by John Walker
“Don’t worry,” Hoffner said. “We’re used to things not being as easy as they should be. I’m going to send a message back to the Behemoth as we go. After that, let’s make this quick. I think these hostages have been under the sway of criminals long enough.”
***
Rathe sat forward and stared as the Behemoth fired up her engines and began to move. His heart sank as he realized what that must’ve meant. He gestured at Jordan to come see and the two men watched as the massive ship began moving toward their battleship. They could only be up to one thing.
“I should’ve known this was coming after they attacked the drone signal,” Rathe muttered. “I shouldn’t have let her attack them!”
“Notice the idiot didn’t press her attack after the drones got taken out,” Jordan said. “In fact, has she even called in?”
“No, and I’m half tempted to have her jump out of here before they take it.” Rathe dialed her in on the communicator. “Hannah, do you see what we see?”
“Yes,” Hannah snapped. “I’m a little busy right now.”
“What happened to you blowing them out of the sky?” Rathe asked. “You didn’t even attack with the cannons!”
“The drones should’ve been more effective! How did I know they’d take out the control station?” Hannah cursed. “They’re moving in to engage. I have to go if I hope to fight these bastards off!”
“Or,” Rathe said, “you could jump out of here and keep our prize!”
“I’m not running from a bunch of Earth scum. No way. These guys are going to die.”
“They already proved to be a hard target,” Jordan said. “Why continue to indulge bad luck and have them really show you what they can do?”
“You two keep getting the Ulem,” Hannah said. “And I’ll handle ship operations, okay?”
“You’re going to wind up dead!” Rathe shouted, slapping the console. “I’m ordering you to stand down and get the hell out of here!”
“And I’m telling you to get stuffed. I’ve got this.” Hannah killed the connection and Rathe lost his mind for a moment. He kicked over a chair, slapped the wall and let out a string of profanity that would’ve made the hardest man blush before finally regaining his composure. Jordan watched him, staying out of the way.
“I’m better now,” Rathe said, panting.
“You sure?” Jordan asked. “You want to go shoot someone?”
“Yes, Hannah.” Rathe pointed vaguely behind him. “Moron’s about to lose something we all fought very hard to attain!”
“I guess we have to just have some faith.” Jordan tapped at one of the tablets. His expression turned grave. “Damn it.”
Rathe groaned. “What now?”
“The men I sent to find that security guard aren’t reporting back,” Jordan said. “Their coms are up but they don’t answer. That’s…bad.”
“You think?” Rathe shouted, putting his hands on his head. “I swear, this was a doomed venture! We never should’ve thought we could take a facility this large and turn it around!”
“Pull yourself together, man! That one guy might’ve taken down our five but we’ve still got a decent force on here. What do you think is going to happen? You think he might come up here and kill us? Ridiculous! We’ll just lock the door!”
Gunfire made them both freeze. They exchanged glances. “Was that…” Rathe whispered.
Jordan nodded. “In the promenade.”
“Can we get eyes down there?”
“The bastard must’ve freed some hostages somehow.” Jordan shook his head. “This is crazy!”
“I’m sure it gets worse, Jordan. That’s what this job is constantly doing: going from worse to even worse…I’m a little over it.”
“Hold on…I’m picking something up.” Jordan paused. “What is going on…”
Rathe took a deep breath and waited for more bad news.
***
“Distance to target,” Gray asked aloud.
“Extreme range of weapons,” Timothy answered. “Closing fast.”
“I’ll have good lock in less than thirty seconds,” Redding added. “Olly, get me some targets. I’d like to pinpoint a few locations…non destructive, just enough to give them a heart attack.”
“On it.” Olly hummed. “We have to avoid some locations…feeding the targeting computer now and…you’re good.”
“Increasing speed,” Redding said. “On your mark, Captain, we’ll begin the engagement.”
“Fighters report ready for screens,” Adam offered. “They’re with the marines now.”
