by J. K. Mabrey
"And the fighters?" He asked.
"Hmm, looks like Chokmnd RA's; fast, lightly shielded, heavy blasters." Relatively new ships developed about four decades ago. These small, single-pilot ships were only dangerous in large numbers.
"Don’t like the heavy blaster part. Hmm…I say eight to one."
"What?" she questioned emphatically.
"Odds we destroy every ship before reinforcements arrive."
"I'm counting forty-five RA’s alone, with more exiting the portal every minute."
"So…ten-to-one then," he smirked her way.
The ship moved into battle at near top speed. The defenders were concentrating fire on one of the LR-80s that promptly burst into flames before depleting its oxygen and snuffing out. The large four-man tank was split in two by the blast. The engine section started spinning wildly out of control and began drifting away. Suddenly the nose section, housing the weapons modules, exploded in a sea of fire that reached toward the engines. The blast sent the engine section careening into an LR-80 that couldn't escape from becoming collateral damage.
“Two for the price of one,” Zavik said.
This disaster caused the remaining ten or so LR-80s to spread out for fear of a similar accident.
The Rinada veered right and the RAs immediately took notice of the dangerous ship. Five broke from their staggered formation and launched a barrage of laser fire at Zavik. The shields faltered, then almost instantly returned to full strength. Zavik didn't flinch.
"It'll take more than their small arms to penetrate my girl's shields," Zavik said.
"If they smarten up and come all at once, though?" Dani asked.
He paused, then said grimly, "Let's hope they stay stupid."
The Rinada let out five blasts from its underside. Three found their targets and instantly detonate the ships in glowing fireballs. Two other ships raced past the Rinada, then turned to rejoin their comrades. They were going to need reinforcements to take out Zavik.
Avoiding the new debris, Zavik turned the Rinada towards the others. He needed to destroy as many as possible before their numbers grew too large for the small force to handle. As the ship straightened, out one of the defenders caught fire on the starboard side and proceeded to erupt from within. The explosion extended to the hull and seconds later it was reduced to a glowing pile of more space debris. So far they were doing a good job of keeping the ships away from the station. If only reinforcements would hurry.
Zavik pushed the Rinada to full throttle in an attempt to chase down the RA's. He reverted some power to the weapons, slowing the ship down. The Rinada fired five shots. This time only one found its mark and the RA exploded in a ball of sparks. The RAs were employing advanced maneuvers that were difficult to track, even for the Rinada's targeting systems.
“Captain!” the Commander said over the comm, “the fighters are regrouping in between the defenders and the LR-80s. In this tight formation, they should be easier for your ship to target. Get over there and reduce their numbers.”
“Roger that,” Zavik replied to the order. "Mike," Zavik shouted back over the comm.
"What, Zavik?"
"How much longer till backup arrives?"
"Oh...looks like an ETA of eight minutes," Mike said grimly.
"They keep multiplying. I blast one and two more come through the portal. What's going on with that thing?" Zavik was uneasy.
"We're not sure,” Mike said. “Communications with Eris have broken down. We’re getting no response from our transmissions. Might have to shut the portals down."
"What! You can't cut us off."
"We know the dangers and the difficulties in reopening a closed portal. But we have to stop them from pouring in. We have no idea how large a force they could have coming.”
"You going to shut all the portals down?" Zavik asked, hoping for a good response.
"Only the three nearest, don't want them to escape now do we? And only if we have to."
That was a good response. Zavik refocused on the battle. The RA's were moving towards the defenders again. Zavik could see debris from the two LR-80s that were destroyed along with three more that had been disabled by the defenders. The destroyed ships littered the battlefield like a junkyard. Navigating through the parts would be near impossible for any ship of sufficient size. The defenses were holding strong. It needed to; it was the only thing standing between the attackers and the station with vital supplies for Earth.
The Rinada dove through the middle of the firefight, blasting ships with ease. The Commander was right; in the tighter confines, the RAs were no match for the overpowering ship. Zavik destroyed three, then four ships on his first pass, taking some jarring shots, but nothing too threatening. He then headed for an LR-80 on the left edge of the line.
