The Last Flight of the Black Condor
Sarna News
| The Last Flight of the Black Condor | |
|---|---|
| Short story by Matthew Cross | |
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| First Publication | |
| Published | 15 September 2022 |
| Published in | Shrapnel Issue 10 |
| Publisher | Catalyst Game Labs |
| Illustrator(s) | Natán Meléndez |
| Pages | 20 |
| Chronology | |
| Era | Jihad era |
| Timeline | 28 December 3075 — 29 December 3075 |
The Last Flight of the Black Condor is a short story by Matthew Cross that was published in the tenth issue of Shrapnel.
Plot Summary[edit]
On 28 December 3075, the Tooth of Ymir DropShip Firebrand was about to make landfall on Galatea to fight Word of Blake forces. Lieutenant Charles Farabaugh was talking with his lance members, Kevin Gurski, Maria Peltergast and Paramar. His commanding officer, Captain Brandon Shadwell, cut off their discussion, calling them to the command post when they landed.
Soon after, the lance, dubbed Cacophony Lance for the music Charlie always played, was at the command post, where Major Ivan Petrov informed them of their mission: to infiltrate inside the Blakist lines and destroy an Arrow IV battery ammo depot supposedly containing nukes, before the Blakists could use them.
Despite Petrov's reassuring words about other lances supporting them, the lance knew it was almost a suicide mission, but they obeyed anyway.
After Cacophony moved out, Charles put heroic music on the waves.
They first found two Blakist scout 'Mechs that they quickly and easily defeated. Paramar's Chimera was damaged by a pair of hovercraft and his lancemates had to leave him behind to return to base on his own.
Thanks to an Ymir's Tooth air strike, Cacophony managed to break through Blakist forces, though they lost Peltergast's 'Mech. Gursky and Charlie arrived at the depot, and while Farabaugh approached the nukes' bunker, Gursky drew away two heavy Blakist 'Mechs.
Charlie didn't waste time and began blowing up the different ammo depots. His Cougar, which he called Black Condor, was severely damaged, but he managed to force his way into the target building and ignite the ammo, saying goodbye over the airwaves before the final explosion.
The epilogue takes place in 3122 and shows that the Galatean Museum of the Jihad keeps the memory of Farabaugh alive. Farabaugh's music data chip was found and is prominently displayed in the Museum accompanied by the explanation how the Black Condor's remains were found, and that its BattleROM recordings showed his heroic sacrifice and how this saved countless thousands of Galatea's civilians.