Chapter 937. Costly Gains (2/2)
If Ves wanted to make the best use of the Squalon, he needed to use it sparingly and avoid straining its capabilities.
At this time, the comm panel finally beeped.
”We've received an incoming signal!”
As Ves accepted the hail, they didn't make contact with the people they wanted to hear from the most.
”Captain Orfan! Please help us! Our sensors fixed your location but there are sandmen escort ships chasing after shuttles!”
”It's the other survivors of the ground forces!”
As the residual astral winds faded away from their surroundings, both the sensor and communication systems of the CFA shuttle finally regained some of their old strength. Ves switched one of the screen projections to a readout of the sensors and sent a direction scan at the direction of the incoming comm signal.
”I've locked onto the location of another CFA shuttle more than seven-thousand kilometers away!” Ves reported. ”There are hazy energy signatures in pursuit of the shuttle!”
”Can the shuttle outrun the sandman ships?”
Ves quickly analyzed the plot and came to a dreadful conclusion. ”No. Half-a-dozen sandman escort ships are approaching the shuttle from high orbit from several directions. They are able to borrow Aeon Corona VII's pull of gravity to accelerate their interception. On the other hand, the shuttle carrying our comrades are still fighting against the gravity!”
”They have no choice but to descend and make use of the planet's gravity to stay out of reach from the sandman ships.” Lieutenant Dise concluded.
Just half a minute later, the other shuttle did so. Ves observed from his sensor readings as the shuttle gave up trying to climb up to orbit and instead shot down like a meteorite launched into the planet.
This abrupt reversal prevented the sandman escort ships from trapping the shuttle, but only for the moment.
”The sandman ships aren't giving up! They're hot on the heels after the shuttle!”
Their comm connection to the other shuttle also broke as the distance stretched too far to maintain a stable connection. Neither Orfan, Dise or Ves suggested turning around to help their beleaugured comrades.
Only Ketis looked upset as the other three made no moves to respond to the request for aid. ”Why aren't we turning around?”
”The mission is more important.” Orfan replied after a short silence. ”Everyone who deployed to the ground sacrificed their lives to attain our goals. Turning around and sending us headlong into danger will only risk all of our gains and make everyone's sacrifices meaningless.”
Lieutenant Dise nodded gravely. ”I hate to say it, Ketis, but the other shuttle is probably a goner now. We're both daughters of the frontier. We know how relentless the sandmen are once they locked onto their prey.”
The pirates roaming the frontier feared each other the most, but they feared the sandmen just as much. The deeper they entered the frontier, the greater the chance they stumbled upon this hated alien race.
”Mission mission mission! It's always about the mission!” Ketis screamed and vented her rage. ”I hate this stupid mission! How many of our sisters have we lost to secure those tiny lockboxes?! Commander Lydia is gone! Mayra is gone! Thousands of sisters are gone, and the final survivors other than ourselves are gone as well because we're too afraid to lend a hand! I thought the Swordmaidens took our sisterhood seriously!”
”Ketis…” Ves called softly. ”There is no way our shuttle can help them out of their fix. While the CFA has been generous enough to mount some weapons on this shuttle, they're more of an afterthought and can't possibly defeat six sandman ships by itself.”
The young woman grumbled and huffed at him before turning around. She experienced too many tragedies during the mission and became thoroughly disillusioned with the entire venture.
Ves didn't blame her. He held his own misgivings about the 'mission', whatever it really was. He couldn't even tell whether the lockboxes the mech officers brought with them actually contained any high-grade life-prolonging serum or something else entirely.
That reminded him that Calabast didn't come away empty-handed. Even if Project Icarus turned out to be a giant trap, she still managed to come away with the most important gains from Project Void Calamity and Project Pandemonium Descent.
The Vesians also made off with substantial gains, though whether their ground forces could manage to evacuate this sandman-infested planet and star system was another matter. Sigrund himself would probably do his best to eliminate as many loose ends as possible before he cleaned up his tracks and fled to parts unknown.
As minutes slowly went by, their shuttle finally managed to connect with another ship.
This time, they made contact with the correct ship!
”This is Major Verle on the Shield of Hispania. Captain Orfan, we've received your encrypted burst. Don't transmit anything else! The entire space around Aeon Corona VII is extremely chaotic right now! Sandman ships are converging from every corner of the star system and every human fleet is under constant assault! We are currently abandoning our makeshift base from the second moon. Follow the contingency plan! I repeat, follow the contingency plan! This is Major Verle, out!”
Everyone looked at each other in dismay. Captain Orfan looked as if she wanted to scratch the head. ”Uhh… the contingency plan states that we should try and fall back to Aeon Corona VIII or IX, right?”
”Whichever planet is closer right now in terms of insystem navigation.” Ves summed up. ”It involves some orbital mechanics and stuff, but our CFA shuttle should be able to calculate the correct destination.”
Though they finally received word that the fleet hadn't been blown to bits, their condition didn't appear all that good. Nonetheless, the four survivors at least gained a shred of hope. Without boarding an interstellar warship, their dinky little CFA shuttle would never be able to escape this star system!