by M. D. Cooper
Sabrina said, adding a few choice words after.
For a moment, a grav field snapped on, sealing the ship from the dock, but then it disappeared, the emitters registering critical failures.
Then the grav emitters in the deck failed, and the first Magus who had risen from his body bag climbed back to his feet.
“Thanks for showing me how those work, ship. Don’t mind if we just pop around your insides and see if we can’t find what we came for.”
A second later, the first man disappeared, and then the other two that she’d flagged as magic users winked out of existence as well.
At the same time, she spotted the three Magi appearing in different places on the ship. The moment they popped into place, she boosted the a-grav, but they were ready for it and moved to a new location before the systems could deliver the crippling weight.
It wasn’t the first man, but rather one of the others—a tall, lanky woman—who strode toward the captain’s chair, peering around.
Sabrina felt a sense of pride as Cheeky opened fire, not even throwing out a quip before a series of pulse blasts slammed into the woman.
The magic user was bowled over, but rose to her feet in an instant, turning to face Cheeky with a sour grimace on her lips.
“So, you wanna play?” she asked.
“I always want to play,” the pilot replied, firing an electron beam that splashed harmlessly against the Magi’s personal shield.
“Play with this,” the Reaver hissed and lifted her hands, bolts of electricity leaping form her fingers and streaking toward Cheeky.
Sabrina was annoyed by the damage the energy did to some of the consoles, but her friend’s ISF armor weathered the barrage without issue.
“That all you have?” Cheeky asked. “I have slug-throwers that pack more punch.”
“What the…?” the Magi muttered, then shook her head and swung her right arm.
Sabrina didn’t see anything leap across the space, but a moment later, there was an impact on the pilot’s shoulder, and Cheeky dropped to a knee.
“Ouch!”
Without hesitating, Sabrina opened fire with a trio of electron beams, happy to see that this Magi’s shield seemed to have trouble warding off her attack.
Although unable to see the force field directly, Sabrina could make out where her beams ended and the energy from them washed over the invisible field. She used this discovery to push her attack, and the Magi’s shield faltered just enough for a beam to slip through and slice off her right hand.
A gasp of pain came from the Reaver’s lips, and then Cheeky was right in front of her, lifting the woman off the ground and throwing her across the bridge.
The AI scanned the woman.
“Think they need their hands to do magic?” Cheeky asked as she approached the Magi.
A beam shot later, and the Reaver’s other hand was gone.
“How’s the rest of the ship?” Cheeky asked.
“Ship’s OK. I’m not.”
While Cheeky had been fighting the Magi on the bridge, the other two had continued moving around the ship until they both suddenly appeared in Sabrina’s node chamber.
“So,” the head Reaver said as he approached, eyeing the dozen turrets that had slid into place. “You know you can’t defeat me. I can hold on until your weapons give out, then I win.”
“Would you like a cookie?” Sabrina asked through the chamber’s audible systems.
“Maybe later. What I want to know is where your stasis systems are located. I think I’ve just hopped through every room on this tub, and I can’t find them.”
“My what systems?” Sabrina asked. “You mean stasis pods? They’re in Hold Six, one deck down.”
“Don’t toy with me, AI,” the man said as he took a menacing step forward. “I can’t see into your mind properly—it’s all a jumbled mess—but I can threaten your body.”
As he spoke, the ultra-hard, gold-titanium cylinder protecting her core began to slowly dissolve.
“No you don’t,” the Reaver leader cut in.
She opened fire on the man, but his shield weathered the storm, and then her grav-emitters went offline again.
“Don’t worry,” he said in a soft voice. “This won’t take too long.”
CAVALRY
STELLAR DATE: 05.11.8948 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Sabrina, Cerka Station
REGION: Mullens, Virginis System, LoS Space
Amanda snapped into existence on the bridge with Jessica, Iris and Jinx, appearing right beside Cheeky.
Cheeky yelped in surprise. “Stars, don’t do that. I nearly shot you.”
“Shit, that messes with my head,” Jessica put a hand to her temple, then turned to the pilot. “Cheeks, where are they?”
“Everywhere! But I can’t reach Sabs now….”
Amanda concentrated and looked around, focusing on Essentia, looking for knots of magical energy that would betray the location of the Reaver Magi. She saw three, one of them unconscious on the bridge, two meters away, and the other two a deck or two down, a little further aft.
“Got ‘em,” Amanda said, and Ported from the bridge to reappear in a ten-meter-square room in the heart of the ship.
She could sense the locus of energy in the complicated-looking device at the center of the room, noting the sentience held within. Magic, wielded by two figures standing on the other side of her, was slowly dissolving parts of its casing.
With a quick working of her power, Amanda conjured an Aegis, which snapped into place around what she guessed to be Sabrina’s mind, cutting off the Reavers’ Magic.
