The shadows are coming
February 16th, 3302
Planetary base Folskya Camp, unknown Imperial system
“Folskya to Damsel, rogue skimmer incoming.”
“I’m all over it, Folskya. Manning the turrets. I’ve got line of sight. It seems to be a Goliath class. Within weapons range in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… Damn it!”
“What is it, Damsel?”
“Turrets are down! Something's is interfering with the firing system!”
“We don't have time to fix them. Take the fighter.”
“Roger that.”
I ran from the command room to the hangar bay as fast as I could. There was no time to lose, this skimmer could be dangerous. Folskya Camp only had three fighters, all standard GU-97 fighters with dual fixed pulse lasers. They could do a lot of damage, but even a Goliath skimmer could take them out fairly easily. I would have to be careful out there. I got into one of them. She had my name on her side,but I had only flown her a few times since I arrived here.
“Damsel to Folskya, I’ve taken off. Ready to fire.”
Almost as soon as I had fired the first shot, the onboard computer informed of an incoming missile. No one said this would be easy. Most Goliaths were fitted with heat seeking missiles, which would do a lot of damage if they hit but could easily be avoided by a ship as manoeuvrable as the GU-97, as long as I didn't get to close. The first one missed and detonated a comfortable distance from me. By the time the second one came in, the Goliath’s shields were almost depleted, but mine were only slightly better off due to the Goliath’s secondary fire.
“Target shields offline.”
Excellent, now to start working on it's hull. At around 20% I got another message from the ship.
“Shields offline.”
I had to be extra careful now. My shields would be back soon but while they were gone a single missile could destroy my ship, but one more burst would destroy the skimmer. I decide to go on the offensive. I boosted towardstowards the Goliath, diverted power to weapons and started firing. The skimmer’s hull integrity went down fast. Just before it was destroyed, I got four messages in quick succession.
“Missile incoming”
“Shields online”
“Shields offline”
And finally “Target destroyed”. The Goliath had finally hit me with a missile, but my shields had saved me just in time and the Goliath was destroyed. I had however taken considerable hull damage. Time to return to base.
This hadn't been the first incident of it's kind. Several of our skimmers as well as some other pieces of equipment had gone haywire during the last few weeks, without us being able to determine the cause. Some thought it was hackers, others old machinery and those who believed in such things thought aliens were interfering.
