“Ma’am, the automated cannons on our Eulia main ground station fired just 3 minutes ago. It appears an unauthorised ship entered the no-fly zone near our classified installations, and after failing to hail the ship, our GLO cannons fired three high-energy laser blasts at the ship.”
Nui Camridge, the commanding officer of the Eulia Station protection force, and captain of the UAGS Nova, the Eulia Station Fleet’s flagship, turned to face the reporting officer. She’d only had this position for 3 months, and there had already been too many incidents for her liking. She needed to work out a better plan to stop incidents like these, but at the moment, her attention was required to be on the matter at hand. She interrupted the officer as he took a breath and paused to retrieve a report printout from his briefcase.
“These sort of incidents have become almost routine in recent months. I don’t need the details, you know what you need to do. Prioritise an immediate sweep of the wreckage, ensure no broadcasts were transmitted before the ship was destroyed, and get a team working on the identification of the crew to trace down any possible problems this may cause domestically or with foreign interests. Dismissed.”
The officer remained at attention.
This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.
“Uh..well, ma’am, that’s the problem. This time it’s different. The cannons underestimated the ship’s velocity, and only one blast impacted the ship. The blast failed to destroy the ship, and it tumbled out of orbit, the main hull burning up as it entered Eulia’s atmosphere.”
The officer continued his report, as Nui’s brow darkened.
“A small personnel capsule was ejected from the ship before it broke up. The capsule’s current location is being tracked down as we speak. However, when it detached, we registered the broadcast of an automated distress beacon. There were no other broadcasts from the ship, and it was shot down before it entered visual range of our installations, so there is a high possibility that our current Eulia station installations have not been compromised.
“However, this situation needs to be managed carefully to prevent an inter-system incident; the registered owner, and we assume, the current pilot of the ship when it was shot down, is Leoi Netwall, son of Jay Netwall, an influential figure from the Taavetti system.”
A mug of coffee flew through the air, smashing against the opposite wall of Nui’s office. The officer remained at attention. If he was surprised, he didn’t show it.
Nui sat there for a moment before turning to face the officer, “Order an immediate debarkation. We leave for Eulia the moment all essential personnel are back on board ship. I will meet you on the bridge in 5 minutes.”
With a salute, and a curt “Yes, Ma’am”, the officer spun on his heels and exited the office. And Nui let out an audible sigh.