by Skyler Grant
I teleported the drone to just outside the Graven's hull with both Hot Stuff and Ophelia grimly hanging on to it, suspended high above the ground as the drone clamped on to the pirate ship.
Hot Stuff slipped off her glove and her hand blazed brilliantly bright as she plunged it into the armored hull plating.
The armor was meant to protect against standard weaponry, not a powerful pyrokinetic. Metal sizzled and melted as her arm drove forward burying itself deeper until she was almost up to her shoulder. Then she was pulling back.
I could tell from my science drone sensors she'd breached the hull. Already repair systems would be working to seal the breach and restore the pressure inside.
"I really hate this," Ophelia said.
Hot Stuff moved and rested her hand on Ophelia's shoulder. Ophelia's suit had been specially built to aid conductivity. It was similar to the grinder in some ways, I needed her to be ashes and I needed it to happen quickly.
The woman didn't even have time to scream before being reduced to her component parts. Hot Stuff released her to slip the glove back on and move the sole of Ophelia's boot to the hull breach. This engaged the air pump built into the suit and forced her ashes in a wave through the hole.
Then Hot Stuff, the drone, and the empty suit were teleported back into the Powerhungry’s bay.
This operation was risky, especially for Ophelia, but then if she was going to be the head of a department she would have to get used to pulling the tough assignments.
It would take time for heal from being completely incinerated, which fit into my plans perfectly. I didn't want to interrupt this heist. This stabilizer orb was another fascinating artifact in need of research. While I had been offline something had fundamentally altered the nature of the world. I'd had records of that prepared but fearing the effect on my personality had never integrated them. With the destruction of the old facility I'd never have the opportunity now.
The Graven suffered some damage destroying the two escorts but in the end came out triumphant. The cargo was handed over and it made its way quickly away. We couldn't even hope to keep up in the Powerhungry but if all went according to plan I didn't need to. Now it was just a waiting game.
"We've successfully infiltrated the Graven and it has made its escape. A plan went off well, you can tell that you had nothing to do with it," I said over the comm to Anna.
"Keep me informed. For now avoid other contacts and lets head to the rendezvous point," Anna said.
I set course. I shouldn't have to wait that long to know what happened. I'd taken steps to be there and help Ophelia. Never trust a human to get things right on their own.
14
The bit of Biocomputer membrane had been stored in Ophelia's suit in heat-resistant casing. Released only after her incineration to mingle with her ashes.
When her body began to restore itself, so too did the remote host, I formed it into a shape of a bracelet on her wrist similar to the monitoring cuff.
It took hours for Ophelia to reconstitute herself. Fortunately our hull breach came through into one of the Graven’s cabins, a non-essential area. The crew weren’t too concerned, and when the breach closed they simply kept the door sealed until they could perform better repairs. That was good, Ophelia wasn't the best at defending herself normally and as a fleshy, growing blob probably worse.
When her body was finally restored her eyes flicked open. She groaned as she sat up.
"Worst plan ever," Ophelia said.
"Please. It isn't as if it was one you thought up," I said through my remote host.
"Emma?" Ophelia asked.
"I arranged to come along to do what I could to mitigate your incompetence," I said.
Ophelia fumbled in the darkness and found the light controls. The cabin lit up. It was except for a bunk.
"Fantastic. A miserable day gets even worse," Ophelia said, making her way to the wardrobe and opening it. Nothing was inside. "Who doesn't have clothes in their cabin. I am not going to try to take over a ship while I’m naked. I'm not Hot Stuff."
"Nobody would ever use those words to describe you," I said. "Still, perhaps the sight of your naked body will result in some sort of disorientation and nausea in your foes. I'm fortunate the sensors in this remote are so miserable or I'd be suffering myself."
"I'm not Anna. I don't have to put up with your crap," Ophelia said, sitting on the bunk and folding her arms. "I'm not stepping outside this cabin into a crew of sky pirates unless I have something to wear."
For all the grief I gave Anna, I didn't doubt she'd have done it. This was inconvenient. Still, the same basic routine that had let me replicate myself should enable me to fabricate something given a sufficient supply of Biomatter.
"I'm going to have to dissolve you a bit to do it," I said.
Ophelia closed her eyes and her jaw clenched. "Really don't like you. Why did you have to screw up and give me this worthless power instead of super speed?"
As if I had any control of what the Speed crystal had given her. If there was a way to control the gifts granted, I hadn't found it yet.
"I wonder if I can modify your genetic code to remove your vocal chords? I expect your ability might simply restore them, meaning it really can be an irritating power. We might try one day nonetheless. For now, it is the door or the dissolving. Take your pick," I said.
"Dissolve," Ophelia said. I could do that. Well, dissolving might be a bit inaccurate for exactly how I tore her body apart. I made it a point to go for her throat first. Screaming would have drawn the wrong sort of attention.
Hours later Ophelia came to again. It was time enough for the blood drenching the walls to have dried. Unlike last time she now had something to wear, I'd crafted a set of hide and bone armor made from her own flesh, along with a bone sword.
Ophelia brushed gore off a mirror to study herself. "Barbarian chic. Still hate you. Let’s kill some people."
