Chevallier spoke with Peiun after she finished talking with Saressea’s hologram. Afterward, she faced Karklosea and said. “One of the ships here is controlled by the Whisper, they want to help us.”
Karklosea watched the view screen as the Rezeki’s Rage repositioned itself to defend a strange ship that looked like it was designed by Radiance, but of a class she had never seen.
“That’s the ship if you were wondering,” Chevallier said, pointing at it on the viewer. “It’s called the Prometheus.”
“This better not be a trick,” Karklosea said. “We’re in a confusing three-way battle, and I’m certain nobody has their IFFs correctly configured.”
Chevallier nodded in agreement. “Friendly fire is going to be a bitch.”
59 Foster
XSV Johannes Kepler
Terran Alliance Fleet, Near Hallowed Nebula Center
July 24, 2119, 08:05 SST (Sol Standard Time)
The Gerard Kuiper created a rip across the clouds of the maelstrom by the time the Johannes Kepler slowed to approach it. The command ship it was escorting was encircled by the large Draconian fleet that descended upon it. With the Gerard Kuiper leading the way, it pushed through the newly formed vortex, arriving back in the known universe, close to the direct center of the nebula. The command ship followed it then later, the Draconians and their vengeful wyverns.
The Johannes Kepler managed to slip through as the vortex was shutting, Foster thanked Chang for the quick moves as it saved her a run down to engineering to interact with the vortex key.
A raging battle ignited with the nebula as the backdrop. Draconian bio-ships spread out to meet the ships that emerged from the sphere-like command ship. Half were Imperial ships, and the others looked like Radiance built that used UNE technology, such as the particle cannons that singed the fleshy hulls of the bio-ships.
The Kepler’s sensors auto-flagged one of the ships as being friendly once it read its IFF. It was the Rezeki’s Rage. And if Penelope’s intel was correct, it was probably hijacked. It was also spending a lot of time defending one of the Radiance Earth hybrid warships.
Foster had no idea what to make of the situation by the time the Kepler entered effective weapons range.
“That, ladies and gentlemen,” Chang said as he pointed at the view screen. “This is what we call a triple A cluster fuck.”
“Tolukei, get the goo back inside then give us an ESP assessment,” Foster said.
Tolukei followed his orders though he gave no verbal confirmation he heard or understood. His face grew tired and agitated when the request was completed, and the Kepler’s protective goo had been brought back inside with his mind.
Williams stood facing the Javnis psionic. “Tolukei, you gonna be alright?”
“This experience has been extremely taxing on my brain,” Tolukei said, holding onto the edge of his station to support his weakened body. “I may need to rest before I use my powers further.”
Foster frowned when she faced the tactical readout floating ahead of the view screen. “That means no overshields or any other psionic support.”
“Standard shields are at max,” Chang said, checking his instruments. “We should be able to take a few hits at least if we jump in.”
“If we jump in,” Foster said. “EVE’s already over-tasked in engineering and we’s gonna need her weapons assist more than ever without Tolukei.”
“I could help.” She faced the bridge’s exit to see Vynei standing before it, having entered unexpectedly. “I was in the Radiance Navy once.”
She looked at him grinning, thinking back to the time when Vynei manned the Rezeki’s Rage’s guns, during their escape from Kapteyn’s Star, the first time around. He was a good shot then. He should be the same now.
“Man the weapons then, Vynei,” Foster said to him. “Chang, focus on flyin’ and nothing else.”
Chang pushed his targeting holo screens to the side. “I got ya, Cap.”
“Tolukei, take five and gather your strength,” Foster said. “Everyone else, get ready, ‘cause we’s goin’ in.”
Vynei manned his newly assigned post while Chang pushed the Kepler into the explosive light-show within the nebula. With the MRF active, the Kepler’s mass reduced giving it more freedom to make hard turns and rolls, dodging tachyon blasts from the barricade of bio-ships. Wyverns scattered when Vynei made the Kepler’s rail guns roar, and then a quick turn to the left brought the command ship and the fleet that was inside of it into view.
