military for you." The squadron leader fell silent for a moment, considering his words, "Of any of you, are their any honors? Special capabilities that I should be made aware? I would like to know my unit. At the very least, those I work with."
"I wouldn't have it any other way, sir. For the glory of the Commonwealth." I just hope it's not always in space I'm moving... "I have advance hand to hand combat training as well as advanced infantry training, sir."
"I earned high marks in marksmanship and as such was placed in a Raevr; however I prefer my personal blades and close range combat," responded Kuzman.
"I've said before sir, but I'm a Field Physician," was the sweet and simple answer.
"Mmm. You all are fairly capable, at the very least. Whilst just a Field Physician, Ragnar fights well enough, and you two Sixers have proven your worth." Mu'Tasim began to set up the proper advancing formation as the spoke to his Squadron. The line up would be posted to the rest of them when he finished. "Let me properly introduce myself, as I have rudely failed to do so far. I am Vaytulri Mu'Tasim Farouk. I am a six year veteran of the Astral Vanguard's infantry." With that, he had set up for the foward assault line, which consisted of himself and Akjit. "In my sixth year I was inducted into the Temple Guard, and was sworn in only a few months following. I am an Acolyte of almost a year." Now the mid-line, which consisted of solely Isha, providing mid-range fire support. "I have been with Bahram Wing since it's creation, with the exception of a small vacation granted by full-body radiation poisoning. Though, I am quite better now." with that warm note, he set the rear-line, consisting of Jin and Kuzman. They would provide long-range missile support. He transmitted the formation, and their N.I.'s properly set up holographic representations of their positions.
Jin signaled his affirmitive to the instructions and moved his Raevr into place, starting to get a real feel for it as his personal unit. He'd eventually need to find its name/name it himself. Maybe then he would feel even more at home in the middle of space...
Kuzman moved his Raevr into position silently, though he was eager to be back on the Astarte and napping. Kuzman asked his NI, "You like that combat, Nuk'Dukam?" to which it responded with a hearty surge of gung-ho enthusiasm.
The Ivuori moved into the position the Temple Guard designated, but, in actuality, felt a little discouraged after hearing his praise of the other Frame Runners. What was Akjit good in? He didn't know anything beyond the standard training, and so, stayed silent. And personal skills like his drawings...well, those don't count for much do they? The VANDR silently continued on with the others.
"It's a privilege," Isha said, "To fly with such a squadron." Otherwise she had little to contribute for the time being, and hoped it stayed that way for awhile.
"Chirimar, you have profenciency of VANDR-based melee combat, don't you?" asked Mu'Tasim to his front-line subordinate. The Temple Guard felt it best to assess what seemed to be the most thin-skinned of the group. Akjit was a loyal soldier, but pressure seemed to force him to extremes.
If Akjit could, he would have moved about in his seat in slight discomfort. Sadly, that was not an option. "W-well, I am proficient in that, and am interested in it the most. But, well, I'm better at VANDR-Ranged Combat. Well. Said my instructor." He replied. The brief recollection brought up memories of being yelled at by Drill Staff. He shuddered inside; he had the feeling he just opened up a forbidden relic.
"Hrm. We will have to amend that." said Mu'Tasim, a bit of excitement lining his tone. "I was number two in VANDR training courses in Seddir when it came to my trials. Now, it would only be reasonable to assume, by Mu'Klamals strategic thought, that I would make an excellent melee instructor to fortify your abilities as a skirmishing pilot in the VR training bays every other day, yes?"
He froze at the offer. Skirmishing with Mu'Tasim? Maybe he wouldn't have to train with Nightmare then if - "Go ahead. I will train you myself every other day that you are not with the Temple Guard." The NI spoke. Yes. Akjit made up his mind; he was going to get blasted out of the skies and get worn raw regularly. Plus, there was no way out even if he wanted to. Which he now did.
"T-that would be an honor sir!" he replied. Technically, that wasn't a lie.
"Yes, we will take good care of you... the NI spoke in its most feminine voice, mocking him.
"Excellent! You'll be fighting like an Acolyte in no time." replied Mu'Tasim warmly, before looking on forward towards the objective. "We will discuss this further after the mission's conclusion. In the mean time, be ready. All of you, we are approaching the waypoint."
Jin whispered a short prayer to Jafar, his personal chosen Dreamer. Here's to hoping we all make it through this... whatever it is.
----
It was only a few moments before the half-dozen assist NI chimed in simultaneously, informing their pilots that they had in fact arrived at the selected location, or at least were at the navpoint that the 5th had last reported being at. Sensors buzzed with new data, rapidly feeding information on their environment, but the area was by and large the same, mostly empty solar system space with some debris and the system's gas giants and sun distant specs of orange in the void.
There was an audible ping when the sweep finished, which immediately brought a small spec of grey and brown in the distance, almost four light-seconds out. Electromagnetic radiation, neutrino leakages and small spatial distortions revealed it to be clearly artificial... although it didn't appear to have any streaming devices sending out comms chatter on Astral Vanguard frequencies.
Mu'Tasim heard a digital ping sound as Vaytulri Romdo's voice came up onto communications again. "Vaytulri, I've got confirmation you're at the Navpoint. Report status?"
"Deadspace, Fifth Squadron is not here, nor is there any evidence of battle. We are, however, picking up signatures of an artificial anomaly four light-seconds off. Command, can you confirm?" requested Mu'Tasim his unit floating free within the empty vacuum, drifting only slightly due to his minor momentum.
He wondered what happened to them. Was it another Dream eater? Quite possibly. What would happen if the Astarte ran across group of them? What if they were even spawning from some nearby place? The possibilities were endless, simply because Akjit thought about it too much.
Kuzman felt a sense of disappointment emanate from Nuk'Dukam; however, he himself did not echo such sentiment. The fewer chances of death, the better.
Jin looked to the artificial constuct with a smile in his heart. Somewhere he could put his boots down and explore. He couldn't wait to get the affirmitive to land.
"Yes... it's coming in a bit faint on my end, but it's probably just interference." The missions operator said with a slight bit of surprise. "You're cleared to investigate."
"Well enough, let's move up, First Squadron." said Mu'Tasim as he blasted forth, "Activate barrier guards and shields, be ready should this be a hostile." With that, he raised up his defenses, blazing on ahead to get a better look at the anomaly.
Jin powered up his defensive network and weapon loadouts, hitting the figurative throttle and speeding up without breaking formation. Looks like they were going to explore it. The thought got his blood pumping and he himself began to mentally run a check list on the equipment he brought with him.
The distortion field protecting the VANDR flicked to life, power coursing into the weapons. Akjit was ready to activate the Phanoma Shroud as well, but held off on that. "I hope it's not another one. But, hope doesn't make things come true, right?" He asked, his dour state over what happened behind the scenes leaking into his conversation. "I'll stick to ranged combat, and go in with the blades if things get bad, just like last time." Akjit informed the others.
After flicking the metaphorical switches, he defenses flickered to life. Kuzman felt a bit safer with the defenses turned on; but after seeing the Dream Eater, even the distortion field may not protect him.
Going into an... unknown area wasn't exactly something Isha was excited about. Still, that was the mission, wasn't it? Nubia was naturally there providing mental support, but the situation still had her on edge. There was a good chance it was another Dream Eater, or something just as horrible. And if it played out anything like the last encounter, she could expect one more dead or critically wounded. "Might I suggest we err on the side of caution until we've properly evaluated the situation?"
"We are being cautious, Ragnar. Once we properly identify this anomaly we'll decide further on how to act. In the mean time, we will continue until our sensors or N.I. can do us better than our eyes." responded Mu'Tasim, turning his VANDR's head back in Noblisse's direction for a glance before looking back forward. "Hopefully, it is another Dream Eater."
The few minutes as they moved towards the anomaly were short and tense, but passed quickly. As the object came into view, it was clear that it was some sort of space station, and bore significant plasma scoring and structural damage. Some of the damage was comparatively ancient, like the single great fissure that seemed to grace the hermispheric top of the station, while others were fresh and still glowed faintly from recent impacts.
Multiple signatures quickly erupted into view as they closed the gap, all of them bearing the standard emission profiles of NVR Soono and Nahoda-type powered frames, all of them seemingly swarming around a single Erla VANDR 2. Beacons sounded off dramatically and were highlighted on HUD, as multiple Astral Vanguard frames docked inside of the station were broadcasting distress calls. Analysis of the signals and IFF tags confirmed that they were the missing 5th Squadron... though none of the frames were actually broadcasting anything beyond their basic distress signals. No voice, no text, no parameters for their situation...
"Permssion to engage, sir?!" Jin's Raevr NI already began picking up the closest targets as his Star Locust missile were yellow-lighted in preperation. At least it wasn't some fantastic enemy, but just enemy soldiers.
"Permission granted! Rear-line fire missile volleys! Mid-line fire support! Front-line! Engage for close range! We'll tear right through their shields!" ordered Mu'Tasim as he blasted forth, he sent a message following, "Finish your first missile volleys, Akjit and I will teleport into close-range and disrupt their lines."
Kuzman released a salvo of Star Locust missiles at six of the farther targets and then proceeded to switch targets to the targets around the Erla VANDR2. He quickly launched a volley of Star Adders. If the Erla was friendly as he expected it was, he didn't want to see another death on the field today.
"Sir!" Mid-line was Isha, so she opened up with her automatic weapons, putting out as much force as possible, making sure to keep pace with the front-line and maintain a consistent coverfire. "Identify targets so I can keep them suppressed!" she declared.
Jin's Raevr chose nine of the mid ranged targets and released a torrent of Star Locust missiles, each of the nine aimed at a different target that none of the other Vanguard Frame Runners were firing at. Cycling through, three more broad targets were chosen deeper in the enemy ranks and the Star Adder missiles quickly followed. Jin strafed to his starboard to sepereate the lines of fire and open up crossfire lanes between the other pilots, and also make it harder to take out all of them with one concentrated blast.
The Nahoda-Nada lined up in Akjit's sights as his weapon safeties came off. Star Locust missiles joined the swarm from Kuzman and Jin's volleys. The Phantoma Shroud of his VANDR activated, leaving behind shining afterimages as he jinked and juked to avoid the inevitable reply. The targeting reticle moved about over the enemy Frame, but Akjit didn't fire his other weapons quite yet. Not until - NOW! The Shocksword and Shocksting fired just as the enemy frame began it's dodge of the missiles, making it easier for him to track.
