evaluate his standing orders and decide the best course of action.”
Tysen looked at her, and then turned away.
“Fine, suit yourself. Station control may be gone, but there’s still auxiliary control…I could head down there, but…I don’t know if I could make it in time…”
Tysen called up a map of the station into his field of view, perhaps there was a lift tube he could use nearby.
"Hey Al! You there?"
Tysen almost jumped in surprise as a little Augmented Reality window with an image of Kip popped open in front of him. It was an icon, not the actual person, who was likely too busy to stand in front of a visual input screen.
“Kip?!?” Tysen exclaimed, feeling a sudden rush of hope. “Kip! What’s the status of the Crystal Leaf? ”
"Just like we expected, I’m afraid," came a saddened reply. "The Captain’s gone, so’s the X-O. The ship’s self-repair systems are going great guns, though."
But that wasn’t what Tysen was focused on- “Can she move? Do you have communications?”
He felt a feeling like a mental shrug. "Sure, we lost the command deck, but the rest of the ship is fine as long as we don’t need to jump or fight."
“Kip, the station is falling. I need her to nudge us back into orbit. Can she do it?”
"Sounds like a big job, but you’re the boss!"
It would be a big job, likely too big for just the Cutter. Tysen thought quickly- “There should be a bunch of cargo haulers around you, transfer operational command to me here and see if you can conscript any other ships in the area to help.”
"You got it, Lieutenant."
Standing along in the empty street, AR windows suddenly began appeared in the air all around Tysen, giving him a complete display of the command systems and operations of the Crystal Leaf . The damage was indeed still bad, but even as he watched different systems were already coming back online.
We can do this. He thought as he set to work. I’m not going to let this station go down without a fight.
* * *
“The Imperial Cutter is moving.”
Ping An nodded, watching the main display. “Looks like it wasn’t dead after all. They’re moving to try and push the station back into orbit, right?”
Leederman looked up at her, surprised. “Yes, how’d you know?”
“It’s what I would have done. Are they asking the cargo ships in the area to help?”
“More like ordering.” Justin answered from communications. “We just got their hail.”
“So, what do we do?” asked Leederman.
Ping An frowned as she focused on the image in front of her, and the path was before her, but did she see the best solution? This would be a big gamble, but if she handled it right…
“Put the Gunrigs on standby for immediate launch. We’re going in.”
* * *
Tysen watched the clusters of smaller ships gather around the station in his display.
Each ship had a gravitic drive that allowed it to move freely through space, and by extending the fields of their generators they could in theory move the station back into orbit. The problem was how many ships were available to help and how much of the station’s mass they could effect. Once the station had started to move towards the planet they were fighting both the station’s momentum and the gravity of the planet itself. Not an easy feat.
Tysen wished there was time to send a ship to get help, but it would take days for them to get to the nearest system and return with more ships, and they didn’t even have hours, much less days.
At long last, an AR window reappeared with Kip’s real face on it. His frazzled red hair more of the mess than usual, and his forehead smudged with sweat and burnt carbon.
"It’s no good, Lieutenant. Even with the cargo haulers helping it’s like ants trying to push a grapefruit."
“And we need bigger ants.”
“That’s about the size of it,” then Kip’s tone changed to one of concern. “Al, I really recommend you get to an escape pod. We can pick you up when this is all over
Tysen looked at her, and then turned away.
“Fine, suit yourself. Station control may be gone, but there’s still auxiliary control…I could head down there, but…I don’t know if I could make it in time…”
Tysen called up a map of the station into his field of view, perhaps there was a lift tube he could use nearby.
"Hey Al! You there?"
Tysen almost jumped in surprise as a little Augmented Reality window with an image of Kip popped open in front of him. It was an icon, not the actual person, who was likely too busy to stand in front of a visual input screen.
“Kip?!?” Tysen exclaimed, feeling a sudden rush of hope. “Kip! What’s the status of the Crystal Leaf? ”
"Just like we expected, I’m afraid," came a saddened reply. "The Captain’s gone, so’s the X-O. The ship’s self-repair systems are going great guns, though."
But that wasn’t what Tysen was focused on- “Can she move? Do you have communications?”
He felt a feeling like a mental shrug. "Sure, we lost the command deck, but the rest of the ship is fine as long as we don’t need to jump or fight."
“Kip, the station is falling. I need her to nudge us back into orbit. Can she do it?”
"Sounds like a big job, but you’re the boss!"
It would be a big job, likely too big for just the Cutter. Tysen thought quickly- “There should be a bunch of cargo haulers around you, transfer operational command to me here and see if you can conscript any other ships in the area to help.”
"You got it, Lieutenant."
Standing along in the empty street, AR windows suddenly began appeared in the air all around Tysen, giving him a complete display of the command systems and operations of the Crystal Leaf . The damage was indeed still bad, but even as he watched different systems were already coming back online.
We can do this. He thought as he set to work. I’m not going to let this station go down without a fight.
* * *
“The Imperial Cutter is moving.”
Ping An nodded, watching the main display. “Looks like it wasn’t dead after all. They’re moving to try and push the station back into orbit, right?”
Leederman looked up at her, surprised. “Yes, how’d you know?”
“It’s what I would have done. Are they asking the cargo ships in the area to help?”
“More like ordering.” Justin answered from communications. “We just got their hail.”
“So, what do we do?” asked Leederman.
Ping An frowned as she focused on the image in front of her, and the path was before her, but did she see the best solution? This would be a big gamble, but if she handled it right…
“Put the Gunrigs on standby for immediate launch. We’re going in.”
* * *
Tysen watched the clusters of smaller ships gather around the station in his display.
Each ship had a gravitic drive that allowed it to move freely through space, and by extending the fields of their generators they could in theory move the station back into orbit. The problem was how many ships were available to help and how much of the station’s mass they could effect. Once the station had started to move towards the planet they were fighting both the station’s momentum and the gravity of the planet itself. Not an easy feat.
Tysen wished there was time to send a ship to get help, but it would take days for them to get to the nearest system and return with more ships, and they didn’t even have hours, much less days.
At long last, an AR window reappeared with Kip’s real face on it. His frazzled red hair more of the mess than usual, and his forehead smudged with sweat and burnt carbon.
"It’s no good, Lieutenant. Even with the cargo haulers helping it’s like ants trying to push a grapefruit."
“And we need bigger ants.”
“That’s about the size of it,” then Kip’s tone changed to one of concern. “Al, I really recommend you get to an escape pod. We can pick you up when this is all over
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