by T. J. Jones
They advanced another corner and ran into some heavy resistance. Some Imperials had dug in, setting up fortifications and good firing positions. Dekav rushed forward before Adrian could even say anything, taking cover behind an obstruction as the Imperials opened fire on it. He huffed; Dekav was even more impulsive than he was sometimes. “Man, I said to trust your gut instinct, not let it rush you off and get yourself killed, ya big silver-headed lug!”
From behind the safety of his cover, Dekav gave Adrian a series of hand gestures to slip around the backside of the corridor they were in and flank the enemy position. Adrian gave him a nod, dropped the makeshift duffel bag he was hauling weapons in, and slipped back and around the corner. He could hear the Imperials firing heavily with Dekav giving them return fire from his polearm blaster thing.
He rounded another corner, sliding up to it slowly. A slight peek around the corner and he could see the position the two Imperials were using to take shots at Dekav. He closed his eyes counting to three. On three, he popped out and put a few rounds into each Guard. He trotted back for the jacket bag and caught up to Dekav.
“Next time clue me in before you do that. The idea is to make it harder for them to kill us. Not easier.”
“I will remind myself of that,” Dekav said with a reassuring smile. Adrian rolled his eyes. They needed to pick up the pace and fast. The Odyssey and his people were not going to hang in there much longer, and he was going to have to cause some real havoc inside the ship if he hoped to make an impact large enough for the Odyssey to capitalize on.
Dekav paused, holding up a fist to him. Adrian halted and listened — part of his training from the academy. He could hear it too. Footfalls. Boots. Heavy. There were many Imperials heading for them and fast. Dekav pushed him around a corner and pointed down to an access panel. Adrian yanked it off. Piling inside, Dekav collapsed his staff with Adrian following him in. He was curious where their new route was going.
The maintenance tunnels for the Truth were large. Adrian was curious if that accommodated as many of its subjugate races as possible, or maybe to haul in equipment for repairs. “For being repair tunnels, they don’t seem to need to use these much,” he said to Dekav as they crawled along.
“The Truth’s shielding systems are capable of taking an immense amount of damage. Your warp core breach in the Kestrel was a nice idea but costly.”
“Yeah, how can this tub take such a beating?”
“Its shields have a reflective property to them. By oscillating so much, they are able to repel most of the energy directed to them outward. The actual fraction of energy absorbed is somewhere in the single digits. This, of course, does not relay to hard kinetic impacts. As exemplified by your escort slamming into the Truth’s shield grid and then detonating.”
“Sounds handy.”
“It is quite beneficial in keeping the ship well defended. The Truth does however have a weakness. It has to lens open for weapons fire.”
“Wait, hold on; you’re saying it has to open up gaps in its own grid to fire?”
Dekav nodded, but he could barely see the gesture from the elite’s backside. “Yes. Their system is not designed in such a way as yours is. To fire out of it, they have to create the gap for the weapon to escape. Otherwise, they would fire into their own grid.”
“Like shooting your propeller off.”
“Propeller?” Dekav asked.
“Oh, back on Earth when we first mastered flight and then began to use aircraft in war, we had weapons that fired solid slugs mounted to them behind the spinning prop. Engineering had to rig the weapons to fire in time with the prop so you didn’t shoot it off and crash.”
“Sounds troublesome,” Dekav noted.
“Heh, yeah, I’d hate to be the test pilot working that out.”
“This way.” They took a left and pushed ahead some more.
“I hope my crew is doing ok.”
“They will endure because you give them the strength to do so.”
“How?” His expression scrunched. Adrian wasn’t so certain.
“By giving them hope of seeing their home again. You have a fire in you, Adrian. One that burns strong. You yield to no man or force in your way.”
“Heh, my old wing commander would say that made me reckless.”
“Perhaps, but you’ve learned to work in your recklessness to a degree that makes you hard to anticipate.”
“Think so?”
