Star Cruiser Titan

by C. G. Mosley

  Sabre shifted uncomfortably. “No,” he whispered before taking a pull from his bottle.

  “I promised him that I’d see to it that he got back alive,” Howler said, still staring over at him. “I made him believe that my leadership would be enough to get him through it.”

  Sabre sighed and shook his head. He began to feel anger welling up in him. “Well if you said that, you shouldn’t have,” he said, glaring at him. “You know, Cyclops died up there too. He died while you were still in the fight—but it seems as if you easily forget about him.”

  Howler’s mouth dropped open slightly and his eyes narrowed. “What the hell did you just say to me?” he snapped.

  “You heard exactly what I said,” Sabre spat back. “Your leadership failed Cyclops and you seem to easily forgive yourself for that one.”

  “You don’t have a clue about how I feel about Cyclops,” Howler argued.

  “Sure, I do,” Sabre said. “You were about to give me a sob story about Bones and twist it to how I’m somehow to blame for his death, but you conveniently forget that you lost two pilots that day. You want someone else to blame and I’m the easy target.”

  Howler pushed back from the bar and stood up suddenly. “You need to quit while you’re still ahead, Smith,” he growled.

  Sabre pushed back from the bar and stood too.

  “You boys need to calm down,” Ray Compton said nervously when he noticed the commotion.

  Sabre ignored him. “What exactly are you going to do?” he asked Howler.

  “Nothing…if you shut up now,” he replied coldly.

  Sabre shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. “Why don’t you just get this over with?” he asked, wide-eyed.

  “Get what over with?”

  “Just hit me so we can move on,” he snapped. “I’m sick of this and I won’t have you endangering the other pilots because of some grudge you’ve got against me. So why don’t you just go ahead and get it—”

  Before he could finish the sentence, Howler connected with a right hook. As Sabre fell backward, the dim lights of the bar slowly faded to black.

  ***

  When he awoke, Sabre immediately noticed that he was still in the bar, but he’d been moved to one of the tables in a darkened corner.

  “Are you alright?” a voice asked. It took him a moment, but the face in front of him came into focus and he saw Arthur Law looking him over.

  “L-lawyer?” he asked groggily.

  “Yeah, it’s me,” Lawyer answered.

  “You boys better be glad we showed up when we did,” Cowboy said from the other side of the table.

  Sabre looked over at him and noticed Howler was seated beside him. “You punched me,” he said, glaring at him.

  Howler smiled sheepishly. “You sorta provoked me,” he said.

  “And you both could be sitting in the brig if we hadn’t showed up when we did,” Cowboy said. “You’re lucky Lawyer here is a smooth talker and kept Ray from reporting it.”

  “Whatever is going on between you two ends right here and now,” Lawyer said, and his tone suggested there would be another fight if they argued with him.

  “I’m done,” Sabre said, holding up both hands. “I’m not the one that started any of this.”

  Howler cleared his throat and rubbed at the back of his neck. “I said what I needed to say,” he muttered. “I’m done.”

  “Well I hope so,” Cowboy replied. “Because we aren’t too keen about flying with you boys on this mission if we gotta worry about the two of you killing each other when you’re supposed to be watching each other’s backs—and ours.”

  “No need to worry about that,” Howler promised. “It’s over.” He then held a hand across the table. Sabre looked at it, and then back up to Howler. “I’m sorry,” Howler added. “My anger was a bit…misguided.”

  Sabre sat up straight, rubbed his sore jaw but reached across the table. The two men shook hands.

  “Aw, that’s better,” Cowboy said, sarcasm oozing off every syllable.

  Lawyer took a deep breath and shook his head, but he smiled. “Alright, kids,” he said as he began to get up. “If you’ll excuse me and Cowboy, I think we’re going to go have a drink and forget any of this ever happened.”

  “No,” Howler said, and he motioned for him to sit back down. “I’ll buy the drinks and I want you all to drink with me.”

