Session 3.5 - Science Fiction
Ah, yes, the unfriendly skies of the future. You ever realize how many different races we'll be fighting in the future? The Borg, the Sith, several varieties of overgrown lizards, the lovingly titled "Bugs" of Tanya Huff's stories… Earth's new motto is going to be Blow 'em to Hell, Boys!
Anyway, I've only got two actual sci-fi stories: the good one and the bad one.
We'll do the bad one first. Let's see if you can tell what computer game I ripped off…
Chapter 1
In the year 2195, 100 years after the Terrans joined the Alliance, the Terran space carrier Atlantis received a strange transmission. Captain George Noswell listened as a strange voice said, "Kabath crowth daylo habaska." An hour later, on orders from General Walson, Captain Noswell sent a written message of peace in all languages back to the source of the transmission, somewhere in the uncharted Kralen sector. The result was astonishing. A fleet of two hundred unknown fighter ships appeared out of nowhere and surrounded the carrier. At the same moment, reports began to pour in that similar ships had taken over various planets near the Kralen sector. Although the crew on the Atlantis fought bravely, the fighters completely destroyed the carrier within half an hour. It was these first attacks that plunged the Alliance into one of the longest and bloodiest wars ever known to any planet.
"O'Hara, this is Starlight. Do you read? Please, somebody, answer me!" Silence continued on her Comm unit. A laser blast rifled through the air, missing her by mere inches. The level ten fighter droid re-aimed its gun and fired again. Starlight ducked behind the pile of rocks and tried again. "O'Hara, this is Captain Coleson of Special Ops. Someone has got to be up there! This is an emergency, answer me!"
"Stop human!" the deep voice of the robot shouted. Starlight cursed and checked her gun as two more blasts soared over her head. Two shots before she had to recharge. Something landed with a dull clunk in front her. Starlight didn't even have a chance to react before the plasma grenade went off.
As the smoke cleared, two shapes could be seen. The first, the droid, stooped to pick up the lifeless form. The second, hiding in the only exit from the circular chamber, fled from the scene towards the awaiting transport ship.
"Colonel Larson! The Admiral wishes to see you." Cody sat up in his bunk. Muttering that he would be there right away, he reached out a hand and shut off the video screen. He lumbered towards the bathroom, still more or less asleep, and began to shave. After taking a shower and putting on his uniform, Cody headed for Admiral Walson's office.
Ten minutes later, he entered. The room was spacious. A large desk dominated the middle of the room. A window allowed the Admiral a view of the space outside. The left and right walls were adorned with paintings of famous victories of the Alliance squadrons. But the none of these features caught Cody's interest. He saluted the figure standing in front of the window. "Admiral Walson? You wished to see me?"
The man turned. Luke Walson had been in the Terran Space Fleet even before the Frath had begun their attacks nearly eleven years ago. He had always been in control of the Special Ops. sector because he had started out there. Now, at age forty-seven, he planned to retire in another year. This both gladdened and dismayed Cody. He was happy for the Admiral because finally he would be able to do what he always wanted, live a quiet life away from fighting. It saddened Cody because after he had joined Special Ops., the Admiral had been the only reason why Cody had stayed after Laura's death, but Cody did not continue that line of thought.
"Colonel Larson," he began, "you and I both know that the end of this war is near. If not in the next few years, then sometime before this decade is over. But enough about that. We are currently stationed in the Lorth sector, dangerously close to what we believe is the Frath's home world. Agents have reported that there is a revolt on some of the Wolfs' home ground. It is the Alliance's hope to attack and get those planets to join with us against the Frath.
"I want the Strikers to lead a force against the planet Rogosh while the strike carriers, the TSC Bach and MSC Avalanche, destroy any incoming carriers. When your mission is completed, you will stay on Rogosh to help secure the area. Then you will return to the Jordan. The transport ship, Avalon, will take you to the planet's solar system. Dismissed." Cody saluted and left.
As he walked down the corridor towards the briefing room, he paused to briefly look into one of the recreation rooms, and found Glenn reclining in a chair with a book. He looked up as the door opened. "Come on, Walker. We've got a briefing in fifteen minutes that we need to be at." The colonel closed his book and stood up.
