by JR Handley
Hovering into the sky using the VTOL capabilities of the Vengeance, Kralos felt the acceleration of the craft as it exploded forward. Patrolling the skies above the battlefield, he took every opportunity to engage the humans in the fortress. Kralos growled when a group of humans moved together around the damaged southeastern wall. Two anti-infantry rockets broke free from the Vengeance craft and streaked toward the group. The sound of his tail beating the floorboard was muted by the joyous howling filling the craft as the rockets decimated the group of feeble humans.
The Vengeance aircraft had been purposefully built for the Hardit anatomy, and the pilot seat had a hole strategically placed for their tails. This feature was more than a comfort, it allowed the operator to access their emergency rifle with their tail in the event they were shot down and survived. His tail began to caress the rifle as joyous thoughts were shook lose by the sight of humans being killed.
Even the gods know they are inferior and force them to group up so we might more easily kill them, thought Kralos.
Kralos circled and hungrily looked for more targets. His ears perked when his helmet speaker squawked.
Enemy airborne crafts inbound, southwest. Several flights. Drako Class Fighters. Engage, they are a priority target.
Cutting through the air like a knife, Kralos growled with joy. He didn’t bother getting into formation with the rest of the flight. Leading the charge, Kralos was confident the purpose-built Vengeance would lay waste to the worthless Drakos. After all, when the engineers designed the Vengeance, they did so with the Drako and Stork in mind. This knowledge bolstered his confidence.
Let’s see how many I can swat from the air. Today, I shall show these humans the Death God can touch the sky.
— Chapter 74 —
Early Afternoon, Post-Revival Day 22
Skies Above Fortress Beta City, Serendine
Commander, 215th NAFS, Human Legion
Moments after Lieutenant Commander Mawr Bryn was in the air, she began receiving reports of a renewed air assault on Fortress Beta City and the Serendine Orbital Elevator. Knowing that the loss of the elevator would be devastating, her squadron of Drakos held a tight formation and set an intercept course for the enemy fighters. Mawr’s AI fed her information as the orbital elevator got bigger in her cockpit window.
Mawr, it has been confirmed that these Vengeance fighters are not drones. They are being flown by Hardits, Mawr’s AI explained. Blood analysis on a recovered body has shown irregularities. While not confirmed, it is believed they are using some sort of stimulant to override their agoraphobic nature. It is likely this will make the pilots erratic and aggressive. Judging by the videos that have been collected, there is no indication these pilots are utilizing any sort of AI. Good luck.
Mawr hoped her AI would give her the upper hand, but she knew the time it took the sentient computers to learn would be deadly. Forwarding this intel to the rest of her squadron, she sent a reminder to stay in formation. They would have to rely on superior tactics and training, if the Hardits were relying on sheer ferocity and recklessness.
When Mawr first caught sight of the enemy, the Hardits were raining hellfire on the Marines in the fortress. She thanked Tyndall to have the honor of being a pilot and not a mud-sucking Marine. Closing in on the fortress, her AI began designating enemy targets while Mawr directing the squadron.
For ease of control, Mawr had the recently converted flights from the 126th NACS attached to her command. They didn’t have the extensive training in atmospheric combat that her pilots did, so she hoped they could live long enough to learn that flying in gravitational fields wasn’t like flying in the voids.
Mawr’s ears dropped back as the inexperienced pilots from Bravo Flight, 126th NACS became overeager to prove themselves and banked hard to engage the enemy fighter to fighter. The enemy proved more disciplined. The Hardit formation worked as a cohesive unit, maintaining formation and coordinating evasive maneuvers. Mawr watched Bravo Flight get torn to shreds as her outnumbered squadron became even more so.
Mader Zagh, I told them to stay in formation, Mawr fumed.
“Drako Element, this is 215 Actual – stay in formation. I repeat, remain in formation or they will pick you off. You’ll die alone. Fight smart, remember your training,” said Mawr.
Pulling hard on her steering column and feeling the crushing weight of gravitational pull, Mawr barely missed an incoming fighter. Her Drako almost rubbed its underbelly on the Hardit craft. Pushing back on the sticks, she dropped back into her tight formation.
