by M J Dees
They parted company. Fortunately, his room was on the way to the hangar where the Mastery of the Stars was docked. He had left little in his room but, while there, he liberated the pish cupboard of its stock of some of the finest pish Sevan had tasted.
His bag filled, Sevan continued towards the hangar, from where the sound of fighting suggested it was more intense. He held his bag in one hand and his blaster in the other as he approached the corridor which led to the hangar. There were thugs, Herseans, Saturnians and Angetenareans all exchanging fire with Republic guards to get to their ships. The guards seem to get the worst of it as they were having to fight on two fronts, receiving fire from both the corridor and from those who had already made it to their ships, like Ay-ttho and Tori who were firing the ship’s canons at the guards and causing considerable damage to the palace as well.
Sevan noticed that the damage to the walls had allowed large cracks to form, which were growing across the walls and ceiling. There was then a large breaking noise and Sevan turned to run, but before he could, the ceiling, walls and pillars of the corridor came crashing down upon him.
CHAPTER 14: RESISTANCE
Tori searched through the rubble while Ay-ttho fired towards any Republic guards that ventured too close.
“He’s here,” said Tori, shifting a lump of rock to find Sevan’s body.
He worked quickly to clear the rest of the rubble around Sevan.
“He’s still alive, but he’s unconscious.”
Tori lifted Sevan onto his back and carried him as Ay-ttho provided covering fire. They ran across the hangar, avoiding a barrage of fire, with Ron operating the canons and some Angetenareans who had made it back to the Mastery of the Stars to cover them. Despite heavy fire, they made it up the gangplank and into the ship. As Tori took Sevan to the sick bay and Ay-ttho ran to the bridge, Ron shut the doors and lifted off.
“You can’t leave,” said the Lien. “We aren’t all here.”
“Your friends will have to take their chances and try to get on other ships,” said Ay-ttho. “If we wait here, we’ll all be dead.”
Republic guards fired at any ships attempting to take off and, having left Sevan in the sick bay, Tori rushed to the bridge and took over the weapons system from Ron while Ay-ttho piloted the ship around the flak.
There were several ships attempting the same manoeuvre, and the Republic shot many down before they made it into the upper atmosphere. Once there, Republic fighters were waiting to attack. Mastery of the Stars and the other ships. The new anti-matter drive made Mastery of the Stars faster and more manoeuvrable than most freighters. It could outrun the Republic fighters, but it took a lot of damage getting around them.
Having evaded them with most of the hull intact, Ay-ttho steered the ship towards the portal for Inic B’Campa, where most escaping ships were heading.
There was less opposition at the other side of the portal and, knowing that Matthews had already sent his forces to Ao-Jun, Ayttho steered towards the portal to Sicheoyama, it would take no longer to get to Herse but she imagined there might be less chance of running into Matthews fighters, besides, she thought she would probably have to drop the Angetenareans off at Sonvaenope.
The journey from the Inic B’Campa portal to Sicheoyama was long, so Tori and Ay-ttho had time to check on Sevan.
“He seems stable,” said Tori.
“Poor clone,” said Ay-ttho. “All he’s ever wanted was to go back to The Doomed Planet and see his aunt.”
“Well, let’s go. We can pick up Nadio on the way and leave a message for Scotmax to say where we’ve gone.”
“That’s if Matthews’ forces don’t get to Herse before we do.”
“They might be preoccupied with Ao-Jun.”
“Let’s hope so, otherwise we are heading into the tronqak’s nest. Don’t forget, we have to take the Angetenareans back to Sonvaenope first.”
“Ay-ttho?” Ron’s voice floated out of the intercom. “I’ve detected an unusually high number of Republic vessels in the Sicheoyama system.”
“Uxclod! They’re here already,” she cursed. “Ron? Can you get us to the Angetenar portal without coming into the scanning range of the Republic vessels?”
“We are already within scanning range.”
“Double Uxclod! Ron? Get up to the Angetenar portal but keep as much distance as you can between us and Sicheoyama.”
“I’ll try, but the portal is relatively close to the planet. There are bound to be patrol ships there by now.”
When Sicheoyama came into view, they could see that a battle was raging in its orbit. Thug fighters were battling against Matthews forces and if Ay-ttho had to make a judgement, she would have said that the Republic fighters seemed to have the upper hand. They kept their distance as best they could, but, as Ron had predicted, Republic patrol ships were waiting for them at the portal.
Tori connected himself to the weapons chair and Ay-ttho prepared for evasive manoeuvres. As soon as the patrol ships came within range, Tori fired. The Republic pilots hadn’t expected a freighter to have such range, speed or manoeuvrability, but then there would be no reason to suppose they fitted it with an anti-matter drive.