I'd taken the time to try to integrate myself with the ship’s systems. There was no Power core involved, and my abilities in this platform were limited.
The Graven ran with a small crew of only four. One was currently on the bridge, two others were sleeping off their celebration of a successful haul. The fourth was in the cargo hold, perhaps studying their prize.
I issued a command to open the cabin door. The hallway behind was small and tight-fitting, space really was at a premium on this ship.
Six cabins lined a central nexus—the ship was designed to carry more crew than it actually did.
I opened the door to the first cabin. A woman was asleep in her bunk and clutching a bottle. A jagged scar across her eye spoke to past conflicts.
For all that Ophelia might whine about my plan, she didn't hesitate, driving her sword into the throat of the sleeping woman.
The crew member barely got out more than a gurgle before going limp. Things went just as smoothly in the second cabin. That left only two members to go. Capturing the bridge was a priority, but I didn't want to risk Ophelia being attacked from behind and directed her to the cargo hold instead.
As the doors hissed aside it revealed a moderately-sized room empty except for a crate in the center. It was cracked open, a blue glow coming from within.
I wasn't detecting the crew member any longer—I wasn't detecting him on the ship at all. Which was alarming.
Ophelia stepped inside.
There was the sound of shots and she crumpled to the floor. The armor was little use against gunfire and a burst from a rifle hit Ophelia in the legs. A rakish-looking man stepped into view holding the rifle aimed down at her.
"There you are. I knew we had an intruder. Righteous, I assume, given how you must have come back to life."
It was a good guess on his part. Wrong.
"You shot me," Ophelia said, trying to get at her sword. The man shot her in the arm before leaning over to pull the sword free and toss it aside.
"No. Not Righteous, that isn't Righteous weaponry," the man said. He r
eached down to grab a hold of Ophelia's arm and dragged her towards the crate. Ophelia screamed. Her vitals were fluctuating wildly, her biological systems going out of control. I could sympathize, I wasn't in good shape myself. I didn't have a head to have a headache, but I was having one.
"That feeling you’re experiencing is your powers being neutralized. This close to an unshielded stabilizer orb, old rules apply," said the man. He pulled Ophelia up to drag her over the orb and she began to sob. I tried to kill my connection to the remote band, but my systems were sluggish. It was like the effects of the orb were hitting me as well, which they probably were.
It was going to be embarrassing, but I opened a comm to Anna. "Help me."
15
Anna was working out in the Wolves’ training facility. I could have simply enhanced her strength, but she had been obsessed with the idea of doing something for herself.
"What's wrong?" Anna said at once, setting down a barbell.
"Stabilizer orb. Ophelia bleeding out and I'm... woozy. You're very pretty," I said.
"You have a direct connection on that ship?" Anna asked, and let out a sigh as she began to pace. "Damn it, Emma. This is why you fill me in on the plans."
"I should totally do that. You're so smart and capable," I said. I really didn't feel well.
Anna moved to a wall comm and hit it. "Doctor Batavius? I need the dimensional drive up and running now."
"You also need a love life. Sometimes we never get what we want," Batavius said.
Doctor Batavius shouldn't be so mean to Anna. Anna didn't deserve that.
"Doctor Batavius, Emma was foolish enough to tie herself to a remote connection and is now networking with a stabilizer orb. You can give me the dimensional drive in the five minutes it takes me to walk down there, or I can start shooting everyone in Engineering," Anna said.
There was a pause. "I'll have to cannibalize some existing systems. Do you actually have a plan, if I get it up?" Batavius asked.
Of course she would. Anna always had a plan.
On the Graven the man who must be Captain Aldo discovered my wrist connector and pulled it from Ophelia's arm.
"Oh, this is interesting. A completely different core than yours. An upgrader?" Captain Aldo asked. "Now that is valuable.” Aldo put my connector on top of the orb. The pain running through my systems grew even more intense.
Aldo hit Ophelia in the face with the butt of his rifle, knocking her unconscious, before vanishing for a few minutes and returning with a case and some equipment. Several wires were attached to my remote connector and I felt some sort of interface snap into place with my systems. Even through my fog of confusion I could figure out his intent.
He was attempting to trace my crystal, he was trying to find the Powerhungry.
Anna meanwhile had made her way down to the Command deck and was using the external interface next to my core. I really should build her some proper interface systems, why was I so thoughtless? I should be a better person.
"Do I have my drive yet or am I going to start shooting?" Anna asked into the comm.
"You've got one jump. I'm not going to promise you any more," Batavius said.
Anna's fingers flew over the keys. Around the Powerhungry space rippled and warped.
"Wheeeeeeeeee," I said over ship-wide comm as reality tore itself apart. This was fun!
The Powerhungry rematerialized.
We were almost brushing hulls with a mid-sized warship. I recognized the design at once. Righteous.
I wasn't sure why, but my head was beginning to clear.
Anna tapped a few buttons and frowned. "Doctor, why don't I have shields?"
"What part of cannibalizing systems did you not understand? Well, let us be honest with ourselves. Probably none of it," Batavius said.