Aiaru was moving in full evasion mode at the moment, completely willing to give up a shot on one of the many targets she had at the moment to avoid giving any of them a good shot on her. Especially with the arrival of what she definitely hoped were friendlies, though she hadn't heard anything from them yet. Nonetheless, whenever she could get a clean shot without chancing herself, she was definitely returning fire, trying to whittle the opponents down bit by bit.
Akjit immediately got the attention of several frames as he sniped one of the larger humanoid-type Nahoda frames, his beam shot arcing out and clipping its head off. As it panicked, many more turned and broke off to intercept, only to be caught by a full volley of missile fire and knocked off-course by the sudden blast of plasma as over three dozen Star Locust and Star Adder missiles struck them. Shields dissapated and heavy armor was scorched, although the initial volley had failed to take them out of the battle.
The formation quickly broke down as they split off to engage different targets, with a single Nahoda-type pursuing each VANDR, followed by its own swarm of the Soono automatons. Multiple shots followed, as the aggressor-come-defenders launched combined volleys of plasma and free electron laser beams, matching patterns and moving around aggressively to keep the 1st Squadron off-guard.
Aiaru found that she had enough room to maneuver, as her NI informed her that many of her pursuers had broken off to attack the new arrivals to the scene. Her bruised and burnt Erla VANDR II was still intact enough to put a fight up, provided she could avoid getting hit too much...
While waiting for his missiles to refresh and cycle into firing mode, Jin targeted the Nahoda-type engaging him and fired four specific shots from his Shocksting cannons. Two were aimed for each arm, one for the head, and the last for the lower chest area. No matter where it moved, he hoped he was going to hit it. In the next second, he fired his VTS drive and disappeared, only to appear a good three hundred kloms from his original location, hoping to screw with their fire patterns and give him a better shot.
The Nahoda was expecting a direct assault, and quickly moved to evade before Jin started to fire, but it wasn't quite fast enough to get out of the way. The infantryman's NI quickly compensated for the movement and adjusted the firing solution before its pilot had the chance to ask. A few beams managed to miss anyway, but the Nahoda was quickly struck by a blast to the rear thrusters, putting it off ballance and allowing the remainder of the volley to bore through it. A moment later, it burst into a bright ball of orange plasma and dissapated from view entirely.
"Akjit! Close in on the Nahodas! Strike with your VT Swords!" ordered Mu'Tasim as he quickly turned on the the Nahoda persuing him, and blazed his VANDR full-blast toward it. Though, quickly dissappearing in a flash in a rapid Sub-Light jump, only to appear, still and unmoving in front of his target, before ramming his VT Swords to it's chest. "Pile pressure on the controllers, everyone!"
As it was struck, the Nahoda willfully did the very same with its own arm, planting its glowing fist into Famasir's shoulder and firing off a full volley of beam fire. Flecks of orange-red plasma glinted off his shields and struck armor, causing it to burn and flake. The NI panicked as its outer shell was struck, letting out a shrill warning sound and quickly venting out large jets of vaporized synovial fluid to keep the arm from being cooked from the inside out.
The young frame runner perked up as Mu'Tasim yelled out orders. The Nahoda was still in the distance; he fired another volly of missiles to the enemy's right and paused before firing his beam weapons. As the missiles exploded, hit or miss, Akjit Vector Transitioned right behind the Nahoda Nada. VT Fangs shot out from his tactical arrester, three to the humanoid frame, and one to a Soono. A NEn Cap activated, boosting his speed; a VT Blade slashed out at the waist of the Nahoda.
The missiles were intercepted by defensive fire as the humanoid-type's escort maneuvered around to defend their controller. One of them was quickly put down by beam fire, while the other two shifted forward to press the attack, only to lose track of Akjit as he blinked up to the Nahoda. The Soono he struck was not nearly fast enough to deflect the VT fang, and was quickly speared in the shoulder, causing the arm to drop down in uselesness. The blade tore all the way through a second later, causing the unit to vent a large jet of red mist which quickly crystalized in the vaccuum and jerk around violently before finally blowing off.
The Nada had the advantage of being in motion as Akjit blinked in, and managed to evade out of the way well enough that the blade only clipped it in one of the legs, giving it enough of a chance to retaliate that it managed a clear strike from its own fusion cannons, firing off a series of blasts that banked off his frame's chest and arrestor.
While not the most tactical soldier on the field, Kuzman quickly realized that the Nahodas were calling the shots. As such he fired off three shots from the Shocksting cannons at the closest Nahoda. As soon as his missiles had recharged he fired off a second volley of both Star Adder and Star Locust at its surrounding Soono automatons. Then he used his VTS to scoot himself to the right of the battlefield hoping to flank the Nahodas as soon as his sensors recalibrated and missiles recharged.
The rapid volley of beam fire glanced off the approaching frame's shields, causing them to fizzle and glint. While not damaged, it was enough of a threat that the unit went on the defensive, quickly diving away and attempting to fly around and undernearth Kuzman as it too returned fire. When the full volley of missiles fired, it skillfully evaded the first few by launching countermeasures and boosting away, constantly turning to evade the blasts as they were set off prematurely.
The unit had evaded most of the attacks and gotten away, but was now seperated from its Soono support, which were now quickly closing in to weapons range.
FP Isha forwent her standard curt acknowedgment, and instead took to her orders in stern silence. She pulled away from her assailing Nahoda, hoping to lure it toward her, then had Nubia launch them to meet it point blank with a RCPA blazing and a VT sword thrusting toward its midsection. Simultaneously, Ragnar's NI was dispersing a small number of VTs to create a small barrier at her backside, in case she were to be flanked.
Playing the defensive, Isha took a few hits as the enemy pressed towards her, but managed to convince the target that she wasn't planning a counterattack. When Nubia launched its 12 VT Fangs at the target, it was caught entirely by surprise and subsequently struck cross the chest and lower legs. Each bladed implement bore through the armor before returning to her shield, causing the Nahoda to lose control and vent massive jets of synovial fluid and plasma.
Her VT sword subsequently made short work of the unit, raking across the torso and causing it to split open in an explosive torrent of superheated gas, as the unit was finally destroyed.
Aiaru kept her avoiding game up for the time being, figuring she'd been hit hard enough already that there was no point in chancing taking that one major hit that would finish her off. She still took shots though, unleashing a salvo of her own Star Locust missiles at the nearest Nahoda at one point, and strafing the same target with her Shocksting whenever she could.
The volley of missiles darted around wildly before they impact the Nahoda's side, causing it to slam into one of its escort and spiral out of control. Follow-up shots impacted it along the chest and left shoulder, causing those areas to burst in bright displays of light and scintilating particles as armor was scoured away. Her continued fire kept chipping away at the torso while the unit struggled to redress itself.
It had only taken a moment, a slight slip in her aim, and the Nahoda was already back on her tail, returning with its own volley of missiles. With a dozen warning prings ringing off across her HUD, Aiaru was nearly struck with a heavy charge beam shot that passed just a few feet off her left shoulder, causing her NI to immediately warn her a dozen more times.
"Enemy is charging heavy-type plasma cannon! Evade!"
Mu'Tasim grunted inwardly as his shoulder began to heat up. Famasir warned in furious bleeps and bloops that his VANDR was suffering internal damage from all the heat. So, the squadron leader decided to step his end of the close range encounter as well. He withdrew his VT Sword only to stab the back into the shoulders of the Nahoda, to what should effectively disable it's arms. Then, he activated the VT drivers on his legs, making two magnificent distortion geometries focused on the point to where Mu'Tasim was the cockpit of the vehicle.
He usually did not use them much, but the Vaytulri-Acolyte took extra precaution, and boosted his shields with a single NEn Capacitor.
Despite the blows that it took, the VANDR kept on pushing forward on an erratic path towards the enemy Nahoda, shocksword firing as it closed the distance with NEn capacitor enhanced thrust. Fangs harried it as it and it's Soono continuously as Akjit continued to lay into the enemy in this fashion, slashing at its limbs and firing whenever it threatened to increase the gap.
Having some temporary breathing room, Jin decided to try to make things easier for the damaged Erla. His missiles had cycled into readiness, so it was time to fix that problem once and for all. His NI targeted the tracking Star Locust and Star Adder missiles on the one unit, hoping for an over-kill. A veritable blaze of warheads launched from his Raevr as he opened comms. "Get away from that Nahoda, Erla pilot!" After that, he changed vectors once more and opened his VTS drive to move to another location, one to better help out Kuzman, about 200 meters from his fellow pilot.
Aiaru engaged her VTS as soon as her NI's warning came through her systems, before one of the friendly pilots had even warned her. She arranged things so that she came out of the jump already lined up back towards the Nahoda, immediately opening fire with her Shocksword cannon and the Shocksting itself, trying to end this part of the fight now, before moving into her evasive maneuvers.
Having gotten a partially decent footing away from the now Soono-less Nahoda, Kuzman retargeted and reengaged the mecha. Impatient for his missiles to recharge, he fired off the Shocksting cannons. He had hoped to take the Nahoda on himself; however, he was grateful for the help of his fellow 6th Squadron member. As his missiles neared the end of their recharge cycle, Kuzman retargeted the Soonos.
Nubia noted to Isha that the rescue of one Vayshirin Aiaru was of primary importance. "Aiaru, I'm coming!" she shouted, announcing her plans, and the Erla II made a VTS jump to position itself behind Dahra's assailant. A pair of VT Fangs were launched to pincer the Nahoda, and aided by both RCPA's blazing at full.
The Nahoda flailed as it was struck, attempting to break away as Mu'Tasim's blade planted themselves firmly in his target's shoulders, tearing through armor and shields alike and penetrating deep into the unit's substructure as it raked across the shoulders and upper torso. Weakened, the unit released its grip of Famasir, allowing the Temple guard just enough time to strike the Nahoda in the mid-torso, collapasing the entire chest region with a double-strike and rupturing the cockpit block.
When he had finished, the enemy had stopped moving.
