by G J Ogden
Cad again looked over to Alexis, who was still peering down at her palm computer while tapping furiously on the screen. Alexis worked for a few more seconds before looking up at Cad.
“We got it, alright,” she said, smiling. “The co-ordinates are smack-bang in the middle of the Darkspace, but something must be there.”
Cad slid off the table and sheathed his sword as Scarlett Brock continued to stare into space. Her mind was already half-gone, he realized.
“Then let’s go and find out what’s there,” he replied before looking at Draga. “You can kill her now; I know that’s what you’ve been waiting for.” However, as soon as he’d spoken the words, he noticed that Scarlett Brock had slumped back in her chair, blood oozing from her eyes, ears, and nose. She was making a low gurgling noise, and Cad saw that she was choking on her own blood too.
“No need; the drugs have beaten me to it,” said Draga indifferently. “Besides, it’s no fun when they’re already half-dead.”
Scarlett Brock then flopped forward, smashing her head into the desk and splattering the cold, congealing blood that was already pooled on it over Cad’s combat pants.
“Damn it, Draga, these were clean on today!” Cad snapped, grabbing a tissue from a container on the desk and angrily trying to dab the larger spots away.
“Considering where we’re going, there isn’t really any point in you changing them now,” Draga answered, remaining unsympathetic.
Cad tutted and dropped the tissue in the trash can before heading to the door. “Call in the cleaner, and let’s get out of here,” he called back to Draga as he flung open the office door. “We have a Darkspace Renegade hideout to destroy.”
24
The weapons lock tone droned out inside the cabin of Cad Rikkard’s advanced fighter, and he pressed the trigger, launching two missiles out into the Darkspace. They raced ahead and obliterated the pair of renegade fighters that had launched from the hideout before they’d even had a chance to turn toward him. Draga was still engaged with a third fighter, which she’d drawn away from the fourth moon of the rogue planet, on which the renegade base had been constructed. This time, Cad was genuinely impressed by Dr. Rand’s inventive use of old freighters and other large vessels to create the base. He almost felt sad that he was going to blow it to pieces. Almost.
“Missiles armed and locked on,” said Alexis over the comm-link. She was formed up on Cad’s wing. “Say the word, and I’ll reduce that base to dust.”
“Draga won’t like it if I deny her more opportunities to torture people,” Cad replied, noting that his other wingman was still dogfighting with the remaining renegade. However, he was keen to report back to Doyle with their early success and prove to the arrogant ass that he had been wrong to question Cad’s capabilities. “But let’s just finish this and move on. I doubt this is the only hideout out here in the Darkspace.”
Alexis’ fighter pulled ahead before he heard her call back, “Roger that, firing… now.”
Two missiles snaked out in front of them and shot toward the base, but to Cad’s surprise, both exploded well short of their target.
“What the hell?” Cad said before a number of red triangles flashed up on his holographic HUD. He quickly scanned the scanner readout, discovering that each of the symbols represented one of a dozen gun emplacements on the base. “Damn it, they’ve got anti-missile defenses,” Cad growled, spinning the fighter on its axis and thrusting away from the base. “Keep out of its firing solution until we can figure out a new plan of attack.”
Alexis copied Cad’s move and was soon parked just off his starboard wing again. Both Blackfire Squadron fighters hung in space, angled toward the base like vultures on a tree branch, waiting for their chance at a carcass.
“I can’t jam their targeting systems without getting in range of their guns,” said Alexis as Cad watched the chevron that had indicated the remaining renegade fighter blink and disappear. “They designed these hideouts well; they’re more like mini castles, with a moat to keep intruders at bay.”
Cad laughed. “Nice analogy,” he said, knowing that Alexis liked to indulge his fascination with medieval fortifications and weaponry. However, Alexis was right; the hideout was a veritable fortress. It had been constructed inside a crater on the fourth moon so that it was enclosed on all sides by a thick protective wall of rock and ice. The only way in was directly from above, which meant flying head-on into a swarm of cannon fire. “I guess we need to figure out how to lower the drawbridge,” he added, continuing Alexis’ analogy.
