“You had a choice to keep that way of life. Why didn’t you go through one of the portals?”
“I didn’t like these choices: blue-pill, red-pill crap. No way! I love my freedom. I had the right to make my own decision.”
Ryonna knew already from what General Adams had told her: not only did the changes that happened on Earth take many people by surprise, some of them felt overwhelmed by them. Which was understandable. She could conceive that it must not have been easy for everyone, though apparently most of the population relished the changes introduced by the Alliance, since they would no longer need to worry about material possessions or health issues. That alone had helped the planet convert to their new way of life quickly. The sick got better; less people were dying. That was a strong argument.
“Look,” said the man, “I don’t want to die. I’m sorry I attacked you. Can you please just take my laptop and go?”
“You’re coming with us.”
“What? Why?”
“Because as far as I know, you’re a menace to everyone around you. I’ll let Alliance Security decide what to do with you.”
The man sighed deeply.
“Unless you prefer I throw you out the window and be done with it?”
“Again with the limited choices! Nah, that’s fine... I’ll come with you, I guess.”
Ryonna made a head gesture. Tar’Lock went to recover the laptop from the other room and then they were on their way back to Alliance headquarters. Upon arrival they were debriefed by General Adams, who suggested they bring the piece of evidence to an information specialist named Cedric. They brought him the laptop and attempted to explain the situation.
“I see. If the perpetrators used shadow net, it will take some time to retrieve any useful information,” said Cedric nervously, opening the laptop and booting the machine.
A password prompt came up.
“Did he give you his password?”
Ryonna shook her head from side to side.
“Alright, it seems to be encrypted. I’ll ask General Adams if he can acquire the password.”
“I don’t think that should be a problem. The man this belongs to is a coward, who should divulge that information easily.”
“Coward or not—he almost cost us a brand new starship. God knows how many lives could have been lost, if that had happened!”
“That’s why it’s important that you dig every bit of information out as to who gave these orders. We need to find the real threat.”
“I agree. I will also scan the shadow net and see if other similar orders have been dispatched. This could be the tip of the iceberg.”
“Iceberg?”
“It’s an expression. Thus far, we could only be dealing with a very small part of this organization. They could very well have worse plans in their pipeline. At least now we know where to start looking.”
“That man also mentioned not being able to access the entire storage on that laptop,” she added.
“Perhaps there’s a hidden encrypted partition. If so, it could contain very sensitive information.”
“How long do you think it will take you to find out?”
“Hard to tell. It’s quite the needle in the haystack at this point. I’ll keep you posted as soon as I have anything to report, though.”
“Thank you for your help.”
“Sure.”
Ryonna and Tar’Lock left the building, going back towards home. As they arrived at the floor where they both had their temporary accommodation, Tar’Lock gestured towards his door.
“Want to come in for a bite?”
“Sure, but I need to dress my wound first.”
“Right. Wait, why didn’t we go to the infirmary at headquarters?”
“Because unless I’m dying, I don’t really like other people touching me.”
Tar’Lock smiled. “See you later then?”
“Yes, see you later. Thanks for saving my hide today. I owe you.”
“You saved me from Hellstar; it’s the least I could do. So let’s say we’re square.”
They both entered their respective flats. Ryonna went to the bathroom, opened the first-aid kit, disinfected and bandaged her wound with a flat expression on her face. She then walked to the living room and placed a call. Soon Ronan’s face appeared on the monitor.
23
As the EAD Hope and the rest of the Destiny battlegroup emerged from hyperspace at the coordinates provided by the Obsidian emperor, all hell broke loose. The battlegroup jumped right in the middle of an ongoing battle between two fleets.
“Status report?” Chase yelled above the fray.
“We’ve jumped right in the middle of a battle. A sizeable Zarlack fleet is currently engaging an Obsidian battlegroup. The Obsidian have already suffered substantial losses, Captain.”
Before Chase could answer, a fleet-wide transmission displayed on the main holo-monitor.
“Commodore Saroudis to the fleet: open fire on Zarlack ships immediately. Treat all Obsidian ships as friendlies. Saroudis out.”
While that last statement made sense under the current circumstances, Chase couldn’t help but cringe at the idea of treating the Obsidian as friendlies. As long as he could remember, they had been universally reviled as the Enemy. It would take some time before he would use the term “friend” or even “ally,” for that matter, when thinking of them.
“You heard the commodore, everyone, target the nearest ships and open fire. Maximum firepower.”
“Firing now!” answered the weapons officer.
Chase selected another comm channel from his chair.
“Sarah, have your wings launch now. Deal with their fighter waves first, and then target their destroyers.”
“Understood. Alpha and Beta Wings will be ready for launch shortly.”
“Be careful.”
“Likewise. See you on the other side.”
Chase felt his heart ache at the last comment. He did not like the idea of sitting pretty on the captain’s chair, while Sarah was flying into mortal danger without him as a wingman.
He then made another comm call.
“Yanis, tell me the modifications we discussed are ready?”