Meanwhile, Akjit flashed forward, swiftly removing the Nahoda's arm before it was able to parry his second strike. As it attempted to break away, he managed to perforate his fleeing enemy a dozen times with beam fire, only to be halted by a sudden crossfire of laser strikes by the unit's escorts, which had managed to close the gap he'd created earlier. Capitalizing on the chance, the Nahoda doubled back with a smooth boost, filling the space between itself and the Ivuori frame runner with dozens of fusion missiles.
As good as the enemy pilot might have been, they weren't perfect. Attempting to outflank Akjit for a counterattack, the Nahoda was quickly in the side by a trio of VT Fangs, forcing the unit to quickly boost away and break the offensive, as another eight bounded after it. Defense lasers lanced out, splitting one of the of the homing projectile blades in half before they closed the gap entirely, forcing it to jettison one of its limbs at the volley and detonate it forcibly to prevent them from impacting.
A veritable barrage quickly overtook Aiaru's attackers, totalling nearly a dozen Soono and scattering their wreckage across the battlefield in bright blue plumes of plasmatic death. One of the Nahoda attempted to evade the blast, managing to escape the worst of Jin's missile strike just before Aiaru struck it again with a few more shots, hammering its shields down with a punishing volley of plasma fire. It attempted to counterattack, launching a spray of missiles and giving after her with its own cannon blazing.
Kuzman had been given an opportunity by his wingmate's intercession, allowing him to place a good burst of fire on the enemy using his RCPA cannons and effectively wearing its shields, causing the field to crackle and dissipate. The enemy moved to the defensive, firing a curtain of burst plasma fire to fend him off as he moved away, either attempting to put some distance to use one of its heavier weapons or more obviously attempting to evade getting struck by a second missile volley.
Blinking behind the enemy Nahoda as it was moving to attack, Isha had an element of surprise that allowed her to quickly tear through the unit's vulnerable cockpit pod with her VT fangs. The vulnerable control block jettisonned out, but the damage was done. Prajna leaked out and crystalized as it touched the void of space, and both the pod and unit floated aimlessly in space.
Akjit was completely fixated on his own fight, somewhat unaware of the entirety of what was happening to the others. As the fusion missiles came after him, his VANDR fired out a volly of becon flares to turn the missiles' attention away from himself before continuing his persuit. The Ivuori continued to try and evade the Soonoo escorts and herded his VT Fangs after the badly damaged Nahoda Nada. He vector transitioned again, this time, right in it's path. VT Shield raised, Akjit charged, firing LEMBs before bringing the blade down.
Taking quick stock of the situation, the Raevr's NI targeted the Nahoda as it was moving away from Kuzman. It wasn't an original tactic, but it worked the first time. This time Jin targeted the back boosters on the unit, hoping for another nice explosion. Making sure his shots couldn't hit his fellow Vayshirin, Jin fired his Shocksting cannons in precise, measured counts to increase the accuracy.
Aiaru had already gone back to her evasion, but she made sure to turn herself in such a way as to set her Storm Ray system to work, letting the lasers go to work on the inbound missile systems as she kept dodging. And as soon as she had a clear shot, she set off her next volley of Star Locust missiles, hoping to catch her opponent off guard again. For the moment, that was her only offense, opting to spend more time avoiding fire then attacking for the time being.
Catching onto Jin's tactic, Kuzman followed suit. He circled clockwise on an oblique plane to the Nahoda and firred his Shocksting cannons after he was sure his fire wouldn't harm a friendly. The previously glum Nuk'Dukam was now surging with glee at the carnage. This NI just loves death and destruction, Kuzman thought inwardly, Quite a bit gung-ho about everything too." While he was slighly uneasy with the love for bloodshed, Kuzman had to admit that the gung-ho nature of his NI made a decent foil to his own laidback personality.
"Let us clear this up quickly, then." announced Mu'Tasim as he took a quick glance across the battlefield. The Squadron leader quickly assessed any damages to the local VANDR in the area, and noted that most of the were doing well in the way of handling themselves. So, he decided to assist the newfound pilot, as Isha had. The Temple Guard blasted off throughout the battle, "Fanir praise my speed as I move forth through the chaos and...!" chanted the steward lyrically before making a Sub-light jump just above the path of one of Aiaru's persuing Nahoda units, and blasting downwards onto it, the VT Drivers of the leg tearing into the top of it's chest. "...establish order!"
Isha took a mental breath of relief at the turn of events, glad she was so much more effective in combat than even she had anticipated. With something of a metaphorical determined smile, she turned to yet another Nahoda. Before she could think of an appropriate engagement plan, however, the Temple Guard had made his move. To the other, then. She dove headlong toward it, straightening out the VANDR's form to make as small a target as possible and raised her ATA, holding it ahead of her and forming the vector field to cover the entirety of the Erla. The left arm was prepared to slice this one down as well, but FP Ragnar didn't hold too much weight to her solo attack doing the job in one fell swoop.
The beacon flares caused most of the missiles to split off and detonate harmlessly away from Akjit, while a few continued on through and splashed against his shields, baking his outer armor with a dull orange glow. The Soono, distracted by the beacon flares for a moment, gave chase to Akjit only moments after he had already vector transitionned away.
More beams arced out, splaying against the Nahoda's already weakened shields as Akjit closed in to strike. The blade flashed downwards, but the defender shifted to evade, perhaps a bit too slowly. Hardened ADNR cleaved through armor and organoid tissues, effectively cutting through the entire front of the Nahoda's torso with a single sweep. Jets of reactor plasma and synovial fluid erupted from the gaping wound, before the unit was forcibly shut down and ejected the cockpit pod.
A few more precise shots battered the enemy's armor as Kuzman strafed the enemy, the clean glittering lance of his particle beam piercing the unit wholesale and tearing through its outer plating. Nuk'Dukam took several hits as the enemy continued to attack despite its damages, exchanging hit for hit and consequently taking several severe hits. Armor glowed, flaked apart and shattered under the barrage, and when Jin strafed the unit on the side, he swept past the unit and clipping its engines off with a lancing strike.
The more heavily armored Nahoda Nada wasn't quite as good as a shot, however, only wearing down Kuzman's shields as they exchanged fire and moving too slowly to evade the sudden strike by Jin. By the time the dust and radiation had dispersed entirely, the unit was left in a wreck, with a heavily battered cockpit pod floating nearby in space.
With her point defense subroutines holding up against the volley, Aiaru managed to fend off the volley of missiles and stay mostly intact, dodging and weaving around the few that got past her. A few detonated close enough to rattle her unit, but very little damage managed to penetrate to the hull, giving her ample opportunity to counterattack. The volley of Star Locust missiles shot out around the errant flaring blasts of plasma, striking the enemy Nahoda unit in the head, effectively crippling it with a lucky strike.
Mu'Tasim made short work of the other Nahoda pursuing her, slashing the unit across the engines as he dropped down onto it. Unfocused plasma spilled out as the unit hurtled away, knocked off-axis and into a wild spin as Isha clipped it, pursuing the remaining Nahoda in the enemy battlegroup. She swung into the very last unit with her VT sword, very quickly slicing through its arm and digging halfway into its torso as it failed to evade. It struggled for a moment, but having been flanked and disabled, quickly surrendered and ejected out.
There was a quiet, dour voice that quickly came onto open channels, as the ECM and leaking radiation finally died down. "This is commander Ansur Kefka. We surrender to you, Commonwealth dogs."
"This is Vaytulri-Acolyte Mu'Tasim Farouk. Commander Kefka, jettison your squad's weaponry and group the remainder of your squad here." ordered the Temple Guard as a small waypoint advisory was lasered over to one of the nearest acting units. Famasir stared off at the station before opening a link with command. "Control, this is Vaytulri-Acolyte Farouk, we have identified and captured NVR soldiers. Requesting a retrieval unit for their arrest."
There was a mental sigh of relief from Field Physician Ragnar at the word, "surrender," and she was tempted to smile. Instead, she turned her attention to her teammates. "Is everyone alright? Any injuries?" She was fairly certain there were none, but she was ever the one to cover all her bases thoroughly. Almost as an afterthought, she powered down her ATA and VT Sword.
Coming down off his adrenalin high, Kuzman was quite jittery. Even though this was not his first combat, Kuzman was still not used to it. Nuk'Dukam seemed disappointed in the surrender; Kuzman could tell it wanted him to Coup-de-Grace the pod in front of him.
Aiaru let her unit come to a halt, breathing hard as the adrenaline from the fight for her life slowly wound down now that she wasn't running anymore. She slowly made her way through her systems, powering down weapons systems where she needed to, before opening a channel to broadcast to the apparent friendlies. "This is Vayshirin Dahra. I definitely appreciate the help. Could I know who to thank?"
"We're of First Squadron, Vayshirin Dahra." responded Mu'Tasim to Aiaru, while also sending a full-system scan of his VANDR's status to Isha, allowing her to pick and choose what status warrant her attention. The squadron leader also sent this order to everyone else, to send a small damage report to the Field Physician, includign Aiaru. "Give me a sitrep, Vayshirin Dahra, before command calls back."
"Only two members of our squadron are still with us, myself and Vayshirin Remore, who is still aboard the remnants of the station. All others have been eliminated." Aiaru sent the data for her systems back along with her response, assuming that for the time being Mu'Tasim was the highest ranking.
"This is control, Vaytulri Farouk. I have a Squadron and a recovery team inbound to retrieve the PoWs." The missions operator finally replied, her own voice sounding vaguely relieved that they were alright after going radio silent again. "I have beacons going off on the station from the Third Squadron's units. Can you confirm that they're viable for retrieval?"
"No, but we can we definitely check. Permission to engage station on foot, command?" asked Mu'Tasim back to Romdo.
"You have permission."
Not long after, Zus returned to the formation. If anyone could have seen her, outside of the cockpit, they would have realized how absolutely angry she was. Had she normal control over her body right now, she would probably be trembling and panting, pure rage and frustration at her imbecilic younger brother, which she had just vented, directly to the moron over private comm channels. For now, however, Paralovi simply sent a request to rejoin the formation, and nothing further. Zus herself remained silent.
Zus would recieve a message directly from Mu'Tasim.
