Engineering a Rescue
Essense region – Peccanouette constellation
Arnon System – Planet IX – Moon 3
Sisters of EVE Bureau station
17 March YC 127
I spent a rather uneventful morning in SOE Bureau station and was considering my lunch options when I received summons from Sister Alitura. I winced. The previous day had been intense and if today was going to be the same then I’d have to make do with intravenous nourishment.
When I entered the office, I saw that Alitura was excited.
“Captain, we have found the key survivor,” said the agent, her eyes gleaming. “She was an engineer on The Damsel, and now she is signed on to the crew of the Heartbreak. She may be the only one who knows what really happened.”
“Heartbreak? Really?” I snorted. “That doesn’t bode well.”
“Captain, be serious,” Alitura reprimanded me. “However, you may be right. So far, we have found all the Damsel survivors in grave danger. But you know the drill by now: get out there and get her before someone else does.”
“Aye aye, Sister,” I replied with mock compliance. “Any word of advice before I embark on this dangerous rescue mission?”
A smile briefly played on Alitura’s lips before she replied, “Not really, but I am fairly certain there’ll be someone there to shoot at you.”
“The story of my life,” I said philosophically and went to the docks.
Essense region – Peccanouette constellation
Arnon System – Mission location
When I arrived at the location provided by Alitura I immediately saw Heartbreak, or rather what was left of her. A few Rogue Drones were circling the wreck, periodically shooting at the parts of the hull that they thought were not dead enough.
“Damn! We are late!” I cursed.
At that moment a female face appeared on my comms screen and screamed at me, “Get me out of here! This thing might explode any second now!”
The transmission suddenly broke but I managed to see the sender’s ID – it was Tahaki Karin, the engineer from The Damsel!
“That’s what I call a survivor,” I said with respect.
Then, there wasn’t any time left for admiration, as the Rogue Drones realised that there was something livelier than Heartbreak on the grid, and turned their attention to Kaukokärki. I, however, could not reciprocate as my first priority was to save Tahaki Karin from the wreck. I fired up the microwarpdrive and sped toward Heartbreak. While I was approaching the wreck I did not neglect the opportunity to target and fire at the drones but their angular speed was too high for my railguns and they kept missing. Luckily, the reverse was also true – a lot of their shots glanced off my shield causing minimal damage.
“Ms Karin, get ready for extraction,” I broadcast in the local channel, hoping that the engineer would get my transmission. “Aura, scan the ship for the signs of life – I need to know where to pick her up.”
A 3D model of the wreck appeared on the screen showing living organisms as red dots. There was a cluster of dots midships and a solitary dot at the stern. The latter was moving fast from the ship axis toward the hull.
“I think it’s her,” I said pointing at the stern. “She is moving to an airlock.”
I focused my camera drones on the projected destination of Tahaki and found an array of airlocks which could be used for egress. Willing Kaukokärki in their direction, I soon reached the stern segment. I moved as close as possible to the hull so that the destroyer shielded the airlocks from the drones’ fire. One of the locks opened and a figure in an EVA suit jumped out of it. I was about to pick her up with a tractor beam when I saw that she fired up a jetpack and flew fast toward my cargo hold.
“What a legend!” I said in admiration.
In a few seconds the person reached Kaukokärki. As soon as she was inside I opened an intercom connection to the hold.
“This is Captain Korff. Am I talking to Ms Karin?” I asked to ascertain the identity of the survivor.
“Yes, Captain. Yours truly,” said the figure taking off the EVA suit. “Or what is left of her.”
“Are you injured? We can get you to SOE station in a couple of minutes.”
“Don’t worry about me,” said Tahaki, limping toward the first aid kit fixed to the wall.
She took out a painkiller syringe and plunged it into her right thigh.
Wincing briefly, she continued, “There must be other survivors onboard. We need to rescue them first.”
“Yes, there are, but I don’t know how to reach them. I could not establish a connection.”
“Then I’ll have to get back and extract them. Where is the repkit? I’ll need a blowtorch,” said the engineer breathing heavily.
“You are not in any shape to…” I started saying when Kaukokärki shook violently and half my shield was gone!
“What the fuck!” I cried, thinking that the Rogue Drones managed to call in heavy artillery.
When I looked at the camera drones channel, I discovered that the reality was far worse – the midships section of the wreck where remaining survivors congregated was no more. It was its explosion which sent the shockwave that damaged Kaukokärki.
After a few moments of stunned silence I said, “Aura, any survivors?”
Aura shook her head. I closed my eyes and felt a ball of red hot anger blooming in my chest. It urged me to find the culprits and shoot at them until nothing more than stardust remained; it urged revenge. It was irrational and it was no good – in such a state a capsuleer could override all safety measures, overheat the engine and become stardust himself. My Academy training kicked in almost automatically and I took several deep breaths. Then I channelled the anger into a cold fury which guided my actions with unparalleled precision.
“Tahaki, get into the crash couch on the second deck, now!” I said into the intercom.
When the engineer was safely strapped in the couch, I turned on the MWD and with maximum acceleration moved away from the marauding Rogue Drones. As soon as they gave chase and their trajectories straightened, my rails were able to track the deadly machines and started delivering solid hits. Half a minute later only metal scraps remained of two Splinters and two Infesters. Three Decimator Alvis appeared on the grid 60 klicks away from me. I turned off the microwarpdrive and engaged the newcomers before they were able to get close enough to fire at me. They were tougher than the first lot but still no match for the sniper Cormorant.
When the Decimators were destroyed I stopped the ship. While I was waiting for another wave of reinforcements I contacted Tahaki Karin.
“How are you feeling?” I asked.
“I’ll live,” she answered curtly.
“Sorry for the delay with getting you to the station but I had to eliminate those pests lest they attack another ship.”
“Don’t apologise, Captain,” said Tahaki, “it was worth it.”
I nodded and waited for another minute or so. As no drones appeared on the grid and Tahaki was in need of medical assistance, I decided to wrap up the mission and returned to SOE Bureau.
Essense region – Peccanouette constellation
Arnon System – Planet IX – Moon 3
Sisters of EVE Bureau station
While Tahaki Karin was being examined by the doctors, I made my report to Sister Alitura. I expected her to reprimand me for failing to save the crew in the exploded section of Heartbreak but the reproach came from a different angle.
“There was nothing you could do to save the crew. Once you knew they perished in the explosion you should have returned to the station with Ms Karin,” said Alitura.
“And let the Rogue Drones escape?” I snorted. “I do not leave the job half-done.”
“But the destruction of the drones was not in the mission brief,” objected the agent.
“Then we have a different understanding of our job, Sister,” I said coldly.
Sister Alitura gave me a piercing look but did not reply. We sat for a while in silence.
“Take a rest, Captain,” she finally said. “I’ll talk to Ms Karin and let you know when I have new leads.”
I felt deflated and was glad that the agent did not have anything for me straight away. I nodded and left the office.