by Ryk Brown
Two more jump flashes appeared behind him, and the commander pressed his jump button again. As his canopy cleared, he rolled his ship right and pitched up, spinning his jump range selector wheel two clicks before jumping again. Another turn, another range adjustment, and another jump, and his six was clear. He pitched up, then jumped to an altitude of several kilometers, then glanced at his time display. He still had twenty seconds to get to rally point blue seven, so that he and his teammates could regroup and start their next attack run.
The Seiiki’s cargo bay filled with blue-white light, as it came out of its next jump. Sergeant Anwar and the other seven Ghatazhak lined up in two columns of four, standing ready to exit the open cargo bay.
“Ten seconds to jump point,” Loki’s voice announced over their helmet comms.
The Seiiki raced between the buildings of Aitkenna’s city center, following the main boulevard leading past the Walk of Heroes, right up to the central square outside of Aitkenna’s hall of justice.
Four Takaran jump fighters appeared on either side of the Seiiki, accelerating past them and attacking the city center itself, pummeling the guard stations and Dusahn security barracks with energy weapons fire, before they disappeared behind jump flashes.
Eight Ghatazhak soldiers fell from the back of the Seiiki as she pitched upward, their black canopies popping open a split second after leaving the ship. As the Seiiki disappeared in a flash of blue-white light, four more Takaran fighters appeared, opening up on the Ghatazhak soldiers intended landing site ahead, softening it for their approach.
Twenty seconds after jumping out of the Seiiki, all eight Ghatazhak, led by Sergeant Anwar, touched down at a run, disconnecting their canopies as they ran toward the security points about the square, their weapons firing with uncanny precision.
Two more flashes of blue-white light appeared, revealing two combat jump shuttles flying between the buildings. Two seconds apart, the shuttles passed over the central square, the first from east to west, the second from north to south, both firing at the ground targets as they passed. Once they cleared the other side of the central square, the shuttles pitched up and disappeared behind more flashes of blue-white light.
The attack was now two minutes old.
Jessica and Connor ran down the underground corridor of Ranni Enterprises, following Michi and Tori to their secure cloning lab. Once at the entrance, Tori placed his hand on the scanner pad, and his face against the eyepiece. The door popped open a second later, and they ran inside.
“Quick, take off your armor, and your clothes,” Jessica instructed as the lights in the lab started coming to life.
Connor pulled off his helmet, staring in disbelief as he came face to face with… Himself.
“It’s all true,” he mumbled.
“Of course it’s true,” Jessica declared. “Now take off all your gear and your clothes.”
There, in the middle of the lab, hanging vertically in clear tank full of viscous fluid, was the fifth generation clone of Nathan Scott. He had a bundle of tubes connected to his chest, just below and left of his neck. His hair and beard were shifting lazily in the circulating fluid in which he was submerged, as was his…
“Why am I naked?” Connor asked awkwardly. “I mean, why aren’t I… I mean, him… I mean, the clone. Why is he naked?”
“It’s a comatose clone,” Jessica replied. “What does it care?”
“I care,” Connor insisted, as he started removing his body armor.
“We have to monitor the condition of the clone’s body during the growing process,” Michi explained. “It’s much easier if the clone is naked.”
Connor looked at Jessica. “Why am I removing my clothes?”
“You aren’t exiting this building in your body,” Jessica reminded him, as she helped him off with his chest piece. “You’re going to be in that body. You want to run out of here naked? Or worse yet, without any body armor? There’s a war on, remember.”
“Good point,” Connor agreed, as he pulled off his shirt.
“We’ll be ready in a couple minutes,” Tori announced.
“What do I do?” Connor asked, as Jessica pulled off his boots.
“Lay down over there, and put on that head gear,” Michi instructed.
“Are you sure this is going to work?” Connor wondered, as he pulled off his pants.
“Reasonably sure, yes,” Michi replied. “Normally, we’d run a full diagnostic, as well as baseline signal testing prior to starting the transfer procedure, but…”
“But what?”
“There’s no time,” Jessica reminded him.
“What’s the rush?” Connor said nervously, as Jessica ushered his mostly naked body over to the transfer bed.
“War? Guns? Shooting? Death? Take your pick,” Jessica told him.
“But, if no one saw us come in…”
“We can’t be sure of that,” Jessica reminded him, as she pushed him down on the table. “Besides, the process takes at least ten minutes. The longer we wait, the greater the chance the Dusahn bust down the door and kill us all!”
“We’re in an underground lab, for crying out loud!” he cried, sitting up again.
“Connor, please!” Jessica insisted, trying to push him back down.
Connor looked at her, realizing she was right. “Okay, okay,” he said, lying back down.
Jessica placed the transfer cap onto his head and fastened it in place. Then she bent down and gave him a long, deep kiss.
“What was that for?” Connor asked, obviously caught off guard.
“Just in case,” Jessica replied, stepping back.
“In case of what?” Connor asked, starting to panic again.
“Hit it, Doc,” Jessica ordered.
