by J. N. Chaney
"Reaper Cain, I really think we should make this a private conversation," X-37 repeated.
"I don't have time for that, X," I said. "I'm tired of messing around."
"In that case, my best theories involve a much larger settlement than Rejon would like us to know about or a weapon or device that has caused all of these ships to be waylaid and destroyed in the system."
I faced Rejon and repeated what X told me. "Does that sound about right?"
"My people have suffered greatly. We are just trying to hide," he said.
X-37 spoke to me privately on this one. "He's not lying, but I doubt that is all of it."
My limited artificial intelligence wasn't wrong. I could see the man was holding back, and suspected it was probably for good reason, but it still frustrated me.
"I cannot pretend to understand the motivations of your enemy, but perhaps there is someone among my people who he thinks will make a good hostage," Rejon said.
14
The Jellybird maneuvered away from the Bold Freedom, constantly on the lookout for debris that might cripple us. The chaos caused by all of the bombardments wouldn't end soon, but we were learning to predict most of its movement.
Our shields could handle small impacts. What I was more worried about was our enemy’s ability to hide amongst floating ship parts and other detritus. We hadn't seen or heard of any more Archangels searching in their space-capable armor. And it seemed all of the micro-fighters had returned to their motherships.
"Jelly, do you have an update on the Dark Lance?" I asked.
"Yes, Captain," Jelly said. "She established a geosynchronous orbit and immediately deployed micro-fighters."
"How long before we arrive?" I asked.
"Three hours and eighteen minutes," Jelly said.
I cornered Rejon with a look. "Last chance. Why is Nebs so hot to find out what's on your home world?"
"It's not our home world. It's just a base." Rejon stared at the holo view. A moment later, he sighed, releasing tension that had gripped his posture like a vise. "We have a weapon there. We never use it because of the damage it does to our planet when we fire it."
"Jelly, give me the best magnification possible," I said.
Moments later, I was able to see the planet that the Dark Lance was orbiting. There were several distinct landmasses. As we watched and waited, fountains of energy thrust upward, then converged in the stratosphere. A glowing blue and purple beam streamed straight into the Dark Lance.
I waited for a massive explosion, but nothing happened.
"That's it?" Elise asked.
I had a similar question but decided not to belabor the issue.
"It seems that all micro-fighters are being recalled to the Dark Lance," Jelly said. "I'm getting variable readings from the stealth carrier. It does not seem to be able to maintain its stealth field or maneuver well."
I raised my brows in question. "That's your weapon?"
Rejon nodded. "It doesn't do much good without a fleet to take advantage of the immobilized enemy. If I had been on the planet, I wouldn't have used it. There are other factions, however, who do not wish there to be bloodshed at any cost, even in self-defense. For them, our ultimate weapon is a perfect, non-violent warning system."
"Does it have to be fired from the surface?" I asked.
"In theory, no," Rejon answered. "The system was designed to be fired from a combination of void-capable ships."
I watched as the state-of-the-art Union stealth carrier drifted like just another hulk of potential salvage. It obviously still had power and some maneuvering capability, but I thought we could take it out, even with the Nightmare’s limited mobility. If we were able to take full control of the ship’s AI, we would make quick work of the Dark Lance.
"Now is our chance," I said.
"You are at least partially correct," X-37 said.
"You're killing me, X," I said, running through a list of things I needed to do to corner Nebs and take him out. "What are we waiting for?"
"I don’t believe Novasdaughter and Henshaw have gained full control of the Nightmare and I predict that Nebs will order the Black Wing onto the offensive to keep us from attacking his flagship while it's vulnerable."
I hated admitting when X was right. One look at Elise and the others told me they knew it too. I decided to get over myself and be a team player—because that wasn’t weird or unnatural for a Reaper.
Yeah, totally what I was made for. "Jelly, scan for the Black Wing," I said.
