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Flights for Salvation Chapter 3
Naru gawped slightly then recovered herself. “10,000C you say?”
“Yes,” the computer droned patiently, “all 10,000C were placed in the account, I presume, left by your father.”
“Looks like you could do with some modifications.”
The computer uttered in mock-offence, “Isn’t this ship good enough for you?”
“The Valkyrie is fine, but, you could be more sleek and lethal with a woman’s touch.”
“Well, its time to start up a combat sim, just to see how well I could perform under current conditions.”
“Fair enough,” Naru muttered, inserting the latest combat chip into the Valkyrie’s mainframe.
She entered the mainframe and inside the cockpit all of reality stripped away, to be changed to the black emptiness of space.
“Time to see how you’ll cope in a real combat situation; as close as you’ll get without ever leaving the ground anyway.”
“Entering sector 735-010-523, this is the battle for the Corriban solar cluster. Less then a standard year ago, this is the latest mission with the latest ship. The Phoenix heavy fighter is still in production, albeit heavily improved from the one you’re sitting in now.”
The computer bleeped in indignation at this point, even so, the briefing continued, “Your mission is one of survival, and to hold the current EUSN fighters at bay for as long as possible until the light cruisers ‘Gorion’ and ‘Tuscan’ make their way to secure the cluster.
“Your enemies will consist of two squadrons of Phoenixes, designated Wraith and Scorpion, three lightly armed shuttle craft, the destroyer ‘Benedictine’ and its two missile launching escorts ‘Hardcast’, and ‘Arrowsmith.’
“The key to holding the sector is in north-eastern quadrant, as this is where most of the scanner dampening nebulae are located. This is the perfect ambush point and it would be considered useless to lose it. However, this part should only be considered a secondary objective. Your primary objectives are to kill as many as possible, and survive.
“This is the end of the briefing. Good luck, the fate of the Martian fleet may depend on your performance.”
“Well computer? Your verdict?”
“I may be old and rusty but with a good pilot I’ll still be able to knock spots off some of these ‘upstarts’.”
In the sim the engines started up, and pretty soon, all power was at 100%. “We’re going Navy hunting.”
Pretty soon she was within the fray, slowly racking up kills, laughing at the rather ineffectual attempts by the enemy to kill her.
Naru let two torpedoes out at Wraith 5, and emptied her laser reserves at him. He slowed down, and the engine reactor blew. She was caught up in a three against one fight against Wraith Leader, Wraith 9, and Scorpion 12. Soon, she had got rid of everyone apart from Wraith 9, but the ship was slowly being hammered, he was too manoeuvrable “There’s some guy on my six, I can’t shake him.”
A Gunrun-A6 from her squadron group came and slowly started to gut Wraith 9, and he turned away to avoid the shots, which he did admirably, except for the missiles, which struck him in the left canopy. Still, his shields were holding up, and pretty soon, the Gunrun-A6, designated Harpoon 7, was caught in a dogfight with Wraith 9.
Wraith 3 tried to kill her, but his shots were inaccurate. Naru did a double-Immelmann, and soon, was on his tail. After a few full power shots she was scoring on the canopy, and, rising up briefly, Naru dove, shooting through the cockpit.
“He’s dead,” she nodded.
Pretty soon however, her dogfights got her into the range of the Benedictine, and the two missile launching escorts. To her dismay she also realised, too late, that she had also got their full attention, and the light turned white as it impacted.
She was back to reality, and nodded mutely, “Analyse what the enemy Phoenixes had.”
“Two Boltron 37’s; quite superior engines to the 29’s that are installed in me. They also had hulls made more stable due to the titanium and nickel alloy that is used, meaning it’ll react to the lasers less. The weapons were improved stingers with an increased missile amount, and stronger lasers. And the power-system was 37% more efficient and had twice the output. As for the shielding, they’ve made it recharge quicker, and have given it an extra 10MW power rating.”
“Where can we get the upgrades we need?”
“The secret station; Bellindor base.”
Naru strapped herself in and started the engines “do you know where Bellindor base is?”
“I have no data on the location of the base stored! I suggest that you try at the docking port”
With that Naru applied the power and lifted the ship, which had once again attracted a crowd of people.
“When will these people go away and leave me alone” she muttered under her breath, as she put a slight yaw on the Valkyrie to give the onlookers a blast from the engine exhausts.
She then flew to the docking port to try and find the location of the base, or at least someone who knew it.
“Ok there’s the docking pad, let's go find someone shall we?”
As the ship settled down and started its shut down sequence, Naru looked across the platform to see the storage manager coming towards them.
“Valkyrie, lock down the ship, no access except for me” stated Naru as she gathered some bits and pieces and left the ship
“Of course!” replied the computer in a sarcastic voice, Naru paused for a moment then smiled to herself; it was as if the Valkyrie had said “Your Majesty” on the end without saying anything!
