New chapter and a new job for me too, I will work at the border of my country and I will be in contact with English customers and who knows maybe one day we will cross without knowing it. Anyway! Good chapter to you and especially tell me in the comments if there are problems with grammar and spelling. I test many applications and I want to know which is the best.

The Wings of Dawn

Chapter 6: Operation: Eagle Claw part: 2

Virivia had her head in the small hatch under the dashboard that allowed access to the electronic system and, more specifically, the radio and communication system. Activating her omnitool, she ran a quick test to see if any electronic components had been damaged. After a few seconds, the result was clear. The secondary electronic component that controlled the inbound and outbound communication system had overheated, explaining the silence of the Egalic and most likely the rest of the squadron. Straightening up, she sighed and began tapping her leather armrest nervously with the tips of her nails. She knew she had to fix that radio at all costs, but the lack of engineering knowledge was the biggest problem. She wasn't a mechanic, let alone an engineer, but that wasn't going to deter her. Leaning under her onboard computer, she began to fiddle with some of the components of the communication system. As Virivia proceeded with her checks, Echo's image lit up on her omnitool, and began to quietly observe what the Turian was doing.

"Corporal Virivia, can I help you? My sensors have detected a state of moderate stress." The sudden intervention of the AI made Virivia flinch with surprise and she looked at her forearm with a lost look.

"I'm trying to fix the radio, but how can you contact me, you're... "Her mandibles touched as she realized the truth, "Oh, you're just the copy I installed on that omnitool."

"Correct and by connecting this device to the old communication system, I could serve as a secure radio relay. I can't promise you that there will be no interference, but at least you will have working communication lines."

She straightened up and settled more comfortably in her seat,

"If you can do it, I owe you one."

"Buy me a drink when we get home and we'll call it even." The pilot remained puzzled by Echo's joke, and realizing his mistake, he emitted several small bluish flashes that almost looked like embarrassment.

"My apologies, you already told me to keep it professional. Connection to the communication system" A loading bar began to rise and the Turian calmly waited to be reassured that her radio would finally work again.

If I find out that Conti programmed Echo, I swear to the spirits that I wouldn't find that theory so stupid.

Looking out the window, she admired the empty and infinite expanse of space, she could see in the distance a cosmic cloud of a more or less intense green color. The very beauty of the space is what Virivia loves most, that feeling of inferiority to uncontrollable elements. Mines slid into her field of vision and a horrible thought crossed her mind, making her take her eyes off the magnificence of the space.

What if I'm the only one who made it?

Suddenly this idyllic vision turned into a vision of horror, she could not think of anything else but the potential death of her new colleagues.

Wings of Dawn don't die like this, they are legendary pilots. They will fight to the bitter end and come out on top, just as they did at the battle of Rannoch against the Crimson Sun Cartel, who tried to attack the Quarians.

"Connection established" Like an answer from fate, the radio suddenly came alive in an intense crackle of words and static, Virivia rushed to the comms and tried to understand what was being said.

"Dawn Three, are you s§..§.§ §..§.§..§ us?" Srorax asked clearly panicked.

"By the spirits! I have some interference but it's good to hear from you." Replied Virivia clearly relieved that she wasn't the only one out.

Srorax's body crashed to her seat and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you Eld..." She muttered. Refocusing, she asked quickly. "Jorirn, still no signal fro§..§.§…§e Wings?" Undergoing a large number of statics, Virivia has adjusted the frequency to the best of its ability.

"The squadron is ..§.§bably still in FTL. Impossible to contact §.§§..§ without a transmitter in proximity."

Even though the communication was slightly garbled, the Turian had figured out that Coll's squadron was nowhere to be found, slapping the back of her helmet against her back, she sighed in frustration.

Damn it!

"It's too risky to wait, the Egalic needs immediate assistan§..§§.§ So we'll secure the area and head back to the rendezvous point." Srorax's fingers moved across her dashboard and she attempted to get into communication with the Asari frigate,

"This is the Dawn Squadron, calling the Egalic. Can you h §..§.§ me? Is the package still alive?"

Virivia used this time to continue to improve its radio link, hoping to limit the amount of static she could.

"Egalic? Report!" Srorax growled in frustration at the oppressive silence.