As a result, Tori could immediately disable two of the ships and the combination of Tori’s aim and Ay-ttho’s piloting dealt with two more. Ay-ttho headed straight for the portal at full speed while Tori fired at the remaining ships. As they had hoped, they didn’t bother to follow them through the portal.
“Well, that went well,” said Tori. “And there don’t seem to be any Republic fighters on this side.”
“Don’t get too relaxed,” said Ay-ttho. “If they weren’t looking for us before, they will be now.”
Ron set a course for Sonvaenope. While they had time, they checked on Sevan.
“He’s still stable,” said Ron.
“Will he be okay?” asked Tori.
“It’s too early to say.”
Tori and Ay-ttho stood vigil over Sevan until Ron interrupted them with an update.
“I have spotted more Republic fighters,” he said.
“Where?” asked Ay-ttho.
“They are on their way to the Herse portal.”
Tori and Ay-ttho exchanged glances.
“That’s that then,” said Tori.
“We still have to go.”
“Of course.”
“Ron? How long to the Sonvaenope portal?”
“We are approaching it now.”
The Angetenareans joined them on the bridge as they emerged from the portal and could already see Sonvaenope in the distance. They gazed out through the observation windows as the planet drew closer.
Ron set a course for the Angetenarean settlement, but they were still some distance away when they first saw the smoke.
“The Republic has already been here,” said Lien.
As they drew closer, the genuine horror of the situation revealed itself. The whole settlement was on fire, and the mutilated bodies of Angetenareans surrounded it.
“Why would they do this?”
“I suppose they want to be sure that they crush any resistance before it begins,” said Ay-ttho.
“There is going to be a resistance. Even if it’s only me.”
“There are at least two of us,” said Lien’s friend.
“Do you need to see more?” asked Ay-ttho. “Or can we go to Herse?”
“I’ve seen enough,” said Lien.
“Ron? Set a course for Herse.”
“What are we going to do when we get there?” asked Tori.
“Good question. I think I have an idea. Ron? Set a course for the Sicheoyama portal.”
“What? That’s the opposite direction!”
“I know, but that’s where we can capture a Republic fighter.”
“What? Have you lost your marbles?”
“Possibly. Check, are they still there? Ay-ttho lowered her antennae for Tori to check.”
“Of course they are. Listen Ay-ttho, you don�
��t think those Republic fighters will just be sitting on the other side of the portal waiting for us to steal their ship, do you? They will have raised the alarm a long time ago.”
“In which case, they might save us the journey.”
They were both right. No sooner had they passed through the portal to Angetenar than a small Republic squadron greeted them with cannon fire. Tori returned the fire, and a battle ensued.
Twelve Republic fighters who had apparently been warned about the manoeuvrability of the freighter outnumbered the Mastery of the Stars. They seemed prepared for Ay-ttho’s evasive manoeuvres and the ship sustained some damage. Tori could inflict some damage on the fighters, but the odds were in their favour.
“I’m taking us down to the surface of the planet,” said Ay-ttho.
“Why? There’s nothing down there.”
“There is a large cave system, like the one on Pandoria. We need to even the odds.”
The Mastery of the Stars dived into the thick dusty atmosphere of Angetenar and disappeared into the clouds. The Republic fighters followed.
Although they hid in the clouds, Tori’s weapons system still gave him a view of the position of the Republic ships and he continued to fire, inflicting damage on many of them. Unfortunately, the Republic ships also had the same technology and the Mastery of the Stars also suffered its fair share of damage.
Ay-ttho plunged the freighter below the clouds, from where they could see, once more, the scale of the devastation on the surface. She steered the ship into a large cave set on the side of a mountain. The Republic squadron followed.
Although the Mastery of the Stars was large, its anti-matter drive gave it the manoeuvrability of the fighters and the best pilot would decide the battle. Ay-ttho swung the freighter through the tunnels, deep into the cave system. Occasionally, the ship would emerge into a cavern and Ay-ttho would choose the tunnel she thought would be most likely to throw the fighters off-course but at every turn, they followed.
“They’re good,” she said.
Tori continued to fire with occasional success, and the fighters fired back with a similar success rate. Stray shots dislodged chunks of cave wall, which all the ships had to evade.
Ay-ttho attempted to circle around but, without a map of the cave system, she had to guess the best route.
Damage to the Mastery of the Stars reduced its manoeuvrability and despite Ay-ttho’s best efforts, the ship scraped the cave walls on turns.
Tori scored a direct hit on the lead fighter, which tumbled out of control, collided with two other fighters, all three bursting into flames.
“Three down,” said Tori.
“Nine to go,” said Ay-ttho.
She continued to veer the freighter around the corners, retracing her steps in what she had discovered was a circuit. Soon, she was catching up on the slower fighters and Tori could take them out with cannon fire.
