by Max Wilson
Acheron:
Adventures in Violence
1
Captain Fabian ran along the corridor, laser blasts slamming into the walls around him. The wall plate fizzed and melted under the laser blasts assault from the Taddecu Elites. Fabian rounded a corner and took cover. He held his blaster around the corner and let off a small barrage of blaster fire to slow the pursuing Taddecu Elites.
His communication channel beeped and sergeant Burkhardt’s voice spoke on a private channel.
“The evacuation is almost complete, captain,” Burkhardt said. “We are just waiting for you.”
Fabian heard a salvo of blaster fire over his communication channel.
“Burkhardt?” Fabian shouted. “You ok?”
“The Taddecu Elites,” Burkhardt said, his report punctuated with blaster fire. “They are breaking in to the landing bay. You need to get back now, captain.”
Fabian blind fired around the corner as he heard the sound of boots approaching as the Taddecu Elites closed in, tightening their grip.
“Get the Acheron ready to fly, sergeant. I’m on my way.”
Turning and running, Fabian heard the rounds of blaster fire slam into the wall where he had just been taking cover. The Taddecu Elites were closing in from the other side to. He was almost cut off. The operation was a disaster. He’d seen half a dozen of his crew taken out in a single hit as the Taddecu Elites made their presence known. The crew of the Acheron was on a snatch operation to go and capture a king. Fabian had expected heavy security but the number of Taddecu Elites and their obvious readiness to take out Fabian and his crew screamed one thing; they had been waiting. The operation was a set up.
The sound of footsteps in an adjoining corridor up ahead alerted Fabian to more danger. He pushed himself to even greater speed and ran past the opening. The footsteps in the adjoining corridor were not dressed in black and gold trimmed uniforms of the Taddecu Elites but the gun metal grey uniforms of the Acheron’s crew.
Fabian called out to them. He slowed and turned to give them covering fire.
“Get moving,” Fabian called out. He let off a series of well-aimed blasts that sliced through the air between his retreating crew and slamming into the armor of the leading Elites.
Fabian dropped to the deck, arms extended in front. He aimed his blaster with the handle cupped in his left hand, continuing his cover fire until all of the crew had past his position. The squad of Elites took cover in the small recesses along the corridor and fired at Fabian’s retreating crew. From his position on the ground he could see all the Taddecu Elites, and so far, their fire was going over his head. But Fabian knew it was only a matter of time before one of them picked him out and metled a few holes in his body.
His crew had taken cover in the recesses and were returning fire. Fabian picked out the three Taddecu Elites who were attempting to make up the distance, a few rapid shots from Fabian saw tham all hit the deck dead.
“Get back to the Acheron,” Fabian shouted. “Move.”
“We won’t leave you, captain,” one of the crew shouted. He came running towards Fabian and kneeled to give his captain covering fire.
The blaster round that slammed into the crewman’s chest sent him flying back along the corridor. He was dead before his body finally came to a halt. The life readout on Fabian’s crew monitoring system reported another dead crewman.
Fabian stood up whilst still firing his blaster, he dropped another Taddecu Elite who didn’t make it to cover on time. He started to walk backwards, precise shots dropping another Elite and keeping the others at bay.
“There are too many of them captain,” one of his crew shouted.
“I’ll give you some time,” Fabian said. He took a step back and found cover in a small recess. “I can move quicker on my own. I’ll give you a minute’s head start. Go.”
More Taddecu Elites came into the corridor at the far end. Fabian dropped the first before the rest of the squad quickly moved into cover. Fabian retreated into his recess as sustained heavy blaster fire started to takes chunks out of the plate walls and decking, sending sparks flying. It was deafening, Fabian dropped to his knees back to the plate wall, he could see just about see his crew through the debris floating in the air, he began to wonder if he would make it back to his ship at all.