“Penelope,” Williams asked her. “How good are your hacking skills?”
She spun in the chair she sat in at a rear computer station. The hacker’s red eyes looked up at him with a colder than ice glare. “If it’s got a computer, I can take control.”
The smirk on Williams’ bearded face said it all. He liked the idea. “Think you can disable some of these ships?”
Penelope turned to the computer, her fingers, adorned with glittering rings, typed away on its keyboard. “Not sure about the Draconian ones, but everything else? Easy.” She cracked her knuckles, waved her hand conjuring six holo screens full of computer code. “Ships further away will take some time due to lag.”
A ship two light-minutes away would take Penelope two minutes just to hit the login screen, then another two minutes for her to see it. Then another two minutes for her passcode cracking, and another two for the new screen to load . . . The only ships Penelope could take out in a reasonable amount of time were the ones the Kepler got close to.
There was a gauntlet of Imperial ships, Radiance Earth hybrid ships near the Gerard Kuiper. Chang was going to have to get real close to them for Penelope to disable their guns. Chang was up for the challenge.
An elegant dive pushed the Kepler toward its targets that were sure to shoot at them when they neared the Gerard Kuiper. Hit and run tactics were utilized, the hit being Penelope’s hack that saw the hybrid ships’ weapons disabled, the run being the quick moves to evade Draconian attacks as the Kepler flew past an Imperial carrier, delivering malicious computer code from the galaxy’s most elite hacker.
Some ships veered off course when their propulsion systems engaged when they weren’t supposed to, others had their reactors powered down. The longer the Kepler remained in close range of a ship, the more chaos Penelope was able to unleash. Foster was thankful none of the ships had an AI like EVE aboard. Otherwise, Penelope would have been locked out the second she hacked in. It went without saying, the Gerard Kuiper which did have an EVE AI, wasn’t going to be hacked as easily.
As predicted, Penelope couldn’t do anything about the Draconian ships. She knew nothing of their language. There was nothing Chang could do if the Kepler entered the bio-ships’ line of sight. Tachyons traveled faster than light, you can’t dodge that. The only defense was to not be there when the Draconians wanted to take a shot.
The shape of the command ship took up a third of the view screen by the time the Kepler leveled off and made it past the gauntlet of hybrid ships. The Gerard Kuiper, Rezeki’s Rage, and another hybrid ship was near it, working hard to keep the diving wyverns and their breath of plasma away from it.
“Captain,” Odelea said. “Incoming transmission from the Rezeki’s Rage.”
Foster faced the view screen. “On screen.”
The view screen turned into a projection of the Rezeki’s Rage’s bridge, with Peiun sitting in command. He had a wild platinum beard growing out from his vampire-like face. It made it hard to see the half smile that he made when the connection was established.
“Captain,” Peiun said.
“Captain,” Foster replied.
Chang rolled his eyes. “Seriously?”
“It would appear we yet again meet in combat,” Peiun said.
“Be nice if we could meet someplace nice and playful,” Foster said.
“Promise me we are victorious, and I shall make it happen.”
“You got a plan for that?”
“Indeed,” Peiun said. “
The Terran ship next to us, the Prometheus, is controlled by the Whisper. They are not hostile; do not fire on them.”
“Terran . . .” Foster said drily. She was going to ask for more details but decided not to. They were after all having a conversation during the middle of a battle. She made a note that the hybrid ships were Terran loyal.
In the background, she saw Karklosea and Chevallier. She decided not to ask about the details of how they got there too. But at the same time was glad to see Chevallier was on her feet, with a new arm too.
“We’ve discovered that there is a human woman named Lisette aboard the Gerard Kuiper against her will,” Peiun said. “She’s important to a servant that helped me retake my ship; I’d like to recover her before it’s too late.”
“We know all about Lisette,” Foster said. “Rivera, Nereid, and our stolen vortex key are also on the Gerard Kuiper.”
