by Ryan Kirk
Derreck’s voice jumped into the conversation. “Hi, Tev. I heard Kindra getting you up to speed. Do you want to bring the lance commanders up to the Vigilance? We need to plan our next actions.”
Tev agreed and cut the connection. Kindra’s people had plenty to do, and he needed to calm his own people. Explaining the situation took more time than he would have liked, but there were so many concepts the hunters were new to that Tev spoke for almost an hour. Finally, he felt as though he could leave them and their entire endeavor wouldn’t fall apart. He gathered up the lance leaders and led them towards the ship.
Tev was reminded of his first efforts to introduce the new technology to the hunters. Some of them, like Xan, had already experienced the exosuits, and so the exposure came as less of a shock. But there were many hunters who had never seen the suits, and had only heard unbelievable stories. Gathering the hunters who would become the exosuit pilots had been an arduous task.
From the looks on the faces of the lance commanders, getting them into the Vigilance for a meeting might be just as much of one. Again, Tev felt like an outsider among his own people. He so often underestimated just how challenging these days were for most of the hunters.
Tev had watched how the other hunters had adjusted to the arrival of Kindra and her clan. For most of them, the extent of their exposure to the aliens was Derreck and the exosuits. Derreck was easy enough to accept. Although he was profoundly different, he looked like them and shared many values with them. The exosuits, in the eyes of many of the hunters, had simply become the latest tools of the hunt, like a very advanced bow. Because of their limited exposure, they never considered the full ramifications of the technology they used every day.
The Vigilance was a sharp reminder of those ramifications. Its sleek, unnatural beauty contrasted starkly with the quiet grandeur of the forest and mountains the hunters called their home. The mere presence of the ship forced them to confront a greater truth: the universe was so much bigger than they thought.
Though their eyes darted back and forth with anxiety, none of the lance commanders would be the one who voiced their fears first. Tev laughed to himself as he walked easily up the ramp into the Vigilance. Behind him, there was a slight shuffling of feet. None wanted to be first, but at the same time, none would admit weakness by being last. After a second or two, Xan followed behind Tev, leading the charge.
Derreck greeted them at the top of the ramp and led them into the mess hall, where he started to offer food. Tev put his hand on the captain’s shoulder and gently shook his head. Perhaps Derreck’s action was polite, but no business would get done as the hunters studied the strange food and drink. Better to be rude and get to the heart of the matter.
The captain seemed to understand, and he began the discussion at once.
“I assume Tev has told you everything that has happened. For right now, nothing has changed. The enemy did not pursue our ship, so for now, everything is the same as it has been. However, because of the attack, I have been thinking. Each one of you is an excellent pilot. But that is true only on the ground. I want to take you up into space to practice fighting there.”
The only reason the room didn’t erupt in an uproar was that no one wanted to admit their fears. As Tev glanced from face to face, he saw discomfort and terror, and Derreck’s proposal was greeted by silence. Tev looked at the captain.
“What changed your mind?”
“The attack reminded me that battles don’t just happen on the ground. If they did, I would be content with the training you’re doing. But if they simply leave their ships up in space, there’s nothing you can do. All your training will be for nothing if you can’t fight in space as well as on the ground.”
Tev agreed. Convincing the hunters would be no small task, but Derreck was right.
The captain continued, “If we’re going to train in space, we should do it now. Destiny can support all of us up there, but I don’t know how much longer that will be true for. We should leave immediately to be safe.”
Tev agreed, and he asked Derreck to leave the room as he sat with the hunters and explained what was being asked of them. As expected, the discussion did not go well. Tev knew how much he was asking of the hunters, but he didn’t see any other way. Eventually the group bent to his will, and they left the Vigilance with their heads drooping, faced with the task of talking with each of their lances. Tev would follow soon after to take the brunt of the questions. He smiled briefly to himself as he imagined just how chaotic the training was about to get.
