by Ryk Brown
She looked over at Specialist Samudio, who gave her a thumbs-up. As they passed through the shield perimeter, she wondered if she would ever develop the incredibly accurate internal clock that all the Ghatazhak seemed to possess.
* * *
“Jesus,” Loki exclaimed as they approached the outer doors to the hangar bay airlock.
“What is it?” Nathan asked.
“We were just overflown by six octos.”
“That’ll put hair on your chest,” Josh laughed.
“You still got Jess and Samu?” Nathan asked.
“They’re still on course, but their signal is fading fast,” Loki replied.
“I hope those octos didn’t see them,” Nathan said.
“Doubtful,” Loki replied. “They’re still holding their course, and I’m not picking up any alert chatter.”
“Would you even understand it if you did?” Josh wondered as he guided the ship into the transfer airlock.
“No, but I’m sure I’d notice their sense of urgency.”
“Dang, this thing is smooth,” Josh said as they touched down with barely a bump. “Antigrav’ drives are great!” He turned to look at Nathan. “We really need to put these in our ships.”
“Stay focused,” Nathan insisted. He watched through the front windows of the shuttle as the airlock cycled them into the main hangar bay.
“This thing is on auto now,” Josh realized, taking his hands off the controls. “If you don’t kill that shit, we won’t be taking off again.”
“I know,” Nathan assured him as he turned aft. “We’re up, gentlemen,” he announced to the four Ghatazhak in Dusahn uniforms, in the back of the cargo shuttle.
“Uh, Cap’n,” Josh said. “What do we do if they call us on comms?”
“Just pretend to be NORDO,” Nathan replied as he headed for the side hatch.
“What the hell is NORDO?” Josh asked Loki.
“Must be some kind of acronym for no-comms,” Loki guessed.
“Well, that doesn’t make any sense at all.”
Jessica fired her attitude thrusters, flipping herself over, so she would be falling feet first toward the asteroid base. A glance at the tactical display on her visor advised that their closure rate was increasing, due to the asteroid’s weak gravity.
She watched the countdown timer on her visor, waiting until it reached zero before firing the deceleration thrusters on the sides of her boots. She felt a shove against her legs, a force pushing upward as if she had already landed. The asteroid continued to approach, but her closure rate decreased with each passing second that her boot thrusters burned.
She only hoped that she was already too close to the asteroid for its sensors to pick up her thruster burn.
After a few seconds, her boot thrusters ran out of propellant, but they had done their job. She tightened up her legs, bending at the knees in preparation for touchdown. When her feet hit the rocky surface, she could feel the assistive undergarment tense up as the thousands of tubules lining the fabric pressurized to help her absorb the energy of the impact.
She bent her knees even more, reaching a squatting position, but was careful not to push back against the force. Had she done so, she might have launched herself off the asteroid for good.
Jessica felt a wave of relief wash over her and turned to check on Specialist Samudio, who also appeared to be in good shape. Without missing a beat, she headed out across the surface toward the nearby shield generator.
“Ready for first launch sequence,” Ali reported from the missile station in Orochi Three’s cramped cockpit.
Aiden checked the comms display to his right. “No abort order,” he reported. “You’re clear to release the first missile package.”
“Holy moly,” Ali muttered as she initiated the launch sequence. “This is definitely not the same as firing a plasma turret.”
“That’s a whole lot of destructive power you’re releasing, Ali,” Ledge stated.
“Don’t remind me,” Ali replied. “It’s frightening.”
“Ten seconds to launch point,” Aiden announced. “Still no abort message.”
“Launch sequencer is synced,” Ali reported. “Launching in three……two……one……”
The ship shuddered as four missiles left their rails on the Orochi’s number one missile pod.
“Four missiles away,” Ali reported.
“The other three have launched their first strike packages, as well,” Chief Mando reported from the systems station.
“Orochi Leader to all Orochis,” Commander Kainan called from Orochi One. “Disperse and jump to your secondary firing points. See you back at the rally point.”