She walked in the direction of the manager, to see if he was coming to see her of just passing; as they approached he looked round quickly, then grabbed her arm and led her towards a bar.
“HEY!! What do yo….”
“SHHHH, be quiet,” he hissed, “just follow me will you?”
She followed, not having much choice as he still had hold of her arm. Once they had entered the bar he led her to a table at the back and in the shadows.
“What’s your problem?” Naru was very annoyed by now.
“SHHH, and listen to me! It’s not safe for you here, you have…” he stopped as the waitress approached,
“Can I get you anything?” she asked
Before he could say anything, Naru ordered a coke, “Ok love, what about you Roy, the usual?”
“Not today thanks, I’m in a hurry today” he snapped.
“Hey that’s not nice, Roy is it?” Naru commented tartly.
“Yes its Roy, and I am trying to save your life here!!”
“Oh….” She stopped as the waitress brought her drink over, “thank you”
“You’re welcome, sweetie” she turned and left, leaving them to talk
“What do you mean you’re trying to save my life? What were you going to say?”
Roy looked round nervously as if expecting some one to come charging in. “You’re not safe here, that’s what! You have to leave. Now!!”
Naru stared at him for a few minutes, “Why do I have to leave? Why am I not safe?” She was starting to feel a little anxious, as if she knew what might be coming.
“Agents from the EUSN have been here, they’ve heard that there is a Phoenix Heavy Fighter here, and they want to know who it belongs to!”
“So what’s the problem with that? I mean its mine by law, so what’s the problem?”
“Because they are the law, and if they catch you will be locked away for a very long time, and your ship decommissioned and dismantled,” came the hurried whisper as he was looked round,
“Well, as it happens, I’m leaving anyway. I’m trying to find Bellindor Base”
“Will you keep your voice down,” he hissed, “and don’t say that name again!”
“Ok! So do you know where it is or not?”
“No, I don’t, but I know the first part of an inscription on how to find it. Give me your POC, I’ll enter the details for you.”
Naru handed over her POC, whilst looking around nervously. He took it and entered some information that she couldn’t see.
”Here, now go, quickly, before anyone comes!” With that he got up and left, leaving her dazed and a little apprehensive. She shook herself, finished her drink and left.
As she turned the corner to the landing pads she saw two people looking round the Valkyrie. She immediately stepped into the shadows of a large crate that was close by, and watched closely. It looked like they were trying to gain access without much success. ‘Oh great now what?’ she thought to herself. As she was waiting, she looked at the information that Roy had put into the POC. She studied it for a few minutes, trying to work out what it was saying, before coming to the conclusion it was complete rubbish! She would have to ask the Valkyrie for some help with it, if she could get on board that was! As she sat thinking about her possible ways to get onto the ship, her POC started beeping! Naru accessed the menu to see what the problem was, as the battery couldn’t be flat, it had only been charged that morning!! To her amazement she found a message which was impossible because her model was old and unable to receive messages!
*Naru this is the Valkyrie, I suggest you do not come to the ship. There are two gentleman who wish to see you. I am keeping them out, but they have called for assistance in opening the doors.*
Naru quickly thought of what to do, then sent a message back:
*Valkyrie, start pre-flight checks and get ready for immediate launch, I’m going to move to the top of the administration block, track the POC. When I am there, launch, and come and pick me up.*
After she had sent the messages she crept back round the corner out of sight of the ship and the men, and proceeded to the administration block. As she came to the admin block, she could see something was going on. She ducked down an alleyway that ran parallel to the building, and made her way down quietly, looking to find anyway to get onto the roof. As she approached the end, she saw a load of old boxes. Naru had a quick look round to make sure no-one was around, and started moving the boxes which were surprisingly heavy considering they were empty! After about twenty minutes she was on the walkway, and moving to the roof access point, in the distance she heard the Valkyrie’s engines fire up, followed by gunfire, at which point she ran and scrabbled up the ladder to the roof, as she ran to the other end of the building, the Valkyrie flew overhead and came into hover. Naru had to shield her eyes and lean forward as she ran to the door, as the roaring engines were creating a powerful back draft, ripping the roof to shreds.
“GET US OUT OF HERE!” shouted Naru as the door slid closed behind her
“Yes ma’am” was the reply as the ship moved off tearing a great hole into the roof leaving a lot of startled and frightened workers staring out of their new sky-light.
Naru strapped herself into the pilot’s chair, and brought up the diagnostic displays. “Give me a status report, I heard gunfire!” she ordered with some anxiety.
“All systems at 100%, the weapons used were of no significant threat to the ship; however I suggest we find a secure place to stop, as I have detected a tracking beacon fixed to the hull.”