Several seconds passed and I began to get worried. Normally, it was X-37 who was glitchy and slow. Not that I was blaming my LAI—there had been a lot of extenuating circumstances—but Jelly was normally solid.
"Jelly, talk to me," I said, feeling my crew tense.
"Brace for impact," Jelly said. "I located the Black Wing just before it came out of stealth mode and launched a barrage."
"Can we get a little more warning next time?" I snapped, feeling like a jerk because I knew Jelly would have warned me the moment she detected one of our enemies.
Alarms sounded, followed by heavy impact against our shields. The ship was buffeted by contact explosions. I'd been through worse, but this one was bad.
"I guess that's one way to keep us from exploiting the Dark Lance," Elise mused.
"We're a team, Reaper Cain," X-37 said. "You should take my advice more often."
"Are you programed to gloat, X?" I said, pulling up several tactical screens to more carefully assess the situation. "We need to slip out of this fight."
The battle with the Black Wing took us farther and farther away from the Dark Lance. My dreams of grabbing the vice admiral by the throat and demanding answers faded second by second. The man had made me what I was when he created the Reaper Corps, then destroyed my life when he kidnapped my mother and sister and had my father murdered.
"What is the matter, Reaper Cain?" X-37 asked inside a private channel. "Your biometrics are doing strange things—indicating sadness and rage at the same time."
"We need to get on that ship and handle Nebs," I said, talking to my LAI while still flying the ship and scanning for the next thing that would kill us.
"There is no need to inform me of this," X-37 said. "I agree, but must remind you there are significant obstacles between us and our ultimate objective."
"What I need from you, X, is less doomsaying and more coming up with a brilliant plan. Or better yet, why can’t you wake me up from this twisted dream?" I said, wincing at an alarmingly close call—five time-delayed missiles that exploded around us in a three-dimensional triangle only a thousand meters from each side.
"That was a bit closer than I’d like," Elise said. "I really hope that was pure luck."
15
"Novasdaughter," I bellowed. "We’re going to need the Nightmare in this fight. Make it happen. Tell Henshaw to do whatever it takes!"
Explosions rocked the Jellybird.
"The Nightmare is not responding," Jelly advised.
"She’s completely gone, as far as I can tell," Elise said. "Either destroyed, fled the system, or she has completely defeated our detection protocols."
"Let’s hope it’s the last option and that Novasdaughter and Henshaw are putting the ship to good use," I said.
"We’re splitting power between stealth mode and the shields," Tom said. "We can’t keep it up for long."
"Elise, is there a way out of this mess?" I asked. "If we can slip away, the shields won’t be as important."
"I know that." She rolled her eyes and went back to work. "Why don’t you try plotting a course through a thousand years of wrecked ships, around a comet, while avoiding Union stealth ships and micro-fighters."
I gritted my teeth. "Locke, can you help her?"
"Ship operations are not my specialty. I would better serve you in a fighter if that were an option. Or better yet, leading a boarding party," he said. "But I will do my best to help. Elise, what do you need from me?"
Elise
pointed at a small workstation on her right. "Help me predict where the next collision will happen if we stay on this course. There are patterns in the trajectory of the debris."
"In time, most of this will be far away from us and not a problem," Locke said. "All we need to do is wait a few years."
"You made a joke, Locke. Good for you." Elise laughed a bit crazily.
Another salvo of rockets rose from the surface of the Black Wing and streaked toward us.
"She’s firing blind," I said.
The next impact on our shields was less intense than the first attack but still dangerous.
"Captain, I have dire news," Jelly advised.
"Go ahead," I said, suspecting the worst.
"Some of the rockets being launched are long range variations. They’re headed for the Bold Freedom," Jelly said.
"Fuck me up a tree," I said, causing Elise to snort a tense laugh.
"What are your orders, Captain. The Bold Freedom lacks the shields to withstand more than a cursory bombardment. We can hold out longer," Jelly said.
"How much longer?" I asked.
"At least an hour."
