Guild's Private Archives

[Derkylos]

17:48 SMT, Omicron Beta.
Mai Suma sat very still in the small cockpit of the Garanchou that was all that stood between her and the swirling, corrosive gases of the Omicron Beta Edge Nebula. It had taken nearly all of the ship's power as well as a considerable amount of technical expertise to transmit the distress signal, she could only hope it had reached the Guild, and that they still operated under the policy of not abandoning their pilots. Shifting around to get into a more comfortable position, she was reflecting on the better ergonomic modifications installed in the new line of Guild ships, when the Garanchou's communication array picked up a new transmission: Her heart skipped a beat. Finally, rescue had arrived, there could yet be hope for survival. Her sense of elation was short-lived, however, as another message was transmitted over the system-wide channel: The Outcasts were here, too. This just got a little more dangerous... As Alvarez' voice faded away, an incessant pinging from the proximity alert attracted Mai's attention. Some kind of light vessel was near. Very near.



Miguel tapped the scanner of his Rapier. He was sure he'd had the thing serviced fully before launching. Then again, he was a veteran of patrols in the Edge Nebula, well aware of it's abilities to play tricks on a ship's equipment, but equally aware of the potential treasures it could hold. Maneuvering his ship closer to where the sensors were reading the anomaly, he peered through the green mists, trying to catch a glimpse of whatever was out there. Even with the majority of it's systems powered down, and nestled up against a rock, the object was still unmistakably a Garanchou, a freighter of GMG design. "Well," pondered Miguel, "at least that explains the chatter about the miners being here, as well, as the redeployment of so many defence assets. I'd better call this in." Realising he was at the extreme edge of radio range, and noticing he was low on fuel, Miguel marked the position and spun around to head for home. This was now in the hands of those paid more than him...



Emboldened by the proximity of rescue, Mai opened a communications channel, draining yet more power from the already dwindling plant However, what she saw was something else entirely: Already, the Outcasts had engaged the GMG fighter wing's scouts, and a series of dogfights were erupting across the system. Under direction and cover from the flight lead, Jomyo Meishu, Mai managed to fire up what was left of the freighter's engines and set course towards the jump hole back to friendly space. Dogged by Maltese fighters, and plagued by technical difficulties, the small pack of ships limped across the Omicron Beta system towards the jump hole



Jumping through, several minor sub-systems finally gave up and ceased working. Alarms sounded and the console lit up like a christmas tree, but Mai had no time to assess the damage, Outcast ships were pouring through the jump hole after them
Not needing any more encouragement, Mai set course for Ogashawa and home. As they crossed the open space between the Donryu and Hiryu clouds, Mai quickly donned an EVA suit, making the cramped cockpit even tighter, but she knew she was going to need all the power she could get for the final run. Reconnecting the life support batteries to the engines, she finally closed down the automated air recyclers and prepared for the inevitable. As the ships entered the Hiryu Cloud, the Outcast attacks on the freighter intensified. If they couldn't have the ship and her contents, they damn sure weren't letting the miners claim her. Finally, one well-placed blast dropped the freighters' shields, and Mai diverted all remaining power to the engines, aiming straight at the middle of one of the gas miner's landing bays.

Ogashawa control had been monitoring the flight paths of the Guild Paramilitary wing since their departure, some 30 minutes ago
and had registered the scanner signal as mission critical after being relayed the data by the Guild flight leader. Upon it's entry into the Hiryu cloud, the docking computers had begun calculations of probable flight paths and entry vectors. All non-essential personnel had been temporarily evacuated deeper into the station to prevent unnecessary casualties in the worst case scenario. as the badly battered freighter finally aligned towards one of the prepared landing bays, emergency repair and medical staff rushed to their ready positions. The massive airtight doors swung open, and dampening fields, comprised of interlocking tractor beams were turned on. Fire suppression and emergency repair crews were also deployed with easy access to the sections of the station in the projected flight path of the wreckage, should the initial retrieval system fail.

As the engines finally spluttered to a halt, and the remains of the freighter hurtled towards the open dock, one of the Outcast pilots, throwing caution to the wind, broke from the fur ball and dove straight for the oxygen-leaking wreck. Particle blasts slammed into the unprotected hull just behind the cockpit, and with a slow, tortuous grinding sound, the entire cargo section of the freighter tore free. The cockpit, mercifully intact, shot straight into the hangar bay, and skidded across the deck, finally coming to a stop just under the bay control room windows. Meanwhile, the remaining half of the ship bounced off one of the hangar doors and drifted away into space. Emergency crews rushed towards the remains of the once-proud ship, as the hangar doors swung shut, closing out the fierce engagement that was still raging in the space around the miner. Mai collapsed down into the seat, as the final light on the control panel blinked out. Her final thought before lapsing into blissful unconsciousness was that she had made it, she was home. That was all that truly mattered.

When the rescue crews cut their way inside to Mai's unconscious form, they found they had to pry her fingers from their death-grip on the ship's joystick in order to lift her out. Rumors about the dogged freighter pilot's identity were soon making their rounds of the station corridors, with a few of the Guild's old timers sharing exaggerated stories of how she once destroyed an entire Outcast capitol fleet single-handedly, while exchanging knowing glances with each other. She may have been missing, but she was not entirely forgotten...

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