Fabian noticed a pause in the patter of fire he risked a peak. Looping through the air towards Fabian was a small black device, clearly a grenade. A device that size could take out the entire corridor. The Taddecu Elites were not so suicidal as to sacrifice an entire squad for one Vazsoo captain. Fabian instinctively fired at the device and hit it mid-flight. It exploded with a cascade of sparkling and crackling micro flares, each giving off their own spiraling wisps of thick white smoke. The micro flares crackled loudly. The noise and the flashing in colors across the visible spectrum was utterly disorientating and Fabian felt his head start to spin.
Fabian covered his eyes retreating to his recess. The Taddecu Elite stun grenades would disrupt his fighting ability if he stared at the micro flares that were still bouncing around the corridor. Lucky, Fabian thought, that he’d taken it out before it had landed, or he would have been rendered unconscious and would have in all likelihood been captured.
A hand gripped the back of Fabian’s collar and dragged him backwards.
“It’s too dangerous,” said one of his crew. “Let’s go.”
Fabian stepped out of cover and fired a sustained salvo of blasts, until his blaster was on the verge of overheating. The return fire slashed through the smoke, slamming into the corridor walls and the deck plate, dissolving and vaporizing the material on contact.
The sound of a second stun grenade bouncing along the corridor spurred Fabian to a run. He moved towards the crew using the smoke drifting along as cover.
The detonation of the second stun grenades sent a concussion wave slamming into Fabian and his crew sending most of them sprawling forward. He hit the deck plate hard, only just keeping a grip on his blaster.
The hand that gripped Fabian was firm and heavy. Fabian was lifted off his feet.
“Captain,” Burkhardt said, “we need to go, now”
The big sergeant dragged Fabian away from the billowing smoke.
“Fall back,” Fabian shouted. Coughing as the arid smoke caught in his throat.
“We’re only just holding the landing bay, cap,” Burkhardt said. He was dragging his captain, half carrying him, back to the relative safely of the Acheron, the only chance of escape from the Taddecu cruiser.
“You can put me down, sergeant,” Fabian said wriggling and struggling against the big sergeant’s vice like grip.
“I’m getting you back to the Acheron, captain. You’ll try and take down all the Taddecu in the system if I don’t make you leave.”
“I’ll have you reprimanded for this, sergeant.” Fabian said. He tapped the power cell panel on his blaster and deactivated the power limiter. The blaster immediately began to buzz as the power cell began to overload. Fabian tossed the blaster back along the corridor as the last of his crew ran out of the billowing smoke cloud.
“If you do decide to flog me, captain,” Burkhardt said, “you better be sure it kills me or I might end up rescuing you again.”
“Better rescue faster, sergeant,” Fabian said. “I just tossed my blaster and it’s about to overload.”
Burkhardt released Fabian and the two ran together along the corridor. They reached the end and turned into the landing bay just as the detonation of the blaster rocked the Taddecu cruiser.
The Acheron was powered up, the smell of the ships reactor’s filled the air in the small landing bay, the heat exchangers were working close to overload, c
ausing the air to shimmer. Fabian felt the sweat on his face turn to steam and his skin bake.
“Get aboard,” sergeant Burkhardt said and shoved Fabian hard towards the boarding ramp. The few crew in the landing bay were pouring fire into a side corridor where Taddecu Elites were pressing forward.
“Everyone aboard,” Fabian shouted. Then he opened a channel to the gun crews aboard the Acheron. “Put a few pulse rounds into these access corridors. That’ll keep those Elites quiet for a while.”
Fabian ran up the boarding ramp leaving the heat of the landing bay behind him. The cool of the ship on his charred face felt refreshing and the familiar stench of the Acheron brought a sense of calm.
“Hatches are sealed,” sergeant Burkhardt said over the ship wide comm. “Ready to take off.”
“Take off, flight crew,” Fabian said over his communicator.
The Acheron lurched as it moved forward off the landing pad.
“Acheron away,” the flight crew reported with ship wide communication.
The surveillance crew sent a warning to Fabian the moment the flight crew message ended.
“Incoming fighters.”
“All crew, this is the captain, battle stations. All gunners hold those fighters off.”
