The Last Spartan 1: Different Paths

by A. E. McCullough

  Special Agent Johnson moved up to a young tech, tapped him on the shoulder and commanded, “Report.”

  Slightly startled at being singled out, the tech stammered for a second before beginning his briefing. “Well sir, it seems that the Nemesis is a Cerberus class warship, which interesting enough was originally designed and built back in the mid twenty-first century by what was known as NASA. When the UNCF was formed, it annexed all remaining Cerberus warships and reclassified them as a destroyer class. They served with distinction until they were decommissioned in 2090. I didn’t even know any were still in operation…”

  “I don’t need a history lesson about the Nemesis. I need a sit-rep.”

  “Oh, sorry sir.” He glanced down at his notes. “It seems that the Nemesis was able to slip through our sensors by hiding under some commercial traffic. None of our sensors detected anything during our scans; we have teams working on that now to find out how it was possible. We only discovered the Nemesis a few minutes ago by accident when a passing freighter made a comment over the comms about something being stuck to the underside of the freighter Argentina’s belly. We dispatched a squadron of Dragons to investigate but even before they had left orbit the Nemesis had broken away from the Argentina and made a beeline for the asteroid belt.”

  Special Agent Johnson pointed to the display. “Will the Dragons catch him before he reaches the cover of the asteroids?”

  “I don’t believe so, sir. The Cerberus class warships were extremely fast for their size. Given the head start it had, our best estimate is that the Nemesis will reach the asteroid belt nearly two full minutes before the Dragons.”

  Special Agent Johnson rubbed his chin as he thought about everything he had learned over the last few minutes. The quandary he felt over his next order was obvious to all but he knew his duty and it was clear.

  “Contact the squadron leader and let him know that they are to follow the Nemesis into the asteroid belt using whatever means necessary to disable the Nemesis but they are not allowed to go past the asteroid belt and into galactic space.”

  Chapter 15

  Iaido twisted the Nemesis into a fast roll to avoid an incoming asteroid. “Pax what’s their status?”

  “They are receiving coded transmissions at this time but judging from their lack of deceleration, I would extrapolate that they have been given orders to follow us into the asteroid belt.”

  “Dammit! I was afraid of that,” Iaido snapped as he pushed the ship’s nose down hard to avoid another asteroid.

  Pax’s monotone and calm voice added, “Captain… I would be remiss in my duties if I didn’t inform you that the odds of successfully navigating through an asteroid field at our current speed is three-thousand seven-hundred and twenty to one.”

  Iaido snickered slightly. “I never did like long shots. Pax, take the con. Move us at best speed through this region.”

  “Affirmative.”

  Feeling Pax take the controls, Iaido relaxed. He knew that navigating at speed though an asteroid field was nearly impossible for anyone except an AI. There were just too many variables to keep track of for any degree of safety. He knew the Dragons would also have to slow down as they entered the field or risk running into a stray asteroid. However, they were smaller and much more maneuverable than the Nemesis and without some sort of distraction, they would be within firing range soon.

  Glancing over the data on his HUD, Iaido had a thought and tapped some coordinates into the computer.

  “Pax, the remnants of Jagger Jax’s gang have been raiding this region of the belt. It isn’t too far off. Can we get to this location before the Dragons have missile lock?”

  “Possibly. It all depends on how much they slow down once they reach the asteroid field. At their current speed they will have missile lock in one minute and thirty-two seconds.”

  “Alter course to take us through the center of this area. If the Dread Pirates are like any other gang, they won’t like us coming through their turf without permission. And I can almost bet, they won’t let the Dragons through unmolested.”

  “Affirmative.”

  Iaido tapped the controls on the ship’s intercom. “Jay!”

  “Aye?” came his friend’s response.

  “You and Talia need to get to the bridge ASAP. The next few minutes are going to be hairy.”

  “Roger. We’re on our way.”

