The Apex Warriors

by Marc Stevens

  We entered the galley and picked up trays with our preselected meals and drinks. Klutch was following along and stepped back into the line behind Coonts. The Grawl grimaced but held his tongue. Tria and I looked over at the table the Tibor was previously sitting at and saw the galley bots busily cleaning up the mess he had left just minutes ago. We looked over our shoulders at the Troop Master.

  He gave us a big grin. “I only had my pre-meal snack and was just waiting for everyone to gather before having my regular portion of rations.”

  Tria and I sat at our regular places. Coonts did us a solid by sitting at the same side of the table as we did. He knew if he sat across from us as he typically did, the Troop Master would plop down next to him. Klutch obviously wanted to discuss any upcoming missions. Once he started eating and talking, we were all going to have a less than pleasant meal experience. It was going to be iffy for Tria and me, but poor Coonts would bear the brunt of the Tibor’s well-chewed food barrage. When Klutch came around our side of the table and headed in his direction, Coonts started shoveling in his meal as fast as possible. True to form, Klutch plopped down and ground up a couple of mouth fulls and turned in our direction to ask a question. Coonts must have not liked the overabundance of food particles still clinging to Klutch’s teeth and bolted from the table, claiming he had intestinal issues from recently eating Chaalt rations. I smiled at Tria after hearing Coonts's declaration of distress. She gave me a dubious look.

  Klutch pushed the Grawl’s tray aside and slid down next to Tria. When she saw the accumulation in his teeth when he smiled, her eyes suddenly grew wide and the look on her pretty face changed to something else. She grasped her stomach and groaned. “The rations on the shuttle must have been improperly stored. I do not feel well either, I will see you later.”

  Tria turned away from Klutch and winked at me before hastily exiting the galley.

  The Troop Master shrugged his wide shoulders. “The Chaalt rations were not great by any means, but I had no problem digesting them.”

  I personally knew the Tibor could eat a boat anchor and his guts would find a way to properly process it into excrement. Tria’s ploy worked, leaving me wishing that I had used it before she did. Klutch moved Tria’s tray aside and slid into her spot. I took a quick bite and pushed my tray away. My appetite was going to take a hit, but I was going to face it like a man.

  “Are we going to go back and take another look at what those Throggs have been doing out here?”

  Most of the food particles that were propelled from the Tibor’s mouth ended up on me.

  “Sorry. My bad Commander.” Klutch mumbled as he started brushing at my uniform.

  I held my hands up to get him to stop pawing at me. “It's okay Klutch, I was going to take a shower and change uniforms anyway.”

  I decided to carry on like it never happened and called Justice. “Do you need more data on the Prule operation and does it warrant the risk involved trying to get it?”

  “Commander, if the Legacy’s stealth systems were operating at one hundred percent of efficiency, and the weapons magazines at capacity, it would change the percentage of success to a more favorable outcome. After thoroughly studying the scan data available to me, I have concluded the energy signatures detected, are gateway portals. We have the means to investigate where they may lead to, but it will require us to first make an extended stop at Alpha Base.”

  “So we can stock up on more torpedos!” Klutch blurted.

  “Among other things, yes Troop Master,” Justice answered.

  I looked at Klutch. His eyes were wide and he was smiling. We had our asses kicked pretty hard and lost a member of our team. We did manage to dish out some heavy damage to the Prule, but as far as the Troop Master was concerned, it was not nearly enough. All he could think about was going back and doing it again. I could not agree with him more. He wanted to inflict more damage, I wanted revenge.

  I started wondering about the incredible distance the Legacy had to DEHD core jump, in order to come to our rescue. “How long did it take for you to jump out to our location?”

  “When I received the IST signal from the jump buoy, it was extremely weak and garbled. I must admit Commander, I thought my entire crew was lost in action. The faint signal came as a complete surprise. If you had not chosen to remove the IST transmitter from the Fury’s shuttle and install it on the buoy to boost our IST-designed signal, I would not have received it. I suspect Chaalt forces did not receive the lower strength IST transmission at all. Even if they had, they were fully involved in suppressing Prule forces and a planetary invasion. There is also the possibility the Chaalt fleet Commander may have received it and did not have the additional forces for a secondary mission.”