The sky above Fortress Beta City was a mess of fighters swerving to and fro, each seeking position on the other. One Hardit fighter had just lined up for the kill shot when the Drako pilot it was targeting suddenly banked down, pulled a barrel roll, and flew in the other direction. The Hardit, unable to react in time, peppered one of its own with sabots causing chaos among the tightly knit formation.
While the enemy flight corrected to re-engage, Mawr joined Delta Flight from her squadron. She came in on the rear of the Hardits and rained sabots into them. Being in position above and behind the Hardits, it was an easy. The entire top of the Vengeance crafts filled with holes.
During the aerial melee, Mawr triple-tasked. She killed the Hardits, held the formation, and scanned for threats to her wingmen. Grim reminders of their disadvantage were being pinged through by her AI.
Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie flights are gone. Lieutenant Commander Bitro Fenek was lost as well. I am very sorry.
The loss of Bitro was crushing. He was a longtime friend of Mawr’s. Between the Dual Plagues, and this current conflict, Mawr’s circle of Jotun friends was growing smaller. She whispered a small prayer to Tyndall on Bitro’s behalf.
She had just finished her silent prayer when her AI spoke again.
Echo Flight of the 215th has been lost. One pilot may have been able to make an emergency landing, but I can’t confirm this right now. They did manage to destroy an enemy flight.
The update echoed in her ears. Mawr knew in her heart that the battle was lost. With nothing to lose, she resigned herself to die. First, she would take out as many of the remaining Hardit frakkers as she could.
— Chapter 75 —
Early Afternoon, Post-Revival Day 22
Fortress Beta City, Serendine
Sultan Co., 1st BN, 428th MER, Human Legion
The opening run on Fortress Beta City had hit the 428th and the Aux Regiment the hardest, wiping out whole companies and opening holes in surviving units. With so many engineering officers killed, Marchewka sent Basil to fill the gap in leadership. Upon arriving, Basil assumed command of what was left of 1st Battalion. For the first time, Basil felt right at home.
Among the Marine engineers of Sultan Company, Basil was at peace. Through Lance, Basil was respected by the Marines. And through his own merit, he was adored by his fellow Aux. Finally, content at having found his place in the world, he got to work.
The novelty of Hardits flying anything had finally worn off. Now, Basil worked to remind the beasts why they should fear the skies by expediting the repair of anti-air assets. He was oblivious to incoming aircraft fire, gravtank rounds hitting the wall, or the explosions on the horizon. His focus was on the equipment and the schematic information Dante told him.
Basil, my last user, the alcoholic, warmongering Marine, wouldn’t agree with your decision to expose yourself to fire in this way, said Dante. While I don’t believe the Hardit pilots are using AIs, the do seem to be targeting humans on these walls. They are exceptionally accurate. If you continue to wander about like this, there is a high probability of being shot.
Basil looked around and could see Dante’s assessment was right. The Hardit pilots did seem to be targeting exposed humans. He didn’t have time to worry. The anti-aircraft cannons needed to be brought back online, or the fortress would be pounded into dust.
“I appreciate your concern, Dante,” said Basil. “The quicker I can get these anti-air guns working,
the quicker we can get to a covered location.”
Climbing up on the side of an anti-aircraft cannon to inspect a potential electrical issue, he found the source of the problem. Scanning the wiring harness with his Digi-Sheet, Dante confirmed his guess. Looking down at a Marine engineer below him, he shouted into the comms link.
“I’ve got it! The tracking sensors for the anti-air cannons need to be–”
Air and spit exploded out of Basil’s mouth as a sabot impacted his side. Confused, Basil reached down with both hands to feel for the source of the intense pain. His body fell fifteen feet as he let go of the railing, and he thudded to the ground.
The world summersaulted around him. Basil could hear the distant sounds of explosions, the screaming of some corporal or another calling for a medic, but it was a haze. A distant fuzz in the background, one that seemed to have slowed down time, until even moving his limbs seemed clunky and uncoordinated. Dante spoke to him, but his voice was lost to the static in his brain.
