Pulses in the Dark, Atum Stories Pt.1

[Jeremy Hunter]

To hunt successfully, you must know your ground, your pack, and your quarry.
K.J Parker


The fact that Milly wasn't Aelita was what angered Jeremy. Quite honestly, he missed Aelita. He had known her for so long, back when he had a crush on her...before Storm, the bastard. Shaking his head, Jeremy looked back at the map before him, the holographic interface sending points of light all over the bridge. He was currently onboard the Sarcophagus, coordinating with Golanski and the rest of the search fleet. For this he had pulled out everything the Wedjat Division had, damn near brought the Ghost Eye[/]i back from Liberty. The [i]Atum was a quarry that would be extremely difficult to capture, but based on what had incapacitated the rest of the search ships, well...Jeremy had a secret weapon. That secret weapon was currently positioned on the starboard side of the Sarcophagus - The Overwatch Command and Control Asset, the CV-Silent Wait. One of many CIC assets deployed to filter combat data for the Order Overwatch, the Silent Wait was controlled, not by man, but AI. The Artifical Intelligence known as Kairi currently was controlling the new Hathor, and that was the trick.

The Atum had been using a combination of strobe lights, going off in specific patterns, to overwhelm the vision of search pilots, as well as using EMP and conventional weaponry to survive. But this time, they had a small trump card - Kairi.
Unable to feel fear nor be tricked by flashing lights, Kairi would be able to get in close and initiate a Dragonfly Missile strike on the Tombstone. With the Sarcophagus being outfitted with EMP missiles, Kairi would have to cripple the Atum before it got away, leaving it open for a boarding partied led by Jeremy and Golanski.

"Colonel? We see it."
Jeremy looked up, and took a breath. He studied the position of all their ships - He had a brace of EMP interception Sekhmets on standbye, a contingent of Razor Bastets, and had deployed the Svizra to lockdown the way to Delta. They had the ship dead to rights...they couldn't mess up.
"Execute Operation: Graverobber."

All around the Atum came the Order. The Sekhmets unleashed a wave of EMP Torpedoes as the Sarcophagus revealed itself, firing it's own high-powred EMP missile. Catching it off-guard, a majority of the munitions impacting. The shield crumbled before them, paving way for the Silent Wait to move in. And, once in range, it unleashed Dragonflies. Blood Dragon built, the Dragonfly was designed to cause the most damage to a vessel's hardware...and perfect for incapacitating the Atum.
The first volleys hit on target, and already the Atum began to lose speed. it was then, as the Silent Wait came for another pass, that the Bastet Wing engaged, mini Razors cutting into the engines and guns. Unlike the panicked patrols and botched missions, the Atum was facing two Overwatch members - one, who led the Order out of the darkness of the Fall, and another who fought the Nomads since their reveal. It had awaken the beasts of yore and legend, ones that knew what they were doing.
And it was them that unleashed the fiery hellstorm upon the Atum, using misdirection and the nebula against it....and the supreme fact that the Atum was lightly armored...perfect for Dragonfly and Mini Razors.

"Sir? It attempted to fire but with our four unit offensive, we caught it off guard. Engines disabled, guns inoperative. Most of our pilots avoided the lightshow, but Sierras Four, Nine, and Eleven were caught and are being evac'd to Taba. The Atum is inert. Svizra is currently on it's way with it's squadrons. Sarcophagus will move in."
Jeremy nodded. "Tell the Admiral we'll be setting up in Airlock Five." Leaving the order to the man, Jeremy headed down to Airlock Five.

There, were a full Ghost Team - Ghost Team Zulu. Grabbing himself an assault rifle, Jeremy leaned against a wall and checked it over. "...haven't invaded a ship with Michal in years. Feels like the Preservers all over again." He joked to himself. Those days were long, long gone. There was no Tainer to lead, no Leigh to be an ass...no Cat's Eyes, Edge...the days when he and Michal were but secondary agents doing what they could to save the galaxy...those were long gone.
Now they were leaders...true leaders. One, the Admiral. He, the Colonel. And for a brief operation, they would revist the days when they but followed orders, and the time when they were closer friends.
Much had changed.
Much still would.