Aiden prepared his next jump as the first two Orochis jumped away. “Jumping,” he announced as he activated the Orochi’s automated jump system. “Jump complete, initiating first turn.” Aiden sighed. “Who the hell is crazy enough to trust me with sixteen jump missiles, anyway?”
“Yeah, they were really scraping the bottom of the barrel, weren’t they,” Ali teased.
“Jump complete,” Sasha reported from Striker One’s copilot seat.
“Jesus,” Robert exclaimed as he looked out the forward window while sixteen jump missiles struck their targets. “Find me the weakest shields to target, Kas.”
“Three frigates at one five seven, ten down relative, all at thirty percent. Suggest the second from the left, port midship shields.”
“Gil, I’m taking the middle frigate at one five seven, down ten,” Robert instructed over comms as he turned his gunship toward the target. “You take the one on the right.”
“One five seven by ten down, on the right,” Gil acknowledged over comms.
“Shenza One, you copy the targets?” Robert added.
“Shenza One, affirmative,” Vol replied. “One five seven, ten down, left target.”
“Gunners on the ready,” Robert ordered. “Jumping in…” Robert pressed his jump button, and all three frigates appeared in his forward windows, filling them completely. He adjusted his course slightly right, steering toward the middle frigate, and pressed his firing button. A stream of plasma torpedoes streaked forward from under his gunship’s nose, slamming into the frigate’s shields and causing them to flash brightly with each impact. After a few seconds, the frigate’s shields collapsed and the last few plasma torpedoes tore into its hull, setting off secondary explosions that tore the ship apart as they flew over them.
“Nice,” Robert exclaimed as he pressed the jump button and then started his turn to come about. “That should wake the Dusahn up.”
“We are under orders of General Hesson, himself, to retrieve four mini-ZPEDs for his personal research and development unit,” Nathan insisted angrily.
“I understand that, sir,” the guard at the exit from the hangar bay replied, “but I have no record of these orders on my system.”
“That is because the project is top secret, as I have explained.”
“My apologies, sir, but I cannot allow you to pass without confirmation.”
“Then get General Hesson on comms and get authorization, and do it now!” Nathan barked. “I’m a busy man, Sergeant! I do not have time for your incompetence!”
“Yes, sir,” the Dusahn sergeant replied. “Right away, sir,”
Alarm klaxons suddenly went off. The sergeant’s eyes widened as he scanned the hangar bay while technicians went running for their safety stations.
“What is going on?” Nathan demanded to know.
“It’s an attack alert, sir!”
“Preposterous!” Nathan exclaimed. “We’re not under attack!”
The sergeant looked at his console, fighting to control his own panic. “It’s Takara, sir! Takara is under attack!”
“Then, we must move quickly!” Nathan insisted. “Allow us to pass! NOW!”
“I…”
There was a loud crash to the left, and the sergeant instinctively looked in the direction of the noise. Nathan acted quickly, stepp
ing forward and pulling the man’s sidearm from his holster, jabbing it in his side and pulling the trigger. With the muzzle pressed up against the man’s uniform, the sound of the weapon’s discharge was quite muffled and likely inaudible above the sound of the alert klaxons.
Nathan quickly lowered the man to the deck, tucking him behind his station where no one would notice him. “Can you open it?” he asked the corporal.
“No problem,” Corporal Elken replied as he stepped up to the console.
Jessica took several bounding steps across the surface of the Rama asteroid, using its minute gravity to her advantage. As she passed the shield generator, she removed a small device from her hip attachment point and slapped it onto the side of the generator, continuing on her way with Specialist Samudio hot on her heels.
Four more bounding steps got them to the nearest cover, and they took shelter behind a large outcropping of rock. Jessica and the specialist crouched down low as the device detonated, destroying the shield generator.
“Octos just jumped away,” Ensign Jayson reported.
“What about the shield?” Lieutenant Taren wondered.
“Still up,” the ensign replied.
