ALF looked to be pondering the question before responding, “Yep! That’s about it.”
Elondrasa put herself between the Shay and the hologram. “Small steps, ALF. We appreciate the Starforge technology and any advice regarding those who would seek us harm, but what you ask is a step too far… for now.”
The AI sighed. “I gave you the Starforges because you’re going to need to evacuate whole planets in a very short time. Speaking of which; you really need to activate all the ones you’re keeping in storage. And my advice appears to be falling on deaf ears,” ALF looked at Brokk’s stony head, “or whatever he has. The Crucible should have been destroyed as soon as you took command. We already know it was used to take control of a handful of Shay. Imagine what it could do if it was used to its full potential.”
Nu-marn waved both of his hands in the air. “This is ridiculous!”
ALF rolled his eyes. “At the very least, you should have examined every Shay for traces of nanocelium in their augments. Every enhancement manufactured by Protocorps is suspect.” The AI gave the councillor a hard look. “How many augmentations do you have from Protocorps, Councillor Nu-marn?”
Nu-marn lifted his chin and puffed out his cybernetic chest. “I have heard enough of this. Your being here is in violation—”
“Nu-marn!” Elondrasa held up her hand, tired of hearing his voice. “ALF, we thank you for your services to the Conclave and hope that you will endeavour to see us survive this impending attack. But, until we ask for it, we would have you remain in the Evalan system. Any rogue coding discovered in the AI hub will be removed, so I suggest you leave our network the same way you came in and leave nothing behind.”
ALF nodded along, a disappointed look on his face. “Activate more Starforges. Destroy the Crucible. Should you decide to take me up on my offer, I’ll be waiting.”
The hologram disappeared as abruptly as it had appeared. Elondrasa had said what was expected of her but, in truth, she felt ALF’s help was the only way they were going to survive. Everything that had come at the Conclave since Earth’s demise was proof that their enemy was superior in every way. If they didn’t fight fire with fire, their whole way of life would be burnt away.
“We don’t need the AI’s help,” Nu-marn continued. “C-Sec has almost doubled in size and our fleet grows every day. We can handle anything that might come out of the dark.”
“Our decisions affect trillions of lives, Nu-marn,” Brokk reminded him. “It is our responsibility to take everything into consideration.”
“Pah!” Nu-marn stormed off.
Elondrasa was glad to see the back of him. With all the changes to their economy and the shade cast over the councillor in light of the Protocorps scandal, it was likely this was Nu-marn’s last term in office. If she was lucky…
Nu-marn double-checked the security surrounding his personal terminal, making certain that he wasn’t subject to extra eyes and ears. Since Protocorps’ involvement had been brought into the light, his voice carried less weight on the Highclave. Things had to be escalated.
The councillor opened the data packet he had received two months previously, moments before the Vanguard had been destroyed. He had read and re-read the message a hundred times. The words in front of him were decreed by a god. It was left to him now to see their instructions were completed.
“Contact Ja-lax.” The councillor waited impatiently for the local AI hub to connect him with the Protocorps mercenary.
“Sir.” Ja-lax’s cybernetic head floated in front of Nu-marn.
For years, Nu-marn had left this side of things to Protocorps, using his own influence and power on a higher echelon. Thanks to the humans’ involvement, there was no one left to oversee their ascension. Dealing with the hired mercenaries still on the payroll had now become an everyday occurrence.
“Have you done as I commanded?” he asked.
Ja-lax nodded his pale head. “I’ve sent reinforcements to the Starforge in the Solian Way.”
“Excellent—”
“But you’re going to have to double everyone’s pay,” Ja-lax continued. “That Starforge is a C-Sec magnet, so my guys aren’t exactly keen to board it and travel around with this cube-thing running the show.”
“That cube is an extension of the…” Nu-marn held his tongue. Shay they may be, but their only religion was currency. “Fine. Their pay is doubled. Now, I need you and your best to go to Shandar.”
