It’s always like this.
Darkness, and no sounds but the thrum of the Super carrier around me and my own breathing. Then the lights start switching on, and the A.I. welcomes me, courteous as ever.
“Systems check, weapons online, shields online, engines online.” The engines roar to life behind me as I prepare for the battle ahead.
“Magnetic catapult initializing”. The rails on either side of the ship, casting a red glow, come to life along the walls of the launch bay.
“Ready in 3…2…1…” And then my S4 Wraith is launched at top speed, out of the launch tube, and into battle.
As soon as I’m away, I’m overwhelmed by how much white there is. We were at a Sisters of Eve station. Just as I began to wonder why we were deployed at an allies shipyard, I noticed the Schism Wyvern on the other side of the station, with Guristas backup coming out of warp.
At that moment, Commander Kavik came over the coms. “Alright pilots, listen up.” “The Schism is launching an assault and the Sisters need our help. They can take care of the sub caps, but it’s our job to take out the fighters, and Fatal’s Wyvern.” “Stay vigilant, and we might just win this.” “I’ve tagged your HUDS with locations for modified E.C.M. towers that will take the carrier’s defenses offline if tuned to the right frequency.” “Be fast, because once Fatal realizes what we are doing, you will be his primary target. Good luck, pilots.”
Laserfire and missiles were already being traded across space, and the enemy fighters were heading straight towards the defenseless ships under construction. We split up into three squadrons, squadrons Alpha and Bravo were to go after two of the towers, while squadron Charlie went after the Schism fighters to give the other two squadrons time to reach their targets.
The next all becomes a blur. Only training and reflexes can really let most pilots survive out here. Maintain and build energy to maneuver, getting in position for the next target. Try to line the target up for the weapons to be able to hit or track, fire them in range, then turn immediately to prepare to evade while also moving to engage the next target. Burn, fire, turn. Burn, fire, turn. The constant iteration between them, relying on calls, flashing HUD icons all begging for attention, barely any time to watch what happens on your tail, relying on squadmates to defend you the way they rely on you to protect them. Burn, fire, turn. Burn, fire, turn. All operating on reflex and instinct, no time to think, just to burn, fire, and turn to meet the next target. Trading plasma across great and small distances. First attack runs on the enemy Wyvern, weaving in and out of point defense fire destroying pdc’s until the shields return and we are forced back to defending ECM towers. Burn, fire, slide around the enemy fighter and fire into their cockpit. Everything becomes a blur of motion as the battle progresses until enough pdc’s are destroyed so that I can make my attack run on the Wyvern.
As I line up my shot, down the tunnel that leads to the reactor of the enemy Wyvern, everything goes black. I pull my simulation helmet off and yell, “what the hell was that, I almost had it!” Then Rän Kavik steps out of the command salon at the top of the simulation bays and says “we have a mission, prep your fighters and prepare for takeoff”