"Accept the call," Eirik said, leaning back, looking for all the world like a man without a care in the world. He was casually cleaning his nails with the tip of the axe when a Kloxna appeared on the screen next to the map of the surrounding system. While not on opposite sides of the planet, Eirik's ships were still in a favorable position. With enough luck, they could avoid getting shot at entirely.
"Unidentified vessel, this planet is currently under siege by the Kloxna navy and as such, is to be considered under quarantine. Please leave the system immediately or be considered an enemy. This is your first and only warning." The voice of a tired communications officer came through the speakers.
"I don't care about your war, I got a contract on that planet," Eirik replied casually. "We understand the danger and accept the risk involved in entering an active warzone. Now move aside and stop pestering me. I have a paycheck to earn."
"Under intergalactic law, I recognize your mercenary status and grant you access through the blockade to the planet. However, all Terrans onboard your ships including yourself, Captain, must submit to facial recognition scanning. Out glorious high caste is involved in a personal vendetta and does not want her hated enemy to sneak past her." The voice responded
"That is a problem." Eirik stalled. Each second he bought was a second closer to the planet while not under enemy fire. "If we delay there is a high chance our prey might escape. and scanning the crew of 3 ships is going to be a long and bothersome process. So I am not going to submit to that. If you insist on attacking us over this, The company will be informed and you will have to deal with the fallout of a pissed-off mercenary group, which I might add, is in rapid growth.
You know how word travels between us mercs. Soon, no one would be willing to do the dirty work of the Kloxna, and you would have to find a different way to battle the Terrans on the ground." Eirik tried pushing on the fear button of displeasing their superiors to get through, without having to submit to a search'n'scan.
Unfortunately, this was a seasoned member of the Kloxna military. "This is above my station. Transferring the call to my Captain."
Eirik knew the game would be over the moment the Kloxna Captain saw his face. While the general soldiery was too ignorant and caught up in daily life to memorize the face of the Terran that dueled with a member of their high caste, every member of the high caste, who coincidently was also the ship captain's, would most certainly have committed his face to memory in the hopes of forging stronger bonds with the dominant bloodline in Kloxna society, by handing over the Terran she had a feud with.
Putting the call on hold, he ignored the beeping of the Kloxna Captain trying desperately to get him to return to the call. Being put on hold usually meant that another call was being handled and making a high caste wait was a dangerous game. Fortunately, David already knew what Eirik had in mind and was moving to replace him in the Captain's chair.
Safely seated, he opened the call to the Kloxna Captain. "Apologies, one of my escort ships had a minor weapons malfunction that required immediate attention," David said smoothly, nodding respectfully to the Kloxna on screen.
Still fuming with anger at being made to wait, the Kloxna most graciously accepted the apology with a dismissive hand wave. "You will submit to the scanning or be destroyed!" She said bluntly.
"Then my target will escape and the company will lose its reputation. Despite being fairly new, we have a 100% success rate. Being the one to ruin that could have great ramifications, not just with our mercenary group..." David let the unspoken threat hang in the air. You attack us, your species get blacklisted among the mercenaries.
"And who is this elusive target of yours?" The Kloxna asked sourly. Despite wanting to blast him out of the sky right then and there, the Kloxna military relied heavily on mercenaries to do the things that endless numbers could not.
"That is none of your concern. All you should concern yourself with is if my target is in the same location as your soldiers, or your enemy's. In either case, I will attempt contact with your commander on the group before moving in, if that is the case. I have no interest in making an enemy out of a superior foe." Hoping that a little flattery would net him some cheap point, David tried deflecting the question, hopefully, the practical efforts would occupy the Kloxna Captain.
"Then you cannot enter the planet!" She snapped at him. Looking David over with a disgusted look, she said "You can wait there for as long as it takes you to submit!" Before she ended the call.
