Non-Canon [Closed] [Minatu Story] Saving Aphelion

[Andrew]

Tales of Captain Draven: Saving Aphelion
Mini-Episode 1: Infamy

• MES Almeida, Aquitaine-Class Cruiser | 1st Imperial Fleet
• BD-32 Black Dust Expansion Zone
• Exterior Expanse, Minatu Empire
• 12 Hours After The Battle of Laeyria-Calaris

Captain Draven Rui, knew his role in the conflict at Laeyria-Calaris was one that was going to gain his attention, it was just how much attention he had not counted on. He had always been just one of the many officers in the MIAN that just got the job done, it paid for a nice condo on one of the more classy circumorbital structures at Meaghan's Star, and for the most part that was all that had really mattered. He downed a shot of Zel Vodka and leaned back in his chair, he took a deep breath, it wasn't polite to keep people waiting, but this was a bit out of the ordinary. The pending transmission from ECLIPSE stated that it was the Emperor who wished to speak to him directly. Surely the Emperor had more important things to do than to talk to a Cruiser Commander, and that made Draven nervous, the attention was good, but was it in his best interest? He tapped the control, and the image of Emperor Tetsuya appeared on the other side of his desk.

"Ah, Captain Rui, thank you for taking the time to meet with me, I am just sorry that I'm not out there to congratulate you in person," Tetsuya said, as the image moved through one of the chairs and sat down across from the Captain. "You and your crew did very well, you showed the Craethel we mean business, it was key for us to have this first win out the way so that we can show the Caeyorians and the rest of the faction's that we're up to the task," he congratulated the Captain on a job well done.

Draven blinked, a little caught off guard. This was live? The Emperor was not a recording like he had expected at all. He straightened his posture in his chair, "Thank you, Emperor, we are happy to serve." Captain Rui couldn't think of what else to say, he was for the most part stunned by the fact the Emperor himself was speaking to him, and in such a casual manner at that.
Tetsuya's image sat back in the chair, hands rested in front of him on the desk and said, "With such a fantastic job done, I have a new mission for the Almeida. If you and your crew successfully complete the mission, I will expedite your promotion to Rear Admiral and will reserve the command of one of the new 3rd Generation Shadow Leviathans to your command. I am sending you over the data packet on the mission profile now." Tetsuya looked outside of the field of the projection for a moment as the information was sent through ATHENA. "Captain, this mission isn't going to be an easy one, however, the rewards offered will be proportionate to the level of danger you and your crew are about to face. I look forward to being able to congratulate you next time, in person, as a personal guest of myself and Empress Sinith on the homeworld," the Emperor stated, his image then stood up. "I wish you safe travels, Captain." The transmission ended and the image of Tetsuya was replaced with a large animation of the MIAN logo before it disappeared.

Draven didn't even get the chance to respond, it was not like anything he said mattered anyway. The Emperor had a mission for him, and that mission would be completed. The motivation for personal communication alone was enough to pique his interest. He had the mindhive open the data package, and the information scrolled on a projected screen in front of his desk. He paused as the image of the plum-haired Norian female's image came up, he had heard the stories of General Aphelion, she had served under the Emperor directly before he had come to the Minatu Empire. Stories drifted around, the General was a Legend of sorts, a woman often referred to as an 'army of one'. According to the screens, the General had gone missing on Ayem'vu and was a suspected captive of the Craethel and/or the USC. His mission was to go to Ayem'vu, a world that was rumored to be about the next target of Caeyorian liberation forces, and he was to locate and recover the General before that force had a chance to strike.

"Draven to Commander Hyphia, can you come to join me in my office?" he called out over the comm to his XO. The mission came from the Emperor and they needed to come up with a plan of action. Ayem'vu was crawling with Craethel, the USC, and the primitive feudal cultures that had proven more than hostile in the past.

 

[Andrew]

Mini Episode 2: The Crash

• Craethel Occupied Ayem'vu

• Combat Shuttle 005, MES Almeida

Alarms rang as Captain Draven Rui struggled to keep the shuttle under control, the cloaking device had shorted in the phase gradient of the planetary shield. They were visible now, and even as they descended like a flaming meteor, the Craethel and USC had missiles locked onto them. “Fuck, they have us...” he said as he glanced at the tactical display, the puffy white clouds passed distorted through the burning embers created by the hull and shield friction in the atmosphere.

Missile Lock. Warning, Missile Lock

Commander Hyphia struggled against the restraints of her chair, the pressure of the forces on the craft and it's failing fields that combated inertia made it hard to breathe let alone reach the control panel. “Ejecting ablative layer, maybe the debris will confuse their sensors and make them think we're breaking up.” She pressed the release, the electrogravitic field that held the ablative layer of armor onto the shuttle's exterior powered down all at once, like a broken puzzle the armor fragments blew off the exterior of the hull just in time to catch the impact of a swarm of incoming missiles. “We need to put her down!” she yelled as the shuttle shuddered and bucked.