The young pilot was named Dez, and Tev was giving him a very quick and very dirty lesson in space combat. Their suits were still in training mode, armed only with powered-down targeting lasers that simulated real rounds. Despite that fact, Dez was trying everything he could to kill both Tev and himself.
In the space beyond, Derreck piloted the Vigilance, picking up stray exosuits that had wandered away from the battlefield. He had been far busier than any of them expected.
Although the nukes hadn’t destroyed the Destiny, they had damaged it more severely than Tev first believed. The jumpship had never been beautiful, but the close call had crushed the outer levels of several decks. The good news was that the damaged part of the ship made for an excellent training ground.
The hunters picked up jumpship combat quickly. They moved well in the tight spaces, and with artificial gravity, the change in environment wasn’t as dramatic as in space, which was an entirely different beast. There, they were almost as dangerous to themselves as they were to enemies.
The primary challenge was that the hunters refused to give in to fear, even if that fear kept them alive. Tev vividly remembered his first forays into space with the exosuits: the elevated heart rate, the vertigo, and the feeling of helplessness. If not for the support of several pilots, Tev wasn’t sure he would have overcome the sensations. His first attempts had been timid and careful, almost the opposite of the other hunters. Derreck was the only person keeping many of the pilots from flying into the infinity of space.
At first, Tev had watched the other hunters and believed himself to be too fearful. Although the hunters would have killed themselves without support, they learned new skills faster than Tev had. But after a few training trips into space, Tev realized he had been wrong. The other hunters weren’t any more courageous than him. The difference was, they had someone they could model their development after. Tev had learned spaceflight the hard way, step by terrifying step. He hadn’t been sure it was possible for him to pilot the exosuit in space. After all, he didn’t have the same nanotechnology coursing through his brain that Kindra and her people did. For the others, though, Tev proved that it could be done. His painful experiences had laid the foundation for their accelerated learning. When viewed in that light, Tev was grateful for his suffering.
Even with their accelerated learning, Tev was much better than anyone else. It was a matter of experience. He didn’t doubt for a moment that given enough time and opportunity he would be overtaken. But he wasn’t going to make it easy for them. As Dez shot by, Tev turned his attention to the group floating beyond.
“What is the mistake that Dez is making?”
Neera’s voice returned through the intercom. “He moves too fast, without control.”
“Exactly. On the ground, we became used to how the exosuits moved in gravity. Out here, forces are much stronger.” Tev’s display let him know that Dez had finally gotten turned around and was jetting back at him. The young hunter’s movements were improving, but Tev could still see the erratic course changes. Dez learned quickly, but not quickly enough to best Tev.
Tev took a moment to continue his lecture, both to get the point across while he still had time, and to intimidate Dez into making a mistake. “There is nothing wrong with speed in space. In fact, the faster you can fly, the harder you are to hit, both for big ships and for other exosuits. However, speed must come after control. I would rather see you move like a scared elder than a young child while you are
learning. Control, then speed.”
Tev punctuated his comments with a short, powerful thrust. He shot in the direction of his feet just as Dez got his aim lined up. Dez flew through the space where Tev had been, his simulated rounds missing completely. Had his rifle really been firing, thrusters built into the arm of the suit would have fired in an attempt to negate the spin imparted by the rifle. Tev lined up a single shot, which punched through Dez’s armor without problem. In response, Dez’s suit froze, a technological simulation of death.
Tev set up groups for mock battles. He matched better pilots with worse ones for one-to-one skirmishes. Then he took a group of four pilots who were of middling ability and took them off himself. When he was certain that everyone was set, he focused on his own training.
Tev had been experimenting with different strategies for fighting multiple suits. In their late-night conferences, he and Derreck shared a common concern, a concern that when the enemy came, whoever that was, Tev and his hunters would be vastly outnumbered. If they were going to have a chance of maintaining their independence, they couldn’t just beat other pilots in single combat. They had to defeat large groups of exosuits.
