Breaking Point

by David Alastair Hayden

  “This can’t be the bastard’s plan,” Faisal repeated, bobbing around the cockpit, sparks flaring along his glossy black surface. “It can’t be. It can’t be. It can’t be!”

  “Locate Mitsuki real, Faisal. Then we will understand what they’re up to.”

  “I’ve already searched everywhere, boss. Using every tool we have available.”

  "You're too straightforward. Think like a human. Search for quirks and anomalies."

  “Why don’t you?” the sky-blade snapped.

  Vega sighed. “Because I’m studying the big picture, Faisal. Something you are not especially good at doing.”

  Faisal was brilliant and relentless, but he had a mind for tactics rather than strategy, brute force rather than subtlety. Vega would never in a million years tell Faisal this, but Silky was smarter. How he had no idea. Silky was technically identical to the chippy installed within Faisal's body.

  Silky's plan to have every player fight one another until only one was left standing was astounding, equal parts daring and stupid. But the logic failed in its conclusion.

  Gendin and his pals didn't have the firepower to take on him and Faisal, much less a small group of reapers or centurions. And what if the government forces now surrounding the area to contain the battle decided to engage or were paid to do so? They couldn't wait out an entire army.

  There had to be something else to all of this, something more than mad desperation.

  "I'll see you at the end," Silky had told them, employing a coded military signal unused for generations. It didn’t take too much intelligence to figure that out. Clearly, Vega wouldn’t make his play until the end. That was obvious, which meant Silky was taunting them. Trying to distract them from—

  "Boss, I'm picking up the Outworld Ranger. It just entered the system… Its course has it heading directly for Titus II.”

  Vega stared at the orange dot as it popped up in the systemwide locator on the viewscreen. Why would the crew on the Outworld Ranger make this move? Why risk coming here? It couldn't be part of Silky's plan. The girls were naïve and brave. Maybe it was their idea…

  "Boss, I'm getting strange readings on the Outworld Ranger. Either that's a decoy, or they're using a poor signal-jamming setup. I'd put my money on the former. Although, that chippy isn't onboard so the signal-jamming would be weaker, and it might be improperly calibrated."

  Vega tapped his fingers rapidly as he watched two dozen ships immediately peel away from the planet’s orbit, setting their courses to intercept the Outworld Ranger. He flicked his gaze back to the main view of the battle.

  With the sentry station’s weapons and the skill and armor of the Thousand Worlders—armor that matched his—maybe this wouldn’t be as one-sided as he feared. He needed the two sides to destroy one another just as much as Silky did.

  He needed to focus as well. He needed to keep his mind on the big picture and figure out Silky’s plan.

  Where the hell was Mitsuki Reel? Why was Gendin working with this local, small-time bounty hunter, Tamzin Moi? Little was known about her, even here on her homeworld. And how had they popped out of nowhere near the sentry station? He was damned lucky to have picked up an identifying scan on Moi as they ran across the open ground to reach the station, not that knowing her identity was doing him any good.

  He was missing something here. Something big. He could feel it, even if he didn’t have a clue what it might be.

  Vega pulled the Spinner’s Blade out of orbit and changed their course. He wasn't going to risk missing out on the chance the reading wasn’t a ruse and that the Outworld Ranger had entered the system.

  He reached toward the accelerator but hesitated before maxing the engines.

  “Uncertain boss?”

  "Uncharacteristically so. I do not like this. Sil—that chippy—either his circuits are misfiring or he's conducting a masterful plan. The Outworld Ranger entering the system, that’s too good to be true. Decoy or not, maybe he wants us to go after it…”

  "Well, boss, I've got new info about the Outworld Ranger. I picked up a signal ten minutes ago. It was on an old military channel, similar to the one that chippy used to contact us. I just now cracked the message.”

  "Play it.”

  Vega listened carefully as Silky warned the Outworld Ranger crew to leave the system. As he argued with them, he recalibrated their jamming signals. The message seemed legit, but that could be another part of the ruse.

