SDF Nadesco Chapter 7: Boson Jumping and the Meltradi
The first week following the Battle of Saturn was relatively uneventful for the crew of the SDF-1. Life continued as normal for the civilians while more of them entered the academy to join the fighting men and women of the ship. The military personnel found their lives filled with drills and patrols, doing their best to keep their skills sharp despite the enemy staying a considerable distance behind.
In the Zentradi fleet things were not going so well. Bretai was recalled to explain his failure around the ringed planet. Before leaving he briefed Azonia, the commander of a Meltradi battle group, about the unpredictable nature of her prey. She took this under advisement and reviewed the footage of the campaign to recover Zor's lost ship so far.
As this week came to a close something was about to happen that would make her reconsider her decision to hang back and wait for reinforcements returning with Bretai.
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Vermilion squadron appeared in the class room for the hundredth time, ready for a new test the doctor wanted.
As they took their seats he began,"Today we will be testing the veritech jump system. Not a drive per-say,"He brought a slide of the system,"but a way of extending the boson generated field to encompass the entire plane."
"As we are unsure of the effects on the pilot, it is recommended that you preform the tests at a relative velocity of zero to the ship. Short hops at first, then we will evaluate the effects and see if longer range experiments are warranted."
"Doc,"Rick said,"It looks like some of the standard neural control circuits have been replaced. How should that effect normal handling?"
"We expect either no effect or a minimal improvement. But the boson transfer medium was required for the system to work. I'm just glad we were able to harvest it from the fold anomaly without any signs of degradation."
"So this is the stuff that is generating the boson field around the ship in the first place?" Kaiko asked.
"Yes, It is. It continues to produce the particles even after separated from the main mass, so their should be no trouble with jumping." All the pilots nodded and Lang continued,"If their are no other questions, then please begin the test."
The pilots vanished from their chairs.
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As the planes launched Rick called over the team freq,"Vertical Diamond, five kilometers port, let's go." The fighters entered the formation with Hunter on the bottom to keep an eye on the rest. When they had matched speed with the battle-fortress he signaled to begin testing. A moment later Clarissa disappeared, popping back into existence almost exactly one kilometer forward of her previous position.
"Whoa, I thought the regular jumpgasm was bad." Her voice drifted over the radio.
Doctor Lang called back,"I'm reading a massive increase in dopamine levels. You should be feeling pretty good right about now Lieutenant."
The entire squadron had gotten a one rank promotion for their actions during the battles around Saturn. Since then they had just been enjoying some rest for a job well done. "Doctor,"Clarissa replied,"This would feel really good if I were in bed and not having to keep track of everything."
"I can see how the effect would be distracting. Hopefully the effect will subside with continued use, but let's continue the testing schedule."
Rick signaled for Keiko to jump, followed by Max, and finally himself. They all managed to end up within a dozen meters of their intended destination, but the sensation was just as bad as advertised. The disorientation lasted an average of seven seconds, followed by a sense of euphoria that could be shaken off easily.
With the first round of tests over and the science team busy compiling the data, they decided to move on to battleoid testing. Changing modes, they maintained separation and drew the training guns they had been issued. The weapons were magnified versions of laser tag rifles used in children's games, but redesigned to mimic the recoil of a standard gun pod.
Then the chase was on as they all jumped at once. Doctor Lang had liked the idea of jump tag, suggesting it as a means of reducing the after effects of jumping for people new to the experience. The pilots were sluggish at first, having to shake off the disorientation with each jump. But as the exercise continued they became accustomed to the feeling and started shooting at each other between the jumps. Keiko was the first one to take a hit, immobilizing her shooting arm. She switched hands and fired back at Clarissa, who had jumped away while she was still shooting. The next hit came from the back and disabled her left leg. She had to cut her main engines and use thrusters to counter the spin that was pushing her into the left console of her cockpit. If not for the hands free capability of the veritech she would never have stopped the nauseating motion. As it was she got the spin down to a point where the restraints of her seat were no longer cutting into her shoulder painfully. Then she lost power enteirally when four hits registered on her chest section.
The voice of her fellow female pilot came over the radio,"You okay in there?"
"Fine."Keiko answered."Thanks for letting me get the spin under control before blasting me again."
"Figured it would only be polite. Later, got two more to take out." The circuit cut with a click and Keiko pulled out a book to read while she waited for the end of the engagement.
Fifteen minutes later Clarissa was shut down and Rick hit the release on the simulated damage. His left arm unlocked as did the other three mecha floating around him. He signaled a rally and the battleoids teleported into a tight huddle.
"Okay people, we're done with today's exercises. Let's head for the barn." Rick said.
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"By the Masters. How did they get a fold system that small?" Azonia had been watching the playback from the recon pod she had sent to keep tabs on the micronian vessel.
"Ma'am, I do not believe that they are using fold systems. None of the usual indicators are present." Her aide answered.