"Plot a course that puts us in a better position to help the BF," I said. "And get Novasdaughter or Henshaw on the holo. We need to get them in the fight."
"I have been attempting contact every five minutes," Jelly said. "No results thus far."
"Elise…" I began.
"I’m on it," she said. "We really need a normal-sized crew. I can’t do everything by myself.”
“It’s on my list, right after not dying,” I said.
“Reaper Cain,” Brion Rejon said. His voice was so soft, I almost didn’t hear him, but once I realized he’d spoken, something about his tone demanded my attention.
"I need to be with my people. Give me a shuttle or a life pod or anything that will get me to the planet," Rejon said.
"I can’t do that," I said.
"We can be allies," he insisted. "But not if my people fall to your Union invaders."
"We have more immediate problems. I’m taking the controls, Jelly," I said, knowing most ship AIs advised against this—and worse, they were usually right. Human pilots overestimated their reaction time and judgment. As for target acquisition, even with computer assists, it was terrible in comparison to what automated systems could do.
"You’re the captain," Jelly said.
"Everyone strap in. This is going to get stupid," I said, then flew straight at the Black Wing.
Micro-fighters streamed out to meet me as the point defense guns blazed to new life.
"What the actual hell are you doing?" Elise shouted, rapidly pulling up threats I needed to avoid and pushing the images into my holo feed.
"Buying time for the Bold Freedom," I said. Twisting the controls, I caused the Jellybird to roll through a cloud of old junk to avoid micro-fighter auto cannons and ship-to-ship rockets. Our shields absorbed impact after impact.
"We can sustain this for seventeen minutes," Jelly advised.
"Tom, can you boost the shields?" I asked.
"I will try," Tom said. "Don’t expect much. Keeping the ship in one piece is about all we can do."
"Locke, Elise, I need you shooting back," I said.
"Way ahead of you," Elise said, flipping her keyboard over and activating the tactical features. Locke imitated her with moderate success. Soon the Jellybird’s modest array of weapons drove back a pair of micro-fighters.
"X, I really need Novasdaughter to answer," I said to X-37 in private. My bridge crew was too busy to listen in.
"Jelly has been doing everything possible to contact them," X-37 said. "I fear the worst."
I yanked the controls to one side, avoiding another swarm of enemy fighters. "There has to be something we can do."
"Novasdaughter and Henshaw will bring the Nightmare into the fight, Reaper Cain," X-37 said. "I am sure of it."
"Then where the hell are they?" I reversed direction and weaved through random bits of wreckage. In the distance, the comet shined bright and scavengers limped ships toward Rejon’s ruined planet.
Alarms filled the cockpit.
"I am not a combat fighter," Jelly warned.
"Sorry," I muttered. "But I’m gonna fly the engines off this ship."
"Of course, Captain," Jelly said.
"Rockets away," Elise announced as she let loose a barrage at three pursuing micro-fighters. "Why don’t we lead them away from the Black Wing and see if they run out of fuel?"
"We need to keep the Black Wing busy," I argued, putting the Jellybird into a spiral.
A second and third squadron joined my attackers. The Black Wing fired on us whenever we pulled clear of the smaller ships.
Then, without warning, the swarm turned away.
"What the hell?" I muttered, getting a bad feeling.
The Nightmare appeared in front of me. I jammed the controls to avoid a collision as the Nightmare opened fire on my pursuers.
"Get out of the way, Reaper." Novasdaughter’s voice sounded calm as the Nightmare moved between my position and the Black Wing. Seconds later, she opened fire with a full broadside of ship-to-ship weapons.
"Took you long enough," I grumbled, flying behind her to hide from further micro-fighter attacks. "Glad you finally made it."
"There’s good news and bad news," Novasdaughter said.
"Necron is fighting us, constantly attempting to regain control of the ship," Henshaw said. "I need X-37’s help, which means I need you on board."
"Not a good time," I said.
"Agreed, Reaper. Stay out of this. The Jellybird isn’t rated for combat,” Novasdaughter said as she launched another wave of rockets at Black Wing.
