A Chance at Survival
The pilots all filed into the Briefing Room. Almost instinctively, the two groups did not mingle. They could all see that Catscratch, Spyder, Captain nar Hhallas, and Siegan the Elder were standing up at the front with General nar Sienac and Flint. Seeing that the rest of the pilots had arrived, Catscratch and Captain nar Hhallas moved away to stand with them. Spyder and Siegan the Elder remained where they were.
"Be seated," instructed General nar Sienac from where he stood next to Flint. The individual pilots did as instructed, still keeping in two distinct groups. Tailgunner, almost noticeably, sat closest to the Kilrathi, particularly Captain nar Eloy. "Colonel nar Th'ren the Elder has come up with a plan. The Spyder will explain."
Spyder looked at Siegan the Elder, who nodded his head. Spyder returned Siegan the Elder's nod and briefly patted him on the arm before moving to the podium. "Thank you, General nar Sienac," began Spyder. General nar Sienac gave him a simple nod to acknowledge his thanks. "By now, all of you know that the Cerberus is dead. That's why our two crews have combined. Captain Peters ordered Captain nar Hhallas and I to plant a torpedo for remote detonation aboard the Cerberus so that once we are ready to continue our mission, we can detonate her and not let her fall into enemy hands. However, while weighing our options with Colonel Carter, Colonel nar Th'ren came up with an idea that will, hopefully, allow us to move forward while simultaneously disrupting the Nephilim in the general area."
"This I have to hear," interrupted Goblin. Catscratch immediately snapped his head around to look at Goblin and shot him a silencing glare. Goblin just put up a hand to Catscratch to acknowledge Catscratch's unspoken order. The other ConFed pilots looked on, but said nothing. The Kilrathi pilots chose to not to voice their displeasure at Goblin since Catscratch had already silenced him. Flint and General nar Sienac also both kept quiet for the same reason.
"If I may continue?" asked Spyder, letting his tone tell Goblin of his own displeasure at Goblin's outburst. Goblin, feeling put on the spot, silently nodded his head. "Good. Now, the plan is that we rig the Cerberus with more explosives than we need to destroy her. Then we send out a distress signal on all open channels, especially the ones we know the Nephilim have the capability of monitoring. Now, assuming the Bugs take the bait, we then hide the Sibertooth a single NAV point away along with most of the fighters. The rest of the fighters will stay with the Cerberus to make it look as though they are flying a protective formation. When the Bugs come looking to either capture or destroy the Cerberus and her crew, we spring the trap. We detonate the Cerberus, have the Sibertooth and the fighters flying with her jump in to join the fighters that stayed with the Cerberus, and wipe out whatever Bugs showed up."
"If I may ask a question?" asked Heart politely with his hand raised.
"Go ahead," responded Spyder.
"How do we prevent an actual ConFed or Kilrathi rescue team from showing up and getting caught in the middle?"
"That is a good question," responded Spyder. "There are two simple answers. First of all, we have already sent an encoded message to both ConFed and the Kilrathi Empire on secure channels to let them know about the plan. As a result, they both know to not actually send out anyone to rescue us. Second, and this one sounds callous of our respective governments, but it's true. Given our current location, neither government would send out a rescue team anyway for fear of the Nephilim intercepting and destroying them en route. Like it or not, we're on our own out here."
"This has got to be the biggest load of crap I've ever heard!" shouted Goblin incredulously.
"It'll work," said Spyder plainly. "Captain nar Hhallas and I know where to plant the explosives and how much we'll need to blow up the Cerberus several times over and Colonel Carter and Colonel nar Th'ren have meticulously worked out the details so that we can maximize our efforts."
"With all due disrespect to the CATS," interrupted Goblin as he gestured to the Kilrathi. "I really don't give a rat's ass what they think! If one of us had come up with this idea, then maybe I'd…"
"Are you done?" interrupted Catscratch as he stood up and turned to confront Goblin. General nar Sienac silently signaled the Kilrathi pilots to remain quiet. He wanted to see how Catscratch was going to handle Goblin. Meanwhile, Spyder just rolled his eyes and looked at the ceiling. Flint, for her part, just closed her eyes and steeled herself for the probable argument that was about to occur. Roulette, Heart, and Elf all just sat there and remained uncomfortably quiet. Tailgunner looked at Captain nar Eloy and Siegan the Younger and silently mouthed his apologies.
