"Commander Pavlenko," said one of the officers over the open communications channel. The seasoned commander, standing by his shuttle, quickly joined the team embedded in the grass.
The officer tapped his eyepiece. The commander trained his scanner on the house. "I can't get any readings from the house at all."
The commander looked at the house through his eyepiece. "Looks like a scuzzy's been activated," he postulated. "I should at least be picking up some low level energy signatures from the house computer."
The first team that was around the admiral's shuttle joined their comrades in the grass.
"The shuttle is empty, sir."
"It's possible that it could be another decoy," said Pavlenko. "I want one guard by the shuttle, the rest are with me. We'll spread out and encompass the house as we close in. Remember, fire only TPs. We need to bring people in alive for interrogation."
The officers made hand signals to one another, relaying their orders on how to proceed. They all switched their rifles to fire only taser pulses. As one officer stayed behind with the shuttles the others quickly moved toward the house. There was a cool breeze blowing, swaying branches and rustling leaves on the trees. No movement could be detected as the security detachment moved closer to the house. Within a minute the house was surrounded by the task force.
"On my mark we go in," said Pavlenko over the comm channel.
"Please, I don't want to hurt any of you," came a voice from the house. The commander was briefly caught off-guard hearing it, but recognized the voice. He signaled the members by him with a hand motion to standby, which was relayed to the others around the house.
"Admiral Johnson," called out Pavlenko. "Is that you?"
"You need to go. You can't be here," said the voice. There was no doubt, it was the admiral.
"Admiral, I've been ordered to bring you in. Come on out so we can talk. No one wants to hurt you."
"I don't want to talk. I just want it to end. Please understand that I couldn't continue to live."
The commander instantly concluded what the admiral meant, suicide. He was told under no circumstances should the admiral die.
"Now," yelled the commander to his officers. The team raided the house from the various doors and windows accessible to them, the sound of breaking glass and splintered wood echoing throughout the house. Each officer quickly tried to locate their target, but couldn't find the admiral anywhere. A few headed upstairs, but none of the rooms yielded him.
"Clear," reported the team. Pavlenko took off his eyepiece scanner and hit the entry hall light switch on. As soon as he did that he spotted a black bot sitting right underneath the stairway. Before any of them could act the bot raced out of the house on its wheels through the front door. Pavlenko managed to reach the door and take one last look outside before the entire house exploded. The local wildlife scurried away from the explosion as it rocked the ground and debris flew everywhere. The fireball that erupted from the explosion could be seen for miles.
X headed straight to the shuttles as it was instructed. Waiting there was Admiral Johnson, standing over the dead body of the security officer who remained behind. Distracted by the explosion he never heard the admiral approach from behind. Despite the distractions in his head the admiral managed to remain focus and plunge the knife into the officer's back directly into his heart. The officer's death was instant.
X's upper body rotated around so his optical scanners could view the house. "Scans indicate there are no survivors."
The admiral patted the bot on its top. "Good work my metallic friend. We've cleansed the planet of those demons. The kingdom is much safer now."
"Your statements do not coincide to the current situation. I am unable to reference your meaning by your phrases." Its upper body rotated again as it looked to the west. "Shuttle sensors indicate the city has dispatched emergency response units."
"We need to move then," said the admiral. "They won't stop hunting us down." X watched the admiral as he opened the shuttle door and climbed in. The house bot rotated his body once more to view where the house once stood. It didn't know why it felt the need to look at the now destroyed residence. It was nothing but shattered pieces now. Only fire and debris dotted the landscape, elements that served no purpose for X to watch.
The admiral stuck his head out of the shuttle. "We must flee, now!"
With a snapshot of the house debris now saved as a file in its memory bank, X turned and entered the shuttle. The bot concluded that John would want to see visual evidence of the house's demise.
But the house was the last thing on John’s mind right now. EXODUS was within the realm of Mars and its mighty space fleet.