“Quite. Your tenacity and willingness to work outside of the standards suits you well. Many would find that…” he paused, “…unfair, perhaps?”
“Heh. Guess I’d never thought of it that way.”
Dekav stopped and looked over his shoulder to him. “Your encounter here in this area of space with the White Empire has brought much in you out.”
“It’s taken a lot away too,” Adrian, said his mind on the captain.
“That is the empire’s way. Remember that as we close in on Docent Vay.”
“Yeah, that sonuvabitch is going to pay.”
They crawled in silence the remainder of the way through the maintenance ducts. “The security teams will suspect something when they can’t locate us quickly.” Dekav popped the seal on a vent and slipped out into a corridor. Adrian slid out less gracefully than Dekav, hauling his cache of weapons with him.
“How much farther to the slave pens?”
“Not much farther now,” Dekav noted, gesturing for Rain to follow along.
He tugged his dark blue t-shirt down straight. It rode up a little bit with the makeshift bag tugging back and forth during their ductwork espionage routine. A quick glance up and down the corridor showed no signs of security. So far so good.
“Where to now.”
Dekav pulled up a layout of the ship from his personal comm device. The design was different from Alliance tech, but it followed the same principles. He scrolled around a bit to survey their immediate surroundings. Adrian decided it would be wise if he kept watch while Dekav was distracted.
Aboard the Odyssey, Mary Jo, and Jarod Tiaahl did their best to keep the ship out of a dire situation. Ms. Vail was no Commander Rain, but she was doing as good a job as she could. Tia’s repair teams had managed to patch the damaged nacelle, but so far, they had not been able to put any damage to the enemy shields. Not like earlier. Something had changed, and Mary Jo’s hunch was that it had something to do with their shield and the strange sensor jamming she was running into.
She wasn’t as much of a gambler as the commander, but she was certain the two were linked somehow. She just couldn’t find it, regardless of how hard she searched. She slammed a fist down into her console. “God dammit, there is absolutely no way to cut through this sensor screen they have.”
Tiaahl frowned and continued to hammer the Truth via the Odyssey’s weapons. Outside the vessel, space was a violent maelstrom of phased photons, cobalt warheads, and ionized tetryons. Inside the bridge, Mary Jo was close to pulling her hair out. She had to find a way through if she was going to help the commander. He was counting on her as much as she was counting on him to see them through this.
Her sensors squelched in alarm and she glanced down to read them as the color drained from her face. “Trident, move!” she shouted.
Vail threw the ship into a temporary hard turn hard to port. The ship groaned and some of the power relays blew on the bridge. Trident rammed the ship into full reverse and used the Axial Control Thrusters to help turn the ship back on target. The airspace the Odyssey just occupied exploded in a massive beam much like the spinal lance cannon.
“They have one just like us.”
“It’s powerful,” Tiaahl marveled studying the readings on his console.
The Truth began to rotate to realign its primary weapons barrel with the Odyssey. “Dammit. If it isn’t one thing, it’s another,” Mary Jo cursed.
“Lt. Kaine’s strike teams have reported in that they are ready to try and board the enemy ship,” Tiaahl told her.
She sent Sol her sensor data and some orders. “Good, give them the green light and keep us moving. I don’t want that cannon getting another bead on us again, Ms. Vail.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She said a silent prayer for herself and the crew. With luck, Sol could find the commander and give him some help. As the Odyssey’s engines powered up and the massive ship pushed into motion, several shuttles full of marines departed the ship. Mary Jo silently wished them good luck. With her IFF hack, they would ideally be able to breach the Truth’s barriers and make it to the commander.
Adrian and Dekav were bunkered down behind a barrier taking fire from several Imperials. He and Dekav worked out a strategy through hand signals. Before they could execute, though, several Alliance marines breached a nearby door and mowed them down.
“Commander Rain?” one of them shouted.
Adrian peeked up cautiously.
“Commander, good. We finally found you.”
