{"data":{"id":12758,"title":"Cassandra's Tears: Issue #3","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/comm-link\/serialized-fiction\/12758-Cassandras-Tears-Issue-3","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-links\/12758","api_public_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/comm-links\/12758","channel":"Undefined","category":"Undefined","series":"Cassandra's Tears","images":[{"id":109,"name":"CalMasonFI_Crop.jpg","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/media\/dzgf0umox510mr\/source\/CalMasonFI_Crop.jpg","alt":"","size":2001824,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","last_modified":"2013-07-19T05:28:41+00:00","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/109","similar_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/109\/similar"}],"images_count":1,"translations":{"en_EN":"Forty percent shields. Four of his monitors had cut off. Only two missiles left in the right wing pod. Guns and fuel were doing okay. That was the good news. The bad news? Cal Mason couldn\u2019t keep hammering at Black Talon for much longer.\n\nPenny and the others were still tangling with the rest of the raiding party. The skies were a mess of dissipating contrails and columns of smoke from the burning wreckage below. Cal had to keep his focus. He knew the tables could turn at any moment.\n\nBlack Talon cut left, hard. Cal stayed on him. He fired a burst but Black Talon pirouetted around the shots like it was nothing. Cal saw where he was headed. The last Anvil was at distance, pounding arty at a Raider.\n\nBlack Talon was heading right for the web of exploding shells.\n\nAboard the Gemini, Admiral Showalter was trapped between the Vanduul flagship and Yar\u2019s gravitational pull. The massive carrier couldn\u2019t sustain either assault for much longer. He just stared at the mapsphere, studying every position, waiting for a play to present itself. The Vanduul ship was slightly elevated above their starboard side. They were angling to hit them with their big guns. The planet was just below their port horizon.\n\n\u201cSir. We can\u2019t stay here.\u201d The deck-pilot shouted. Showalter ignored him, his mind churning on something resembling a plan.\n\n\u201cSir!\u201d He shouted again. Showalter turned, it could work.\n\n\u201cCut suspensor thrusters three through nine. Drop eight, ten, and twelve by sixty percent.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut sir, that\u2019ll drop us \u2013\u201c\n\n\u201cToward the planet, right. Here\u2019s what I want you to do and I\u2019m only going to say this once.\u201d Everyone listened. From the look on their faces, they thought the old man had finally lost it.\n\nThe main guns on the Vanduul flagship started heating up. Energy coalesced at the tip of the barrels, pulling elements from the atmosphere. Suddenly the Gemini pitched down toward the planet, port side thrusters flashed, forcing the massive ship into a turn. It skirted along the edge of the atmosphere, using the gravity to slingshot it around, until its port side stopped directly underneath the Vanduul ship.\n\nThe Gemini unleashed every weapon it could into the weak underbelly. Vanduul shields flared up, trying to divert all the attacks but it just couldn\u2019t. Energy blasts punched through the hull followed by AP rockets. For the first time, the Vanduul were getting a serious hurt put on them.\n\nBack on Yar, Cal was now dodging arty rounds. Heller, the Anvil Pilot, was trying to lead Black Talon but the Vanduul was proving as adept at dodging indirect fire as he was at direct.\n\nPenny fell in behind Cal. It was becoming obvious that even though the Vanduul was on the defensive, he was dictating the fight. That was going to change. They were going to hit Black Talon together.