File 12.5 - Unsettling Change

Arriving at the hangar for the Freya, Shizuka carried her helmet at her side. Near the foot of the Freya, Natalie stood yelling out orders to the crew. She approached the woman needing to know what she was in for with the Freya. “Are any of the modules ready?”

“No, sorry, Shizuka. They’re still in development, so you’re going to have to go out in the base model.”

She stared up at the Freya, finding it oddly welcoming for some reason. “I figured as much. The beam rifle and beam swords are available though, right?”

“They were finished last week. You’ve also got the sniper rifle as well.”

Shizuka thought about the data of the invasion they were provided en route to their machines. ‘They’ve got more than fifty drop ships with an estimated ten per ship. This is going to be a long battle…’ She walked over to the cable grabbing the handle. “I’m taking them all out, Natalie. Load up the rifle on the back and I’ll start with the sniper rifle. Also get a power cable available for me in beta quadrant.”

“A power cable?”

She hit the button to ride up. “Yeah, I need to conserve on power. I’m going to connect the sniper rifle to the network. I’ll be able to get a few shots in before they close in.”

Natalie stared a little surprised listening to Shizuka as she disappeared over the hatch into the face. “She’s so different from before. She’s considering strategy and the situation. It’s a little scary.”

The Freya quickly booted up for her without any troubles syncing perfectly for her. External data already started to stream to her monitors giving her updated battle reports. They were all being deployed separately, unable to fight as they were designed in pairs. Though much of her training was in solo missions.

She ran through the system checks quickly and confirmed with the crew the equipment. Everything looked good, though she wished that she had something more than the base equipment to work with in such a battle. Stepping out of the dock the Freya was parked in, she walked it over to the launcher. Using the same tunnels the transports did, the rails were easily modified as a launcher for ARMs, though she would exit out closer to the city than the others.

Seeing the numbers and the layout of the enemies felt familiar. “This is like 412-A and 732-D missions. I guess knowing this was the reality it makes sense why the training missions always had me out numbered. They never expected a one-on-one fight.”

The feet of the Freya locked into place and a charge to the rail raised to the threshold. Launch timing switched over to her as the comm officer reported to her. “Petty Officer Kitawara, enemy ARMs have already landed and are making their approach, be careful.”

“Understood. AESIR Freya, Shizuka Hiraoka launching!”