"First Squadron, we will wait for the retrieval squadron before boarding the station to find Vayshirin Dahru's sqaudmate. Prep your minds for infantry combat, we were about to put ourselves into the thick of it." said Mu'Tasim, his VANDR's head looked over in the direction of the NVR soldiers.
Jin was keeping watch on the perimeter while the rest of the squad went about their work. It wasn't that there was still a threat, but there could be, and it was always good to be on guard. His thoughts drifted back to the battle and his thoughts turned cold. If it weren't for the rebels, they wouldn't have had the loses or taken the damages they did. Ignorant people unwilling to conform to society's blessings. It sickened him. But wait! A ray of hope! He was going to boots to the ground! If there was an emotional link, all of them would feel Jin's excitement.
Isha cut across with a brief message. "Everyone checks out fine, Vaytulri."
Seeing as the skirmish had come to a close, Kuzman readied himself for combat on foot. He had been wanting to use his dual extend blades in a real battle for a while. After all, he was more of a close range combat person.
Zus was broken out of her anger when she recieved a transmission from Mu'tasim, saying he was glad to see her back. She quickly sent a reply:
However, Zus was taken aback when she was informed she'd be needed for infantry combat, suddenly realizing that the Squadron was in a vastly different situation now than they had been before. She remembered her first engagement on foot, back on Mazerin, when they had had to retrieve Enlil, and ended up fighting would-be NVR assassins. Hopefully, this time it wouldn't be so confusing, and perhaps not nearly as cold.
Aiaru sighed a little when she got the command that they were going to be going into the station on foot; she was really hoping that she'd be allowed to return now, after the pounding she'd taken, but she'd cope well enough even so. "Sir, I'd like to add that my remaining squad member is not currently responding, so things may have gotten worse in the station since I last had contact."
----
The NI went back to wearing her customary frown since entering the Gardens. She was looking at the Navsphere, although not needing to before she let out a small huff. "My sensors have started to become muddled again. I'm detecting a massive distortion wave which I think is coming from the gas giant within the area... But I can't be too sure. At best it is what you people call an "Educated Guess." " she brought the gas giant up on the Navsphere while dividing a portion of it to maintaining surveillance upon the runners. "See?" she pointed to it.
"I'm having trouble pinning it down because it so large."
"...what do you mean 'you people'? And... hnn." Mridula squinted at the sensor readouts. "Could it be coming from some kind of... creature within the star?"
Ishtar looked down at her shoes again before looking back up to Mridula. "I mean 'normal people'. I'm still... new t-to this!" she blushed a little in embarassment at the slipup before continuing. With a little headshake she pointed at the celestial body. "It's a gas giant, a failed star formation. I just can't get my sensors to pinpoint the origin of the signal." The NI sounded fairly annoyed about not being able to do it. But everything she was throwing at it, and in every modulation she tried wasn't penetrating the field, or was merely being repulsed.
"I just know it's coming from there, but for all I know it could be an actual liquid core of veyrinite so large that it has begun to eminate a distortion wave across the fabric of space time." of course she was making that up as she threw her hands up in the air. But several scientists had indeed said it could be possible... before being laughed out of the scientific community.
"Nothing in my databases corresponds to this beyond what we encountered earlier."
"I know what a gas giant is, Ishtar. I may be a biologist, but I know the basics." She smirked slightly, idly scrolling through the readouts on the screen she, Ishtar, and Serhan were looking at. "Hnn. I still think my suggestion is a valid one."
"Could a Dream Eater survive the immense gravitation forces of a gas giant though? I only have data pertaining to... certain things I am not at liberty to ahah... share." Ishtar's cheeks went a little darker. "But what I know of them doesn't cover this if it is possible."
"We don't fully know their capabilities... even with the data I'm not at liberty to share. It's within the realm of possibility."
Ishtar rubbed at the sides of her head in frustration. "Can't I just blow it up?" was her response. When in doubt, blow it up. "I might be able to start nuclear fusion and make a new star!"
"Noooo. There's valuable research data in all this, no blowing up."
The NI hung her arms limply at her sides. Looking forlorn and regretful. She could've blown it up if she'd wanted to! And made it into a star... "Ok... I won't blow it up. B-But what do I do though? I can't penetrate the wave with my sensors."
"...I don't know. Let's just wait a minute and see if anything happens." Mridula patted Ishtar's shoulder gently.
"Hrm. It seems the 1st Squadron succeeded in disabling the garrisson over that station." Serhan said with a slight stroke of his chin. "Do we have any probes in reserve? I'd like to get some analysis equipment onto it to examine things." He glanced over the design and structure. "I'm not particularly familiar with the structure, however..."
"I have probes in my stores still. They're nearly finished being loaded into one of my catapults." Ishtar answered as she saw the Maranrr's interest in the station. She began to focus several of her sensor clusters on the structure to sate the man's curiosity until the probes were ready for deployment.
Initial sensor feedback provided very little data due to the interference of the combat, but the new data was finally coming in. The station didn't appear to be emitting any heat or radiation, and appeared to be a very cold, reflective surface marred by what may have been centuries or millenia of micrometeorite impacts. Everything indicated that it was very old, and that it was composed of incredibly complex and exotic materials that didn't match anything on record.
"...old... far in advance of our technology..." Mridula's luminescent eyes widened. "Is this a Makuori station?"
"I... these don't resemble the style I'm used to." Serhan spoke with hesitancy and doubt, considering the implications of his suggestion. "The structure nearly resembles the standard shape of NVR cruisers. The spire and the flowering top are dead ringers for the design... although the proportions and structure aren't the same."
"If I could get a sample of the material or perform a more indepth analysis of the materials used in its construction I could confirm that and the age." Ishtar offered. "Otherwise, I can run a comparative search in my database for the shape."
"That may be advisable."
Deep Gardens
Bukor 17, 936
11:59, Commonwealth Standard Time
"Confirmed Vaytulri. I'll beacon the location using your sensor data for recovery at a later date." The missions operator seemed to be slightly disheartened at the news, but maintained the cool professionalism that Mu'Tasim had been familiar with. Famasir cooed responsively as it briefly highlighted the wreckage on his HUD and proceeded to send the data back. "No other casualties to confirm?"
"Vayshirin Chirimar has sustained minor damage to his unit, but we are well within operational conditions. Give my regards to Sixth Squadron, the assistance of their pilots were greatly appreciated." responded Mu'Tasim coolly, taking note of his N.I.'s quick response when it came to the marking of the waypoint. He scanned quickly over his squadron's status one more time, before looking over at Szemis' VANDR. "Command, forgive my lack of tact, but who sent that fool of a pilot." His unit locked on to the younger Storhan's VANDR, "Vayshirin Szemis Storhan."
"Vayshirin Storhan broke formation from his patrol group approximately eight minutes ago. Orders are to send him back... with escort, if you can spare someone from your wing."
"I will send Lanbalri Storhan with him, she will be more appropriate than anyone to regard the young pilots mistakes." commented Mu'Tasim, before sending the order to Zus privately.
"Thank you for your compliance, Vaytulri." The voice replied curtly, subtly pleased with Mu'Tasim's quick resolution of the issue.
"Orders have changed, for the moment." To Famasir's surprise, a new series of navpoints were strung up onto his HUD, which were quickly sifted through and passed out to the remainder of the Squadron. If he examined them for a moment, the Temple Guard would recognize these navpoints as being along the reconnaissance routes of another one of the Squadrons. "The Fifth Squadron has lost contact under similar circumstances as yours, but reported back successfully destroying one of the UFOs."
"It's suspected they ran into a pocket NVR forces or may have encountered another one of the objects. In either case we'd like you to investigate that area before resuming your own route."
"Understood, command. First Squadron will move to intercept." responded Mu'Tasim, before turning to the two sixth squadron natives. "Pho'tet, Nadev, you are with us for now, fall into formation and proceed with us." With that, Famasir blasted off, taking the lead of the squadron, "First Squadron, move out!"
----
Things had calmed down quite a bit on the bridge, since they had both a name and samples of the disruptive organism. The few casualties were unfortunate, but the majority of the Wing had pulled through, and most had managed to regroup. Ishtar's sudden outburst stirred things slightly, but most were simply too occupied poring over the new data to notice.
The Marranr gently grabbed the small-bodied NI by her left horn and gave her a stern stare, hoping to calm her down a little before he spoke to her. "Well, what is it?"
Instead of calming her, it seemed to encite her to more flailing as if the Marranr were not taking her seriously. "Bad things! Bad, Bad Things!" she squeaked in a harsh whisper. "The lifeforms we've encountered seem to contain infant Dream Eaters." Ishtar's voice went shrill. "I do not have enough data to confirm if it is an infestation, a form of gestation, or a transformation. All my data pertaining to the subject of Dream Eaters does not include behavior such as this. I think the squadrons should avoid contact with those... those... space whale things until I know for certain."
"...well." Mridula steepled her fingers, her skin paling somewhat as she chewed on her bottom lip. "That's... that's not good. At all. Should we kill them?"
"That would depend. Your reports earlier said that had nurturing habits and tended to form large families... and fled your shuttle when you approached them." Serhan adjusted his glasses slightly, and gestured over to Mridula to emphasize his words. "Perhaps... caution would be advisable for the moment. I'd like an in depth report once you've had the chance to analyze the samples." He actually seemed somewhat surprised by the revelation and a little intrigued.
"There could be more Dream Eaters within the Gardens, within the area. What the First Squadron fought was an infant, not fully grown, or combat capable. There is a high probability of there being mature Dream Eaters. If there are, and if they've had a chance to develop their combat capabilities it will be devistating if we are found." Ishtar pointed out.
"...shit, shit, shit." The biologist pressed her fingers to her temples and rubbed them in little circles. "Shit. I've seen this movie. We're going to forget all about them and save the day, then when we turn around to go home they'll all have gestated and we'll get eaten."
Ishtar looked toward Mridula, batting her golden eyes. "But the infant Dream Eaters only consume biomass to accelerate their growth and or to start the initial process. After that they merely destroy, adapt to better combat their opponent or incorporate the weaponry into a form of technorganic hybrid."
"Well, that's a relief, Ishtar."
Ishtar just looked toward the deck plate.
