Ep.#5 - Balance (The Frontiers Saga - Part 2: Rogue Castes)

by Ryk Brown

  One by one, the Ghatazhak mowed the marines down, aiming for the weak points in the very same Alliance armor they had helped design years ago. Kill shots only took a single combatant out of play, and left bodies on the ground that made good cover. Shots that only incapacitated took out at least two, sometimes three men, as the injured man’s comrades came to his aid. As they did so, more marines came out with shields attempting to protect both the injured and the men rescuing them. It was a mistake that too many armed forces made, and it only put more of them at greater risk.

  Lieutenant Commander Lazo almost felt guilty as his men picked off the marines, one by one, killing some, but incapacitating most. Finally, he had to give the order. “Check your fire! Only target those who are firing. Otherwise, fire around them to keep them falling back!” It was not the Ghatazhak way, but these were unusual times. Those marines were not truly their enemy. They were simply the unfortunate, misguided followers of a leader who had no honor, and while Toray Lazo had no problem killing them if need be, he preferred not to.

  “Sir!” Ensign Bussard called from the Benakh’s communications station. “Incoming message from Geraleise spaceport! They’ve been attacked! Their entire squadron of Super Eagles has been destroyed!”

  “Wake the XO!” Lieutenant Commander Norath ordered. “Set general quarters. Launch the alert fighters.”

  “General quarters, aye,” the comms officer replied as the red trim lighting around the bridge activated.

  “Mister Bussard, any word from the Cobra plant?”

  “No, sir,” the comms officer replied. “And I’m no longer receiving their security status signal.”

  “Mister Tikodan, prepare a jump back to Koharan orbit,” the lieutenant commander continued. “Lieutenant Moratt, execute the course change and jump us as soon as the alert fighters are away.”

  “Captain,” the navigator interrupted. “Without the main sensor array, we can’t be sure our jump line is clear.”

  “Damn it,” the lieutenant commander swore, more because he hadn’t realized the risk he was about to take. “Ensign Vukovic, launch a recon drone along the course that Mister Tikodan gives you. Once you verify that our jump course is clear, we jump back to Kohara.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  “All stations report general quarters, sir,” the tactical officer reported.

  “Where the hell’s the XO?” the lieutenant commander demanded. He tapped his comm-set. “Commander Ellison, Officer of the Watch. How do you copy?”

  “Sir, the message from Geraleise was at least four minutes old by the time we received it,” the tactical officer reminded the lieutenant commander. “Whatever happened is already over.”

  “At the spaceport, yes,” Lieutenant Commander Norath agreed. “But what if that’s just the start?”

  “The Cobra plant?” the tactical officer guessed.

  The lieutenant commander tapped his comm-set. “Security, Officer of the Watch. Send a man to the XO’s quarters and get him to the bridge,” he ordered firmly.

  “Immediately, sir.”

  “First four alert fighters are away,” the tactical officer reported. “Next four will be launching in one minute.”

  “Recon drone is away, sir,” the sensor officer reported. “We should get data back in a few minutes.”

  “Mister Bussard, anything more from the spaceport at Geraleise?” the lieutenant commander asked.

  “Only that six fighters of unknown type jumped in and blew the hell out of everything. They jumped out less than a minute afterward.”

  “Bridge, Security. The XO is not in his quarters, sir.”

  “Jesus,” the lieutenant commander exclaimed. “If this is a drill, it’s a damned good one.”

  “This isn’t a drill, sir,” the comms officer insisted. “Geraleise sent video.”

  The lieutenant commander spun around. “Put it up,” he insisted. A moment later, video from the attack on Geraleise appeared on the view screen above the communications station, showing Super Eagles, parked on the tarmac, getting blown apart by a barrage of red-orange plasma raining down on them from above. “My God,” the lieutenant commander exclaimed. “Prepare a jump comm drone. Flash traffic for Fleet Command. Message reads: Attack on Kohara. Geraleise squadron is destroyed. Contact with Cobra plant lost. Moving to defensive position over Kohara. End message.” His eyes rolled as he turned. “And please, Mister Vukovic, get our damned sensors back on line.”