Fabian ran along the short corridor to the Acheron’s command post. He peeled off his combat jacket. His vest was soaked with sweat. He walked into his command post and flung his dirty, charred combat jacket over the back of his chair. The hologram in the center of the command post showed the incoming fighters. A full squadron of the Taddecu’s best.
“No need to sit around here and wait to get shot at,” Fabian said. He opened a channel to the drive room. “Full reactor power. I want us out of here.”
The hologram showed a second Vazsoo ship leaving a landing bay. Fabian moved closer. He tapped the console on the arm of his chair and tried to access the data on the second ship. Another of the raiding party was making their escape. Fabian wanted to know who else had managed to escape the ambush that had been set for them.
The group of Taddecu fighters swooped down and poured fire into the other Vazsoo ship. It was obliterated before its ident signal could be detected by the Acheron.
Fabian brought his fist down on the console.
“Surveillance,” Fabian said, opening a channel to his surveillance crew. “Scan for any other ships from the raid.”
Fabian waited. He watched the hologram image of the Taddecu cruiser shrinking away, becoming smaller in the image as the Acheron raced away.
“This is surveillance. No other ships detected, Captain… We are the only ship left.”
Fabian spotted the fighter squadron turn away from their pursuit of the Acheron. Fabian half smirked, and half cursed at the Taddecu fighter squadron for their cowardice. They should finish the job, not retreat. But it was not the Taddecu way. It was the Vazsoo way. It was Fabian’s way. Next time, Fabian thought, he would have the advantage and he would kill every last enemy. It was right. It was glorious. It was the code.
Fabian opened a channel to his senior officers. “Sergeant Burkhardt. Doctor De Sousa. My office. Now.” Fabian stood up and stepped away from his chair. He took one last look at the hologram image of the Taddecu cruiser. It was receding to the far distance. The massive ship would not be able to catch the Acheron. He opened a ship wide communication.
“Put as much distance between us and that cruiser as you can and then power the ship down. Damage reports and casualty reports immediately.”
Fabian grabbed his combat jacket off his chair and marched across the command post to his office.
2
Sergeant Burkhardt walked into Fabian’s office. He tossed a blaster over to Fabian.
“I think you lost yours,” Burkhardt said.
Fabian snatched the blaster out of the air and dropped it onto his desktop. He opened a draw and pulled out a bottle of Vazsoo Amber. Burkhardt grabbed three heavy glasses from a small cabinet and put them on the desk. Fabian poured three large measures of amber and sat down.
Burkhardt grabbed a glass and sniffed the liquor. Fabian held the cold glass to his forehead and cooled his scorched skin.
De Sousa walked into the office and straight up to the desk. He grabbed a glass and downed the Amber. He put the glass down on the desk and dropped into the seat.
“We’ve got three badly wounded down there, Fabian,” De Sousa said. He grabbed the bottle of amber and poured an extra-large measure. “Seventeen minor wounds. The med drones are dealing with them.”
Fabian looked up to Burkhardt.
“Twenty-seven accounted for,” Burkhardt said, pausing, before he finished his sentence “thirteen missing.”
Fabian took a sip of his drink. “Send over the missing person’s report to my command post. I’ll review it later. Do you think she made it back?” Fabian said.
“Who?” Burkhardt said, and then he realized who the captain meant. “Oh, her.” Burkhardt took a swig of his drink, nearly emptying the glass. “I can check?”
“Later,” Fabian said. He took a sip. “I want to know why we just ran into an army of Taddecu elites.”
“We knew there would be resistance,” Burkhardt said. “The Taddecu king wouldn’t be traveling without an armed escort.”
“They were waiting for us,” Fabian said. “They knew exactly what we were doing. They knew where to hit us and when. And that wasn’t just an armed escort. They had heavy weapons set up ready for us. It was supposed to be a clean body snatch. Instead, it was a massacre.”
“You know who sent us on that operation.” De Sousa said.
