This Forsaken World

This Forsaken World Chapter 18

"Like what?" I asked, leaning against the table and watching her carefully.

"Well they use a propulsion system that makes no sense, it doesn't have fuel that we can tell or even a power source. I can't really explain it but if we can reverse engineer the design we'll never have to rely on solar power again. Unfortunately the ship you crashed with is so badly damaged I wasn't able to do a lot with it." Vixie used her cigarette again before shifting her stance so she was resting one elbow on a hip.

"There weapons appear to be super heated chunks of metal. I'm not sure why they use this but it saves on having to craft bullets like we use. There able to envelope the projectile with a form of plasma prior to launching. This allows incredible velocity in space which normally would defy all logic since the lack of oxygen would snuff out the heat but the plasma acts like a shield of sorts." The mechanic saw our confused expressions and sighed in irritation.

"Think of it like our slip stream drive, an energy field envelopes our ships and allows fast speed without danger of impact. This is similar but the impact is instead increased not canceled out. If you can't figure out things the way I just explained it your a lost cause." Vixie watched us carefully to gauge our understanding.

"Anything else?" Sledge asked. The mechanic stared at the ceiling which was well over a hundred feet above us. "There armor is made from scrapped metal or different types of alloy. Seems there construction is patchwork, most likely they gather whatever they can get there hands on and slap it together." I nodded my head at this.

"Yeah they use slave labor from the species they conquer. Recycling materials is what allows them to have such a huge fleet, they design for large numbers, not efficiency. That's probably why we can take them one on one or even in small numbers. Our fighters are naturally more maneuverable and faster. Those capital ships are still a bitch though, not sure how we can fight against them effectively." Everyone listened carefully as I spoke, each stuck in there own world of thought.

Vixie nodded. "Yep, our fighters and bombers are about the only good thing we have going for us. Although every pilot we lose is one less space craft we can field. A ship is only as good as its pilot. We lost roughly twenty five percent of our capacity during the siege." This was the first time I'd heard an estimated count on our losses.

"Wow, didn't realize it was that bad. What's the status of the carrier?" Fatigue was starting to get to me from the pain killers I'd been on and the pain was coming back in force. I took a seat on one of the nearby benches the squadron used for changing.

"Took a bit of damage but we can still hold our own in a fight. The destroyers on the other hand got there asses kicked, its gonna be a while before they can be used again." I nodded slowly as I took in the information.

"Well, guess we're just going to have to sit tight until we get to the Venus station. I imagine the reason its taking so long is because of the damaged ships?" I asked.

"Yeah some of them can only hold slip stream for a few minutes at a time so its kind of a leap frog system at the moment. Since we're rear guard its gonna take us a while to get there." As she was about to continue warning sirens went off all around us, red and yellow lights flashing above every entrance and along the walls and ceiling.

"All squadrons prepare for immediate deployment, enemy dreadnought is inbound on our position. Commander Crowe report to the bridge immediately!" The voice of the captain echoed from a number of speakers and everyone moved into action.

"Angel, you've got lead, I'll join you when I can." The red head nodded and made her way to the assigned fighter.

Shaking my head at the situation I moved as fast as I could towards the bridge. The timing was rotten, right as we were discussing the situation it was like someone found it a joke to attack at this particular moment.