“Ok we’ll head out to the north, there are a lot of canyons that way that we can hide in, in the mean time, down load the information from my POC and see if it makes sense to you please, I’m going for something to eat.”
Ten minutes later Naru was back in the cockpit, and looking for a place to set down. “Two things, first is I’ll call you Val, if you don’t mind. Second is how did you send me messages via my POC, it’s not capable of receiving messages?”
“I have detected a suitable place to land, starting landing sequence. You may call me Val, and that is not your POC, it is one I left out for you, it has an encrypted and cycling frequency directly to this ship.
“Oh…”
“We are coming into land; we will have approximately one hour before we are traced and intercepted.”
“Ok, set us down, I’ll see if I can find this tracker device,” stated Naru as she climbed out the cockpit, and searched the cabin for some tools.
After they had landed, Naru searched the ship looking for the tracker, after about 10 minutes she found it tucked under one of the rear wing stabilizers, “I’ve found it Val, give me 20 minutes to get it off.”
“Understood” was the usual bored reply
The tracker was a model ZX250 Limpet, placed against a metal surface it locks on with a powerful magnet, then drills and embeds the tracker chip into the structure, making removal tricky. Closer to half an hour later Naru had disabled and removed the device, which she put into the cargo bay.
“Val, have you worked out that sentence that Roy gave me yet?”
“Yes it is a riddle”
*Freighter Logic: Log 2
Don’t fear the son of Ares and Aphrodite, hold your courage like a rock, then you will find the answer you seek”*
“Ares and Aphrodite are in Greek mythology, they are a God and Goddess. Their son is Phobos,” replied Val smugly.
“And your point being?”
“Mars also known as Ares, and Venus also known as Aphrodite, had a son, called Phobos, which in Greek means fear. Phobos is the larger of two moons around Mars, which is why it is “log 2”, as two is bigger than one, so I believe that is the place we are looking for.”
“Wow that’s cool! Ok let’s go to Phobos then, and see what we can find!”
Naru jumped back into the pilot’s chair and strapped in, “Ok Val, lets go to Phobos, and see if you’re right!”
As the Valkyrie left the atmosphere of Mars, Naru was stunned at the beautiful sight that was space, for her it was like returning home after a long vacation. “I’ve never been in space, but how I’ve missed being here,” choked Naru, her eyes misting up.
“If I may interrupt you, we are approaching Phobos,” Val commented impatiently.
“What… oh yes, ok, Umm…. can you scan for any life signs or structures?”
“Starting scan……………… no life signs detected, however there is a faint transmission coming from the east quadrant.”
“That must be it, ok, start decent and get us as close as possible; I’m going to see if I can find a suit that fits.”
As Naru reached the cabin, alarm sirens started sounding “What the…? What’s going on Val?”
“Sensors are picking up multiple missile silos locking on and tracking; however there has been no launch yet.”
Naru silenced the alarms, and strapped herself back in. “Ok, give me manual control, lets see what happens.”
Naru pointed her ship directly at the location of the silos, and started towards them, “Something’s not right, there should be some sign of a structure by now,” Naru scanned the horizon but still couldn’t see any sign of a building and power readings were not sufficient to run a silo.
“Quarter mile to target, still no structures located… Missile launch detected.” Val sounded moderately amused at this.
“There can’t be? I didn’t see any launch, and the power levels haven’t moved.” Naru, however, still put her hand over the emergency boosters.
“Missile range closing impact in 45 seconds…….. 40 seconds…… 35 seconds……..30 seconds….”
Naru hit the boosters and instantly pushed back into her seat as they pulled away at a terrifying speed, with an even worse acceleration.
“Missile tracking and following,” the Valkyrie continued to gain speed. “Missile has disengaged and self destructed.”
“What?? Missiles don’t do that!” she said, puzzled as she slowed the ship and turned round. As they approached again, Naru had a sudden thought “Go over the records and see if the energy signature changed at all.”
“Energy levels remained constant thought out deployment.”
“That’s not right!! It takes huge amounts of energy to fire up a silo and track a ship,” she increased the power, and started the approach again.
“Missile launch detected…. impact in 45 seconds…….. 40 seconds…… 35 seconds……..30 seconds….”
Naru kept a steady course, even though she was shaking, and sweating heavily “Let’s see if I’m right… if not, I apologise in advance.”
“Impact 15 seconds……. 10 seconds…….5 seconds……………. No impact detected.”
Naru let out a huge sigh of relief, and landed the ship at the source of the transmission. She put her suit on, and proceeded to the transmitter. It looked brand new at first glance. On inspection, it turned out that it was quite old, probably around 50 years or so. On the top was a plaque that read:
*Congratulations Brave traveller you have conquered Phobos, now find Zeus and there you will find the Phoenician Princess, She will give you what you want.*
Fifteen minutes later she was back on the Valkyrie and sitting in the cockpit, “Ok Val, did you make any sense of the inscription? I’m assuming that it’s relating to locations again.” pondered Naru.