"Concentrate on that port-side weapons module," Zavik commanded.
The Rinada took heavy fire from the LR-80, the shields were being stressed to the max. The crew must have been amazed the Rinada was still intact. A ship this size would normally have been destroyed from three direct hits, to take the eight would be a miracle. The Rinada however, was outfitted with a much-improved generator, despite what Zavik said about his shields. Zavik still knew not to press his luck.
The direct fire from the Rinada, along with some help from a defender, was taxing the LR-80’s generator. The shield flashed for a second as it overloaded and faded out. Zavik knew he had about five seconds before the generator would recharge and reform at full strength. That’s how the shield barriers worked. They’d absorb and compensate for laser fire. Usually, with little problems, it was when too much stress was applied to the generator in a short period of time that the generator would overheat and have to vent to space. This shut the shields down until the cool-off was complete. The time for cool-off varied between generator qualities.
"Launch the concussion missile now," Zavik shouted. The missile sped away aimed at the now defenseless weapons module. The explosion was small, and quick, and there was no fire, only flying debris and sparks jettisoned from the small hole punched in the hull. The LR-80 continued to fire.
"Damn," Dani said, under her breath, “no effect.”
"Don't be too certain," he said, "give it time."
The vessel, easily five times larger than the Rinada, began to rip apart where the missile entered. An internal explosion took the rest of the ship out of commission. Radiant metal flew out in every direction as the bridge section burst into flames. The Rinada was so close the shield’s alarm wailed its strained displeasure, before subsiding to normal. The LR-80 was completely destroyed in a matter of seconds.
"You set it for time delay?" Dani asked.
"A superficial hit wouldn't destroy it, we needed to get inside and end it,” he told her.
"Risky,” she said, eyeing him closely. “If the shields came back early the missile would've been deflected by the shield barrier and done no damage."
"I liked the odds," Zavik replied.
The Rinada zipped past the exploding LR-80 and set on an arc to return to the battle. A few RA's were following now, firing off salvos that had little chance of hitting at that range. One flew too close to the LR-80’s explosion and caught fire. Zavik and Dani made their turn around and took notice of the portal being used to bring the attackers to earth. Two more RAs and an LR-80 had just exited the portal. The portals have no time delay or recharge period. Ships can move through portals just as fast as they move through space. An invading force could be upon Earth before the portals could be shut down. Zavik then realized how vulnerable Earth was. Other planets have larger defenses, ones that are usually subsidized by the Galactic Council. Earth was left on its own.
The LR-80 moved away from the portal to join the fight. Behind it, Zavik could see the energy to sustain the portal dimming. The power was being cut. The next instant the lights went dark and the sphere of warped space dissipated. It was now just a ring of metal in space. Anyone trying to enter the connecting portal would simply keep
flying through normal space. Too bad, Zavik thought, that they wouldn't be torn to pieces, or stuck in a region of space that doesn't exist. Precautions, though, had to be taken, to ensure that didn't happen on normal travel. A failsafe was activated in the detection of power loss to one portal; the other would automatically shut off.
"Zavik," Mike shouted on the comm. "Portals are shut down."
"I saw,” he said with a sigh. “Now we can eliminate the rest of them. Your backup better hurry, or there won't be anything left for them to shoot."
The Rinada, along with the help of the defenders, systematically destroyed the remaining RA's, who were in disarray after the loss of their reinforcements. Clearly, they had hoped the continued influx of ships would overwhelm the small defense force. Closing the portal was a daring gamble few races would consider. It would take up to two months to reopen the portal, and Eris was an important trade route for Earth. The attackers used that portal hoping it would be too valuable to shut down, at least until they had enough fighters to complete their mission.
Reinforcements arrived and lent their heavy arms fire to removing the last of the LR-80's from Earth’s space. The threat was over, and the supplies delivered by Zavik were still safe.
"Khan?" The Commander chimed on the comm.