Agatha piped in, “Captain Hoffner just reported in. They are on board the station and moving to clear the command center. He states there’s a situation with bombs but they need access to take care of it.”
Gray nodded. “Sounds like most things are going according to plan. Redding, you have permission to engage. Let’s return this thing to its rightful owners…just a little worse for wear.”
Redding fired and pulse blasts hammered the Alliance starship. Shields bloomed as they defended against the assault, flaring as they nearly overloaded. “Olly, is there something wrong with their defenses? I wouldn’t have thought to see that on our first blast.”
“It seems our weapons are super loading them,” Olly replied.
“Part of what I’m doing,” Clea said. “The Protocol Seven code has dramatically weakened their shields. You won’t need to fire for much longer. I’ve almost got control of their vessel. Just another moment…”
Olly sat up straight, “sir, they’re launching fighters! Um…real fighters this time, not those drones!”
“Adam, let our people know to engage those fighters and take them down,” Gray said. “Then get that drop ship moving. Once their weapons are down, I want to have boots on their decks in five.”
“On it, sir.” Adam got in touch with Revente and gave the orders.
“Give them one more pass,” Clea said. “Different targets to avoid damage. I need thirty seconds for this to be complete…”
“You sure they won’t detect you?” Gray asked.
“They won’t if they keep trying to avoid being blown up,” Clea said. “I’m hoping shipboard pulse cannons are a higher priority than a flashing computer console. Of course, they might not even know what the indicator means in which case this attack would be unnecessary but I’ve learned a saying from you. Better to be safe than sorry.”
“And we drew out their fighters,” Adam said. “That’s a win right there.”
“Less people to deal with for the marines.” Gray nodded. “Okay, let’s wrap this up then.”
Olly grunted. “Sir, we’ve got a problem.”
“What is it?”
“It looks like they’ve decided they’d rather not give up their prize.” Olly brought his readings up on the screen. They saw a schematic glowing green. “This indicates a core overload.”
Gray stood up. “Are they trying to blow the damn thing up themselves?”
Olly nodded. “Yes, sir. They’ve got it set to self-destruct.”
Gray turned to Clea. “Can you shut that down?”
“I’ll try…but I might only be able to slow it. If they set it manually, the marines will have to take care of it.”
“Time to detonation?” Gray asked.
“Less than ten minutes,” Olly said. “And sir, when that thing goes so close to the station…it’s going to take a serious chunk with it.”
“Damn it…” Gray rubbed his eyes. “Tell the pilots to hurry. Get those shields down, Clea. We need those men on board five minutes ago. Let’s focus, people. This mission just went from going easy to working hard and I’ll be damned if we let that ship go because they’re a bunch of sore losers.”
Chapter 7
“Rathe, I think we have a serious problem!” Jordan shouted. “What the hell is Hannah doing?”
“What’re you talking about?” Rathe looked at his companion’s screen and cursed. “Is that what I think
it is?”
Jordan nodded. “It sure as hell is!”
Their ship’s energy build up remained consistent with a core going critical or, more likely, a self-destruct sequence. Hannah got what she wanted: the Earth ship attacked but instead of taking them down, she folded. Rathe hit the com and hailed the ship which it connected immediately.
“What do you want?” Hannah asked, sounding as calm as if she was just taking a turn around a moon.
“What do I want?” Rathe’s tone oozed exasperation. “You insane bitch! Stand down from that explosion and jump out of here!”
“I can’t,” Hannah replied. “They got into our computer somehow. The shields are coming down. The only thing they can’t do is stop my self destruct…not through a damn computer. And I’m about to ram this thing down their throat. They’ll be gone in a minute, Rathe and then you’ll owe me one.”
“You’re very noble,” Rathe sneered. “All the Ulem we get won’t be worth losing that ship! Now shut it down!”
“They’ll take this thing if I do, you know that right?” Hannah clicked her tongue. “No, kiss this sucker goodbye. I’m out.”
