Verone
CEO & Executor
Joined: 02 Dec 2005
Posts: 6025
Location: Sinq Laison |
|
 Episode 89 : Inertia |
 |
02:11PM - Eve Standard Time
March 11th, 111YC
Deadspace Asteroid Field, Low Orbit, Ishomilken IV
For the first time in years his hands were shaking.
He let out an uncharacteristically nervous sigh, pulling up the zipper on the light grey jump suit. Her laugh echoed around the empty hangar as she looked up to him, already suited up. Raven hair protruded from the bottom of the open faced helmet, dangling around her neck as she grinned widely in anticipation. Her voice was the only real noise inside the hangar.
“You're not nervous are you, Kainta?”
Verone chuckled a little, nodding with a sheepish smile.
Various craft, all familiar but seeming much larger than his usual view on them were lined up along the two sides of the hangar. Two parallel lines of bright amber strobes set into the deck plates separated them from a clear area of the hangar floor in the center, the lights extending into the distance.
His ability to breathe seemed strange as he followed them with his eyes, his field of view lifting to the cavernous opening in the hangar's roof ahead. A billion stars danced silently with eachother in the black sky outside, shimmering gracefully behind the containment field as he pulled the helmet on over his head of vibrant red hair.
“I just don't want to damage it, that's all. That's the only thing I'm afraid of.”
She giggled quietly, resting her hands on his shoulders and gently pressing him down to her height. The Gallente let his knees bend, resting an arm around her waist as the fronts of their helmets came together. The pair grinned to eachother for a few seconds before her lips pressed against his gently. The end of the lingering kiss preceded a soft whisper.
“Don't worry.”
He lifted a gloved hand to stroke the exposed part of her cheek with a warm smile and a soft laugh.
“I gotta say though kiddo, you look damn hot geared up.”
Sakoda rolled her eyes with a playful smile as his large arm slipped from around her waist. Her voice was tinged with amusement as she turned away from him, taking a few steps before looking over her shoulder. She smiled widely as she spoke.
“Lets get going. I think you're going to enjoy this.”
She started to chuckle to herself quietly, the Gallente watching her as she made off across the hangar floor, crossing the line of amber strobes toward a row of matte grey hulls. He turned with a deep breath taking a few steps toward the sleek hull of his vessel.
He lifted his hand as he walked, his glove sliding along polished titanium diborite as he traced the line of the hull with his palm. His hand was raised above his head by the shape of the hull as he continued, passing the bottom face of two cavernous cooling intakes. The vessel seemed to respond to his hand, rocking a little as its onboard gyroscopic systems compensated for the Gallente's touch, keeping the hull perfectly level.
He smiled a little, his eyes gliding over the polished hull, riddled with imperfections and battle scars. As his assessment of the smooth hull continued, he nodded slowly, his azure gaze crossing the lettering still proudly stamped on the hull plating above three square landing lights, now in front of him. He whispered quietly to himself in perfect Caldari, his gloved fingers slipping over the lettering.
“Kaa Nitokui Takeshi 'Arashi' Sakoda...”
Ethan started to smile as he repeated the words in his native language, nodding to himself.
“Flight Lieutenant Takeshi 'Tempest' Sakoda..”
He smiled warmly, with a shaky sigh.
“Damn, Kyoko.”
Still smiling, he rested his gloves on the lip of the vessel's hull, hauling himself up with little effort in the low gravity. Within seconds the vessel sensed his presence, the canopy slowly descending with a gentle hydraulic whine and sliding back several inches to lock into place with a deep and reassuring clunk.
The outside world took on a slightly darker tone of grey through the smoked silicate glass, the single holoscreen in front of him springing to life in a deep blueish silver hue as the onboard systems ran though their start up checks.
He smiled a little, his head jerking back an inch or so out of instinct as a wall of Caldari script greeted him, projected in front of his eyes from his helmet as it synced itself with the onboard flight systems.
“Okay...”
He took a glance around with a deep sigh and a smile, finally understand the mess of Caldari dialect displayed from the craft as he buckled the six point harness together over his jump suit. His expression widened to a grin as his earpiece crackled softly, her voice gently filling his senses.
“Comm check. Ethan, do you hear me?”
“Loud and clear, sweetheart. As beautiful as ever.”
Her giggle was masked by a soft ripple of static until the link stabilised. She spoke again, this time crystal clear.
“Okay, you first. I'll be right behind you, Kainta.”
A third soft voice came quietly, her words laced in a Kimotoro accent.
“Unit Bravo 2, Unit CN-1, clear for dust off.”
Ethan smiled a little, his face lit up in a blue hue from the data displayed in front of it. He gently lowered his hands to grip the two electronic yokes gently and let out a deep and shaky exhale. He tentatively depressed the thrust triggers with his index fingers, the craft's propulsion system letting out a roar as it surged forward, the nose rising.