\n\n\u201cYou ready, Penny?\u201d\n\n\u201cLet\u2019s dust this guy.\u201d Cal grinned.\n\nSomehow Black Talon knew. The second Penny and Cal separated into attack position, panels ejected on the Black Talon revealing six hidden thrusters. He flashed them to spin completely around in breakneck speed and rocket toward them. Cal weaved to avoid the same wing attack that sliced Poll in two. Black Talon kicked its afterburners and shot toward the horizon, rejoining that second wing of Vanduul Scythes and Crawlers, the ones who bee-lined for the old settlement, and disappeared up into the atmosphere.\n\nPenny and the remaining wing went after them. Cal didn\u2019t. Something was gnawing at him. He changed course and headed for the buildings.\n\nThe Vanduul flagship was limping away. The Gemini had turned the tide and put some serious holes in it but it couldn\u2019t catch up. Showalter\u2019s daring maneuvering had locked the Gemini in the gravitational hold. Like a rover in the mud, it was doing all it could to try and break free, Showalter could see the Raiders emerge from Yar and disappear into the multiple landing bays. The flagship\u2019s massive engines churned up and took off.\n\nBack on the surface, Cal climbed down the ladder. He flipped the safety off his sidearm as he approached the building. A sign out front was caked with the red dust that was always swirling through the air. Cal wiped off the top layer. This was some kind of geological research station.\n\nHe pushed the swinging door open. A couple shafts of light filtered through the dust from holes in the ceiling but it was dark otherwise. The red dust was everywhere. But as much as Cal hated the stuff, it was doing him a huge favor right now. It was showing him footprints and, even better, the outlines of what was missing.\n\nCal swept through the facility. It looked like they took four machines, around four meters high by a couple wide. He took some pics of the scene with his visor then focusing on the machines that the missing ones were near. Everything that he was learning just fed that knot in his stomach. This wasn\u2019t a raid. This was a heist. What were the machines? What could this Vanduul clan possibly use outdated tech for? What were they up to?\n\nPenny chased Black Talon and the rest as far as she could. The second they broke out of atmo, the flagship unleashed a spray of cover fire. Looks like Grandpa gave them a punishing though. Hopefully they\u2019ll think twice about hitting this system anytime soon.\n\n\u201cAlright, pilots. Back home.\u201d The wing peeled away from pursuit and headed back to the Gemini, which had stabilized but still working its way free of the pull. Penny looked over the remnants of her wing. She ran down the list of the pilots who wouldn\u2019t be reporting. Where was\u2026\n\n\u201cCal, copy?\u201d\n\n\u201cHey Penny. The Vanduuls still in the system?\u201d\n\n\u201cBarely. They\u2019re eighty-sixing at a clip.\u201d\n\n\u201cSomething\u2019s not right, Penny. This wasn\u2019t a raid.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat are you talking about Cal?\u201d\n\n\u201cI need a favor.\u201d\n\n\u201cI never like sentences that start out that way.\u201d\n\n\u201cI need you to cover for me with Grandpa.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou gotta be joking, Cal.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll check in when I have more. There\u2019s something else going on here, Penny.\u201d\n\nSilence for a few moments.\n\n\u201cYou know, Cal, one of these days I\u2019m going to collect on all these favors.