“No!” Rathe slapped the console. “Hannah! Hannah, come in! Did she…” He turned to Jordan. “Did she really just cut us off?”
Jordan nodded slowly, his expression one of resignation.
“Get someone else on the com! Um…crap! Who…oh! Contact Aris! He can stop her!”
Jordan didn’t move and Rathe reached past him, hitting the com. “Aris! Get your ass on this line now! Aris!”
No one connected. The line remained dead. Rathe felt helpless as he tried other people on the ship. He got nothing but static. Turning to the view screen, he watched as the Earth ship moved forward. Their own stolen ship stopped firing their cannons. I guess they figure there’s no point in firing anymore…wait!
“What’s that?” Rathe pointed. Jordan finally looked up and smirked.
“Wow…Hannah launched fighters. I’ll bet she’s amongst them. There’s little chance that selfish bitch would let herself die.”
“She’d better pray to whatever divinity she believes in I don’t ever find her,” Rathe clenched his fist. “So what’s going on in the promenade?”
“Looks like a gunfight.” Jordan shrugged helplessly. “God knows who with but those are projectile weapons, not energy. Did the Earth ship board us?”
“Probably.” Rathe rubbed his eyes. “Come on, let’s get Thantis and beat him to death. Then we’d better get the hell out of here. This mission’s pretty much scrapped.”
***
Meagan and four of her wing escorted a drop ship as it headed for the Alliance cruiser. Giant control reached out to her, requesting a secure channel. That’s a bad sign. She connected, bracing herself for bad news.
“This is Panther One, go ahead.”
“Meagan,” Revente said. Even worse sign. He never uses my first name. “I’ve got a bad update. There’s trouble.”
“Just say it.”
“The pirate bastards set the ship to overload. It’s going to blow shortly. Couple that with the fact that they sent out fighters to stop you from delivering your payload.”
“So what’s the damage if it goes up?”
“Your shields won’t save you…”
“What’s the idea then? Get back?”
“No, we need that drop ship to get on board. We can still save it if we get some people in there.”
“Sounds like a ridiculous risk,” Meagan said. “Why aren’t we pulling back and letting it go?”
“Because it’s part of the mission…” Revente sighed. “But you’d better hurry…we don’t have time to debate it.”
“God damn it.” Meagan hummed. “How many fighters am I taking on?”
“We’ve got ten. Tiger Wing can’t get there in time either.”
“I admire your confidence…I guess. Thanks, Giant Control. I don’t like you much right now.”
“Understood, Meagan. I’ll see you soon.”
Megan switched over to her people and let them know what was happening. “I wouldn’t blame any of you if you were pretty pissed off at me right now.”
Panther Three, David Benning spoke up. “Nah, this is what I signed up for. Besides, I’m pretty sure we’ve got this.”
“More confidence,” Meagan said. “Anyone else got something to say?”
“We’ve got your back,” Mick said. “Let’s go.”
Meagan’s scans picked up the incoming fighters. They were on a course for the drop ship. She gunned her throttle, on a course to meet them head on and before they could start taking potshots at her charge. The computer did a quick assessment and she felt a little better about the fight.
Their opponents were practically flying antiques. Superior firepower would chew through them. It came down to their skills as pilots. Panther wing just had to keep away from direct fire while the pirates wouldn’t even survive a graze. Of course, if their objective was solely to prevent the marines from landing or even just to delay them…That would be possible.
I can’t believe these guys are willingly committing suicide to blow up that ship. It’s insane.
“Panther Three and Four, stay with the drop ship while Two and I take the fight to them,” Meagan announced. “With any luck, we’ll break their group up enough to where you’ll get the really dedicated ones. Drop ship, get your turrets ready. There’s a lot of them out here.”