* * *
“Final decel burn complete,” the helmsman reported, as she shut down the Aurora’s deceleration engines. “Closing decel thrust doors.”
Cameron turned to face her tactical officer directly behind her. “What’s the final tally?”
“Long range scans from the recon drone indicate the constant presence of a single ship. Best guess would be a heavy cruiser. However, we have seen a battleship come and go at least three times over the past four days, so we have to assume that it is within quick response range of Corinair. Other than that, only various gunships, and a few cargo ships.”
“Has the cruiser maintained a steady orbit?” Cameron wondered.
“Yes, sir.” Lieutenant Commander Vidmar replied. “Based on that, we should be able to plot a pretty close intercept course, if you’d like to jump in close.”
“Negative,” Cameron replied. “We’ll jump in two light minutes out, take a quick passive scan, then jump to intercept. No reason to push our luck.”
“We have no way of knowing how accurately our time is coordinated with the Ghatazhak,” the lieutenant commander reminded his captain. “We’re only coordinated with Corinairan time to within a single Corinairan minute of accuracy.”
“Understood,” Cameron replied. “Mister Bickle, plot the insertion jump.
“Aye, Captain,” Ensign Bickle replied.
“Comms, ship-wide.”
“Ship-wide, aye,” Ensign deBanco replied.
“Crew of the Aurora,” Cameron called, her voice echoing throughout the entire ship. “In a few moments, we will be joining the Karuzara, and Captain Scott, in an attack against the Dusahn. We do this not because of Captain Scott, but because Corinair, and other worlds of the Pentaurus cluster, are our allies. They were there to help Earth when we needed them. They fought and died alongside us when we needed them. Therefore, we will not abandon them when they need us. Our own world may call us traitors. Our comrades may call us deserters. But those who truly understand what loyalty means will respect our convictio
ns. We know not what we are about to face, but we shall do so with honor, with courage, and the strength of knowing that those we help today, will be there for us tomorrow.” Cameron paused a moment, before giving the order. “General quarters.”
“General quarters, aye,” Lieutenant Commander Vidmar replied.
The trim lighting all around the Aurora’s bridge changed from orange to red, signifying her upgraded combat readiness status. Reports began to flood in from all over the ship, as each department reported their readiness for combat.
“XO is in Combat,” Ensign deBanco reported. “Chief of the boat is in Damage Control. Flight Ops reports ready birds and second-ups are manned and ready to launch.”
“All point defenses are charged and ready,” Lieutenant Commander Vidmar reported from the tactical station. “All plasma cannons are charged and ready. Torpedo cannons charged and ready, broadsides ready, and rail guns are deployed. Shields are at full strength.”
“All stations report general quarters, Captain,” Ensign deBanco reported from the communications center at the back of the Aurora’s bridge.
“Very well.” Cameron took a deep breath. It was probably the last time she would be taking the Aurora into battle as her captain. “Mister Bickle, jump us in.”
“Jumping to Darvano in, three……two……one……jumping,” the navigator replied.
The interior of the Aurora’s bridge was temporarily illuminated by her jump flash, despite the filter on the main view screen.
“Jump complete,” Ensign Bickle reported.
“Launch ready birds, and second-ups,” Cameron ordered.
“Running passive scans,” Lieutenant Commander Kono announced.
“Ready birds and second-ups, aye,” Ensign deBanco acknowledged.
“Multiple contacts!” Lieutenant Commander Kono reported. “I’ve got a Dusahn cruiser in orbit, shields up. Four gunships trailing. The cruiser is launching fighters. Captain! I’ve got multiple jump flashes in the atmosphere over Aitkenna! Takaran fighters, combat jumpers… and the Mirai!”
“The Mirai?” Lieutenant Commander Vidmar wondered. “Isn’t that…”
“Deliza Ta’Akar’s ship,” Cameron finished for him.
“What the hell is it doing in the middle of a battle?”
“I have no idea,” Cameron admitted.
“Ready birds away,” Ensign deBanco reported.
“The Mirai has just jumped away, Captain,” Lieutenant Commander Kono reported. “Wait, I’ve got her again, about five hundred thousand kilometers from Corinair, maneuvering.”
“This is all two minutes old,” Cameron muttered. “Looks like the party has already started.”
“Intercept jump plotted and ready, Captain,” Ensign Bickle reported.
“Double shoot’n scoot. Take us between the target and the planet. Get a good scan of the surface as we pass. Triplets on all forward tubes, and broadsides. Shield busters in the rail guns.”
“Double shoot’n scoot, planet side, aye,” Lieutenant Dinev answered from the helm, as she entered the maneuvers into the helm’s queue.
“Triplets on all forward tubes and broadsides,” Lieutenant Commander Vidmar acknowledged. “Shield busters in the rail guns.”
“Second-ups away,” Ensign deBanco reported. “Red leader reports sixteen birds ready for action.”
“Tell red flight to jump with us. We’ll give them targets on the fly,” Cameron ordered.
“Aye, sir,” Ensign deBanco replied.