"I am far more bothered by those resonance fields they generated." The Marranr said with a slight grunt, bringing up several layers of the waveform that creature generated onto the overhead display. "With what seemed to be a reflexive scream from an infant, it disabled sensors and communications and left all of our forces in the field running deaf and blind. Devising some means to compensate for this interference is going to be essential if we encounter more of them..."
"It generated an initial shockwave across the entire EM spectrum. And caught me by surprise." Ishtar huffed. "I've been diverting some of my processes to this subject... but all I have thought of is creating resonance fields of our own to cancel them out. Certain radio frequencies in the lower band could remain active and laser based communications did not not seem to go down. MASC based systems I would have to run tests on and see. My sensors are still fouled up across all ships because of the natural interference of the nebula."
"Redistribute power from the main batteries for now, until you can figure out more prescise ways of compensating for the disruption." Serhan instructed, crossing his arms as he attempted to make sense of the situation.
Ishtar poked at the hand still holding her horn. "Could you let me go then... please?" her eyes wide and pleading while she looked up at Serhan.
"My mistake." The faint outline of a smile formed in the corners of Serhan's mouth, as he realized he'd actually grabbed onto the NI and was now firmly holding her between his arms. He let out a small, pensive grunt and let go of her, casually ruffling the front fringe of her pink hair. "As you were. That data will be essential to our continued mission in this region."
Ishtar just went red in the cheeks as she gave a short awkward nod.
----
As First Squadron advanced to answer Command's orders for movement, Mu'Tasim felt it necessary to access the squad's cohesion as a whole before arrival. It had been a while since he had last led any sort of unit into combat, and the last time was on foot, in VAHINs. Still, they were people, only in much bigger VAHINs.
"Vayshirin Ragnar, if I am to understand, this is your first proper engagement." commented Mu'Tasim, Famasir's head turning back to look at Noblisse, "How are you holding up?"
Isha smiled inwardly and would have shook her head were she embodied. "Technically, sir, this is my second sortie, as I was present during the first engagement with the NVR. But I'm doing well, though a comrade dead is never a pleasant thing." She took on a slightly sour note with her final sentence, but nothing that sounded overly upset. She hadn't known Bahadur for more than a few hours.
"I see, my apologies, Ragnar. I will take note not to be so neglectful of my subordinates again. Still, death is persistent in war, but, as Mu'Klamal said so gloriously at the Battle of Kaz'Mohal, 'Death is temporary, glory is eternal, and memories are forever.' As long as we remember Shajahan and his glory, he is never dead." nodded Famasir as Mu'Tasim spoke in reply, "Chirimar, you've sustained damage, but I've got to applaud your valiance in attempting to free me from that Dream Eater."
Akjit perked up as Mu'Tasim's attention turned to him. He wasn't quite sure how to take this praise. Was it really praise? "Thank you sir. But I still made m-mistakes here. I'll do my best to get better." He replied. As far as he was concerned, he had already made a deal with a Nightmare. One's who's depths he did not understand.
"That is all Fanir asks of us in our decisions of haste, Chirimar. You are a better pilot for it, and will be for the rest of your days. I will rely on your valiance in the future." Mu'Tasim chuckled a moment before adding, "As long as you do not do it in such a sacrificial manner as that time before." Still, the assesment of his own squadron wasn't complete, he still had two new faces to account for. "Vayshirin Pho'tet! Vayshirin Nadev!" called the mighty Temple Guard, "Let me be the first to welcome you for your temporary flight with First Squadron. How long have you been flying with the Vanguard?"
"Thank you, sir," responded Kuzman Nadev, "I have been with the Vanguard around six months. I wish Pho'tet and myself had arrived earlier." He paused for a moment and decided now would be the best time, "I will warn you sir, I am slightly reckless on occasion; Pho'tet is more the tactician of two of us."
"I wouldn't say "flying" is my first choice, sir." A slight chuckle in the Vayshirin's voice carried over the comms. "I've been stationed on the VSV Astarte for six months now after my extra training ended. And I agree with Nadev, I wish we had arrived sooner." So it was with war, just as the Temple Guard had said earlier. Memories and stardust are the real tangibles after death.
"I welcome you all to First Squadron. Most of our original members are all, either gone, promoted, or dead." said Mu'Tasim grimly, looking on forward towards their fast approaching way-point. "In this squadron you either move up, down, or somewhere else, but in every case, you alway move. I wish I could have met you all more properly before this, but that is the military for you." The squadron leader fell silent for a moment, considering his words, "Of any of you, are their any honors? Special capabilities that I should be made aware? I would like to know my unit. At the very least, those I work with."
"I wouldn't have it any other way, sir. For the glory of the Commonwealth." I just hope it's not always in space I'm moving... "I have advance hand to hand combat training as well as advanced infantry training, sir."
"I earned high marks in marksmanship and as such was placed in a Raevr; however I prefer my personal blades and close range combat," responded Kuzman.
"I've said before sir, but I'm a Field Physician," was the sweet and simple answer.
"Mmm. You all are fairly capable, at the very least. Whilst just a Field Physician, Ragnar fights well enough, and you two Sixers have proven your worth." Mu'Tasim began to set up the proper advancing formation as the spoke to his Squadron. The line up would be posted to the rest of them when he finished. "Let me properly introduce myself, as I have rudely failed to do so far. I am Vaytulri Mu'Tasim Farouk. I am a six year veteran of the Astral Vanguard's infantry." With that, he had set up for the foward assault line, which consisted of himself and Akjit. "In my sixth year I was inducted into the Temple Guard, and was sworn in only a few months following. I am an Acolyte of almost a year." Now the mid-line, which consisted of solely Isha, providing mid-range fire support. "I have been with Bahram Wing since it's creation, with the exception of a small vacation granted by full-body radiation poisoning. Though, I am quite better now." with that warm note, he set the rear-line, consisting of Jin and Kuzman. They would provide long-range missile support. He transmitted the formation, and their N.I.'s properly set up holographic representations of their positions.
Jin signaled his affirmitive to the instructions and moved his Raevr into place, starting to get a real feel for it as his personal unit. He'd eventually need to find its name/name it himself. Maybe then he would feel even more at home in the middle of space...
Kuzman moved his Raevr into position silently, though he was eager to be back on the Astarte and napping. Kuzman asked his NI, "You like that combat, Nuk'Dukam?" to which it responded with a hearty surge of gung-ho enthusiasm.
The Ivuori moved into the position the Temple Guard designated, but, in actuality, felt a little discouraged after hearing his praise of the other Frame Runners. What was Akjit good in? He didn't know anything beyond the standard training, and so, stayed silent. And personal skills like his drawings...well, those don't count for much do they? The VANDR silently continued on with the others.
"It's a privilege," Isha said, "To fly with such a squadron." Otherwise she had little to contribute for the time being, and hoped it stayed that way for awhile.
"Chirimar, you have profenciency of VANDR-based melee combat, don't you?" asked Mu'Tasim to his front-line subordinate. The Temple Guard felt it best to assess what seemed to be the most thin-skinned of the group. Akjit was a loyal soldier, but pressure seemed to force him to extremes.
If Akjit could, he would have moved about in his seat in slight discomfort. Sadly, that was not an option. "W-well, I am proficient in that, and am interested in it the most. But, well, I'm better at VANDR-Ranged Combat. Well. Said my instructor." He replied. The brief recollection brought up memories of being yelled at by Drill Staff. He shuddered inside; he had the feeling he just opened up a forbidden relic.
"Hrm. We will have to amend that." said Mu'Tasim, a bit of excitement lining his tone. "I was number two in VANDR training courses in Seddir when it came to my trials. Now, it would only be reasonable to assume, by Mu'Klamals strategic thought, that I would make an excellent melee instructor to fortify your abilities as a skirmishing pilot in the VR training bays every other day, yes?"
He froze at the offer. Skirmishing with Mu'Tasim? Maybe he wouldn't have to train with Nightmare then if - "Go ahead. I will train you myself every other day that you are not with the Temple Guard." The NI spoke. Yes. Akjit made up his mind; he was going to get blasted out of the skies and get worn raw regularly. Plus, there was no way out even if he wanted to. Which he now did.
"T-that would be an honor sir!" he replied. Technically, that wasn't a lie.
"Yes, we will take good care of you... the NI spoke in its most feminine voice, mocking him.
"Excellent! You'll be fighting like an Acolyte in no time." replied Mu'Tasim warmly, before looking on forward towards the objective. "We will discuss this further after the mission's conclusion. In the mean time, be ready. All of you, we are approaching the waypoint."
Jin whispered a short prayer to Jafar, his personal chosen Dreamer. Here's to hoping we all make it through this... whatever it is.
----
It was only a few moments before the half-dozen assist NI chimed in simultaneously, informing their pilots that they had in fact arrived at the selected location, or at least were at the navpoint that the 5th had last reported being at. Sensors buzzed with new data, rapidly feeding information on their environment, but the area was by and large the same, mostly empty solar system space with some debris and the system's gas giants and sun distant specs of orange in the void.
There was an audible ping when the sweep finished, which immediately brought a small spec of grey and brown in the distance, almost four light-seconds out. Electromagnetic radiation, neutrino leakages and small spatial distortions revealed it to be clearly artificial... although it didn't appear to have any streaming devices sending out comms chatter on Astral Vanguard frequencies.
Mu'Tasim heard a digital ping sound as Vaytulri Romdo's voice came up onto communications again. "Vaytulri, I've got confirmation you're at the Navpoint. Report status?"
"Deadspace, Fifth Squadron is not here, nor is there any evidence of battle. We are, however, picking up signatures of an artificial anomaly four light-seconds off. Command, can you confirm?" requested Mu'Tasim his unit floating free within the empty vacuum, drifting only slightly due to his minor momentum.
He wondered what happened to them. Was it another Dream eater? Quite possibly. What would happen if the Astarte ran across group of them? What if they were even spawning from some nearby place? The possibilities were endless, simply because Akjit thought about it too much.
Kuzman felt a sense of disappointment emanate from Nuk'Dukam; however, he himself did not echo such sentiment. The fewer chances of death, the better.