“Then our goals are the same, Captain,” he said. “We need to board it, but I do not have a psionic aboard.”
“Doesn’t matter if he does,” Williams said. “Mind shields would block them from boarding or using their powers once on it.”
“Can you hack it, Penelope?” Chang asked her.
“I can’t, the shipboard EVE will kick me out the second I enter.”
“The reason this fleet exited the maelstrom was because of critical failures on the Gerard Kuiper,” Peiun said. “Now that you mentioned Rivera is aboard, she might have taken it upon herself to sabotage it.”
“And if that’s the case, she ain’t gonna last long when they find her,” Foster said. “Chang, get us closer to the Gerard Kuiper, we’s gotta protect it from those dragons!”
“Aye, Cap.”
“Is it possible we could have LeBoeuf teleport aboard since she’s human?” Foster asked.
Williams shook his head after reading the data on his holo screen. “Negative, according to this, their mind shield is blocking everyone that isn’t a member of the crew.”
The Gerard Kuiper’s size expanded on the view screen. It was large enough for Foster to see its side airlocks that were once latched to the Kepler.
It gave her an idea.
“Then we need to physically force ourselves aboard.”
60 Karklosea
Rezeki’s Rage
Terran Alliance Fleet, Near Hallowed Nebula Center
July 24, 2119, 08:49 SST (Sol Standard Time)
“Peiun wants to board the Gerard Kuiper,” Chevallier translated for Karklosea. “Teleportation isn’t an option right now.”
It took Karklosea a moment to process what was said. The battle outside the command ship had gone on so long with only Hashmedai voices being heard, she forgot she had been standing on the cold dark bridge, in the corner with Chevallier. It wasn’t until the brief communication Peiun had with Foster, via the view screen was when she snapped out of it. That’s when Chevallier spoke with the Hashmedai captain, then came back to her.
“Peiun, as in the Kepler isn’t?”
“Rivera’s going to need help and fast,” Chevallier said. “We get in, support her, take out the mind shields, and Foster and company can teleport aboard. Hopefully, they’ll be able to handle it, some asshole named Jainuzei attacked Miles, LeBoeuf, and Maxwell.”
“Jainuzei . . .” Karklosea said slowly, the mention of his name triggered a surge of rage in her head. “So, he’s aboard the Gerard Kuiper?”
“From what they’ve gathered, yes.” Chevallier powered her rifle and stood at the bridge’s exit. “We’re going to form the boarding party with what remains of Peiun’s warriors.”
Which wasn’t much, from what Karklosea saw during the recapture of the Rezeki’s Rage earlier. Her guess was a lot of the crew was killed or forced to work with the Taxah Hashmedai, who ended up getting killed when they took it back. Adding to that, Karklosea wouldn’t be able to use psionic powers once aboard until the psionic damping field of the mind shield was taken care of. The blade on her redeemer was still sharp enough to kill, however, not as well as a blade infused with psionic energy, but it would get the job done. Using the redeemer’s rifle mode wasn’t an option, she needed her powers active for that.
With the assistance of the Kepler and the Prometheus, the Rezeki’s Rage made the closest pass it could to the Gerard Kuiper, taking weapons fire from all angles, the blue ripples of its shields kept its hull safe for the time being.
Chevallier and Karklosea entered a small Hashmedai transport with eight young warriors inside armed with two-handed plasma swords, and two guardians. She never felt so uncomfortable in her life, especially when its doors shut and the transport left.
There was no turning back at that point. She was trapped on the cramped transport, full of members of a species that tried to force the Linl into becoming their subservient slaves, tried to topple the Radiance Union, tried to invade the nebula centuries ago in a foolish attempt to show that the Gods were manipulating aliens.
Now she was helping them win a battle in the nebula.
The transport wasn’t fast enough. It paid the price when wyverns flew next to it, breathing punishing waves of psionic plasma from their mouths. The transport’s shields were falling rapidly. They weren’t going to make it to the Gerard Kuiper’s airlock. They needed a new plan and fast.