“Mister Bickle. Take us in,” Cameron added.
“Jumping in five seconds,” the navigator replied. “Three…”
“Here we go, people,” Cameron said.
“…one……jumping…”
General Telles and Corporal Elken leapt out of the combat jump shuttle, descending the last four meters to the surface, as Sergeant Morano and Corporal Rossi did the same from the other side. At the same time, four more Ghatazhak jumped from the other combat jumper on the far side of the building. Before they could take more than a few steps, both combat jumpers had jumped away.
Telles ran toward the building, hugging the side of it as he sprinted toward the sounds of the firefight in front. As he and his three men rounded the corner, Commander Kellen and his three men did the same on the opposite side.
In the open square before them, upwards of twenty Dusahn soldiers were holding off the advance of Sergeant Anwar and his seven men, who had parachuted in only moments earlier.
General Telles glanced at the mission time display in the upper right corner of the tactical display on the inside of his visor. He was ten seconds early.
Luckily, Falcon One was five.
A flash of blue-white light appeared from high behind them, and Falcon One jumped in less than a kilometer away from the backside of the building. It strafed the rooftop, taking out the half-dozen Dusahn snipers who were taking up positions.
“Roof is clear!” Ensign Lassen declared as the Falcon streaked overhead and pitched upward toward the rising sun.
Four more flashes of light appeared to the right, and four Dusahn fighters turned to pursue Falcon One, but a second later, four Takaran fighters appeared from behind blue-white flashes to the left, streaking low over the square as they fired on the Dusahn fighters just ahead of them.
General Telles and his men rounded the corner and opened fire on the Dusahn soldiers, catching them in a three-way crossfire. It took less than ten seconds to finish off the enemy soldiers in the square, but there were more pouring out of the buildings on either side of the square.
Three flashes of blue-white light lit up the square. Combat Jumpers One and Three appeared in a hover directly over the dead bodies in the square, opening fire on the soldiers coming out of the buildings.
The third flash was Bulldog One, the Ghatazhak’s last surviving cargo jump shuttle. It jumped in directly over the roof of the justice building. Within seconds, six Ghatazhak fast-roped down from either side of the cargo jumper’s aft ramp, dropping to the rooftop. Four of them went to the four corners of the building, taking up sniper positions. The rest entered the rooftop door and headed down into the building.
“Two. You’ve got the square. One and three are hitting ground level.”
“Two copies,” Sergeant Anwar replied over comms.
“Six has eyes up high,” Master Sergeant Lazo announced over comms from the rooftop.
“Four and five on eight and descending,” the leader of team four reported from inside the justice building. “Picking up ten bads below us on six. We’ll keep them busy while One and Three hit the prize.”
“Understood,” Telles replied. “One and three, let’s move.”
“Telles Combat One!” Lieutenant Latfee called. “Surface vehicles moving in from the east. Two clicks! Two more from the west, three clicks! Fast movers jumping in north and south at five and seven clicks! We won’t be able to hold position.”
“Combat One and Three. Jump clear,” the general ordered as his team hit the front door of the building, along with Commander Kellen’s team.
Energy weapons fire erupted from inside the lobby of the building, catching General Telles by surprise. Two bolts of energy glanced off his armor, at his left shoulder and thigh. The second bolt struck Corporal Elken in the lower right leg, causing him to stumble and fall, but the corporal was focused enough to keep his weapon up and continued firing as he hit the floor.
“They didn’t show up on tactical!” Commander Kellen realized.
“Telles to all Ghatazhak!” the general called as he dropped to one knee and continued firing into the lobby. “Beware of stealth bads!”
The general fired two rounds into the face of one Dusahn soldier, then dropped another who tried to help the one the general had just killed. Two mor
e soldiers were well protected by a reception counter, firing through small windows cut into it to pass items through. But the weapons-proof clear panels only went up about three meters, and the ceiling of the lobby was at least three times that height, and covered with dense, ornate stone panels.
“Are you injured?” the general asked the corporal, as he raised his weapon and started firing rapidly at the ceiling about halfway between his position and the counter on the other side of the lobby.
“Just my pride, sir!” the corporal replied, as he continued to fire.
The general’s shots ricocheted off the stone ceiling, then bounced off the wall behind the reception counter hiding the four Dusahn soldiers who had them pinned down at the front doors. The general adjusted his firing angle, until his shots deflected high enough off the back wall to hit the inside of the weapons-proof clear panels, and into the soldiers. He continued firing, lighting up the space behind the reception counter, causing it to glow a brilliant red-orange, as the bolts of energy sliced through the Dusahn soldiers over and over. After nearly fifteen seconds, the general stopped firing, and the lobby went silent.
“Well that’s something you don’t see every day,” Commander Kellen said, a grin on his face.
“One and three have taken the lobby. Headed for the package,” the general announced, as he reached down to help Corporal Elken to his feet.
As they ran across the lobby for the stairs on the far side, they could hear the screech of Dusahn fighters outside, and the sound of heavy energy weapons striking the ground.