PLANET AIPOTU - ORBITAL SPACE LANES
There was no better time for a gestated being to understand their insignificance in the Cosmos than when freefalling through space. PROMETHEUS GROUP Operations Officer Rewar Talvi could recall his first ‘Freefall’ training op clearly as he saw the present. Three hundred and fourteen ESY past he was an Interstellar Naval Technician freshly enrolled in Special Operations Training.
He had done his best to enter the Venusian Interstellar Warfare College, but at the time he was not modified high enough to qualify for a spot. However, as an MHG-3 Talvi hit the baseline mark to volunteer for SOT. Despite placing well ahead of many of his higher modded classmates as the lowest modified human in the entire program, no one expected him to survive.
Enduring ten years of harsh and intensive training, Talvi stood with the five remaining members out of a class of three thousand! It was the final Freefall training operation which came closest to killing him. Now along with Technicians Vell and Espen, OO Talvi hurtled headlong through space in the gravitational wake of the Attack Transport WHIPLASH.
Performing Freefall Insertion was the most covert and dangerous method of boarding an enemy Transport using a small infiltration team. Ejecting from the WHIPLASH after it powered down to basic thrusters, the team allowed themselves to drift towards the rear of the Transport. The maneuver would cause the team get lost in the Transport’s background radiation and cloud of debris caught in its gravity field.
As they drifted away from the exit port, the team’s Combat Grade Personal Body Membranes went into partial ‘Cloud Mode’. Once in full Cloud, the team would not be detectable by visual or standard scans. For a scan to detect them, a Scanning Technician would need to know their individual PBM frequencies. The only persons who knew those other than himself were his Second Altea and the Umberiae Logistics Technician Deo.
In moments, the WHIPLASH would change its vector to begin docking maneuvers. When the Transport veered off, the team would slingshot out of its gravity wake towards their objective the Corporate Cargo Transport, DROMEDARY.
Talvi’s PHUD showed all his stats were optimal and the Secure Direct Links between his counterparts were open and clear of interference. Using the audio feed, OO Talvi opened comm’s with the team.
“Status report Team One, check in and standby to switch to Direct Link... over.”
It wasn’t necessary for the Insertion Team to verbally reply for Talvi could monitor their status via his PHUD. Still during Freefall, it was good to hear the voices of those sharing the spatial void prior to instituting audio silence.
“Team Leader, Operator Zero One checks green... over.” Weapons Technician Espan’s voice was loud and clear in the audio feed. With his usual flippancy Tactical Technician Vell replied, “Team Leader, Operator Zero Two checks green and will require a fresh lower garment upon mission completion... over.”
OO Talvi could not help but grin encased within the hard spaceworthy configuration of his CGPBM. Mission protocol required communication even on a secure Direct Link be kept to a minimum. So telling Vell to cut the jokes was out. The wisecrack broke some of the tension Talvi felt as he monitored the approaching vector point where the WHIPLASH would change its trajectory and begin docking maneuvers.
Changing over his PHUD control interface from manual to visual, Talvi gave the signal for the team to standby. A secondary signal was sent to his second in command Altea aboard the Attack Transport. She and the Umberiae Deo would be monitoring their progress and coordinating the mission.
The seconds evaporated as Talvi watched the countdown. When it reached the five second mark, he sent the signal to ‘Activate Cloud Mode’. Though he could see the status of its successful activation in his PHUD, outside his face shield Talvi watched his hands and arms vanish. When the timer reached zero, the Whiplash’s thrusters caused the large Attack Transport to veer off towards the Orbital Docking Pylon it was assigned. Talvi checked the status of his team and they still signaled green.
Since this was a Corporate Covert Op within the orbital space of a sovereign MWGA planetary body, the Military would disavow all knowledge of the team should anything go wrong or were discovered. With Cloud Mode engaged, the team was invisible to all means of visual and electromagnetic detection. Only a gravimetric scan could detect them if it was calibrated for masses small as theirs and that was unlikely. At this point, only he and Altea could track the other members via the encrypted micro beacons embedded in their PBM’s.
Being virtually undetectable was both blessing and curse for they must freefall through three busy orbital lanes before reaching their objective. Though their PBM’s had thrusters, use of them in the open lanes could give them away. Though Deo calculated the trajectory between runs of the one hundred and seven Transports which would be traversing the Orbital Lanes, should any be off schedule, the team could be in for disaster.
Even if they used thrusters to avoid a transport and weren’t detected, their trajectory would be thrown off. From that point only bad things could happen all of which ended with being smashed by a transport, cast into free space or being caught in AIPOTU’s gravity well.
A line of text flashed in on Talvi’s PHUD, it was from Altea. ‘Stay frosty....’ It was one of her favorite ancient colloquialisms used by Pre-Awakening era Earth Warriors. Once more Talvi grinned at how well his companion knew him.