The team aboard prepared for a spacewalk, placing their helmets on, and double-checking their air supply. Karklosea had her suit switch to its EVA mode, and her helmet materialized over her head, and its HUD reported she was good to go.
Violent tremors rocked the transport when its shields shattered. Sparks sprayed from electronics, cables, pipes on the ceiling came apart, and fires ignited filling the cabin with blackened smoke. The sight of the Gerard Kuiper spun in and out of view from the transport’s cockpit windshield. They were spinning out of control.
One warrior depressurized the transport before opening its door and leaping out. Chevallier and Karklosea joined him, and then later the rest of the Hashmedai. The doomed and spiraling transport became a distraction as the wyverns continued to assault it, not realizing nobody was aboard. It was quite convenient. They needed it, as they were now floating in the vacuum aimlessly. Karklosea couldn’t see the Gerard Kuiper, or the Rezeki’s Rage, just the nebula’s colors, and the random flashes of white light that looked like flashes of lightning, which came from the endless battle below her.
She used her psionic powers to spin her body and face the Gerard Kuiper. It would be the last time she’d be able to use them, once she got aboard the Gerard Kuiper, she’d be on the same level as the warriors.
The group made a zero-g push to the airlock, using the jets of their suits, or in Karklosea’s case, telekinesis. The transport they rode in exploded, hurling chunks of slag in every direction. The wyverns that ended the drifting transport faced them, seeking new targets. Getting vaporized by stray weapons fire from a ship became the least of her worries at that point.
The wyverns closed the gap between the spacewalking group. Chevallier and Karklosea became the only two that could slow them. Chevallier used the particle beam mode on her rifle, shooting white-hot beams of energy at the winged beasts. Karklosea aimed her redeemer, now transformed into its psionic rifle mode to assist. She made a note not to forget to leave it in that mode once they boarded.
If they boarded, she was starting to have doubts about that. Two warriors had their heads taken off by the talons of a wyvern that got close. The headless bodies of the unlucky warriors continued to drift out of sight, with their jets still active. They left behind a trail of orbed Hashmedai blood, shiny enough to reflect the discharge of weapons exchange from the battle below, above, everywhere around them.
Four additional warriors were lost to space by the time they made it to the airlock. Chevallier was quick to avenge them by vaporizing red glowing holes through the heads and chest of the wyverns that attempted to fly away with mangled torsos, with half of a spinal cord attached in their claws.
The surviving Hashmedai
placed breaching plasma charges onto the airlock door, then drifted away to get clear of the impending blast. Meanwhile, Chevallier and Karklosea, the only two of the group armed with ranged weapons, defended their position from the lingering wyverns as their magnetic boots kept their feet clung to the goo-covered hull of the Gerard Kuiper. The duo stood back to back aiming their weapons up, firing a relentless torrent of psionic plasma and particle beams at the dragons. The beasts that weren’t hit had to rethink their choice to attack.
Karklosea didn’t realize the charges went off at first. There was no sound in space after all, and her attention had been focused on keeping her aim steady and her psionic mind pumping her redeemer full of power. It wasn’t until she saw at the corner of her eye, the slagged remains of the two airlock doors eject into space and the nebula, that she realized it was time to enter.
She had to wait for a dozen bodies that got blown out into the vacuum to pass before they entered. From her point of view, standing on the hull of the ship, staring at the airlock entrance, it looked as though a geyser had erupted, spewing everything upward. The robed men and women of the SOM crystallized instantly, white mist gusted from their mouths as they gasped for air that didn’t exist in space, eventually crashing into the surviving wyverns, tossing them off course.
Emergency shutters tried to isolate the corridors that were exposed to space after the breach. The Hashmedai warriors swung their plasma swords through it, cutting holes large enough for the group to continue. Depressurized corridors meant no enemy contact unless they grabbed an EVA suit. The floating dead bodies Karklosea pushed out of her way suggested they couldn’t find them in time.
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