Everyone got back to their battle stations and within a few seconds they darted through the incoming force and went headlong into the north pole of the moon as if a missile homing in on its target. Seeing where they were going every enemy vessel seemed to go into heavier pursuit but it appeared their new target had not been defended by anything. Nevertheless they were still in continuous evasive maneuvers being under heavy fire.
“I don’t think they anticipated anyone finding it, there isn’t even any ship over there!” yelled Bilner
Within a few seconds Dranders pulse fire had obliterated a command relay station! That meant all the ships that had been attacking them had been drones! With the relay station destroyed they all lost a fraction of a second in reaction time. All the drones were being controlled by remote, probably by one of his rival squadrons!
“They are now all a fraction of a second behind! That’s all the time we need. It’s game on!” yelled Drander.
They had already lost 2 drones on their way to take out the relay station, but with 9 units left, the fleeing mouse turned around to face the immense lion chasing its tail. Like a warm knife through butter, the Despots carved through their pursuers taking them head on. Ship after ship went up in a ball of flaming death. Pulse beams zoomed all around them in both directions sometimes almost inches from enveloping them in their own demise, all the while Drander and his crew masterfully evading every last shot. Again, this became a very famous playback in many battle vids throughout our sector, also one of my personal faves. I like to set it to heavy metal music while watching in slow motion, but I digress.
“Got it!” roared Yar through the din, ”Yup you nailed it! The comm signal, though heavily scrambled, came from that corvette near the back behind that modest escort.”
Drander and the other combatants barely heard him, busy trying to keep everyone alive. But hear him or not, they seemed to make their way back into the fray and on toward that corvette. Just as they began their approach, they could see it begin to make an about face and attempt a retreat.
“That must be it! See them trying to get away!” yelled Drander.
“Toldja!” came from Yarnam, again he doesn’t think Drand heard him.
It took several more minutes. But they made their way towards it, even though the escort sent huge volleys of fire in their direction. Suddenly a number of ships started to head off and engage a new target.
“What are they doing?” said Bilner.
“They are trying to get us to pull off and keep us from destroying his ship by destroying the Provenance first. OK guys split up, we can’t let them take our home.”
Dead set on his target, Drander wasn’t going to let go his objective. Still evading, firing and keeping his speed, he twisted and coiled his way towards his prize. If he let him escape into deep space, then this problem could resurface again in the future in another form. They would mark him and his team for death, only this time harder. He couldn’t let that happen.
The corvette had hyper drives which took several minutes to start up, but once initialized couldn’t be reversed. He saw the telltale blue exhaust from the rear pipes and knew he only had a few seconds left for a clear shot. He concentrated, they were still alive to this point. Moments away, he could see the events unfold before they happened. He had to get to a certain position in space within a certain amount of time. In order to do this he would have to fly as straight as possible a course. However the more he flew straight the more he was open to being shot down, not being able to fly evasively. It was a huge gamble he knew. But they had made it this far, he couldn’t let the rest of his team down. With all his concentration he funneled his reflexes and piloting skills on the final shot, he squeezed down on the trigger and prayed there was no counter attack!
Impact! …Two impacts!
It was a direct hit and he had disabled the ship from escaping into space by precisely hitting the blue exhausts pipes square center! However simultaneously they took a hard hit in the rear of their own craft. He had expected the hit however and had twisted his craft in the direction opposite of how they would’ve spun. They were all shell shocked but the cabin pressure still held and they were able to continue flying despite the impact, life support maintained. But what really pushed this maneuver into legend, was that Drander did all this while still controlling his dropship in Antares which you the reader probably forgot about! His dropship had been under attack by raiders all this time! He had neutralized them also!
With another pass they put the finishing touch on the corvette and so without a commanding officer, Drander and his crew took out all the remaining enemy drones one by one before they could get to the Provenance until there were none left.
“Phew! We did it!”
For the first time in their lives they had fought with their very lives at stake, and under intense pressure they had survived.
