Hero? A - 5,
B - 7
Plan?
A - 9, B - 3
BA wins.
***
Mission Briefing
track: mission briefing
I managed to get to the captain after the Empress left, showing him the details of my plan. His eyes twinkled at the sight of it. Within minutes, he had convened a general staff meeting in the briefing room of the Kaguya-hime. The Empress and her staff were not informed; if she found out about this before we had confirmed and begun the plan, she would definitely interfere and put a stop to it. Better to let her know after the procedures to escape are already in motion.
“Gentlemen, as you are all aware, a UNS warship is currently stationed 30 clicks from Neo Heliopolis. I have summoned all of you here to discuss the countermeasures that the Kaguya-hime will take to address this situation.” begins Captain Grimrock. All of the personnel in the room appear to be combat and bridge crew; I could see Naim and his pilot underlings sitting in the corner. He raises his hand.
“Captain, I understand the need for a meeting, but why is a civilian here?” He looks pointedly at me, as does his mates.
“You'll find out soon enough. Come up here, Hoshikawa.”
I stare at the captain in surprise. I had been under the impression that he was going to be the one to present my plan – I don't want to stand out any more than is necessary right now.
“Get up here, kid!” barks Captain Grimrock suddenly. I jump to my feet and walk nervously to the front of the room. “I'm not gonna clarify your plan for you. You know best.” grins the captain deviously. He could have warned me. I look around the briefing room. My audience is whispering amongst themselves, clearly unconvinced that I have the right to be telling them what to do. Somewhere near the back of the room I spot Tabitha, who grins at me. It's good to see a friendly face. I clear my throat and begin. I'll need to display some more confidence in front of this crowd.
“Please bring up a map of the colony and the area surrounding it in a fifty kilometer radius.”
The bridge staff manning the hologram projectors taps a few buttons. A schematic of the colony appears in front of us. The Ghostlot is labeled on the map too, facing the port entrance at the end of the colony's giant cylinder.
“As we can see here, the enemy has positioned themselves in such a way that they can fire upon any one attempting to exit the colony via the port. Attempting a frontal breakthrough is not impossible, but the Kaguya-hime's armor may not be enough to withstand the Ghostlot's focused bombardment. They have the advantage of being able to begin their attack the moment they detect movement. The UNS will not care if they destroy the colony in the process.”
“Come on, man, just cut to the chase already!” One of the fighter pilots yells at me impatiently. I give a loud sigh and raise my hands in defeat, glancing at Captain Grimrock as I do so. “Alright. Escaping is simple if
we don't care about the colony either. We'll just blast our way through the wall and fly off.” Shouts begin to fill the room as the Kaguya-hime's crew get rowdy.
“Are you nuts?”
“Captain, is this some kind of joke?”
“There's still eight thousand people out there... this is crazy.”
The captain holds up a hand and the volume in the room instantly subsides. “You damned undisciplined maggots! Let Hoshikawa have the chance to address your doubts first. Questions come one by one.” orders the captain. He seems to want me to prove my own capability in defending its weak points before he'll go along with it.
One of the bridge operators, a mousy girl with brown hair tied into a bun, is the first to raise her hand.
“What of the other residents of the colony that are not on the Kaguya-hime? Puncturing the colony wall will render it uninhabitable.”
“Every O'Neill cylinder has inbuilt emergency shelters in case of a ecosystem failure due to external events such as a wall breach,” I respond promptly. “Neo Heliopolis's shelters are rated for 100,000 people at the moment; the bulk of them were completed early on to ensure safe haven should anything go wrong during its construction.” At times like this, I'm thankful I read a lot. I continue confidently. “8000 people would be able to survive for at least six months in those shelters. If we begin evacuation in the next twenty minutes, we can complete it just as the Kaguya-hime is about to execute its plan.”
I can see the girl reading through some details on her screen, double-checking my facts. She nods, satisfied.
“Senya! Me next!” Tabitha raises her hand. “What happens after we leave the colony? I mean, will the Ghostlot try to destroy it?”
I shake my head. “I don't think so. They are here for the Kaguya-hime and the prototype CFs. Though they seem to want to capture us, from their destruction of the other prototypes I believe that they don't mind seeing it all blown to pieces either – they can always gather data from the wreckage. Now, if we escape, the colony becomes of far less interest to them since we are no longer here.”
“You mean, we'll distract them away from Neo Heliopolis?”
“Well, that is not an intended effect of the plan, but yes, they will definitely chase after us.”
“So what's stopping them from hunting us down and destroying us?” This time Naim is the one who spoke up. “Look at your own map carefully, Hoshikawa. Unless we want to start travelling further away from Earth, the Ghostlot has a near certain chance of intercepting us on any trajectory. Besides that, we will have to fight against at least five CFs with one prototype.” He stops and laughs. “After your dismal performance against that Xolotl, don't tell me you're going to say that you're taking the Anhur out to fight five alone.”
I smile at him amiably. Of course I'm not planning to pilot the Anhur. I meant what I told the captain; I'm no hero – I'm not even a trained frame pilot. I only got into the combat frame and fought to stay alive. I tell him, “No,
you'll be launching in the Anhur, Lieutenant Naim.” His eyes bug out in surprise.
“W-what? Captain, you can't be making me sortie out there alone! Though I am confident in my skills, this is too risky. If it is an order I will obey, but...”
Grimrock just laughs, leaving further explanation to me.
“Lieutenant Naim, if you would let me finish,” I say. “I would like the captain to commandeer six of the colony's construction mechs. With some work we should be able to outfit them with the spare weapons from the prototype project. They might not be able to hold their own against an actual combat frame, but with proper team-work they can at least coordinate with Anhur to provide fire support.”