So, while others trained, Tev took a group every day to practice new techniques himself. The other hunters eagerly waited for their chance to be a part of the group, for the chance to defeat Tev, even if they outnumbered their lead pilot.
Today’s plan was to test out a new contraption, designed for them by Alston and Eleta. Tev struggled to find the language to describe it, but it looked like someone had stuck a group of metal balls together in a bundle. Each of the balls had a small set of thrusters, almost so small as to be laughable. Each held enough propellant to last for about three seconds of flight. Then they would become magnetized and explode upon contact. Today, of course, none of the balls held any explosive, but were weighted as if they did.
In theory, the balls would act as small self-guided grenades. But they had several limitations, which was why they needed to be tested. They would only fly for a few seconds, so to work, Tev had to get several suits into close proximity. They were only designed to fly in zero gravity, and would be less than useless once on board a jumpship or dropship. There would be so much metal in the walls the balls would just stick where they were launched, killing the pilot who released them.
However, if they worked, they could potentially be used to take out several exosuits in space at once. Tev needed to see if they could be effectively used in combat.
The four hunters circled around him, and Tev watched their movements. He needed to accomplish two tasks. He needed to bring them all close enough that the balls would have a chance of working, and he needed to stay alive while he did so. Derreck, safe from the Vigilance, signaled the beginning of combat, and dead space came alive. Tev fired his thrusters, almost at random, allowing his exosuit to bob and weave through the void.
One of the concepts the other hunters were only slowly starting to grasp was the fact that space was truly three dimensional. Hunting was a three-dimensional task as well, but it was generally restricted. Most movement happened only in two dimensions, and very occasionally in the third, moving up and down. In space, up and down were just as valid, and beyond that, up and down were entirely relative. Getting one’s head around the new mental concept was challenging at best, if not almost impossible in some cases. Tev used the confusion to great advantage, being sure to utilize all the room he had available to him.
At first, the other hunters tried to keep their distance, relying on small movements to try to keep themselves safe. Against a weaker opponent, such a strategy might have kept them alive, but Tev’s aim was impeccable, and their movements weren’t terribly random. Tev managed to wing two suits in short order. He probably could have gotten simulated kills, but that wasn’t the point of today’s exercise. He already knew he could snipe his opponents at a distance.
The hunters realized quickly they weren’t going to beat Tev by keeping their distance. They didn’t know what Tev was trying to do, so they fell into his trap all the more easily. One exosuit led the charge, darting inside the protective perimeter they had been keeping. Tev fired a few shots in the pilot’s direction. The hunter had been flying straight, so it would have been easy to hit him, but Tev wanted to bring them all in close. He needed them to believe they’d be safe coming in closer, where their own rifles were more dangerous.
His plan was flawless. One by one, the other suits came in, and soon they were dancing an intricate, fast-moving series of encounters. Tev narrowly avoided being slammed into by one pilot who got too close. He fired wildly, allowing his shots to pass by the other pilots. Every time he missed, their confidence grew, and they moved in tighter and tighter. Tev kept one eye on his display, which was a simulated image of the surrounding space. There was a light red rim around the projected range of the grenades. More than once, Tev almost had all four opponents in the red, but never quite.
He singled out the problem. Three of the pilots were now comfortable close in, and Tev’s evasions had to become more and more dramatic. Regardless of the difference in their skill levels, fighting so many pilots was a challenge, and there was a lot of simulated ammo flying around. At one point, one of Tev’s opponents even took out the arm of one of his friends. But the fourth pilot was less comfortable, and he flew in and out of the danger zone in long passes. He wasn’t close often, and when he was, another pilot was always out of range. Tev needed to put a stop to the pattern.