"Yes, Commander?"
"I want to thank you for your efforts today. This could have been much worse without your assistance.” His voice was cold and direct.
"It was my arm twisted pleasure.”
"Yes, well, the U.E.F. will compensate you handsomely for your services, and we are indebted to you."
Keying the mic off. "That must've hurt." Speaking to the Commander again. "Don't get too used to it. We just happen to be at the right place at the wrong time. Don't put me on your speed dial next time you're in trouble."
"Certainly we won't," the Commander responded. "Either way, your supplies are unloaded, and you are free to carry on your way. "
"Thank you,” Zavik said quickly.
"One more thing, you will submit a report within a standard week."
"I'll do my best,” he said, doing his best not to laugh.
"Good, and I'll do my best to make sure your funds are transferred within the standard week as well,” the Commander said tauntingly.
"Then our business is finished I guess."
The comm cut off for a moment before clicking on again. "Zavik?"
"Yes, Lieutenant Colonial?" He drew out the rank.
"You know this mess is about to get real sticky. This attack’s just the latest in a string of attacks, and we, I mean the Force, is getting real tired of all the runaround and excuses the Council gives. We're prepared to fight for survival, and they know it. It's what we do, what we've always done. I’d like to know you're on our side, Zavik."
"It's no secret I've got no love for the Force anymore, but I want to help Earth, and you are very vulnerable still. That's why I took this current shipping job over higher paying, smuggling gigs. But, I'm only one man, with one little ship. I can't fight a war.” Zavik paused to catch his thoughts. “We've both seen the preamble to war before, we both know another's coming. We don't have the resources or the allies to last. The Council has made sure our resources remain thin, and the Chokmnds have driven most would-be allies to the side. I’m no diplomat, and I'm not much of a fighter anymore."
"Not from what I saw," Mike said. "You still got some fight’n ya, you know it. And I can hook you up with a diplomat. One that knows this will come to war if things aren't changed." There was silence. "Come on Zavik, you crave more than the life of a delivery boy for the bureaucrats that kicked you out. How else do you explain outfitting that ship of yours like that? Most cargo ships can barely fend off small pirates, much less do what you did today."
Zavik sat silently for a moment then said, "I'll meet with him, fine"
"Her, actually,” Mike revealed. “Mary Hains"
"Hains?"
"Yes, the earth ambassador to the Galactic Council,” he confirmed.
"Where is she? Can I even meet her? Won't she be too well guarded?"
"She's at the Galactic Center now, set to ask the Council for more supplies. After this incident, she might ask for increased security as well. Doubt we’ll get either, but this is what will get you to meet her. She no doubt will want to meet the hero who saved this station."
"Hero?" Zavik said. "Great."
"Ha-ha, well that's what I'll tell her at least. Just meet her, see what happens. She won't reinstate you to the force, but you wouldn’t accept that anyway. She may point you in a direction that's a lot better than this. Help you find your place again."
"Yeah, we'll see.” Zavik wasn’t too optimistic. “I'll keep in touch."
The comm clicked off and Zavik and Dani sat in silence. Dani eventually broke the silence. "You really going to meet her?"
"Yeah, see what she can offer. We both know this could end badly for humans. If we can help, we will. And besides you still look pale from that battle. You could use a little more action in your life."
"Funny,” she said rolling her eyes and turning away.
The Rinada keyed the portal for the Galactic Center; it was on the other side of Earth. Luckily for Zavik it was not shutdown. They approached the portal and headed off to the busiest system in the galaxy.
Politician
“Ambassador Hains?” The pilot’s harsh voice startled her.
“Yes, Grissom?” she said, letting her eyes adjust to the light.
“We’re preparing to land at Cedona ma’am.”
“Impressive," she said. "The travel time from Irie was quicker than expected.”
“Light travel day for Irie, but Cedona looks like its usual busy self.”