Eirik leaned over the console as David got up. Starting a call with the Captains of his 2 supporting ships, he exclaimed "The jig is up boys. LEG IT!" As he sat down in his chair again, he was pushed backward by the powerful acceleration of his ship. Having hung back while his 2 escorts continued their drift towards the planet, he was now gaining on them, despite their engines firing as hard as they could. The Kloxna ships started up their engines, but with capital ships, it took time to get them moving.
The comm panel in front of Eirik kept beeping with "Ready" responses for about 30 seconds before an eerie silence took over the ship. No one made a sound, waiting for the order to start firing. Until then, it was a waiting game, and Eirik's crew had learned to trust his instincts when it came to combat.
As soon as he saw the Kloxna capital ships getting up to speed, Eirik gave the order for a salvo of missile tubes to be fired in their flight path with a wide spread. He had no intention of hitting them, but if he could disrupt their formation and flight path, he might be able to delay them. There were still a few minutes until they hit the atmosphere. He could see the 2 ships in front of him running as fast as they could, their shield barely visible, and every ounce of power their engines could hold was being directed into them.
The second missile salvo was fired before the first had reached their intended targets. While none of them hit home, they did force the enemy to turn their ships away from Eirik in order to let the missiles fly harmlessly past them. But with their engines finally warmed up and firing properly, they quickly got back on course and started the chase. Having avoided the first missile barrage, the Kloxna ships were now ready and moved their ships pre-emptively to avoid further attacks.
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This did buy Eirik some time, as the course adjustments of large ships were not a thing you did quickly and every time they were not on an intercept course, they lost some of the gained ground.
"If only we didn't have to play bait for 2 slower ships, we could outrun them" Eirik scowled at the 2 ships on screen in front of his own."But it looks like the first ship will enter the atmosphere before the Kloxna is even in weapons range. At least that is something."
The Kloxna took a few potshots before they reached an effective firing range but the shields of Eirik's ship took the blows without issue, even while running at quarter strength.
"David, increase speed to put us on the side of the second friendly ship between them and the Kloxna. Match speed when we are in position, we will absorb the damage for them. The moment they enter an effective firing range, boost our shields to maximum. Even if we are not in position yet. I do not wish to take any chances." Eirik was gripping the handrest of his chair and in the silence that followed as the ships moved through the void, he could feel the beads of sweat rolling down his forehead.
The waiting became crushing as they approached the planet, the Kloxna ships approaching from their right. "1 minute until we hit the atmosphere!" David called out. Eirik cursed. The Kloxma ships would be in firing range in 20 seconds. He pressed the button for the ship-wide intercom. "If anyone has any bright ideas on how to survive 40 seconds of sustained fire from several capital ships, now is the time to speak up!" He said desperately.
Nothing happened for almost 10 seconds. Then the intercom crackled to life. "Captain! I need remote access to the computer on the ship next to us!" Came Signe's voice. Eirik shot David a look and immediately called the ship they were escorting. As the call came through, the Kloxna ships opened fire. While only a single one of them was within effective range, the result was impossible to ignore. Seconds after the first ship hit effective firing range, the shields flared up around their ship as an unrelenting barrage of energy weapons fire connected with it.
"Remote computer access, NOW!" Eirik bellowed as his ship lurched violently under the hail of enemy fire, forcing him to grip his hand rests tightly to stay in his seat. 5 seconds after the Kloxna opened fire, Signe's voice came again, "CAPTAIN! Your ship is connected to the escort. It will mimic your movements!"
Eirik knew what this meant and grabbed the ship controls, switching to manual control in the process. He could take evasive action now that the escort would at least mimic his movement. While he was restricted to a 2 dimensional plane of movement, on account of leading the escort ship as close to the designated landing zone as possible, it reduced the strain on the shield to sustainable levels.
Half a minute later, they burned through the atmosphere of the planet, the Kloxna ships hanging back in the void, even the smaller support ships. They knew they had no chance without the support of the capital ships.