Turning her attention to the frigate, Virivia could see the heavily damaged frigate slowly drifting through space. The right side hull was completely shredded over the majority of the ship. The frigate had hit several mines, creating destabilizations that forced the frigate and everything in the nearby space to leave the FTL. The silence was unbearable, Virivia slowly began to assume that the sudden depressurization had potentially killed everyone inside and after a long moment of silence, the radio finally came to life.

"This is the Egalic's liaison officer, the package is fine, but our captain is badly injured and our ship has been seriously damaged. We need to make emergency repairs before we can leave and mines are blocking our shipping lane." She informed.

"Understood Egalic."

Observing the Egalic through one of its portholes, Srorax nodded and moved his fighter next to Virivia.

"Dawn Three, we're going to do some cleaning for the Asari. Dawn Two yo §.§. will be our eyes, keep them on the radar."

Virivia and Srorax left followed by Jorirn who was closing the squadron. Heading towards the frigate, they saw that the damage was much more extensive than they first thought. The hull was ripped open and if it had hit an additional mine, it would have broken in two. In addition, there were pulses of blue light and a liquid of the same color coming out of one of the reactors. A large eezo energy leak was spreading in space, the cooling tubes were severely damaged and the whole squadron hoped that the Asari quickly repaired the damage before too much heat melted them all.

"The damages are bad. It's a miracle the frigate survived." Virivia muttered into the comms.

Srorax grunted in approval.

"I don't like this attack, there's something about it I don't trust."

The two fighters flew in tandem until they passed the frigate and ventured deeper into the minefield. Cautiously, they passed between the mines, observing their extremely large numbers. Wreckage from three other spaceships that had suffered a far more sinister fate floated slowly in the void. It was a cold and gloomy graveyard, which made Virivia and Srorax shudder as they passed several groups of frozen asari corpses.

"We sent recognition probes they said! We did not detect anything abnormal, they §..§.§!" Srorax snarled in disgust as a frozen corpse slammed against the window of his cockpit. "Have they even previously investigated any missing ships?"

"All I can say is that this place definitely gives me creeps. How many have been fooled?" Jorirn snorted as he looked at another group of corpses.

"My concern is that the concentration of mines is far too high to be a simple boarding attempt. Usually pirates §..§...§.§ a few mines and calculate the exit path to set up an ambush. I think they were trying to blow us away." Theorized Srorax

The thought of dying without realizing it created a feeling of both dread and disgust. Virivia knew that this was part of the risk of the job and she had already escaped death many times. It wasn't dying that was the problem; sacrificing for the cause, for the platoon, was one of the most respected and admired acts of her people. And Virivia was already prepared to die if one day she had to. The problem was to die without having fought, to be atomized into a thousand little atoms across space without having pressed the firing button once. A disgrace? Yes, for Virivia it was. These dark thoughts were interrupted by Jorirn who made his report.

"Still nothing on the scan and nothing on the sight."

"Perfect, let's finish this. I don't want to be here any longer than necessary. Dawn Three, launches an EMP torpedo in sector 13-M§..§.§ and sector 10-L26"

"Can you repeat the first sector, some static has interfered with the radio."

"13-M24, you'll have to get your radio tested when you get home."

"Understood." Virivia's claws slid across a screen to select her fighter's secondary armament. She selected the EMP torpedoes and locked onto the first area indicated by Srorax. The torpedo left the belly of the ship, hurtling straight toward the target. It left a trail of light as the only indication of its passage before quickly reaching its target and finally exploding, releasing a massive electrical discharge. It locked on to the second target and fired the second torpedo, which in turn deactivated the mines in the second sector. The mines no longer posed any danger, and Virivia sang with satisfaction at the job done.

"The road is clear, you can go out, Egalic." The still functioning engines began to fire and the frigate began to move carefully through the sea of defused explosives.

Turning her gaze, the Turian observed a suspicious movement to her right.

"Wait, I saw movement to starboard."

"I don't see anything on the radar, are you sure it wasn't debris?" Jorirn asked.

As Virivia was about to answer, several groups of three fighters now lit up the darkness with their light trails. The Turian's eyes opened wide.

"Contact!"