He and Cody had been friends at Earth's Alliance Training Academy. After their graduation, they had been posted on two different ships, but they had kept in contact through the years. At the Academy's five year reunion (It had to reunions every five years because so few graduates would live long enough for a ten year reunion.), Glenn had introduced Cody to Laura Coleson, one of Glenn's co-pilots. Cody and Laura had hit it off right from the start.
Glenn frowned, watching Cody as the two headed for the briefing room. Cody had been devastated after Laura's death. Glenn was glad that his friend had recovered from his five month depression after losing his fiancé.
Several other team members were already inside. Glenn took a seat and waved a greeting to Captain Gaelan Magain and Colonel Rose Fukuoka. Rose smiled and returned the wave. Glenn had gotten nowhere asking the black haired native Martian for a date. Rose had neatly, and forcefully, turned Glenn's affections aside.
Gaelan merely nodded an acknowledgement of Glenn's presence before returning to his brooding. The normally cheerful Scotsman and, fellow native of Glenn's own home planet of Venus, was unusually somber. This meant that Cody's briefing was conflicting with the man's 'schedule'. Glenn chuckled, wondering who the red-headed youth had conned into bed this time.
Glenn glared at the third person in the room. Captain Stephanie Mays smiled back, which only further infuriated Glenn. The twenty-two year old brunette from Earth loved to play jokes, many of which were directed in Glenn's direction.
Stephanie sat next to him. "Do you know what this briefing's about, Glenn?"
"No," he growled. "Why should I?"
Stephanie smiled again; her crystal green eyes sparkling with suppressed laughter. After a few unsuccessful seconds of trying to stifle it, she finally gave in and started to chortle softly. Glenn glared at her and tried to ignore her. She was probably already cooking up her next joke.
The door opened and Captain Joseph Aegar waltzed in. The Australian from Castillo, one of Jupiter's inhabited moons, was the newest squad member and he appeared to be adjusting well to being transferred from Engineering. The blonde-haired man greeted everyone cheerfully and took a seat next to Gaelan, not noticing the Scottish's foul mood.
By now, twenty minutes had gone by and Cody was getting impatient. He glared about the room. "Where is Dreamer?" He asked and received no answer. He muttered furiously. "Computer," he began, "locate Major Melody Banks." Just as Cody finished, the door opened and a tired, young black woman burst into the room.
"I am so sorry, Coldstone. I lost all track of the time," the woman started.
"Melody's been dreaming again." Gaelan announced with his usual good humor.
The newcomer glared at Gaelan. "At least I can dream. Cold-blooded reptiles like yourself don't."
Joseph chortled. "She's got you there, Romeo!" Gaelan snorted. Melody took a seat next to Stephanie. The two of them soon began to talk.
Melody probably had been dreaming again, Glenn mused. Her call name was Dreamer, after all, because that's what the Earthling did. She dreamed. Although sometimes her dreaming did get on everyone's nerves, but Melody never took notice. Only Glenn knew that the young woman's tendency to daydream was only a clever facade. Glenn had often cautioned himself from talking to freely around her. That woman heard far too much about what was none of her business.
Cody stood and waited for silence. When he had everyone's attention, he briefed them on their next mission. After five minutes, he asked for questions. None were asked. "Okay then, Strikers, we have fifteen minutes to suit up and teleport to the Avalon. You guys know the drill, check in with either Hawkeye or myself once we're over there and make sure your ships are in working order. Dismissed pilots."
Everyone stood and went their respective ways. Everyone, that is, except for Stephanie. Cody sat next to his teammate. "Hey, Iceblade, what's bugging you?" he asked her.
Stephanie brushed a strand of her black hair away from her face and sighed. "How do you feel about helping Frathans instead of killing them, Coldstone?"
"I don't know. Never bothered to think about it." He paused thoughtfully. "I guess I feel kind of wary. This may be trap to kill off the Strikers."
"I meant how do you feel about working with the murders of your fiancé."