“We did good, you guys.” Drander breathed a sigh of relief, he looked up from his command chair “I knew were we in for trouble the moment I saw that insignia on the two robots attacking our dropship over in Antares.”
“How did you get those reserve drones to us to fend off the attack?” asked Bilner.
“I’ve always had a reserve squad in the event someone attacked us where we operated from. It was very unlikely but yet possible so I had to plan for it. I didn’t think we would ever have to use it. But I felt it would be best kept a secret, even from you guys in case someone ever left the team for whatever reason and became a rival. The insignia had nothing to do with our target on the planet Grath, it was of one of our rivals squads, the Trigger Happy Bunnies. The first thing I did when I saw that was mobilize the reserves here and the transport. We were lucky to be able to get into that transport with the Ops Pod so we could remote. But now you know, and apparently so does the rest of the world.”
EPILOGUE
The vids made their way through the system and then went viral throughout the whole sector. The Despots debated whether after having almost been destroyed completely, whether or not they should have their Ops Pod in a secret location from here on. But it was their signature to be in the open for anyone to see including their fans and haters. It was made clear what would happen if anyone attacked them now in their home turf for anyone who cared to watch the playback. They kept on with their “show” where ever they went. However their broadcast signal revealing their position in space was never again forwarded quite as prevalently as before.
They found out eventually that the rival squad that had been hired to kill them was indeed the Trigger Happy Bunnies of the Rigel system. They had always been in on the bidding of several contracts and had always lost out to Drander and his crew. They had been bitter, especially since many of their team had originally been try outs of his that he rejected. However the Despots had wiped out just about their entire complement of drones and as they had no further backing from military sponsors having just been completely defeated, they went bankrupt and were left to enter the regular working class in disgrace. It only made the Despots that much more a success and that much more feared. They had no strikes to their home for many years after that and when it did come, they were ready for it. In Antares, the Despots were able to recover their entire complement of drones despite having lost the two relay satellites. Had they lost their dropship they would’ve been out 12 billion galactic credits. A dropship was not something any company would insure given the uncertainty of war. They did however have to rebuild Pod 3 and a good part of their home ship, the Provenance.
A memorial was held for those members of his team that had lost their lives. Finally the true harsh reality of war had met Drander right where he lived. They would never see Haffner, Stark and all the others in Pod 3 who died in the ambush. They had been lifelong friends that had been among the best of the best of drone pilots. They developed relationships with each other as best 9 to 14 year old boys could. The service was broadcast to millions of heartfelt viewers.
Having lost out to a
higher bidder, almost resulting in their deaths, Drander ruminated about his life and his existence. He wasn’t a number and neither were the souls he warred against. He had for years rained death to the thousands without conscience, without scruples, his compunction as remote as the drones he piloted. He finally realized that people’s lives mattered and he had to weigh the consequences of his actions. I mean I could’ve told him that a long time ago, but no one ever listens to me, whatever. Nevertheless he no longer accepted missions involving the destruction of peaceful civilizations or senseless destruction. He forwarded the goals and purposes of humanity. Having more than enough money to afford even two emergency drone complements and all the amenities to meet the lifestyle of the wealthy, the purpose of warfare came first in his mind. The question always entered his mind, was he helping a worthy cause? Was he putting an end to a tyranny? It was no longer just a bunch of explosions on his screen that he was watching for his amusement, lives mattered and Drander, for the rest of years that he remained competitive in the game of war, to his mid-twenties that is, he left his mark in a positive light. People would remember him for the good he brought to his peoples after this incident.
Upon retirement he became a General, the only difference being that his kids, having watched his battle vids growing up, revered and looked up to him and actually listened to him. Thank God! It was hard enough putting up with a completely immature kid at the start of this story wasn’t it? But kids eventually grow up don’t they? Well, it was a pleasure being your narrator. I hope you enjoyed the story and always remember, when kids get too annoying, just hit mute. Have a nice rest of your day.
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