Simultaneously, she conjured another Aegis, a much bigger one, around herself and the other two Magi to keep them from Porting away and dragging this out for another few days. This would end today, right now!
This occupied only two out of her ten free hive minds. The rest, she set on the offensive to release a torrent of energy at the pair of Reavers.
Her Magic slammed against both of their personal Aegises with inexorable fury. White arcs of electrical energy flashed, pipes exploded, and the two figures hit the far wall, smashing through the door as her Magic tore through the surrounding bulkhead.
The Reaver who Amanda had briefly encountered in the attack on the lower ring weathered her initial blow much better than the other, and astoundingly landed on his feet in a crouch with one hand on the floor.
He looked up. “We meet again,” he said as the other Reaver groaned, his Aegis flickering.
“You’re not getting what you want,” Amanda replied as she stalked over the twisted metal of the node chamber’s entrance.
Jessica shouted.
Cheeky snorted.
“And you’re going to stop me?” the Reaver sneered at Amanda.
“Yeh, damn skippy I am,” she said with a smile.
Essentia flared from her, blinding light flashing out to smash into the prone Magus just behind the leader. His Aegis disintegrated as he spasmed and fell still, but he wasn’t dead.
“Who are you? Who are you working for?” the Reaver asked. “Did Void send you? Has she been recruiting people?”
Amanda narrowed her eyes, not knowing if she should confirm or deny anything. Then movement behind the man caught her attention, as Cheeky slid down a ladder a dozen meters further down the passageway, followed by Jessica, Iris and Jinx.
~Take cover,~ Amanda suggested.
Cheeky crouched in a hatchway, while Jinx did likewise on the other side.
Jessica looked over at Amanda.
Then the purple woman was gone, running off down the corridor.
“I’m here because these guys are friends of mine. You picked the wrong feckin’ day for a heist, my friend,” Amanda answered her opponent, while Cheeky and Jinx moved around behind him.
“Morden,” the other Magus croaked, reaching up toward the lead Magus.
“Shut your mouth,” Morden replied, glancing down at the other man.
Amanda took that as her cue to attack, and unleashed hell, throwing Essentia-infused electrical, thermal, and kinetic energy at the Magus. The Essentia smashed into his Aegis like a wrecking ball, burning into it with unrelenting force. Electricity arced around the corridor, warping panels and cutting through conduit as Morden returned the attack, hitting Amanda with a blast of his own.
She staggered back a step from the force of it, and then, working one of her minds, Ported across the space and appeared beside him.
She lashed out, punching him with her Essentia-laced fist. His Aegis flared as she hit it while her fist briefly passed through to catch him in the face and knock him back. She followed it up with a kick to his sternum, and then another, but he caught the second one and threw her to the floor.
“Uff,” Amanda grunted as she looked into the face of the injured and prone Magus who’d been assisting Morden.
He blinked at her. Amanda smiled and Ported, appearing a little further along the corridor.
~Light him up, girls,~ Amanda sent through the Link, as Morden roared in fury.
Cheeky and Jinx fired their weapons, while Sabrina ‘s turrets unleashed hell. Amanda joined them, focusing all her minds on sending a raging torrent of Essentia at the Magus, with the intent of overloading his Aegis, which would allow the girls’ weapons to burn Morden to a crisp.
The Reaver retaliated with a brief attack before suddenly Porting with a flare of Essentia. He appeared behind Jinx, still inside Amanda’s Aegis, and energy flashed. Amanda countered the attack, but it still hit the AI and sent her sprawling across the floor before the man Ported.
Amanda sensed him behind her as he attacked again, blasting one of Sabrina’s turrets.
“Feck this,” Amanda cursed, and shrank the Aegis that contained herself and Morden.
He reacted instantly, Porting to stand right before her, and grabbed her by the throat, pushing her to the floor. Straddling her, he hit her with his other hand while Essentia strikes smashed against the Aegis that contained them both.
Amanda was dimly aware of Jinx and Cheeky moving closer and firing at Morden whenever they got a chance, as she and other Magus rolled around on the floor, their personal Aegises flaring and sparking as they interacted.
Amanda smashed her fist into the man’s face and kneed him in the groin, trying to fight him off, until she got her feet under him and kicked outward.
He flew back and sideways and hit the bulkhead, where Cheeky, Jinx, and Sabrina were able to concentrate their fire on him.
He rolled sideways along the wall, dodging their gunfire and stepped out, turning to face them as his attacks on the Aegis that Amanda had contained him with finally broke through.
As the Aegis failed, Amanda felt Morden’s voice in her mind, broadcasting his thoughts on an open Link.
