Androne Flight Away

Deployment confirmed, Flight Leader at ready
  Mission parameters locked in the pipe
Target subsystem structures, hold the course steady
  The last thing I want is a wipe

Miles of shrapnel, anti-drone hail
  My brave flight cut down by a half
Magnetics engaged, we land on her tail
  Free at last from hot metal and chaff

There can be no defense for this aft rail dispenser
  Plasma torches will have out her heart
A soft spot at last on the tactical sensor
  One final call and this party can start

"Flight Leader here, subsystem disabled"
  "Prophet tactical, fire at will"
A surge of blue plasma, the deadly beam arc
  We andrones must die with our kill

No graves will be dug for this 'drone flight destroyed
  Disabling that aft rail smoke-caster
But our sacrifice bought what the Prophet predicted
  Elegiac ion disaster

Author's Note

Looks like Captain Grayling's TAC officer has launched an androne flight to disable the defensive systems of an enemy ship! Aboard the mighty Vapor Prophet, it is not only the crew that have hearts of steel.

Dedicated to my friends at WC and AP!

Reviews

[ANTO]

I havent enjoyed a comms chat so much in years - having drifted from the genre to cold history and biogs and I must say I heard every blip and white noise crackle of this between the dialogue.
I liked the internal voice of the apparent-kamikaze androne and the clipped military stylings of the dialogue too - all in all a thrilling snap shot Mr C.
You might be the one to drag me kicking and moonwalking back to sci. hmmm...

[Cambion]

I can just see the scene: the andrones look back one final time at their distant Vapor Prophet. A heavy cutting beam sweeps over the scene, melting the hull section and instantly vaporizing the andrones. They died heroes!

Btw, a smoke-caster is a device that puts of clouds of particles between a hull and a beam weapon (an absorption defense). If that smoke-caster should not be functioning for some reason, a beam strike hits with full force.

Thanks for reading ANTO, I was looking forward to your reaction.

[ANTO]

great idea and name - smoke caster - cool
I'd have probably called it a beam-breaker-upper a la futurama lol. Yeah and there is (which is always a good thing IMHO) similar real world analogies - e.g. WWII the anti-radar 'Chaff' counter-measure which confused rather than disrupted.
Sound mate - all sound
Im humbled by your last comment - thank you very much Mr C

[Lizardo]

I love this piece, it's like sci-Fi
Really enjoyed reading this one
Great work!

[Matching Socks]

Edge of my seat, fast paced and exciting.
A suicide mission? To fulfill a prophecy?
Loved it. Martyrs or heroes? Or is that the same thing in some circles.

[Cambion]

Talk about a strange life... You're an androne given the gift of artificial sentience... and your first sensation of life is the awareness of what will probably be a suicide mission. A sort of reflection of Flowers for Algernon, written in binary. From parts pile to scrap pile without ever savoring life beyond duty and honor. Flight Leader was giving up more than just the tin can his program was installed in. It's bringing a tear to my eye! (thanks, Ana)

(The Prophet's TAC Leader, Limini Valens, is no doubt the one who gave Flight Leader his orders. She sheds real tears for each such machine that she has to send to its death. They're just too useful to her job to be able to be too protective of. The hard life of a tactical genius with a heart.

[Matching Socks]

Of course, we love these little machines.
They make great sidekicks and sidekicks almost always steam the show.
C3PO, R2, Data, Seven of Nine, ok only half machine there but they are given some human attributes and we can't help love them. Sorry for the comparisons.

[Cambion]

No problemo on your last sentence, those entities you named were pretty cool; but andrones would probably make a poor entry in the comic relief department, being ever-so serious looking beings with physiognomical oddities based on having skin with very fine pores, perfectly symmetrical faces, and an eternal look of readiness and restedness. To the human eye, these things stand the possibility of evoking a reaction commonly associated with the Uncanny Valley, or feelings of comfort associated with the perception of the human form or shape, especially in its moving appearance. I'd think an androne might seem very dreadful to an observer. Perhaps this is why they wear sunglasses - to mitigate the negative emotions they feel when humans view them in fear. Nevertheless, they do their duties! Very cool customers! I envision them as 2.25 meter tall linebackers with trench coats, shades, and para-military clothing and accessories. Maybe even a bit of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in the mix. All covered with ballistic cloth and armor plates. You have to remember these devices are also meant to fly in space and act as a drone unit when not in a fully anthropoid shape (for whatever odd missions require such hardware). They're just generally odd tin men (or women! how exciting to see feminine qualities in such an incarnation!). Anyhow, I'm rambling, and it is good of you to hear out an old geezer in his dotage.

[Matching Socks]

Terminator?

[Matching Socks]

A bunch of terminators.

[Cambion]

Terminator with a lot of gear, for sure; but a sentient androne would have facial affect and mood like a human, and it would surely make the android more personable than our old friend the monomaniacal party-crashing Connor creeper. I guess if you pick big, mean, and android, you're going to have to walk in the shadow of giants. Such is life!

[Matching Socks]

I love how I can make a one word comment and you respond with a whole speech. :D

[Cambion]

It has a minimum field length of 10 characters. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

[Matching Socks]

:D .

[Cambion]

Hacker. You hacker. (10 chars)

[Matching Socks]

'Character' flaw.

[Matching Socks]

: P .