by Joshua James
The corsair left the hangar and flew out into the space right in front of the base, covered by the plasma shielding. For a few seconds they got a good eyeful of the battle that had just started, and it looked like a doozy.
What looked to be at least a hundred ships floated just outside the range of the UEF Europa base’s anti-air cannons. The bigger ones—the dreadnaughts, warships, and battleships—just kept firing their long-range weaponry: missiles, cannons, and torpedoes. Each impact weakened the shields just a little, but also made it hard for UEF ships to leave the protection of their shields and engage—a factor Ben’s crew was about to witness firsthand.
Two fighters emerged from the hangar. At first Ben was a little nervous that they were after him, but then the reality set in that there was a much bigger problem than a stolen ship. The fighters flew right past them, toward the shields.
The first fighter was almost immediately hit as soon as it popped out of the shielding, caught and destroyed by the relentless bombardment. The second fighter fared a little bit better at first, managing to dodge a couple of shells but dodging its way into the path of a missile that destroyed it instantly.
“Yeah, I’m well aware of how dangerous this is going to be.” Clarissa turned to her side, where there wasn’t a chair or a member of her group. “I’m going to do it anyway. As much as I want to, baby, you’re gonna have to wait a while before I join you.”
“Is she…?” asked Wan, nervous that a possibly crazy woman was about to fly them into battle. It didn’t help that he’d never seen what she could do behind the sticks.
“Crazy? Maybe. Probably. But at this point, which one of us isn’t?” answered Ben. Clarissa responded by turning around and smiling, which wasn’t comforting at all to Wan.
“I’m not,” responded Wan.
“Me neither…just for the record,” added Congo.
“Trust her. She’s the best pilot I’ve ever met, and there’s no one I’d trust more to get us through—” Suddenly Ben and the rest of the crew were pinned back in their seats due to the gravitational forces produced from Clarissa taking the ship low—really low—close to the ground, and punching the thrusters.
Clarissa saw the only way to avoid the bombardment as choosing to fly out under it. That presented its own problems, though. Outside the base were twisting mountain passes, and a narrow road meant to make ground-force movement hard and limiting, and in no way meant to be flown through. But she was far from the average pilot.
The black soil and dust of the Europan surface was kicked up as the corsair’s engines propelled it through the narrow mountain path. Clarissa was almost ready to pull up and join the fight proper when she and everyone else on board saw something that made their hearts sink.
At first, everyone in the UEF Europa base, including Ben and the others, had thought this was going to be a siege situation. Or the AIC fleet would just do the job from the air, keeping casualties to a minimum. But everyone in the cockpit saw a gigantic ground force slowly making their way towards the base.
Ada—still so angry about losing so many of her friends, and knowing that her fellow soldiers would be doomed if the AIC soldiers, spider tanks, and war cannons reached the base—unloaded. With control over the weapons systems, she opened fire with the corsair’s cannons, ripping the enemy units to shreds as Clarissa flew over them.
“Those shields aren’t going to stop them from getting in!” Ben was as worried as Ada, since both of them were former UEF soldiers. Seeing their own die still bothered them, still made them feel guilty.
“Then we’ll come around for another run,” responded Clarissa. If she had any issues with firing on AIC forces, she kept them to herself.
Clarissa maneuvered the corsair dangerously close to the rocky outcrops of the mountains, trying her best to stay off the radar of the fleet above. She figured she’d be able to get one more run in, so she’d have to make it count—not to mention that the fleet wouldn’t be surprised a second time.
As the corsair turned around, everyone in the cockpit was treated to one hell of a sight. All manner or ordnance collided with the blue plasma shield, causing beautiful ripples, like the most violent of rocks skipping on a pristine lake. Missiles and torpedoes exploded into brilliant balls of flame, spreading out across the surface. But more important than the visual spectacle was what was happening under it.