“Commander, Mars defense fleet is moving at high velocity towards us,” reported Alex’sis as she reviewed the sensor data on the tactical table. John punched up the same data on his command screen to see what EXODUS was up against.
“It looks like one capital ship is heading up the group with half their fighters deployed,” he commented. He saw that it was the AURORA that was moving towards them. The AURORA was the most technologically advanced vessel out of all the capital ships, having recently emerged from its refit only two months ago.
“The SYRIA is holding back but they’ve also deployed half their fighter group,” reported Julie. “They’re going to try to maximize their chances of slowing us down.”
“Where are the other two capital ships?” asked John.
“The JORDAN and the GENESIS are on the other side of Mars. They show no sign of rendezvousing with the attack fleet.”
John checked EXODUS’ speed again then focused his attention towards the Interceptors.
“What would happen if an Interceptor impacted our shields?”
“With no shields on the Interceptors and at our current speed any impact would result in the fighter being destroyed,” replied Alex’sis.
“How slow would we have to go to prevent a fighter from being ripped apart from a collision?” asked John. Julie found the question to be perplexing. What did that have to do with them trying to outrun the fleet?
“EXODUS would have to cut engines to one-tenth,” replied Alex’sis. “Any impact at that speed would cause hull fractures on a fighter, but probably wouldn't destroy it.”
Julie monitored the fleet’s telemetry as she listened to John and Alex’sis conversation. “One minute to engagement.”
“Drop EXODUS down to one-tenth speed,” ordered John. Julie immediately turned around in shock. What the hell was he doing?
“Commander, dropping to that speed will give them every opportunity to lock on us and fire with the cannon.”
“I’m aware of the risk.” John did not seem fazed by this obvious fact. “Lieutenant, drop to one-tenth.”
“Yes sir,” said Kevin. Julie quickly walked over to John.
“What are you doing?” she started, but John interrupted her.
“Those fighters out there are not the enemy. I have no intention of harming them.”
“I realize that, but that's not an excuse to let them take free shots at us. That’s not how one defends a ship. What if the shields fail? It'll give them the opportunity to attach to our hull. Do you plan to defend the ship then if they board us?”
“We’ll cross that bridge if need be,” said John unconcerned. “Lieutenant Brandus, target the AURORA’s engines. We’ll disable them, but under no circumstances are you to lock on or fire on any Interceptor.”
“Yes sir,” replied Alex’sis. She was impressed how John was coming up with a strategy on the fly. She thought he would be more out of his element having no command experience and expected him to cling to some routine strategy taught at the Academy.
“John, this act of compassion is not going to put you in a better light with TERRA,” remarked Julie. "If you're concerned about what people will think of you..."
“I don’t care what they think,” said John impatiently. He wasn’t pleased that Julie was trying to come up with motives f
or his decisions and wasn’t inclined to explain his thought process to her. “Back to your post, Commander.”
Julie did not appreciate how dismissive he was towards her. She reluctantly returned to the operations table.
“Sir, we’ve got fighters inbound,” announced Alex’sis.
“Raise shields,” ordered John. Alex’sis activated the shield system and a humming noise could be heard reverberating throughout the bridge. To John it sounded like the system was overloading even though it was a normal hum.
“Shields active,” reported Alex'sis. “Power is stable, and the grid is intact.”
“AURORA’s fighters have armed themselves,” reported Julie. “Commander, do you want us to deploy our fighters?”
“Negative.”, replied John. The EXODUS would not be able to make a quick run for it if they deployed their fighters. And with the energy shield the EXODUS didn’t need to deploy fighters to act as a defensive barrier. “Open a communication line to the AURORA Interceptors.”
Bret opened a channel as Julie again looked perplexed. So far John had made decisions that Julie did not agree with. She looked over at Alex’sis who was smiling.
“What?” asked Julie, surprised at Alex'sis reaction to John's orders.