“I am trying, comms are out. We can't reach the Almeida.,” Draven said, the vibrations that shook the hull sent sparks surging through the control interfaces, which would have burned right through his gloves had he not pulled his hands back. Suddenly a new noise, the impact of treetops against the bottom of the hull. “We're going to crash!” Draven screamed, as he instinctively moved his hands up in front of himself. The force at which the shuttle blasted through the trees caused them to explode into fragments of wood. Finally, impact, the shuttle hit the forest floor which sent a spray of mud and dirt upwards up over the sleek curves of the craft's bow. They skidded along the ground for what seemed like forever, plowing the earth with them as the shuttle would come to a stop.

A few moments after they came to a stop, Draven came out of the blackness of unconsciousness. “Ugh...Hyph....” he groaned as he turned towards his first officer, who was limp and hung over the smashed sizzling console in front of her. Draven struggled to release his restraints and he shifted over in his seat and reached for her. “Hyphia... Hyphia... Commander!” he called out and there was no answer. He grabbed the manual release for the airlock and the rear airlock hissed open and the ramp smashed to the disturbed ground and fell right off its hinges. Despite his own bleeding wounds, he pulled the Commander from the co-pilots chair and dragged her back into the cabin of the shuttle just in front of the now opened airlock. She was unresponsive, a broken rag doll that merely moved where he pulled her.

The Captain pulled one of the med-kits from the storage compartment and began to work on her, the medical scanner reported exactly what he had feared though; she was dead. After a few minutes of unsuccessful resuscitation, desperate injections and nearly every drop of medical training he had received in the academy, he fell back against the broken hull of the shuttle exhausted and broken. “Sinith...help us,” he said quietly as he lightly banged his head against the hull over and over again, the painful tears of grief dripped down the soiled frame of his cheeks. After time passed the sounds of the forest filtered in, the drip of rain from the frame of the shuttle over the airlock, and the silence of the dead.

Draven set to work, he pulled useful tools and weapons he could carry and packed them into a pack, he included the remains of the most used medical kit and a few packages of rations. He knew that he had limited time, but still he grabbed the shovel from the utility locker and went outside. He dug, the rain poured down on him and made the soil mud. He dragged Hyphia's body out of the shuttle and rested it in the shallow grave he had dug in the earth and set to covering her in soil and moss covered rocks. USC Patrol craft passed in cycles above, but the crash had been hidden by the dense canopy. When Draven was finished he sunk Hyphia's Battlerifle into the mud in front of her grave and laced her dog tags up and over the barrel that pointed towards the sky.

Communications were useless, signaling just would quicken his discovery. He had no choice but to continue with his mission after all the commander had given her life for it. Draven strapped his pack on his back, the G-pad with the tactical data and intelligence information gathered by the MIAN which had been sent by the Emperor strapped to his left arm, his own rifle in his left hand.

 

[Andrew]

Mini-Episode 3: Bring Home The Glory?

• Ayem'vu, End of Day 1 – Searching for General Aphelion

Captain Draven Rui hiked for an entire day when the orange-red hues of sunset bled through the spaces between the trees. He found a good place to set down camp at the edge of the forest with a cliff overlooking the direction of the crash, the death of his first officer hung on his thoughts as he stripped bark from sticks and fallen logs so he could make a fire that would produce less smoke. For him, this was an alien world; the cry of the birds, the movement of animals in the forests were unknown to him. His MIAN survival gear was a blessing, the popup tent and emergency kit with rations and cooking supplies made the damp rough terrain a little more survivable. He didn't dare touch his communicator, and that was confirmed when he saw the explosion in the distance; someone, likely the Craethel or USC, had tried to tamper with the shuttle wreckage and the mindhive had engaged the anti-tamper system and self-destructed.

After a meager meal offered by the MIAN MRE-44, he set his four defense drones to roam the perimeter of his camp, they would alarm if anyone or anything got too close. He laid awake, the chitter and croaks of the forest made for a disturbed lullaby. He would continue to the camp where their intelligence people had said the General was being held. Silent prayers were extended to Sinith and Tetsuya for their protection, the devote Minatu soldier far from the sanctuary of his ship fell asleep.

The sentry drone whirled by the tent in the early morning, a brief alarm sounded which jolted the Captain from his sleep. It was time to get up, he had more ground to cover. After another MRE and a silent argument with himself about the complaints he would issue to the manufacturer about the lack of flavor, he packed his pack and once again took to the trail. He kept the two sentry drones deployed, to extend his vision as he wove through the labyrinth of rough forested terrain towards the detention camp.

Ayem'vu Aquila POW Camp

Draven stood at the edge of the forest, binoculars held up to his eyes as he scanned the POW Camp in the distance. There was smoke pouring from the administration tower and several of the sentry towers. It appeared someone had gotten there before he did. He spotted USC soldiers, but they were hanging from cables that had been strung over the armored walls of the work compound. Hopefully, whatever had happened the General escaped. He continued to scan the area, whoever had hit the facility they had done it hard – it looked like an inside job but he couldn't be sure.

He went to put the binoculars down when he felt the barrel of the battle rifle press against the back of his skull and the sound of the unit as it powered up, “Fuck.” he said to himself as the back of his knees were struck with a heavy boot.

“No!” he heard someone shout, “Look at his uniform you overgrown doofus. He is MIAN! Let him up!” Draven felt his heart skip a few beats. He looked over his shoulder as he was helped to his feet, two Caeyorian Marines stood behind him. “He's one of Aphelion's men...someone get her out here.”