  Cowboy and Lawyer looked at each other. After a moment, Lawyer shrugged and returned to his seat. “Well, I suppose it’s not a bad idea since the gang’s all here,” he said. “Should someone go and retrieve Banshee?”

  At that moment, it was Sabre and Howler’s turn to exchange a glance. “Uh, I don’t think so,” Sabre said.

  “Yeah,” Howler added. “We saw her earlier…she’s a little busy.”

  “Alright,” Lawyer said with a questioning glance. “Well her loss I suppose.”

  The four men spent the next hour drinking and getting to know each other far better. Sabre, though his jaw was sore and one of his back teeth felt loose, believed all the strife he’d experienced that night turned out to be well worth it. For the first time, he truly felt he could trust all four of the men to watch his back during a dogfight.

  Chapter 29

  “Are we certain everything is in order?” Colonel Madigan asked.

  His red hair was disheveled, and he seemed very concerned. In fact, Roger never remembered seeing him so worried before.

  “Everything is in order, our time has come,” Captain Hightower said. He grabbed his executive officer and friend by the neck and pulled him near. The two men hugged. It was an uncharacteristic gesture between the two senior officers and something about it made Roger feel a bit uneasy. Something in his gut made him wonder if the two men were seeing each other for the final time.

  “I’ll hold her down until you return, sir,” Madigan said. “Good luck and God speed to you all,” he added, glancing over at Roger, Amus, and Drago.

  The large Bothian stepped forward. “Would you care to hug me as well, colonel?” He stretched out his large arms.

  Madigan huffed and raised his chin defiantly. “Take care of the captain,” he told Roger, ignoring the reptilian alien.

  “When we return, just make sure the ship is ready for the voyage home,” Hightower said in an effort to change the subject and ease the tension a bit.

  “It will be,” Madigan assured him with a salute.

  Hightower nodded and followed Drago onto the small shuttle that Amus had arrived in days earlier. Amus explained that the shuttle had once belonged to the Supreme Regency. The shuttle was called a Sloop and was used primarily to transport senior officers to and from Supreme Regency star ships. The Federation managed to acquire the shuttle during a raid on a small Supreme Regency base on the planet Katoo. Though it was likely that the Supreme Regency was aware that the vehicle had been stolen, the Federation had gone to great lengths to change its identifying numbers and even disable the electronic beacon on board that would further identify the ship to any nearby Supreme Regency radar systems. It would not take long for the enemy to realize something was amiss about the shuttle once they discovered the beacon was nonfunctional, but the attacking Comet fighters would be able to provide enough of a diversion to hopefully give them the small window of time they needed to board the Polaris.

  As Amus began to fire up the engines, Roger paused and took a moment to salute the five pilots he’d handpicked to pilot the Comet fighters. All of them appeared rested, and very focused on the job at hand. Roger was pleasantly surprised to see that Howler and Sabre had seemed to resolve the conflict between them. The two men stood beside each other, smiling and in great spirits. Roger was unable to shake the uneasy feeling he had when he looked at each of the pilots. It was similar to the feeling he had when he’d watched the captain and executive officer embrace just minutes earlier. There was a sense of dread that appeared to be intensifying and it was a very unsettling feeling. As bad as he was fee
ling, Roger did not dare show it or make it known to anyone else. Everyone needed to be focused. The mission was going to happen whether they would all survive it or not.

  “Good luck, commander,” Tim Reed said, offering a salute of his own to Roger.

  Roger smiled and patted the big man on the shoulder. “Thanks Tim,” he said. “Keep everyone in line until I return.”

  “You got it,” he answered, and he made a gesture with his arm to indicate it was time for he too to board the shuttle.

  Roger said nothing but nodded. He then trotted up the ramp as it began to rise behind him. Once the door was fully sealed, he made his way to a seat and buckled in. Hightower was seated beside him.

  “Nervous?” the Captain asked as the men felt the shuttle begin to rise off the metal deck.

  Roger cleared his throat and shook his head. He allowed himself to sink back into the white, cushioned seat. “No, not really,” he said. “I think anxious is a better word to describe it.”