  “That, or they were not going to take their eyes off the prize, and waste any time trying to rescue us or the Principal Investigator,” Klutch interrupted with a frown and a whiff of his displeasure.

  That was all the excuse I needed to get up from the table and move a safe distance from the Tibor. “Klutch! I was trying to eat.”

  He tossed his hands up and gave me a toothy grin which I returned with a frown. I left him to his trays of food and walked out into the corridor for a fresher atmosphere. I was very interested in continuing my discussion with Justice.

  “As you were saying Justice?”

  “Yes Commander, to answer your first question, the DEHD core transit time was thirty-two minutes, thirteen seconds. The hyperdrive has never recorded a jump of that duration prior to this transition. Even our longest jumps have been less than one minute and have never depleted the matrix to its current levels.”

  “Is that a bad thing?”

  “Bad might not be the proper term Commander. The overall health of the drive is good, but the jump duration did cause a point zero seven percent degradation to the system. If it was necessary to jump to the Andromeda system to evacuate my crew, the transition would have taken just over fourteen hours and the Legacy would have experienced a four percent decline in Hyperdrive efficiency.”

  “I know I am a backward-thinking human and might be missing something in your calculations, but the math doesn’t add up.”

  “Commander, the farther the jump, the more the Legacy’s DEHD core efficiency declines and that translates to longer jump periods.”

  “So, we are still a very long way from Andromeda?”

  “Yes, Commander. I estimate the fringe of the Andromeda galaxy is still more than two million lights years away.”

  “That makes our transition through the gateway somewhere in the neighborhood of five hundred thousand light-years over a period of several days. That’s still faster than most standard jump drives. If the one we traveled through was experiencing power issues that slowed it down, the chances are good the others might have velocities capable of reaching Andromeda much sooner.”

  “Yes, Commander, as I have already stated, that is my theory as well. I also have another conjecture I am devoting processing time to.”

  “What might that be Justice?”

  “The Prule may be aware of gateways that connect to Andromeda, but for unknown reasons, have not been able to make use of them. The numbers of Prule in our home galaxy would be much higher if they were able to properly utilize the gates. We need to discover their locations and determine why, before the Prule do.”

  A voice from down the corridor butted into our conversation. It was Coonts. He and Tria were returning after their questionable bouts of intestinal distress. “Justice,” Coonts said. “I was wondering what took so long to come to our aid. If it only took thirty-two minutes to jump to our location, that leaves almost twelve unexplained hours of us getting shot to pieces.”

  Justice was unfazed by the slight and answered the Grawl’s question without so much as a hint of sarcasm. “Engineer Coonts, it was first necessary to disengage from Prule forces and charge the energy matrix. As you are already aware, the use of the Legacy’s main weapon systems effectively cancels that progra
m. My Oolaran programming prioritizes the energy transfer to the anomaly weapon and beam generators. My continuous use of the weapons prohibited the matrix from collecting the required energy to make a DEHD core jump of that duration. At the time I received the signal, I was engaging Prule warships that had broken from their formation. They were attacking defenseless Chaalt ships that were being evacuated under fire. I also believed that you and my crew were deceased, and I was no longer concerned for your safety.”

  That reply shut Coonts’s mouth. Tria on the other hand had something to say that should already have been said. “Thank you, Justice, we were within minutes of meeting our maker or another fate that would have been much worse.”

  “You are most welcome Tria. After reviewing the battlesuit data collected during your engagements, I have documented all the Prule you have encountered. I will formulate contingencies to protect you in the event a member of my crew is compromised by an agent.”