“I never trusted her,” Burkhardt added. He took a sip.
The captain’s desk lit up with the hologram files for the damage report. He started flicking through the files. “If we ever see her again I’ll be sure to ask her who she really is.”
The damage report was not as bad as Fabian had expected. De Sousa and Burkhardt leaned in to study the files.
“The oxygen recycler took a knock. Looks like it’s out of action.” Fabian said. He dropped back in his chair. “Well that’s just great. We have enough power to get us into safe territory, but we will all suffocate before we get there.”
De Sousa tapped the hologram files and brought up the structural diagrams of the Acheron. “If we limit crew activity that will reduce respiration. Order them to their bunks and we should make it to safety before the air becomes toxic.”
“I need my crew, doctor,” Fabian said. “The only way is to isolate the rear of the ship, seal it off from the reactor. That’ll ensure clean air for the rest of the trip. Agree?” Fabian looked to his senior officers.
“Agreed,” Burkhardt said. “I’ll have the crew moved to the forward sections immediately.”
“No, you won’t,” De Sousa said firmly. “I’ve got wounded in the med bay. If we seal the rear, it’ll cut them off. They’ll die, captain.”
Burkhardt stepped in front of De Sousa and leaned on the desk looking down at Fabian. “Captain, they fought, and they lost. They are already dead.”
De Sousa stood, pulling Burkhardt back. “No, they are not. They are under my care and they can be saved, fit to fight again. Do you want to take that away from them, steal the fight from them?”
“How soon before they are up on their feet, doctor,” Fabian said.
The doctor shuffled back a step. “I won’t be able to heal them here, captain. We need to get them to a Vazsoo medical facility. The nearest one is..,”
“Too far away,” Burkhardt interrupted. “They are never going to make it.”
Fabian rocked in his chair and looked between the two. They both had a point, but Fabian had to consider the rest of the crew.
“I have decided,” Fabian said.
At that moment the door burst open and Wolfin entered. Fabian leaped to his feet.
“You made it,” he said through clenched teeth.
Burkhardt stepped up to Wolfin, looming over her using his height to
full effect as he stared into her dark eyes. “You sent us on that operation,” he said, cracking his knuckles. “Easy score, you said. You want to explain how they knew we were coming?”
Wolfin squared off against the sergeant. “It’s not the first time you’ve misjudged the odds. Maybe you are not a very good sergeant. Or maybe you have a spy on board.” Burkhardt took a step closer to Wolfin. “Maybe you told them we were coming, got them ready for us. How do you explain that reception they had waiting?”
“If I really had set you up why would I come back aboard? You saw me fighting out of that dead end. I killed as many elites as you did, probably more. You want to explain that?”
Burkhardt went for his blaster. Fabian held a hand up and called for calm.
“Stand down sergeant. Back off Wolfin. Lets see the evidence before it is decided who set us up and if they are still alive they will wish they weren’t. But now we have more pressing concerns.”
“The oxygen recyclers,” Wolfin said.
“How do you know about that?” De Sousa asked.
“I accessed the damage control report on the command post. I have got security clearance.”
De Sousa and Burkhardt glared at Wolfin with accusing eyes.
“Do you think I sabotaged it?” Wolfin laughed. “Smash the oxygen recycler and stay on board to die with you idiots. If I was a saboteur I would take out the limiter on the reactor and destroy the ship at full speed, not slow down the air supply to suffocate slowly.”
“Can you fix the recycler?” Fabian said. He picked up the blaster off his desk and checked if it was ready to fire. He held it at his side, ready. He spotted Wolfin glance at the weapon. It was the first time Fabian had seen a flicker of nerves across her stony expression.
“No,” she said boldly, “but I have located a Taddecu freighter on the scanner. It’s within range. They will have the equipment we need to make a full repair… and there should be some good bounty too.” She turned on Burkhardt, “Do you think you can still manage a little skirmish?” She smirked.
Sergeant bristled. A challenge to his courage was almost enough to turn him murderously violent.