"Damn it! I've got fifteen...no, twenty-five signat..§..§.§ that just appeared!" Jorirn stammered nervously.

The bandits charged at the squadron, opening up with heavy and intense fire. Srorax slid her claw across the selection screen and with a slight smile chose an MK1 missile barrage. Spinning her fighter around, she locked on to a group of pirates and fired a volley of a dozen missiles. The tiny rockets launched straight at their target at full speed, illuminating the dark sky with brilliant dots. The dazzling flashes of the countermeasures deflected most of the missiles, causing them to explode away from their targets. A pirate didn't have time to activate his flares, as the first missile disabled its shield by hitting it right in its cockpit, before a second hit its hull, destroying it completely. In retaliation, the pirates counterattacked and sent a wall of mini-missiles. From her cockpit, Virivia could see countless white trails dancing in space before hurtling towards them at full speed. Adrenaline surged through the Turian's body and she gripped the joystick tightly, preparing to dodge the deadly rocket stream.

"By-by the Dalatrass." Jorirn swore as he saw the same terrifying sight.

"Tight formation and no matter what happens, don't leave!" Srorax ordered, quickly selecting a countermeasure that made her smile mischievously.

Virivia couldn't help but give Srorax a surprised look, and doubt began to creep into her mind. The Turian wondered what she had in mind, but as a Turian, she would obey the order without question. She tightened her formation to within a meter of Srorax before Jorirn did the same a few seconds later. As the missiles came dangerously close, the Salarian seemed more willing to argue with the orders.

"Dawn Leader, are you sure you'll be okay?" Srorax remained silent, creating even more concern from the Salarian.

"Srorax?" The missiles were only a few meters away from the squadron, Srorax's thumb hovered over her countermeasure system. Just as the missiles were about to hit their target, Srorax activated it and a powerful magnetic discharge fell on the missiles, which swung away from the squadron and began to spin in all directions, exploding in countless small explosions.

Virivia refocused on the moment, as Srorax prepared to launch a counterattack.

"We need to separate those squadrons. I know that's not what you learned in your academy." She raised her fighter head and broke formation.

"Squadron Dawn, disengage!" She shouted, startling Jorirn and Virivia who hurried to follow the orders. The Turian pulled the joystick toward her, straightening her fighter and beginning its ascent. Her computer began to beep, indicating that a squadron was in pursuit. Pushing the throttle to its maximum, she flew straight into the deactivated mine cloud, while three pirate spaceship pursued her. Out of the corner of her eye, the Turian could see the Egalic's anti-aircraft turrets beginning to shoot down pirate bombers that tried to venture out. Activating her right side thruster, she slowly spun around. With difficulty, she managed to face her pursuers and deactivated her main reactor, letting the accumulated propulsion pull her backward. The pirates had no time to react when a wall of flak burst upon them and the squadron leader was mowed down by a shell that tore through his cockpit, tearing the pilot and fighter apart. It spun completely out of control and crashed into his left wingman, who turned into a flaming orb. The last fighter panicked changed its trajectory and tried to escape.

"Not this time!"

She turned her fighter and continued to unleash her shells, which broke through the shield with ease, finally piercing the reactor that exploded the back of the aircraft. The out-of-control interceptor spun directly into an undisabled mine, which exploded and destroyed it. Hull debris flew in all directions, impacting the glass of its cockpit-like drops of water. Virivia was thrilled by the experience, each of her shots going through her body, generating an exhilarating state of pleasure and satisfaction.

It's not maneuverable, but it has a lot of punch. His cannons are really impressive, I should see about putting similar ones on my future starfighter.

Watching the smoking carcasses drifting in the vacuum of space, she reactivated her reactor and went to help Egalic in difficulty. Returning to the center of the battle, she noticed a multitude of small explosions enveloping the Asari frigate. An intense battle was taking place, she had to be quick. Increasing her speed, she spotted an Eclipse shuttle approaching the frigate discreetly, escorted by a squadron that served as a distraction to the frigate's defense. Realizing that they intended to exfiltrate Sideris, the Turian opened fire and activated her radio, warning her two teammates.

"Ecplise boarding craft spotted. Higher priority."