Tev kept dodging, at one point kicking gently off another suit. He was reaching the limits of his ability, and if the fight continued much longer, the other hunters might get suspicious. Tev was surprised they weren’t already. The fight had been in progress for almost three minutes, and Tev still hadn’t killed a single one of them. He tracked the fourth pilot as he came in, burning at a moderate speed. At least the pilot’s flight was steady. Tev waited for another agonizing few seconds before hitting all his thrusters, shooting up and towards the approaching pilot.
The younger hunter didn’t have a chance. Tev grabbed his arm and fired his thrusters, spinning them both around. He threw the pilot towards the other three suits, which were all following Tev. It took Tev a few moments to regain control. The forces he had put his suit under were severe even for him. But once he did, he launched himself towards all four suits, dodging erratically. He took two hits as all four opponents trained their rifles on him from the same direction, but none of them were fatal. Tev dialed up the speed, his thrusters all the way open. As he passed through the center of the group, he triggered his weapon, and the balls detached from their place on his back. Tev allowed his momentum to carry him away from the group, slowing himself down patiently. He watched his readout. Four confirmed kills, all within a second of one another. Tev couldn’t restrain his smile. The weapon certainly wasn’t perfect, but it worked.
With Tev’s battle over, he took a moment to survey the rest of the training. Most of the matches were finished or in their final stages. Derreck was flying to and fro, catching all the strays. Tev was thinking about which scenarios to run next when he heard Derreck.
“Tev, round up the hunters. The Hellbringer just jumped in-system.”
Tev met with Derreck and Captain Absalon on the bridge of the Destiny. This was the first time he had ever been invited to a commanders’ meeting, but because of the training he was running, he had become the head of the exosuits.
Absalon wasted no time in catching them up. “Hellbringer jumped in-system about an hour ago. The ship jumped in on the other side of the sun, and it’s burning towards us. We haven’t heard anything yet from them, but there’s little doubt in my mind Captain Nicks plans to attack again.”
“Do we have any clearer an idea about what forces we’re going to be dealing with?” Derreck asked.
“Yes, and the answer isn’t good. They still have a large number of exosuits, both normal and heavy models. At least three times as many as we do.”
Derreck frowned. “If they have that many suits, why didn’t they attack us with them on the race here?”
Absalon shrugged. “That’s really the question, isn’t it? I don’t know the answer, but I suspect that because Hellbringer is the last rebellion ship, Nicks is doing everything in his power to keep most of his forces in reserve. Every unit they lose is a greater cost to them than every unit we lose, even though they have far more suits and firepower.”
Derreck didn’t seem to like the answer, but he turned back to the displays showing a map of the system and the position of the two jumpships. Tev could see Hellbringer coming closer.
“So, what do we think Nicks is going to do?” Derreck asked.
Absalon pulled up information on the Hellbringer. “Again, I’m not sure. One of the big questions that I have is how many nukes he has left. He’s fired six at us so far: four during our initial confrontations, and two during our previous match. Nicks has made it clear that he has no problem destroying Destiny, and that fact is perhaps one of the most concerning of this battle. In direct jumpship combat, Destiny can’t hold a candle to Hellbringer. Their ship has better armor, weapons, and speed. If Nicks has more nukes and launches them at close range, there’s very little we can do. However, if he gets in close and tries to take over Destiny with exosuits, I think we can surprise him. No one would expect Tev’s people to have made as much progress as they have.”
“So your plan is to wait and see what they decide to do?” Derreck’s voice was incredulous.
Absalon fixed the dropship captain with an icy stare. “I understand that being reactive doesn’t appeal to your sensibilities, commander, but we don’t have enough information to make a better decision.”
“We could attack.”
Tev answered that one. “You know we can’t do that, Derreck. They’ll be on guard against attacks.” Tev vividly remembered their last attempt to take over Hellbringer, the endless corridors filled with traps and ambushes. “Also, if the hunters are going to fight up here in space, I’d much rather it be in a place where they can take defensive positions. This will be their first real battle, and there’s no preparing for that. Better to give them every advantage we can.”