Jin looked to the artificial constuct with a smile in his heart. Somewhere he could put his boots down and explore. He couldn't wait to get the affirmitive to land.
"Yes... it's coming in a bit faint on my end, but it's probably just interference." The missions operator said with a slight bit of surprise. "You're cleared to investigate."
"Well enough, let's move up, First Squadron." said Mu'Tasim as he blasted forth, "Activate barrier guards and shields, be ready should this be a hostile." With that, he raised up his defenses, blazing on ahead to get a better look at the anomaly.
Jin powered up his defensive network and weapon loadouts, hitting the figurative throttle and speeding up without breaking formation. Looks like they were going to explore it. The thought got his blood pumping and he himself began to mentally run a check list on the equipment he brought with him.
The distortion field protecting the VANDR flicked to life, power coursing into the weapons. Akjit was ready to activate the Phanoma Shroud as well, but held off on that. "I hope it's not another one. But, hope doesn't make things come true, right?" He asked, his dour state over what happened behind the scenes leaking into his conversation. "I'll stick to ranged combat, and go in with the blades if things get bad, just like last time." Akjit informed the others.
After flicking the metaphorical switches, he defenses flickered to life. Kuzman felt a bit safer with the defenses turned on; but after seeing the Dream Eater, even the distortion field may not protect him.
Going into an... unknown area wasn't exactly something Isha was excited about. Still, that was the mission, wasn't it? Nubia was naturally there providing mental support, but the situation still had her on edge. There was a good chance it was another Dream Eater, or something just as horrible. And if it played out anything like the last encounter, she could expect one more dead or critically wounded. "Might I suggest we err on the side of caution until we've properly evaluated the situation?"
"We are being cautious, Ragnar. Once we properly identify this anomaly we'll decide further on how to act. In the mean time, we will continue until our sensors or N.I. can do us better than our eyes." responded Mu'Tasim, turning his VANDR's head back in Noblisse's direction for a glance before looking back forward. "Hopefully, it is another Dream Eater."
The few minutes as they moved towards the anomaly were short and tense, but passed quickly. As the object came into view, it was clear that it was some sort of space station, and bore significant plasma scoring and structural damage. Some of the damage was comparatively ancient, like the single great fissure that seemed to grace the hermispheric top of the station, while others were fresh and still glowed faintly from recent impacts.
Multiple signatures quickly erupted into view as they closed the gap, all of them bearing the standard emission profiles of NVR Soono and Nahoda-type powered frames, all of them seemingly swarming around a single Erla VANDR 2. Beacons sounded off dramatically and were highlighted on HUD, as multiple Astral Vanguard frames docked inside of the station were broadcasting distress calls. Analysis of the signals and IFF tags confirmed that they were the missing 5th Squadron... though none of the frames were actually broadcasting anything beyond their basic distress signals. No voice, no text, no parameters for their situation...
"Permssion to engage, sir?!" Jin's Raevr NI already began picking up the closest targets as his Star Locust missile were yellow-lighted in preperation. At least it wasn't some fantastic enemy, but just enemy soldiers.
"Permission granted! Rear-line fire missile volleys! Mid-line fire support! Front-line! Engage for close range! We'll tear right through their shields!" ordered Mu'Tasim as he blasted forth, he sent a message following, "Finish your first missile volleys, Akjit and I will teleport into close-range and disrupt their lines."
Kuzman released a salvo of Star Locust missiles at six of the farther targets and then proceeded to switch targets to the targets around the Erla VANDR2. He quickly launched a volley of Star Adders. If the Erla was friendly as he expected it was, he didn't want to see another death on the field today.
"Sir!" Mid-line was Isha, so she opened up with her automatic weapons, putting out as much force as possible, making sure to keep pace with the front-line and maintain a consistent coverfire. "Identify targets so I can keep them suppressed!" she declared.
Jin's Raevr chose nine of the mid ranged targets and released a torrent of Star Locust missiles, each of the nine aimed at a different target that none of the other Vanguard Frame Runners were firing at. Cycling through, three more broad targets were chosen deeper in the enemy ranks and the Star Adder missiles quickly followed. Jin strafed to his starboard to sepereate the lines of fire and open up crossfire lanes between the other pilots, and also make it harder to take out all of them with one concentrated blast.
The Nahoda-Nada lined up in Akjit's sights as his weapon safeties came off. Star Locust missiles joined the swarm from Kuzman and Jin's volleys. The Phantoma Shroud of his VANDR activated, leaving behind shining afterimages as he jinked and juked to avoid the inevitable reply. The targeting reticle moved about over the enemy Frame, but Akjit didn't fire his other weapons quite yet. Not until - NOW! The Shocksword and Shocksting fired just as the enemy frame began it's dodge of the missiles, making it easier for him to track.
Aiaru was moving in full evasion mode at the moment, completely willing to give up a shot on one of the many targets she had at the moment to avoid giving any of them a good shot on her. Especially with the arrival of what she definitely hoped were friendlies, though she hadn't heard anything from them yet. Nonetheless, whenever she could get a clean shot without chancing herself, she was definitely returning fire, trying to whittle the opponents down bit by bit.
Akjit immediately got the attention of several frames as he sniped one of the larger humanoid-type Nahoda frames, his beam shot arcing out and clipping its head off. As it panicked, many more turned and broke off to intercept, only to be caught by a full volley of missile fire and knocked off-course by the sudden blast of plasma as over three dozen Star Locust and Star Adder missiles struck them. Shields dissapated and heavy armor was scorched, although the initial volley had failed to take them out of the battle.
The formation quickly broke down as they split off to engage different targets, with a single Nahoda-type pursuing each VANDR, followed by its own swarm of the Soono automatons. Multiple shots followed, as the aggressor-come-defenders launched combined volleys of plasma and free electron laser beams, matching patterns and moving around aggressively to keep the 1st Squadron off-guard.
Aiaru found that she had enough room to maneuver, as her NI informed her that many of her pursuers had broken off to attack the new arrivals to the scene. Her bruised and burnt Erla VANDR II was still intact enough to put a fight up, provided she could avoid getting hit too much...
While waiting for his missiles to refresh and cycle into firing mode, Jin targeted the Nahoda-type engaging him and fired four specific shots from his Shocksting cannons. Two were aimed for each arm, one for the head, and the last for the lower chest area. No matter where it moved, he hoped he was going to hit it. In the next second, he fired his VTS drive and disappeared, only to appear a good three hundred kloms from his original location, hoping to screw with their fire patterns and give him a better shot.
The Nahoda was expecting a direct assault, and quickly moved to evade before Jin started to fire, but it wasn't quite fast enough to get out of the way. The infantryman's NI quickly compensated for the movement and adjusted the firing solution before its pilot had the chance to ask. A few beams managed to miss anyway, but the Nahoda was quickly struck by a blast to the rear thrusters, putting it off ballance and allowing the remainder of the volley to bore through it. A moment later, it burst into a bright ball of orange plasma and dissapated from view entirely.
"Akjit! Close in on the Nahodas! Strike with your VT Swords!" ordered Mu'Tasim as he quickly turned on the the Nahoda persuing him, and blazed his VANDR full-blast toward it. Though, quickly dissappearing in a flash in a rapid Sub-Light jump, only to appear, still and unmoving in front of his target, before ramming his VT Swords to it's chest. "Pile pressure on the controllers, everyone!"
As it was struck, the Nahoda willfully did the very same with its own arm, planting its glowing fist into Famasir's shoulder and firing off a full volley of beam fire. Flecks of orange-red plasma glinted off his shields and struck armor, causing it to burn and flake. The NI panicked as its outer shell was struck, letting out a shrill warning sound and quickly venting out large jets of vaporized synovial fluid to keep the arm from being cooked from the inside out.
The young frame runner perked up as Mu'Tasim yelled out orders. The Nahoda was still in the distance; he fired another volly of missiles to the enemy's right and paused before firing his beam weapons. As the missiles exploded, hit or miss, Akjit Vector Transitioned right behind the Nahoda Nada. VT Fangs shot out from his tactical arrester, three to the humanoid frame, and one to a Soono. A NEn Cap activated, boosting his speed; a VT Blade slashed out at the waist of the Nahoda.
The missiles were intercepted by defensive fire as the humanoid-type's escort maneuvered around to defend their controller. One of them was quickly put down by beam fire, while the other two shifted forward to press the attack, only to lose track of Akjit as he blinked up to the Nahoda. The Soono he struck was not nearly fast enough to deflect the VT fang, and was quickly speared in the shoulder, causing the arm to drop down in uselesness. The blade tore all the way through a second later, causing the unit to vent a large jet of red mist which quickly crystalized in the vaccuum and jerk around violently before finally blowing off.
The Nada had the advantage of being in motion as Akjit blinked in, and managed to evade out of the way well enough that the blade only clipped it in one of the legs, giving it enough of a chance to retaliate that it managed a clear strike from its own fusion cannons, firing off a series of blasts that banked off his frame's chest and arrestor.
While not the most tactical soldier on the field, Kuzman quickly realized that the Nahodas were calling the shots. As such he fired off three shots from the Shocksting cannons at the closest Nahoda. As soon as his missiles had recharged he fired off a second volley of both Star Adder and Star Locust at its surrounding Soono automatons. Then he used his VTS to scoot himself to the right of the battlefield hoping to flank the Nahodas as soon as his sensors recalibrated and missiles recharged.
The rapid volley of beam fire glanced off the approaching frame's shields, causing them to fizzle and glint. While not damaged, it was enough of a threat that the unit went on the defensive, quickly diving away and attempting to fly around and undernearth Kuzman as it too returned fire. When the full volley of missiles fired, it skillfully evaded the first few by launching countermeasures and boosting away, constantly turning to evade the blasts as they were set off prematurely.
The unit had evaded most of the attacks and gotten away, but was now seperated from its Soono support, which were now quickly closing in to weapons range.
FP Isha forwent her standard curt acknowedgment, and instead took to her orders in stern silence. She pulled away from her assailing Nahoda, hoping to lure it toward her, then had Nubia launch them to meet it point blank with a RCPA blazing and a VT sword thrusting toward its midsection. Simultaneously, Ragnar's NI was dispersing a small number of VTs to create a small barrier at her backside, in case she were to be flanked.