"We must not let it reach the frigate. Dawn Two §..§.o help her!" Srorax ordered.

"I'm coming." Informed Jorirn as the escort squadron broke formation and headed straight for Virivia. The three fighters launched intercept missiles, twisting the joystick with difficulty, Virivia grumbled with difficulty when her fighter was slow to actually perform her dodge maneuver. To make sure she got away, she activated a flare that diverted two of the missiles from their target.

One more countermeasure.

Virivia growled and pushed her reactor to its limits, which hissed back. Two explosions dazzled Virivia's cockpit until the third missile erupted from the flames and headed straight at her. Lowering her fighter, she charged straight for the frigate, hoping the automatic defenses would neutralize it for her. Her computer screamed again, indicating that three more missiles were headed straight for her. Virivia growled and pushed her reactor to its limits, which hissed back. As she maneuvered very close to the hull of the frigate, one of the defensive turrets targeted the missiles. However, the pirate squadron opened fire on the defenses, piercing the turrets' armor like paper, destroying them completely.

Shit!

"They're right behind me!" Virivia shouted. Trying to look behind her but her view was obstructed by the ship's engines, so she had to rely on her onboard computer. She dived at full speed into the dense, dark smoke in a last-ditch attempt to escape the missiles, which she hoped would target the ongoing fire in the frigate rather than her. As she escaped the cloud, her onboard computer continued to scream as the missiles approached.

Damm-it! What are you doing Jorirn?!

"They won't let me go!" She complained on the radio. As she went into a dive, her shield exploded as the first missile slammed into her. A bluish glow lit up her cockpit and a new alarm sounded in her ears.

No shields anymore, great...

With a quick movement, she allocated some of the power to the shield generator hoping that it would regenerate before a second missile hit her. Remembering Enrico's advice, she began to dance her fighter from left to right and perform various unpredictable maneuvers that saved her a few precious seconds. Unfortunately, this was not enough and the other incoming missiles continued to approach her. She pushed the countermeasures button, releasing a new flare barrage.

And no more countermeasures.

The missiles changed their trajectories, crashing into the decoys in a series of explosions. Raising her gaze, she noticed a fighter heading straight for her, and like a savior Jorirn's voice was heard through the speakers.

"I'm here!" His thumb crashed against the trigger, unleashing a rain of ammunition and missiles on the pirate squadron. Jorirn charged with determination, never letting up on the hell he was putting the pirates through. Too focused on Virivia, they were surprised by the attack and panic-stricken, they did not have time to launch a counter-attack condemning them into a pile of metallic debris. Aboard his interceptor, Jorirn quickly turned around and flew to the Turian's side.

"Thanks, pal." She let out a sigh of relief, "You hit the jackpot."

"Always a pleasure to help." He tapped on his screen, displaying more bright spots. He whistled with pleasure. "I'm detecting fifteen new signatures, they all send what they have," Turning his gaze in Virivia's direction, he added coldly "Finish them off?"

Virivia's mandibles quivered in delight.

"Finish them off!"

Both pilots focused their attention on the shuttle that was trying to board the frigate. New squadrons had come to assist and had destroyed the frigate's defenses. Focusing their attention on one of the squadrons, they opened fire, releasing an inferno of explosions that tore them apart. The power of the cannons was such that two of the three fighters were immediately pulverized into countless metal fragments. The shuttle which was just next to it was pierced by the metallic fragments of its former protectors and ended up crashing right into the frigate. The yellow and black shuttle was no more and its destruction caused even more confusion on the pirate's side who were already greatly disorganized. The only survivor of the squadron fled praying to all the gods to get out alive.

"I'll take care of him, go support Srorax." Informed Virivia.

"Have fun." Jorirn abruptly changed his trajectory, leaving Virivia in hot pursuit. The two fighters began to cruise at full speed near the undisabled mines. Virivia's hand fell on the throttle to push the engines, but doubt came over her. She remembered her recent run-in and that her current fighter was a soapbox, as her mechanic liked to say. Coming to her senses, she continued her pursuit, taking care to make smooth, fluid maneuvers. The pursuit was difficult and as Enrico had predicted, the fighter was not designed for pursuits. Very quickly the opposing fighter disappeared into nothingness leaving only a thin trail of light.