Draga formed up on Cad’s other wing and pulsed her thrusters to kill the ship’s forward momentum. Cad glanced across to her through the cockpit glass, throwing up a quick salute with two fingers as he did so.
“That last renegade is dust,” said Draga over the comm-link before Cad saw her point toward the base. “Any reason why we’re just sitting out here like assholes? I doubt they’re going to invite us in.”
“The place is packing more defensive firepower than Doyle’s personal estate,” replied Cad as he too gestured toward the base from inside his cockpit. “But if you want to be shredded by a dozen gun emplacements, then be my guest.” Draga went quiet, though the comm-link remained open. She appeared to be focusing on her holographic HUD. “It’s not like you to be lost for words, Draga…” said Cad, looking to coax a reaction from her, but she didn’t rise to it. Cad’s console then updated with a new attack plan, transmitted from Draga’s ship.
“There’s a waste storage area cut into a hollow in the rock below the main base,” said Draga as Cad studied the new coordinates. “It’s likely where they stash spent fuel barrels and other more volatile waste. There are a couple of cannons protecting it, but if we’re fast, we can destroy them without taking too many hits.”
Cad studied the new plan. “I’d prefer it if we didn’t take any hits at all,” he answered, not relishing the prospect of taking direct fire from the base’s gun emplacements. However, he couldn’t deny that Draga had a point. It looked like she’d found a weakness in the base’s defenses, and it might be their only way in. “Can we just hit those spent barrels and use them to blow the base?”
It was Alexis that answered this time. “There won’t be enough Randenite left in them to create a big enough pop,” she said. “But there must be a way into the main base from down there.”
“There is,” said Draga confidently. “There’s a lift shaft from the storage area into the main base. If we make a long approach, we can skim the moon’s surface to avoid the main turrets, then take out the two guns protecting the platform.”
“We’ll still take a pounding from those cannons before we can take them out,” said Cad, more to himself than to the others. “But if we can get through and latch on to the rock next to the platform, then we can storm in through the back door, so to speak.”
The comm-link remained silent as Cad considered Draga’s proposal, stroking the bottom of his chin with his thumb as he did so. It wasn’t without risk, he accepted, but it was also the best option they had.
“Okay, it’s your plan, so you take point,” said Cad, knowing that Draga would want to go in first, no matter what he said. “Then once we’re inside, we clean house. But try to leave at least one person alive.” Even through her cockpit glass, Cad could see that Draga was about to complain, and so quickly added, “Just so we can interrogate them later, to see if they can help us out with the locations of any other bases.”
“I hope these upgrades were worth the money Doyle paid for them,” said Alexis, though as expected, she didn’t question the plan. Once Cad had made his decision, Alexis always had his back.
“Let’s find out,” replied Cad, waving at Draga to take the lead.
Draga’s fighter shot out ahead, but away from the base and toward a safe area of the rogue planet’s ice-encrusted rocky moon. No more renegade fighters had launched since they had dispatched the original squadron, but Cad still anticipated heavy resistance inside. He glan
ced across to his Black Prince sword, which was stowed in the cockpit beside him. He was wearing his scabbard over the top of his new power armor, in what was a jarring mixture of old and new.
Cad dropped low, skimming the surface of the moon and kicking up an icy spray as the squadron raced on toward the Darkspace Renegade hideout. Suddenly, two warning triangles lit up in his holographic HUD as the cannons came into range.
“Shields up, and go to virtual scanning,” ordered Cad, hitting a switch and causing an armored shell to expand out of the hull and enclose the ship, including the more fragile cockpit glass. The virtual HUD switched to project a simulated view of the outside, designed to match reality with almost indistinguishable fidelity. However, to Cad, there was always something a little artificial about the simulation, no matter how good it approximated the real world. Cad felt the same about any kind of virtualized environment, regardless of whether it was for training purposes or pleasure. Reality just felt more real to him.