Cody regarded her slowly. Stephanie stared at the wall, a faraway look in her eyes. What was she thinking? "I guess I feel the same about fighting them. And a little relieved. I mean, we've been fighting the Frath for years and some of them finally are beginning to accept other races as being equal and not inferior to their own. They want it to end and so do we. This is just the first step towards peace."
"Nice speech, but you didn't answer me."
"What do you want me to say, Stephanie? That I hate their guts and wish that every single one of them were dead? I'm not like you, Iceblade. I can't say that and mean it."
"My mother once told me, 'Time's are changing.'" Stephanie murmured half to herself. "'Trouble's coming and disaster comes. Be ready for it, both physically and mentally. And never forget how to love.'" She blinked, startled, and her eyes swam back into focus. She smiled sadly. "I'm getting as bad as Dreamer. See you on the Avalon, Cody." She stood and left Cody sitting alone, bewildered by her cryptic words.
Chapter 2
Cody checked his shoulder harness again. He made sure that his helmet wasn't too tight. He un-strapped and re-strapped his gloves. He went through his preliminary flight checks in his head. He was as ready as he could get.
To his left, standing on the deck, the Iashtan lifted one scaly hand, paused, and then gave Cody the signal to go.
Cody punched the ignition; fully enjoying the accompanying roar as the Dragoon's engines came to life. He disengaged the magnetic locks as the fighter's Arlineum based gas contacted with the air and created the propulsion the craft needed to go forward. In a surge of power, the fighter rocketed forward and into the emptiness of outer space.
Once clear of the Avalon, Cody checked all of his instruments and displays one last time. Within minutes, the transport ship was a dwindling speck behind him and the other six ships of the Striker flight squadron were arranged in a V formation behind him. Cody smiled.
"Strikers check in." Cody spoke through his voice activated Comm system.
"Hawkeye. Let's keep it clean, guys." Glenn.
"Pyro here. I'll clean those Frathans, that's for sure!" Rose.
"Romeo. Maybe we should've called Rose Hothead, instead!" Gaelan.
"Darksight. It wouldn't work, Romeo. She's not that hot!" Joseph.
"Dreamer. Will you two please shut up?" Melody.
"Iceblade. Calm down, guys. Save it for the Wolves." Stephanie.
"Coldstone. Looking good, guys. We're approaching the carriers. Hawkeye, take Pyro and Romeo with you to the Bach. Defend it from fighters till we reach Rogosh. Got that?"
"Check."
"No problem!"
"Great, now I'm stuck with Little Miss Flame-thrower!"
Regardless of the bickering, the three ships detached from the others and headed for the two strike carriers in the distance.
Cody drew up alongside the Avalanche and slowed his speed to match that of the larger ship's. Glancing through the view screen, he saw Dreamer pull up to and slightly below him. Although he couldn't see them, Cody was fairly sure that Iceblade and Darksight had taken up similar positions on the other side of the ship. Roughly four hundred kilometers to his left, he was able to see the Bach with the darker outline of one of the Strikers flanking it. A second fighter, recognizable by light given off by the engine, flew ahead of the Terran carrier. Cody nodded with satisfaction. "All pilots, prepare to engage stealth mode on my mark. 3...2...1. Go!"
Simultaneously, all seven ships blurred and vanished. All the fighters had to do now was wait until the Frathans attacked the two seemingly unguarded ships.
Upon reaching Rogosh, the Strikers didn't have long to wait. Twenty Frathan Kra'deth fighters and three heavy L'shath strike carriers were approaching from a different direction. "Wow. All this just to prevent the Frathans on Rogosh from rebelling?" Dreamer's voice filtered through the Comm link.
"This is different than just sending troops down there and making people calm down. If the Rogosh Frathans rebel and we don't stop those ships, then everyone on the planet will die," Iceblade answered.
"They would kill their own people just because they revolted? That's murder!"
"That's a Frathan for you, Dreamer. Get used to it." The scorn in Stephanie's voice was audible even though the static of the Comm link.
"Surely not all Frathans are like that! There have got to be at least a few with some sort of heart."