Playing the defensive, Isha took a few hits as the enemy pressed towards her, but managed to convince the target that she wasn't planning a counterattack. When Nubia launched its 12 VT Fangs at the target, it was caught entirely by surprise and subsequently struck cross the chest and lower legs. Each bladed implement bore through the armor before returning to her shield, causing the Nahoda to lose control and vent massive jets of synovial fluid and plasma.
Her VT sword subsequently made short work of the unit, raking across the torso and causing it to split open in an explosive torrent of superheated gas, as the unit was finally destroyed.
Aiaru kept her avoiding game up for the time being, figuring she'd been hit hard enough already that there was no point in chancing taking that one major hit that would finish her off. She still took shots though, unleashing a salvo of her own Star Locust missiles at the nearest Nahoda at one point, and strafing the same target with her Shocksting whenever she could.
The volley of missiles darted around wildly before they impact the Nahoda's side, causing it to slam into one of its escort and spiral out of control. Follow-up shots impacted it along the chest and left shoulder, causing those areas to burst in bright displays of light and scintilating particles as armor was scoured away. Her continued fire kept chipping away at the torso while the unit struggled to redress itself.
It had only taken a moment, a slight slip in her aim, and the Nahoda was already back on her tail, returning with its own volley of missiles. With a dozen warning prings ringing off across her HUD, Aiaru was nearly struck with a heavy charge beam shot that passed just a few feet off her left shoulder, causing her NI to immediately warn her a dozen more times.
"Enemy is charging heavy-type plasma cannon! Evade!"
Mu'Tasim grunted inwardly as his shoulder began to heat up. Famasir warned in furious bleeps and bloops that his VANDR was suffering internal damage from all the heat. So, the squadron leader decided to step his end of the close range encounter as well. He withdrew his VT Sword only to stab the back into the shoulders of the Nahoda, to what should effectively disable it's arms. Then, he activated the VT drivers on his legs, making two magnificent distortion geometries focused on the point to where Mu'Tasim was the cockpit of the vehicle.
He usually did not use them much, but the Vaytulri-Acolyte took extra precaution, and boosted his shields with a single NEn Capacitor.
Despite the blows that it took, the VANDR kept on pushing forward on an erratic path towards the enemy Nahoda, shocksword firing as it closed the distance with NEn capacitor enhanced thrust. Fangs harried it as it and it's Soono continuously as Akjit continued to lay into the enemy in this fashion, slashing at its limbs and firing whenever it threatened to increase the gap.
Having some temporary breathing room, Jin decided to try to make things easier for the damaged Erla. His missiles had cycled into readiness, so it was time to fix that problem once and for all. His NI targeted the tracking Star Locust and Star Adder missiles on the one unit, hoping for an over-kill. A veritable blaze of warheads launched from his Raevr as he opened comms. "Get away from that Nahoda, Erla pilot!" After that, he changed vectors once more and opened his VTS drive to move to another location, one to better help out Kuzman, about 200 meters from his fellow pilot.
Aiaru engaged her VTS as soon as her NI's warning came through her systems, before one of the friendly pilots had even warned her. She arranged things so that she came out of the jump already lined up back towards the Nahoda, immediately opening fire with her Shocksword cannon and the Shocksting itself, trying to end this part of the fight now, before moving into her evasive maneuvers.
Having gotten a partially decent footing away from the now Soono-less Nahoda, Kuzman retargeted and reengaged the mecha. Impatient for his missiles to recharge, he fired off the Shocksting cannons. He had hoped to take the Nahoda on himself; however, he was grateful for the help of his fellow 6th Squadron member. As his missiles neared the end of their recharge cycle, Kuzman retargeted the Soonos.
Nubia noted to Isha that the rescue of one Vayshirin Aiaru was of primary importance. "Aiaru, I'm coming!" she shouted, announcing her plans, and the Erla II made a VTS jump to position itself behind Dahra's assailant. A pair of VT Fangs were launched to pincer the Nahoda, and aided by both RCPA's blazing at full.
The Nahoda flailed as it was struck, attempting to break away as Mu'Tasim's blade planted themselves firmly in his target's shoulders, tearing through armor and shields alike and penetrating deep into the unit's substructure as it raked across the shoulders and upper torso. Weakened, the unit released its grip of Famasir, allowing the Temple guard just enough time to strike the Nahoda in the mid-torso, collapasing the entire chest region with a double-strike and rupturing the cockpit block.
When he had finished, the enemy had stopped moving.
Meanwhile, Akjit flashed forward, swiftly removing the Nahoda's arm before it was able to parry his second strike. As it attempted to break away, he managed to perforate his fleeing enemy a dozen times with beam fire, only to be halted by a sudden crossfire of laser strikes by the unit's escorts, which had managed to close the gap he'd created earlier. Capitalizing on the chance, the Nahoda doubled back with a smooth boost, filling the space between itself and the Ivuori frame runner with dozens of fusion missiles.
As good as the enemy pilot might have been, they weren't perfect. Attempting to outflank Akjit for a counterattack, the Nahoda was quickly in the side by a trio of VT Fangs, forcing the unit to quickly boost away and break the offensive, as another eight bounded after it. Defense lasers lanced out, splitting one of the of the homing projectile blades in half before they closed the gap entirely, forcing it to jettison one of its limbs at the volley and detonate it forcibly to prevent them from impacting.
A veritable barrage quickly overtook Aiaru's attackers, totalling nearly a dozen Soono and scattering their wreckage across the battlefield in bright blue plumes of plasmatic death. One of the Nahoda attempted to evade the blast, managing to escape the worst of Jin's missile strike just before Aiaru struck it again with a few more shots, hammering its shields down with a punishing volley of plasma fire. It attempted to counterattack, launching a spray of missiles and giving after her with its own cannon blazing.
Kuzman had been given an opportunity by his wingmate's intercession, allowing him to place a good burst of fire on the enemy using his RCPA cannons and effectively wearing its shields, causing the field to crackle and dissipate. The enemy moved to the defensive, firing a curtain of burst plasma fire to fend him off as he moved away, either attempting to put some distance to use one of its heavier weapons or more obviously attempting to evade getting struck by a second missile volley.
Blinking behind the enemy Nahoda as it was moving to attack, Isha had an element of surprise that allowed her to quickly tear through the unit's vulnerable cockpit pod with her VT fangs. The vulnerable control block jettisonned out, but the damage was done. Prajna leaked out and crystalized as it touched the void of space, and both the pod and unit floated aimlessly in space.
Akjit was completely fixated on his own fight, somewhat unaware of the entirety of what was happening to the others. As the fusion missiles came after him, his VANDR fired out a volly of becon flares to turn the missiles' attention away from himself before continuing his persuit. The Ivuori continued to try and evade the Soonoo escorts and herded his VT Fangs after the badly damaged Nahoda Nada. He vector transitioned again, this time, right in it's path. VT Shield raised, Akjit charged, firing LEMBs before bringing the blade down.
Taking quick stock of the situation, the Raevr's NI targeted the Nahoda as it was moving away from Kuzman. It wasn't an original tactic, but it worked the first time. This time Jin targeted the back boosters on the unit, hoping for another nice explosion. Making sure his shots couldn't hit his fellow Vayshirin, Jin fired his Shocksting cannons in precise, measured counts to increase the accuracy.
Aiaru had already gone back to her evasion, but she made sure to turn herself in such a way as to set her Storm Ray system to work, letting the lasers go to work on the inbound missile systems as she kept dodging. And as soon as she had a clear shot, she set off her next volley of Star Locust missiles, hoping to catch her opponent off guard again. For the moment, that was her only offense, opting to spend more time avoiding fire then attacking for the time being.
Catching onto Jin's tactic, Kuzman followed suit. He circled clockwise on an oblique plane to the Nahoda and firred his Shocksting cannons after he was sure his fire wouldn't harm a friendly. The previously glum Nuk'Dukam was now surging with glee at the carnage. This NI just loves death and destruction, Kuzman thought inwardly, Quite a bit gung-ho about everything too." While he was slighly uneasy with the love for bloodshed, Kuzman had to admit that the gung-ho nature of his NI made a decent foil to his own laidback personality.
"Let us clear this up quickly, then." announced Mu'Tasim as he took a quick glance across the battlefield. The Squadron leader quickly assessed any damages to the local VANDR in the area, and noted that most of the were doing well in the way of handling themselves. So, he decided to assist the newfound pilot, as Isha had. The Temple Guard blasted off throughout the battle, "Fanir praise my speed as I move forth through the chaos and...!" chanted the steward lyrically before making a Sub-light jump just above the path of one of Aiaru's persuing Nahoda units, and blasting downwards onto it, the VT Drivers of the leg tearing into the top of it's chest. "...establish order!"
Isha took a mental breath of relief at the turn of events, glad she was so much more effective in combat than even she had anticipated. With something of a metaphorical determined smile, she turned to yet another Nahoda. Before she could think of an appropriate engagement plan, however, the Temple Guard had made his move. To the other, then. She dove headlong toward it, straightening out the VANDR's form to make as small a target as possible and raised her ATA, holding it ahead of her and forming the vector field to cover the entirety of the Erla. The left arm was prepared to slice this one down as well, but FP Ragnar didn't hold too much weight to her solo attack doing the job in one fell swoop.
The beacon flares caused most of the missiles to split off and detonate harmlessly away from Akjit, while a few continued on through and splashed against his shields, baking his outer armor with a dull orange glow. The Soono, distracted by the beacon flares for a moment, gave chase to Akjit only moments after he had already vector transitionned away.
More beams arced out, splaying against the Nahoda's already weakened shields as Akjit closed in to strike. The blade flashed downwards, but the defender shifted to evade, perhaps a bit too slowly. Hardened ADNR cleaved through armor and organoid tissues, effectively cutting through the entire front of the Nahoda's torso with a single sweep. Jets of reactor plasma and synovial fluid erupted from the gaping wound, before the unit was forcibly shut down and ejected the cockpit pod.
A few more precise shots battered the enemy's armor as Kuzman strafed the enemy, the clean glittering lance of his particle beam piercing the unit wholesale and tearing through its outer plating. Nuk'Dukam took several hits as the enemy continued to attack despite its damages, exchanging hit for hit and consequently taking several severe hits. Armor glowed, flaked apart and shattered under the barrage, and when Jin strafed the unit on the side, he swept past the unit and clipping its engines off with a lancing strike.