  “Good,” Hightower said, and he turned to look out of the window. The shuttle had turned and began to pick up speed as it floated through the launch bay tube. Suddenly, they were in the expanse of space, stars littered their surroundings in all directions. He looked back to Roger. “A lot is riding on what your boys can do in those fighters,” he said.

  Roger wanted to roll his eyes and ask the captain how many times he was going to remind him of that, but he was disciplined. He instead said, “They’re ready…and one of them is a girl.”

  Hightower smiled. “Oh yes, my mistake,” he replied. “Merissa Voight…or Banshee.”

  “Yes sir,” Roger said.

  Suddenly there was a shrill sound outside the shuttle as the Comet fighters caught up to them. Roger watched them intently and soon realized the fighter nearest the window beside he and Hightower was piloted by Banshee.

  “That’s her there,” he said, pointing.

  Hightower stroked his chin and stared at the spacecraft a moment. “General Porter Buchanon was quite fond of her,” he said.

  Roger looked over at him, somewhat surprised. “Really?” he asked, intrigued. “What do you mean?”

  “He said she reminds him a lot of his daughter,” Hightower replied.

  Roger’s mouth opened slightly and transformed into a frown. “Didn’t his daughter die?”

  Hightower nodded. “Yes, but truthfully, he does favor her greatly. I can see why he took a liking to her. He said he believed she was destined for some sort of greatness.”

  Roger’s frown suddenly disappeared and was replaced with a smirk. “Well she’s certainly capable,” he said. “But she is also very rough around the edges. She has a history of insubordination.”

  The captain bit his lower lip and nodded. “Yes, I’m aware,” he said. “Has she shown you any of that?”

  “Insubordination?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “No, absolutely not.”

  “The Titan has now departed and is leaving this sector,” Amus called out from the cockpit.

  Hightower replied with a thumbs up. So far, everything was going according to plan. Within minutes, they’d be within sight of the Polaris, and then things would get serious. Each of them—with the exception of Drago—was already wearing black Supreme Regency armor. They each had a helmet as well that would easily hide their true identities. Once on board the Polaris, getting Drago a disguise would have to be a top priority if they were going to be able to move undetected.

  “Let them know we’re going to fall back and let them engage the ship,” Hightower called out to Amus. “Remind them to stick to the plan and to disengage at the appropriate time they were given.”

  The blue alien nodded and pulled the mic close to his mouth to relay the message. Drago had been resting on a large bench seat near the back of the shuttle, but he suddenly rose to his feet and began pacing.

  “You alright big fella?” Roger asked him.

  The Bothian’s lip curled slightly to reveal several dagger-like teeth. “I’m fine,” Drago answered. “I’m eager to board the enemy vessel so I can begin killing.”

  The shuttle suddenly decelerated dramatically—to the point that Drago nearly stumbled over. The Comets streaked by on either side of them and all at once, they were all alone.

  “The time is here,” Amus said as he reached for the black helmet on the floor next to him. “I think we should all get ready.”

  Hightower and Roger quickly put on their helmets.

  “Put the comm on speaker so we can hear what’s going on,” Hightower said, his voice muffled from under the helmet.

  Amus flipped a switch and the static was immediately followed by the voice of Arthur Law.

  “Polaris in sight,” he said. “Engaging the enemy in 3…2…1…”

  ***

  When Sabre climbed into the cockpit of his fighter, the last thing he expected to see was a note from Charlie West. But there it was, on a strip of tape applied horizontally across the very top of the instrument panel. The message was short and to the point.

  Make sure you come back, Lauren needs you!

  At first, the message confused him immensely. To the best of his recollection, the last time he’d spoken with Charlie, things had not gone well. But the more he thought about it, he began to wonder if perhaps it’d gone better than he’d initially thought. He remembered telling Charlie that he’d find a way to earn his trust, and apparently somehow, he’d managed to do just that. The note, as simple as it was, had given him a boost of confidence that seemed to increase his focus and vigor significantly. For the first time in a while, he felt unstoppable.