“How? I thought the Truth’s shields were jamming our sensors?”
The marine, a captain by his rank, roughly equivalent to a lieutenant in the fleet, shrugged his broad shoulders. “Lt. Hunter had their shuttles rigged with a hacked IFF code so we could slip through their shield system. Once we got inside, we were able to zero in on your position and push through the defenses rather easily. They weren’t expecting us to show up, which played in our favor.”
Adrian nodded. “I’ll say. I sure as hell wasn’t expectin’ ya either.”
The marine captain gave him a firm nod. “Yes, sir. Lt. Hunter wanted us to come over and give you a hand with whatever it was you were trying to pull off. Lt. Kaine sends his regards for the docent as well.”
Adrian nodded. This was good. It helped tip the odds in their favor. He caught the looks they were giving his makeshift bag of rifles and weapons. “For the slaves. We’re staging a jail break.”
Suddenly everything was clear for the marines. The marine captain nodded. “Alright, grunts fall in. We’re helping the commander break some unfortunates loose.”
“Change of plans, though. Once you get them out, escort them back to the shuttles and get out of here.”
“Sir?” The marine captain looked confused.
“I don’t have time to explain, just see to it they get out of here. I’ve got something else in mind for the ship.”
“Such as?” Dekav asked.
“Set their core to breach and self-destruct the Truth. As an Acolyte, you have the access codes right?”
“I do.” Dekav nodded.
“Good. We have a hand of cards, people. Let’s play ‘em and sweep ‘em.”
Dekav and Adrian pushed forward under the protection of a platoon worth of marines now. With the added firepower working in their favor, it was a simple matter of carving right through the defenses toward the Truth’s lift systems and going up in squads. The first squad cleared the lift and held the landing. The second squad escorted Adrian and Dekav up. Third and fourth squads held the rear, coming up one at a time.
“This way,” Dekav directed them with the point marine at his left flank. As they moved, much faster and fluidly than when it was just him and Dekav doing it, the marines would call targets and take shots in controlled bursts. Dropping a target, calling it down, and moving on. It was more a process than anything was for them. They trained day in and out for these kinds of missions.
After chewing through the internal defense labor of the Truth, they finally hit their first field barrier inside the vessel. It shimmered and flickered to the touch. Dekav tapped it a few times with his staff weapon.
“Blocked.”
“Not for long, sir,” the marine captain said with a grunt as one of his engineers shuffled forward.
“Breach pack set, sir.”
“Pop it,” the marine captain said.
The square-shaped device fixed to the barrier by magnetic fields. It sent out a localized EMP burst that rode the barrier’s carrier wave, surging out the field and forcing the system into shutting down.
“Neat toy,” Adrian mused dumbly. He realized it did not sound very professional but that sure was damn handy.
“Isn’t it, sir? The work might not be glamorous, but we sure do get some cool shit to play with.”
“I like your style, Marine, what’s your name?”
“Valentine. My men call me Val for short when we’re not in uniform.”
“Alright, Captain Valentine. Let’s get our work done. We’ve got a ship to save.”
He and Val exchanged nods with each other, Val barked an order to his men and everyone stepped off making their way along per Dekav’s guidance. Resistance was picking up, but still it was not anything these grunts could not handle. Adrian had tried to make it a point of stopping off at every major point on the ship to visit everyone. He had seen the marines on a few occasions during this misadventure, but this was the first time he was seeing them in real action.
He had to admit there was something inspiring about the way they congealed into a cohesive unit so easily. He hoped he was able to have some kind of effect like this on the crew. He liked to think he was easy to work with, but there was always that lingering tinge of self-doubt. It was a real struggle for him to see them all through this. Docent Vay was not offering to make the job any easier. That was for damn sure.
After a couple more surges of resistance that the marines cut through like a hot knife through warm butter, they finally reached the slave pen areas. One by one the marines stormed in and took shots at the Imperial security.