“He’s got some balls, I’ll give him that,” she said in a low tone so no one else to could hear her.
“He’s going to get us killed.” Julie was angry. John had never cared about what people thought of him, yet here he was going out of his way to be a kind and gentle opponent.
“With all due respect sir you don’t know what this ship can do,” said Alex'sis. “TERRA doesn't have the firepower to stop us.” That may be true but Julie felt that was no reason to ignore military engagement protocols.
“Communication opened to the fighters,” reported Bret.
“AURORA fighters,” said John in a strong voice. “This is the TFX EXODUS. I know your orders are to engage us in combat. This ship is highly advanced and your weapons will be ineffective. You will exhaust your weapons in an attempt to penetrate this ship’s hull, but be advised this ship is surrounded by an energy defense screen. We have slowed our speed to ensure no unintentional impact with any of you. Please maintain a safe distance during the combat. We will not fire upon you under any circumstance.”
Julie couldn’t believe this. John just told the enemy his entire combat strategy. At this moment she was convinced Admiral Johnson made the wrong decision in appointing John as ship commander. He had broken every combat rule in the book. This was worse than waving a white flag from one of the port holes.
“Enemy weapons are hot,” reported Alex'sis. Outside the ship the AURORA Interceptors broke off into five formations and began their run on the EXODUS. Down on Mars Admiral Rollins watched the fighting begin on the sensor screen in the command hub. He had heard John’s intentions on not firing on the fighter group and brushed it off as a feeble attempt of not displaying hostility.
“Admiral, the AURORA Interceptors have engaged the enemy,” reported the sensor officer.
“Has EXODUS activated her weapons?” asked the admiral.
“Negative, sir. Her armaments remain offline.”
The admiral found it odd that what this John Roberts said was being done. Only moments ago he was alerted by the command council that two cadets were on board the ship. He was still trying to figure out why a cadet made the communication with them. Usually the ship commander made such transmissions.
“Tactical, have the fighters make two passing runs on the EXODUS, then regroup by the AURORA,” ordered the admiral. He was certain that the enemy ship's decision to not engage would be their downfall.
Flashes of light flickered from the upper bridge windows of the command deck as the squadrons fired their particle beams. Most of the bridge crew couldn’t help but be distracted by the light display, including John. His eyes trailed from watching the sensor data on his command screen to looking up at the random light displays flashing outside. He imagined the frustration of the Interceptors pilots as they saw their weapons inflicting no damage on the EXODUS. After a few long moments, the lights ceased.
“Commander,” boomed Alex’sis’ voice, bringing John and the bridge crew back to attention. “Enemy fighters have completed one pass. They’re turning about for another run at us.”
“Damage,” asked John. He expected EXODUS to have incurred at least some minor damage despite the energy shield. Julie checked her console. She couldn’t believe her eyes. “None sir,” she almost stammered.
“What?!”
“The ship is completely intact,” reported Julie. “The shields absorbed all particle beams fired on us. The system successfully absorbed the blasts. I’m reading a 1.5% increase in our energy reserves.”
John couldn’t hide his amazement. “Holy shit! It actually worked.” He looked at Julie and grinned. “This ship actually works.”
“I could have told you that, sir,” said Alex'sis. “By the way, fighter craft are coming around again.”
Any hesitation John may have had about the ship going into combat was now erased. EXODUS had just proven itself combat worthy. The lights from the fighters’ particle beams lit the bridge area up again in a performance of energized dancing lights.
“AURORA Interceptors have made their run against the target,” reported the tactical officer at Mars Command. “Groups one and two are regrouping near the AURORA. Group three is maintaining a position ahead of the EXODUS.”
“Damage to enemy?” inquired the admiral. He expected a quick answer, but instead got only silence. He looked down at the tactical officer. “Lieutenant, I asked you a question!”
“No damage to enemy target, sir,” stammered the tactical officer.
“What!? That’s impossible.”
