While mega-corporations vie for control of Andromeda's precious resources, the very anti-corporate Yseult, surreptitiously recruited into the heavily militarised MANTIS soon finds that the drawbacks of corporate life may be a small price next to the...
High above the bright white pearl known as Freegate, tension had been slowly mounting. Octan vessels moved freely while independent and alien presences were monitored, cross-referenced and where appropriate, directed to a boarding station for inspection. The name hung in the air like a stale fog – MANTIS. That knowing feeling... They're there but always just out of the corner of your eye. It had been only six months since the quarrel had ended; on Donwarr in Aprilin with the execution of a famous Octan pilot, sending a shockwave across the Galaxy... But the dust had barely settled, the borders drawn, when Freegate was retaken.
When you're being too careful, it's easy to miss little things. Like a small Octancorp pod-like vessel appearing from Freegate's nearby anomaly, receiving the formal greeting from traffic control and being left to go about its business. It was easy to miss when it assumed a high orbit and detached the GATE drive it had used to get here. It was easy to miss when it relayed the position of all the local traffic back through the anomaly and barely worth noticing when the white, green and red Quadstar descended towards the planet and entered the atmosphere.
How the previous owner had ever kept this damn thing level through atmo entry was a mystery to the red-haired pilot of the ship as it was buffeted around by the thickening atmosphere. Quadstars were renowned for their manoeuvrability, clearly this came at a cost to stability. Eventually she was through and gliding towards the surface. Transmitting the traffic data to BigSal had been the easy part; if only that had been her only mission. She hadn't been told much but that was intentional; at least they'd been honest and told her that her part was high risk. They were looking for something thet Octan had, data, co-ordinates maybe but if it was restricted it would be protected by a high-level cypher, and that cypher would be held by R.E.D., Octancorp's Regulations Enforcement Department.
It turned out they had gotten lucky; a source had suggested that R.E.D. were relocating secure data servers to a new facility across Freegate's icy deserts by heavy speeder. They were well shielded from remote hacking but not impervious... if you can get close enough. To stop anyone getting close enough, each heavy speeder was protected in relay by a fighter escort... a Quadstar. Yseult's mission was to reach the speeder shortly before a handover, relieve the previous escort, hack the container, then allow the real relief fighter to take over and depart without anyone knowing she was there. It was a short window but that wasn't all. Quadstars don't have GATE drives and with the escorts being locally deployed, she'd had to leave the GATE unit that brought her here in orbit; it would be obvious she wasn't local if she turned up with one. If it's not there when I go back... I'm stuck here.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Her sensors located the speeder... Right where they said it would be. She closed in and contacted the fighter escort, reading its callsign from the transponder telemetry on her screen. "Oscar X-ray One Six Seven, this is Bravo Bravo Four Four Zero. I am here to relieve you." She waited tentatively... "Copy that Bravo Bravo. You're earlier than expected." Yseult relayed the answer that had already been prepared for just that question. "There is a strong tail-wind on the intercept leg. You should return to base at higher altitude or you may not have enough fuel to get back." Silences of even a second felt like small eternities... "Copy that Bravo Bravo..." the voice finally came back. "I stand relieved". Through her side-facing canopy, Yseult watched the previous escort begin to climb and bank away. Don't have long... let's get this done. She immediately contacted the heavy speeder. "Red box two, this is Bravo Bravo..." She announced. "... I am going to perform a visual inspection, please stand by for close proximity formation." The speeder acknowledged but she was already closing in; she wasn't asking for permission. She activated the equipment Ellie had installed on the Quadstar and it automatically went to work, giving Yseult's HUD progress information. The Quadstar was directly along-side the speeder, as close as she dare get without spooking the drivers. Progress was slow... Painfully slow. She manoeuvred up over the top... Slightly better once the equipment had adjusted to the new position. Before long, the hack was in and was extracting the cypher.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
A blip appeared on her screen. The telemetry registered it: Charlie Alpha Nine Two Two... the real relief Quadstar. Yseult looked at the progress bar. The extraction was taking too long... too long. She manoeuvred down along the other side and prayed the hack held. "Bravo Bravo..." a voice came over the comm. "... This is Charlie Alpha... Almost didn't see you there, is everything alright?" Think, quick. The hack was nearly done... just a little longer. "Charlie Alpha, this is Bravo Bravo. I am performing a visual inspection after the driver reported a vibration." She checked the scanner... closing fast; they'll be visual soon. The previous pilot was unlikely to have looked at Yseult's ship in any detail but if this new one were so inclined, it wouldn't take much to spot Ellie's modifications and start asking awkward questions. The other fighter was close now, approaching from the rear... I'm an easy target like this. She thought back to Donwarr and how she'd been shot down. She felt her heart beating, her breath shortened, sweat formed on her brow. A nervous twitch in her left index finger as it hovered over the trigger... "Bravo Bravo, this is Charlie Alpha, I'm in position... Don't stay too long... There's a strong tailwind on the intercept leg, you don't want to run out of fuel on your return to base." Panic set in... He knows, he knows. He must have seen the previous escort and contacted him... I tried to send him higher... hoped they would miss each other... What do I do? What do I... Yseult's HUD beeped... 'Package complete'. Get out of here.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Copy that Charlie Alpha." She tried to say as calmly as she possibly could, cursing every nervous wobble in her voice. "I'll try a higher altitude." She cut the communication and didn't wait around any longer, pulling back on the flight-stick and forward on the throttle, she climbed as fast as she could. Away, away. As she reached low orbit, she checked her scanner... she wasn't followed. A deep nervous sigh of relief filled her helmet as she tried to convince herself to calm down. She looked about... it was busier. Something was going on but she couldn't see what. Her Quadstar had automatically encrypted and transmitted the captured cypher to wherever Big Sal was expected to be by now... All she had to do was leave. I took around thirty minutes to inconspicuously manoeuvre the ship around into the high orbit she had left the GATE drive in, now all she had to do w... GONE! It was gone. Yseult frantically checked her scanner. It must be here, it must. She checked and checked and checked again, there was still no sign of it... What do I do? What do I do?