  “Sorry, kid,” Nathan said, pushing past him on his way to the cockpit. “You’re mistaken.”

  “No, I’m sure of it,” Aiden insisted. “You’re Captain Nathan Scott.”

  “Aiden, Nathan Scott died seven years ago in a Jung prison cell, no less,” Charnelle argued.

  “Yeah, I know,” Aiden exclaimed. “That’s what’s so amazing.”

  “Shouldn’t we be going?” Sari urged.

  “There’s been all kinds of conspiracy theories about his death,” Aiden continued. “The Jung say he was executed, but there was no public execution as planned. Why?”

  “I’m with Sari, Aiden,” Kenji said. “Let’s go while we still can.”

  “Some people say he took his own life the night before, and that’s why there was no public execution.”

  “Captain,” Sergeant Dagata pleaded.

  Nathan turned around, mistakenly responding to his familiar hail which didn’t go unnoticed by Aiden.

  “You see?” Aiden exclaimed, excited. “You are Nathan Scott, aren’t you? A lot of us believed you had somehow escaped, but everyone thought we were nuts…called us crazy conspiracy theorists, like those wackos who believe the Pentaurus Cluster was all an elaborate ruse to cover up why the Aurora wasn’t there to protect Earth when the Jung invaded.”

  “The Pentaurus Cluster is real,” Vladimir insisted.

  “Vlad…” Nathan warned.

  “And we did everything we could to get back in time,” Vladimir continued, ignoring Nathan’s warning. “If it wasn’t for him, the Aurora wouldn’t even be here and the Earth would still belong to the Jung, just like Tau Ceti and all the other core worlds.”

  “I knew it!” Aiden exclaimed.

  “Holy crap,” Charnelle added, turning like everyone else to look at the famous savior of the Pentaurus cluster and the core worlds of Earth.

  “You are Nathan Scott,” Aiden proclaimed triumphantly. Then it occurred to him. “What are you doing here, on my gunship?”

  Nathan turned to look at him. “I’m stealing it,” he said, a little grin on his face. “Along with nine more, if you’ll all just get the hell off my gunship.”

  “You’re stealing gunships?” Kenji asked, dumbfounded. “Why?”

  “Because the Alliance refuses to help the very worlds that saved their ass eight years ago, that’s why,” Nathan explained. “So we have no choice but to take what we need in order to save our worlds ourselves.”

  “But, isn’t Earth your world?” Charnelle asked.

  “It was,” Nathan replied. “But I had to give it up seven years ago. Now, either get the hell out of here, or strap in and shut up, because with or without you, this gunship is departing in about five minutes.”

  Everyone turned to leave… Everyone except Aiden.

  “Take me with you?” Aiden asked, stepping forward.

  “What?” Charnelle exclaimed, turning back around.

  “Are you nuts?” Kenji asked.

  “Aiden…” Sari started.

  “There’s twenty gunships here,” Aiden told Nathan, ignoring his friends. “If you’re only stealing ten of them, it’s because you don’t have enough pilots. Well, I’m a pilot. Hell, I’ve got a whole crew here! Take us all!”

  “Aiden!” Kenji objected.

  “Come on, Kenji,” Aiden begged,
turning to his friend. “Guys, let’s all go. Char, Sari, you guys take Three Eight Two.”

  “You’re being ridiculous, Aiden,” Sari insisted.

  “I don’t know,” Charnelle said, becoming intrigued.

  Sari looked at Charnelle. “Are you serious?”

  “Yeah, she’s serious,” Aiden insisted, latching onto the momentum that was building.

  “I kind of think I am,” Charnelle admitted.

  “I don’t think any of you realize what you’re getting into,” Nathan warned. “We’re going to fight a war. A bunch of scrubs like you don’t stand a chance.”

  “You were a scrub and look what you’ve accomplished,” Aiden argued. “Besides, if we stay here, we’re likely going to war anyway. Either way, we’re fighting the Jung in the Sol sector or in the Pentaurus sector. What’s the difference?”

