Titan Fleet: The Invictus

by Jason J Black

  Bam! The ship was hit again. The lights go out and the gravity stabilisers fail, lifting Megan off the floor and slamming her from wall to wall. Spinning and twisting, the Robur is out of control. It is powerless and dark. Megan uses her thrusters on her suit to level herself and manages to magnetize to the ceiling so she can walk once again, but objects are floating all around, almost as bad as the outside space, she thinks. The Gulmeds and Talia are unaffected in the stasis field.

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  “Oh no!” shouts Nova in despair. “The Robur, she’s drifting out of control, she is gone. Life support has failed and she has no power. Megan is still alive for the moment.” Nova begins to head for the rear of the Titan ship, so she can punch away at the softer part of the damaged alien vessel. The idea is a sound one and as they get to where they need to be, Pace’s cargo ship gets to the front of the ship, only to see the Robur spinning away and no Invictus in sight. The Invictus, meanwhile, hammers at the backdoor of the Titan ship and for once in the fight they are doing a lot of damage.

  “Yeah, that’s right, you’re gonna get yours now, boys and girls. If today we have to die, then we will do it well, and you will remember, mark my words.” The rest of the crew see that Nova is in a flying frenzy, and that she is mad because they have lost so much this day.

  Chapter Fifty

  “Anc, try to get outside and fix the comms, will ya. We need to find them fast.” yells Pace. Anc pops out of the hatch on top of the ship a few moments later, eyeing up the comms unit and begins work on it. It has been damaged in the past, but is not a problem to fix. The screen lights up and a hiss is heard, but all in all it’s good to go, so Pace opens a channel to the Invictus and his reception is a joyous one indeed.

  “Cap? Is that you? We thought you …” Pace smiles at Nova, who is crying.

  “Nope, not yet. You know me kid. Forever fixing stuff and surviving. Everyone ok?” Nova dries her tears and then delivers a blow to Pace.

  “No. Megan and Talia and the Gulmeds are on the Robur. Megan is still alive but …” Nova begins to fill up with tears once again. “I fear the worst, Cap. I’m sorry, I could not stop her.” A large lump fills Pace’s throat and his heart pounds. The hurt will never stop, he thinks.

  “Get after her. What are you waiting for?” Nova turns the ship and heads for Pace’s cargo ship. “No, her, not me. Turn around!” Nova continues for Pace.

  “You’re closer, Cap, and I’m acting captain of this ship for the now.” The Invictus modifications seem to be holding out, the shields are incredible. Rusty has heard the whole conversation, as it was broadcast ship-wide and he begins to ready the loading bay for the cargo ship. He uses the lifter to move crates and fixes them to each other as fast as he can go. Moments pass and finally the Invictus swallows the small cargo ship and Pace and Anc are aboard once more. Pace races to the bridge as fast as his feet will take him, eager to get his ship moving, to get his love back. He is back in his seat, belt on and back in control, and this time he is not messing about with the alien ship for one second more than he has to.

  “Nova, status.” barks Pace with fear in his heart.

  “Unless power is restored soon, sir, I’m afraid she will be lost, but there is a robot with Megan. When we do get comms, we can only see her, she can hear us. The Titan ship is the problem, Cap.” Nova is still trying to catch up with the Robur, all the time being thumped by blaster fire from the alien Titan.

  “Keep trying with comms, Nova, we must reach her. I will not leave her.” The space in front of them is a minefield of debris, spinning chunks of metal just waiting to rip through a hull, a minefield that the Robur seems to be the other side of. However, the Invictus is smaller than the chunks and manoeuvres in and out, avoiding some incoming fire and they seem to be making progress towards the Robur.

  “Mmm, Sir, I think we may be in trouble. The rear of the Titan seems to be a mass of ball ships. Some are trying to repair the ship and some are coming this way.” Sam is tense and tired. He had been fighting for a while now, something he was not accustomed to.

  “What do you mean by some, Sam? How many are we talking about?” Sam shakes his head; he knows they will not survive this.

