Phoenix Reborn

by Joseph Mackay

  “I just have to wonder if an invasion would really hinge on the success of one small attack.”

  “I understand; I had that same thought. But they did have intelligence that our forces were spread thin, so they thought they could establish a foothold. With the way slipstream drives go, you never know if your intelligence is accurate at eight thousand light years.”

  “So if they have someone spying on us, why didn’t the spy just report the success of an attack, rather than wait for a column of frigates?”

  “Maybe Harruhama feared we would intercept his spy and send him false data?” Marlena suggested, not really sure what the answer was.

  It sounded plausible enough for Alex. He knew that reliable data transfer would be difficult with spies that far out into the colonies.

  “Mom, I’ve been wondering for a long time, but never been able to figure something out,” Alex began, changing the subject while the two looked out the small windows at the endless night beyond.

  “What’s that?”

  “Why don’t the people of Earth develop other resources, rather than trying to enslave the colonies?”

  “That’s a good question, Alex. I think William would have been better at explaining an answer like that, he was far better with political motives than I am.”

  “It just seems like there would be enough stuff in the galaxy that we could trade it, you know? I don’t understand why a military leader would want to rule people.”

  Marlena smiled at her son. He was intelligent for his age and asking all the right kind of questions. She knew that he was going to make an excellent leader someday.

  A red sensor alert interrupted the conversation.

  “Looks like we’re not alone out here,” Marlena said suddenly.

  “Should I slipstream us away?” Alex asked hesitantly.

  “No, let’s see who it is. We can always slipstream if there’s a problem.”

  The two watched on the sensors as a large group of ships moved in their direction. At this sensor range, it would take hours before they could even identify the vessels, let alone hail them, so they sat back to wait. They didn’t wait as long as they thought they would watching as the blips on the sensor jumped, closing half the distance.

  “Someone is slipstreaming them toward us,” Marlena said, sitting upright in her chair.

  The blips closed the distance farther, bringing them into a higher sensor detail range.

  Alex moved over to the navigation station to watch the reports come in from the computer.

  “Looks like two small vessels and five Battle Frigates,” Alex announced.

  “Looks like a bad attempt at an ambush,” Marlena agreed.

  “I know, right? Insulting that they think they have a chance against us,” Alex said with a laugh. “Should I sound the retreat?”

  Marlena laughed despite herself. She knew better than to underestimate Harruhama this close to Earth. From what she could tell, they were in Mars’ orbit but on the opposite side of Sol from the red planet.

  “No, but why don’t you go suit up, before they slipstream right on top of us. Be careful out there. We’re not taking any chances, Alex,” Marlena warned, giving her son a quick hug.

  “I’ll be fine, Mom,” Alex said, smiling as he went down the stairs into the crew quarters and onto the cargo bay.

  ~ ~ ~

  The battle group was progressing smoothly using a series of small slipstreams to close the gap between them and the Gortha ship.

  Connor was getting pretty good at streaming to exactly where he wanted as he bounced his way over to his enemy. The ship had appeared on his sensor a long time before it had been reported by Vertigo. Connor decided to keep the information to himself, since he wasn’t sure why they were waiting to say anything.

  He was confused that his instruments, which were so accurate at reporting location and distance, even ahead of the Fenris, were having trouble giving him any details about his enemies. To his flight computer, he was looking at a generic Gortha attack ship.

  “I expected something worse,” Connor said to himself.

  “Worse than you think,” a voice replied in a whisper.

  “What is that supposed to mean?” he asked, but got no reply.

  Connor was getting a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach as he got into visual range of the vessel. He felt like he was supposed to remember something, like something in a dream. But he couldn’t quite place it. The thought was lost to him when he looked out at the ship and felt a wave of nausea overtake him.

  “I am unable to verify the Gortha ship. My instruments are giving me some kind of feedback,” Connor said into his communicator.

  “I have experienced that before; their ships do that. You have to focus through it and relax. Use your instruments and fight hard,” Vertigo’s voice sounded over the headset as a reply.