In some ways, Talvi was sorry Altea wasn’t a Gestated Being. He had to let go of that thought. The WHIPLASH completed its course change and now free of its weak gravity field, the team was slung out into the first open Orbital Lane!
Only the measured sound of his breathing filled Talvi’s ears. By looking at the menu on his PHUD, he called up ‘Panoview’. Suddenly instead of the normal one hundred twenty degree aspect through the viewplate of his helmet, a virtual three hundred sixty degree panoramic view spread before him via his PHUD.
“Track inbound Transport traffic.” Talvi saw forty inbound transports traversing the Orbital Lane they would traverse. Of the forty, thirty-four appeared as bright green specks among the virtual starfield. Six was the remaining number of angry red dots which were on intercept courses with the team as they would pass through each lane. “Shit!”
Keeping his focus OO Talvi gave the voice command, “Display inbound Transport trajectories.” The six Transports changed from red specks to red wireframe representations layered by distance. With the team’s current trajectory, all the inbounds had intercept courses which would result in a direct hit, grazing strikes or would sweep them up in their gravity wakes and off target from the moored DROMEDARY.
Talvi wasn’t completely surprised to see the worrying data. The original calculations for their freefall were based upon known orbital scheduling. Transports traversing the Orbital Lanes earlier or later than expected could not be calculated for.
Looking at the countdown to impact with the first Transport the Operations Officer saw there was a thirty-second window to make a speed adjustment to either increase or decrease velocity. The problems were; would they clear all the intersecting Transports with an adjustment, would using thrusters to brake or accelerate give away their presence and how far by doing so would throw them off their target orbiting the Super-Earth AIPOTU?
“Calculate and display ballistic options.” His PHUD quickly made hundreds of calculations and displayed the two best options; one for braking the other for acceleration.
Breaking audio silence, Talvi alerted the team. “We’ve got inbound traffic through all three lanes. Standby to do a three second full thruster burn in one, zero seconds.”
It was Espan who remarked, “You know we’ll be coming in on target hotter than planned.”
Keeping his eye on the countdown Talvi replied, “Affirmative. Standby by for full burn in three, two, one... burn!”
Though the three operatives were obscured from visual and technological scanning methods their activated thruster exhaust would not be. Fortunately there were baffles on their CGPBM’s to cut down on the exhaust’s visibility during the three seconds six short yellow-blue streams of thruster plasma would be visible to anyone looking for them.
However, the burn was successful as Vell gave an invisible wave to unaware beings as he barely cleared the broad observation port of a Tourist Transport. Talvi knew someone had to have seen their thruster trails with so long a burn. With luck, they would be covered by the usual civilian lack of perception and sub-military standard detection arrays keeping watch.
Abruptly, the Operations Officer’s wishful thinking was cut short as his PHUD displayed the warning graphic, “INCOMING SCAN”. Talvi could only keep quiet as his PHUD showed the status of the scan. He knew his fellow operatives saw the warning in their displays as well and would not break audio silence.
It was as he suspected, AIPOTU’S Orbital Network detected an anomaly in the lane. AIPOTU had one of the newest Planetary Network Arrays in this part of the Galaxy. With fortune on their side, the Network AI would think it nothing more than space debris incinerated by a passing Transport’s thruster exhaust. Long tense seconds passed as they cleared the first lane into the second while the scan continued.
Talvi began to sweat from the building tension but then his PBM readjusted the inner temperature to a more comfortable level. Just as his perspiration began to dry, the scan shut down. A few more moments passed and neither tracking beams nor restraining fields fell upon them. So far OO Talvi believed their cover was still intact. The new trajectory proved solid as they threaded the second lane with plenty of room to spare. With an adjustment of magnification in the Panoview, Talvi could see DROMEDARY securely moored at ORBITAL DOCK 1312.
Relieved the Operations Officer announced, “We’re clear! Two minutes to target. Begin calculation for braking thrusters at mark three, five, zero, zero over.”
Vell chimed in sharply on the audio feed, “Whoa Team Leader! Did I read you correct at three, five, zero, zero?”
Recovering his usual flat tone OO Talvi replied, “Affirmative.” It was then Espan spoke up. “TL that’s not enough space for a cold intercept!”
Keeping calm Talvi answered, “Affirmative. We are going in hot. The Planetary AI will be on alert for the type of energy anomaly we’re about to create. We will use the Transport’s Radiation Exhaust Field to mask braking thrusters. The target is not twenty ESH offline from using their FTL Generators. It is still emitting high levels of residual radiation. That is our only option after that Orbital Net Scan. Calculations complete. Standby to activate braking thrusters.”
Two green confirmation graphics from his team meant their calculations were input and despite their concerns, all chatter was done. Talvi monitored both the countdown to the braking burn and their progress as they narrowly avoided the final two Transports crossing the third lane.