"You could spend the rest of your lifetime searching, and you still wouldn't find one. Face it, Frathans are even more cold blooded than Iashtans."
Cody thought it wise to intervene before the two started arguing. "That's enough, Iceblade. Frathans have their own government. If this is how they deal with rebellion then we should respect that. Otherwise we'll never make peace."
"Hey, Coldstone," Hawkeye interrupted, "don't you think it's time we got those fighters before they discover we're here?"
"You're right. All Strikers, launch phase one."
Cody pulled ahead of the Avalanche aware that the others were doing the same.
Once within missile range, he de-cloaked and fired off his DF missiles. Twelve other missiles joined his two and seconds later several explosions were seen among the Frathan ships. "If they weren't aware of us before, they know we're here now," Hawkeye said.
Cody sighed, "Began phase two."
Off to his right, one of the fighter's accelerated. "All right! Time to rock and roll!" Romeo's ship rocketed ahead of the others with Iceblade close behind. Cody would've liked to join them, but someone had to stay with the strike carriers. Which turned out to be a good idea when a couple of Frathan fighters got past the other six and began firing on the carriers.
Everything around Cody vanished except for him and the two Frathans. Accelerating, he came up behind one of the two fighters and fired off a volley of laser blasts. Several struck and the Frathan's wing dented and nearly broke off. The fighter started to dodge, trying to shake the Terran pilot off of its tail. But Cody was one of the best fighter pilots alive and, maintaining the tail for the few seconds needed for his heat-seeking missiles to lock on, fired and smiled grimly as the Frathan became nothing more than space debris.
Cody glanced down at his radar, searching for the other Frathan when several blows threw him forward against his harness. His Heads-up display cut on, signaling a missile lock on him. So that's how you want to play, Cody thought. He jerked his stick to the right, checking his radar to see if the missile followed. Thankfully, it wasn't guided, and it passed harmlessly by him. But his opponent was still on his tail. Cody punched the afterburners; forced back into his seat from the sudden increase of speed. Just as soon as he reached top speed, he stopped it altogether and grinned as his opponent, also using its afterburners, rocketed over him. He fired, doing a fair amount of damage to the other's ship and blowing off one of the guns in the process. Damaged and with less firepower than its enemy, the Frathan's afterburners lit up and it shot out of sight.
"Dreamer! Pull out, now!" Darksight shouted over the Comm unit. Surprised, Cody searched the space around him and discovered that he was far from the main battle. Three fighters were closing in on the carriers, with Pyro and Hawkeye close behind. Several explosions near the L'shath carriers drew his eye and, sensing trouble, Coldstone headed that way.
That's right. Wing Commander. Sad, in a dismal sort of way.
Now the good one, which isn't a rip off of a game, and was merely inspired by Tanya Huff's Valor books…
"Are you going to lie there all day?"
Karen cracked open her left eye, and observed her sister floating above her. She smiled and folded her arms behind her head. "Possibly."
Tricia "hmphed" and twisted about, landing neatly on the wing of Karen’s cougar-class space fighter. Karen watched her, envious of her twin’s ability to move gracefully through zero gravity; the pilot usually had trouble staying in one spot without whacking her limbs on something.
Ever serious, Tricia examined the fighter. "Our R&R doesn’t start until we reach Eladon-"
"Which is only a couple of jumps away."
"-So you should be doing some work instead of lounging around," Tricia said calmly, as if Karen had never spoken. Holding on to the wing’s edge, she flipped upside down and hung there. "You can start with your ship; the missile-release mechanism needs to be oiled, otherwise it might freeze up on you."
"It will not freeze up on me, Tricia."
Tricia shifted. "And when was the last time you cleaned the laser barrel? The slightest speck of dirt on the lens will turn the whole thing into a glorified flashlight."
Karen sat up, careful to keep herself from drifting off. "Tricia…"
Tricia righted herself, staring solemnly at Karen over the cockpit. "Your ship needs a new coat of paint, as well. Those scorch marks are unbecoming."
"What’s with the sudden urge to fix my ship?"