  The two companions made their way through the corridors of the ship as quickly as possible, which is easier said than done considering the twists and turns Pax was taking the Nemesis through. Reaching the bridge, Jay got one good look at the HUD which was filled with fast moving white or yellow circles which signified the asteroids. Dead astern were five yellow triangles representing the Dragons; they had closed the distance but weren’t in firing range, yet and the area ahead was littered with white X’s representing unknown bogies.

  As Jay struggled out of his hoverchair and climbed into the operations seat he asked. “Pax, what am I looking at?”

  “We are approaching the coordinates designated by the captain. There are thirty-one bogies of various sizes, mostly small one-man ships, closing in on our position. Their comm traffic is scrambled but I would extrapolate that we have found the Dread Pirates.”

  Iaido asked, “Are they hailing us?”

  “Negative, but they are charging weapons.”

  Iaido swiveled his captain’s chair to face Talia and Jay. “We have a situation. We are between the proverbial hammer and the anvil. The Dread Pirates aren’t our friends but they have no love for the Fleet either. However, if we can punch through both sides should be too busy to worry about us.”

  “What do you mean if?” Talia asked.

  “In combat nothing is certain.” Iaido turned his attention back to Jay. “Take the command chair, Xerxes will take the controls. Find a weak point in their line. We need to get out of this region and to the nearest jump point as soon as possible.”

  Xerxes easily lifted Jay into the captain’s chair.

  “Roger Iaido. I’ll do my best.” Jay didn’t seem bothered by the huge Mantodea at all. He just nodded his thanks as he turned his attention back to the HUD. “Pax shift more power to our front shields.”

  “Affirmative.”

  Iaido turned to Talia. “I need your help. I need you to man one of the turrets.”

  “But I don’t know how.”

  “It’s simple. Point the target reticule a few meters in front of your target and squeeze the trigger.”

  Talia shook her head. “It can’t be that easy.”

  Iaido snickered. “Actually it’s not but that’s all the time I have for instructions.”

  Talia followed Iaido off the bridge and down the short ladder.

  He pointed down the starboard hatch. “Climb down there, strap in, toggle on the three red switches and put on the headset. Pax will power-up the gun and turn on your targeting controls. Remember to lead the targets and only shoot the targets in the red zone.”

  Talia felt the cold hand of fear close on her stomach but she nodded and said, “I’ll do my best.”

  “That’s all anyone can do,” he said before disappearing down his own hatch.

  * * * * *

  There are times that being a fighter jock was the greatest job in the universe; for Chief Warrant Officer Third Class Ed “Tinman” Brockbank this was one of those times. His flight was on a routine patrol when the call came over the tac-net that a Cerberus class warship had blasted through the shipping lanes and was heading for cover in the asteroid belt. Being the closest unit, they were tasked with the pursuit. This was a dream come true.

  Since the end of the war, most of the newer recruits in Fleet were assigned to more mundane units, such as the Canadian Air Wing (CAW) which is where Tinman found himself. Mostly they did routine patrol along the eastern seaboard of North America looking for smugglers and pirates. At least the CAW had older model Dragons dating from the early days of the war but still very capable. />
  Tinman looked over the tac-display on his HUD and frowned. The six ships in his flight were closing on the Nemesis but he knew they wouldn’t catch them before they reached the safety of the asteroid belt.

  Tinman keyed his mic. “All units accelerate to max speed. Lay on the booster and let’s close this gap.”

  “Tinman this is Sandman.”

  Brockbank keyed his mic again. “Go for Tinman.”

  “I’m picking up a large number of bogies in the path of the Nemesis,” said Sandman. “They seem to be small fighters, the type used by pirates.”

  Readjusting the range on his radar, Tinman saw the bogies his wingman called about.

  “Friends of the Nemesis?”

  “Not from what I can see. It looks like they are firing on her. They are swarming all over her like a bunch of angry hornets.”

  “Rivals. No matter, we have authorization to enter the belt and use whatever means necessary to detain the Nemesis.” Double checking his own transponder, Tinman added. “All ships make sure your IFF is broadcasting. If you are fired upon you have full weapons release authority.”

  Snapping his joystick quickly to port, Tinman rolled quickly past an asteroid. Sandman, his wingman, mirrored his move and the Dragons of the Canadian Air Wing entered the fray.