Dammit! You're a lucky bastard! Next time, I'll hang you on my wall.

Resigning herself to continuing the futile chase, she turned around and joined the rest of the group. As she returned to her squadron, a bright flash of an explosion lit up the dark sky where the pirate fighter had tried to take refuge. Not paying attention, Virivia continued her approach and activated the radio.

"This is Dawn Two, what is the situation?"

"The bandits are almost neutralized, join..."Srorax said before being abruptly cut off by an alarm.

"Missile, incoming!" She shouted

Virivia's radar went haywire and her rear shield suddenly lit up in a flashy purple-blue color. Virivia realized that mines had just exploded and a chain reaction was underway. Putting all the power on her engines, the Turian tried to flee away, but the explosions intensified and began to come dangerously close to her. Hope grew as her eyes fell on the exit, violently turning her fighter, she skidded dangerously toward a mine that passed inches above the cockpit. Not losing any momentum, the Turian raced toward her only chance for salvation.

Go faster, piece of crap!

Continuing to explode in a chain detonation, the mines around Virivia exploded, enveloping her cockpit in a powerful, blinding flash of light. The blast violently threw Virivia's head against her cockpit, causing a small crack in her helmet. His nose was bleeding but regained consciousness quickly, she managed to narrowly escape a second explosion that would have condemned her to certain death. Leaving the area that had become a field of wreckage and dust, Viriva turned her head and noticed on her left a fighter she had not yet seen flying near her. She could see the strange appearance of the pirate fighter, the rusty red armor with markings from numerous unrepaired battles, and the timeless design that stood out from the other fighters she had previously encountered. Virivia tried to zoom in with the computer in her helmet, but the impact severely damaged the display system and the internal computer. Squinting, she turned her attention back to the enemy cockpit and noticed that the pirate pilot in question was a Turian in crimson armor. This mysterious pilot slowly turned his head and sent a shiver of terror down her spine, a Turian skull was etched on the transparent helmet and its two fiery orbs were now piercing Virivia's soul. Virivia was paralyzed by this nightmarish vision and wondered if the impact had not made her lose her mind. As if he had read her mind, the spectral form of the Turian smiled sadistically and two more similar fighters positioned themselves around Virivia, she realized she was in a headlock. Before she could react, they stopped their fighters abruptly and headed straight for the Egalic, leaving Virivia still captivated by the horrific shape she had just seen. Her onboard computer began to blare emergency sirens, indicating that the frigate was in danger. Turning around, she set off in pursuit of the mysterious squadron.

"I'm right behind the Murd..." She hesitated, not wanting to pronounce his name. Her vision blurred as her thumb pressed the red button, opening up an intense fire with her flak cannons. Without warning, her radio beeped with a message, and believing she was dealing with the missing squadron, Virivia quickly opened the communication channel. However, it was the silence that set in her cockpit and as she continued to try to shoot down her targets who were dodging the blasts with ease, the Turian warily tilted her head to the left, it was then that almost bestial breathing began to blaze heavily through the speakers.

"Who's there?! How do you access a secure channel?" she questioned aggressively

"Hello, Wings of Dawn." Replied a saturated voice almost muffled by the vocal modifications. He took a deep breath as Volus's are wont to do and continued with a smile on his lips.

"Your souls will be fair payment for our services." The radio cut off, leaving Virivia stunned. Her breathing intensified as she realized she was dealing with the one she was chasing. As the intense fire and blasts hit the lead fighter, the entire squadron disappeared without a trail. It took a few seconds for Virivia to realize what she had just seen, and believing she had been dreaming, she looked at her radar to see with amazement that all three fighters had indeed disappeared. Blinking her eyes and spreading her mandibles in confusion, the Turian let out a dazed cry.

"What the F...?!" But before Virivia could react, an EMP pulse impacted the back of her fighter and disabled all of her ship's controls. She found herself hurtling through space with no way to slow her speed. Her claws slammed into her dashboard, starting the reboot process that refused to work. The fighters that had disappeared reappeared and sped past her. Virivia closed her eyes, expecting them to take the opportunity to shoot her down.

See you soon Kakeus...