"No particular reason. I just think you should be less slothful." She examined Karen critically. "If you’re going to be out of uniform, you should at least iron your clothes. You look horrible. How do you expect to attract men if you always look as though you’ve just rolled out of bed?" She frowned, then asked hesitantly, "You do want to attract men, don’t you?"
Karen glared at her. "Just because I don’t like having men drool all over me all the time doesn’t mean I’m not interested in them, which I’m not. I’ve got more important things." She grinned. "Like my ship."
Tricia snorted, but something like a smile flickered across her face. "I fail to see how your ship can be more attractive than a man. Especially a Martian."
Karen nearly laughed. The whole ship new of Tricia’s love for the Australian Men from Mars. She waggled a finger at Tricia’s face. "That, my dear sister, is because you are a mechanic, and not a great pilot like my-"
The light’s in the hanger went from white to blood-red. Sirens blared. A male voice announced, "This is a Code Red emergency. All pilots, report to the Flight Deck for briefing and immediate launch. Repeat, this is a Code Red Emergency…"
She awoke immediately, with complete awareness of where she was, how much time had passed while she had slept, and with none of the disorientation that usually accompanied waking from a heavy slumber. She had always been like that, and it was one of the few skills that the Kuroog did not know that she possessed.
She sat up, careful not to bump her head on the low ceiling, and pressed the palms of her hands to her eyes. She muttered, "I am Captain Karen Kaminski of the VCS Olympia. I am a member of the 67th Pythons." She didn’t care if the Kuroog were listening; they had long since dragged all of this information out of her. This, and more. "I had… have… a sister, First Lieutenant Tricia Kaminski." Tricia is alive. I must believe that she is alive. "I was born September 27th, 2366 AD, on the planet… on the planet… Shit!" She punched her mattress in frustration.
Up until now, the Kuroog’s unique method of information extraction had yet to cause any significant memory loss; there were people here that had forgotten everything after only two weeks. She should consider herself lucky if the only thing she forgot was her home planet.
Funny. She didn’t feel very lucky.
Karen took a deep breath, then started her sit-ups. Panicking would get her nowhere. Neither would sit-ups. Then again, pretty much nothing would get her out of this place, but at least the exercise helped her keep her sanity.
A hard bang sounded. A voice shouted in English, "Humans! Up! Work time!"
Karen considered lying back down and telling herself that everything that had happened was some horribly twisted dream.
With a sigh, she swung her legs over the edge of her bed and dropped to the floor of her cell. Her roommate, a giant of a man captured during battle for Neptune’s moons, lay curled in the lower bunk. Two weeks ago, he had ceased talking, and yesterday he wouldn’t even get out of bed without heavy encouragement. Now, watching him, Karen felt only faint pity as she bolted both of their morning rations. Her stomach would ache for it later, but, given that her roommate was about to be shoved out of an airlock without a helmet, she felt a little pain justified the extra food.
No sooner had she finished the food and her morning routine than the door cell slammed open and a Kuroog High Soldier filled the doorframe. He grinned down at her, double-rows of fangs gleaming. He said in Kurian, "Come, Kar’Brunagh. The Highest Order wishes to see you. I guess it’s time for your wings." Laughing, he stomped off, leaving Karen to limp after him, scowling at his back.
Before the voice had finished its second repetition, Karen had launched herself towards the smaller, man-sized door that connected the hanger to the briefing room, almost crashing into Bryce in her mad attempt to slow herself.
Her co-pilot grinned at her. "Still can’t handle Zero-G, huh?"
She pushed herself out of the way of the other pilots crowding in, shooting a glare at her co-pilot. "Not everyone has lived their life in low gravity, Bryce," she said, annoyed. "I’d like to see you handle Mars’ gravity."
He handed Karen her helmet. "Is that a challenge?"
She winked. "We’ll see."
She swung herself out of the way of other incoming pilots, taking up a position nearby. The others, the twelve men and women that made up the Pythons, talked noisily among themselves, many wondering what the alarm was about. Karen waved to Captain Joshua, the wing leader. He maneuvered over to her and said solemnly, "You prepared for combat, Burnout?"