Combat was the same. Fighting a simulated enemy didn’t produce the same gut-wrenching fear of death, or the intoxicating and life-affirming exhilaration of victory. It was why he loved doing what he did. It made him feel alive.
Cad felt the thud of cannon rounds batter the reinforced hull of his fighter, but, as anticipated, the heavy upgrades to the ship’s armor were enough to ward off any serious damage. Cad then saw the flash of Draga’s forward cannons, and a second later, he opened fire too, pulverizing the twin gun emplacements with a barrage of explosive-tipped shells.
“We’re clear,” said Draga over the comm-link. “I’m making my approach… Activating the docking grapples… now.”
Cad slowed to a stop and waited for Draga’s fighter to maneuver itself down on the ice-covered surface of the moon adjacent to the hideout’s storage platform. Six grapples extended from the hull, like giant spider legs, before burrowing into the ice and acting as anchors.
“Ship secured,” said Draga.
Cad nodded to Alexis through his virtualized cockpit display, and she followed suit before Cad finally pulled in alongside and attached his fighter to the ice. He then grabbed his sword from the stow next to his seat and made his way aft. Every part of his body was tingling, as if exposed to an electric current. This was the quiet before the storm, he recognized. The feeling he was experiencing was always the same, regardless of whether he was about to do battle on a lush, green planet or a makeshift base on an icy, Darkspace moon. It was the feeling of a storm in the air. A sense that an explosion of power and violence was just around the corner. It was like a drug, and Cad couldn’t get enough of it.
Cad Rikkard grabbed the shimmering iridescent helmet from its stow by the side of the main hatch and pulled it on. Air hissed as the seals locked into place, and the internal HUD powered up. Slipping his Black Prince sword into its scabbard, he then loaded his sidearm and hit the hatch release. The door whirred open, and already he could see Draga Vex and Alexis Black waiting for him on the platform. Alexis, as usual, carried her twin Five-Seven-Seven pistols, while Draga favored a hefty semi-automatic shotgun or her fists. Cad jumped down onto the platform and drew his pistol before moving up to the elevator door. He preferred to leave attacking with his sword until later – he thought of it like saving the best till last.
“Alexis, you’re up,” he said through the suit’s internal comm-link, and his partner strode up to the door and set to work. Within a minute, the lift was riding down the shaft toward the platform, ready to carry them into battle.
The elevator thumped into the deck of the storage platform and depressurized before the doors slid open silently. Draga went in first so that she’d again be on the front line when the fighting began, with Cad and Alexis side-by-side behind her. Cad could feel the buzz of energy in his body building with each passing second. It was a force that couldn’t be contained for long. He knew, just as the others did, that the next time the doors opened, the Blackfire Squadron would bring the storm down on everyone who was inside.
25
The elevator door opened to forceful shouts of “Stay where you are!” and “Throw down your weapons!” But Draga Vex answered only with the thunderous bang of her semi-automatic shotgun. Bodies fell like skittles as Draga stormed out into the Darkspace Renegade hideout with the self-assurance of an immortal warrior. Cad Rikkard and Alexis Black followed close behind, demonstrating far more watchfulness, but no less confidence.
Cad fired his pistol, driving the renegades on the upper level into cover, then moved into an archway, out of the line of fire. He quickly surveyed the space, observing that they were inside what appeared to be the main foyer of the base. Based on his scans of the hideout, the hangar area was to Cad’s right, constructed out of the cargo section of a salvaged super freighter, while the main operations center was dead ahead. He counted ten renegades, split between the two levels of the foyer, not including the three that Draga had already dropped.
Suddenly, Cad felt the punch of bullets landing on his armor, and he looked up to see that a renegade had circled around on the upper level to target him. He ran out and ducked down behind a thick metal pillar. It was one of several in the foyer that had been erected to reinforce the roof structure. Temporarily safe from incoming fire, Cad checked the status of his armor, but other than a few dents and scratches, it was undamaged.
