Belinea

by Andrew Mack

  Jones pointed at the moving, blinking dot. “That. It barely has a heat register, but it moves way too fast not to be man-made.”

  Willits looked at it for a few more seconds. He said, “The craft isn’t giving off heat, the bodies are. Send in the drones.”

  Jones hit a few more spots on the screen as the armed drones took off from below.

  There was a silence on the bridge. Everyone on board Taz’s all-black main ship could hear the engines shut down. The First Officer Verkato, looked out the main windows of the bridge into space. He saw the planet of become larger as the ship finally came into an orbit around Torsalli, on the opposite side of the Space Port. The officer on the communication board very quietly said, “ Engine shut down complete, Stealth orbit activated.”

  The ship was drifting in orbit around Torsalli, with no engines on. The communication officer kept looking at the monitor in front of him. After twenty seconds, he said, “Open bombing bay door two.”

  The small doors underneath the ship slowly began opening. The bombing bay was utterly dark and nothing more than a vertical tube with a long, thin missile-like bomb. A small ray of light from the Torsalli sun exposed the ship and lit up the bomb bay area. As the cargo bay doors finally opened all the way, the audio from the logistics officer said, “Two minutes.”

  The ship continued a quiet stealth orbit. They were now making their way around the sun to the dark side of the planet. The bridge officer said over the audio “T-Team, Waiting to acquire beacon signal.”

  On the Space Port, an AuFa reconnaissance officer saw the dot on the screen of Taz’s main ship fall into what looked like an orbit. She then checked a few switches, trying to verify a few things. After a few seconds, she knew this was something. She yelled, “Lieutenant Commander Waterford, I have something.”

  Waterford was at a table with Malovex in the central area of the bridge. He looked up and walked over. Lord Maolvex, who needed a break, followed over just to see what it was. As the two got to the reconnaissance area screen, The officer said, “This ship, sir, came out of orbit very quickly, then just disappeared.”

  Waterford questioned, “Disappeared?”

  The AuFa officer continued, “Yes, sir. But it showed up on no scanners or radar below, so unless it burned up in orbit, it is still out there. Likely in a stealth orbit.”

  Malovex’s eyes got big. “That’s Taz!”

  Waterford was astonished at such a quick conclusion, which literally could have had several other explanations. He said, “Can you give me visual?”

  Malovex had already turned around and was sprinting off the bridge. “Waterford, send me those coordinates. Launch the four security F-81 Sirator’s now!”

  Malovex stormed off the bridge towards the docking slips.

  Taz continued to fly the Valkyrie at an altitude just above the treeline. A couple of warning lights popped up on his tiny screen. He tapped the officer riding next to him on his elbow. The officer looked down, and Taz pointed to the warning lights going off. The officer repositioned himself with one hand still on the sidebar, the other on the trigger of his rifle. The other three men did the same.

  The drones came upon them in the next few seconds. They fired a few shots, but Taz, with his zig-zag flying, maneuvered away. The soldiers on the side got a few shots off with their rifles, mostly missing the drones. Taz had continued flying, going up and down, side to side, to evade the drones in the complete dark. Taz tapped one of the soldiers again and made a circle motion with his fingers. The soldier nodded. Taz spun the Valkyrie around in a 180-degree turn, stabilizing the craft, so it was now practically just hovering. The drones flew right up on it and opened their bellies to stop. But by doing so, they were incapable of shooting except up and away. The soldiers all got clean looks and blasted the drones with their rifles.

  Taz turned the craft around again and headed deep into the Kapoor Estate.

  Willits was mounting his rifle. He said to Jones, “You got a location for their drop zone in the valley.”

  Jones kept hitting buttons on the small portable screen. “Few more seconds ….coming up now, got it. They flew in from sector 17, and a small ship was detected eight kilometers prior, going off-the screen in the valley.”

  Willits was now positioned with the rifle in the window. “Send in the Cannon Drone to that location.”