Azonia brought up the sensor readings of the observed exercise."Yes, I see what you mean. There are no gravitational fluctuations and the EM signature is all wrong."
"Somehow they have discovered a different way to travel faster than light. This is most disturbing."
"I agree. With such capabilities they could easily out-maneuver even our best pilots. But why did Bretai never report such abilities."
"I am not sure ma'am. It is possible that he never had any sensor data to indicate the enemy had such devices."
"I think that it's time we see what these micronians are truly capable of." Azonia started giving orders for the attack.
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"Captain, indications of a fold within the enemy fleet."Vanessa called from her station."Readings show between three and five ships folding out."
"Set condition two, ready the fighters for an attack and get Doctor Lang on the line." Gloval said calmly.
A few seconds later Vanessa reported again,"Sir, it looks like those ships are defolding directly in front of us. We have separation, multiple signals. Looks like pods, sir."
"Launch the fighters and prepare to activate the pin point barrier." Gloval finished as the phone rang. He answered it and had a short conversation about Vermilion squadron. When he hung up he spoke to Lisa,"Launch Lieutenant Hunter's squadron with orders to intercept the enemy as far out as possible. Tell them to pop a few pods and then jump back. We need to scare the enemy."
"Aye, sir. Relaying orders now." Lisa wasn't enteirally happy about Rick being on the sharp end, but she knew this was his path when she got involved with him.
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Four planes exited the SDF-1 and immediately vanished. They reappeared on the other side of the enemy pods and released four missiles each. The bulbous humanoid units they were firing on were a new sight, but the enemy was the enemy.
Four pods blossomed into small stars before they even knew what hit them. The rest scattered as the Meltradi pilots desperately searched for the attackers. The veritechs were already gone, having completed their mission and reported back to the ship.
They had been briefed to expect a more maneuverable enemy, but none of the pilots had believed it possible. They had the most responsive mecha in the whole Zentradi fleet with the best armaments and engines. If the enemy could fly circles around them from this range, they were well and truly screwed. Fortunately for the giant pilots, screwing was not in their vocabulary, but they all felt a deep genetic pang of fear.
The new enemy design was analyzed aboard the SDF-1 with nothing remarkable to report. They were a previously unseen unit type, with better capabilities than the clumsy pods. But they seemed to be much more resilient than the smaller units when it came to missile fire. The odd thing was that the enemy had slowed their advance while launching more units to bolster their forces.
Lisa called over the radio,"Okay pilots. The enemy is going to be coming in with numerical superiority. They should have to start their decel about now or they'll over shoot us. Prepare for close combat, guardian mode recommended."
"Vermilion squad."She said, switching freqs."Go out their and make them reconsider their course of action."
"Roger." The squadron answered. The four veritechs switched to battleoid mode and vanished.
Along the edges of of the enemy formation explosions were going off at random as they were harassed by an enemy too nimble to be effectively countered. The human mecha were flashing into existence just long enough to rip off a controlled bust into the flanks of one of the bulging suites. Then they vanish, just to reappear beside other Zentradi and repeat the effect.
As the enemy started getting wise to this tactic they started redeploying into small huddles with their backs to each other, and the veritechs flashed out for almost a minute.
When they came back the effect was even more devastating. A Vermilion squad fighter would appear in the center of a formation, drop four missiles on delayed fuses and flash out again. The improvised mines would detonate two seconds later, killing or disabeling entire flights in one hit.
Finally the recall was given, bringing a mere fifty Meltradi mecha back to their host ships before said ships folded out.
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"I think this represents a successful test of the boson jumping system." Henry Glovol said, raising his glass.
"I would be forced to agree, sir." Lang answered. "The system has made the fighters almost impossible to hit, while giving them perfect kill shots. I believe we can have the rest of the squadron upgraded before we reach Mars."
"What about training the personnel to use them? I imagine that is going to be a rocky road at best."
"Yes, Captain. But it should be possible to teach most of the pilots to make the jumps, giving us a decided edge."
Glovol sat in thought for a moment,"I don't think it will be quiet that easy, but we should end up with a good number of additional pilots with these abilities." He sipped his drink,"Now, how long will it take you to implement the ship's jumping system?"
"Captain, that may take even longer than we really have before we reach Earth. The many modifications that have to be made will change the entire energy landscape of the ship. And then we have to find a pilot who can do it."
"Shouldn't anyone who can jump be able to do it?"
"Theoretically yes. But in practice we have found that the neurochemical reaction is proportional to the mas being jumped. Dopamine in particular may become toxic for anyone who attempts the jump. This reaction is reduced with each successive jump, but the first time may be enough disqualify a person for some time. At that point we are left with a very finite number of jumps possible."
"I see." Glovol said."I want to see if their is any way to make the process safer, but we may find this necessary to do before this is all over."
"I'll look into it."
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There's chapter 7. Hope you enjoy it.
Here's a switch. Thanks to Birga for reviewing this for me.