“We’re going home? What for?” Ja-lax asked.
Nu-marn ground his teeth. “Mercenaries…” he hissed away from the hologram. “You are to infiltrate our installation on the planet’s surface. You will have help from local security.”
Ja-lax’s cybernetic red eye seemed to focus on the councillor. “And what are we to do once we take back control?”
Nu-marn thought about the Vanguard’s message. “Activate the Crucible.”
Chapter 5
The inside of the Valkor was just like every other C-Sec vessel to Roland; sleek, massive, and under-utilised. Why they had to make everything so damn big, he would never know. As with their previous mission, none of them were permitted anywhere on the ship except for the hangar, including Naydaalan. Along with the Raiders, they had been allocated a section of stations beside the Rackham, where Charge Hox had given them their briefing. Roland got the distinct impression the Laronian captain wasn’t a fan of using humans for such a delicate mission.
“Is that it?” Lieutenant Jack Danvers asked. “We just jump into the system, check any visuals on a Starforge and jump back again?”
“Jack…” Colonel Matthews shook her head at him, silencing any further questions.
“Your mission is recon only,” Charge Hox reiterated. “If you find a Starforge there’ll be nothing you can do. It would take a ship of the Valkor’s class to disable it.”
“Disable it?” Roland repeated. “Is that the plan?”
Charge Hox rounded on the bounty hunter. “What would you have us do, Mr. North?”
Roland shrugged. “I’m just better at reducing things to little bits, is all. Disabling stuff is more technical…”
Charge Hox stood a little straighter. “Then it is a good job your mission is recon only. Report your findings back to the Valkor, nothing else.”
“Right, right…” Roland enthusiastically nodded his head. “Recon only. Got it.”
Charge Hox sighed. “Your ship is fuelled and ready for departure. You may leave whenever you are ready.” The Laronian left after waving the holographic display away and wiping his race’s equivalent of sweat from his blue scales.
Lieutenant Riddick hefted the assault rifle in his hands. “They might have us on something of a leash, but I love all the tech.”
Roland cast an eye over the weaponry and new armour the Raiders had been given. It all packed a good punch, that much he had seen on Sebala, but it didn’t compare to the black market equipment he had on board the Rackham or the gadgets Len made for him.
Roland rubbed his eyes. “God, I miss blowing stuff up…”
“What was that?” Len asked in his ear.
Roland tapped the device sitting comfortably inside his ear. “Nothing. Are we prepped?”
“Her belly’s full. We could go anywhere…”
“We’re in it now, Len. There’s no going back.” Roland led the way back inside the Rackham, listening to Len complain about all the free help they were giving to C-Sec.
The door to the bridge opened up, exposing Roland and the others to the Ch’kara’s unique aroma. The stubby alien was slouched in his high-back chair, surrounded by empty wrappers and bottles. The methane gases enveloping his head were contained inside their personal force field, distorting his grubby features.
“I’m just saying,” Len continued, “when this is all over, we’re coming out of it with no units. Since the Rackham is the only ship that can pull off this kind of mission, I say we ask for—” Len stopped his rant when he saw Lieutenant Wilson. “Oh, hi, Katie�
�� You can sit next to me if you like?” The Ch’kara’s stubby fingers input fresh commands into his console and had the nanocelium rise up to form another chair.
“Is it hitting on me again?” Lieutenant Wilson asked.
“It?” Len echoed incredulously. “That’s xenophobic!”
Roland ignored them all and input the key to start the Rackham’s engine. He had considered his own reasons for entering into this fight many times, often wondering why he was so willing to put his life on the line. He had the ship and the skills to disappear, so why did he stick around? The bounty hunter popped the cap off his beer, kept refrigerated by his chair, and downed half of the bottle. Who cares, he thought.
“Let’s skip to the good bit…”
The Rackham shot out of the hangar at a speed that was ill-advised inside a hangar, but imagining Charge Hox’s bewildered expression brought a smile to Roland’s face.