Taking their cue from the stolen corsair, the UEF ships that followed them out of the hangar stayed low before ascending and going after the AIC ships. They avoided the bombardment as well, causing the scale of the battle to grow and giving them a chance to fight back.
Sure enough, when Clarissa came back around and went in for a second run, the ground forces were ready. All manner of gunfire, from the soldiers to the tanks, came up at the corsair. Though it all bounced off the corsair’s shields, it was unnerving, but she didn’t flinch.
“Ada?” said Ben.
“Yeah?”
“Light ‘em up.”
“Yes, sir.” Ada fired all she could at the ground forces, except for a couple of defensive missiles and the bombs. The bombs would be needed later.
To an onlooker, a spectator, the corsair looked like it was slaughtering the AIC ground forces. Dust and body parts flew everywhere, as the large rounds shot from the ship’s cannons were meant for ship-to-ship combat, not meant to be used on humans. One of the missiles Ada fired clipped a tank and blew the soldiers around it to hell. But even with all that carnage, the vast majority of the forces survived—and going around for another run wasn’t going to be possible, as they soon discovered.
The fleet high above, getting calls from their ground forces and seeing the carnage below, deployed their fighters. In a matter of minutes, a swarm of them descended upon their UEF counterparts and the group’s corsair. The fight was very much on.
“The cavalry’s arrived. Get us out of here, Clarissa,” ordered Ben as he saw the mass of fighter ships on the radar. “We’ve got a job to do.”
Clarissa pulled the corsair up away from the AIC ground forces. She headed straight upwards towards the fleet and the swarm. Right before they got in range of the fighters, she turned hard to the left, back towards the Europa base.
As Clarissa did her best not to get hit, Ben saw an incoming video call on his HUD. It was from Chevenko, who must’ve heard about the grand theft spaceship. He decided not to answer.
“Did you put in the coordinates?” asked Ben. It was Clarissa who’d told him where the AIC hid their planet-killing weapon on Europa.
“On our way now. Just gotta—” The corsair’s shields absorbed a hit from a missile from behind. “Let’s squash some bugs first.”
Clarissa did a loop, starting with a sharp turn up and around, then behind the AIC fighter that hit them with that missile. She sprayed it with cannon fire until she made a hole in the small ship’s much less effective shield. Then she finished it off with a missile of her own.
Ben surveyed the skies above the base. What he saw was a disaster waiting to happen. From his time in the military, he knew that those shields around the base weren’t meant to absorb as much damage as was raining down on them. He knew that the UEF fighters that had been deployed were just a Band-Aid on a gushing wound. And he knew that once those tanks and war cannons reached the front doors of the base, it was only a matter of time until they made their way through. And that was if none of them were armed with laser cutters, though he was sure they were.
“They’re screwed, aren’t they?” Wan saw the same thing Ben did. For all his goofiness and his penchant for being an asshole, the pirate had survived much longer than most. Even without military training, he knew that the situation for the UEF was hopeless. They just weren’t prepared.
Ben didn’t answer. He focused on the task at hand. “How far is it?”
Clarissa’s attention was on survival and fighting. With the agility and grace of a bird, she piloted the corsair through the dogfighting, trying her best not to engage i
f she didn’t have to. But she had to take a couple of ships out.
One of the ships Clarissa shot down spiraled out of control, penetrated the base’s shields, and plowed into the side of the structure. Built into a mountainside, it easily withstood the blow, but it was the first time the shields had been breached.
Clarissa finally got through the chaos and turmoil of the dogfighting and flew away from the Europa base. She flew out into the heart of the seemingly endless mountain range, though she didn’t do so alone. Three AIC fighters had decided to follow her.
“We got bogeys on our tail. Going to try and shake them off. Everyone should probably strap in. This is going to be…well, just hang on,” warned Clarissa before taking a steep dive down into the mountains.
Staying just close enough to be a hard target and not crash, Clarissa made the corsair hug the rock. The AIC fighters, wary of getting that close, kept back and tried to hit them from a distance.