  Jones hit a few buttons. Through the commotion, Vihaan was waking up. He stood up and said, “What the fuck is going on?”

  Jones turned to Willits and said, “Nolan, they are coming this way.”

  Willits said, “Alright, don’t spray the FH gas until I tell you.”

  Vihaan was now really confused. “The what gas?”

  Jones answered, “FH gas. It knocks you out awhile and leaves you with a huge headache, but it doesn’t kill you.”

  Willits added, “We set it up all over the entrances to the DAG house.”

  Vihaan, still rubbing his eyes, said, “I thought you said you want to kill these fuckers?”

  Willits continued while looking through his scope. “I do. But first, I want to know who they work for.”

  Malovex jumped into his ship. He buckled in quickly. Before even unlocking the moor lines, he fired up his engines and immediately took off. The moor lines ripped out of place. He was flying around the side of the base to catch up to the other F-81’s that had already taken off thirty seconds prior. He yelled into his intercom, “Waterford. I need those coordinates!”

  Taz and his Valkyrie were now visually identified by both Willits and Jones. Willits looked out the window with his rifle ready. Jones was looking at his binoculars focused on the craft. Jones stated, “Artillery TC, I believe a Valkyrie. One pilot, two soldiers, riding on each side. Velocity is ninety KPH.”

  Taz identified the DAG guest house building, tapping the elbow again of the soldier standing/riding next to him. Taz then pointed at the guest house. The soldier had a sack around him that he opened up with his free hand. He took out what looked like a small handheld rocket. He flipped a switch on it. On the back of the tiny missile, a small blue light began blinking. As Taz got closer to the DAG house, he slowed down to almost a hover. He made a pass around the actual house until he was five meters above the front door.

  Jones, still looking through his binoculars with one hand and his other on a button on the small portable screen, said, “I got a visual. I believe Taz is the pilot.”

  Vihaan said in shock, not being able to see that far away. “What!?! Taz?”

  Willits, refocusing his scope on his rifle, then said, “Come on, take the bait.”

  The soldier on the Valkyrie then shot the handheld rocket into the plants and grass directly in front of the DAG house. Taz immediately sped away, going right back out the way he came. Jones, with his hand on the button, asked Willits, “Spray the gas?”

  Willits immediately answered, “No! Shit, they never got in range.”

  Jones, still looking at his binoculars, said, “They are flying away.”

  Willits then tried to pick them up with the scope, but they were moving too fast. He muttered to himself, “What the fuck are they doing?”

  Willits then refocused back on to the house. He focused on the small rocket that landed in front of the house but had not exploded. Through his lens, he saw the blue light flashing on it. Willits eyes got huge as he said, “Oh shit, we gotta get out of here.”

  He stood up and tapped Jones on the shoulder, who just saw the same thing with his binoculars. Jones first grabbed the portable screen, then Vihaan by the shirt. He yelled, “Come on!”

  All three sprinted for the stairs and began going down them as Vihaan yelled, “What the fuck is going on?!”

  First Officer Verkato, on the bridge of Taz’s main ship in space, kept looking out the windows before finally hearing from the logistics officer, “Beacon acquired. Twenty seconds.�
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  The officer on the other side then said, “Sir, we got company. Four fighters coming in fast, bearing 2-7-0 from our position.”

  First Officer Verkato looked down at the Logistics officer. “Hurry….”

  The Logistics officer looked up briefly at him before going back to his screen. “In range in ….ten seconds.”

  Taz was in full speed retreat back to the Civilian Transport ship they had come from. He first needed to get back over the hill, quickly. Taz piloted the Valkyrie at top speed and a higher altitude now. Time was far more critical than being seen.

  Willits and Jones jumped into their own TC craft, which was directly below their hidden tree stand. Vihaan barely made it to the back seat, before Willits took off. They escalated quickly, buckling themselves in as they flew. Willits got just above the treeline and was trying to get out of the valley. Vihaan yelled again, “What the fuck is going on?!”