  “Too many, Captain, too many.” Pace looks on the console screen attached to his chair and he can see what Sam means. He opens a ship-wide comm.

  “Ok, Rusty. I need you to man a turret, you too, Nova. I will pilot. Anc and Padley, you will keep the engine running and deal with any hull breaches and injuries. We need to work hard on this and stay alive. More trouble is on its way and when they picked on us, they picked on the wrong ones. Pace out.” Pace gains control of the ship on his console and Nova punches in a few codes and she has access to two turrets and readies herself for action.

  “Look, Cap. The Robur seems to have steadied itself and a few lights have come on.” Just as Nova speaks, a face pops up on screen in front of the crew. It is Megan. She is a bit weary, but alive. Pace moves closer to his screen and is overwhelmed to see that she is alive.

  “I’m coming for you, sweet. You stay alive, keep fighting and don’t give up. Can you get to the runner?” Megan shakes her head. The gravity had been restored and now crates and machinery block the hatch to the ladder and there is no power to the lift once again. She knows by the time Pace reaches her, the air in her tank will be depleted unless Titch gets life support back on. She turns her back to the screen to reveal to Pace the oxygen level left in her tank. The glowing red numbers indicate that she has half an hour left. She points to it and then turns back around and points at Pace, and then shakes her head and then uses her hand to shoe him away.

  “No! I can get there. We will make it. You can breathe shallow and Padley will save you. Please don't give up.” Pace is so busy watching the screen he has forgotten to fly the ship and slams straight into a chunk of metal, which almost brings the ship to a halt. Everyone is buckled in their seats, so there are no injuries, but they were lucky.

  “Cap! Concentrate. You’re going to kill us. Give me the helm and you shoot. You never were that good at flying!” Now able to concentrate on Megan, Pace stares at the screen, his mind racing, trying to solve the problem. Deep down, he knows he will be too late getting to Megan.

  “Sweet, I know you can hear me. I think you are brave and I wanted to say sorry if I ever hurt you. When we met, you made my life complete. All the bad went away and you made me smile and laugh again. I want to thank you for saving my life. I love you.” Megan gets a flutter in her stomach. She feels love and warmth in this cold ship. She points to her eye, then to her heart and then to Pace and smiles, and then the connection is gone. Megan and Pace both cry out at their screens, knowing this is the last time they will see each other.

  “Stop the ship. Turn around. We stand our ground here.” Pace has hate in his eyes and thunder running through his veins. “If we can’t get to Megan, they won't. Over my dead body will they!” Pace opens fire on the nearest ball ship.

  “Cap, movement is survival, we are sitting ducks. You may be ready to die, but I’m not. Wake up, will you!” Nova shouts at the top of her voice, trying to break Pace out of his deathly trance. Over one hundred ball ships are heading their way. It seems there are more ships than space now and a darkness looms over the ship, a creeping darkness that grips the whole crew. Looking on his console, Sam notices the Titan ship changing course and the ball ships suddenly stop in a huge line between the Invictus and the Titan ship.

  “Sir, the Titan has changed its course and looks like it is heading for Foloss, sir.” No answer comes from Pace who, with tears rolling down his face, is still firing at the ball ships that are just out of range.

  “Sir, sir!” Nova stands up out of her seat and walks up to Pace and slaps him across the face. “Now cut it out and think of the now and us and our planet. Come on, we need you. Oh, I give up.” Sitting back down in a huff, Nova looks across to Sam and raises her eyebrows and shakes her head a little. Pace sits for a moment, his ey
es glazed over, he thinks about what Nova just did and then he remembers what he said to Megan about not giving up and he gets his head back in the game once more.

  “Anc, ready the cargo ship, set it on auto-pilot. Rusty, you go and rig the engine core to blow, say about when it will reach that defence wall. We will punch though those ball ships and warn the planet. Rusty jumps out of his seat and joins Anc at the cargo ship. Padley is also there.

