Starshatter: “Silence and Darkness - Part II”
Como prometido, aqui está a o final do primeiro AAR que postei neste blog (e, como o primeiro, somente em inglês). É minha intenção postar outros no futuro, mas ajudaria muito saber o que acharam. Boa leitura!
It was not long before the jump gate was right ahead of us. I brought my fighter to a halt, as I waited for the freighter to maneuver. The radio crackled.
“Ok boys, we’re ready. Should we proceed?”
For a second I wondered if we should go first. Time to follow the book.
“Please proceed, Whitestar. We’ll be right after you. Good jump.”
The freighter fired its engines, slowly entering the jumpgate. Once it reached the center, it was like it was stretched for a mile before disappearing.
I fired my engines to follow suit. I tried to think of many things to take that phrase out of my head — “I hate quantum jumps” — with no success. As my ship reached the center of the jump gate, I held my breath. And then I felt like my conscience had been spread all over the surrounding sectors before seeing the stars change completely before my eyes. Jump successful. “Hopefully I won’t have to make the jump back”, I thought. Perhaps I shouldn’t have thought so.
Where was the freighter?
Alarm. Red lights blinking. A big warning in my HUD.
“Missile locked”.
Four locked sensors on me, right behind the jump gate. I dropped four countermeasures and increased the throttle to 70% standard power to try and dodge the missiles. Two of them were heading for me.
The first missile missed, the second one exploded on my fourth countermeasure, but a bit too close to my ship. I saw a yellow light blinking in my warning panel. One of my missile hardpoints had been damaged. Lucky me, I had no missiles left, so no real damage had been done to my offensive abilities (or lack of it).
My wingman was not so lucky. Two direct strikes. A brief explosion. Debris and a lone helmet passed right by my right side. I was alone against four attackers. Outgunned and outnumbered.
I mumbled a prayer as I fired the afterburners. They killed Kenny. They would probably kill me as well. But I wouldn’t go alone.
I fired at one of the hostile fighters. Direct hits to the engine components and the right wing. Not enough to destroy the fighter, but enough to make it go away at least for a few seconds. It was all I needed to close in on the second fighter.
Another brief explosion filled my forward view as the enemy fighter succumbed to my guns. One less fighter to worry about. Three to go.
The alarm again. Missile locked. Time slowed down as I saw two missiles approaching right in front of me. No maneuvering or countermeasure would save me now. I reached for the eject handle.
Another brief explosion, that I fortunately got to see from the outside of my fighter. I ejected just in time to see my good old Stormhawk being reduced to a few pieces of twisted metal.
The hostile fighters entered formation, going in the general direction of Harmony Station. They seemed to be going after a given target. I focused on their general direction.
The freighter. It was entering the hangar on Harmony Station. Probably due to unreported jamming equipment onboard… clever move. That would explain why I couldn’t see it on my radar, and why it managed to reach Harmony Station in safety. It cost us two ships and one life so far, but my mission had been acomplished.
Not able to face the station’s defenses, the enemy fighters turned away and engaged full power. In a few seconds they were beyond visual range.
And there I was, in the emptyness of space, waiting for a rescue vessel that might never come. A human debris, surrounded by metal and destruction. Surrounded by darkness and silence. The color of dispair, the sound of death.
Sometimes I just hate outer space. Perhaps I’ll live to love it again. Perhaps I’ll live to keep on fighting this pointless war. Perhaps Kenny was the lucky one.
War is hell.