Arc 2 Chapter Header [https://i.imgur.com/ro1JiZG.jpg]
Front 5 - The Beginning
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5.1 - Operation Deadlight
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Once Nate and Kolme finally finished their thinly veiled gossiping, Hoki at last found herself following the two into the briefing room. A few things immediately caught her attention, the officers from the Rinie that she had seen entering the room foremost of all.
They sat in the front row which consisted of a line of 10 uncomfortable looking, retractable chairs - Matching in colour drearily to the metallic floor and walls. Of the seats two to the leftmost side of room were left empty, obviously there for Kolme and Hoki.
In the third seat from the left was a tall, well built, impressive looking man - Next to him a younger woman who stood out for her unusually bright white hair and facial features. Next in the line of chairs was Batty's first mate (in more meanings of the word then one) - 1st lieutenant Wally.
Unlike his Captain, Wally was a small man in both posture and stature. He had what you might call a 'rat-faced complexation' but not in that he was a weaselly looking individual but simply that he seemed meek, ready to run for cover at any given moment.
Probably at Batty's insistence he too was overdressed for the occasion, flourished gold over-trims, medals and all - Although somehow they looked less impressive on the small man than on his superior.
As Hoki took her chair she redirected her attention back to the other two members of the warship Rinie present in the row. As Kolme took the chair nearest the wall to the leftmost side of the room, that left Hoki next to the well built man - she recognised him as someone she had interviewed not so long ago, as a potential candidate for the Fluchtig's pilot team, he had politely turned her down at the time.
His name; 1st Lieutenant Tomo Chujits, a veteran of the 'Remembrance Incident' a few years back and commander of the Rinie's own Vijaik team. Their equivalent of Kolme Nilas in a manner of speaking. He was the essential image of a mech pilot - Tall and stocky but in a manner of pure muscle, yet not in any needless excess. His face a relatively gaunt picture that suggested approachability and consideration for every situation. Known as something of a model pilot who always played by the book and the piloting stats she'd seen on his record were impressive to boot.
Tomo Chujits;
Occupation; Senior Pilot - Squadron-Commander Simulation Rank A Estimated Real Ability B+ Leadership Skill A- Close Combat Skill B- Marksmanship Skill B Manoeuvres Skill B
Hoki had found her previous conversations with him pleasant enough.
Next to him was the younger looking woman with the startling white hair. Matching that hair was even more alarming features;
Long pointed ears, alabaster skin and discoloured pupils - A pure-blooded elf. 2nd Lieutenant Erfu Shiri was her name and again Hoki knew her from the interview process. Less experienced then her team-leader, Erfu had joined up a few years back and had stood out ever since.
Pure-blooded elves were rare even back home on Bhaile, sure some like Hoki herself, could trace back ancestry of that nature - But only by delving deep into her family tree.
You might have one of the elven features, the snow-white hair, albino skin or the pointed ears - But to have all the hallmarks meant you were from a line with no none-eleven blood, and those sorts seldom found cause to go into space. She too had been someone Hoki had researched when looking for potential Fluchtig pilots, though again Hoki had been politely turned down;
Erfu Shiri
Occupation; Pilot - Squadron Vice-Commander Simulation Rank A- Estimated Real Ability A Leadership Skill B- Close Combat Skill A+ Marksmanship Skill C+ Manoeuvres Skill A
The four from the Rinie certainly made for an eclectic bunch, but the other four in the front of the room were a little less conspicuous, although not by much.
The Valliere's Captain was possibly the youngest person in the room; Lt.Commander 'Louise' was a woman of average height and lean build. Unlike Batty, Louise let her fair hair grow out past her shoulders and rather than her best dress uniform, she seemed to be suited almost causally - With a red bandana around her neck in place of a collar or tie.
Hoki had only interacted with Louise at a few functions back in her instructor days and could describe the young woman with just one word - Smug. The daughter of IAFS's highest ranking officer, Vice Admiral Louise, it was the opinion of many that the young 20-something had been given her Captain's posting almost solely based on her family ties rather then her merit.
Compounding this view many had of the up and coming woman, was her immediate second in command - 1st Lieutenant Tabitha.
Tabitha was a person of similar height to commander Louise and yet seemed smaller in the way she seemed to sink into her chair, not so much out of shyness but rather like it was her natural posture.
'Miss.Tabitha' as most referred to her, kept long chestnut-brown hair that swept over her face in places, topped with a quant pair of glasses.
It was a poorly kept secret that she did most of the day to day work that kept the good-ship Valliere 'afloat' - The power behind Louise's smug front as it were.
Rounding out the row were two people Hoki had no recollection of whatsoever; A pair of muscle bound, square headed men. One about a foot shorter than the other, they had a quintessential bodybuilding look to them and Hoki could only presume them to be the senior officers of the Valliere's Vijaik team.
[https://i.imgur.com/igr1nlx.jpg]
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Similarly Hoki failed to recognise many of the people who sat a few rows back from the front. A collection of engineering and mechanical staff by their overalls - That she could only presume were there to offer their respective expertise when or if necessary, rather than actually part-take in the mission briefing.
Of them she could only really put a name to the Fluchtig's chief mechanic who nodded respectfully in Hoki's direction when they briefly locked eye's.
All told it was quite the gathering of colourful people strewn about the chairs of the drab room - Hoki found herself already growing exhausted just from putting the names to faces and trying to recall relevant details of each person attending - A part of her wondered what it must be like not to have a reason to remember such details - Someone like Una only needed to be familiar with her squad mates - For Hoki details of everyone present were tantamount.