  “A life pod, when did this come aboard? Mmm, interesting. It seems someone is alive inside. Padley to Captain Pace. Sir, shall I take a look at this life pod? We could use an extra body to help.” Padley is examining the pod and its life signs

  “Yes, but Anc, you make sure the person is guarded when he or she wakes up. The last thing we need is an enemy inside the ship.” Padley and Anc take the pod up to medbay and begin to open the pod, and Rusty returns to the bridge.

  “All set, sir.” says Rusty sitting down once again.

  “Ok. Get us closer, Nova, and be ready on the thrusters.” The ship edges closer and closer, the ball ships not even firing at them when they get in range. They are a menacing sight.

  “Sir, I don’t know if you want to know but Megan’s life signs are failing fast. I am sorry.” Nova holds back the tears.

  Chapter Fifty-One

  Megan walks out of the bridge towards the Gulmeds and Talia. Her head is feeling light and she now only has a few minutes of air left. The ship, now stabilised, is still drifting. She checks the emergency air containers on the wall but they have been damaged. She falls to her knees.

  “Titch, update on the life support.” Gasping for air, Megan begins to feel hot inside her suit.

  “Still repairing, Captain. Just a few more minutes and it will be fixed. Approximately four minutes, Captain.” Megan looks at the oxygen she has left. She has two minutes, twelve seconds. Typical, she thinks, but she could perhaps hold her last breath.

  “Titch, when it is restored, you need to get to me and remove my helmet, and bring me around, ok? Can you do that?” The little blue robot is welding a part on the outside of the ship. He turns his head and something catches his eye, something the naked eye can’t see, but a robot eye can see easily. He zooms in on the object. It looks like a planet and they are drifting in its direction. Titch accesses his database and no trace of the planet can be found on his star maps.

  “Yes, Captain, I compute. We are coming up on a planet, but it is not on any star chart.” Titch finishes his weld and starts to wire the last cable in.

  Megan can’t think straight. Her head is spinning and she falls to the floor, her mouth open begging for oxygen. She begins to remember the days when she was young. She felt protected in her father’s arms and felt so loved by her family. She remembers living on her parent’s farm and running in the wheat fields in the summer, and playing with her dog Tinsel, and then a flash of her first kiss with a boy called Ren Jenks, and then a flash of light and a feeling of warmth on her face. A million other good times are flashing in her mind and a feeling of love feels her like nothing she has ever felt before. The little metallic blue robot reaches Megan and quickly removes her helmet. He waits for her to breathe, but there is no sign of life. Her body lay still where she fell.

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  Pace had been monitoring her all the while and he feels the pain in his chest, as surely as if his own heart had stopped, as Megan’s life signs fail. Knowing his love is gone, Pace presses onward never forgetting the love he has in his heart.

  “Launch the cargo ship and full speed at the ready.” The cargo ship speeds out of the Invictus on its deadly mission, just seconds away from delivering a space shuddering blow to the enemy. It finds its mark and a blast splinters out like a forked lightning hand. A large gap appears in the aliens defence line.

  “Thrusters!” Blasting away at the other ball ships on their way through the gap, the Invictus is like a whirlwind of destruction, each turret and gunner destroying dozens of ships trying to pursue the Invictus, but the ball ships are no match for the angered crew.

  Chapter Fifty-Three

  The Robur is out of sensor range of the Invictus and still drifting toward a planet, which is growing closer by the minute. The Gulmeds finish working on Talia, who is now in a separate stasis field and the rush over to aid Megan. Steg pours an orange liquid down her throat and runs a probe over her body, scanning the liquid as it hits the heart and when it does Megan jolts up and begins to cough and splutter back to life. Steg looks at Drax with relief. Any longer and it would have been impossible to revive her.

  “Rest, Megan, rest.” Megan is dazed. She was having such a beautiful dream and now she is back to the ship. Coming to her senses, Megan’s first thought is to contact Pace, but the comms are not working, but at least the life support is, which was a blessing.