Almost two hours had passed by the time the Rackham emerged from subspace into the aurora of colours that was the Solian Way. The relic of a long dead star, the Solian Way stretched for nearly a million lightyears, a corridor of interstellar debris cutting through Conclave territory. Roland had heard it was a great place for smugglers to stash illegal goods since it was far from any of the subspace lanes and ultimately a chore for C-Sec to investigate.
Roland hit the intercom. “Nayd, get the others, we’re here.”
“On our way,” Naydaalan replied.
The Novaarian entered the bridge with the Raiders in tow. Accustomed to the ship, Naydaalan’s four arms brought up multiple holographic displays on the wall beside Roland. A quick glance informed the bounty hunter that the alien was filing through data reports from the array, searching for any sign of the Starforge. It wasn’t that long ago that the thought of anyone but Len interacting with his ship would have seriously irritated him, but Naydaalan had become quite the asset on their trips. Also, he was really easy to get drunk, and Roland loved drunk-Naydaalan.
Colonel Matthews stood in the space between Roland and Len’s consoles, her hands on her hips. “I guess it was asking too much to have it just waiting for us.”
Len spat out the hardened nut at the centre of his Atari chud gum. “If it’s in this sector of space, the Rackham will find it. The Starforge might be Terran tech, but Protocorps put it together using Conclave materials.”
“Where did they find the traces of radiation?” Roland asked.
“Right here,” Naydaalan replied. The viewport at the front of the bridge was overlaid with holo data from the Novaarian’s terminal, showing them a trail of radiation typical of an artificial machine instead of naturally occurring radiation. “The trail seems to be on a course heading 291 point 10... based on our current bearing, that suggests it must be travelling towards...”
Roland turned in his chair to see Naydaalan. “Towards where?”
The translucent tendrils hanging over the Novaarian’s back twitched. “Towards Arakesh.”
“The Raalakian home world?” Colonel Matthews joined Naydaalan and looked over the data.
“You’re a quicker study than I was,” Roland commented. “I don’t think I could name all the core worlds if my life depended on it.”
Len turned his chair towards Roland rather than turning his head. “Should we report this back to the Valkor?”
Roland took another swig of his beer. “Report what?” he asked with a mouthful of cold liquid. “This trail could belong to anything. Nayd, send me the calculated coordinates of where this thing is heading and I’ll lay in a course. One little jump should do it.”
Len nervously peered over the data on his console. “Could I make the suggestion that we emerge from subspace in a place that won’t put us in front—”
The Ch’kara never had the chance to finish his suggestion. The Rackham was fired through subspace and spat back out inside of a second, placing them directly in the path of the radiation’s source. Like an ant under a boot, the Rackham was overshadowed by the enormous crescent structure of a Starforge. The station was hurtling through the Solian Way and on a course to turn the Rackham into a bug smeared on a viewport.
“Evasive manoeuvres!” Len screamed.
“Hold on to something!” Roland’s hands were inches from the controls, but the Rackham’s AI had already taken control and engaged thrusters. It took a moment longer for the inertial dampeners to kick in and stop them from feeling compressed.
The Starforge paid them little attention and continued onwards. The Rackham banked hard to port and passed through the interior of the crescent with only metres to spare.
“Manual control!” Roland called out.
The flat console that arched around him shifted, the surface moving with the ease of water until two physical control sticks formed out of the nanocelium. The bounty hunter turned the ship about and hit maximum thrust to catch up with the Starforge.
“I hate it when you take control…” Len said, braced in his chair.
New chairs had grown out of the floor, giving the Raiders and Naydaalan somewhere to strap in.
Roland took a quick look at the Ch’kara. “Is it ready for launch?”
Len slowly turned his chair to face the bounty hunter. “You can’t be serious, Roland.”
“Is it ready?” he asked again.
“Well, it can be. But you can’t be serious! We found the stupid Starforge, now let’s head back to the Valkor.”
Naydaalan sat forward. “What are you talking about?"
