Scene #4478: Midwinter Bellwether

Owner	Pose
Morrigan	The Fedayeen hide in the shadow of a comet. Four Ainsarii class stealth fighters, the cutting-edge of UEF technologies made in workshops that aren't said to exist, match its heading and vector and rely on it to block the Vasudan sensors. The comet is close enough to the convoy that it is something they note but not close enough that they move to investigate it. With the Ainsarii is Midwinter 5-1, a UEA Oculus craft that will ensure that the Vasudans won't be able to tell anyone what happens here once their own AWACS falls. The only thing to do now is to wait for the Fedayeen's Gaian Effort pawns to do their jobs. Six Scimitars jump in, and head straight for the GVA Tabia. Nothing to do but wait for them to be successful.
Alexis Maaka	A stealth fighter is borrowed for this mission, and Maaka's already well acquainted through training beforehand with this spacecraft's controls. "Durandal, ready for tasking." She repeats over comms, before she flies in formation with Kukri 1. "Time to see what our proxies can do..." She murmurs, remaining under the radar so to speak as her Ainsarii holds formation.
Zephyr Windstar	Zephyr is loitering amidst the stealth fighters. Her target profile shouldn't tag on any sensors even without the cover of the comet as she's not using any Magic actively, and she's small enough that anything short of a directional scan should just file her into background noise. "Blitz reporting Ready Op." she confirms. "Divine Wind, prepare Bombardment Formation as soon as we're clear to engage... Target the closest Gas Miner, full power discharge." Divine Wind chimes <Yes, my Master. Preparing systems for Mode Change on your command.> For now, the Mage waits, holding formation with the Stealth Fighters.
Morrigan	From that distance, the interplay between the Gef fighters and the Vasudan convoy is almost invisible. There's just a few bright flashes as Gef fighters are caught by anti-fighter beams or missiles and blasted out of existence, but some of them get through and loose their missiles. There's a bigger flash as the Tabia is blown to pieces and the convoy's protective net collapses. The Fedayeen surge out of the comet's wake like invisible birds of prey with antimatter claws, descending on the convoy who is none the wiser to their presence as they attend to the Gef Scimitars. With the AWACS down, the Gef elements make a run for it - but they won't get very far. The Fedayeen fall on the convoy's protective screen of fighters like a whirlwind with Kovacs, Vidaura, Falconer and Laporte working in unsettling harmony.
Zephyr Windstar	Zephyr breaks free from the Comet tail along with the Stealth Fighters. She becomes a Beacon of the convoy's impending doom, as her Magic flares. <DRIVE IGNITION! MISTRAL FORM SET! GEAR SECOND! SHIFTING MISTRAL STORM TO BOMBARDMENT FORMATION!> Lines draw from the Mage to her Spell Circle, great green 'wings' spring from her back, and a series of circles form in front of her Device as energy builds for a beam attack. "Confirming target, Chi-4. All points, stay clear of my firing solution. MISTRAL BUSTER!" <MISTRAL BUSTER!> "FIRE!" The fighters would each get a large cylinder imprinted in DANGER RED on their HUD, before that cylinder is filled with purple energy, which slams into the trailing Gas Miner, coring it out with a pinpoint strike.
Alexis Maaka	Maaka takes position with Laporte, flying in formation with Morrigan as they engage the fighter wing furiously. With gatling gun blazing, Maaka chases a small grouping of them. "So bunched together, it's like they're keeping the kid gloves on here." She muses with an amused grin, before she watches Zephyr fire off at the miner. "Fucking A, Zeph..."
Morrigan	In the lead Ainsarii - Falcata 1 - Morrigan leads the attack. Her guns find a Vasudan Serapis and kill it, then another, and she's strafing the Heket. The cruiser's guns fire blindly, unable to see the very things that are ripping it to pieces. But then she's ignoring the Heket and the stealth-armored fox is set amongst the marine-carrying pigeons. The marine transports are not made for combat. They're glorified taxies and easily ripped open. The UEF doesn't commit atrocities. Even if Steele were to figure it out, the introduction of new facts would stymie his brilliant mind. To defeat a powerful signal, all you need is some noise. Zephyr's blast strikes Chi 4, the gas miner towards the back of the convoy, and cracks it open. Volatile gases ignite and, after a second where it seems like nothing will happen, the gas miner is ripped apart. The explosion takes out a few smaller transports. The miners begin to scatter, clearing out of the formation. By making themselves targets, they'll save the rest of their convoy. Only, it's a waste of time. A heroic one, but a waste all the same.