Pieces of rock hit and bounced off the corsair’s shields as the AIC fighter’s bullet missed and hit the mountainside. Clarissa pulled on the air brake, bringing the corsair to a hard stop. As she turned, Ada wildly fired the cannons, not meaning to actually take out any fighters but wanting to back them off. The ship scraped against the mountainside as it turned; then the thrusters were put on full throttle as the vessel sped in the other direction.
“Hey, Wan, mind getting on those rear cannons?” asked Ben as they sped in the opposite direction from the AIC fighters, knowing full well that they’d turn and follow.
“Yeah, no problem, Cap. Right away. Aye, sir,” Wan said insincerely as he got up and made his way to another console that controlled the rear cannons.
Clarissa piloted through the canyons and valleys at a speed that most couldn’t follow. The AIC fighters were faster, however, smaller, and were able to keep up. It would take some tricks or some good shooting from the pirate to get the crew out of this jam.
It had been a while since Wan had used any cannon on a spaceship. Back on the Orion, he’d almost never had to; he had people for that, so he was a bit rusty. His first dozen shots completely missed the pursuing AIC ships, and the visual of the rushing rock and dramatic topography made things harder. Add to that Clarissa’s penchant for moving just before the ship hit something, which meant that it was anything but steady.
Wan missed another shot. “Son of a…!”
“You okay over there?” asked Ben as he noticed that none of the three fighters had been dealt with yet.
“I’m fine!” answered Wan. “These little assholes just need to keep still so I can kill ‘em.”
“I can give it a go,” offered Congo.
“I got it!” snapped Wan.
“Yeah, well, get it sooner, because these bastards aren’t giving up,” Ben ordered.
“ ‘Yeah, well, get it sooner, because these bastards aren’t giving up’.” Wan quietly mocked Ben in the most childish way possible, with an exaggerated, whiny voice. “Okay, prove to these assholes why you’re the Golden Lion.”
Wan took his time and saw how the AIC fighters flew, their pattern. Then he placed a couple of shots where he thought they would be, and voilà! He hit one, sending it careening into the mountainside, creating a satisfying explosion.
“Woooo! There we go! One down! Two to—”
Not willing to just let themselves be picked off, the fighters focused their fire on the rear cannons. Ship shields were a little different than the plasma ones found around a structure like the Europa base. Though also reactionary, the shielding system redirected and redistributed its energy to where the threat was. But if enough shots were placed in the exact same spot, something would get through.
That was exactly what happened.
The rear cannon assembly took a direct hit. Wan tried his best to regain control, but they didn’t respond. They were no longer an option. And since the fighter now knew how to beat the corsair’s shields, they were in a lot more danger.
“Okay, screw this.” Clarissa had had enough. She’d thought she could shake them, but she couldn’t, so she decided to take drastic measures. “You guys trust me?”
Ben and Congo looked at each other for a moment. It was a weird question to hear from your pilot, the person who had your life in her hands.
“I guess,” answered Congo.
“Yes,” answered Ben.
“Of course,” answered Ada.
“Hell no,” answered Wan.
“Good. Forgive me if I end up killing us,” said Clarissa as she took the ship right down to the deck. She wasn’t sure he’d ever flown this low in a ship this big, but decided now wasn’t the time to admit that to everyone.
She turned the ship to the side so that its belly was facing to port, its roof to starboard, and its right wing almost scraped the ground of the valley they were flying through.
Clarissa was aiming for a narrow pass that bisected one of the mountains ahead. It was going to be a tight squeeze. If she was being honest, she’d say she wasn’t sure if they could safely make it or not. Still, she was going to try.
“What’re you, we’re not going to, you’re not going to…?” Wan started to panic when he saw what Clarissa was about to attempt.
“I wish I didn’t trust you,” Ben half-joked.
“You got this,” Ada said, sounding like she didn’t believe it at all.