\u201d\n\nOn the bridge of the Gemini, Admiral Showalter watched Penny and the other pilots return, a lot fewer than he would have liked. Then he saw Cal\u2019s ship bust free from Yar. He was headed after the Vanduul flagship.\n\n\u201cCal, you stupid son of a-\u201c . . . TO BE CONTINUED","de_DE":"Vierzig Prozent Schilde. Vier seiner Monitore hatten sich abgeschaltet. Nur noch zwei Raketen in der rechten Kapsel. Waffen und Treibstoff liefen gut. Das war die gute Nachricht. Die schlechte Nachricht? Cal Mason konnte nicht mehr lange auf Black Talon h\u00e4mmern.\n\nPenny und die anderen verwirrten sich immer noch mit dem Rest der \u00dcberfallgruppe. Der Himmel war ein Durcheinander von zerstreuenden Kondensstreifen und Rauchs\u00e4ulen aus dem brennenden Wrack darunter. Cal musste sich konzentrieren. Er wusste, dass sich der Spie\u00df umdrehen w\u00fcrde.\n\nBlack Talon Schnitt links, hart. Cal blieb bei ihm. Er feuerte einen Schuss ab, aber Black Talon drehte sich um die Sch\u00fcsse, als w\u00e4re es nichts. Cal sah, wohin er unterwegs war. Der letzte Amboss war in der Ferne und schlug k\u00fcnstlerisch auf einen Raider ein.\n\nBlack Talon steuerte direkt auf das Netz der explodierenden Granaten zu.\n\nAn Bord der Gemini wurde Admiral Showalter zwischen dem Vanduul-Flaggschiff und Yars Anziehungskraft gefangen. Der massive Tr\u00e4ger konnte beide Angriffe nicht mehr lange ertragen. Er starrte nur auf die Kartenkugel, studierte jede Position und wartete darauf, dass sich ein St\u00fcck pr\u00e4sentierte. Das Vanduul-Schiff war leicht erh\u00f6ht \u00fcber ihre Steuerbordseite. Sie waren angeln, um sie mit ihren gro\u00dfen Kanonen zu schlagen. Der Planet lag direkt unter ihrem Hafenhorizont.\n\n\"Sir. Wir k\u00f6nnen nicht hier bleiben.\" rief der Deckpilot. Showalter ignorierte ihn, sein Verstand wirbelte auf etwas, das einem Plan \u00e4hnelt.\n\n\" Sir!\" Er schrie wieder. Showalter drehte sich um, es k\u00f6nnte funktionieren.\n\n\"Schneiden Sie die Hosentr\u00e4gertriebwerke drei bis neun durch. Lass acht, zehn und zw\u00f6lf um sechzig Prozent fallen.\"\n\n\"Aber Sir, das l\u00e4sst uns fallen -\"\n\n\"Auf den Planeten zu, richtig. Ich m\u00f6chte, dass du Folgendes tust, und ich werde das nur einmal sagen.\" Alle h\u00f6rten zu. So wie sie aussahen, dachten sie, der alte Mann h\u00e4tte es endlich verloren.\n\nDie Hauptkanonen auf dem Vanduul-Flaggschiff begannen sich zu erhitzen. An der Spitze der F\u00e4sser sammelte sich Energie und zog Elemente aus der Atmosph\u00e4re. Pl\u00f6tzlich neigte sich die Gemini zum Planeten hinab, backbordseitige Triebwerke blinkten und zwangen das massive Schiff in eine Kurve. Er schlenderte am Rande der Atmosph\u00e4re entlang und benutzte die Schwerkraft, um ihn herumzuschleudern, bis seine Backbordseite direkt unter dem Vanduul-Schiff anhielt.\n\nDie Zwillinge entfesselten jede Waffe, die sie konnten, in den schwachen Unterbauch. Vanduul-Schilde flammten auf und versuchten, alle Angriffe abzulenken, aber das konnte es einfach nicht. Energieexplosionen schlugen durch den Rumpf, gefolgt von AP-Raketen. Zum ersten Mal wurden die Vanduul schwer verletzt.\n\nZur\u00fcck auf Yar, weiche Cal jetzt den k\u00fcnstlerischen Runden aus. Heller, der Amboss-Pilot, versuchte, Black Talon zu f\u00fchren, aber der Vanduul erwies sich als ebenso geschickt darin, indirektem Feuer auszuweichen, wie er selbst.\n\nPenny fiel hinter Cal zur\u00fcck. Es wurde offensichtlich, dass, obwohl der Vanduul in der Defensive war, er den Kampf diktierte. Das sollte sich \u00e4ndern. Sie wollten Black Talon zusammen schlagen.\n\n\"Bist du bereit, Penny?\"\n\n\"Lasst uns den Kerl abstauben.\" Cal grinste.