“The element of risk is still unacceptable.” he retorts, intent on finding a flaw with my plan. “Battle doesn't always go the way you want it. As the experienced officer, I can tell you that we don't have good chances of fighting off five Centeotls while defending the Kaguya-hime's escape at the same time.”
“That is where the second part of the plan comes in. This is the risky part.” I bring up the astronomical charts, overlaying it on the map of the colony's surroundings again. “In about... forty five minutes, a small asteroid roughly 20 metres in diameter will pass by this region of colony space.” I highlight the sector for them. “We will lure the Ghostlot onto the Kaguya-hime's tail and retreat across this path.” Tracing my finger across the map, I mark the trajectory I had just proposed with a glowing orange line.
“They'll see the asteroid coming too.” complains Naim. “You have been indulging in too many fantasies if you think the Ghostlot will be hit by the rock.”
“I don't need them to be hit by it. If they know it is coming, they will hesitate to continue following our tail. Even such a small asteroid can be dangerous. If they find out at the last minute, well, that's their problem to deal with. Either way, we should be able to shake them off long enough to make use of the Kaguya-hime's superior top speed.”
Naim sits back, still frowning. The room has started murmuring again. Some were eager to take the risk, others were not so convinced. I know the plan isn't perfect; nothing is, but in the absence of anything better, this is the only thing we can do. Staying in the colony like sitting ducks would be extremely dangerous; we would be leaving all our lives in the UNS's hands.
“Alright, I've decided.” says Captain Grimrock. “We're going with this plan. Captain's orders.” That seals the deal. Instantly, the atmosphere in the room changes. “Now get to preparations!” he bellows. The crew salute and move off to do their duty.
I heave a sigh of relief. Standing in front of a group of older people is tense. Before I can leave, the door opens. The Empress is standing there. “What is the meaning of this, Captain? Why is there suddenly activity amongst the crew, when I've ordered you to stand down?” she scowls. I take a step back, hoping to avoid her attention.
“Ah, Your Majesty!” Captain Grimrock greets her cheerfully. “We've decided to break through the blockade instead of sitting around.”
The Empress's face darkens. I could fancy hearing thunder in the background. “Were my orders not clear?”
“Your
recommendations were clear. It is unfortunate, but the the supreme commander of the armed forces happens to be the Emperor, Your Majesty. Only his authority may command a military officer; a civilian would have no direct say. I believe currently that particular authority is a shared responsibility of
all the board of directors. Is that not so, Your Majesty?” The old captain is pretty shrewd. He knows that out in the field he can probably do as he wishes as long as he gets the results, and the Empress won't be able to do a thing about it. She mutters an inaudible threat under her breath and gives me a wrathful glance. “What is a civilian doing here in a military meeting, then?”
Oh crap. Is she going to ferret out my involvement? She's probably going to find out sooner or later anyway. I'm trying to figure out if I should confess my part in the plan, but the captain slaps me on the back hard with a laugh, putting paid to that notion.
“He's not civilian. He's military.”
I turn to look at him. Both the Empress and I voice our surprise at the same time.
“What?”
“I'm invoking the emergency draft. Ensign Hoshikawa here is the newest addition to the Kaguya-hime. I'll file the paperwork when we get back to Earth.” grins Captain Grimrock cheerfully. The Empress decides to bite her tongue and glare at me. “I hope you know what you're doing, Captain.” Then, she makes an about turn and stomps off.
Once she is gone, I let out a breath I hadn't been aware I was holding in. “I'm military now?” I don't know what Grimrock is playing at here, but I can tell that he is not in the mood to listen to me complain about it. His punches are pretty hard - not as hard as Butterfield, but still painful. Best to nod and go along with it.
“Yes, Ensign, and you better remember that. Things won't be official until the paperwork is filed, but by that time we would be back on Earth and I can discharge you. By the way, for your first mission, I'm offering you a great opportunity.”
“What would that be, sir?”
“We only have two frame pilots left, from the 16th Egyptian. I have five more aerospace fighter pilots, but they are extremely inexperienced at maneuvering combat frames. You can pilot one, I've seen that. I'm asking you if you would want to sortie in the upcoming operation in one of the construction mechs. I'll get the techs to give you a proper pilot suit and everything. I must say, an extra gun in the field would help us out plenty.”
“Is that an order, captain?”
“That depends on you, son. If you are not confident enough, I won't throw you into the meat grinder immediately until I really need it. Emperor knows I'm not a wasteful man. Judging from your plan, we should be able to manage fine with just two mechs... but a third one would be nice.”
***
A. I should remain on the bridge to help oversee the operation, where my analytical skills will probably be put to better use. I have no desire to be involved directly in combat any more than I have to – best to spectate from the safety of the warship.
B. I accept the captain's offer. His assessment is correct. An extra mech out there would definitely put the Kaguya-hime and the Anhur in less risk, and being on site means I can react and respond quicker to situations as necessary to ensure the ship escapes successfully.
***
This is a crucial operation, and it begins in less than half an hour. I might want to prepare and think about activating my ability ahead of time. I have modified the elixir to be intravenous – it will take effect almost immediately, and prolong the active time up to twenty minutes; without I can only manage ten. It will remain in my bloodstream for up to an hour after injection. I still can't do anything about the addictive substances, though.
A. Activate my powers right before the operation commences.
B. Do not use my powers yet.
1. Inject the elixir.
2. Do not inject the elixir.
I'm sure the "Light of the MHD" will turn her from her wicked ways.
and embrace monogamy? And I would also very much love an answer to this