Ambassador Mari Hains gathered her bag and exited the luxurious quarters of her ship. She was representative of the third province of Earth, Newmerica, on the Earth Council. That was in addition to being representative of Earth in galactic affairs as ambassador to the Galactic Council. This was only her third visit to Cedona, the Galactic Center, since her appointment. Her ship, a luxury cruiser designated specifically for diplomats, landed on a platform stationed near the Galactic Council's headquarters.
The planet Cedona was the central hub of galactic activity. All planets were granted embassies and invited to discuss matters of importance with the Council. Even Ambassador Hains couldn’t keep every planet in line. She knew she was bound to run into more races she’d never met. The planet was half covered with water, but the other half was a widespread metropolis. This industrial planet showed little left of the natural life that once flourished.
Although the Chokmnds were the first race to develop the portal technology, Cedona was not the Chokmnd’s home planet. The planet originally had sparse life but was capable of sustaining much more. It was decided, once the Galactic Community was established, that this planet could provide a suitable base for all galactic affairs. This eliminated the need for any race to subject their planet to the demands of an ever-expanding Community, as well as reduced any strategic advantage any race would have by controlling the Galactic Center.
She walked to the exit ramp of her ship. Her head of security, Robert Bendix, was there to greet her. Bendix had been her personal security guard since she was first elected to be a representative. He was always by her side on the long trips she needed to take. He towered over her, and constantly maintained the standard military haircut, despite the fact that he was no longer actually in the Earth military. “Get some rest ma’am?”
“Tried," she admitted holding out her hand, "but I was too busy thinking of my hearing with the Council.”
“Yes," he said, pausing for a moment before continuing, "well I’m afraid you’re going to have more to discuss with them than you thought.”
“What do you mean?”
The door to the walkway opened and a set of stairs unfolded from below the craft. The orange glow of the rising sun flooded the opening of the ship, blinding them for an
instant. Bendix took in the surroundings of the ship. The floating platform was littered with aliens going about their business. “Perhaps it would be best if we went somewhere more private.”
“Of course, we’ll head to my office.”
They boarded a small skiff sitting at the edge of the platform. It took them on a five-minute ride to the front of the Earth embassy. The capital city, Eturyn, was a vast cityscape, like most of Cedona. Tall skyscrapers obscured the overcrowded skyline. The skiff weaved in and around the numerous buildings teeming with the abundant activity required in a central galactic hub. Ambassador Hains' long brown hair blew freely in the open cockpit. She closed her eyes as always to block out the frightening look of oncoming ships and hummed her favorite tune in her head. The pilots on Cedona were some of the best at knowing their way around, but it still made her queasy at such high speeds. Bendix sensed this displeasure and politely asked the driver if he could slow down a bit. He obliged, but not before muttering something unpleasant in a language neither knew. As they approached the embassy the ship slowly descended from the sky. The surrounding embassies showcased a frenzy of the day-to-day activities of well-established systems. Skiffs lined the streets, ready to taxi visitors away at a moments notice. A steady stream of alien life filed into each building. Mari struggled to remember if there was ever a day her embassy saw such activity. She looked at Earth’s embassy and was ashamed at the rather lethargic atmosphere around it. There weren’t enough open relations to warrant such activity.
Ambassador Hains and Bendix exited the skiff and walked up the concrete steps toward the Earth embassy. The building was still grander than anything that had been built on Earth in hundreds of years. The entrance was large and open, only a single desk in the center occupied the room. Ambassador Hains greeted the young lady working the front desk and headed straight for her office on the second floor. The red-carpeted stairs wrapped around the front desk, leading to a landing on the second floor. Her office was down a hallway lined with past ambassador pictures. It was only the third time she had been to her office as well. It still seemed foreign to her. The office was the same as it had been when formal ambassador Raicor resigned, amid allegations of selling Earth technology to Rovun pirates. He was still in prison on Earth, would be until he died. Mari Hains was picked to be the eighth ambassador to the Galactic Council, chosen from among the nine province representatives. The appointment was for life unless six of the nine representatives voted to have you removed. That was a rare occurrence, having been done only once, to Raicor.