It was a very tight squeeze. So tight, in fact, that the shields were put to a real test, trying to protect the parts of the corsair that would’ve been scraping against both sides. There was a loud grinding noise in the cockpit that just added to the nerves.
Ben stopped looking out the cockpit window and focused on two things. He kept an eye on the shields, watching the bar measuring their power quickly go down. He also kept his eye on the radar, which showed the two remaining fighters following them into the tight chasm.
“We can’t do this much longer,” Ben warned, his eyes on the shields. One portion of the shields went down, exposing the corsair’s bottom to one side of the chasm, shaking the whole ship.
“Hey, idiots! We need to get out of here, the bottom of the ship is going to be torn to shreds. If it gets punctured, we won’t be able to leave this shit moon.”
Ada glanced at Clarissa. For once, Wan wasn’t just whining to hear himself whine. He was right to worry about the ship’s integrity. Too much damage could leave them without a way to exit the atmosphere. The concern was made more real when a piece of the ship came off, snagged by a gnarled, rocky outcropping.
The corsair suffered a big jolt after losing the panel on its bottom. It almost made Clarissa lose her grip on the sticks. She managed to keep control, though it was clear she needed to get out of that chasm.
“Just a little further,” Clarissa said. “It looks like it opens up just ahead.” She had a plan. The chasm appeared to end in an open space ahead, marked by bright light. If she could just get there, they would have the positional advantage over the pursuing fighters who had a much easier time navigating through the tight confines.
“Clarissa…” Ben, who had the most faith in her, was starting to get nervous. Through his HUD he could see flashing warnings about the corsair’s integrity. Parts of the bottom of the holographic model had turned red.
“Just a little further.” Clarissa sped up.
“I guess there’s worse ways to go, right?” Wan held onto his seat’s armrests tightly. Blood was rushing to the side of his head that was turned downwards and to the side, like the ship. “At least it’ll be quick.”
“We’re all gonna pass out if we don’t correct course soon,” warned Congo.
Finally the corsair emerged from the chasm. Immediately Clarissa turned it one hundred and eighty degrees. As soon as she was facing the chasm and the AIC fighters flying as fast as they could down it, Ada opened fire.
There was no getting away for the fighters. Taking the gamble of going through that tight passage had paid off for Clarissa and the others, as they had the enemy
trapped and helpless. Ada was relentless, and didn’t stop until they saw two explosions and nothing came out of the chasm. The walls on either side collapsed, just to add insult to injury.
The ship was completely silent as they hovered for several seconds. Then Clarissa let out a long breath. “I think we’re safe for the moment.”
Wan gave her a crooked smile. “I never doubted you.”
Ten
Apocalypse
“Hurry or I’ll leave you behind!” Chevenko yelled at one of his personal guards. The Marine hastened across the admiral’s office.
Chevenko stepped into his private elevator in Europa base along with four Marines, part of his personal guard. The elevator connected his office to every floor of the facility in case he needed to get away discreetly. All UEF bases had systems like that, to protect senior personnel and officers.
“Sir, your dreadnaught is being prepared right now. It’ll be ready as soon as you get to the hangar, but there’s a problem.”
Chevenko was on a video call with the officer in charge of said hangar. “A problem?”
“Yes, sir. The rebels, their ground forces have breached the shields. Their war cannons are about to start on our doors. I don’t know how long we can hold them off, sir.”
“Hold them off as long as you can. We can’t reach Rhule; pretty sure they’re using some sort of signal jammer. Once we get into orbit I’ll make sure they come down to offer support. You just need to hang on, soldier. Help is coming.”
“Sir, yes sir. Good luck.” With that, the video call ended.
“Sir? We can get a message to Captain Rhule. Nothing is jammed, our communications are working just—”
The Marine was cut off by one of the other Marines in the small elevator with Chevenko, via a knife in his throat. The admiral simply stared at him as he bled out.
“Thought you said all of them were on board, Corporal?” Chevenko thought all of his personal guard were on the same page about what was going to happen. Apparently one of them wasn’t.