  In years to come, Tinman could never truly describe the utter chaos of that battle.

  The Dread Pirates had entered the battle with thirty-one ships known as Sparrows. They were old, older than the Nemesis. They were basically a flying sled with cannons but even as old as they were, they could still dish out some major damage as two of the CAW Dragons found out the hard way within the first few seconds of the battle. The Dragons were hopelessly outnumbered as the Dread Pirates turned their attention on them. Only three things saved them that day; superior training, superior equipment and the Nemesis.

  Once the Dread Pirates began to swarm over the Dragons, the Nemesis was free and clear.

  However, for some reason the huge warship turned around and headed back through the pirates blasting away with every gun at their disposal. Tinman will never forget the moment when he had lost comms with the rest of his flight; his starfighter was being tossed around so much due to concussion strikes that he expected his ship to break apart any second. Looking out his canopy, he counted seven of the pirate Sparrows circling his ship, firing with impunity. With his reactor damaged, Tinman was down to about fifty percent power. He couldn’t out run them and with the frequency they were hitting his shields, he knew they were going to fail any second. It was only a matter of time before he and his entire flight were destroyed. His radar screamed as it tracked the launch of a missile from nearby. All seven of the Sparrows peeled off, putting distance between the doomed ship and themselves.

  That’s when he saw it. The Nemesis. The ugliest ship ever built.

  But at this one moment in history, it was the most beautiful thing Tinman had ever seen. Without regard to its own safety, it dove in front of the missile while still blasting away at the fleeing pirates. The explosion on the side of the Nemesis rocked the larger ship as its guns fell silent.

  Tinman was still close enough that the concussion shook him so hard that his teeth hurt. Glancing at his HUD, he was surprised to see that four of his flight were still intact; all showed major damage but still flight worthy.

  Of the Dread Pirates, only twelve ships on his radar showed any signs of life and they were fleeing this area of the belt. The Nemesis had once again turned back to its original course. A large hole could be seen in the starboard hull where the missile had landed. It was trailing smoke and sparks but she was still moving away from them.

  “Tinman, this is Sandman. Come in Tinman.”

  “Go for Tinman.”

  “Should we pursue? Truck and Hulk would have to stay behind; both have sustained too much damage to manage anything past twenty percent.”

  Tinman keyed his mic. “Negative. The Nemesis is free to leave.”

  “But Tinman our orders were to stop her at whatever cost.”

  “Sandman, if it wasn’t for the Nemesis we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Once we engaged those pirates, she was free and clear but for some reason she came back to save us.”

  Hulk joined the conversation. “Anyone see where that missile came from? It was too large to be fired from those snub fighters.”

  Truck answered. “My nav-computer logged it. I was some sort of planetary concussion missile launched from asteroid 721-Delta. It must’ve been their base. It was lucky that the Nemesis dove in front of us and took the brunt of the blast.”

  “Aye, I saw that also,” said Tinman. “I don’t know who that pilot is or why they decided to save us but I would love to by him a drink one day. Come on, let’s go home. All ships form up on Truck, you set the pace.”

  Chapter 16

  The smell of burning flesh mixed with the acrid smell of cordite assaulted my senses. It was a familiar smell. One that always followed in Omega’s wake, however it rarely happened at the beginning of a mission. My head felt foggy. Shaking my head to clear it, I noticed that the back of the transport was filled with smoke. No wonder I couldn’t see.

  Out of habit I said, “Pax vent the cargo hold.”

  “Who’s Pax?” asked a familiar voice.

  Looking over my right shoulder, I was surprised to see one of my brothers sitting next to me in full ARC armor. Slightly confused, I decided to play it off. “Never mind, I was thinking of another mission.”

  “You better get your mind back on this mission.” Aeneas pointed to the bridge of the shuttle. “Lodestone is in jeopardy; especially if we leave the planning to the Major.”

  I just couldn’t shake the feeling that I had been through all this before. It seemed so familiar. That feeling of déjà vu nearly stopped me in my tracks but looking around the shuttle at my brothers I knew that Aeneas was correct; the mission was in jeopardy. Somehow the Lemurians knew that we were inbound.