\n\nIrgendwie wusste Black Talon es. Die zweite Penny und Cal trennten sich in Angriffsposition, Panels, die auf die Black Talon geworfen wurden und sechs versteckte Triebwerke enth\u00fcllten. Er blitzte sie auf, um sich in halsbrecherischer Geschwindigkeit komplett zu drehen und raste auf sie zu. Cal webte, um den gleichen Fl\u00fcgelangriff zu vermeiden, der Poll in zwei H\u00e4lften geschnitten hat. Black Talon trat seine Nachbrenner und schoss zum Horizont und schloss sich diesem zweiten Fl\u00fcgel von Vanduul Scythes und Crawlers an, die f\u00fcr die alte Siedlung gesorgt hatten, und verschwand in der Atmosph\u00e4re.\n\nPenny und der restliche Fl\u00fcgel gingen ihnen nach. Cal nicht. Etwas nagte an ihm. Er \u00e4nderte den Kurs und ging zu den Geb\u00e4uden.\n\nDas Flaggschiff der Vanduul humpelte davon. Die Zwillinge hatten das Blatt gewendet und einige ernsthafte L\u00f6cher in sie gebohrt, aber sie konnten nicht aufholen. Showalters gewagtes Man\u00f6vrieren hatte die Zwillinge in den Gravitationshalten eingeschlossen. Wie ein Rover im Schlamm tat er alles, was er konnte, um sich zu befreien, Showalter konnte sehen, wie die Raider aus Yar auftauchten und in den mehreren Landebuchten verschwanden. Die massiven Triebwerke des Flaggschiffes explodierten und starteten.\n\nZur\u00fcck an der Oberfl\u00e4che kletterte Cal die Leiter hinunter. Er schaltete die Sicherung von seiner Pistole, als er sich dem Geb\u00e4ude n\u00e4herte. Ein Schild auf der Vorderseite war mit dem roten Staub bedeckt, der immer wieder durch die Luft wirbelte. Der Kaliber wurde von der oberen Schicht abgewischt. Das war eine Art geologische Forschungsstation.\n\nEr schob die Schwenkt\u00fcr auf. Ein paar Lichtsch\u00e4chte filterten durch den Staub von Deckenl\u00f6chern, aber es war sonst dunkel. Der rote Staub war \u00fcberall. Aber so sehr Cal das Zeug auch hasste, es tat ihm gerade einen gro\u00dfen Gefallen. Es zeigte ihm Fu\u00dfspuren und, noch besser, die Umrisse dessen, was fehlte.\n\nCal fegte durch die Einrichtung. Es sah so aus, als ob sie vier Maschinen nahmen, etwa vier Meter hoch und ein paar Meter breit. Er machte einige Bilder der Szene mit seinem Visier und konzentrierte sich dann auf die Maschinen, bei denen die Vermissten in der N\u00e4he waren. Alles, was er lernte, f\u00fctterte nur diesen Knoten in seinem Bauch. Das war keine Razzia. Das war ein Raub\u00fcberfall. Was waren die Maschinen? Wof\u00fcr k\u00f6nnte dieser Vanduul-Clan m\u00f6glicherweise veraltete Technologie verwenden? Was hatten sie vor?\n\nPenny jagte Black Talon und den Rest so weit sie konnte. In der Sekunde, in der sie aus der Atmosph\u00e4re ausbrachen, l\u00f6ste das Flaggschiff einen Spr\u00fchregen von Deckungsfeuer aus. Sieht so aus, als h\u00e4tte Gro\u00dfvater ihnen eine Bestrafung verpasst. Hoffentlich werden sie zweimal dar\u00fcber nachdenken, dieses System in naher Zukunft zu erreichen.\n\n\"In Ordnung, Piloten. Zur\u00fcck nach Hause.\" Der Fl\u00fcgel sch\u00e4lte sich von der Verfolgung ab und ging zur\u00fcck zu den Zwillingen, die sich stabilisiert hatten, sich aber immer noch frei vom Zug arbeiteten. Penny schaute \u00fcber die \u00dcberreste ihres Fl\u00fcgels. Sie hat die Liste der Piloten durchgesehen, die sich nicht melden w\u00fcrden. Wo war.....\n\n\"Cal, verstanden?\"\n\n\"Hey Penny. Sind die Vanduuls noch im System?\"\n\n\"Kaum. Sie sind 86 in einem Clip.\"\n\n\"Etwas stimmt nicht, Penny. Das war keine Razzia.\"\n\n\"Was redest du da von Cal?\"\n\n\"Ich brauche einen Gefallen.\"\n\n\"Ich mag keine S\u00e4tze, die so beginnen.\"\n\n\"Du musst mich mit Opa decken.\"\n\n\"Du machst wohl Witze, Cal.\"\n\n\"Ich melde mich, wenn ich mehr habe. Hier geht noch etwas anderes vor sich, Penny.\"\n\nSchweigen Sie f\u00fcr einen Moment.