"I’m always ready," she said calmly. "I just wanna know what we’re up against."
His dark eyes gleamed. "You’ll find out soon enough." He turned away before Karen could question him.
Silence fell on the room as Commander Sanchez entered, making his way to the podium. Karen joined the others in standing at attention.
Sanchez raked his gaze around the room. "Pythons, listen good and listen hard. Ten minutes ago we received word that a convoy from Mercury and its escort ship, the Invintarus, were attacked and destroyed by a Kurian fighter squadron."
Cries of outrage went up among the pilots. Karen clenched her hands, cursing under her breath even as she wondered how the Kuroog had gotten behind the front lines. Beside her, Bryce stiffened with a shocked grunt. She glanced at him, then said loudly, "Commander, were there any survivors?"
Her question silenced the entire room. Sanchez stared hard at her for full minute, and finally said, "None, Captain."
Bryce inhaled sharply; his brother, a cargo pilot, had been part of that convoy. She gripped his shoulder. "We’ll get ‘em, Bryce." He nodded.
Sanchez said, "Intelligence reports that the Kuroog are en route to Venus. Your job, Pythons, is stop them before they destroy Fort Sanctity, and the Venetian defense satellites. Joining you for this mission is the Martian carrier, Velesca, and the 47th Amazons; they will rendezvous with you at Fort Sanctity.
"I cannot tell you of the importance of this mission. If we fail, the Kuroog will have a straight run at Earth’s moon." And a clean shot at Terra, the political capital of the Solar System. If Terra fell, it would almost certainly be the end of the war, and not in favor of the humans.
"The Pythons will jump out to Venus to join their defenses while the Olympia continues to Eladon to restock and refuel. We will meet you there as soon as possible. This is probably going to get very messy, so stay alert and watch your backs. Pythons, you’re dismissed."
Kar’Brunagh. It was the name the Kuroog had given her shortly after her arrival. Loosely translated into Venetian, it meant ‘Prodigal Child.’
It had disturbed her when she first realized that her purpose for being there was not to work the mines, as many others were. The High Guard had made it very clear that she was there to be trained, as a pilot, for them.
She bumped into a Low Soldier as she moved past to join the lines of other humans. At once he spun and backhanded her so hard that she crashed into a wall. She dropped to the ground, head ringing, and for a moment she thought she would pass out. "Stupid human!" he roared. "I’ll kill you!" He drew his gun.
A bright flash of light and an inhuman scream. Karen scrambled away as the Low Soldier’s body fell to the ground, minus its head.
The High Soldier replaced his own sidearm, and gave the body a vicious kick. "Lowborn scum." He looked at Karen, amber eyes glowing. "You trying to get killed, yes? It’s not that easy. You fly for us, now."
Karen spat blood. "You can’t make me cooperate."
He grabbed her neck in one scaly hand and lifted her easily off the floor. "We own you, Kar’Brunagh." He slammed her back first into the wall.
"My name is Karen," she muttered, and passed out.
"Engines are green, Karen."
"Activating cameras." Karen flipped the overhead switches, and the darkness of the cockpit faded as the screens around her lit up, giving her a full one hundred and eighty degree view of the Flight Deck. Standing near the nose, Tricia and another mechanic talked quickly. Tricia nodded and tapped her headset. "Weapons check completed and is in the green."
Seated behind Karen, Bryce typed something on his own terminal. "Onboard computer is green."
Karen said, "All systems show green. Preflight check complete."
"Preflight confirmed, Burnout. You are cleared for launch."
"Affirmative, Control." She grinned and cut off her headset. "See ya in a couple of hours, dork." Although she couldn’t possibly have heard Karen, Tricia shot the exterior camera a fierce glare, said something to her companion, and then the two of them drifted off. Karen laughed.
Bryce said, "No matter how many times I see you do that, it is still strange."
Karen grinned as the platform rotated, orienting her ship with the hanger door. "I don't know why. Category One Psions aren't as rare as they used to be."
"True… but how often are those Category Ones born as linked twins?"