  Vega cursed. "We have to take the chance. Besides, if they turn and leave like Silky wants, we won't be far out from the planet and can double back."

  “I agree, boss.”

  Vega maxed the Spinner’s Blade’s engines and set them on an intercept course. They'd reach the Outworld Ranger before all the other vessels save two Shadowslip cruisers that had headed after them immediately. He wasn’t concerned about them, though. His infiltrator was more than a match for those ships.

  “Boss, I found an anomaly. A skimmer bike exploded in the wilderness about twelve kilometers out from a military reserve outpost. A small, poorly guarded one far outside the city. The bike matches the type we found footage of Gendin and Reel using. It climbed to a nonstandard altitude before descending out away from the base."

  “Are there any starships on that base?”

  “No, but there's a crew transport capable of entering orbit.”

  "So he's planning a rendezvous in orbit, but not with the Outworld Ranger. Catalog and analyze all the ships in orbit now.”

  “Again?” Faisal complained.

  “Again," Vega answered. “Where is that crew transport at the moment?”

  “Flying along with the military strike-fighters patrolling the area.”

  “So they’re biding their time until they can make a break for it.”

  He dug his fingers into the armrest and called up schematics on the station. He saw no tunnels leading out. How were they going to get from the station to the transport? Charge through a hail of fire? That was a poor plan at best, but Silky was desperate. Maybe that was the best they could come up with.

  “I can't see any rendezvous vessels that would make sense for them, boss. Maybe their ride hasn’t arrived yet.”

  “Keep an eye out for any new vessels arriving. If you’re correct, their ride out may not be obvious.”

  “It could be that it’s cloaked and we’re missing it.”

  Vega continued their course toward the Outworld Ranger while helping Faisal scan the area nearby for hidden ships.

  Five minutes later, a Thousand Worlds invasion fleet jumped into the system and sped toward the planet.

  "Butter my circuits, boss. Empress Bitch is going all out this time. Either she's desperate, or this girl’s something different."

  Vega struck out with a fist and punched Faisal, slamming him into the floor. “Do not insult my goddaughter again! I am tired of telling you this, Faisal. Show some respect or else.”

  “Yes, boss, my apologies.”

  Vega took a deep breath and calmed his mind as best as he could when his thoughts concerned Qaisella. “She senses something, Faisal. Mitsuki isn't worth this. And she's never risked this much to go after a messiah before, even one this old and close to awakening. There's something about this girl that makes her special. Something we don't know about.”

  The Thousand Worlds fleet didn't alter their course to pursue the Outworld Ranger. There was no chance that they had missed it. They were much closer to it than the Spinner’s Blade.

  “We’re heading toward a decoy," Vega said. "Otherwise, that fleet would be all over it.”

  “Looks like they’re dispatching a starfighter to check on it, boss. But only the one.”

  “Just doing their due diligence. Keep our course steady but find us a good hiding spot behind one of these small moons. When that fleet closes in, we’re going to maximum cloak.”

  “What’s our end game, boss?”

  “Our only hope is for Gendin and company to successfully slip away an
d evade the Thousand World fleet so that we can then capture them. There’s no swooping in on the sentry station at the last minute. Not anymore. This is out of our hands. If Gendin can’t escape, we lose our shot at him.”

  “We could let them die, boss.”

  “We need the girl’s father. I’m certain of that.”

  “Then I hate to say it, boss. So, so much. But we may need to help them slip away to reach their rendezvous.”

  Vega thumped his fists affirmatively into the armrests. “We go big. Prep the EMP bomb."

  42

  Siv Gendin

  The sentry station shook as the Tekk Reaper ship hammered the force field. The floors hummed in response to the booms outside. Static flickered across their screens.

  "Forcefield at eighty-five percent," the station's lifeless AI announced.

  Siv cringed. "Silkster, were getting pummeled here.”

  "The cloaked Thousand Worlders in orbit are taking their time, sir. Activating our weapon systems now.”