  While it was a welcome thought to know we would not unknowingly give up information that might lead the Prule to our homeworlds, it was also sobering knowing exactly what Justice was referring to. It did not take a genius to figure out that a change to the anti-tamper perimeters in our IST transmitters, would make the devices a quick kill weapon. We had once feared that the ISTs might be weaponized to kill us. Now we would be embracing the knowledge that under the right circumstances, they absolutely will.

  Rather than comment on that outcome, I changed the subject. “Justice, jump us home.”

  “Commander, I have been charging the matrix continuously since we disengaged from Prule forces. I have discovered that the dark energy that is prevalent throughout our galaxy, is not nearly the same quantity that is distributed in the void between them. My sensors are capable of mapping the dark energy that surrounds us. What they are revealing is most interesting. The dark energy has a flow and ebb, depending on the directions I am scanning. The map that is forming, is strikingly similar in appearance to the veins present in most biotic bodies. The data I am collecting is quite startling. It appears that the rivers of dark energy closest to us are predominantly flowing to a large collection point.”

  “Let me guess.” Coonts interrupted. “The pool of dark energy surrounds the location of the gateways.”

  “That is correct, Engineer Coonts,” Justice replied.

  Klutch finally finished his meal and joined us out in the corridor. He saw us staring at the overmuscled Grawl who was scratching his head with his eyes pinched shut. He was deep in thought trying to make sense of the information Justice was relaying to us.

  Klutch of course did not take it for that. He had to add a derogatory snub. “You cannot get rid of the Fusra Pus Virus by scratching. It will only make it worse.” He chortled.

  We all turned and cast the Tibor a disapproving eye. “Unless you have something to say that is pertinent to our conversation, you should keep your thoughts to yourself.” I scolded.

  That wiped the big lug’s ear-to-ear grin away.

  “Justice, please continue with your findings,” I said while squinting at the Troop Master.

  Justice continued, but not before taking a swipe at Coonts for his verbal intrusions. “Of course Commander. I would like nothing better than to continue my briefing uninterrupted.”

  Coonts wrinkled up his face and opened his mouth in what I was sure would be a derisive response. Tria poked a finger in his direction, then held it to her lips. Coonts’s mouth promptly closed.

  “The collection of dark matter in the area of the gates is a significant observation. I am already adding the processing time necessary to make the correct calibrations to my scanning array. With the proper fine-tuning, and additional study of other gate locations, there is a possibility the new search algorithms may reveal the whereabouts of other gate locations. At the very least, it will provide data on dark energy collection points that mirror those observed here.” Justice explained.

  I really didn’t like the idea of hanging around out in the middle of nowhere. It limited our options and left us relying on our standard jump drive which was trackable. For all we knew, the Prule were marshaling their forces to continue the search for us.

  “Justice do you have an estimate of how much longer it will take to charge the matrix from our current location?”

  “The dark energy in this location is only a small trickle of that required for DEHD core operations. It might take several days to collect a charge capable of returning us to Alpha base.”

  I slowly digested the information and it only led to the next logical question. “And if we jump back to where the gates are?”

  “The dark energy in that location is almost equal to those recorded in our home galaxy. Barring the use of our main weapon systems, no more than twenty-eight additional minutes.” Justice answered.

  Tria gave me a sideways look. I could tell she was concerned. I could not blame her, jumping back into that meat grinder was not without its perils.

  Before I could question Justice further, she voiced her misgivings to the AI. “Justice, do you have enough data on the target area to make a safe jump? We left a lot of scattering debris in our wake.”

  “Tria, returning to the area of Prule operations is risky and your apprehension is warranted. The repairs I have made to our stealth systems, have them operational within twelve percent of optimal specifications. The Legacy’s shields are back to one-hundred percent of capacity, and our main weapons are at ninety-two percent of full combat readiness. The jump location I have chosen is below the planet’s remaining pole. The location has the least amount of planetary debris and based on the information recorded by the Fury’s shuttle, minimal Prule warship traffic.”