  I could see the Major arguing with our regular shuttle pilot, CWO3 Curtis McKinney and could guess his argument. The Major wanted to abort the mission and pilot was refusing. Stepping into the cockpit, I studied the readings on the HUDs. The two cruisers that were our escorts had been shot down by some sort of plasma cannon from the surface. Two-hundred and twelve brave sailors gone in the blink of an eye. Only the skills of our shuttle pilots had kept us alive so far. One glance at the pilot’s face told me that he knew we were doomed but Curtis was going to do his best to get us to the drop zone.

  “I understand that you are the senior rank on this ship…sir,” said Curtis. “But let me explain it to you in simple terms. If we turn, we are dead. Somehow the lizards can track our ships, even this ship. The Spectres are supposed to be stealth capable and maybe they are somewhat. Maybe that’s why we are still alive instead of space debris like those two cruisers.” He paused for a second before adding, “Sir.”

  “But the mission has been compromised,” argued the Major. “We must abort and retreat.”

  I looked back at my brothers and tapped my helmet. With a nod, all four buttoned up their helmets and grabbed their gear.

  Placing my hand on the Major’s shoulder, he turned to face me. His dark olive skin was more pale than usual and his coal black eyes were fully dilated, two signs of the human fear response; he was on the edge of panic. It wouldn’t do us any good if our commanding officer freaked out during a mission.

  Keeping my voice low I said, “Sir, Omega Squadron never retreats. We will complete our mission or die trying.”

  “Achilles! Tell this pilot that we must turn around and regroup.”

  “Sir, this is a worst-case scenario.”

  That phrase seemed to sober the Major somewhat as he nodded and said, “I know. This mission has been a cluster-fuck from the start.”

  I glanced at the HUD, it showed a massive wave of plasma rounds inbound.

  “Major, you need to don your helmet. If Curtis can get us to the drop zo
ne, we will punch out as planned with a HILO, high insertion – low opening. If not, as the Spectres are breaking up, those of us still alive will deploy en mass. Either way we are going to land hard and fast.”

  Major McDowell nodded his head. “You are quite right Achilles. I am way out of my league. I am turning command of the mission over to you, effective immediately. I will direct my ARC suit to be on autopilot and follow your commands.”

  I pointed to the back of the transport. “Very good sir. Now if you would take your place next to Aeneas we will prepare for deployment.” Turning back to the cockpit I said, “Sorry about this Curtis.”

  Banking the Spectre hard to port, Curtis spoke through gritted teeth. “No worries. I knew that this was a one-way mission before I signed on. Of course, every mission with you guys has been that way. I guess after three years, my time is up.”

  Twisting the ship again this time to starboard, he said. “You better strap in. They obviously know we’re here, those last two shots were way too close to be random.”

  Turning back to join my brothers, I was thrown to the roof as the Spectre took a plasma blast in the stern and with one loud shudder, it began to break up. Bodies and debris were everywhere, followed by a huge fireball. Trying to regain my bearing, I looked up just in time to see a huge chunk of metal that was once a piece of the engine slam into my head and then darkness.

  * * * * *

  The smell of burning plastic mixed with the acrid smell of cordite assaulted Iaido’s senses. It was a familiar smell. Iaido felt a bit foggy and shook his head to clear it but the gun turret was slowly filling with smoke obscuring his vision. No wonder he couldn’t see.

  Out of habit he said, “Pax vent the cargo hold.”

  There was no response.

  Punching a few buttons on his console, Iaido knew the turret was dead. Smoke was rapidly filling up the small enclosure and Iaido knew he had to get out of there soon. Even his enhanced system couldn’t survive for long without oxygen. Unhooking his harness, he crawled over the ruined gun controls and to the hatch that led back to the main part of the ship. He placed the back of his hand on the metal door, feeling for heat just in case there was a fire on the other side; but he only felt the coolness of space. Unlatching the door, Iaido pushed the hatch open and clambered into chaos.