“Ghatazhak! Stand ready!” General Telles ordered as he rose from his seat and moved toward the port hatch.
“Jesus, I thought you guys were asleep!” Lieutenant Taren exclaimed, startled.
“We were,” the general replied.
“The shield isn’t down yet,” Ensign Jayson warned.
“It will be momentarily,” General Telles stated with unwavering confidence.
Ensign Jayson looked back at his sensor screen. “It’s still… Holy crap, he’s right. The shield is down!”
“Get ready, gentlemen,” Lieutenant Taren warned. “We’re going in.”
“We are ready,” General Telles stated.
“Jumping,” Lieutenant Taren announced.
A second later, the Reaper’s engines went to full power as they jumped in just above the surface of the asteroid.
“Closer rate dropping,” the lieutenant announced as the Reaper decelerated.
“Opening side doors,” Ensign Jayson added.
The door before the general slid open automatically, revealing the factory complex on the asteroid below them. The surface was approaching them at a rapid rate, which was decreasing just as quickly.
“Deployment speed in five seconds,” the lieutenant warned.
General Telles did not wait; jumping out immediately, he fell to the surface, landing in a crouch and promptly breaking into a bounding run toward their entry point.
“Jesus, they’re already out!” Ensign Jayson reported, looking out his side window as the Ghatazhak landed on the surface and headed out.
“We’re outta here,” the lieutenant announced, adjusting the angle of his Reaper’s four engines and accelerating forward.
General Telles bounded across the surface, reaching the nearest structure as Reaper Five stealth-jumped away. He stepped aside as the next two Ghatazhak came up behind him and placed charges on the wall. They, too, peeled away just as the devices detonated, blowing a hole in the wall.
A burst of air and small objects rushed from the gaping hole for several seconds, after which the six Ghatazhak soldiers quickly stepped through the opening, throwing up a patch on the other side.
Lieutenant Commander Manes turned his head quickly to the left, his attention caught by two jump flashes in that direction. “Tally two!” he announced. “Just jumped in to port! Opposite direction!”
“Sensors show them as gunships!” his copilot reported. “They haven’t targeted us yet.”
“Coming about to engage,” the lieutenant commander announced as he pulled his flight control stick hard to the left and gunned his throttles.
“Locking thumpers on both,” Ensign Sell reported.
“You with me, Rimi?” the lieutenant commander asked over comms.
“Coming around with you, Nessi,” Lieutenant Karimi reported from Reaper Two. “Swinging out wide to your right.”
“We’re gonna pop thumpers on ‘em, Dani,” Ensign Sell announced. “They’ll break in opposite directions.”
“When they do, we’ll take right,” Lieutenant Karimi said.
“I’ll slide under and jump past them,” Ensign LaValla added.
“Thirty light seconds should do it,” the lieutenant commander suggested.
“See you on the other side!” the pilot of Reaper Three called as he jumped ahead of them.
“Good locks!” Ensign Sell announced. “Popping two!”
A pair of thumper missiles rolled out of the ordnance doors on either side of Reaper One’s weapons module, their engines immediately lighting up and sending the stubby missiles rocketing forward. As expected, the two gunships turned in opposite directions, knowing that the missiles would likely follow one or the other, but not both.
“Popping two right!” Ensign Danvers announced from Reaper Two.
Lieutenant Commander Manes continued his left turn, pursuing one of the two gunships. “Get another pair on him, Selly,”
“Five more degrees, boss, that’s all I need,” his copilot replied.
“Impact!” Ensign Danvers reported with excitement. “He’s deadstick, baby!”
“Drop a buster on him and join up,” Lieutenant Commander Manes ordered as he continued chasing the other gunship.
“He’s powering up to jump,” Ensign Sell warned.
A blue-white flash of light appeared beyond the fleeing gunship as Reaper Three jumped in head-to-head with the target. A split second later, the target erupted in an orange and yellow fireball that quickly dissipated.