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Tai'Tanu was surveying the gathering of troops from the small hill she had stationed her command center on. Just a couple of hours and they could march on the last defending pocket of Terrans. The day had been a good one. The Terran defenders had lost other 30-ish soldiers to their impromptu artillery barrage. Despite the lack of honor, pre-FTL Terran war tactics were certainly effective.
Her officers had gone over the possible implications of being on the receiving end of such a barrage and had, rightfully so, concluded that the psychological damage would be the greatest threat by an extreme margin. Countless studies performed by the Terrans confirmed this, along with the different amounts of time a soldier was expected to function at *Peak 'Combat 'Potential* a concept the Terrans seemed to value greatly. Why bother with the effectiveness of an individual soldier when you could just throw enough death and suffering at the problem until it disappeared?
Another reason for it being a good day was the strange lack of phantom pain from her tail. She had been able to take joy in the little things on this day. The delicious morning meal she had enjoyed. The nice weather, warm and humid. And she would secure the planet on this day.
That's when she heard the sound of multiple ships entering the atmosphere between her forces and the large industrial complex.
"Strange, I didn't order a resupply of the soldiers' food stocks for another 2 days. They fight best when they are hungry." Tai'Tanu thought to herself before a shiver ran from her neck to the missing tip of her tail, causing the pain to flare up in full force. She knew that ship!!! She would recognize that ship anywhere in the galaxy!!
When the officers in the camp below the hill heard incoherent screaming and the breaking of furniture from the hilltop, they glanced up to see who was about to suffer death at the claws of the high caste. They were surprised and worried to see their commander in the process of turning a storage crate to splinters while screaming curses at an alien ship in the sky. Was their commanding losing her mind?
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Tina had noticed the number of explosions from the homemade artillery diminish over the last few hours and knew that the final charge was coming soon. She grabbed the cross around her neck, a gift from her highly religious parents. She did not have faith like they did. She believed in science and what you could observe. and no one had observed a divine power so far, at least not in a way that could be measured in any way, shape, or form.
And yet, now she grabbed the cross and prayed so fervently that her parents would have shed tears of joy, had they been able to read her thoughts.
"Dear God above. I know I am not a good Christian. I do not attend church nor do I read the bible or preach the holy word. But I beg you now. Help me. Help us! I have done the best I could. I need help, Lord. Please, Lord. Send help!!"
For a short minute, nothing happened. A single tear flowed down her cheek. This was not how things were supposed to go. She was young and had her life ahead of her. She was not supposed to die on some random mud ball in space, mauled and probably eaten by a race of overgrown lizards.
That's when she heard the sound of ships entering the atmosphere. She sniffled once and looked solemnly to the sky. "Thank you!" She whispered to the wind.
___________________________
Eirik got up from the floor of the bridge as he looked around. The new automatic fire foam dispensers had fired off in several places, suggesting they had not made it down to the surface unscathed. "Damage report!!" He demanded as he looked around. Besides people being knocked down from the last hit that had penetrated the shield, no one looked hurt.
"Moderate damage to the armor plating, no breach!" David called out, his screen receiving status reports from all decks
"Can we land inside the complex?" Eirik asked.
"Images show several structures large enough to hold the ships. Whether or not they are empty, we have no idea, Captain." Came the response from David.
"Take us down at once! The ships in orbit will be busy calling in the breach of the blockade. Call the survivors, and see if we arrived for nothing. The blockade should not be jamming radio signals on the surface. If they did, their forces would not be able to coordinate effectively."
The connection was barely being attempted before the call went through. "Hello?" A very southern American voice said hesitantly.
"Guess who arrived ahead of schedule!!" Eirik hooted. "Can you clear an area for us to land in?"
"We have an issue with mortar crews around the base. Perhaps your ships could do something about that?" The voice said, relief so heavy it was almost palpable.
"Say no more." Eirik replied. Opening a channel to the 2 other ships he gave his orders. "Mortar crews in the area around the complex. Sweep and clear before touching down."