After a few more minutes of waiting (something Hoki was growing used to at this point), Commander Nate Novel finally took his place standing at the top of the room in front of everyone else bar two. These two sat by a small table in front of all the rows, attending to terminals that would presumably control the visual elements of the day's proceedings.
The two Hoki remembered as bridge officers, in particular the man who ever wore sunglasses even in the brightest of situations - 1st Lieutenant Aurin Kolasit (or in her mind simply 'Sunglasses') - Kolme's equal in rank and Nate's second in command in matters concerning the admin of the ship.
All told that made for 4 of the senior-most officers from each of the three ships that had rendezvoused together that morning.
Kolme and herself as Vijaik pilots, representative of the Fluchtig, along with Nate and Aurin (plus the nameless aide sitting next to him at the terminal) as management.
Tomo and the elf woman Erfu, along with their leaders commander Batty and Lt.Wally of the Cruiser Class ship Rinie.
And finally the two blocky men accompanying Lt commander Louise and 1st Lt.Tabitha of the Cruiser Class ship Vallière.
A meeting of primarily 12 individuals that would go on to decided the course of a great many details in the upcoming days.
A briefing that while unnamed would surely be one of the utmost important.
A meeting which, if truth be told, Hoki would really of rather not attended....
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The meeting had kicked off in earnest, starting with commander Nate giving some fairly rudimentary housekeeping notes. As he talked a screen of easily 3 metres long by 2 wide emitted onto the wall behind him. What showed upon it was a series of fairly disorganised slides, the sort Hoki had seen a dozen times before and that failed to grab much attention.
This continued for a short-while with little fanfare until a particular slide appeared - A faint stirring at it bringing some life back to the room.
On it was a diagram of 3 warships - The Rinie, Vallière and of course the Am-Fluchtig itself.
Looking at the 2D image of her home filled Hoki with a somewhat odd feeling. It isn't uncommon for a soldier to spend months at a time in space aboard a vessel and even when one does disembark, you seldom get an opportunity to see your 'home away from home' in any great detail from the outside.
Were Hoki to describe the feeling, she mused it would be somewhat similar to living in an apartment block that, for some improbable reason, you couldn't leave for a large period of time. Sure you wouldn't exactly forget what the exterior of the building looked like but the nuance of it - The small alleyways or places where disrepair was present, the corners of faded paint peeling off the walls - Those places might start to fade from memory, just a little.
Of course you would still remember your room, the place you spent those hyperbolic months locked inside, and maybe even know what your neighbours apartments pertained - But would you ever know what the room of someone a few floors below you looked like? Moreover would you notice if a series of vehicles parked in your carpark and than filed into your neighbours apartment?
That last point was the one that caught her as the most surreal. That very morning three ships had come together and yet she struggled to visualise the reality of that. Even though she now sat in a room with people who hadn't been on the ship the day prior, there had been no sounds or vibrations to disturb her sleep, when the other two ships had arrived.
In fact it wasn't like you could feel the Fluchtig moving through deep space. For all purposes it seemed nothing had changed despite the presents of new people.
In a way that surprized her, Hoki felt oddly dis-associated as she looked on the images of the three space-fairing vessels. She did her best to refocus on the waffle of the presentation, while trying not to get any more philosophical.
The Fluchtig itself could be described as iris shaped with the ends of said eye stretched out to the East and West.
A Large Oval section at the centre that to either side narrowed into a long shaft, along which were lined the vessel's massive main-cannon emplacements and arrays of lesser anti-aircraft guns.
These long outcroppings were also filled with storage, power generation facilities and of course thrusters to either end that propelled the ship on its long journeys. Atop the centre oval lay a large Hexagonal dome - Inside this dome was where the majority of the ship functioned from.
Fluchtig Concept Sketch [https://i.imgur.com/RfJjdx1.jpg]
The other two ships differed greatly from the Fluchtig. The Rinie was a decade old cruiser class vessel from The First War and although it had seen extensive retrofitting its aged design philosophies certainly showed - It essentially looked triangular in shape, at about a 60 degree angle, that levelled into straight flats near each corner.
This triangular shape was dotted with double barrel cannons as well as pinpoint AA guns and a series of small windows looking in on various parts of the ship. On it's 'back' slope were simply two massive thrusters which controlled all movement. In this was what showed the vessel's true age, effectively being a ship designed to fight in one direction despite the lack of 'up' or 'down' when in space.
A small tinge of guilt ran through Hoki as she considered the image. This type of ship was after all the same as the one Scarlet had been aboard before the 'Skirmish of the 4th'. The very category of vessel Hoki had so heartlessly mocked Scarlet over a couple of weeks ago.
'....I'm glad she's not here.....'
Oddly enough the Vallière, while being 5 years younger than the Rinie, had a fairly similar design.
There were some changes, with the angle of the triangle now being more around 45 degrees, in turn making the length of the ship longer - Further the mecha hangar, while still single file, was much more deliberate on the updated model - But all told the two ship's were clearly made by the same shipyard, as it were.
Considering her degree in Vijaik history it was maybe no surprise that while Hoki puzzled over the individual differences of the three ships, everyone else around her reacted to a different matter.
On the image was more than just pictures of the three ships but additionally their new 'designations'.
The Fluchtig was placed centre-top, with the word ['Flagship'] beneath it - While below to either side of it were the other two vessels labelled ['Escort'].
Finally the words acting as a heading at the very top of the diagram;
[Autonomous Flotilla Battlegroup 'Tristain' (Tristain Group)] Flotilla Commander; Nate Novel Command Vessel; Battleship 'Am-Fluchtig' (Celtic Class)
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