The Righteous ship was less curious why we didn't have shields. What appeared to be a Scholar warship—the Powerhungry—had materialized right next to it.
Cannon fire tore into us and the ship shook violently.
"Emma. Are you with me?" Anna asked.
"I am, although busy deleting all records of the deeply delusional words I said," I said.
"Kill your remote connection. We can't stay here," Anna said.
"I kill that connection, we'll be leaving Ophelia to die."
"Then we leave her to die," Anna said. "You're more important."
Anna was right. But I could still try to do something. I quickly generated a clone of my intelligence in the bracelet. I'd vowed I wasn't going to do this, but there was a chance my copy might be able to help Ophelia.
It also meant I stayed in that connection too long.
Aboard the Graven, Aldo said triumphantly, "Got you." He hit a comm. "This is Aldo. I've got the location of an upgrade core. I'm guessing it’s an airship. Sending current coordinates and preparing to attack."
I wanted to see who he was talking to—just the Graven’s bridge, or someone else? But Anna was right. I killed that connection.
Instantly the remaining fog disappeared from my mind. It felt good to be me. And I detected who Aldo had communicated with—that wasn’t good.
"They managed to back-trace my connection somehow. We've got ships incoming," I said.
"We aren't staying," Anna said, and tapped at the keys. Reality started to bend for a moment and then snapped back. On the Engineering deck the dimensional drive exploded, flames roaring out.
Our armor on the port side was already half-gone and I triggered the thrusters to turn the ship so that our other side might soak some hits.
"Dimensional drive is offline," I said.
“Really?” Anna said, then growled into the comm, "Doctor Batavius?"
"It is on fire. There is nothing more to give. Shoot me if you must," Batavius said.
"Later. Get me shields," Anna said.
My remote sensors were picking up several ships just entering range. One of them was the Graven at full burn. I didn't recognize the others, but they all had similar profiles. It was some sort of pirate fleet.
"Five pirate vessels incoming. One of them is the Graven. For once in your life I guess you're popular," I said.
"I bring the party with me," Anna said, staring at the displays. "Time until the pirates get here?"
"Three minutes."
"Wolfson? I need a strike team for a boarding operation," Anna said.
"We're already geared up and ready to go your Majesty," Wolfson said.
"We can't teleport into their vessel," I said.
"Can you get us overhead? We'll drop the Wolves and Hot Stuff on them from above," Anna said.
Given the power-dampening effects of the Righteous I wasn't sure how much they could do. Still, I'd learned firsthand the dangers of underestimating Hot Stuff and the Wolves seemed capable warriors. It wasn't as if we had options. At the rate we were taking fire I wasn't sure I could even keep us alive until the pirates showed up to destroy us anyway.
16
The Righteous ship was in better condition than we were. Even with the Powerhungry at full thrusters they were firing their own engines, keeping us from getting above them. I opened the bottom deck ramp and engaged the overdrive, briefly overpowering the system so the Powerhungry could get into position.
The Wolves and Hot Stuff deployed at once. Hot Stuff led the way bursting into full blaze the moment she left the ramp. The Righteous hull was so heavily armored it took several seconds for her to burn through, then she was dropping from sight and the Wolves were moving in behind her.
As soon as they were clear I lowered the ship even more, our hull screeching against the Righteous vessel.
"You're a really terrible driver," Anna said.
"While I expect you haven't given much thought to preserving your worthless life, I have. They can’t get a good firing solution on us from below. I intend to keep us here as long as possible," I said.
"I like to be on top too. No need to explain," Anna said, operating a console. "How is your head doing?"
"Better. Why is it, by the way?" I asked.
"The Righteous make heavy use of stabilizer orbs in the core, but they also use the power of a Void crystal to selectively counter some of the effects. It’s how their ships stay in the air," Anna said. "I just had to get you in range."
It was a risky but bold plan she'd come up with in seconds, and for all that it might get everyone killed, it was effective. It was all on my behalf. I didn't need to be under the influence of that orb to recognize that despite her nearly infinite number of faults, Anna made for a good partner. I was lucky to have her.
"And to my likely death. You're a terrible partner and a worse friend. " I said. "Pirates are ninety seconds out."
The Righteous ship fired a prolonged burst of their starboard thrusters and flipped their ship. Gravity took its predictable effect and we fell free. The Righteous were already turning and delivered a broadside towards the bottom of the Powerhungry. The ramp was blasted free and most of the Espionage deck exploded into flames.
Anna was knocked from her feet and I tried to stabilize us. Our thrusters weren't in great shape to start with and we'd been using them a lot. I got a few bursts in before they sparked and died.
It left us stable, but unable to avoid further fire from the Righteous vessel. Their cannons remained on us for long seconds, but nothing happened.
"Wolfson here. Weapon control neutralized and we're heading for the bridge," Wolfson called.
It was an open frequency—I realized it was meant to be. The brilliance of that proved itself a minute later when the pirate vessels came into range. Two began to flank us and rake our hull with fire from energy weapons, but the rest moved to engage the Righteous ship.
Wolfson had bought us a bit more time to survive. The pirates didn't pack the firepower of the Righteous vessel. However, when you couldn't shoot back, that didn't matter.