\n\n\"Wei\u00dft du, Cal, eines Tages werde ich all diese Gef\u00e4lligkeiten sammeln.\"\n\nAuf der Br\u00fccke des Gemini beobachtete Admiral Showalter, wie Penny und die anderen Piloten zur\u00fcckkehrten, viel weniger, als er sich gew\u00fcnscht h\u00e4tte. Dann sah er, wie Kal's Schiff von Yar befreit wurde. Er war auf dem Weg nach dem Vanduul-Flaggschiff.\n\n\"Cal, du dummer Sohn von a-\"\n\n\n. . . WIRD FORTGESETZT","zh_CN":"Forty percent shields. Four of his monitors had cut off. Only two missiles left in the right wing pod. Guns and fuel were doing okay. That was the good news. The bad news? Cal Mason couldn\u2019t keep hammering at Black Talon for much longer.\n\nPenny and the others were still tangling with the rest of the raiding party. The skies were a mess of dissipating contrails and columns of smoke from the burning wreckage below. Cal had to keep his focus. He knew the tables could turn at any moment.\n\nBlack Talon cut left, hard. Cal stayed on him. He fired a burst but Black Talon pirouetted around the shots like it was nothing. Cal saw where he was headed. The last Anvil was at distance, pounding arty at a Raider.\n\nBlack Talon was heading right for the web of exploding shells.\n\nAboard the Gemini, Admiral Showalter was trapped between the Vanduul flagship and Yar\u2019s gravitational pull. The massive carrier couldn\u2019t sustain either assault for much longer. He just stared at the mapsphere, studying every position, waiting for a play to present itself. The Vanduul ship was slightly elevated above their starboard side. They were angling to hit them with their big guns. The planet was just below their port horizon.\n\n\u201cSir. We can\u2019t stay here.\u201d The deck-pilot shouted. Showalter ignored him, his mind churning on something resembling a plan.\n\n\u201cSir!\u201d He shouted again. Showalter turned, it could work.\n\n\u201cCut suspensor thrusters three through nine. Drop eight, ten, and twelve by sixty percent.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut sir, that\u2019ll drop us \u2013\u201c\n\n\u201cToward the planet, right. Here\u2019s what I want you to do and I\u2019m only going to say this once.\u201d Everyone listened. From the look on their faces, they thought the old man had finally lost it.\n\nThe main guns on the Vanduul flagship started heating up. Energy coalesced at the tip of the barrels, pulling elements from the atmosphere. Suddenly the Gemini pitched down toward the planet, port side thrusters flashed, forcing the massive ship into a turn. It skirted along the edge of the atmosphere, using the gravity to slingshot it around, until its port side stopped directly underneath the Vanduul ship.\n\nThe Gemini unleashed every weapon it could into the weak underbelly. Vanduul shields flared up, trying to divert all the attacks but it just couldn\u2019t. Energy blasts punched through the hull followed by AP rockets. For the first time, the Vanduul were getting a serious hurt put on them.\n\nBack on Yar, Cal was now dodging arty rounds. Heller, the Anvil Pilot, was trying to lead Black Talon but the Vanduul was proving as adept at dodging indirect fire as he was at direct.\n\nPenny fell in behind Cal. It was becoming obvious that even though the Vanduul was on the defensive, he was dictating the fight. That was going to change. They were going to hit Black Talon together.\n\n\u201cYou ready, Penny?\u201d\n\n\u201cLet\u2019s dust this guy.\u201d Cal grinned.\n\nSomehow Black Talon knew. The second Penny and Cal separated into attack position, panels ejected on the Black Talon revealing six hidden thrusters. He flashed them to spin completely around in breakneck speed and rocket toward them. Cal weaved to avoid the same wing attack that sliced Poll in two. Black Talon kicked its afterburners and shot toward the horizon, rejoining that second wing of Vanduul Scythes and Crawlers, the ones who bee-lined for the old settlement, and disappeared up into the atmosphere.