"Not very often," she admitted. The platform thudded into position. She flipped another switch. "Launching now, Control."
Sudden thrust shoved her back into her seat. Rather than fight it, she relaxed and let the Auto-Nav do its job. Runway lights streamed past her on either side, then abruptly gave way to darkness and pinpoint dots of light. To Karen’s left, other ships appeared from the Olympia, and she touched a button to match their speeds. "I’ve cleared the Olympia."
"Launch confirmed, Burnout. Good luck and good hunting. Control out."
Joshua’s voice broke in over the commlink. "Pythons, prepare to jump out."
"Jump coordinates set," Bryce said.
"Jumping in three… two… one… mark!"
Karen braced herself as the entire ship jolted. Space spun crazily, stars aligned themselves in different positions, and quite suddenly Venus dominated her view, Fort Sanctity a dark blotch against the brightness of the planet.
A woman’s voice hailed them immediately. "Oh, thank God, you’re here, Pythons. We’re having difficulties with our hanger doors, so we haven’t been able to launch any fighters. You guys will have to be our defense till we repair them."
"Affirmative, Control," Joshua said. "Pythons, take up positions around the station. We shouldn’t have to wait to long for those Kurian fighters."
Karen looked around. "Sanctity control, I don’t see the Velesca. Any word from them?"
"She just left Phobos, Captain Kaminski. She should be here in a few minutes."
Vixen broke in. "I’ve got a wing of Kurian Talanths jumping in."
Karen scanned the area. "Bison!"
Bryce was working at his console. "Enemy confirmed. Three o’ clock high!"
Karen brought her ship about as Joshua said, "Engage at will, Pythons, but make sure you keep that space station covered!"
Karen hit the afterburners, thrilling as the acceleration shoved her backwards. In seconds, she had closed the distance between her and the Kuroog to a few hundred kilometers. Someone shouted "Eat this!" and the two wings clashed in a massive display of lasers and explosions.
Karen did a tight one-eighty, caught a Talanth in the act of firing on her wingman. She grinned, "Gotcha," and unloaded a barrage of missiles. The Kuroog fighter exploded, scattered debris vaporizing in her ship’s shields.
She spun to engage another Talanth. "Bison, any of ‘em near the station?"
"Two," Bryce said, "but Joshua and Warlock are after them."
"Good. Get Sanctity Control on the line and-"
Vixen shouted, "My God! I’ve got three, no, four Kuroog wings jumping in!"
"What?!" That was Bryce. Karen risked a glance, saw the tell-tale flash of two dozen ships jumping in, and two flares that were most definitely not space fighters. "Those are Bantang cruisers!"
"We can’t handle this by ourselves," Joshua said angrily. "Sanctity, where’s our support?"
"We’re still having trouble with the hanger doors-"
Joshua’s voice was tight. "The Velesca?"
"They report engine troubles, but the 47th has jumped out and should arrive in two minutes."
"We don’t have two minutes!"
A blip on Karen’s radar vanished. "We just lost Firecat!" Vixen said, horrified.
Two Talanths and a Lira were closing in on her. Her wingman, Slate, shouted "Flashbang!" and Karen cut off the cameras as the launched flare went off, blinding the three enemy ships. An explosion rocked her ship. Karen counted five seconds and cut the cameras back on. She laughed breathlessly, "I owe you one, Slate."
Slate pulled up alongside her. "You owe me dinner." They broke off as one of the Bantangs started firing on them.
"Incoming fighters," Bryce warned as another Lira closed on her.
Seven ships appeared near the Sanctity. "Somebody call the Calvary?"
"You’re late, Vanessa," Joshua said.
"As usual," Warlock added.
"Sorry," the commander of the Amazons said. "We had to deal with a couple of bombers that thought the Velesca was an easy target."
"Holy cow!" another Amazon said. "You guys got half the Kuroog fleet out here!"
"And more incoming," Vixen said grimly. "A wing of Liras and another Bantang at seven o’ clock. And that first Bantang’s gettin' ready to fire on the station."
Karen acknowledged the latest threat with a low growl. "This is just absolutely, freakin’ great. Bison, has the Olympia left Eladon, yet?"