Rockets and kinetic weapons pounded the other carrier’s shields, piercing the defenses in three important areas—the ship bays, launch tubes, and weapon systems.
"Can you hit the engines?" Locke asked.
"That is the most heavily armored part of the ship," Novasdaughter explained. "One of the dirty secrets of fleet combat is that battles like this come down to nerve. It’s a battle of attrition. The captain of the Black Wing is a real bitch, so we might be screwed.”
"Permission to activate the stealth cloak?" Tom asked.
"Do it," I said. "Jelly, take us around the edge of the fight. I want to look straight into their launch tubes and landing bays."
"Why?" Elise said.
"It has the same design as the Dark Lance. If I can get on board one ship, I can get on board another," I said.
"We’re not boarding the Black Wing," she said. "That’s crazy and we don’t have time."
"Call it a test run," I said, watching the holo view carefully. The stealth carriers looked huge. The violence of their death match sent a shiver up my spine. My cybernetic arm tingled and my HUD flashed rows and columns of data in my peripheral vision.
"All we would do is show them how to stop us when it matters," Elise said. "Shit like this doesn’t work twice in a row."
"The girl is correct," Locke said.
Rejon nodded in agreement. "Listen to her."
"Anyone else want to gang up on me?" I shook my head. "Look at this battle. Neither ship is going to survive if we don’t do something."
"What if the Archangels are waiting on the Black Wing?" Elise asked.
"What if we all grew wings and started farting fairy dust," I countered. She was right, they all were. The problem was my complete lack of options. "Who wants to just sit around and do nothing while the big ships blow everything to hell."
"We could head for the Dark Lance," Tom suggested.
"The Dark Lance is too far from our current location," X-37 said publicly.
Everyone waited for my decision, which surprised the hell out of me. Shifting in my seat, I went through two breathing cycles and tried for calm rationality. "Jelly, make one attempt to break from this battle and head for the Dark Lance. If it gets too hot, cut inside their guns and find a place to put me on the Black Wing. I wan
t to have a face to face with this captain Novasdaughter warned us about."
Jelly acknowledged and passed the plan to Novasdaughter through a secure maintenance link we all agreed Necron wasn’t monitoring.
"I don’t like your plan, but thanks," Novasdaughter said, barely audible through the noise on her bridge.
"Hold on," Jelly said, taking the controls. She pulsed the accelerators as she steered close to the Nightmare on the non-battle side. When there was nothing but shadows from the larger ship, she turned and fired all of her engines.
We shot away from the ship-to-ship artillery duel. Micro-fighters came after us like a swarm of murderous space insects. The Black Wing diverted several medium range guns, firing to cut off our escape with deadly determination.
"Godsdammit," I shouted. "Jelly, take us as close to the Black Wing as possible."
"I recommend she land or deploy a shuttle," X-37 said.
"What’s the matter, X? Are you worried about me?" I said, adjusting my gear and heading for the airlock.
"It seems Horvath and Carrie have prepped a shuttle," Jelly said. "I am moving close enough to deploy it, but our enemies will see it coming and destroy it—assuming such a small ship doesn’t become a random casualty as the carriers continue to fire broadside."
"Negative. Get in close, use your shields, and I’ll jump," I said.
"I’m coming with you," Elise said.
"Not this time." I broke into a jog as I slid my helmet on.
"Fuck you, not this time!" Elise said.
"Jelly, lock the door behind me. Elise is not coming on this mission," I said.
"Done, Captain," Jelly said. "She seems extraordinarily angry at this development."
16
Self-confidence wasn't something I lacked. Long before I became a Union killing machine, I'd been cocky, believe it or not. Elise didn't have training. She wasn't ready for this type of mission. Direct action on this scale required a lot more than just fighting and winning.
No matter how good she was, she wasn’t equipped to deal with the aftermath. This was a violent, desperate assault against enemies who were ready to give as good as they got.