  Something didn’t sit right with Connor. In none of their simulations did the Gortha ships behave that way.

  “A second ship has emerged from the first, everyone be ready to fire,” Vertigo said.

  “Wait, when did you fight Gortha before?” Connor asked, the pieces of the puzzle not fitting together in his head.

  “Eagle Nebula; don’t worry about it, it’s time to focus, kid.”

  Connor thought hard through the waves of confusion. He’d known Austin was aboard the Griswold when he saved it and had known that battle wasn’t against Gortha, but against some kind of a rebel faction. Adam Malavich from Atmos XI had told him that it wasn’t a Gortha attack.

  “All ships, engage!” the order sounded over the communicator.

  Connor watched as a Ra squadron flew forward at the second Gortha ship, which had emerged from the first. The larger Battle Frigates began firing auto cannons at the two ships, which separated quickly. They moved fast and with the most precise flying Connor had ever witnessed. Before Hati or Fenris had even moved, five of the RA fighters were down.

  ~ ~ ~

  “Mom, that’s the ship that Jordon Malavich described!” Alex screamed into his communicator while he was flying circles around the incoming cannon fire. All the ships and weapons seemed slow to him; he felt like he could take down an entire fleet in Skoll.

  “Which ship?” Marlena’s voice was calm, like she was talking a walk.

  “The wolf-faced armor with seven wings! Mom, I think that’s Connor!” Alex said, his voice rising with the gravity of fighting his brother.

  As he spoke the two opposing Battle Suit Vessels began to attack. The larger one moved toward the Tizona and the smaller, toward Skoll.

  “Mom, be careful of that thing. It looks slow, but I know what these suits can do,” Alex warned as he disabled another Ra fighter.

  A voice crackled in Alex’s head as he turned to face the black suit coming in at him. “Hati!” it exclaimed like it was greeting an old friend, or family member.

  Alex shook the thought away, and focused on raising his defenses. Fully armored, he danced Skoll back as the ship Hati came in with a furious charge. Alex knew it was his brother piloting the ship before he saw the boy’s face in the cockpit. It moved with precision and skill that no other pilot would have had a chance to match. Alex backed away, desperately trying to open a communication line to his brother while fending off the barrage of attacks coming from the ship.

  Marlena had no trouble staying ahead of the larger Battle Suit, but was beginning to feel the stress of Ra fighters trying to flank her and heavy cannon fire form the larger Battle Frigates. She had no time to focus on what her sons might be doing, instead relying on instinct to stay alive. She was gaining ground in the battle, taking down two Ra fighters in a spinning maneuver while she fired her own cannons, then the larger battle suit launched a barrage of missiles her way.

  ~ ~ ~

  He was confused and frustrated. Connor found that if he looked directly at the Gortha ship, he felt sick to his stomach. He was throwing everything he had at it, with the support of five Frigates and the remains of
a squadron of Ra fighters, to no avail. The ship was too fast and managed to avoid his attacks like it knew they were coming. To make matters worse, the whispers in his head seemed to be weeping and saying the word “Skoll” over and over again.

  Then the voice over the communicator changed. For an instant, it sounded like it was going to say his name, “Con.” It sounded surprised, but ended with a squealing garble of strange Gortha words. The strange language made Connor even more nauseated and he began having to focus on his breathing rather than the fight.

  The ship he was after was making short work of the Ra fighters, but had not attacked him at all. No matter how hard Connor came on, the ship would just dance away, leaving him unharmed. The pieces of the puzzle were coming together slowly in his head. Until it hit him that Alex had turned against the UEDF and in a fight that Vertigo had claimed was Gortha.

  The Gortha ship grabbed Hati by the shoulders and spun around to the back side, putting itself against his back and fighting off the last of the Ra fighters from there.

  “Back to back,” Connor said to himself, tears filling his chocolate-colored eyes.

