The Fall of Aomori

[Friday]

DAY 4: The Personal Log of Sum Yungai

All available pilots were rostered to Naha. These phantoms are surely cunning. They must know by now that if the Guild is scattered then the entire economy of Sirius suffers a blow. All the major houses are stockpiling H-Fuel. Bretonia and Kusari for their heated war, Liberty and Rhineland for the cold war that brews between them.

Even people who dont buy from us are placing great demand on whatever sources they have, in preparation for a massive rise in price.

By the Crap Nebula! The lecture from our Guild Trade Master was so boring! I endured four hours of this before my patrol started?

And Sigma was the usual blend of scurrilous activity and chaos. Then comms chatter died off. It happens sometimes but not like this.

Father, it is like your tales of trekking in the forests of Kyushu. When the predator appears, all the animals would quieten down.

And so with this it was, Father. Very soon one of my colleagues detected the same scanner readings at Naha as before at Aomori. They were coming to finish what they had started, to scatter us as ashes into the wind.

My colleagues and commanders from different patrol wings all gathered in space. I remember Lt Taro and Jin'ko being there, I think there was Katsumi-san, Imazu, Naomi and myself. I cant remember if Guild Master Marieka came later.

What I remember about the battle was this: There would be no retreat this time. The phantom ships did not have heavy gunboats with them, it was just fighters. Maybe they did not want to assault Naha, but thin down our numbers even more? Who can say with the minds of the mad?

I remember we flew out to meet them, then the storm of battle enveloped us. I remember mines, a lot of them, and with the inevitable space-time distortions that plague such large battles I did my best to clear a fighting radius with the firing of disruptors.

I remember the small things, anyone who has seen space combat knows what it is like. The endless loops and whirling as ships pass, ships moving in jagged dance of localised space-time rifts as their graviton shields are hit.

At one point I remember being stretched like a rubber band - my ships time-dilation alarm flashing red for an agonisingly long time. Relative to my own perspective I was nearly three thousand kilometers from the battle - yet my enemies could have me right on target! Then with a SNAP I was back in the fight!

And fight we did, the battle drifted right near Naha, and as always the first thing to go haywire is the local IFF calibration. I am used to it now.

I dont remember who ejected, but one of us did. I began to get a hollow feeling, a 'blue' feeling as the Libertarians say.

Then Lt Taro ordered us to concentrate our fire on another enemy ship. Apparantly we had all been targeting a phantom fighter with all its guns blown off! I just had to laugh!

The pace quickened after this. We soon wore down another phantom and I can hardly believe it! There is surely some hope to be salvaged among the debris! They retreated!

They may still hold our Aomori, but we held the line this day. Soon the time will come for payment in kind, and I will be there to claim my dividend...

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