  Coonts added his opinion as well. “Tria, aside from charging the matrix, it will give us a chance to use the Legacy’s sensors to detect the exact locations of the other gateways. Any additional information on the gates can only help locate others.”

  “I doubt if the Prule would expect us to return. Anyone in their right mind would still be running after the kick we gave that Throgg nest.” Klutch added with a big toothy grin.

  Tria looked at the Troop Master shaking her head. His input was not a confidence builder, nor a testament as to his sanity.

  She turned to me taking a deep breath then exhaling. A hint of a smile crossed her lips. “If this gets us all killed, don’t be angry if I say I told you so.”

  I took her by the hand and pulled her against me. “At least I will be in good company.”

  “Justice,” I called. “Take us back into the belly of the beast!”

  “Affirmative Commander, jumping in three minutes.”

  We rushed to the bridge and took our seats. Justice pushed the Legacy away from the rock we were hiding on with the gravity drive. He accelerated out of the asteroid field and jumped. Just under four minutes later we exited hyperspace with the large planetary fragment looming large over us on the view dome. Justice made a hard turn away from our transition exit point and accelerated for the fringe of the planet. The view dome started populating with targets. We were startled by what it was showing us.

  Justice verified what our eyes were telling us. “Commander, I am only detecting seventeen hostile contacts. My scans indicate there are nine Prule resource gathering platforms, five battleships, and three destroyers present in our area of operation. All are heavily damaged and it appears that four of the resource gathering platforms are being towed. Their current heading will take them to the location of a gateway.”

  I was shocked. If what we were seeing was not some kind of elaborate trap, the Prule had abandoned the gateway hub. “Could the other ships be hiding on the other side of the planet?”

  “Negative Commander, I would have detected the energy signatures of their power sources. There are four hundred and fifty-two derelict hulls and only four of those are emanating a discernable power source. All other detections of note are large fragments of destroyed Prule assets.”

  As we
watched, a battleship and two destroyers turned away from the ship formation and headed toward our jump point. The dome zoomed in on the approaching targets. Strange-looking emissions were coming from their drives. I could only describe it as sputtering sparks. The bizarre pyrotechnical display suddenly ceased from the battleship and it started slowly tumbling. If the Prule did not regain control of the ship, it was going to make a new crater on what was left of the rogue planet.

  “Commander, the Prule ships are so heavily damaged they are having great difficulty getting underway. Only one of the destroyers has partial shields. I have yet to determine the extent of their operable weapons systems but I am detecting the telltale emissions of Prule anti-matter containment vessels. The quantities are ten times more than those usually associated with the number of spacecraft present.”

  Justice targeted the resource gathering platforms and zoomed the view dome to maximum. All of the resource platforms were still laden with ship parts.

  “What the hell are they doing Justice?”

  “Commander, the instabilities of ejected containment vessels make it extremely dangerous to purposely harvest them. I have only one theory as to why the Prule would do that. I surmise these ships were ordered to destroy the gates behind the retreating Prule forces. They are being sacrificed to prevent pursuit through the gateways.”

  “Justice, ignore the ships moving to our jump point. Attack the ones moving toward the gate.”

  “Affirmative Commander.”

  My stomach took a twist when Justice made a short jump. When the view dome reset, the destroyers that were investigating the jump point were to our rear. We were now between the gate and the oncoming Prule ships. Justice zoomed the dome again so we could clearly see what was on the rear decks of the resource gathering platforms. Among the ship parts piled on the decks, were the pyramid-shaped anti-matter containment vessels the Prule used to power their ships. There was a crapload of them. When the ships came into range of our beam weapons, the AI unleashed hell into the unshielded targets. His alignment with the targets caused three of the ships to detonate simultaneously. The brilliant flash momentarily blotted out the view dome. Once it reset, we saw the fourth platform was missing part of its stern just aft of the cargo deck. It was spinning out of control toward the gate opening. The Prule were going to be seriously disappointed when the ship fragments come tumbling out of its exit point, instead of the gate turning off.