  “Back to back,” the voice in his head confirmed.

  “Alex?” Connor said into the com.

  ~ ~ ~

  From his position in the Battle Frigate Nostus, Flagship of the 1st fleet, General Harruhama watched the battle with a feeling of growing anxiety. He had been monitoring the communications, and had watched his Ra squadrons get destroyed by the two legendary ships, Tizona and Skoll. When Hati and Fenris joined the fight, he’d thought the tide would turn, and was frustrated when the two other ships managed to hold their ground.

  The operative on Aeris VII had given him good intelligence on when the two ships, which were proving to be a huge thorn in his side, would be attempting to arrive in the Sol system ahead of the convoy retreating from the battle in the Hourglass Nebula. Harruhama had figured that with his two prized Battle Suit Vessels and a standard Battle Group he could overwhelm two small ships. He was beginning to feel that he might be wrong.

  Vertigo and Raptor had been reporting back the confusion brought on by their 4th inhibitor chips working properly, but had continued to attack, until now. Harruhama was watching Skoll take position at the back of Hati, and heard Connor’s voice over the com.

  “Alex?” the voice asked.

  “What are you talking about, Raptor?” came Vertigo’s reply.

  It was getting out of hand very quickly.

  “I think this Gortha ship is my brother! I think we’re being tricked!” Raptor exclaimed as he turned his ship to attack the Battle Frigates.

  “Don’t believe it, kid! The Gortha are tricking you, like they tricked your brother!” Vertigo said quickly.

  “You’re an idiot,” Connor retorted as Hati began firing upon one of the Frigates.

  General Harruhama had heard enough. He knew it was a gamble to bring the boy out here, but he’d hoped it would pay off. It did not.

  From the commander station on the Nostus, General Harruhama reluctantly began entering the codes for the “Inhibitor Contingency.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Deep in the virtual world of his OMBI, the subconscious apparition of Connor Pereira was working on developing a new attack plan for a space battle, with a box of crayons and a piece of white paper. He was sitting on a grassy hill under a tree with his friends Omega and Hati, who was in a wolfish form.

  They had been laughing a moment ago, until the world had grown dark.

  “What’s happening?” Connor asked.

  “They are trying to kill us,” Omega replied.

  “Why?” Connor asked, his voice filled with trepidation.

  “That doesn’t matter. The blocks that were installed are being overloaded. We don’t have much time,” Omega said, looking at Hati.

  The wolf whimpered softly and dissipated from the virtual world. Omega looked at Connor, putting his hand on the boy’s shoulder.

  “I am sorry, my friend, this is where we say goodbye,” Omega said with a smile.

  “Am I going to die?” Connor asked quietly.

  “I hope not. I am routing out the sync connects we have made.”

  “I don’t understand!” Connor cried desperately.

  As if in response, a large bomb appeared on the ground beside them, the countdown timer moving downward quickly.

  Omega put his hand on Connor’s shoulder and smiled.

  “You have been a good friend, Connor,” he said as he began to shield Connor from the bomb as best he could.

  ~ ~ ~

  In the cockpit of Hati, Connor’s conscious mind felt the change. The ship had disconnected itself from his consciousness and began to drift slightly. Worse, his OMBI had started growing hot on his arm and he felt a profound sense of sadness.

  He glanced outside of his window to see his brother’s face looking back at him and smiling. Then he felt his arm erupt in pain. As the inhibitors detonated, the connection between the boy and the OMBI ceased, causing ripples of agony to shoot through his body.

  It wasn’t quick; the shock caused Connor to go into convulsions. He could feel the blood pouring from his nose as his body slammed around the cockpit. All his muscles tensed at once, and the air was forced out of his lungs, leaving him struggling for breath. He forced his eyes open to see the control panel rushing up to meet him, and then, nothing.

  ~ ~ ~

  Alex watched his brother collapse with a feeling of helpless desperation. As a wave of anger washed over him, he turned the full force of his weapons upon the Frigates, meaning to destroy them all without mercy. As he began to fire, he felt something heavy hit him in the side.