  “We’re not fighting the Jung,” Nathan corrected. “We’re fighting the Dusahn.”

  “Who are the Dusahn?” Aiden asked.

  “Think Jung with jump drives.”

  “See, same difference,” Aiden insisted.

  “No, it’s not,” Nathan corrected. “How many gunships does the Alliance have?”

  “Including the ones launching today, four hundred, I think. How many do you have?”

  “Including the ten we’re stealing today…ten,” Nathan replied.

  Aiden suddenly became very quiet. “But you have other warships, right?”

  “One,” Nathan replied. “The Aurora.”

  “What?” Aiden exclaimed. “The Aurora’s an Alliance ship.”

  “Not anymore,” Nathan replied.

  “No way,” Kenji said in disbelief.

  “It’s true,” Vladimir insisted. “I should know. I’m her chief engineer.”

  All of them looked at Vladimir, including Nathan.

  “What?” Vladimir wondered. “Nathan, we need to get going, either in this ship or another.”

  “If you only have the Aurora and the ten ships you’re stealing now, you need every ship you can get,” Aiden insisted. “You need two more ships. And do you have crews?”

  Nathan said nothing.

  “Well, I have a full crew. We can help train your other crews, if you don’t have them already.” Aiden spun around to look at his friends, and his crew…except for Chief Benetti, who was still unconscious. “Come on, guys. This is our chance to do something really exciting. We’ll be fighting alongside Nathan Scott and the Ghatazhak!”

  “I kind of like this kid,” Vladimir exclaimed. “He reminds me of you.”

  “I’m in,” Ledge offered.

  “Yes!” Aiden exclaimed.

  “I’m in, as well,” Charnelle said.

  Aiden smiled at her. “Sari, are you going to leave your captain hanging?”

  Sari sighed. “I’m in.”

  “I’m in, too,” Ali announced.

  “Dags?” Aiden asked.

  “You’re a certified nut job…sir.”

  “Is that a yes or a no, Dags?” Aiden wondered.

  “Fine, I’ll go… But I need to send a message to my parents, first.”

  Aiden looked at his best friend. “What do you say, Kenji? Want to go on a grand adventure?”

  Kenji looked at Aiden. “You are the only person who would call defecting, stealing a gunship, and going off to fight a war on the other side of the galaxy, an adventure.”

  “Well, it kinda is,” Aiden insisted. “You in?”

  Kenji looked at Aiden, and then at Charnelle and Sari. “I’m in,” he finally sighed.

  “Yes!” Aiden exclaimed, spinning around to look at Nathan.

  Nathan stood there, arms crossed and one eyebrow raised, a disapproving look on his face.

  “That’s, if you’ll take us, of course,” Aiden said. After a long pause, he added, “Please, take us…”

  Nathan thought for a moment. “Vlad, how many ships did Roselle send us the codes for?”

  “Holy shit!” Aiden exclaimed. “Captain Roselle’s in on this?”

  “All of them,” Vladimir replied.

  Nathan tapped his comm-set. “Strike Actual, Cobra Two Actual.”

  “Go for Strike Actual,” Telles replied.

  “I’ve got a flight crew and an entire gunship crew, volunteering to join us.”

  “Specify, Two Actual,” Telles insisted. “Do you mean join our fight, or just fly out a couple ships for us?”

  “Does it matter?” Nathan wondered.

  After a moment, the general replied, “I suppose not. Can they be trusted?”

  “I believe so, but I can’t be sure,” Nathan replied. “It is a way to get two more gunships, though.”

  “It is your call,” the general said. “But I will send a Ghatazhak to each ship, just to be safe.”

  “Cobra Two Actual, Cobra One Bravo, are you sure about this?” Jessica asked.

  “Am I ever?” Nathan looked at Aiden and his friends.

  “How do we get two more gunships to cycle to the launch deck?” Jessica asked.

  “I hadn’t thought of that,” Nathan admitted.

  “I did,” Vladimir told him. “I wrote the program to cycle the first ten as planned, and then the last four ships in the last row, just in case we ended up with more pilots than we anticipated.”