“Rechecking the sensors sir,” said the officer. But the results were the same. “Admiral, the attacks had no discernable effect on the enemy ship.”
The admiral wiped the beads of sweat dotting his forehead with his hand. How could that be? The Interceptors couldn't have all missed the target. “The Interceptors did hit the target, did they not?”
“Yes sir. Sensors confirm multiple impacts on the target with weapons fire. But the blasts were repelled by some sort of energy field.”
“Are you saying the ship has an active shield system?”
“Yes sir. Once the impacts registered the sensors detected the energy field around the vessel.”
Admiral Block had discussed the EXODUS Project with Rollins in the past but had never said anything about the ship having an energy shield system. Such a system was only theoretical and had never been successfully developed.
“Are they still moving?”
“Yes sir, the vessel is maintaining its course and speed to the outer solar system.”
“Contact the AURORA. Order her to open all her batteries. I want that ship stopped now!”
The tactical officer nodded and relayed the orders to the AURORA. In took no time for the capital ship to begin her assault on the EXODUS.
“The AURORA’s opening fire on us,” reported Alex'sis as she gripped the sides of the operations table tightly.
“All hands, brace for impact,” said John through the ship’s internal communication system. Pop shots from fighters were one thing, pulse cannons from a capital ship was something else entirely.
John waited for some motion from the impact of the AURORA's weapons hitting the shields but the EXODUS continued to maintain a smooth and steady course.
“Weapons from the AURORA are being absorbed by the shields,” reported Julie. She looked up at John. “It’s the same effect as the Interceptors' attacks. No damage to EXODUS.”
“Wow,” said John in a tone of disbelief. This ship continued to amaze him. It was simply unstoppable against TERRA. He had a brief fantasy of flying the ship to Luna and demanding TERRA surrender unconditionally. That would certainly teach them not to screw with him.
“Should we return fire and dis
able their engines?” asked Alex'sis.
“No,” replied John. He had originally planned to disable their engines and move out of their weapons range. But there was no need to do that now that they knew the EXODUS was fully protected. “They’re no threat to us. Let them keep firing if they want. Maintain course.” John almost felt bad for the AURORA’s crew. They were only following orders. He had this itching impulse to flaunt his victory by going up to the bridge window and giving the AURORA’s ship commander the one-finger salute.
The mood at Mars Command was less joyful. Rollins had witness the utter ineffectiveness of a capital ship's armaments against an experimental vessel. It didn't matter the EXODUS was five times bigger, the AURORA should have been able to take down that ship or at least cause some damage.
“Shall the AURORA pursue and maintain fire?” asked the Mars tactical officer.
To say that Rollins was upset was an understatement. He was fuming. A stolen experimental ship was waltzing through Mars’ defenses; defenses Rollins oversaw. It appeared the schematic data of EXODUS provided to him by the command council was woefully inadequate. Without an accurate summary of the ship's capabilities, Rollins could only guess at a strategy. He had no choice but to swallow his pride.
“Tell the AURORA to cease fire. Have the fighter group ahead of the EXODUS engage. I want to make sure that ship doesn’t speed up before we fire the planetary gun.”
John was thinking along the same lines on the EXODUS. “Increase speed by half,” he ordered, seeing the AURORA withdrawing from its attack and retreating back to Mars. He knew the AURORA was withdrawing for only one reason. “Lieutenant, does the sensors show if the planetary gun on Mars been activated?”
Alex’sis checked the sensors. “Yes sir. I’m reading a power transfer to the gun's batteries. I’m also picking up a targeting lock on us.”
“We could increase engines to maximum. Maybe get a chance of preventing their computer from locking on to us,” Julie suggested.
“I doubt it,” said John, jumping down from his command chair. “Take a look.” He punched up sensor readings on the operations table, bringing a holographic image up for them to see. “The Interceptors ahead of us are slowly moving back towards us. I bet they’re going to attack and try and keep us from increasing our speed.”
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