“Hell yeah!” Ensign LaValla exclaimed from Reaper Three.
“New targets!” Ensign Sell announced. “Two one two, twelve up relative, twenty thousand clicks, and closing fast. Looks like a flight of octos!”
“Rally point tango five two,” Lieutenant Commander barked over comms. “We’ll jump in behind them and give them something to worry about.”
Nathan fired his weapon as they ran down the corridor, dropping two guards as they rounded the corner ahead. He came to a stop at the intersection, peeking quickly around the corner. A dozen shots streaked past his head as he withdrew, several of them blowing off chunks of the rocky wall next to his head.
“Step back, sir,” Corporal Elken suggested as he pulled a stun grenade from his belt.
Nathan slid back one position as the corporal stepped up to the corner. The corporal held his left hand out, and Specialist Knaff handed him a plasma grenade. The corporal activated both and tossed them around the corner.
Nathan heard the grenades bounce down the corridor, followed by shouts of warning in Jung. A few seconds later, there was a flash of light, followed almost immediately by a loud bang, and a thunderous explosion that shook the entire area.
Corporal Elken stepped out, looking down the corridor at the carnage. There were at least eight bodies, all of them severely traumatized to the point of missing significant portions of their bodies.
“Overkill, isn’t it?” Nathan commented as they walked through the carnage.
“No one’s shooting at us though, are they?” the corporal replied. “They were probably the QRT for this section. Resistance should be light all the way to the hangar control room.”
“Loki,” Nathan called over comms. “Be ready, we’re almost there.”
Vol Kaguchi pushed his Gunyoki fighter into a spiraling dive as two Dusahn octo fighters opened fire on him.
“Two on our six!” Isa warned from the back seat. “Four more at our three, two clicks, coming fast.”
“Hold your dive, Vol!” Manzur called from Shenza Eight. “We’re coming in from your nine! We’ll cut them off at the knees!”
“Just don’t miss!” Vol replied.
Energy weapons fire streaked past him on either side, careening off their shields, causing them to flash brilliantly with each impact.
“They’re closing!” Isa warned. “We’ve got to jump!”
“Not yet!” Vol insisted, holding his spiraling dive. “Manzur has them!”
“Vol!” Isa begged.
Two explosions behind them interrupted his weapons officer’s pleas.
“Your six is clear!” Manzur declared with excitement.
“Nice shot, Manzur!” Vol exclaimed, ending their spiral and leveling off. “Give me a new target, Isa.”
“Standby.”
“Where are you, Tariq?”
“Three clicks to your four!” Tariq replied. “Sorry I wasn’t there for you. We had a few problems of our own to take care of.”
“Gunship pack, four targets, twenty clicks ahead, passing left to right,” Isa reported. “They’re moving to protect the space dock.”
“Let’s go gunship hunting, Tariq,” Vol called over comms. “Twenty clicks dead ahead, left to right.”
“Lead the way!” Tariq replied.
General Telles stepped through the hatchway into the main corridor, placing himself directly in the line of enemy fire. He dropped to one knee, energy weapons blasts slamming into his personal shield, causing it to flash with each impact. He quickly raised his weapon, pushing the muzzle through his shield and opening fire. One by one, he dropped the Dusahn soldiers at the far end of the corridor. One shot, one kill. In seconds, the corridor fell silent. “We must move quickly,” the general cautioned his team as he rose to his feet to continue forward. “We have only minutes until this facility will be swarming with reinforcements.”
Commander Kainan watched his console as his Orochi’s jump sequencer transitioned his ship to their next launch point. “Jump complete,” the commander announced. “Ready the second strike package, Sergeant.”
“Loading strike package two,” Sergeant Adamek replied.
“I gotta tell ya,” Chief Torwell said from the gun control station, “I’m liking this a whole lot better than the combat jump shuttle. Here, I’m completely enclosed by hull, instead of my head sticking out of the top of the ship in a bubble. And so far, no one is shooting at us!”