Roland ignored the Novaarian’s question. “C-Sec’ll just dick about with it like they always do. These things need to be taken care of properly.”
Len waved his hands in the air. “Firing a Planet Killer into the side of it will do more than just take care of it. We’ll be lucky if we survive!”
“Planet Killer?” the Raiders asked as one.
“How have you come to possess such a weapon?” The blue freckles on Naydaalan’s face took on a deeper shade.
Roland shrugged. “Technically, C-Sec gave it to us…”
Naydaalan cocked his head. “Why do I doubt the validity of that statement?”
Len swivelled his chair to face them all. “The Sentinel gave us one before we went after the Vanguard. They were disabled and they thought we were the only ones who could stop it.”
Colonel Matthews raised her eyebrow. “And they didn’t ask for it back?”
Roland continued to push the Rackham on while plotting coordinates to take them out of the Solian Way in a hurry. “Things got a little messy towards the end there,” he explained. “Everyone was firing Planet Killers at the Vanguard. We just told them we did the same…”
“We lied,” Len corrected.
Roland gestured at the Starforge. “Aren’t you glad we did?”
The Rackham’s feminine voice came over the bridge’s speakers. “Multiple light crafts have departed from the Starforge and are locking weapons on to us. Would you like me to take offensive measures, Roland?”
“And steal all the fun? No thanks!” Roland cancelled the option on his console and activated the weapons systems himself.
The Rackham weaved between the first two crafts, avoiding their Intrinium barrage as well as any collisions. The third and fourth both fired missiles that Roland countered with a dramatic twist of the ship, evading them by a few meters. Squeezing the trigger on his control stick was almost as fun as squeezing the trigger on his Tri-roller… almost. The nanocelium-based targeting system on the Rackham was far superior to anything on the light crafts, locking on to their weak spots inside of a second. Two quick bursts of blue light ripped through the oncoming vessels and scattered their innards across the Solian Way.
“The other two are coming back around,” Len warned.
An Intrinium bolt exploded against the starboard hull, jolting them all in their seats. “You don’t say!” Roland shouted back. “Do we still have any of those Brenine mines on board?”
Len checked over his display. “Just th
e one.”
“That’s all I need.” The bounty hunter reversed the thrusters and dramatically slowed the Rackham down before flooring it again. The light craft didn’t have time to evade the mine being deposited from the rear port, especially after it split into a cluster of smaller mines and created a web of unavoidable destruction. The light craft was obliterated at close proximity to the Rackham, sending a shockwave across its hull.
“Hold on!” Roland called over the sparks exploding out of various consoles across the bridge.
The Rackham was thrown off course and sent spinning, easy prey for the remaining light craft. Roland did his best to divert power to the inertial dampeners and prevent himself and the others from being sick, but his priority was lining up the cannons with the last craft. Engaging the axial thrusters levelled out the ship’s attitude and gave the bounty hunter full control again, something he now regretted not giving to the ship’s AI in the first place.
More Intrinium lit up the underside of the Rackham, pissing Roland off more than anything. The light crafts were fast and agile, similar in design to the Darts at C-Sec’s disposal, but a hull of nanocelium required something with a bigger kick to cause catastrophic damage. To that fact, Roland input the commands to reinforce the hull on the top of the ship, diverting nanocelium from other sections. Another sharp decrease in speed had the light craft flying directly above them, its chase at an end. A rough pull on the control stick kept the Rackham horizontal and took it straight up. The impact was felt by all, but not so keenly as it was felt by the pilot of the light craft. The collision was enough to damage the smaller ship’s propulsion systems, leaving it stranded in space. One last turn and a squeeze of the trigger made certain the Protocorps mercenary would never bother them again.
“Okay…” Roland redirected all power to the engine and made for the Starforge. “Len, prep the Planet Killer for launch.”
“I can’t,” Len replied.
Roland noticed the flashing light on his own console and groaned. “The tube is damaged. How long will it take to repair?”
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