Alexis Maaka	Maaka makes her way clear of Zephyr's blast, her instruments still blaring alarms even well after the gas miner is blown to pieces. Her Ainsarii takes off toward one of the marine transports, strafing the carrier with cannon fire before she locks on to a second transport, letting off a missile strike intended to take it out in one shot. All the while, she ignores the miners, focusing only on military targets for now.
Zephyr Windstar	"Relock on Chi-1 before it gets clear of the lead cruiser!" says Zephyr with an almost emotionally dead tone. The red Firing Solution zeroes in on the miner furthers toward the front of the convoy... and then it's engulfed in another blast of long range purple magic fire. "Chi-2. and Chi-3. Mistral Buster, Cyclone Shift." <YES! Splitting target. Cyclone Shift. Focussing on exposed gas canister. "Fire." Two smaller Danger Zones lock into the Gas Miners that were near the middle of the convoy... and then they're filled with more of that purple magic plasma, burning through the gas containment canister on the ventral section of the craft. "May the Saints guide you all to peace." she offers, closing her eyes as her handiwork detonates in the distance.
Morrigan	The marine transports collapse under the guns of Maaka and the Fedayeen. Missiles take them out with probably the best cost-for-result ratio that Maaka can see, as landing one amidst the engines tends to annihilate the entire vessel. The Fedayeen whirl through the wreckage - Falconer doing a barrel roll through a fireball, it seems - and curl up and around to focus on the Vasudan cruisers. Or cruiser, as it turns out. Windstar's beams catch Chi 1 as she goes to pass the Heket, and the explosion engulfs them both. A second, bigger flash announces the death of the lead Vasudan cruiser. With Chi 2 and Chi 3 towards the middle of the convoy, there's more freighters to be caught in the catastrophic mix of flammable gases and firepower. The convoy's almost gone.
Alexis Maaka	Maaka's lips curl in a twisted smile as she sees her missiles hit home. Striking the engine, she watches the ship go up in flames behind her, and then makes another pass to engage the remaining transports with gun fire. Trying to repeat her success, she shoots at the engines with a torrent of fire while she makes pass after pass.
Zephyr Windstar	Zephyr disables Bombardment Mode. There's not enough targets of sufficient size left that she can't effectively target them. The anchor lines begin to fade, the great wings shrink down to blazing white jets, and with an explosive burst of speed, Blitz joins the melee. The Mage proves, once again, that while she has firepower to rival a Cruiser, she's also as maneuverable as a Strike Fighter, with almost no radar crosssection unless she's being specifically looked for. She descends on one of the freighters, hauling her Axe high over her head, before slamming it down into the side of the craft, hacking her way inside. She keeps on hacking, and slashing, before she fires a short pulse of Bombardment Spell through the core of the ship to the engine deck, and then cuts her way out the other side.
Morrigan	Maaka, Windstar and the Fedayeen finish off the last elements of Bellwether convoy. Just like that, all of a sudden, it's over - and the sector of space is left with nothing but the wrecks and the dead. If there's anything sobering about that thought, the Fedayeen aren't ones to notice it. Laporte, however, may. If she's not too far gone already. And then, in the distance, there's a trio of jump flashes. Friendly configuration. UEF fighters. Second Fleet pilots rocking Uriel gunships. They are a snag. A big one.
Zephyr Windstar	The convoy is down... but now a UEF patrol has jumped in. Zephyr stands down. She's made her statement over the radio. "I won't try to stop you." now it's down to Laporte and the Fedayeen. The Mage begins preparations to jump out, magic flaring around her as she locks onto the rendezvous coordinates agreeed before the mission began.
Alexis Maaka	The excitement dies down, only for Maaka to see the UEF stumbling upon the scene. Her grip on her flight controls tightens dangerously, and she growls to herself. "I'm not going to be any part of this, but don't think I'll stop you either." She mutters, before she begins to follow suit with Zephyr.
Morrigan	And, so, the Fedayeen fall upon the Federation fighters just as they had the Vasudans. The plan works, better than anyone had hoped. Steele's going to fall for it - and Laporte remains behind to make sure that she sees that he does - but, ultimately, how much time can you be willing to buy when you pay with your soul?