"I’m getting a transmission from the Olympia now… Um… Burnout?"
Karen ignored the engine warnings, counting the seconds till she was in range. She had to reach that Bantang before it fired. "Patch it through, Bison."
Static filled her headset. "…all Alliance…we are under… Repeat… under attack! We need he…" It cut off abruptly. "Bison!"
"I’ve lost the signal." His voice became panicked. "Karen, I can’t contact Eladon Control at all. What if they don’t have any fighters launched?"
"We can’t think about that now," Joshua said.
Karen turned. "What the hell do you mean ‘we can’t think about it?!’ If the Olympia is under attack, we need to get out there and help her!"
"Our orders are to defend the Sanctity, Burnout."
"We can’t defend anything without the support of the Olympia!" To her copilot, "Bison, get the jump coordinates to Eladon."
"Don’t you dare jump out, Karen. That’s an order!"
Karen ignored him. "Bison?"
Bryce sighed heavily. "Jump coordinates set."
"I’ll have your ass on a platter, K-" She flipped off the intercom. She smiled grimly, "Let’s rock and roll, buddy."
"Oh… my God…" Bryce whispered. Karen said nothing. She slumped in her seat, eyes closed.
"It’s gone… it’s all gone… Karen, how… How did they get their fighters this far? What happened to our defense at Neptune?" She didn’t answer him; what answer could she possibly give?
A soft beep caught her attention. Bison said, "I’ve got two fighters jumping in at-"
"I oughta blow the shit outta you and save Command the trouble, Captain!" Commander Vanessa raged. "What the Hell were you thinking, jumping out in the middle of… a… oh, God…"
"The Eladon… The Olympia…" Vanessa’s wingman said in shocked horror.
"Burnout, Bison, what happened here?"
When Karen didn’t answer, Bryce said, "We don’t know, Commander. It was like this when we got here."
Vanessa was silent. Eventually, she said, "We need to get back to Sanctity, Captain."
Karen opened her eyes. "No."
"Karen-"
"There’s no point!" Karen shouted angrily. "We’re thirteen ships against almost forty, with no sign of backup; we’ll get slaughtered!"
Vanessa’s voice was tight with rage. "Captain, if you don’t-"
The Amazon, Jewel, broke in. "Commander! I’m picking up lifesigns. There must be escape pods somewhere out there."
Karen’s heart leaped up. Tricia?! "Bison, home in on them and-"
"Cancel that, Bison. Prepare to jump back to Venus."
"But, Commander!"
"So help me, Karen, family is one thing, but you left your wing in the middle of a battle! Jewel, contact the Velesca. Tell ‘em to swing by here to pick up the survivors before heading out to Sanctity."
Karen’s hands tightened on the stick. No!
"Bison, get ready to jump back out to the-"
Karen punched her thrusters. "I won’t leave! Not until I know Tricia’s okay!"
"Karen!" Vanessa’s final thread of patience snapped.
Karen ignored her. She and Tricia had had not survived the destruction of their home city just so Tricia could die now. Not while I can still help her.
"Commander," Jewel said. "I can’t reach the Velesca. Or Fort Sanctity." Her voice rose in pitch. "I’m being jammed!"
Bison echoed the Amazon’s fear. "Two wings of Sukvoth are closing in on us." The High Guard, the Kuroog’s elite, and undefeated, pilots. It was suicide to go against them.
I won’t leave her behind, Karen thought fiercely. It was the last free thought she’d ever have.
Okay, I lied. I had just discovered the joys of Starlancer when I wrote that one. ("Put that up your tailpipe and smoke it, you bastard! HAHAHAHA!!!")
Hm… Starlancer's sounding pretty good right now.
Well, I'm all done here at this end. See you guys next time for Session 4: Video Games! (hopefully!)
Caio, baby!
All works are copyright 2003 Kristin Renee Taylor. Plagiarists will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law, and crazy ferrets will eat your eyeballs while I sing kareoke. You've been warned. This has been a production of Blueberry Enterprises. Really, you don't want to hear me sing…