  The large Battle Suit Vessel tackled him hard, knocking him away from where his brother’s ship lifelessly drifted. Alex took a quick look at his sensor and saw Tizona coming back from its desperate maneuver between the Battle Frigates to dodge the barrage of missiles the other ship had fired.

  As he faced off with the other Battle Suit, he could see the familiar face of Austin Hughes in the cockpit and shook his head. The two clashed, as they had many times, twin swords bouncing hard against a longer blade and shield. Alex knew he had to focus to win this fight and could not spare any distraction. All the same, he opened a communication channel.

  “Mom, Connor is down. I think they detonated his OMBI,” Alex said briefly into the mic.

  He heard her screaming on the other side, trying to deny the fact that her youngest son could be dead. Alex advanced forward quickly, putting Vertigo on the defensive, sweeping his swords back and forth to buy himself some time.

  “He could still be alive, Mom; we have to get him out of here, now,” Alex said, trying to remain calm and focused.

  Vertigo pushed him back with several heavy swings from the larger ship. Alex could feel the strength behind the swings as he attempted to deflect them and realized he was going to have to outthink his old friend quickly, until Marlena stepped in.

  Tizona hit the larger Battle Suit Vessel on its side with a barrage of heavy cannon fire that sent it spinning sideways for a brief moment. Free from the fight temporarily and still dodging the heavy Cannons of the Battle Frigates, Skoll grabbed the side of Tizona and held on until they were next to where Hati was floating inert thorough the battlefield.

  “Put him in the cargo hold. Let’s get out of here, Alex!” Marlena ordered over the com.

  Alex grabbed Hati with Skoll’s powerful hands and pushed the ship into the open cargo hold with all his might. When he was secured, Alex began the process of opening a slipstream portal back to Aeris VII.

  “Hold on, Mom, almost got it!” Alex said quickly, focusing on the portal.

  “Alex, he’s secure, let’s...” Marlena began, but ended suddenly.

  The portal opened ahead of the ships and Alex began guiding Tizona through.

  “Mom, what’s wrong? Mom!?” Alex was screaming into his communicator when he got hit from the side.

  ~ ~ ~

 
She had seen the man out of the corner of her eye before he charged. She managed to get out of her seat and roll to the side, avoiding the knife blade entirely. The plain-looking man grinned at her as he advanced with the knife, Marlena running out of room quickly.

  She felt the ship lurch suddenly, and, using the distraction, came forward quickly landing a few light punches before rolling behind the assassin and running down the steps into the crew quarters. Looking back up past the man, she could see the fading image of Skoll fighting off the larger Battle Suit Vessel as Tizona moved through the slipstream.

  The man moved slowly down the stairs toward her, measuring her ability with his eyes. The operative walked with the poise of a cat hunting its prey.

  “Nicely done, most don’t see it coming.”

  Marlena didn’t reply as she picked herself up off the floor. Her mind was somewhere between the plight of her two sons and the man preventing her from saving them. She was unarmed, but had weapons stashed all over the ship. She took a step back toward the cargo hold, causing the man to come on quickly.

  He slashed forward with his knife, just missing her neck before reversing the direction of the blade and coming down hard at her chest. To her credit, Marlena moved with the grace of a seasoned warrior, staying a step ahead of the deadly dagger. The man had tried to finish it quick; he knew better than to underestimate this woman who was his primary target, the leader of the Independent Colonies, the war hero, the mother of the only person to ever fight him to a standstill.

  She had the appearance of a girl, but the spirit of a lion, and the operative was not going to fail a second time. She managed to stay ahead of his weapon, backing off into the cargo hold where the large, white wolf-knight suit lay crumpled on the floor. As he came on, the woman fell back over the railing of the walkway, onto the top of a crate, and ran over to a storage locker. The assassin followed as quickly as he could, trying to prevent the woman from getting access to a weapon.