"Rather than tightening their formation, several of the human ships broke away, weakening their defenses." Rheya tapped one of the dots, expanding it to reveal a humanoid figure clad in military-grade body armor, standing aboard a device that shared a resemblance to the surfboards of humanity's past. Bulkier than Tuann synth armor, the military combat armor insulated the wearer against space while providing a thin protection against projectiles. It wouldn't stop most missile armament, but it might deflect shrapnel, proving useful when in close combat.
The board looked like a bristling hedgehog, rail guns and rockets strapped all around it, containers housing ammo rounds on its underside.
It was a crazy way to fight, yet surprisingly effective against the Tsavitee. Life expectancy for a waverunner pilot wasn't great, but there had been no shortage of volunteers willing to risk their lives on them.
"I can only conclude their actions were to protect these five," Rheya said. "Though why you would send five craft of this size up against a Tsavitee warcraft, I can't guess."
"They're waverunners," Blue informed her. "In the early part of the war, our single craft fighters were getting slaughtered. They weren't maneuverable enough or fast enough to be effective against Tsavitee ships. The waverunners gave us a fighting chance. Because they're so small, they're harder to lock onto, and their boards can be used as a battering ram for an insertion force."
"After that, it's a matter of planting a few bombs in critical areas and then bugging out before the ship blows," Raider added.
"Clever," one of the oshotas from Roake said.
"We thought so," Raider said.
Not to mention they were useful when dropping into atmo for a space to ground insertion. It was easy to hit one big target. Much harder when trying to hit hundreds.
It was a hell of a ride down, though.
The simulation resumed with the Tsavitee ship firing. Debris flew from the ship on the right. TheMcNeil.
Unlike in holofilms, ships didn't typically explode immediately upon taking a hit. They were built to withstand a lot. When the survival of those inside depended on the air and atmosphere staying where it was, it made you a tad paranoid in the design.
There were redundancies built into a ship in the event of hull puncture. It was always the vacuum of space that got you in the end. Punch enough holes in a ship's hull, and it didn't matter how good the design, you'd suffocate in seconds if you weren't wearing a pressurized suit.
That was demonstrated seconds later as the Tsavitee launched scatter bombs, which detonated a hundred feet from impact, the shrapnel shredding the ship's port side.
TheMcNeillisted to one side.
"They should have retreated at this point," Rheya said. "It was obvious they were outmatched."
Silence fell as one by one, eyes turned toward Kira.
"Blue, give me your tablet," Kira said calmly.
Blue flicked a glance in question toward Raider. He hesitated before nodding.
Blue handed the tablet over. Kira bent, her fingers flying across the screen. A short time later, she smiled. She should have known Blue would have all the mission reports, every piece of information she could get her hands on, stored in her files. It made sense. The Curs had been her family too.
"Jin, a little help," Kira whispered.
"Got it."
Kira flicked the information away. Jin took it and put it on the same device Rheya had been using for her little presentation.
"What you didn't take into account was the fact that this was the single most important moment in human history," Kira told her, rising.
In the midst of the three ships that had remained close to the moon, a Haldeel diplomatic vessel took shape.
"That day, we were in the midst of talks regarding a treaty." Kira descended the steps, her pace slow and unhurried.
"We couldn't retreat because the Haldeel's ambassadors were planetside. We knew if the Haldeel lost any of their diplomats because we turned and ran, we could kiss any possibility of support goodbye." Kira's lips quirked up on one side, the half-smile not touching her eyes. "Though, I'll admit the prospect of abandoning three million never really occurred to us. I doubt it would have occurred to Roake either, if it had been their people down there. We'd already lost so much. They were ours, and they deserved our best even if the sacrifice was more than we wanted to pay."
Kira's attention moved to the hologram as she studied it. She thought Rheya had controlled it like this. Kira made a gesture, and the scene rewound.
"The waverunners were sent out to investigate a stray comet. The Tsavitee war party was using it to hide their ship's signature in a move they learned from us."
Humans hadn't been able to fight head to head so they'd gotten crafty, using any and all techniques to even the odds. It was one of the reasons the runners had been sent out. The command team had known exactly how a comet could be used to hide unsavory surprises.