As the seconds ticked by, the Turian opened her eyes and saw that the squadron was heading straight for the Egalic. Her claw came down on the radio, but the EMI blast had disabled all electronics, including the radio. She pressed the button again, hoping it would work eventually. But all she could do was watch in horror as it happened. But she refused to give up, she had a mission to accomplish, she had to protect the Egalic and out of anger, Viriva tapped on the screen of her dashboard, secretly hoping to speed up the restart of the device. The impact of her fist cracked the computer screen and evidently did nothing to reverse its inactivity. The ghostly fighters scrubbed the hull of the frigate and the squadron leader dropped a long torpedo at point-blank range that punctured the hull and lodged itself in the heart of the frigate. After a brief anxious breath, the torpedo exploded and created a chain reaction of explosions that destroyed the entire Egalic. The sudden depressurization created a shock wave that propelled Virivia's fighter and still have no control, her fighter performed a succession of rapid rolls against her will.

The cockpit continued to spin violently and nausea quickly began to creep over the pilot tongue. Closing her eyes, she performed a series of slow and controlled breaths. Her nausea slowly subsided. As her starfighter continued to drift dangerously through space, a restart sound crackled in her ears and her fighter's engines suddenly reactivated. Immediately, she reopened her eyes letting her serpentine pupil focus on an imaginary fixed point. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the throttle and waved her joystick. She stabilized her ship before it came into contact with pieces of the Egalic's hull and pulled herself away from the perimeter which had become extremely dangerous. After a few breaths to calm her nausea, Virivia looked sadly at the Asari frigate knowing exactly what to expect. The frigate Egalic was in flames and most of the ship was destroyed. She sadly let her eyes slide from one end of the ship to the other, finally focusing on three points of light, the three fighters took advantage of the confusion in the pirate and Dawn squadrons to flee in FTL. The Turian placed her claws around her helmet and clutched her head tightly.

I-I failed... I let myself be fooled like a rookie.

Slamming her neck violently against her seat, Virivia let out a grunt of frustration and deception. As consciousness returned, the Turian's eyes fell on the still-smoldering wreckage of the frigate they were to protect. They had failed, Sideris was dead, their mission was a total failure.

And here is the introduction of my antagonists and I reassure you right away, it will not be a Scooby Doo story.

At first, I didn't necessarily plan to make an antagonist. I just wanted to make a nice adventure, but since they are the best pilots in the galaxy, I had to create one. I started thinking about it and thought that a talented pilot in the style of the Red Baron would be interesting as the main conflict for the squadron. However, I didn't want to create a random opponent with the name "insert your color and title" (way too classic and déjà vu). Then I had the idea to create a Thrawn style, mmmh I'll keep this but I can do better.

And after a lot of thought, Murdis was born, I won't say more about them because everything will be told in the story later.

Codex:

The Murdis

Turian Mythology

Urban Legend

Birth:

Beginning of the cosmodesic travel

History:

This legend tells the true story of a Turian fighter pilot with the same name. This pilot betrayed his squadron and disowned his colony in order to live by his own rules. His sudden and brutal betrayal resulted in the deaths of many of his brothers and sisters in arms and led to a ruthless hunt by the Turian military that only ended with Murdis' death. Officially, Murdis was shot down in the atmosphere of a planet not far from the outer rim. However, no debris from his ship, not even his body, could be found and this is where the Murdis legend really begins.

According to the most popular theory on the extranet, Murdis died under much darker circumstances. Some theorists believe that the Turian fighter suffered a technical mishap while in FTL, which caused it to veer off course and miss the exit cosmodesic relay. He would never have been able to leave his state, trapping him forever in his travels. His "death", considered particularly unworthy by Turian culture, would have made him a vengeful spirit. The Murdis now at the controls of his ghost ship occasionally leave his FTL state and attack anyone who crosses his path. Now he has only one goal, to make sure that all those who condemned him not to die pay.

This legend was born out of a lack of knowledge about the relays of the time. But even with the knowledge gained over the centuries, knowledge that proved that it was simply impossible to get stuck in FTL, this legend has remained very popular, especially among Navy pilots who tell it to scare the new ones.

Technical terms:

Murdis has entered the popular Turian vocabulary and is used to refer to someone who is deeply selfish.