“They’ve been ready for a while now, boss. I’ve simply interfaced your console with the same temple devices you used on the fighters, any F-147 in fact. Take a look on the left of your chair.”
“I see them, thank you. You always amaze. Chase out.”
Chase wondered if he should take control of the reserve StarFury now. He itched to be part of the starfighter dogfight. The size of the fleet they brought amply augmented the remaining Obsidian. Even if they had taken considerable damage, from the data he was seeing on his controls, their combined forces should be more than enough to make sure they’d win this engagement.
Therefore, adding his skills to the fight wasn’t really necessary. He worried how it would look if he divided his attentions during the first fight onboard his new destroyer. So he decided against it, reluctantly. Sarah was a very skilled pilot, one of the best. He had to trust her, and let her do her job as wing commander of the EAD Hope.
He checked his telemetry on his personal war-theater holo-display and watched Sarah’s Alpha Wing engage the Zarlack starfighters. At least he could witness the capabilities of the StarFuries from here. Sarah wasted no time dispatching her first two kills within the first minute of the engagement. Still, he felt a slight frustration not being there with her.
An impact blast shook the Hope. He checked the status of the shields to see they were holding at ninety-seven percent. He also identified the ship that had fired on them, a ship similar to the one Argos had brought to Earth.
He opened a channel to the Destiny.
“Commodore, they have a behemoth ship.”
“I see it. Looks like your ship is taking hits better than the Destiny did during our last confrontation with that class of battleship.”
“Indeed, which is why I’m gonna attack it and t
ake all the aggro.”
“Agreed, but don’t hesitate to request additional firepower to take it out.”
“Understood. Chase out.”
Chase ordered the Hope to intercept the ship, determined to see how well the new shields and advanced weaponry capabilities his fresh-off-the-docks new destroyer would fare.
Sarah’s wing had just dispatched the first wave of Zarlack starfighters when another wave rolled forward and entered firing range. Her radar also indicated that another wave was coming from an opposite vector, no doubt trying to flank her.
“Fillio, I’m tagging a set of fighters. Please dispatch them at will.”
“Roger that, Wing Commander,” answered Fillio.
With that flanking wave no longer her problem, she focused on the ones that had already started firing towards her wing. Streaks of red laser fire streamed passed her cockpit as she dodged the incoming fire. The neuronal link here on the StarFury was even smoother than on the Thunderbolt. Whatever delay she’d grown accustomed to between her thoughts and the ship’s responsiveness was now totally gone. It made for much more precise flying and shooting, but also made her feel even more empowered than ever before. The StarFury was a dream to fly, pure and simple.
Time to test some of the new features! She deployed the drones, and went after three fighters, which were approaching her in a tight formation. She sent the drones commands to attack the incoming enemies in the order she had painted them on her neuronal HUD, setting them to fire low-powered, ultra-rapid fire in order to deplete their shields as fast as possible. She marveled at how she could also give them specific points to concentrate their fire on the enemy’s shields since the drones flew themselves. She found herself laughing gleefully as the drones rained fire on the first target she had painted, loving the new toys. It only took them a handful of seconds to severely deplete the shield, at which point she switched her StarFury’s firing power to maximum, low-frequency lasers. Three simple shots sent the first target into a spin, followed by a bright explosion.
“This ship is something else!” She laughed to herself.
She checked her radar. Fillio’s quadruplet wing of Omega fighters had literally obliterated the incoming wing, which had been trying to flank her earlier. She’d approached and engaged them cloaked; it was no surprise at all how easily she’d triumphed. Since the Omegas weren’t able to stay cloaked for too long they were now visible. But it only took a moment watching her engage with another wave of fighters to see that she, too, was one hell of a pilot. A little less reckless than Chase—but then, who wasn’t?
She vectored towards the second ship and added her firepower to the drones’. It took only seconds before it was dispatched from the sky. A third bogie attempted to retreat, clearly afraid of suffering the same fate. But there was no escaping her lock. She tested a new variation of tactics this time around, lowering the enemy’s aft shield herself. She then gave the drones the kill order, and switched them to maximum fire, while she broke away towards her next target. It didn’t take long for the drones to finish the job. These drones really changed the balance of power when it came to dogfighting. Already her mind was racing, wondering how else to use them to best exploit the clear advantages they gave her during combat.
By the time the drones rejoined her in formation, she had dispatched yet another ship. She passed next to another F-147.
“Having fun?” Daniel’s voice rose up through the static.
“Oh yeah, you?”
“This ship is something else! Have you noticed how little the shields dip when you get hit?” Daniel seemed just as thrilled as she was.
“Hadn’t really had much experience taking that many hits, to tell you the truth,” she boasted.
“Show off… Chase is rubbing off on you.”
Perhaps he was, she thought, laughing. It was one of the points that she found endearing about him actually, but she could see how it could be perceived as arrogance—depending on one’s point of view. But not to her. Perhaps because they were both pilots. Maybe if he wasn’t such a great pilot...? The best she had ever seen in fact, and also someone from whom she could learn a great deal. And handsome, and…
That little distraction got her a salvo of incoming fire on her port shields. She looked at her HUD and laughed. It took less than three percent off her shields.