“These are bug ugly looking motherfuckers,” a private noted.
Adrian knelt down examining the downed Imperial. “He looks a lot like Docent Vay.”
“A Loerian. They are slowly replacing the elites in the empire as the hand of the prophets. A fact few elites are pleased with.”
“Why is that?”
“Because we formed the Writ with the prophets. We helped them achieve their goals, and they would escort us to divinity. Thus far, the elites have lived up to their word, and the prophets have failed to deliver on their promises.”
“Start asking questions and they fetch a new dog to do their dirty work.”
“So the wisdom goes. Thankfully, this growing distrust has allowed us to call in the arbitrator to our cause. Your arrival was most timely, Commander Rain. With the help of the conflict you’ve invited, we might yet free the elites from the pact with the prophets.”
“Won’t that make you enemies with the empire?”
“Only in an official capacity. Ties have been less than ideal as of late. Strained at best, near violent at worst.”
“I see.” Adrian wondered about the ramifications of leaving them behind to deal with the shit storm he was about to kick up. Could he just walk away from that?
“Commander. No. You need not feel responsible. The elites are coming to your aid just as much for you as for ourselves. It’s a symbiotic relationship.”
“Yeah. I suppose you are right. Sorry.”
“You needn’t apologize, Commander. You are an honorable man. That you would take responsibility for it speaks highly of your character. The gods have smiled upon the elites by sending us you as their cipher.”
He held up his hands instantly. “Whoa, hey, easy with the religious prophecy stuff. I’m just a guy who got his ship and crew lost.”
“And you’ve brought us the answer to the question we’ve been asking for centuries.”
He narrowed his eyes almost regretting the words falling out of his mouth, “What question?”
“Will you free us?” Dekav asked and patted Adrian on the shoulder.
“I don’t get it.”
Dekav smiled. “You will. In time. Come; let’s do our part to free these people.”
Adrian nodded and started handing out the captured weapons they had collected along the way.
As he did, Dekav stood up on the security console. “Attention, all subjugates. I am Acolyte Dekav of the elites. This
is Commander Rain.” Dekav gestured to him and Adrian lifted a hand in a small wave.
“Uh, hello.”
“We have come together to free you. We can provide you with an armed escort to a series of shuttles to get you off the ship to a vessel crewed by free peoples of many races. I have seen it myself.”
Dekav hit the override code for the pens and the barrier fields lifted but none stepped forward. Dekav looked confused. Adrian approached and climbed up next to him. “I think maybe they aren’t buying it because you look too much like the bad guys to them.”
Dekav’s face sank softly and Adrian smiled. “It’s ok. They just don’t have the whole picture. Allow me.”
“Dekav is right. My name is Commander Rain. I am the acting captain of the USS Odyssey. We come from the United Solar Alliance. An alliance of free people who work mutually for the benefit of all. We are lost here. And some of my people have even shared these cages with some of you, haven’t they?”
He paused and a few nodded, standing upright.
Adrian nodded. “Like you, we were once subjugated, but that is not how our people live. In my society, there is only one caste. All. We are here to free you to give you the choice — to remain here or to find out where your life can go given the choice. We are providing armed escort to the shuttles we commandeered to board this vessel. The choice is yours. The first choice you have had in a long while. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to blow this ship up after I kick Vay’s ass.”
Dekav leaned close and spoke in a soft voice, “You do understand Docent Vay is stronger than you?”
“Shhh, you’ll ruin the speech.”
“I see.”
Slowly, subjugates began to emerge from their pens, cautiously as first, wary of a double cross. Marines stood by the door and handed them weapons. “Safety is off; just squeeze the trigger to fire.”
One female ran to the nearest guard and fired several times into the chest. She was screaming and crying as she did. Adrian hopped down and rushed over to her, lowering the barrel and hushing her. “It’s ok. Shhhhh. It’ll be alright. I promise. It’s over now.”