  “Good thinking,” Nathan replied.

  “I also figured it would make it more difficult for them to get the ships launched to come after us, if their crews have to run all the way to the launch deck to get in. And they won’t launch without someone in the pilot’s seat to push the button.”

  “Vlad says the rest of the ships in the back row will cycle, as well,” Nathan announced over his comm-set.

  “Again; your call, Two Actual,” General Telles repeated. “But I suggest you decide quickly. We start rolling in ninety seconds.”

  Nathan sighed. “Very well, you’re in.” He looked at Charnelle. “Which ship is yours?”

  “Three Eight Two,” Charnelle replied. “The one directly in front of us.”

  “One Bravo, the ship you’re in belongs to one of the flight crews who’s volunteering to join us,” Nathan reported over his comm-set. “Do you want me to escort them to another ship, or do you want to change ships?”

  “You’re kidding,” Jessica replied.

  “No, I’m not.”

  “If they have to go to a different ship, they’ll probably get their asses shot off before they get there,” Jessica said. “We’ll change ships.”

  “Understood,” Nathan replied. He looked at Aiden and his friends and crew. “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Karuzari.”

  “Yes!” Aiden exclaimed triumphantly. He was the only one who seemed excited.

  Nathan headed aft, passing between them. He stopped in the airlock chamber, turning back to look at them, a serious expression on his face. “I warn you, if any of you show the slightest sign of aggression, I will blow you out of the sky myself.”

  Nathan turned and headed down the ladder without another word.

  “What did Jess mean by that?” Vladimir asked as he followed Nathan down the ladder. “Are we going to get our asses shot off?”

  Commander Jarso skimmed the hills of Kohara as his fighter streaked toward one of eight jump missile launchers in the greater Geraleise area. Before the gunships could safely launch, those missile launchers needed to be destroyed. If even one of them was in operation, they would target the fleeing gunships before they could override the jump safeties, destroying the gunships and their crews before they escaped.

  The commander kept one eye on his terrain-following sensor display, the other on his targeting systems. His auto-flight systems guided his fighter along, weaving it b
etween hills, never flying more than thirty meters above the surface in order to stay off the targeting sensors of the missile launchers’ antiaircraft defenses. At the speed he was flying, no human would ever be able to keep the ship as low as the auto-flight systems could, and although it was not the first time the commander had flown this low, it was still a bit unnerving.

  “Raker Three, strike one,” Lieutenant Commander Giortone reported, signaling he had taken out one of the eight launchers.

  Commander Jarso resisted the urge to increase the range of his targeting sensors, knowing that doing so would allow the antiaircraft batteries to lock onto him. Instead, he rode his automated ship on its wild ride through the hills of Geraleise, weaving and bobbing along, trees and landscapes whizzing past him at blurring speeds.

  “Raker Four, strike one,” Ensign Baylor reported.

  “Nicely done, Peanut,” Lieutenant Commander Giortone congratulated.

  Finally, just as Commander Jarso was becoming overwhelmed by the intensity of the flight, his targeting systems began to lock onto the first approaching missile launcher. At his current speed, he would be in firing range of the first battery in ten seconds, but he needed to climb.

  The commander took a deep breath and pulled sharply back on his flight control stick. His fighter pitched up sharply, pushing him into his seat despite the efforts of his inertial dampeners to maintain a steady level of g-forces in his cockpit. His ship began to buffet violently as the airflow separated from the top of his wings and his fighter threatened to stall. He pushed his throttles all the way forward, powering his ship through the stall. The sudden surge of thrust sent him skyward like a missile, climbing more than a full kilometer in the blink of an eye. A split-second later, he pulled his throttles back to zero thrust and deployed his air brakes. Seconds later, his ship had lost half its airspeed, and was fifteen hundred meters above the ground. His threat warning systems began blaring as the sky around him filled with explosions from antiaircraft fire. He would be most vulnerable at the top of his climb, when most of his airspeed was gone, and he would be leveled off as he transitioned into an attack dive. At that moment, he would be an easy target.