~You win this round, Red,~ Morden hissed. ~I’ll see you around. Have fun cleaning up.~
Essentia flared, and Amanda sensed his Magic reach out to three places around her, and suddenly, Cheeky, Jinx, and Sabrina’s last remaining turret in this section of corridor disappeared.
She glanced back at Morden, and he winked. Then his Magic flared again, and she sensed him drop out of the universe.
He was gone.
Amanda spun and looked back along the corridor as a yell sounded through the Link.
Amanda Ported to Sabrina’s hull, her Aegis protecting her from the ravages of space as she stared out into the blackness. She spotted them right away, their minds and Cheeky’s life force showing up clearly in her Aetheric Sight.
With a thought, she reached out and Ported them away, back inside the ship, into the corridor they had just left.
She sighed. “Freaking hell,” she muttered, briefly enjoying the view of Cerka Station all around her before concentrating and Porting back inside herself.
She snapped into being in the corridor to find Jinx and Cheeky sitting on the floor. Both looked up at Amanda.
~He’s gone,~ she told them.
“Gone? Gone where?” Cheeky asked.
“Out of this universe. Looks like he’s given up on his mission.”
“So, we won?” Jinx asked.
Amanda looked down at Morden’s Magi comrade still lying on the floor nearby. He looked back at them with a worried smile.
“Hi. Um…sorry?” he ventured, raising his hands.
“This will only take a moment,” Amanda muttered, and pulled on the energy stored within her as she dove into the man’s mind. She wanted to know as much about the Reavers as she could. She also wanted to know who else was left on Cerka.
The information on the Cerka forces was easy to find; it seemed that everyone the Reavers had brought with them was either on Sabrina, or attacking it from the dock. Also, half of the forces on the dock had been recruited at the station—gang members who had been well paid to cause havoc.
Further probing also confirmed that their target had indeed been the stasis shields on Sabrina.
The info this Magus had on the Reavers, however, was more limited. He was more like hired help, not in the inner circle of the group. He was a part of Morden’s crew, but only Morden had contact with the core of the Reaver faction.
Still, he did have a few fascinating bits of info related to other missions he’d been on. She decided she’d review those memories later and withdrew from his mind.
“Nighty-night,” she said, and with a tweaking of his mind, knocked him out.
“So, that’s it? It’s over?” Jinx asked.
“This part is,” Amanda said, and then looked up at the ceiling. “How are the others doing out there, Sabrina?”
“Excellent,” Amanda replied.
“So, what do we do with these guys?” Cheeky asked.
Amanda looked down at the prone Magus. “I have an idea about that,” she said. “Meet me in the loading bay.”
With a thought, she worked her Magic, and reached out to both the Magus beside her and the one on the bridge. Essentia coalesced in on her, and with a snap, she appeared in the loading bay with the two unconscious Magi on the floor beside her.
Ahead, Jessica walked up the ramp arm in arm with Trevor, Iris behind them. Usef stood leaning against the wall beside Misha, who sat on a crate looking sh
ell-shocked.
Amavia was outside at the bottom of the ramp, talking to a CPS agent, while other station security rounded up the survivors and began to deal with the dead.
“Stars above,” Misha said, looking up at Amanda with his hand on his chest. “Do you have to do that? You scared the crap out of me.”
Usef laughed. “You wanna talk about getting the crap scared out of you? You weren’t in here when these damn Reavers started climbing out of body bags and hitting us.”
“Yeah, alright, I think you win that one,” Misha shrugged.
Amanda smiled. “Did they not hurt you?”
“Two of them appeared in the galley. That made me jump, I can tell you.”
“They didn’t do anything?”
Misha shook his head. “I’d just removed a batch of cookies from the oven, so I offered one to them, but they just disappeared again.”
Amanda laughed. “They didn’t want your cookies?”
Sabrina chimed in.
“Everything okay out there?” Amanda turned and asked Jessica.
“All squared away,” Jessica replied with a smile. “Trevor brought his big gun with him.”
“I’ll vouch for its size,” Cheeky said, hopping through the hatchway into the hold.
“Ladies, ladies, don’t fight. There’s more than enough of me to go around.”
“Yeah, well, I have my sights elsewhere,” Cheeky replied, glancing over at Amanda with a wink.
Amanda blew her a kiss and looked back at Jessica as Cheeky beamed at her.
“The CPS are sorting it all out, dealing with the people who were recruited from the station. No idea what we’ll do with these guys, though. Are those two Magi dead?”
Amanda shook her head. “I have an idea, though. Let’s see if I can make this work.”
She closed her eyes and focused on her universe and then on Void herself as she reached out with her mind to the Arch Magus.
It took a moment, and more than a little effort, but it was certainly easier pushing back into her own universe than coming here.
With a rush of energy that flowed over her like a warm shower, a voice entered Amanda’s head.