The more heavily armored Nahoda Nada wasn't quite as good as a shot, however, only wearing down Kuzman's shields as they exchanged fire and moving too slowly to evade the sudden strike by Jin. By the time the dust and radiation had dispersed entirely, the unit was left in a wreck, with a heavily battered cockpit pod floating nearby in space.
With her point defense subroutines holding up against the volley, Aiaru managed to fend off the volley of missiles and stay mostly intact, dodging and weaving around the few that got past her. A few detonated close enough to rattle her unit, but very little damage managed to penetrate to the hull, giving her ample opportunity to counterattack. The volley of Star Locust missiles shot out around the errant flaring blasts of plasma, striking the enemy Nahoda unit in the head, effectively crippling it with a lucky strike.
Mu'Tasim made short work of the other Nahoda pursuing her, slashing the unit across the engines as he dropped down onto it. Unfocused plasma spilled out as the unit hurtled away, knocked off-axis and into a wild spin as Isha clipped it, pursuing the remaining Nahoda in the enemy battlegroup. She swung into the very last unit with her VT sword, very quickly slicing through its arm and digging halfway into its torso as it failed to evade. It struggled for a moment, but having been flanked and disabled, quickly surrendered and ejected out.
There was a quiet, dour voice that quickly came onto open channels, as the ECM and leaking radiation finally died down. "This is commander Ansur Kefka. We surrender to you, Commonwealth dogs."
"This is Vaytulri-Acolyte Mu'Tasim Farouk. Commander Kefka, jettison your squad's weaponry and group the remainder of your squad here." ordered the Temple Guard as a small waypoint advisory was lasered over to one of the nearest acting units. Famasir stared off at the station before opening a link with command. "Control, this is Vaytulri-Acolyte Farouk, we have identified and captured NVR soldiers. Requesting a retrieval unit for their arrest."
There was a mental sigh of relief from Field Physician Ragnar at the word, "surrender," and she was tempted to smile. Instead, she turned her attention to her teammates. "Is everyone alright? Any injuries?" She was fairly certain there were none, but she was ever the one to cover all her bases thoroughly. Almost as an afterthought, she powered down her ATA and VT Sword.
Coming down off his adrenalin high, Kuzman was quite jittery. Even though this was not his first combat, Kuzman was still not used to it. Nuk'Dukam seemed disappointed in the surrender; Kuzman could tell it wanted him to Coup-de-Grace the pod in front of him.
Aiaru let her unit come to a halt, breathing hard as the adrenaline from the fight for her life slowly wound down now that she wasn't running anymore. She slowly made her way through her systems, powering down weapons systems where she needed to, before opening a channel to broadcast to the apparent friendlies. "This is Vayshirin Dahra. I definitely appreciate the help. Could I know who to thank?"
"We're of First Squadron, Vayshirin Dahra." responded Mu'Tasim to Aiaru, while also sending a full-system scan of his VANDR's status to Isha, allowing her to pick and choose what status warrant her attention. The squadron leader also sent this order to everyone else, to send a small damage report to the Field Physician, includign Aiaru. "Give me a sitrep, Vayshirin Dahra, before command calls back."
"Only two members of our squadron are still with us, myself and Vayshirin Remore, who is still aboard the remnants of the station. All others have been eliminated." Aiaru sent the data for her systems back along with her response, assuming that for the time being Mu'Tasim was the highest ranking.
"This is control, Vaytulri Farouk. I have a Squadron and a recovery team inbound to retrieve the PoWs." The missions operator finally replied, her own voice sounding vaguely relieved that they were alright after going radio silent again. "I have beacons going off on the station from the Third Squadron's units. Can you confirm that they're viable for retrieval?"
"No, but we can we definitely check. Permission to engage station on foot, command?" asked Mu'Tasim back to Romdo.
"You have permission."
Not long after, Zus returned to the formation. If anyone could have seen her, outside of the cockpit, they would have realized how absolutely angry she was. Had she normal control over her body right now, she would probably be trembling and panting, pure rage and frustration at her imbecilic younger brother, which she had just vented, directly to the moron over private comm channels. For now, however, Paralovi simply sent a request to rejoin the formation, and nothing further. Zus herself remained silent.
Zus would recieve a message directly from Mu'Tasim.
Code:
I am glad to have you back."First Squadron, we will wait for the retrieval squadron before boarding the station to find Vayshirin Dahru's sqaudmate. Prep your minds for infantry combat, we were about to put ourselves into the thick of it." said Mu'Tasim, his VANDR's head looked over in the direction of the NVR soldiers.
Jin was keeping watch on the perimeter while the rest of the squad went about their work. It wasn't that there was still a threat, but there could be, and it was always good to be on guard. His thoughts drifted back to the battle and his thoughts turned cold. If it weren't for the rebels, they wouldn't have had the loses or taken the damages they did. Ignorant people unwilling to conform to society's blessings. It sickened him. But wait! A ray of hope! He was going to boots to the ground! If there was an emotional link, all of them would feel Jin's excitement.
Isha cut across with a brief message. "Everyone checks out fine, Vaytulri."
Seeing as the skirmish had come to a close, Kuzman readied himself for combat on foot. He had been wanting to use his dual extend blades in a real battle for a while. After all, he was more of a close range combat person.
Zus was broken out of her anger when she recieved a transmission from Mu'tasim, saying he was glad to see her back. She quickly sent a reply:
Code:
I am glad to be back, and away from that fool of a brother.However, Zus was taken aback when she was informed she'd be needed for infantry combat, suddenly realizing that the Squadron was in a vastly different situation now than they had been before. She remembered her first engagement on foot, back on Mazerin, when they had had to retrieve Enlil, and ended up fighting would-be NVR assassins. Hopefully, this time it wouldn't be so confusing, and perhaps not nearly as cold.
Aiaru sighed a little when she got the command that they were going to be going into the station on foot; she was really hoping that she'd be allowed to return now, after the pounding she'd taken, but she'd cope well enough even so. "Sir, I'd like to add that my remaining squad member is not currently responding, so things may have gotten worse in the station since I last had contact."
----
The NI went back to wearing her customary frown since entering the Gardens. She was looking at the Navsphere, although not needing to before she let out a small huff. "My sensors have started to become muddled again. I'm detecting a massive distortion wave which I think is coming from the gas giant within the area... But I can't be too sure. At best it is what you people call an "Educated Guess." " she brought the gas giant up on the Navsphere while dividing a portion of it to maintaining surveillance upon the runners. "See?" she pointed to it.
"I'm having trouble pinning it down because it so large."
"...what do you mean 'you people'? And... hnn." Mridula squinted at the sensor readouts. "Could it be coming from some kind of... creature within the star?"
Ishtar looked down at her shoes again before looking back up to Mridula. "I mean 'normal people'. I'm still... new t-to this!" she blushed a little in embarassment at the slipup before continuing. With a little headshake she pointed at the celestial body. "It's a gas giant, a failed star formation. I just can't get my sensors to pinpoint the origin of the signal." The NI sounded fairly annoyed about not being able to do it. But everything she was throwing at it, and in every modulation she tried wasn't penetrating the field, or was merely being repulsed.
"I just know it's coming from there, but for all I know it could be an actual liquid core of veyrinite so large that it has begun to eminate a distortion wave across the fabric of space time." of course she was making that up as she threw her hands up in the air. But several scientists had indeed said it could be possible... before being laughed out of the scientific community.
"Nothing in my databases corresponds to this beyond what we encountered earlier."
"I know what a gas giant is, Ishtar. I may be a biologist, but I know the basics." She smirked slightly, idly scrolling through the readouts on the screen she, Ishtar, and Serhan were looking at. "Hnn. I still think my suggestion is a valid one."
"Could a Dream Eater survive the immense gravitation forces of a gas giant though? I only have data pertaining to... certain things I am not at liberty to ahah... share." Ishtar's cheeks went a little darker. "But what I know of them doesn't cover this if it is possible."
"We don't fully know their capabilities... even with the data I'm not at liberty to share. It's within the realm of possibility."
Ishtar rubbed at the sides of her head in frustration. "Can't I just blow it up?" was her response. When in doubt, blow it up. "I might be able to start nuclear fusion and make a new star!"
"Noooo. There's valuable research data in all this, no blowing up."
The NI hung her arms limply at her sides. Looking forlorn and regretful. She could've blown it up if she'd wanted to! And made it into a star... "Ok... I won't blow it up. B-But what do I do though? I can't penetrate the wave with my sensors."
"...I don't know. Let's just wait a minute and see if anything happens." Mridula patted Ishtar's shoulder gently.
"Hrm. It seems the 1st Squadron succeeded in disabling the garrisson over that station." Serhan said with a slight stroke of his chin. "Do we have any probes in reserve? I'd like to get some analysis equipment onto it to examine things." He glanced over the design and structure. "I'm not particularly familiar with the structure, however..."
"I have probes in my stores still. They're nearly finished being loaded into one of my catapults." Ishtar answered as she saw the Maranrr's interest in the station. She began to focus several of her sensor clusters on the structure to sate the man's curiosity until the probes were ready for deployment.
Initial sensor feedback provided very little data due to the interference of the combat, but the new data was finally coming in. The station didn't appear to be emitting any heat or radiation, and appeared to be a very cold, reflective surface marred by what may have been centuries or millenia of micrometeorite impacts. Everything indicated that it was very old, and that it was composed of incredibly complex and exotic materials that didn't match anything on record.
"...old... far in advance of our technology..." Mridula's luminescent eyes widened. "Is this a Makuori station?"
"I... these don't resemble the style I'm used to." Serhan spoke with hesitancy and doubt, considering the implications of his suggestion. "The structure nearly resembles the standard shape of NVR cruisers. The spire and the flowering top are dead ringers for the design... although the proportions and structure aren't the same."
"If I could get a sample of the material or perform a more indepth analysis of the materials used in its construction I could confirm that and the age." Ishtar offered. "Otherwise, I can run a comparative search in my database for the shape."
"That may be advisable."