“Woah!”
He backed off on instinct, chuckling to himself. Sakoda's soft laugh sounded out in his ear again.
“Easy, Kainta. She's very sensitive.”
Several azure flashes lit up the hangar wall and row of similar hulls to his left as the nimble craft's stabilising thrusters fired to keep it level. He eased forward again with minute movements of the yokes, lining up gently and creeping forward.
“Good... looking good, Kainta.”
Her voice was warm, and full of encouragement as she continued.
“Now go for it... and I'll see you soon.”
He smiled as he took a deep breath, adjusting his grip on both padded yokes and resting his head back in the seat's comfortable memory foam.
The craft surged forward as his large fingers gradually depressed the throttle triggers, his wrists gently pushing the yokes forward to keep the nose level. The whole subframe shuddered with the muffled but still violent roar from outside, his large frame pushed back in the seat with little effort as savage acceleration took over.
Amber strobes flashed past in a blur as he glanced down to the deck, two sections of matte grey hull protruding beneath the main superstructure just inches from the hangar floor. The roar reached a crescendo, vibrating through his spine and ribcage as the velocity readout climbed rapidly.
He grinned from ear to ear, the approach markings on the hangar floor snaking around beneath him as they flashed past, lit up by the orange flickering light show. He looked up, the edge of the hangar roof approaching above at ludicrous speed.
Within a couple more seconds, the far wall of the hangar came into view. Bright blue and white strobes bounced back at him, reflecting against the canopy in a series of flashing chevrons pointing upward.
The nimble craft banked violently as he pulled back on the yokes simultaneously, climbing in a harsh arc. A soft crackle reverberated against the silicate glass canopy in front of him, blue flashes of electrostatic discharge dancing across it as the hull breached the containment field.
The Dragonfly class fighter was instantly silenced as it left the protective embrace of its mothership and slipped into vacuum. He grinned as he levelled off the craft, looking down to the immense diborite alloy hull flashing past below him at almost two kilometres per second.
“I'm clear, Kyoko.”
Space seemed to rotate around his cockpit, the lack of gravity confusing his senses for several seconds as the massive superstructure of the Chimera class carrier appeared to turn on its side, the Gallente pulling the Dragonfly into a tight orbit to view the enormous vessel. Her voice came in response, filled with pride and amusement.
“I'm right behind you, Kainta. I'll be with you soon.”
He watched carefully, his eyes trained on the cavernous opening in the upper hull of the carrier. Within seconds a near identical Dragonfly emerged from the orifice, trailing containment field particles as it climbed in a graceful corkscrew away from its mother ship. He grinned as he spoke, laughing softly.
“Showoff!”
She chuckled in response, her voice quiet and warm, now crystal clear.
“Follow me, if you can.”
Ethan cracked a smile, pushing the fighter into a violent forward thrust. He laughed softly as he watched her, following the relatively new and polished hull of her own Dragonfly toward the center of the dense deadspace asteroid belt the Chimera rested in.
Verone grinned, watching as the Caldari launched her craft into another graceful corkscrew, a vibrant blue double helix of thruster vapour stretching out behind her into the blackness. He followed, his hands tentatively caressing the craft's controls as dust and grit began to gently rattle against the hull and silicate glass canopy, the two small fighters slipping between enormous deposits of Hemorphite and Spodumain.
Veins of emerald green mineral shimmered across glass, reflecting the light from Ishomilken's star. He tilted his head a little, watching the fighter in front of him cut a delicate arc across the blackness, elegant swirls of ore and mineral dust curling up in the tiny vessel's wake.
Her voice sounded out in his ear again, his face instantly creasing into a broad smile as he listened.
“You're pretty good at this, for a Gallente.”
He let out a quiet deep laugh in response, maintaining distance from the matte grey hull in front of him as he watched it chase its shadow across rippling rock formations. The Caldari pushed the agile fighter harder, rolling through 270 degrees and slipping into a narrow shaft of sunlight beamed between a canyon of Spodumain.
Deep green mineral dust and vapour filled the gap in its wake, the Gallente's onboard radar instantly recognising the reduced visibility and projecting a wire-mesh of the rock formations ahead onto the inside surface of the canopy to ease navigation. He smirked as he followed Sakoda's lead, bursting through the dust and debris with a soft rattle against his hull.
She laughed as she spoke again, the thrusters in front of him lighting up a fierce white-blue as she accelerated away.
“Okay, now see if you can confirm a lock.”
Ethan chuckled, shaking his head a little as he watched on, attempting to keep up as the State designed vessel surged away from him. He depressed the thrust triggers fully, resting his head back in the cushioned foam as his eyes followed her intently.
He smiled with amusement as he followed, bright blue eyes fixed on the vapour trail in front of him as it snaked skilfully between the smaller rocks and debris littering the asteroid field. His thumbs flicked up the firing trigger covers on top of the two yokes, a deep green holographic targeting reticle flashing onto the heads up projected on the inside of the canopy.