  The Logistics officer said, “Launch.”

  Immediately, a missile bomb was launched out of the bomb bay doors of Taz’s main ship. It had three little wing pop-ups that flared to help it navigate. It continued, accelerating to the surface of Torsalli, specifically, the Kapoor Estate.

  The First Officer Verkato said, “Evasive action, get us out of here, Lieutenant. “

  The ship began turning, as all engines fired up. It slowly got out of orbit, facing away from the planet. “Increase velocity, get us to cruising speed.”

  The ship began accelerating even faster now. The logistics officer yelled, “Ten seconds to make the jump to HX speed.”

  One of the F-81’s could see in the distance the ship was trying to get away. He yelled, “Ship identified. He is trying to escape, fire!”

  As the ship was about to make the jump, the logistics officer yelled, “Three, two...”

  Two of the F-81 pilots launched missiles, one ahead of the other. Just before the jump, the first one caught Taz’s ship in the right engine, sending it spinning. The second one, because of the spin, missed. First Officer Verkato yelled, “We’ve been hit, get back online. Mount your guns!”

  Jones said to Willits, “Nolan, step on it!”

  Willits clipped a couple of trees, trying to navigate in the complete dark. He had just made it almost to the top of the hill when Vihaan heard something falling from the sky. He turned to look back. The missile sounded like a rocket overhead, and quickly, by virtue of targeting its beacon, landed directly next to the house. The explosion was massive. In a blink of an eye, everything within a hundred meters was annihilated. It left a hole in the ground twenty meters deep. Dust and debris were shooting out everywhere into the pitch-black night. With all its debris, the explosion had reached them on the TC just as it eclipsed the hill. A chunk of debris rock got into one of the four-rotor blades, disabling it by chewing it up. Once the blade stopped working, it sent the rest of the craft into a tailspin to the forest below.

  Willits got a little stability just before crashing it into the surface below. As it spun around and flipped a few times, the TC landed upright, with all three of its passengers still buckled in.

  First Officer Verkato on Taz’s main ship yelled, “Turn us around, fire at will.”

  The first F-81 came in closer now, trying to lock its missiles on another target. He kept scanning the screen, but the ship was still spinning because of the first missile hit. As soon as it stabilized, the ship turned toward them and began to accelerate, with smoke pouring out of one of its engines. Just as the F-81 pilot got a lock, a side gun from Taz’s ship got off a directly connected shot, exploding the F-81. The other F-81 took a couple of shots at Taz’s ship but missed.

  First Officer Verkato yelled, “Status?”

  The Logistics officer yelled, “Heavy damage to engine two. Internal diagnostic says we can make adjustments to get one quarter HX speed in two minutes!”

  The reconnaissance officer said, “Two more F-81 fighter’s dead ahead.”

  First Officer Verkato jumped down to the control cockpit. He yelled, “See if we can outmaneuver them until we can get out of here! Spin move.”

  Taz’s ship went into a spiral towards the planet’s surface, spinning and swirling at the same time. The next two F-81’s now rapidly approached and slowed down to get a good shot off, before realizing the ship kept spinning all the way around now and was climbing right back towards them. As it flew by, the two F-81’s got shots off but missed. One of Taz’s gunners got a shot off, crippling an F-81 with a shot to one of its engines. The second F-81 had come back around now as well, getting off a shot that hit Taz’s ship in the main body.

  Willits and Jones unbuckled themselves. Both had cuts all over their bodies. Willits turned around and unbuckled Vihaan, who only had minor damage because he was sitting in the back. Vihaan yelled, “What the fuck was that?!?”

  Willits replied, “That was a Mortar Missile from another ship in space. That thing Taz planted was a beacon telling it where to hit.”

  Jones got out his portable recon screen and opened it. In a few seconds, the entire area of the Kapoor Estate was on display in front of him. He focused on sector 17, the valley near where Taz and his team landed. “ I got a visual on the Cannon Drone.”