For the briefest of seconds, Basil felt like he was leaving his body, floating about looking down. There was a sense of peace, a tranquil joy at knowing he had lived for something and made his friends proud. Reality yanked him back down.
His helmet was off and someone stabbed his neck. The hissing sound of an autoinjector startled him. Before he could ask anything, he screamed as another autoinjector sounded by his side. The foam expanded and the feeling of fire burned his ribs.
Screaming in agony, and pushing the hands away trying to carry him, Basil fell back to the polycrete ground. With pain, came the absolutely clarity that he was the only one who could solve the issues with the anti-air weapons. Knowing that the fortress would stand or fall by what he did next, he dragged himself up, half crawling, toward the terminal on the cannon he was correcting. The Marines around him helped him move as they yelled empty protests into his deaf ears.
Pulling his helmet back on, Basil set Dante into Record-Transmit Mode, hoping that others could repeat his work on the remaining cannons. He viewed his hands as if they belonged to someone else. Crimping a wire, another sabot impacted his body. Before he could push himself up, another one knocked him flat. The pain was there, but it was distant. Like the memory of a bad itch. Three Marines gripped him by his armor and suddenly his hands were working again. His body was possessed by the belief the cannons were their salvation, and he was just a casual observer.
Basil could feel the weight of the Marines dying around him. They draped their dead and dying bodies over his shoulders to protect him. A final act of heroism. When at last it was done, the bodies of fallen Sultan Company engineers had formed a wall around Basil. The sound of the anti-air cannons whirring to life shook the air. Dropping his hands to his sides, he watched the streaking lines of outbound rounds sailing into the Tranquility sky.
A sense of completion overwhelmed Basil as he leaned back into the bodies of the dead. His fingers traced the path of outgoing ordnance. Feeling the cold, dead embrace of his fallen brothers and sisters, he knew. They had sacrificed themselves for him, a once lowly Aux, in their combined effort for freedom. Closing his eyes and smiling, Basil drifted away. His fight was done.
— Chapter 76 —
Early Afternoon, Post-Revival Day 22
Skies Above Fortress Beta City, Serendine
Delta Flight, 3rd SQDN, 75th Vengeance Air Wing, New Order Army
Lieutenant Kralos Alat-Batu was ecstatic. The battle was going as expected. Their Vengeance fighters were living up to their namesake, and the enemy died all around him. The remaining eleven Vengeance flights could easily defeat the three Drako flights, victory was assured.
While there were fewer enemy fighters, they seemed to be getting better at avoiding the Hardit tactics, learning their maneuvers and capabilities. Just as Kralos’s flight was about to fall back into formation and target the remaining enemy, something changed. Vengeance fighters began to explode and topple from the skies.
It took Kralos a moment to realize the nefnasts on the walls had revived their anti-air weapons. In the span of seconds, their first after being back on line, the relentless anti-air guns plucked another two flights out of the sky.
“Target those anti-air cannons!” Kralos growled into the comms line. “They are likely AI assisted and being fed ammunition housed inside the walls.”
His tail stopped caressing the rifle behind the pilot seat and started wailing away on the floorboard. The anti-air asset was giving the humans a chance to breath, to regroup. His eyes watched shoulder-fired missiles streak into the sky from the walls of the fortress. In a span of seconds, the sky was filled with missiles, anti-air sabots, small arms fire, and the remaining Drakos danced around it all. Kralos and the rest of the squadron shifted from offense to defense. They simply tried to stay airborne amidst the metal filled sky.
Dodging enemy fighters, Kralos made a sharp turn toward the planetary surface to shake off the pursuing Drakos. Hugging the surface of the planet and ordering Three-Bravo to fly directly above, Kralos used the cover to close on the anti-aircraft gun. Locking on the target, he launched a well-aimed missile. The anti-air gun exploded, and Kralos roared in delight.
The pilots in Three-Bravo weren’t so lucky. Unable to maneuver while offering Kralos cover, their Vengeance fighters were downed by common nefnasts carbine wielders. It was disgraceful.