\n\nPenny and the remaining wing went after them. Cal didn\u2019t. Something was gnawing at him. He changed course and headed for the buildings.\n\nThe Vanduul flagship was limping away. The Gemini had turned the tide and put some serious holes in it but it couldn\u2019t catch up. Showalter\u2019s daring maneuvering had locked the Gemini in the gravitational hold. Like a rover in the mud, it was doing all it could to try and break free, Showalter could see the Raiders emerge from Yar and disappear into the multiple landing bays. The flagship\u2019s massive engines churned up and took off.\n\nBack on the surface, Cal climbed down the ladder. He flipped the safety off his sidearm as he approached the building. A sign out front was caked with the red dust that was always swirling through the air. Cal wiped off the top layer. This was some kind of geological research station.\n\nHe pushed the swinging door open. A couple shafts of light filtered through the dust from holes in the ceiling but it was dark otherwise. The red dust was everywhere. But as much as Cal hated the stuff, it was doing him a huge favor right now. It was showing him footprints and, even better, the outlines of what was missing.\n\nCal swept through the facility. It looked like they took four machines, around four meters high by a couple wide. He took some pics of the scene with his visor then focusing on the machines that the missing ones were near. Everything that he was learning just fed that knot in his stomach. This wasn\u2019t a raid. This was a heist. What were the machines? What could this Vanduul clan possibly use outdated tech for? What were they up to?\n\nPenny chased Black Talon and the rest as far as she could. The second they broke out of atmo, the flagship unleashed a spray of cover fire. Looks like Grandpa gave them a punishing though. Hopefully they\u2019ll think twice about hitting this system anytime soon.\n\n\u201cAlright, pilots. Back home.\u201d The wing peeled away from pursuit and headed back to the Gemini, which had stabilized but still working its way free of the pull. Penny looked over the remnants of her wing. She ran down the list of the pilots who wouldn\u2019t be reporting. Where was\u2026\n\n\u201cCal, copy?\u201d\n\n\u201cHey Penny. The Vanduuls still in the system?\u201d\n\n\u201cBarely. They\u2019re eighty-sixing at a clip.\u201d\n\n\u201cSomething\u2019s not right, Penny. This wasn\u2019t a raid.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat are you talking about Cal?\u201d\n\n\u201cI need a favor.\u201d\n\n\u201cI never like sentences that start out that way.\u201d\n\n\u201cI need you to cover for me with Grandpa.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou gotta be joking, Cal.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll check in when I have more. There\u2019s something else going on here, Penny.\u201d\n\nSilence for a few moments.\n\n\u201cYou know, Cal, one of these days I\u2019m going to collect on all these favors.\u201d\n\nOn the bridge of the Gemini, Admiral Showalter watched Penny and the other pilots return, a lot fewer than he would have liked. Then he saw Cal\u2019s ship bust free from Yar. He was headed after the Vanduul flagship.\n\n\u201cCal, you stupid son of a-\u201c . . . TO BE CONTINUED"},"links_count":0,"comment_count":53,"created_at":"2012-11-02T00:00:00+00:00","created_at_human":"13 years ago"},"meta":{"processed_at":"2026-05-14 15:38:44","valid_relations":["images","links"],"prev_id":12757,"next_id":12759}}