  “Look alive guys and gal,” Lawyer said, shattering Sabre’s thoughts. “Our E.T.A. with the Polaris is three minutes. Check all your weapons and gauges…make sure you’re all ready to go. Stay on top of your respective assignments and every one of us will be back on the Titan shortly. And when we are…drinks are on me.”

  “That sounds like a plan,” Cowboy said.

  “Everyone please confirm you’ve completed a final weapons check,” Lawyer added.

  “I’m good here,” Cowboy replied.

  “Weapons good,” Howler said.

  “Ready to go,” Sabre confirmed.

  “See if you boys can keep up,” Banshee said. “If you get into trouble, just squeal.”

  “Thanks for the offer,” Lawyer replied. “But how are those weapons?”

  “The weapons are what they are…if there is an issue there isn’t a damn thing any of us can do about it now,” Banshee answered.

  Lawyer sighed and rolled his eyes in his cockpit. “I think we’d still like to know,” he said.

  Banshee offered no response.

  “Alright, time’s up,” Howler said suddenly. “I’ve got a visual on the Polaris.”

  “I see it,” Lawyer replied. Behind the starship, looming large and covered in lush, green color, was the planet Pana. “Alright, let’s do this! Keep radio silence while I alert the captain…” there was a pause, and then, “Polaris in sight. Engaging the enemy in 3…2…1…”

  At that moment, he flipped the switch to reconnect with the rest of the squad and then immediately squeezed the trigger on the stick in front of him. The Comet cannons erupted in a thunderous roar of firepower. The barrage of large caliber bullets peppered the bow of the almond-shaped Kaloian spacecraft. Within three seconds, the Polaris responded by ejecting numerous balls of blue plasma from its cannons. All five Comets rolled and banked in different directions, narrowly missing the onslaught of enemy fire.

  “Stay out of range of those cannons!” Howler shouted over the radio.

  “They can be destroyed,” Banshee said. “I took out the cannons on the Pinnacle.”

  “I think Howler’s right,” Cowboy said. “We should probably concentrate on staying clear of them for now…we’re gonna have our hands full with their fighters here in a minute.”

  “We need to minimize that…stick to the plan and get ready to open fire on their launch bays,�
�� Lawyer said, doing his best to keep everyone focused.

  Sabre had been listening, but his attention had been completely on the Polaris, and nothing else. He’d placed his focus entirely on the large square panel atop the rear portion of the Kaloian ship. That, he’d learned, was where the radar and weapons guidance systems were housed. Though it was protected with heavy armor, Amus had been confident that a well-placed hit from one of the Comet missiles would probably be enough to disable those systems.

  He broke off from the rest of the group and immediately targeted the panel. Without hesitation, he fired a missile and it flew true. The projectile made a direct hit upon the panel and inflicted enough force to rip it in half. Both portions of the metal armor hurtled upward into space, exposing the fragile systems housed within it.

  “Radar and weapons guidance systems are exposed,” he alerted the rest of the squad.

  Sabre pulled back on the stick and began a vertical climb upward. He caught sight of the floating debris that had been a result of his missile and tugged slightly on the stick to ensure that he stayed clear of it. As he continued to pull back on the stick, his craft became inverted and before long he began a descent downward and directly over the exposed panel atop the Polaris. Just as he was about to unleash another missile, a purple bolt flashed by him, nearly hitting his Comet head on. Apparently, the diamond-shaped Kaloian fighters had already launched.

  Howler and Lawyer had made a beeline for the launching bays and just as they prepared to engage them, the diamond fighters began swarming out like a cloud of bees. Both pilots simultaneously unleashed their cannons and fortunately, the effort was highly effective. They looked on as dozens of diamond fighters shattered to pieces, while some spiraled wildly out of control.

  “Good shooting!” Cowboy said, as he witnessed the skillful display.

  “Nice job, but don’t celebrate too much,” Banshee warned. “Dozens more got out. Let’s get to work!”

  ***

  “Incredible,” Drago said, in obvious awe. “For such a weak race, you seem to possess the hearts of a Katooian lion,” he added with admiration.