“It’s true, these shields are strong.”
“Let’s not let that fact make us too reckless though,” Daniel deadpanned, with a bit of warning in his tone.
“Nothing to worry about, my friend.”
“Good. One reckless, hotshot-pilot friend to worry about is enough, if you know what I mean.”
“Roger that, mister by-the-book.”
“Yeah. He’s really rubbing off on you.”
They both laughed. They took different paths and continued engaging their respective enemies.
She engaged the next wave of ships. This time she decided to test the new missiles onboard the StarFury—again amazed by their effectiveness. The Zarlacks might have had the edge in numbers thus far, but this new ship would clearly change the odds in terms of firepower. Every missile she launched found its target, except one that had launched multiple countermeasures. Most of them had been destroyed at first impact. Those who weren’t were easy pickings… and didn’t live long enough to tell the tale.
Chase watched the efficient F-147s on his telemetry. He longed to be part of the fight out there, more than ever. But the Hope was approaching firing range on the behemoth ship, the same that had inflicted quite some damage to other ships already, and even destroyed another Obsidian battleship.
“Time to see what this ship can do. Sergeant, all batteries open fire, ready main guns. Full power!”
“Aye aye, Captain.”
All batteries opened fire and it was an impressive show. The barrage of fire that the ship was able to dispatch blew Chase’s mind. It must have had at least three times more turrets than the Destiny. The rate of firing was also significantly faster. From the looks of it, it was also having more effect at lowering the shields of the behemoth-class Zarlack destroyer. Within a handful of seconds it had reduced shields by five percent, something they hadn’t been able to manage before with multiple ships.
That obviously got whomever was in charge of that ship to reconsider their targeting priorities. The ship immediately came about and fired everything it had straight at the Hope. The relentless pounding made the entire hull shake and tremble, but shields were holding even though they had lost about ten percent more now.
But the main plasma guns of the Hope suddenly shot towards its prey, and it was a thing of beauty. The first salvo took out more than half of the ship’s shield. Of course, it would require one minute to fully recharge the main guns, but Chase could already sense a change: he would no longer dread facing this type of ship in battle. It would take at least three of them against the Hope to make him worry, in fact. And today there was only one. If their mission succeeded, it would take a significant amount of time for Argos to be able to churn them out of the assembly line. For the first time in a very long time, Chase felt hope grow stronger in his soul.
“Tough little ship,” said Chase out loud.
“Yes, Captain, she is,” answered the sergeant.
And she had been named perfectly too, thought Chase.
“Sergeant, prepare to fire a full salvo of torpedoes. Launch on my command. I’ll assume main guns firing controls, this time around.”
“Aye, Captain, firing now. Let me remind you, however, that the main guns won’t fully recharge for at least another thirty-five seconds.”
“No worries, Sergeant, I won’t need full power for this.”
Chase grinned at the outgoing torpedoes. There were at least twenty of them, leaving a white smoke trail in their wake. They created a sort of horizon line from the ship’s bridge vantage point. Chase prepared to activate the main guns. Even if they were only seventy-five percent charged, he knew it wouldn’t ma
tter. A couple of seconds before the torpedoes impacted their target, Chase activated the main guns. The salvo of blue plasma flew right past the torpedoes and obliterated the rest of the ship’s shield. Then, in an elaborate percussion composition, the torpedoes tore one hole after another in their now totally defenseless target. It took only a handful of seconds before the ship exploded in a million pieces, with quite the fireworks, and a huge shockwave that damaged the nearest enemy battleship.
It tugged to one side evasively, but it was hopeless: it would soon become Chase’s next kill.
Chase vectored the Hope towards the damaged ship, and sent five torpedoes in its path. He checked the status of the rest of the fleet to confirm that the battle was going well. He checked in on Sarah’s StarFury and saw that both her wings had already dispatched six squadrons of enemy ships without losing a single fighter. He was on top of the world. It all seemed too easy, but then again they had better numbers, stronger ships and the element of surprise on the dogfight side. It was quite evident that the StarFuries were formidable war machines in close combat. Chase had to admit the drones were a stroke of genius. He made a mental note to thank Yanis for his never-ending ingenuity.
The newly targeted Zarlack ship explosion brought Chase out of his reverie. The Destiny had just destroyed another battleship with the help of the Far Beyond. The Euphoreon and Axxis were in the process of terminating the last two Zarlack destroyers on the other side of the battlefield.
A minute later, all enemy capital battleships had been dispatched. Squadrons were recalled back, as turret fire from the fleet picked off the remaining wings of Zarlack starfighters like space bugs. The Hope’s shields were already back to one hundred percent. No Alliance ship had suffered any major damage. The Hope’s first firefight had been an incredible success, and Chase felt both pride and admiration for the ship’s effectiveness in battle. He felt a huge sense of honor at being her first captain.
Universe in Flames – Ultimate 10 Book Box Set: An Epic Space Opera Adventure Page 70