“Twenty seconds to burn. Prepare to form up.” The team though still clouded, traveled in single file to limit their chances of detection. During the burn it would again be necessary to hide their numbers. The Dromedary’s residual radiation would shield them from electromagnetic detection. But all it would take is a single pair of alert eyes and the insertion would be compromised.
“Form up on my mark in three, two, one, mark!”
The team approached on the sunlit side of DROMEDARY and just before they entered the blinding blast of raw sunlight reflected off its hull Talvi snapped, “Activate Magnetic Field Generators!” Though they couldn’t see each other, their tracking beacons signals directed the magnetic field generators in their PBM’s to bring them within one meter of each other.
Talvi saw their positioning graphics turn green as they crossed into the blazing reflected sunlight. Heavy filtering blocked a significant amount of sunlight from his viewshield. Looking at the PHUD menu, Talvi deactivated the Panoview and his normal field of view returned.
“Ten seconds to burn.”
While the seconds grew shorter, Talvi could see the orbital rotation of the Target would cause them to overshoot significantly. Without the braking burn, his team would pass through the remaining ten Orbital Lanes and then enjoy a ‘challenging’ trip down to the planet. Even with their top of the line CGPBM’s, it was doubtful any of them would survive.
“Five seconds, four, three, two, one... burn!”
Notwithstanding his Inertia Compensator, the sudden stress of full braking thrusters attempting to slow his body’s momentum from nearly three thousand Kilometers per ESH had Talvi’s eyes slitted and teeth clenched hard. His PBM provided a bite plate, but the Operations Officer was concerned he might sink his teeth straight through!
What made the burn so difficult came from their only having thirty-five hundred meters in which to complete braking maneuvers and touch down on target! Talvi could barely see the graphic ticking off the g-forces they were pulling as the thrusters continued to adjust. As the graphic teetered towards fifteen ‘g’s, even his PBM labored to compensate.
“Twenty seconds to touchdown!”
The silence of space was obscured by the filtered sound of his thrusters straining to safely complete the maneuver. From Talvi’s vantage point, the Cargo Transport rapidly grew in size. It was surprisingly large for a vessel run by ‘One Pointers.’ They were now within Dromedary’s Radiation Sphere and only some irritatingly observant bastard would spot their exhausts. So far, no scan had been initiated by the Orbital Net. Talvi’s main concern was the stubborn diminishing amount of red exchanged for green as their velocity moved towards the safe touchdown level.
“Ten seconds to touchdown!”
The Operations Officer saw their velocities barely reached the minimum safe speed and barked, “Cut Thrusters!”
Six plasma streams instantly shutdown and the red warning graphic flashed on Talvi’s PHUD while an audible warning blared within his helmet. “Warning! Touchdown velocity above minimum safety level!”
There was no choice. With less than one hundred meters to go, the target’s AI would detect their thruster’s energy signals even within the heavy radiation emanating from its hull.
“Five... four... three... two... brace for impact!”
A sudden surge of adrenaline shook the cobwebs from Talvi’s eyes. His PBM administered the stimulant to bring him back to his senses. His PHUD displayed its functions as all green while showing the multiple graphics concerning his medical status. Except for being momentarily stunned, he was in optimum condition. Immediately, he called out to the other members. “Team, status!”
Espan’s audio feed was garbled as she replied, “A... syste... back onli... coms at eighty per... epair completed in fi... seconds.”
Concerned, Talvi assessed Espan's systems via the Link and saw the impact briefly shutdown her communications and stressed her PBM integrity twenty-one percent above its recommended maximum.
Vell checked in with a groan. “Owww. Let’s not do that again.” Talvi Agreed.
Within seconds, Espan’s systems returned to optimum levels. The brief respite was over. Checking the radiation levels emanating from both the Transport and the unfettered sunlight, the Operations Officer knew it would not be possible to send confirmation to Altea without boosting the signal strong enough to cut through the radiation noise and remain undetectable. Even their tracking signals would be invisible without a direct scan by which the target’s AI would also detect.
“All right, we’ll be under audio silence for the duration. Coms will be via Direct Link only. Just as we saw in the mission brief, there are three Cargo Sections. Once we are inside, we each take a section. You each have a code scan of the BOX’s Manifest Tracking Code. Once you locate it, contact the rest of us and keep eyes on. Do not approach the package until I get there. I have the protocols we need to extract it.
If you find package has been tampered with or the Core help us it’s unsealed, break coms and send me a viz feed of its condition. We will do an immediate abort and egress. Questions?”
Vell replied via the Direct Link with, “You going to tell us what’s in the BOX that’s worth all this TL?”
Talvi shut down his audio feed and responding via the link, 'Woe is what lay inside. Our job is to make sure it’s stays in there!'
© 2013 H. Wolfgang Porter. All Rights Reserved.
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