“According to my database, Zeus is also known as Jupiter and has 4 moons. If I am not mistaken the Phoenician Princess is the 4th moon, Europa.”
“Ok, so what are we waiting for? Plot a course to Europa, I’m going for a shower and a sleep! Wake me if anything happens.”
Naru left the cockpit as the Valkyrie launched and left Phobos, once the ship had cleared the gravity well of the moon, Val activated the sub-light drives and started the journey to Europa.
Five hours later Naru was woken by Val “We are approaching Europa. I have returned to ion-drives and have been scanning the moon for any sign of a transmission. As of yet, I have not found anything”
“S’okay, I’m coming” Naru sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes, after a few minutes sitting there she got up and dressed, made a strong coffee and went to the cockpit “Found anything yet?”
“I have found no life signs or energy emissions that are consistent with generator output. I have, however, located a small area that is significantly warmer than the rest of the moon.”
“We’ll try there first then!” Naru finished her coffee and took control, “Val, bring up the co-ordinates and let me know if you pick anything up on sensors.”
They entered the atmosphere, and proceeded to ‘hot’ zone, Naru was awed at the beauty of the moon, the natural ice formations looked as if someone had sculpted them. As they approached the ‘hot’ zone Naru came into hover, and initiated a scan of the area.
“I’m not picking up any reason for this heat change, there is no geothermal activity, no base, no nothing….. this doesn’t make sense! Prepare for landing I’m going out to have….” Just then proximity alarm went off
“We have two intercept class vessels advancing on our rear, they are hailing.” stated Val.
“Are they any threat to us?”
“They are more manoeuvrable and faster than us, their lasers pose no real danger, however the fusion missiles they are carrying are another matter.”
”Incoming Transmission; audio only” stated the communication panel.
“Let’s see what they want then!”
Naru pressed the accept button, and was greeted by a gruff, and rather vicious sounding man.
“State your business here!” he growled.
“I have come to equip my ship with weapons, and take on supplies,” she replied firmly.
“How’d you find us and what makes you think we have weapons?”
“This is Bellindor Base, isn’t it? I found you by following the clue that Roy gave me, that lead me to Phobos and from there to here.” She was starting to sound less certain now.
“Never heard of Bellindor Base or this Roy, now leave before we forcibly make you.”
“No, I can’t leave! I need weapons and supplies, I have just got away from the EUSN agents and I don’t really want to meet them again without any weapons.”
“I told’ya, I never heard of Bellindor…”
The other ship came on the com cutting the first man off. At long bloody last.
“Give her a break will you, she’s just got away from the EUSN.”
Naru was somehow relieved at this, as the second voice was that of a woman, and she sounded friendly.
“What’s your name, lass?”
“Naru. What are your names?”
“Mines Bella and that miserable git is Sam. Hold position there, we’ve just got to scan you, standard procedure. Then we can dock”
“You’re pushing it again Bella, always the trusting one ain’t ya” he snapped at her
“Ignore him, he’s a little upset because I got the new ship, he has a tendency to, umm, shall we say, park badly?” she told Naru giggling
“THAT WAS NOT MY FAULT!” stormed Sam, before he cut the com
“What happened?” Naru asked.
“Tell you later love, starting scan” replied Bella “Strange, I can’t scan you…”
“OH! Val, are you blocking scans?”
“Yes, you didn’t authorize a scan to be commenced,” droned the computer.
“Allow scan to be completed; try again Bella.”
“Starting scan, take two…….. scan complete; ok your clean!”
“This is Wolf Patrol, Bella to Bellindor; unidentified ship scanned and clean, requesting docking permission.”
“This is Bellindor Base, permission granted; escort our guest to landing pad six. Out!”
“Received; Ok Naru, follow us.” Bella ordered before cutting the com.
Naru moved into formation with Wolf One and waited, as she looked out she could see saw a shimmering affect then an door way into the side of the mountain appeared, Wolf Patrol and the Valkyrie moved forward the Doors started to open.
As they approached Naru realized how big they actually were, there was sufficient room to dock an SF800 Freighter which was big enough to carry 4 Phoenix class fighters. Upon entering the base they followed flew across the docking bay, which didn’t hold many fighters or freighters considering its size. As they approached pad six, Naru noticed defence turrets tracking her progress. There was also a complete machine shop at one end of the bay, and overlooking everything was what Naru assumed to be the control centre. She moved the Valkyrie over to pad six and set her down; as she shut down the systems, she saw a female and a male coming towards her ship she assumed it was Bella and Sam.
“Keep everything locked down until I come back” Naru commented
“Be careful, they are armed” was the last comment from Val before the entry request went off.