She received a series of acknowledgements from her people just as she and Mick got within range. The computer indicated she had seconds before she’d have to move aside or ram one of the pirates. Her finger twitched on the trigger, warming her cockpit and unleashing a barrage of fire on the incoming vessels.
Something exploded but she didn’t have time to see what. Pressing her stick forward, she took her ship into a quick dive then immediately leveled out, maneuvering to get behind the pirates. Her scans showed one of the enemy trying to get her six but another blip appeared, her wingman.
Mick blew the pirate away and veered off to tend to his own problems.
Meagan’s shields flared on the starboard side and she performed a barrel roll then changed course. Her attacker tried to mirror her move but the inertial dampeners must not have been as good. It flailed for a moment but was only half way through its turn when Meagan took it down.
Other explosions sounded behind her and she noted that some of the pirates made it to the drop ship. Spinning around, she raced back in time to see three more enemy ships blown away by Panther Three and Four. Mick flew by her at an insane speed, with two fighters hot on his tail.
Meagan gave pursuit, falling in behind them and firing a blast. Mick seemed to instinctually climb enough to avoid the friendly fire but she missed with her first shot. The second caught one of her targets on the rear engines. The thrust immediately went out and the pilot bailed just before their craft disintegrated.
The other one fired a missile, a slow lumbering thing. Mick fired off countermeasures and climbed, letting the ordinance explode harmlessly in the midst of his defenses. Meagan took another shot but her prey dodged the attack. Lord, this guy’s actually good!
“What are you doing back there, Meagan!” Mick called out. “Can you take this guy down or what?”
“It’s not as easy as it sounds!” Meagan fired twice more before unleashing a missile. “This should do it.”
The pirate veered off from Mick, giving him some relief and tried to escape the missile. Meagan was convinced she’d finished the ship off but at the last second, the pirate dropped something from their ship. Their thrusters flared and the missile exploded, leaving the vessel totally unscathed.
“Did you see that?” Meagan asked. “I mean, seriously…”
“Yes, let’s take that one down together.”
They started to move in behind it but the ship had disengaged, flying toward the facility. “Hold up,” Meagan called. “The mining station is still under control of the pirates.
If we get too close they could start firing at us…and honestly, we don’t have time.”
“There’re two more out here somewhere anyway,” Mick said.
“Negative,” Panther Three said. “We took care of the last two.”
“Let him go,” Meagan said. “Let’s just stay on task and save that ship. Gun it, drop ship. You’re clear to target.”
***
Olly glanced over his shoulder to report. “Marines are boarding the Alliance ship now, sir. The drop ship has arrived.”
“Revente’s reporting they got into a pretty harsh tussle with those pirate ships,” Adam said. “One of them took a little damage…Panther Four it looks like.”
Gray nodded. “Do you have a countdown for when that ship’s going to blow?”
Olly turned back to his terminal and sighed. “Less than five minutes, sir.”
“Is that enough to turn it around?” Adam asked.
“If they’re very quick,” Olly nodded, “yes, I believe we can get it done.”
Clea concurred. “I’ll be on the radio and walk them through it as needed, sir. We’ll keep that ship online…and all those people alive.”
“Not if they have a brawl to get to the engineering section,” Adam said. “Any delay will be fatal.”
Redding added in, “surely those maniacs aren’t going to sacrifice their lives to lose that ship! Seriously, you’d think they’d be abandoning ship!”
“We can hope,” Gray said. “But they set the ship to blow…maybe they’re far more zealous than we thought.”
“They haven’t started killing people on the station,” Olly added. “So there must be some kind of disconnect in their ranks.”
“Still, they have bombs in the station,” Clea said. “That means they’re not entirely benevolent.”
“I think we need another talk with them,” Gray said. “Agatha, hail the station. Maybe they’ll consider surrender now that we’ve boarded them.”
“On it, captain.”
Gray leaned back in his seat. “It would be nice to find a peaceful resolution to all this…but something tells me we’re going to see a lot more bodies hitting the floor before we’re done.”