  “Any chance this planet has one of those glowing killer bee weapon systems like we used before on Ekaran IV?”

  “It does, sir, but I can’t get it online. Tekk Plague damage, I suppose.”

  The station rumbled as if giant gears turned underneath. Metal flaps opened up outside, kicking up decades worth of turf that had built up on top of them. Three weapon systems extended out from those spots: a quad-plasma cannon, a long-barreled rail cannon, and a battery missile launcher.

  Siv controlled the railgun and the missiles, Tamzin operated the plasma cannon.

  “Forcefield at eighty percent," the station droned.

  The reaper ship continued to pound them with plasma and rake them with its lasers. On the ground, sixty-five individual reapers fired their weapons into the force field. Siv was impressed that the station's shields still functioned.

  “Missiles inbound,” the station said.

  Two salvos of twenty plasma missiles slammed into the force field, reducing it to forty-one percent in one fiery explosion that knocked dust from the ceiling, cracked the floors, and kicked Siv and Tamzin out of their seats.

  "Weapon systems online now, sir!” Silky yelled.

  Siv climbed back into his seat. Targeting systems appeared in his HUD through the circlet link. He’d never used a system like this before, but how hard could it be? The station was…well…stationary, and so was the reaper ship above them.

  Mentally, he ordered their missiles to prime. Then he focused the targeting triangle on the center of the enemy ship and fired the rail cannon.

  “Hold on the missiles, sir.”

  The cannon shell burst against the starship's shields as Tamzin pattered it with plasma bolts. The reapers returned fire without evading, apparently confident that they would prevail in a direct exchange of firepower.

  Silky laughed and gloated. "They’re doing exactly what I want them to do. Sir, you and Shit Creek keep your targeting locks focused, keep them firmly in mind, visualize them intensely.”

  Siv battered the reaper ship with the rail cannon while Tamzin continued with the plasma shots even as their shields dipped below thirty percent. He did precisely as Silky requested, as best as he could.

  Tamzin started to respond, but suddenly all the screens fuzzed out.

  "They're here," Silky said in a creepy voice. "Stay focused on your target points and keep firing. Don't let up."

  A deep rumbling shook the sentry station as the earth quaked and explosive booms sounded all around them.

  “What the hell…” Tamzin's voice trailed off as their screens came back online.

  “That was masterful," Silky said with awe. "It's not easy to trick Tekk Reapers.”

  The Tekk Reaper vessel lurched to the side and drifted earthward. Its shields were down. Smoke poured from its aft sections. The reapers continued to fire but not at the sentry station. They had a new target: Heatwaves peeling off its hull, a Thousand Worlds’ dropship cruiser streaked down through the atmosphere raining fire onto the reaper ship.

  On the ground around the station chaos reigned as Thousand Worlder centurions poured out from fifteen burst-pods, each carrying two dozen power-armored men. Plasma and lasers and slugs flew between the reapers and centurions.

  “The reapers need help, sir. Target the Thousand Worlds ship and fire all the missiles.”

  “All?”

  “The whole lot, sir. Tamzin, switch—”

  "Yeah, I got it. By the way, Siv, someday I'm going to rip that chippy out of your socket and—”

  “Yeah, yeah, I've heard all that before, lady. Toss me in the trash. Rip me to shreds. Crush me under the boot of your heel. Waah. Waah."

  She sneered. "I was thinking abandon you on an alien world."

  “Been there, done that. A Krixis world, no less. And for two centuries. So bring it on.”

  Tamzin’s face twisted into a confused frown, and she pursed her lips. It was going to take a while for her to sort that one out.

  Siv triggered the missiles, and the launcher pumped out four at a time in rapid succession.

  Plunging through the atmosphere, the Thousand Worlds dropship was unable to maneuver fast enough to avoid them. Its prodigious flak cannon tore into the missiles, but it couldn’t keep up since the reapers were also firing missiles.