Pointing the front of his fighter skyward, Kralos rocketed straight up the side of the wall. Reaching the top, he leveled the craft and smiled. A group of Marines were firing wildly into the sky from the courtyard. Kralos rewarded their stupid tactical decision by firing the last of his anti-infantry rockets into them.
Kralos’s celebration was cut short. Onboard sensors indicated two flights from 2nd Squadron were fleeing. Hating the cowards for betraying their species, Kralos pursued. His flight, Three-Delta, joined the quest to kill the traitors. While the cowards shrewdly maneuvered to avoid enemy fire, Kralos ignored everything and rocketed straight toward them.
Kralos, and the five fighters in Three-Delta, quickly destroyed one flight. The traitors had chosen to fly close the ground, making it easy for Kralos to rain sabots down on top of the fools. The remaining flight of shirkers was doing the same thing. He scrunched his face until all three eyes appeared as one. Fingers preparing to fire on the Hardit cowards, a Drako flight dropped down above Kralos. Before a decision could be made, all five of the fighters in Three-Delta died a fiery death. Kralos was alone.
— Chapter 77 —
Early Afternoon, Post-Revival Day 22
Skies Above Fortress Beta City, Serendine
Commander, 215th NAFS, Human Legion
It took Mawr a few moments to fully process what she was seeing, some of the Hardit pilots were running, and they were being gunned down by their own allies. The resurrection of the anti-aircraft guns had drastically changed the outcome of the deadly aerial ballet. Without meaning to, she spoke over the open comms.
“By Tyndall, they are killing their own pilots! They are attacking each other!”
Realizing that she was shouting into an open communication channel, Mawr took a deep breath before addressing her fighters.
“Let the fleeing Hardits go. If any Hardit unit tries to kill their own, take them out. Once we clear the sky, we will make a run at those gravtanks. Then, we will return home to rearm. Stand by your Drako when we land for orders – 215 Actual, out.”
— Chapter 78 —
Early Afternoon, Post-Revival Day 22
Skies Above Fortress Beta City, Serendine
4th SQDN, 75th Vengeance Air Wing, New Order Army
The New Order was cursed by the gods. That was the only explanation for how the tide of battle had turned against the Hardits of Clubhouse Vengeance. Captain Haldia Randus-Shumer had used every skill she’d ever learned to keep her pilots alive. It was working. While the other squadrons had been gutted, she’d only lost Four-Bravo.
Haldia knew the time to depart was at hand. They’d done
everything they could to buy their ground crews time to escape Vendar’s clutches. After a quick calculation, she knew their only chance at retreating to Thann’s rendezvous point was if they set a rearguard attack. Without hesitation, she ordered Four-Alpha and Four-Charlie to follow her, so the other two flights could get away.
“Attention all militia assets, the time has come to execute Righteous Freedom. Break contact and rendezvous at the pre-determined coordinates. The destination is in a northwesterly direction. Once you get close, a beacon will guide you in. If we don’t join you, it has been an honor.”
After giving the order, Haldia dove her two flights at the orbital elevator, though she knew it would be the equivalent of shaking a nest of angry cholbas. It worked, and enemy flights converged on her, allowing her allies to get away.
Once sensors reported that the remnants of the 75th Vengeance Air Wing had escaped, she ordered Four-Charlie-One to break contact. He refused and attempted to vent his frustration with another strafing run on the fortress. Likely, his rage was a result of the dastardly drugs the New Order had pumped into their bloodstream. Anti-air cannons shredded his fighter.
In the confusion of losing their flight leader, the other four birds in Four-Charlie were swatted out of the sky. While the enemy was distracted, Haldia led Four-Alpha away, heading north. She sent a quick message to Thann, and explained her intention to take a more circuitous route.
When she finished the message, the sky cleared. For whatever reason, the enemy stopped pursuing her forces. Not one to question good fortune, which was in short supply, Haldia accelerated away.
— Chapter 79 —
Early Afternoon, Post-Revival Day 22
Outskirts of Fortress Beta City, Serendine
Commander, 75th Vengeance Air Wing, New Order Army