"I want to know if you're not done," continued Catscratch. Goblin said nothing. "Because if you have any more to say I'll have you relieved of duty and put in the brig, on the Cerberus! When she goes up, you'll go up with her! I've had it up to here with your shit! This whole situation isn't what any of us expected, and I'm pretty sure it isn't what a lot of us want. But we're making the best of the hand we've been dealt. I think I can speak for not only the ConFed side of the equation, but the Kilrathi one as well. So far, they've been far more tolerant and accepting of this whole fucking mess than I would ever have expected. That alone has gained them far more respect from ME than I ever thought possible! We don't need any more shit heaped on an already terrible situation, especially from you! Do you get me?"
Goblin just nodded his head. "I said, 'Do you get me?'" repeated Catscratch.
"Yes, sir!" said Goblin a bit unwillingly.
"Good!" replied Catscratch. "Now, for the rest of this briefing, you're going to keep your lip buttoned. If I hear so much as a peep from you, I'll make good on my threat. Do you still get me, pilot?"
"Yes, sir!" said Goblin again.
"Excellent!" shouted Catscratch. Then he turned his attention to General nar Sienac and the Kilrathi pilots. "My apologies for my wingman. He has shown all of you great disrespect. He will not repeat his actions. If he does, you have my word that I will take drastic action against him. We are now a single crew and I will not tolerate any of my pilots treating you unfairly without just cause. You also have my word on that."
Deathsong stood up, unblinking. He then gave Catscratch the Kilrathi honor salute. Seeing him do this, Deathshadow and Deathclaw also stood up and gave Catscratch the Kilrathi honor salute. Taking their cue from the Unholy Trinity, Captain nar Hhallas, Captain nar Elloy, and Siegan the Younger then rose and also gave Catscratch the Kilrathi honor salute. Lastly, Siegan the Elder and General nar Sienac stepped forward and joined the rest in giving Catscratch the Kilrathi honor salute. Flint, Spyder, and all of the other ConFed pilots watched on in silent awe at this gesture of respect that Catscratch was now receiving. Silently Roulette, followed very quickly by Heart, Elf, and Tailgunner, all stood up and saluted him. Flint then moved forward to stand by General nar Sienac and saluted him as well. Lastly, Spyder moved out from behind his podium to join the others in saluting him. Only Goblin stayed in his seat. He was deeply ashamed right now. As a result, he lowered his head and quietly removed himself from the moment. Catscratch was not prepared for this gesture of respect, but figured he now needed to do something to return it. Therefore, he took it in turn looking each and every person saluting him in the face. He then returned their salute. Once he ended his salute to them, they all finally ended their salute to him. As one, they all either sat back down or resumed where they had been standing prior to Goblin's outburst.
"As I was saying," resumed Spyder once he had composed himself. "Colonel nar Th'ren thinks that if we can explode the Cerberus at just the right moment then it will disorient the attacking Bug force long enough for us to swoop in and take them out in the ensuing chaos. After that, all of our fighters will return to the Sibertooth where we'll quickly and quietly retreat to a nearby clear sector to get out of harm's way, make any further needed repairs, and plan our next move. Thoughts?"
"Simple," said Roulette casually. "But dangerous and very risky. If any part of this plan falls apart, then we'll be in a world of hurt that we won't be able to recover from."
"Agreed," said Deathsong. "But it is well worth the risk."
"And I agree with what the General says," said Heart. "Besides, it's not like we have a lot of options open to us."
Flint looked at General nar Sienac, who nodded his head silently. "Very well, pilots," she said. "You all know what we have to do and what it will take to do it. Dismissed!"
Spyder and Siegan the Elder turned to Flint and saluted her while the rest of the pilots stood up and also saluted her. Flint returned their salute and then turned her attention to General nar Sienac. As the pilots filed out, Siegan the Younger approached Heart.
"I hear that you are the pilot to talk to about technical matters," said Siegan the Younger.
"I do okay," replied Heart. "Why? What's up?"
"I have an idea for after the battle," began Siegan the Younger. "However, I think I will need your help to make it come to pass."
"Sure," replied Heart again. "Come on. Let's go discuss the matter."
The two of them walked out together while Siegan the Younger began to relay his idea to Heart. The room was now empty, except for one person. It was Goblin. He just remained in his seat, holding his head in his hands and shaking with shame and anger.
To be continued…