A soft tone sounded out, the green diamond seeking across the inside of the canopy before shimmering to a deep amber, and resting over the vibrant blue trail of thruster vapour his eyes remained focused on. As suddenly as the reticle had appeared, the thrusters vanished, Sakoda pulling a violent arc, dragging the Dragonfly class through a tight curve around the surface of an enormous glistening rock formation.
He chuckled as he followed, his fighter bucking and oscillating enough to throw his head around as his hands encouraged the controls to pull it into a 90 degree roll. He concentrated intently, looking up as the jagged brownish grey surface of the asteroid flashed past at two kilometres per second, only metres away from the canopy.
The trailing edge of the azure contrails he followed launched into a tight corkscrew, before banking hard away from the surface of the asteroid. They moved to hug an equally gargantuan rock in the opposite direction, perilously close to its surface.
Verone couldn't help but smile, a little more confident with the yokes as he pushed the lightweight hull into a 1260 degree triple corkscrew to reverse his angle of attack. He laughed quietly to himself, the open microphone feeding back Kyoko's own chuckles as loose dust and ore crystals rattled across the hull and canopy of his craft, thrown up in her wake.
Ethan smirked a little, his voice filled with amusement as he drew close enough to see the vapour trail and rear thruster housings of Sakoda's Dragonfly. The targeting reticle flashed gently, turning amber, then flashing red to confirm the lock. He laughed as he spoke, a broad grin creasing his features.
“I got you now, number ten.”
Her voice came through with the background noise of her on board proximity and hostility warning systems as she giggled, her words filled with amusement.
“Nice, Kainta. I figured you wouldn't follow so close. I'm impressed.”
“Are you kidding? I'd chase an ass that looks that good to a bloody and violent death.”
She pulled into an almost impossibly tight climb, belching contrails of magpulse vapour across the backdrop of the lush green surface of Ishomilken IV. Ethan's neck craned up over to follow her, until the grey hull vanished from his field of view over the top of his canopy.
Within a split second he let out a chuckle, his onboard threat detection system warning of a weapons lock. Her voice came riddled with laughter as she spoke.
“Too slow, Federal boy.”
“I could have had you, no problem.”
She laughed softly, the Gallente releasing much of the pressure from the thrust triggers to allow her to draw alongside. He rolled the craft gently, dipping the wing to glance across to her with a smirk, the two tiny craft only metres apart as they travelled side by side. Ethan smiled to himself as his thumbs flicked down the covers of the firing triggers.
“You're glad you learned Caldari?”
He grinned as he nodded, unaware if she could pick him out behind the smoked glass. His Caldari was now pretty much perfect, if a little tainted with a Federal accent.
“Hai, kainta.”
She let out a warm sigh, her voice filled with amusement.
“Think you can beat me back to the hangar?”
“Sure.”
“Lets find out!”
With that the rear of the Caldari's craft lit up in a blinding white glow, the lightweight frame rearing up and accelerating violently across the belt. He let out a laugh, depressing the thrust triggers and pushing forward on the yokes to prevent the nimble hull from back-flipping. He grinned as he approached the sleek hull of her Dragonfly, climbing and rolling the craft through 180 degrees.
Her own giggle crossed the two-way as the Gallente's craft passed clean over the top of her own, upside down. Her words were quiet, with a mock tone of sarcasm as the older fighter rolled into the correct orientation in front of her.
“Now who's showing off?”
He let out a muffled chuckle before responding.
“Time for you to eat my dust.”
His eyes focused on the enormous hull resting in the asteroid field ahead, his fingers depressing the thrust triggers completely. A surge of power made him grin from ear to ear, the velocity readout flickering wildly as the enormous Chimera drew closer.
He glanced down to the onboard proximity readout, Sakoda's signature hot on his heels as he spoke quietly in an attempt to contain his amusement.
“VCS Komodo. This is Unit CN-1, with Unit Bravo 2 in tow, inbound on your six. Velocity 2248.”
The Caldari voice responded in turn, full of business and professionalism.
“Copy CN-1. Bay is clear, reduce to approach velocity. Clear for re-entry.”
Ethan smiled a little in response.
“Copy that, out.”
Amber strobes blinked in rippling waves, encouraging the tiny craft toward the immense opening in the Chimera's backbone. His eyes traced the smooth expanse of the massive vessel's hull as he gently released the thrust triggers. The Dragonfly slowed to a fraction of its velocity in response, the Gallente pushing it into a graceful dive into the cavernous canyon of hull plating.
He smiled as the two lines of amber strobes willed him in, the containment field rippling gently over the hull and canopy with a soft blue crackle.
The deafening roar of magpulse thrusters returned instantly with the transition back to atmosphere, the leading edge of the hangar roof approaching overhead.
_________________
 |
|