“Six down,” he said.
“Six to go,” said Ay-ttho, avoiding the burning wreckage of the crashing fighters.
When it looked like the circuit had served its usefulness, Ay-ttho switched into a different tunnel. A pursuing fighter which had expected Ay-ttho to follow her usual route tried to correct, but too late, and slammed into the cavern wall, bursting into flames.
“Five to go,” she said.
“Don’t forget we need to retrieve one of them intact,” Tori reminded her.
Having entered unfamiliar tunnels, Ay-ttho found it more difficult to avoid the walls and the Mastery of the Stars lost most of its external antennae.
“I hope you don’t expect me to fix those,” said Tori.
The Republic fighters were experiencing similar problems and two of them collided and crashed.
“Two to go,” said Tori. “Then we need to capture the last.
Ay-ttho flew into a cavern with no exit, so veered around to re-enter the tunnel from which the ship had just emerged. Two of the Republic fighters had already emerged from the tunnel by the time she re-entered it, but one was further behind and Ay-ttho steered the Mastery of the Stars straight for it. The fighter veered away at the last moment but when it corrected its course, ended up colliding with another fighter.
“That’s it,” said Tori. “Now we have to capture the last one.”
At a wide section of tunnel, Ay-ttho swung the ship around 180° and headed back towards the last remaining fighter. Tori fired, being careful not to hit the fighter but attempting to herd it so that it did not go around the freighter. The fighter scored several direct hits on the Mastery of the Stars until the pilot realised there was no escape from the impending collision and swung the ship around. Now the fighter was the pursued and the Mastery of the Stars, the pursuer.
Ay-ttho chased the fighter all the way back to the dead end cavern where she stopped the Mastery of the Stars in the entrance to the tunnel and allowed the fighter to circle the cavern. It rounded on the Mastery of the Stars, preparing for an attack run, but Ron activated the tractor beam and held the fighter in the centre of the cavern.
“Establish communication,” said Ay-ttho.
CHAPTER 15: THE PLANS GO AWRY
As soon as the Republic fighter emerged from the portal, they could see Herse in the distance.
Ay-ttho went straight to the scanners and was at first elated when he saw that there were no signs of Republic patrols between them and Herse.
His hope soon turned to despair when the read out informed him that there was a sizable presence of Republic forces on the planet itself.
She knew that if Matthews forces were already occupying Herse, then the chances of rescuing Nadio were low.
She wondered whether they were close enough to Herse to reach Nadio, not with a tachyon transmission, but via their personal communicators. She had been sending signals since Inic B’ Campa but, so far, had received no reply. She was worried that a stronger signal might alert the Republic to their presence.
As the fighter approached Herse, there were a few gaps in the cloud, revealing the great city which Yor called home.
There were many Republic fighters in the atmosphere and, as they drew closer, they could see many troops on the ground.
At first the Arint encampment looked like normal, but on closer inspection, Ay-ttho realised sections of the city were on fire.
Ay-ttho, Tori and the two Angetenareans had already changed into the ill-fitting Republic uniforms. They tied the crew up in the engine room.
She descended from the shuttle, and the others followed. A door in the hangar opened, and a guard emerged.
“Good rotation, Colonel?” asked the guard.
“Yes, thank you, out of our way, we are in a hurry.”
“Sorry Colonel, I need you to state your orders.”
“Those are classified.”
“I’m sorry, Colonel, my orders are to let no-one pass without…”
“Were your orders from a colonel?”
“No, Colonel.”
“Then I supersede your orders. You will let us pass and you will guard this fighter. You will make sure that no-one boards, is that clear?”
“Yes, Colonel.”
Ay-ttho pressed a button on a remote she was holding. The doors of the fighter shut and made two short beep noises.
They left the hangar and headed straight toward Yor’s house.
She found the house full of Republic troops.
“You!” she called one over. “Where is the owner of this house?”
“I don’t know Colonel.”
“We are looking for a thug called Nadio. Have you seen him?”
“No, Colonel. The house was empty when we got here.”
“Okay, you can go.”
Disappointed, Ay-ttho and the others returned to the fighter.
“What do we do now?” asked Tori.
“I don’t know,” Ay-ttho admitted. “Where would she have gone? Where are Yor or Scotmax?”
Tori checked on Sevan in the fighter’s medical bay. He was still s
leeping.
*
Sevan slowly opened his eyes. Everything seemed white and bright. He perceived a figure leaning over him, and as his eyes adjusted to the light, he saw Tori.
“Is this the Better Place?” he mumbled. “Or is this the great hall of Chronos?”
“You are not dead,” said Tori “I’m Tori. We are on Herse, you are in the sickbay of a Republic fighter.”