“I don’t know what the hell this stuff is made of, but it’s tough,” said Cad over the internal comm-link. “We’d all be dead already if it wasn’t for these suits.”
“Speak for yourself,” said Draga coolly as she and Alexis also advanced and took shelter from the incoming fire.
“Alexis, see if you can take out those three on the upper level,” Cad ordered through the comm-link, knowing that the punch of Draga’s shotgun would be diminished at that range. “Draga and I will push the others back so we can advance into the main operations center.”
The order was acknowledged instantly before Alexis sprang from cover, firing her twin pistols at the renegades on the balcony above them. One took a bullet to the neck and dropped out of sight, while the other two dived for cover.
Without hesitation, Cad dashed out from behind the pillar and opened fire at the renegades guarding the entrance to the operations center. The newfound trust in his advanced power armor made him feel almost invulnerable. He imagined this was how Draga normally felt, even without the high-tech shell to protect her.
Two renegades dropped, but not before Cad again felt the punch of bullets hammering into his armor. The difference was that this time he actually felt pain. He shrugged it off and pressed on, as the deafening bang of Draga’s shotgun forced the remaining renegades back though the wide bay door, but not before three more lay dead. The door then began to whir shut before finally closing with a weighty thud that shuddered through the deck plating.
“The three on the upper level are taken care of,” said Alexis over the internal comm-link. She sounded businesslike and professional; the more mischievous side of Alexis Black had taken a back seat.
“Good, but stay vigilant,” replied Cad. “We don’t know how many more might be skulking around.” Cad tried to advance toward the door, but pain again bit into his body. He stopped and examined the status readout of his armor, which was overlaid inside his visor’s HUD. Three sections of his body were now highlighted in amber; two areas on his chest and one on his right knee. He flexed the joint and the movement of the armor felt stiff, as if there was metal grinding against metal.
“Check your suits and give me a status report.” Cad forced the suit to obey his commands and made his way to the bay door while reloading his pistol.
“My right shoulder took a hit,” Alexis answered, her breathing rapid and shallow, “and I have a couple of red zones around my abdomen and left thigh. There’s a stabbing pain in my gut, so I think a round might have snuck through.”
Cad nodded and made mental notes for ways to further improve their power armor. However, considering that they were t
esting them in anger for the first time, the suits had already proved to be invaluable.
“I’m seeing more yellow than blue,” Draga then chipped in. “I’m bleeding a little too; nothing I can’t handle, though.” Cad waited for Draga to supply some additional details concerning her injuries, until the silence that followed made him realize that had been the full extent of her report.
“Alexis, can you get this door open?” said Cad while watching the upper level in case they’d missed anyone.
Alexis ran up to the control panel and ripped it off the wall, utilizing the augmented strength that the suit gave her. She then released a small drone that was no larger than a domestic house spider from a compartment in her right forearm. The miniature machine scurried through the opening and vanished into the internals of the door mechanism.
“Stand by, I’m running a bypass,” said Alexis.
Draga finished reloading her shotgun and moved into the dead center of the bay door.
“Don’t get cocky, Draga,” warned Cad. “That fancy power armor isn’t impervious to bullets, and neither are you.”
Draga got into position and aimed the shotgun at the seam where the two halves of the bay door met. “Don’t worry, I have no intention of dying on this base,” she replied. “Just get ready to mop up whoever is left.”
“Five seconds…” Alexis announced, raising both pistols and pressing the flat of her back against the wall.
Cad counted the seconds down in his head, sucking in deep breaths of the suit’s processed air and blowing them out steadily. The doors then slid open and Draga unloaded though the opening before the metal slabs had even retracted into their housings.
Alexis ran in next, darting from cover to cover, while firing her twin Five-Seven-Sevens. Cad tried to keep up, but his damaged knee joint continued to impair his progress.