  Vihaan just looked back over the hill and could now see the enormous fireball from the missile explosion, one hundred meters into the sky. In disbelief, he said, “Holy shit!”

  Willits said, “Vi, time to call your security and tell them to get us.”

  Vihaan hesitated, still looking at the fireball before he grabbed his wrist and said, “Security, lock into my location, transportation for three.”

  Willits walked over to the portable screen Jones was operating. Jones said, “Ten seconds until location.”

  Willits pointed and added “Scan that area there. I bet they landed right in the valley.”

  The camera on the Cannon Drone showed the valley, but it was pitch black. Willits said, “Flip to night vision and infrared, the engines have to still be hot.”

  Jones hit a switch, and as soon as he did, it showed an orange spot further in the distance on the camera. Jones pointed and said, “There. Lock into that heat source.”

  The Cannon Drone flew right to the spot, and with the assistance of the night vision, Willits and Jones could see it was a Civilian Transport. Willits said, “Fucker flew in on a stolen Civilian Transport. He has to have Belinean connections.”

  Jones replied, “Yeah, but how? And who?”

  Willits, wiping blood off his face, said, “I don’t know. But at least we now know where the mole is.”

  Jones replied, “Blow it up?”

  Willits answered. “No. Let’s see if we can get a visual and a kill when they get back, should be any second.”

  Above in space, Taz’s main ship was still in a dogfight with three F-81’s. One of the F-81’s had taken a hit and was flying at fifty percent strength. Another shot on Taz’s ship from one of F-81’s hit the same damaged engine, crippling the engine entirely. However, the F-81 took a direct hit from one of the ship’s guns, blowing it into a thousand pieces instantly.

  The logistics officer yelled, “Critical failure, engine two. We cannot get to HX speed.”

  First Officer Verkato, still next to the cockpit chair, yelled back, “We are gonna have to fight our way out of this.”

  The F-81 came around again, this time connecting on a shot to the first engine, causing Taz’s black main ship to go spinning again. As it did, one of the gunners locked into the wounded F-81, getting off four shots, connecting one. As it did, the reconnaissance officer yelled, “Inbound ship, we got another hostile.”

  First Officer Verkato was looking at his screen, and said, “Where, I don’t see it?!?”

  The F-81 squared up and began firing right at the cockpit area as the two ships were on course to collide with one another. The Logistics officer yelled, “F-81!
Dead ahead!!”

  Both the ships shot at each other, all shots hitting. Taz’s all-black main ship, despite destroying the final F-81 with a direct shot, was in critical failure as the F-81 managed to get a shot on the first engine.

  First Officer Verkato yelled, “Can we get out of here?”

  Malovex’s ship came flying upward right next to them, directly hitting the belly of the ship.

  The logistics officer, after the ship regained some stability, looked at the screen, and yelled, “Critical failure everywhere. Getting analysis now.”

  First Officer Verkato, still looking at his screen, shouted, “Where the fuck is that other ship?!?”

  The reconnaissance officer pointed to the windows and said, “There!”

  Outside the windows, Malovex’s ship was coming in a slow spiral, until finally leveling off and getting off four perfect shots that all directly hit Taz’s main black ship. The ship exploded immediately as Malovex flew by.

  Taz was almost back at the landing site of the stolen Civilian Transport onboard the Valkyrie. As they got closer, Taz could see something odd floating twenty meters away from the ship. He immediately stopped and tapped one of his soldiers on the elbow, pointing at the object. The Cannon Drone was three meters long, with one large cannon being held up by four large rotors.

  Taz’s soldiers, because it was pitch black, were struggling to see the drone, as the night vision had a hard time picking it up because there was barely any heat coming off it.

  Willits pointed at his screen. “There, turn the drone towards that, flash the camera on it!”

  Immediately a bright flashlight lit up Taz’s Valkyrie from the Cannon Drone. Taz responded by going into a dive, as the Cannon Drone took one shot at the Valkyrie, but missed.