  “Titch, can you work with Steg and Drax on getting power back to the ship, so we can get back in the fight.” says Megan, gaining more strength now that the fresh oxygen is wafting in her lungs. Titch disappears once again, and Steg and Drax check once again on Megan and Talia before splitting up, one heading to the bridge and the other to the engine room.

  There is not a lot for Megan to do, she is not a fixer of machines as such, so she decides to see what food there is in the canteen. The emergency lights come on and a red glow lights the room, making it easier to find a feast. Megan opens a few packets of food and eats the contents, her stomach grateful and now full. She makes herself a cup of coffee and carries the mug onto the bridge. Some of the lights on the command seat are flickering like little fireflies in the night. She sits down and is grateful she is alive. There is a smell of burnt wires and flesh and she cannot believe how destructive the blues were, but with every sip of her coffee the smell disappears. The coffee is a smell of home and all is well when she has coffee, and now she is out of her helmet and breathing fresh air again she feels somewhat normal, she thinks with a half-smile.

  Although still in her spacesuit, she is sat comfortably in her seat and power has just been restored to her console screen. Megan scans the area and picks up nothing, apart from the planet in front of them. They are close enough to tell that it can sustain human life and there are life forms on the planet. Part of the planet is dusty and has violent storms, and part of the planet is quite calm and tropical with vegetation. There is also a mountain region. Megan’s sensors also pick up more space debris near the planet, from what appears to be another ship. Maybe they ran into the Titan ship before Invictus had encountered it.

  “Captain, we have tried to bring the engines back on line, but if we do this the core will overload and explode. We need too many parts to fix it. Even with our technology, it is an impossible feat.” Steg and Drax have just arrived on the bridge to deliver this news.

  “Thanks for your efforts, I’m out of ideas. What a day. I can’t believe our luck. I wish I had stayed on the Invictus now, but what is done is done I suppose. Any thoughts on how to survive this situation?” Megan’s hand reaches for her forehead, rubbing it slightly side to side. Noticing the planet on screen, the Gulmeds point to it and smile.

  Drax moves closer to the screen and looking closer and then looking at Megan says, “Despite our efforts, without the engines the emergency power will fail soon and then life support once again. This may take a few days to happen but this ship is just too damaged and without supplies to fix it, which would take a while, we are lost. I think our best bet is to try to land on that planet.” Taping the screen with his thin purple finger, Drax waits for Megan’s reply.

  “No possible way to save her then, and no way of sending a message to the Invictus either. So we will be marooned on this planet, not what I had planned for my life, but it is better than nothing I suppose.” Smiling at the Gulmeds, she asks them to take a seat on the bridge with her and contacts Titch once more.

  “Titch, I need you to get manoeuvring thrusters online and then make your way back up here to the bridge, ok.” The planet is looking big now as t
hey draw closer. They see large pieces of what was once a ship, litter space before them. They begin to scan for life but a silent echo returns with no message of hope for the survivors. A small red light appears on Megan’s seat and she presses it with a grin. The little blue robot came through for her again. A joystick type controller pops up out of her chair and finding her grip, Megan takes control of her ship. She thinks that finally she has become a captain, even though it may only be for a short trip down to the surface, and providing they make it in one piece, her dream had come true at last. The small thrusters burn bright in the dark, helping the Robur avoid collisions as they go along this deadly path of destruction.

  From the look of things, thought Megan, this broken ship is not a salvage ship, it is a war ship, the extra armoured hull and weapons are a dead give-away. Using their search lights, the Robur notices a chunk of ship with white lettering on, reading “The Forge”. So, the Forge was a war ship, not a salvage ship, they had been lied to yet again by that evil woman, but what were her motives? In any case, we have bigger worries to think about.

  The controls began to feel heavy as the Robur began to be taken by the gravitational pull of the planet. Titch enters the bridge as instructed earlier and stands just to the right of Megan’s chair.

  “The pull is too great. We need to slow down or we will be nothing but liquid when we hit rock.” shouts out Megan. The ship begins to groan under pressure as they begin to speed up. With some last minute quick thinking, Titch makes a suggestion that may just save the day once again.