  Soon, the Thousand Worlders’ shields flickered, and Tamzin pegged the flak cannon with a plasma bolt, destroying it. Soon after, the dropship’s shields failed, and then it too drifted listlessly above as it traded blows with the reaper ship like two staggering boxers pummeling one another.

  "Tamzin, the reapers are winning on the ground. Blast a few of them with the plasma cannon. Sir, train the railguns on the burst-pods.”

  “What about the starships?” Siv asked.

  "Leave them be, for now, sir. And don't fire on the pods just yet. Tamzin, just take out a few reapers. We don't want to swing the battle too far in either direction."

  Tamzin vaporized a cluster of five reapers.

  A score of yellow dots appeared on the station’s locator, hovering around the periphery of its thirty-kilometer range.

  “Excellent,” Silky said. “Government forces are on the way.”

  “I don’t want to fight them,” Tamzin said, and Siv agreed.

  “According to their orders, they’re not going to engage us. They are to encircle this area and prevent any stragglers from leaving. They’re simply trying to corral the action and keep it away from the city and other inhabited areas.”

  “Where are the other players?” Siv asked, wondering about the Shadowslip, the Star Cutters, and the World Bleeders.

  "Sitting it out, for now, sir. I pinged them all, so everyone knows where everyone else is. We're lucky Titus II isn't in the Federation, so they’re sitting it out as well. They don't know Oona's significance or have been paid enough not to care. Also, I sent a fake signal to the Outworld Ranger decoy. A score of minor players are heading that way, including Kaleeb. Not that I’d call him minor.”

  “That’s good news, at least,” Siv said, firing on and destroying a burst-pod.

  Tamzin alternated between firing on the Tekk Reapers and the Thousand Worlders. "We're winning this."

  “Don’t get cocky, weirdo. Things could– The Hydrogenist ship just entered the system. Right on— Dammit, dammit, dammit!”

  Siv scanned the system locator. He assumed the Hydrogenist ship was the new green dot at two o’clock along the edge, but he didn’t know what the twelve new red dots at six o’clock were.

  “Silkster, what are those?”

  “That’s a freaking Thousand Worlds invasion fleet, sir. They just jumped into the system, and they’re moving in fast. They'll arrive at roughly the same time as the Hydrogenists.”

  “An invasion fleet?" Siv asked in disbelief.

  “Indeed, sir.”

  “That’s insane,” Tamzin muttered. “Totally freaking insane.”

  “Indeed it is, nut job. Three more dropships like t
his one, six frigates, two battlecruisers, and— Where the F and me did that come from?!”

  A big red dot appeared on the locator showing a new vessel directly above them.

  “We’ve got a second Tekk Reaper ship descending from orbit! No idea how I missed it. Concentrate all your fire on the reaper vessel nearby. It must die before the other one arrives.”

  “This is bad, isn’t it?” Siv asked.

  “It ain’t good, sir. The shit has hit the fan now, and I don't know how much longer the blades can spin."

  43

  Siv Gendin

  A salvo of missiles from the new Tekk Reaper starship flared into the Thousand Worlds dropship. The already crippled ship broke apart in flames and crashed into the earth in a fiery wave that immolated dozens of centurions and reapers alike.

  The first Tekk Reaper cruiser, battered and limping, trained its still-operative plasma cannons onto the centurions and burst-pods on the ground, rapidly securing the field of battle in their favor.

  The new cruiser switched to blasting the sentry station, and Siv cringed as plasma bolts, laser beams, and missiles struck their force field. The system locator showed the Hydrogenists and the Thousand Worlds invasion fleet hurtling toward them, but neither mattered if they couldn’t first survive this second reaper ship raining fire upon them like some apocalyptic beast from hell.

  “Forcefield at thirty-five percent,” the station’s AI droned. “Forcefield at thirty-four percent. Forcefield at thirty-two percent.”

  Siv popped the last of the station’s rail cannon shells into the new cruiser. The warhead splatted onto the shields to little effect, and the plasma fire Tamzin pumped also failed to achieve anything of significance. They were never going to get through that starship’s shields in time.